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Shinji lingered nervously in the foyer, waiting for a nurse to give him the go-ahead to see Kaworu. It was a simple procedure - wisdom teeth removal - but Kaworu had elected to go under rather than stay awake, and Shinji had spent the entire night leading up to the operation thinking of all the ways it could go wrong. His gaze jerked between the sterile white of the walls, the brightly coloured couches (stark blue and well worn), and the various nicks in the roof tiles. He was hyper aware of how clammy his hands were, reflexively clutching the edge of his shirt.
A nurse appeared at the doorway and called out his name, making brief eye contact and a gesture to follow along before quickly walking away - presumably to Kaworu's recovery room. Gathering his belongings he stumbled after her, hoping not to lose her in the foreign, twisting halls.
They came to a stop and the nurse gestured to a door, "Room 2A, bed 3. Make sure to buzz for a nurse if you need anything, sweetie", before heading off to attend to her next patient. He hesitated outside the door and another nurse exited the room and smiled warmly at him, "Mr Ikari, right? I've just done my obs and everything has gone very well, nothing unexpected. He's only just woken up in the last 20 minutes or so, so you might find that he will be a little disorientated for the next few hours. Make sure he keeps his fluids up and doesn't try to do anything too strenuous; he needs all the rest he can get." With a parting fond look, she too headed off to her rounds.
Breathing out steadily, Shinji walked into the room and easily caught sight of Kaworu, reclining languidly in a hospital cot. He was wearing the same generic hospital gown Shinji last saw him wearing before he was ushered into the surgery, looking tired-eyed and a little swollen around his cheeks, but otherwise rather relaxed. Relief coloured Shinji's words, "Kaworu!" He faltered a little at Kaworu's look of bemusement, but his worry carried him on. "How are you feeling? Are you okay? Do you need some water?"
"Did the doctor send you?" Kaworu's words are slurred and slow. Shinji paused, unsure how to respond.
"Um. Well, they did tell me it was time to come see you. I'm-"
"Gosh, you are stunning. Whoa..." Shinji could feel a flush creeping up his neck, embarrassed by Kaworu's earnest declaration. It seemed that even a minor operation couldn't change Kaworu's genuine, blunt nature. His gaze darted from the window shutters to the pitcher of water at the bedside table.
"K..... uh," his heart was beating so fast, still anxious about the hospital setting and Kaworu's look of confusion from when he first entered the room.
Steady breaths.
He exhaled.
"Kaworu, your lips are chapped. Have some water, okay?"
"You..... mmmmmm........ you must be the prettiest person I have ever seen. Are you a model?"
Trying his best to ignore both Kaworu's embarrassing words and his own persistent flush, Shinji walked over to the pitcher and filled up an empty glass. "N.... uh, um. No. No, I'm not a model."
"Who are you? What is your name?" Shinji felt his heart drop, his mind wildly racing to catastrophic conclusions. Did Kaworu forget about him? He had heard about memory issues following operations before... surely this wouldn't be anything permanent or long lasting? The nurses he encountered would have mentioned if something serious like amnesia had occured, he assured himself. Still...
He eyed the nurse call button, heart hammering in his chest. Maybe he should call someone over to make certain this truly was a temporary side effect, just in case.
"You're not a nurse, are you?" Oblivious, Kaworu persisted. "You are much too pretty to be a nurse..."
"No, uh... My name is Shinji. I'm your husband."
"You're MY husband?"
Kaworu's sudden exclamation took him by surprise, distracting him from his spiralling thoughts. "Yeah?"
"Hooooly shit!" Kaworu's head lolled so that he could face Shinji fully, "Whooooooa......... How long?"
By this point, amusement had well and truly taken over. "For a while, now. Come on, drink some water."
It took a bit of effort to get Kaworu to drink; mostly due to his numbed mouth making drinking quite the ordeal, made worse by Kaworu continually straining his neck to try and get a better look at Shinji and completely ignoring the convenient straw. "Do we have kids yet?" Shinji startles briefly, jostling the cup, before shaking his head in a distinct negative. "Oh, man... have we kissed yet?"
Shinji wasn't sure whether to laugh or hide his face in mortification at the dreamy quality to Kaworu's question. "Please, Kaworu. Drink your water."
"But darling," he pauses, losing his train of thought. "Do we call each other darling? What about "lovely"? Gosh, you are so lovely. How long have we been married?"
Having come to terms with the fact that his husband was an embarrassing sap years ago, Shinji resigned himself to going along with Kaworu's questioning with as much grace as he could muster. "For quite a few years, now."
"By the stars, I hit the jackpot. Man... you're the most beautiful person I have ever seen. Turn towards me, let me see your face." It wasn't like it could possibly get any more embarrassing than this, so Shinji complied, his face hot. "Whoa, your teeth are perfect."
Suddenly Shinji became aware of the poorly muffled laughter coming from the doorway. How naive he was, to think the worst of this was over. Rei's face was openly amused while Asuka wasn't even pretending to contain her raucous laughter any more, bent at the waist and clutching onto the door frame like a lifeline. Shinji groaned out softly and slumped into the chair by Kaworu's side, burying his face into the sheets like he had be desperate to do ever since Kaworu first started his flirtatious tirade.
Unaffected, Kaworu continued to wax poetic about Shinji's luscious locks, uncoordinatedly attempting to run his fingers through said hair, while Asuka struggled to breathe.
Secretly, he let himself smile a little, too.