Shinji almost flinched - he wasn't used to new people being quite so friendly. Well, that wasn't entirely true - he didn't think they should be that friendly to him. He wasn't worth it - but it was still a pleasant surprise when they were. Even i he wasn't sure about it. He gave the tile he was working on one more scrub, examined it earnestly to make sure that it really was clean (just because he was being forced didn't mean he was going to do a bad job), and shifted back.

He let out a long, slow breath and finally smiled at Minato - albeit weakly, but still a polite smile, with some genuine happiness buried under there somewhere. "Nice to meet you too, Minato-san. Ah..."

He needed a moment to come up with something to continue with. And to do some more scrubbing.

"How long have you been here?"