31_days fic: Now with 99.9 percent less Grigori
Proof that I can write a fic in which Sabia Valiant and/or her Grigori kin are nowhere to be seen...
Title: "Cat's (Clawed) Paw"
Day/Theme: Oct 5. The cat learns a festival dance
Series: Neon Genesis Evangelion (part of an on-going project)
Character/Pairing: Ritsuko Akagi/Kozou Fuyutsuki, Gendo Ikari
Rating: PG-13 (some mild sexual stuff, as well as -- given the context -- a possibly squick-inducing revelation)
Author's Note: Not quite sure where this fits into the chronology of the first part of "Neon Enoch Evangelion", aka the ambitious NGE project (I'm guessing it's sometime between Episode 21 and 22). The idea for this came out of left field after I was reading through parts of the walk-through for the PSP game "Evangelion 2: Another Cases" (availible only in Japan), as well as after reading some revelant discussions on the Eva Geeks forum. ( ::Waves:: )
I had had another idea for this prompt, but the fic wasn't coming out the way I wanted it to, and then this idea came to me: the cat in this case is somewhat metaphoric (though Ritsuko does keep cats and she's certainly "catty" per Sue Ulu's performance), and the dance is a awkward dance of wills, including someone cutting in momentarily.
It seemed any time he spent away from headquarters resulted in a pile of messages, printed and electronic, showing up on Fuyutsuki's desk, and this was no exception. The evening had advanced by the time he finished poring over them and replying to them. He was preparing to depart, when the door of his office and Ritsuko Akagi stepped in, minus her usual labcoat, with a linen jacket draped over her arm, clearly on her way out for the evening.
"Burning the candle at both ends, Fuyutsuki-sama?" she asked.
"The moment I turn my back on my inbox is the moment it decides to fill up," he said, dropping some sealed envelopes into the outbox.
"I would have thought that after your ordeal, you would be taking some time to rest and relax," she said, stepping into the room and approaching his desk.
"I recovered quickly: I may be starting to slow down, but I'm not ready for the rest home yet," he said with a self-deprecating smile.
"You certainly aren't: given the prognosis from Cranial Nerve, I'd say you're in better shape than some men ten or twenty years younger than you are," she said, with a smile.
"You flatter me, Ritsuko-chan," he said.
"False modesty after what SEELE put you through? You deserve a pat on the back," she said. "I was going out for the evening, would you care to join me?"
"Thank you, but once I'm finished here, I think I'll call in an early night," he said.
She leaned over his chair, eying the papers on his desktop. "Now what's so important that you'd turn down an evening out?" she asked, with a flirtatious lilt. As she said this her cigarette case fell out of a pocket of her jacket and clattered the floor by his feet, but he thought he saw her fingers slide out of that pocket. "Whoops, clumsy me," she said, stooping to pick up the case. As she straightened up, the back of her hand brushed against the front of his trousers, an accident clearly meant on purpose. He felt his body cringe inside his clothes, his mind gasping at her touch.
He pushed his chair back, rising quickly and stepping back from her, putting the chair between them both. "Dr. Akagi, this conduct is most inappropriate."
She looked up at him with a smirk. "Are you saying this because you're still attached to a ghost in a machine, or because of Miss Valiant?" she asked sharply
"That's only part of it, and not the most important part. I'm saying this because there is a small chance that I may be your father," he said.
The smirk faded from her lips and folded into an incredulous frown. "What do you mean by that?"
Well, you've opened the box, now deal with the consequences, he thought. Aloud, he said, "It's not something which I care to remember in detail. I was young and working with your mother as a research assistant while I was finishing up my doctorate. We had had a late night and she invited me to join her for a few drinks. We both had a bit more than we should and she invited me to her apartment. One thing led to another, as the saying goes. I'm not proud of it and since then I've taken care to avoid getting into a similar situation."
"One reason you shut yourself away from other as much as you do," she observed, switching back into her usual clinical mode, but he could see the disappointment in her eyes. "But are you saying that just to push me away?"
"I'm saying this because there is a chance it may be true. Back then, it was fairly common knowledge in our circle that your mother was trying to have a child, and that she had been seeing someone regularly, though she didn't discuss his identity. There was speculation as to who your father was and even into the nature of your conception, but your mother swore me to secrecy about our indiscretion. My guess is he was someone in a position of authority who would have silenced anyone who came forward to claim paternity."
