Doctor Who: The Evangelion Error (Book Two)

E11 Part 3: Gridlocked Cassinis

Misato's Apartment
Several days prior

"Oh, hullo." The Doctor yawned and scratched the back of his head. "Kaji, was it? Come on, then. Pancakes are nearly done."

Ryoji Kaji eyed the other man standing the doorway. He could already tell this meeting wasn't going to go the way he'd hoped. Oh, well. He probably shouldn't have let his imagination get away with him anyway... even if there were only a few ways he could've interpreted Katsuragi inviting him over for breakfast.

He followed the Doctor into the apartment. He could smell something tasty cooking even before they stepped into the kitchen. Shinji -- wearing one of those big poofy chef hats Kaji had always thought only existed in movies and cartoons -- stood by the stove, idly poking at a griddle pan with a spatula. Misato, gorgeous as always, visibly ignored Kaji as he entered the room, shifting her eyes away with an irritated grumble. Which was more or less the reaction he'd been expecting. She sat at the table next to the penguin (which seemed to be working its way through the morning paper's sudoku puzzle) and --

"Oh! Mr. Kaji!" Asuka straightened up in her chair and gave him a bright smile. "No one told me you were going to be here!"

Ulp. Here came trouble. Inwardly, Kaji sighed. God save him from schoolgirl crushes and teenage geniuses who somehow didn't grasp the concept of no... or, for that matter, jailbait.He put on his best gentleman's smile. "Yo, Asuka. You planning on sticking around?"

"I'm supposed to meet Hikari downtown. But I can cancel." Asuka pushed a stray hair back behind her ear.

"Nah. Go on ahead." I'm saved, Kaji thought, careful to keep his almost palpable sense of relief off of his face. "I'll take you out later this week, okay?"

"Okay!" Asuka grinned.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. He seemed to be on the verge of saying something when Shinji spoke up. "Doctor, could you measure out more flour for me? I think we might need one last batch."

"Right, right." The Doctor moved over to the kitchen counter. "You could just switch over to the store-bought mix at this point, you know."

"What do I look like, a barbarian?" Shinji deftly flipped a pancake over.

"Welllll... maybe a bit like Kondrak the Voracious. Minus the beard, of course. And the gut. And the penchant for cannibalism..."

Soon enough, Asuka had said her goodbyes and left. Kaji found himself sitting at the table, an excessively large stack of pancakes placed at its center. Misato still hadn't so much as glanced in his direction yet. Ah, so she's going with the cold shoulder approach this time, Kaji thought. He knew it well.

"So!" the Doctor said cheerfully as he took a seat. Shinji passed Kaji a plate. "The captain thought it might be a good idea for all of us to get together. Compare notes, as it were."

"I'm honored she thought of me." Kaji gave Misato a rakish grin. She rolled her eyes. Shinji passed him a glass bottle. He glanced at the label and did a double-take. "Hold on. Is thisreal maple syrup?"

"Mmh!" The Doctor nodded enthusiastically. "Ran into this lovely Canadian couple over in the Western District. Turns out they're part of this black-market smuggling network out of Vancouver." He paused. "Very serious business, sounds like. Cartels, gang wars, the whole nine yards... bit scary, to be honest. Wouldn't have expected that with syrup, but there you go."