R.N.A. “If you wish for us to be even… then we may both consider us to be even in terms of… owe-age.”
The words are basically magic, as Asuka seems a lot more comfortable with that confirmation. At least she knew for a fact this wasn’t some favor that was going to be held over her head later. No, R.N.A. had done something kind, and gotten something kind in return. It made the whole interaction feel… well, more normal for Asuka, even if maybe the help was nice sometimes.
R.N.A. “Possibly? But how… would it… know to move me… into such a position?”
“How did we end up on a magic train thing, y’know? We’re stuck in weird circumstances so, like, why not just assume? If it worked out, it works out! …Ugh, that sounds so fucking corny. I don’t mean that for any of the death stuff or whatever, but the Creature probably is fiine. It’s so fluffy and cute after all!” Is there a clear bias? Yes. Is Asuka going to stick to it? Also yes.
R.N.A. “Oh yes… I hope the others… aren’t too worried about my absence.”
“You are certainly… wonderful! You are always… kind to me. You give me… a chance when… I offer ideas.”
There’s a brief moment where Asuka finds herself opening her mouth, to mention that honestly it didn’t seem like anybody had really cared. Or noticed. Even though Asuka couldn’t fully tell that. But…Well…. As soon as R.N.A. actually has something positive to say about Asuka, her mouth slams shut. This time, there’s no argument of owing them something to be made either. It’s just a compliment.
“…Yeah, well, I think everybody was worried. It’s not special for people to care when we’re all, like, having issues, right?” For the record, she’s clearly just making that statement up on the spot. It’s incredibly obvious she’d have no clue either way - the thought counts though, right?
R.N.A. “…Does it bother you when I… help the others?”
“…I think it’s…Ugh. I don’t trust you, honestly.” Asuka lets out a sigh. “People don’t do nice things without expecting something back. That’s why doing things together is fine, but people get all super suspicious when you just don’t things for people, right? Like… You clearly want something if you butter people up, or something’s wrong with you. And none of it means you actually won’t just throw somebody away latter. So, uh…Yeah? Yeah, it does. It bothers you when you constantly do stuff like that.”
Asuka’s gaze moves to her feet, unable to stare at R.N.A. while she speaks. “So the fact you…I don’t know. You’re clearly lying, and if I enjoy it too much you’ll probably poison me or some shit. Why can’t you just like…talk or whatever? Or not constantly offer help all the time? All you’re doing is putting yourself at risk for soooo many reasons.”
She’s not very good at explaining her thought process on this, but she sure as hell can try.
“…It’s not personal.”