"That's your word; since my mother isn't alive to contest it, nothing short of a comparative genetic analysis can prove otherwise," she said.
"You have my genotype as well as your own on file: you have ample opportunity to cross-check it." He looked over her shoulder. "And I suggest that you leave my office to do just that, especially before the man at the window starts asking questions of his own."
She turned to look behind her and out the window, her gaze meeting that of Gendo Ikari, as he stood looking in at them over the top rims of his eyeglasses.
"That bastard, spying on me," Dr. Akagi muttered under her breath and left the office in a hurry. But Fuyutsuki thought he could see a self-satisfied gleam in her eyes.
What is she trying to do? Make him jealous? he thought.
The door opened and Ikari entered. "I take it that you and Dr. Akagi had words about her conduct, or else you were having a lovers' quarrel."
"It was anything but a lovers' quarrel," Fuyutsuki replied. "She took advantage of the situation and I told her to keep a respectful distance from me." Ikari's interest in her must be waning, he realized.
"That old rag's usefulness to me, except on a professional level, has faded, but if you wish to pursue her, you're welcome to her," Ikari said.
"I'm not in the habit of pursuing women who have been cast aside by another," Fuyutsuki retorted. "Your personal affairs are your own, Ikari. Excuse me." With that he stepped out into the hallway, and headed for his apartment to escape the heat. It is a time like this when no one can blame me for choosing a solitary life, he thought.
------------------------------------------------------------------
"Omake"
(Since you probably need it after that bombshell...)
As she leaned over the corner of his desk, Fuyutsuki caught a faint whiff of cat dander on Dr. Akagi's collar. Before he could turn away or fish his handkerchief out of his sleeve, he'd sneezed in her face.
"Ker-*choo*!"
"Are you coming down with something?" she asked, solicitously, but he could still see the barely veiled desire in her eyes.
"No, it's just that I'm -- ah-hchoo! -- I'm allergic to *cats*."
She looked at him with a hint of a pout. "Well, that's one of the most lame blow-offs I've ever heard."
Title: "Cat's (Clawed) Paw"
Day/Theme: Oct 5. The cat learns a festival dance
Series: Neon Genesis Evangelion (part of an on-going project)
Character/Pairing: Ritsuko Akagi/Kozou Fuyutsuki, Gendo Ikari
Rating: PG-13 (some mild sexual stuff, as well as -- given the context -- a possibly squick-inducing revelation)
Author's Note: Not quite sure where this fits into the chronology of the first part of "Neon Enoch Evangelion", aka the ambitious NGE project (I'm guessing it's sometime between Episode 21 and 22). The idea for this came out of left field after I was reading through parts of the walk-through for the PSP game "Evangelion 2: Another Cases" (availible only in Japan), as well as after reading some revelant discussions on the Eva Geeks forum. ( ::Waves:: )
I had had another idea for this prompt, but the fic wasn't coming out the way I wanted it to, and then this idea came to me: the cat in this case is somewhat metaphoric (though Ritsuko does keep cats and she's certainly "catty" per Sue Ulu's performance), and the dance is a awkward dance of wills, including someone cutting in momentarily.
It seemed any time he spent away from headquarters resulted in a pile of messages, printed and electronic, showing up on Fuyutsuki's desk, and this was no exception. The evening had advanced by the time he finished poring over them and replying to them. He was preparing to depart, when the door of his office and Ritsuko Akagi stepped in, minus her usual labcoat, with a linen jacket draped over her arm, clearly on her way out for the evening.
"Burning the candle at both ends, Fuyutsuki-sama?" she asked.
"The moment I turn my back on my inbox is the moment it decides to fill up," he said, dropping some sealed envelopes into the outbox.
"I would have thought that after your ordeal, you would be taking some time to rest and relax," she said, stepping into the room and approaching his desk.
"I recovered quickly: I may be starting to slow down, but I'm not ready for the rest home yet," he said with a self-deprecating smile.
"You certainly aren't: given the prognosis from Cranial Nerve, I'd say you're in better shape than some men ten or twenty years younger than you are," she said, with a smile.
