tp5 log: shinji goes home

[shattermelt]

Shinji was going home. Thank god! It wasn't that he didn't like staying at the Angel, or with Ina, far from it. But he hated being a burden on anyone, and Ina was completely supporting him and he didn't like that at all. So when he finally got the all clear from Ina too, he was delighted, to say the least. He could go home, and he could get to work on the new craft system. And he could buy his own food, and get dirty if he had to, and he could sleep on a weird schedule without anyone thinking he was weird, or being a bum or ...it was just better. To be at home, where no one could question anything he did. Yeah.

So he was going through his room at the Angel with a fine tooth comb to make sure he didn't leave a mess or forget anything so Ina wouldn't have to go all the way to his place just to return a comb or something. She had already done more than enough for him.

It was a little bit later than Kippei had planned on when he finally got to the Angel. He knew Shinji hadn't been expecting him early, but he had still hurried because he wanted to get there as soon as possible. He'd been restless and irritable all day, and consequently short with people, which wasn't all that different outwardly from his usual behavior, but he could feel the shortness of his temper and his difficulty in hanging on to it, and he knew it was because he just didn't want to be anywhere but there right now.

He allowed himself a small sigh of relief as he turned over the last few tasks of the day to his aide, and left to catch the shuttle to Brown. They were going to have to figure something else out, because this arrangement was just not cool. Living on opposite sides of the station was a pain in the arse.

Shinji stuffed the last thing he owned into his bag and went to say his thanks, hugging Ina like she was about to disappear, hard and wondfully and thanking her profusely before heading for...whatever was the quickest way to his place. There were several ways to get there, but he opted for a longer route, past the shuttle port, because it was cleaner and less likely anything could go wrong and hence he wouldn't be lectured beyond all recognition for it. Besides, Kippei still hadn't been yet and Shinji was holding onto the brief hope he still might get to see him tonight, and the only way that was going to happen was via the shuttle. So. That was the way.

Kippei almost missed him, not having expected to see Shinji here. The Angel was mercifully close to the shuttle entrance, and he was completely focused on getting there in as short a line as possible. It was only because of his usual habit of scanning his surroundings, no matter how distracted he was, noting everything even if he dismissed it immediately, that he saw Shinji at all. When he did he stopped in his tracks, taking a moment to abort his current mission and changing direction--Shinji had already seen him, as if he'd been looking for him. Kippei frowned cautiously as he approached.

"What are you doing?" he asked, and then he took in the fact that Shinji was holding his bag and it had been about a week now and... was he going home finally? An odd note of disappointment tangled with fierce elation inside of him, and Kippei forced himself to relax slightly, even as he looked around warily. Standing in the middle of a crowded shuttle port was not a place he felt comfortable letting his guard down. "Going home?" he asked, his voice softening in spite of himself.

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[teagoblin.livejournal.com]

Shinji's breath caught and he couldn't feel anything for a moment except the heat where Kippei kissed his shoulder. He hummed an affirmative and stroked his fingers through Kippei's hair, just enjoying being able to hold him and feel the weight of Kippei against him. He wondered if there would always be time, to just lie like this, but he doubted it, which made it more special now. Kippei wanted to say things, even if he didn't know how, but he said them better because of that. Kippei made Shinji feel like he was the middle of something; like he was the center of it and it was the first time anyone had made him feel that, so it wasn't at all hard to smile and kiss his temple and lean down so his lips brushed Kippei's ear, the soft murmered words barely voiced.

"I love you."