Ritsuko felt gentle fingers running through her shoulder
length hair, a delicate touch as light as a feather. She opened up
her eyes to meet Maya's loving gaze, the black haired young woman
drawing her hand away reluctantly.
"Good morning, Sempai," Maya smiled.
"Good morning," Ritsuko agreed. They lay side by side in one
of the big beds on the upper floor of Arisugawa's Locket, curled up
together under the covers. Ritsuko took in the sleepy look, almost
like the cat that ate the canary and had to smile slightly, "You
look lovely."
"So do you," Maya agreed softly. The both moved forwards
almost as one, lips pressing together gently as they savored a kiss.
They only parted after a few moments and she softly asked, "Are you
hungry?"
Ritsuko gave her a dangerously sexy look, and Maya
blushed. "It depends on what kind of hunger you mean," she drawled
softly. Maya blushed beet red, then Ritsuko chuckled softly, "Sorry,
I just couldn't resist."
"Ritsuko," Maya scolded, but she was smiling. She looked up
at the clock and sighed, "I wish we didn't have to head back to NERV
this morning."
"Duty calls," Ritsuko agreed, getting out of the bed and
then picking up her and Maya's clothes off of the floor. "I'm just
glad Misato hasn't arranged for a wake-up call."
"She wouldn't," Maya looked up at Ritsuko in alarm.
"Oh yes she would," Ritsuko smiled wryly. "Remind me to tell
you all about the trouble we got into in our university days
sometime."
"I'll look forward to it," Maya began to get dressed in last
night's suit.
There was a gentle tap on the door, and both young women
looked at each other in surprise. "Good morning," the woman's
cheerful voice came from out in the hallway, "this is your wake-up
call, courtesy of Misato Katsuragi." A pause, "All right girls, on
three... " Then several young women burst into badly off-key
song, "Oh what a beautiful morning! Oh what a beautiful day! Oh what
a wonderful feeling! Everything's coming my way!"
"Oh, dear god," Ritsuko moaned as she covered her face with
her hands, while Maya fell back on the bed laughing.
"Misato also asked me to tell you, and I quote," they
recognized the gleeful voice as Tendo Nabiki's, "If you don't make
it into work on time, I'm going to hang banners saying 'Maya and
Ritsuko did it!' on several of the towers." She paused, "There's
also a complimentary breakfast waiting downstairs." With that they
heard her walking away.
Maya managed to get her giggles under control long enough to
finish dressing. "Remind me to do something really embarrassing to
Misato someday," she muttered, but she was grinning.
"I look forward to it," the smiling Ritsuko agreed as she
wiggled into her dress. They ducked into the bathroom to tidy up a
bit, brushing teeth and combing out hair then they headed downstairs
to grab some breakfast.
"Good morning," Sasami beamed, moving between the tables
scattered around the club and setting loaded plates down. The blue
haired teen took off for the kitchen, bringing out a tray of orange
juice and a bottle of aspirin for those who needed it.
"Thanks," Maya gave her a little wave as they dug in. As
they were eating Maya asked, "Do you really think that Misato would
put up banners..?"
"Wouldn't put it past her," Ritsuko sighed. She ate her eggs
and toast with gusto, "Which is why were going to be there early if
I can help it."
"Right," Maya sped up her eating a bit.
"Have a nice day," Hitomi waved as they left the Locket
holding each other's hands, a slight smirk on the woman's face.
"She was in with the singers, I bet," Ritsuko laughed as she
climbed into the passenger's side of the jeep, Maya taking the wheel
Maya grove with a steady competency, handling the large vehicle with
apparent ease. She reached over to gently lay her hand on Maya's
thigh, and watched the woman pale slightly as she moved it up.
"You keep that up," Maya's voice was just a bit raspy, "and
I'm going to drive us right off of the road, love."
Ritsuko chuckled softly, but stopped moving her hand. Other
than that, though, she left it right where it was. "So what do we do
now?" the blonde murmured softly.
"Other than making sure Misato doesn't publicize our
relationship to all of Tokyo-3?" Maya said with a slight smile. More
seriously she continued, "This isn't a casual thing to me, Ritsuko.
I.. want to be part of your life, and you a part of mine. I love
you."
"Good," Ritsuko smiled, "me, too."
They reached NERV with time to spare, changing their clothes
before reporting together to Misato's office. They walked inside
together, and Misato actually looked a bit disappointed. "Drat," she
sighed, activating the comm-link on her desk, "Asuka, you two can
stop painting the banner, they made it back here in time."
Asuka's laugh was loud and clear. "Told you they would," she
gloated. A moment's pause and a bit of conversation in the
background then she asked, "Would you mind if we finish it anyway?
Rei likes painting, it seems."
"Go for it," Misato closed the connection. She gave the two
lovebirds a smile, noting that they were holding hands, "Sorry to
make you come back on time today, but the synchronization tests for
the repaired EVAs are scheduled for later today."
"Got it," Ritsuko said. She exchanged a silent glance with
Maya, "There's also something that we wanted to run by you."
"Oh?" Misato kept herself from using that opening line to
make several naughty comments by sheer force of will.
Maya didn't notice, but Ritsuko gave her a look. Working on
the desk console for a few minutes Maya called up a set of
schematics and a computer generated image. "Here," Maya stepped away
to give Misato a better look.
Misato's eyes widened as she studied the images. It was
clearly an Evangelion, but somehow fundamentally different. More
rounded, less skeletal, it seemed to be balanced far more than the
other EVAs were. It looked healthy, compared to the previous sets of
designs.
"What do you call it?" Misato finally murmured.
"We don't have a name for it yet," Ritsuko admitted. "Super-
Evangelion describes it pretty well, though," she
continued. "Greater strength, durability, speed, it's a massive leap
forward."
"Super-Evangelion? Ick," Misato made a face. "Still, I have
to admit it's incredible. But can we actually build it?" she asked.
Ritsuko gave Maya a look, and she remembered her recent
promotion. A steadying breath and Maya said firmly, "Yes, we can.
Out people have the skills needed, and much of the actual
construction can be done with existing equipment."
"Good," Misato said thoughtfully, studying the designs. "Do
you have any suggestions for a name?" she asked curiously.
"Me?" Maya blinked. "Well.." she hesitated, "I was thinking
that it might be ironic to call them the Archangels."
"Archangels..?" Ritsuko repeated thoughtfully.
"Not bad," Misato agreed. "We'll put that name in the hat.
But first, I get to run the idea by the United Nations and see what
they think of the idea."
"Right," Maya smiled wryly. "I was just thinking that our
former boss would have us starting to build with or without
approval."
"I'm not Gendo Ikari," Misato said evenly before adding with
a grin, "thank god."
To be continued...
Authors Notes: The Arisugawa's Locket characters are: Tendo Nabiki
from Ranma 1/2, Hitomi from Escaflowne the Movie and Sasami from
Tenchi Muyo. One can assume that most of the others also joined in
with the sing-along.
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