"You flatter me, Ritsuko-chan," he said.
"False modesty after what SEELE put you through? You deserve a pat on the back," she said. "I was going out for the evening, would you care to join me?"
"Thank you, but once I'm finished here, I think I'll call in an early night," he said.
She leaned over his chair, eying the papers on his desktop. "Now what's so important that you'd turn down an evening out?" she asked, with a flirtatious lilt. As she said this her cigarette case fell out of a pocket of her jacket and clattered the floor by his feet, but he thought he saw her fingers slide out of that pocket. "Whoops, clumsy me," she said, stooping to pick up the case. As she straightened up, the back of her hand brushed against the front of his trousers, an accident clearly meant on purpose. He felt his body cringe inside his clothes, his mind gasping at her touch.
He pushed his chair back, rising quickly and stepping back from her, putting the chair between them both. "Dr. Akagi, this conduct is most inappropriate."
She looked up at him with a smirk. "Are you saying this because you're still attached to a ghost in a machine, or because of Miss Valiant?" she asked sharply
"That's only part of it, and not the most important part. I'm saying this because there is a small chance that I may be your father," he said.
The smirk faded from her lips and folded into an incredulous frown. "What do you mean by that?"
Well, you've opened the box, now deal with the consequences, he thought. Aloud, he said, "It's not something which I care to remember in detail. I was young and working with your mother as a research assistant while I was finishing up my doctorate. We had had a late night and she invited me to join her for a few drinks. We both had a bit more than we should and she invited me to her apartment. One thing led to another, as the saying goes. I'm not proud of it and since then I've taken care to avoid getting into a similar situation."
"One reason you shut yourself away from other as much as you do," she observed, switching back into her usual clinical mode, but he could see the disappointment in her eyes. "But are you saying that just to push me away?"
"I'm saying this because there is a chance it may be true. Back then, it was fairly common knowledge in our circle that your mother was trying to have a child, and that she had been seeing someone regularly, though she didn't discuss his identity. There was speculation as to who your father was and even into the nature of your conception, but your mother swore me to secrecy about our indiscretion. My guess is he was someone in a position of authority who would have silenced anyone who came forward to claim paternity."
"That's your word; since my mother isn't alive to contest it, nothing short of a comparative genetic analysis can prove otherwise," she said.
"You have my genotype as well as your own on file: you have ample opportunity to cross-check it." He looked over her shoulder. "And I suggest that you leave my office to do just that, especially before the man at the window starts asking questions of his own."
She turned to look behind her and out the window, her gaze meeting that of Gendo Ikari, as he stood looking in at them over the top rims of his eyeglasses.
"That bastard, spying on me," Dr. Akagi muttered under her breath and left the office in a hurry. But Fuyutsuki thought he could see a self-satisfied gleam in her eyes.
What is she trying to do? Make him jealous? he thought.
The door opened and Ikari entered. "I take it that you and Dr. Akagi had words about her conduct, or else you were having a lovers' quarrel."
"It was anything but a lovers' quarrel," Fuyutsuki replied. "She took advantage of the situation and I told her to keep a respectful distance from me." Ikari's interest in her must be waning, he realized.
"That old rag's usefulness to me, except on a professional level, has faded, but if you wish to pursue her, you're welcome to her," Ikari said.
"I'm not in the habit of pursuing women who have been cast aside by another," Fuyutsuki retorted. "Your personal affairs are your own, Ikari. Excuse me." With that he stepped out into the hallway, and headed for his apartment to escape the heat. It is a time like this when no one can blame me for choosing a solitary life, he thought.
------------------------------------------------------------------
"Omake"
(Since you probably need it after that bombshell...)
As she leaned over the corner of his desk, Fuyutsuki caught a faint whiff of cat dander on Dr. Akagi's collar. Before he could turn away or fish his handkerchief out of his sleeve, he'd sneezed in her face.
"Ker-*choo*!"
"Are you coming down with something?" she asked, solicitously, but he could still see the barely veiled desire in her eyes.
"No, it's just that I'm -- ah-hchoo! -- I'm allergic to *cats*."
She looked at him with a hint of a pout. "Well, that's one of the most lame blow-offs I've ever heard."