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"It’s not that I find you completely incompetent," Hermann says, startling Newton slightly as he appears just to his left, clumsily sliding down to sit next to him against the steel wall. He stares a moment longer, eyes somewhere on Newton’s chin, then mumbles unintelligibly to himself and rubs angrily along a brow.
"Well thanks, man," Newton responds slowly, tilting his head slightly and narrowing his eyes. “That was… Almost a compliment."
Hermann exhales sharply and rolls his eyes, nearly making eyecontact before glancing away and across the mess hall, watching the rest of the partiers as Newton had been before he arrived.
Newton sighs slightly, decides to take pity on his socially backward ass of a lab partner, and reaches up to sling an arm around Hermann’s neck, pulling down until his head is pillowed somewhat on Newton’s chest; it’s slightly awkward with their heights, but not completely uncomfortable.
"I-It troubled me deeply to find you in the lab after your first drift with the kaiju brain," Hermann stutters out after a few silent beats, one of his hands curling into Newton’s shirt. “That was very, very foolish of you, and I’ve still not forgiven you for it."
"Hey," Newton says in offense, though mostly joking. “I saved the world, you should be bowing at my scientifically superior feet.”
"Very foolish," Hermann repeats after a moment, near mumbling. “Very, very foolish.”
Newton clicks his tongue, pursing his lips slightly as he presses a cheek against the mess of Hermann’s hair. “You don’t drink very often, I always forget that."
"How could you always forget if it never happens?" Herman asks, sounding almost petulant.
"I also forget the great Dr. Hermann Gottlieb is allergic to common parlance, forgive me," Newton responds sarcastically, then pats Hermann on the chest with an open palm.
“Didn’t want to find you again," Hermann mutters, shifting his head against Newton so his skull presses hard into a collarbone. “So I drifted with you into that damnable beast, risking my own life."
Newton inhales in quiet surprise, then swallows, actually a little speechless. “Oh, buddy," he says, pressing an awkward kiss against Hermann’s temple. “Love you, too."
“‘S not love," Hermann disagrees belligerently, though he makes no sign to move. “I simply took into odds how it would look for you to expire under my watch; purely mathematical, I assure you."
"It’s okay, I won’t tell anyone you’ve got feelings," Newton stage whispers, grinning just a little helplessly. “It’d ruin your tetchy robot image."
"I despise you, to the depths of my very soul," Hermann mutters, lazily flicking at Newton’s fingers splayed across his chest. He shifts slightly upwards, then grimaces, and Newton slides downwards to make up for it, realizing quickly what happened.
"I think I’m going to fix your leg," Newton announces, tipping his head sideways once again, and squeezing his arms together until a now silent Hermann starts to grumble. “And then we’re going to go surfing in Hawaii, because no one’s left there and I’ve always wanted my own island."
Hermann barks out something of a laugh. “That’s… Quite noble, b-but highly improbable, I’m afraid."
"Dude, I’m literally the top medical biologist on Earth, which I just saved," Newton reminds him with a scoff. “So I’m going to fix your leg, and then we're making Oahu our bitch."
Hermann sighs softly, reaching up and tapping the side of Newton’s face in a way that was probably meant as gentle.
"Or I’ll get you a robot one, and that’ll be awesome too," Newton allows, grabbing the hand. “Bionic Hermann."
"I refuse to surf," Hermann responds after a moment of relative silence. “Englishmen do not surf."
"Okay, we’ll go to Vegas," Newton agrees easily, shifting focus and taking a thoughtful breath. “We can count cards - "
"I’ll count cards," Hermann corrects dryly. “You couldn’t count sheep.”
"We have to work as a team, dude, there’s this whole thing - You really need to watch more movies, we’ll do that, too."