[ Misato sighs at his insistence, and thinks of how only now is she learning to pick her battles. ]

I'm glad you're trying.

[ Tamed, as he is. See, she is also trying, squatting low to dig out a buried shell with a fingertip, collecting two of them in her palm before offering these to him. Like many parents, she lacks the capability to see him in any other light but the most forgiving, and assumes that is the one and only lens through which to view him. ]

Ask Lakshmi to teach you something useful for a man. Elena you don't have to worry about. She probably likes you already.