Sunrise was here, and two EVA pilots were about to clock in for their shifts. The husband-and-wife duo of Shinji and Asuka, both famously great pilots in their own rights, were prepared for another battle to save their home. They were informed well ahead of time that this particular scenario would be a bit more intense than normal. But they weren't two of the best pilots for nothing. In all honesty, it was all they had time to do with each other lately.

Shinji and Asuka had barely had sex since their honeymoon. It was fantastic, but it had been such a long time ago. Neither of them had much downtime on account of being EVA pilots, having little time for each other or even for themselves. The few times they had really been intimate with each other was on the rare occasion where they could have meet up together for lunch or dinner. By the time they both got back to their city-side apartment, they were both too tired to really do much of anything, and would quickly pass out for the night before getting up the next day to repeat the whole process.

"Well, here we go again," Shinji said, softly groaning as he walked through the entrance to the NERV center.

"We both signed on for the same thing," Asuka said, "No complaining on bad days."

"Heh, that's rich coming from you," Shinji retorted, "You nearly destroyed the break room when they ran out of creamer."

"I refuse to drink coffee black," Asuka replied, "You'd think they would know that already!"

Their bickering stopped as they had approached the adjacent locker rooms, noticing that one of them seemed to have yellow tape around it. Specifically the one labeled "Women".

"Oh great," Asuka said, "Now how do I change?"

"Well..." Shinji said, "There's always the men's locker room."

"You'd think I'd actually be allowed to change in there?" asked Asuka.

"We're married," Shinji replied, "How awkward can that be?"

"...touche," Asuka said, "Alright, just don't let any other perverts walk in while we're changing."

Shinji walked in first, making sure there were no other guys that would peek in on his wife. When the coast seemed clear, he motioned for her to follow behind him, which she did after making sure no one was in the hall to see her.

"Let's just do this quickly," Asuka said, "I don't want people asking questions."

Even though they were married, both of them faced away from each other while changing. Force of habit from their pre-dating days. Still, that didn't mean they wouldn't both take an occasional peek. Asuka saw Shinji's pants be casually tossed aside as he started grabbing his plugsuit from his locker. From the corner of her eye, she saw his shoulder blades spread as he inched his way into his plugsuit, longing for a time when she'd wrap herself around him all over again just like they used to. Shinji, meanwhile, started having similar thoughts when he saw Asuka's sundress float gently onto the bench. From the corner of his eye, he saw Asuka standing in her underwear, pulling out her plugsuit. It had been too long since he got to properly feel her up like a husband does to his wife, which was a heavy downside to his job.

After a minute, both got into their form-fitting plugsuits and casually exited the locker room, with none the wiser, and no further thoughts about each other...

...until the middle of their battle with an Angel, a more evolved form of Sachiel the 3rd Angel, donning two giant red circles on its torso instead of one. It's name was unimportant, it was a target that needed to be destroyed. Asuka had knocked it down onto its back, watching it pant from exhaustion. But looking at it on its back, her thoughts turned to Shinji, her husband lying there after a long day of work, her burning desire to pounce him like an animal, only to slip into exhaustion alongside him. Shinji, meanwhile, had approached the Angel and saw an opening on the torso...specifically in between the two red circles that masked it. But Shinji didn't see red circles. He saw his wife's double D breasts bouncing around, her nipples teasing him subconsciously.

Their respective distractions proved to be a downfall, as the Angel, in a sudden burst of energy, got up and knocked the two EVA pilots down. Neither one of them were expecting that move, nor were they currently of a sound mind to get themselves back on their metaphorical feet. Were it not for the intervention of their friend Toji, things could have ended a lot worse. Toji did not appear to have any trouble taking down the Angel, while Shinji and Asuka simply watched in confusion.

"I've never seen the head honchos that angry about a screw-up," Toji said.

The three pilots were walking side by side down the hallway after the chaotic battle they had just fought. Shinji and Asuka were mostly silent as their superiors made their disappointment clear. The married duo were clearly embarrassed about what happened.

"Seriously, what happened out there?" Toji asked, "You guys have never slipped up like that before!"

"I was...kinda distracted," Shinji replied.

"I had a few things on my mind, too," Asuka replied.

Toji knew what that meant. He knew the two of them were overworked and that also meant they probably hadn't done it in a while, even if it was a good stress reliever. Who'd have thought they wouldn't try the one surefire thing to cure what ails them?

"You know what you two need?" asked Toji, "You need a vacation!"

"But we can't!" Asuka exclaimed, "There's still a whole bunch of tests to do and who knows when the next Angel arrives?"

"The other pilots can handle it," Toji said, "You're not the only good pilots here, you know. Besides, you're married! You should spend some more time together doing something other than piloting giant robots all the time!"

"..are you sure about this?" asked Shinji, "You won't be too overworked if we're gone?"

"Psssh, naw!" Toji exclaimed, "We got this!"

Asuka and Shinji looked at each other in consideration, realizing, slowly but surely, that Toji was right. They really did need a vacation. They needed to go back to how they started their marriage...

"Okay," Asuka said, "If you so insist, Shinji and I will take some time off."

"Perfect!" Toji said, "And since we're such good friends, I'll even make the arrangements for a neat little...getaway."

"What are you thinking?" asked Shinji.

"Just," Toji replied with a wide grin, "Take some R & R around town for now, just relax. Leave the details to me."

It almost seemed like he was rushing them to get out, like he needed them gone for some reason. But the married duo didn't pay it any mind as they exited the NERV center, walking down the sidewalk hand in hand.

"Now for the arrangements..."

This chapter was more of a prologue/starter. The lemon scenes will come later in this fic. PROMISE.