Building mailboxes...for love!~

[tohko_amano]

Characters: [au1] Rei Ayanami, Tohko Amano, and anyone else who wants to wander in!
Setting: Floor 15
Format: Prose, but we'll take action as well.
Summary: Having come up with a matchmaking scheme, Tohko and Rei start making mailboxes that they'll use in it. However, will they succeed?
Warnings: Rei might give players some nightmare fuel with her jaw, and there might be some injuries while making these things.

Tohko finally arrived at room fifteen, and caught her breath. Rei's ability to dislocate her jaw was creepy, but she thought she'd finally managed to get past that. Looking around the room, she saw that there were plenty of tools to help get the pair started with their mailboxes-lots of wood, nails, and a few hammers, as well as other materials and tools were scattered about the room. While Tohko wasn't used to physical labor, she promised herself that she'd do her best, and picked up a hammer, pondering how she should start.

Comments

[tohko_amano]

"Well..I wasn't planning on having a pole, but it's easier to have the door on the bottom so that some people don't notice it." Tohko looked at Rei's half-finished box and asked, "Where are you putting your door, Rei?"

[terreifying]

"Oh, I don't really need one, but I guess I can put it on the bottom too."

[tohko_amano]

"Oh, alright then. Well, I'm not forcing you to put one on. If you don't want to put one on, you don't have to." Tohko smiled as she half-hammered a bottom to her mailbox. That was one finished. All it needed was a lock to keep it fully in place. Other than that, it was finished, and Tohko started building the next one.

One down, six more to go..

[terreifying]

Rei puts a door on the bottom of her mailbox and starts on the next one as well.

"So...how long do you think it'll take people to notice?"

[tohko_amano]

"Hmm..well, since we're putting them in highly-visited locations, it probably won't take people long. Plus, if we send out a message about it on the network, it'll really help to get the word out." Tohko almost finished another mailbox before realizing that she had forgotten to write a small introduction on the front wall of her two boxes.

Luckily, there was a pen lying in a box in the room, and with it, Tohko scribbled this on the front walls of her boxes:

'If you need help with your love life, please write to us. We will help you!'

With that finished, she finished one more mailbox before starting on another. These weren't hard to make, which surprised Tohko a little.

[terreifying]

"What about something like this?"

Rei uses a pen to scribble on her finished box. However, her text is rather different.

"Find love today! Drop us a letter!"

[tohko_amano]

"Oh! That's much better!" Tohko flashed Rei a thumbs-up, and while she couldn't undo the writing she had already done, she promised to use that line on the other mailboxes she made.

As she started on another mailbox, Tohko grew curious. "Hey, Rei, is there anyone you love?"

[terreifying]

Rei is silent for a moment, opting to just work on her mailbox. Finally, after hammering another board into place, she speaks.

"...Yeah, I love lots of people."

[tohko_amano]

"Ah..I see. Well, that's great!" Tohko said nervously as she finished off another mailbox and scribbled the line on it. Maybe she shouldn't have brought that up. That was really awkward.

[terreifying]

"Yep! I love my mom and my dad and my seven sisters and my big brother Shinji and Shinji's girlfriend 'Suka and my friend Kensuke..."

Rei starts listing her entire class and almost all members of NERV. It's as if she's not distinguishing between the various types of love.

[tohko_amano]

Tohko chuckled a little. "It's great that you love all those people..but do you have someone you love romantically? You know, someone you'd want to spend the rest of your life with?" She asked as she started on another mailbox. So she wasn't the only one who confused romantic love with various other types of love.

[terreifying]

This makes Rei go silent again. It takes a longer while before she answers.

"Maaaaaybe."

[tohko_amano]

Tohko chuckled nervously again. "It's alright if you don't want to tell me. It is a pretty personal question."

[terreifying]

"Thanks."

Rei's voice is more subdued than it had been before. The truth was she did love someone, but that love was forbidden.

[tohko_amano]

"No problem." Tohko, reminded of the fortune teller she had gone to, and her state of romantic slaughter, sighed.

[terreifying]

"Then, what about Tohko? Do you have a family or friends you love?"

[tohko_amano]

"Let's see..I lived with my aunt, and her son, Ryuto, and while Ryuto's girl-chasing was annoying, he was pretty nice. And I had a friend at school who helped me solve a mystery!..As for love.." Tohko sighed and looked at Rei sadly.

"I'm in a state of romantic slaughter. A few months ago, I went to see a fortune teller, and she told me that if I ever fell in love, it would crash and burn, and even if the other guy accepted me, it would be short-lived, and my heart would shatter into itty-bitty pieces." Tohko paused for a moment to hammer in another nail before continuing.

"However, she did say that in seven years, I'd get rid of my romantic slaughter and meet the man of my dreams. I'd meet him in the summertime in front of a bear with a salmon in it's mouth, while he'd be wearing a white scarf. The fortune teller made it clear that our love would be really short, so I had to make the most of it while it lasted. So, I'm sworn off love for seven years." Tohko finished off another mailbox as she spoke. Five down, two to go.

[terreifying]

Rei listens, nods, and then bursts out laughing.

"So you're just gonna believe what a fortune-teller told you? Nothing is set in stone, not even destiny. You know, someone said that ADAM was destined to destroy the world, but Shinji kicked his ass and later I did it too. As long as you've got enough willpower, anything can work out!"

[tohko_amano]

Tohko stood there, frozen in shock for a moment before pouting a little. This reaction, in some ways, was much worse than the one Konoha had given her, and it didn't help that she had no idea who ADAM or Shinji were.

"But, if the fortune-teller was right, wouldn't that make a great bittersweet love story?" Tohko asked. Even though she was pouting, she knew that Rei was, in a way, right. Even fortune-tellers were wrong sometimes in the stories, and sometimes..even the best stories were about the characters kicking destiny in the face.

The truth was..that she wasn't quite sure how she felt about that 'friend', Konoha. On the one hand, she had some feelings for him. Not a whole lot, but some. On the other, he didn't seem to like her in that way.

[terreifying]

Rei stops working on her box and leans close to Tohko.

"Would you rather tell a good story? Or would you rather be happy with the man you love?"

[tohko_amano]

Tohko bit her lip and thought. Waiting seven years would make a good story..but if the love was short, would she really be happy with that? After a few moments, she responded, blushing slightly.

"I suppose..that the better story would come from me being happy with the one I love. Not that I know who that is yet."

[terreifying]

"Of course. Just because you have trouble now, doesn't mean you can't still love. And you don't have to fall in love with the same person only once."

Though Rei hasn't dated anyone yet, she's seen enough people falling in love and being in love around her to get some gist of the situation.

"I bet you'll know when you see him. Or if you stay around him long enough, he'll endear himself to you."

[tohko_amano]

"That's true..and yeah. I'll probably know after I've been around him for awhile. Hopefully he'll be a nice guy, like The Master, or The Prince." Tohko smiled as she looked Rei in the eye.

"Thanks. That..helped me out a lot." She said, smiling.

[terreifying]

"Is he here? Maybe you'll even get his letter!"

She's glad that she could help at least one person today.

[tohko_amano]

"None of my friends or family are here." Toko replied. "It'd be nice if Konoha came here though. His stories were always nice to read..even if they were a bit too spicy sometimes. Although..it would be nice to get a love letter in this box." Tohko said happily.

"And Rei, if you ever need help in your love life, talk to me, alright?" It was the least she could do for what Rei had done. Besides, Rei was a nice girl.