Another Hermann/Newton Fill
Fic: How They Shine For You.
Rating: NC-17.
Characters/Pairings: Hermann Gottlieb, Newton Geiszler, Mako Mori, Tendo Choi. Hermann/Newton.
Summary: Based on this prompt: During his first Drift with the Kaiju,Newt is recording himself for Science of course but not only. Just before pushing the button, he's leaving a message for Hermann: sweet love confession! Bonus if Hermann find it while Newt is searching Hannibal and this is why he's doing the second Drift with him.
Warnings: Unbeta'd, fluff, some sex stuff.
Notes: Wow, this got away from me.
After Newton runs off in search of the fabled Hannibal Chau and the Kaiju parts, Hermann starts trying to tidy the lab up, although perhaps it's in vain. He's trying to push the chair that only a few minutes earlier, Newton was sitting in, shaking and borderline hysterical, back to its place when he notices a small voice recorder sitting on it. Frowning, he picks it up, and despite his better judgement, starts to play the latest recording. He rolls his eyes when he hears Newton's blathering about science and winning, but after a pause, Newton starts speaking again, this time softer.
"Hermann, if you really are listening to this…I just wanted to let you know that, um…well, I guess if you're listening to this then I must be dead, so it won't hurt to tell you that I, uh, I love you."
Hermann's thumbing the pause button hard and has to sit down in the chair he was trying to move earlier. Surely he can't have heard that right? He puts a hand over his mouth and hits play, bracing himself for the rest of the message.
"I don't mean 'I love you' in the brotherly way, either. Like, I love-love-love you with a capital L status, dude. I know it doesn't seem like it, but, well… you're just so brilliant, and talented, and you have stupid sweaters and a dumb hair cut but I love the way your face lights up when you smile- which is like never, by the way- and this is getting really sappy really quick, but um. I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm glad I got the privilege to work by your side the past ten years."
Hermann is fighting the lump in his throat and he scrubs a hand down his face as Newton pauses again.
"Maybe if I had the courage to say this to your face earlier, maybe…maybe we could have had something. Something amazing, you know? I mean, you're the only person who has ever made me want to maybe, like, settle down. Be the best I can be. I love you for that, Hermann. Anyway, I think this has gone on long enough, so I'm going to go ahead and push the button now."
A second after Newton's finished talking, Hermann can hear the faint click of the button on the neural device clicking and Newt's sudden inhale. He clicks the recorder off before he can hear Newton falling to the ground and seizing, an event that's already been branded into his mind. Hermann remembers all too well the absolute terror he felt at finding his lab partner bleeding on the floor, and he's all too glad Newton seems to be acting like his normal self again.
He never gets a chance to talk to Newton about what he heard, though, because soon he gets a call to join Newton at the site of one of the dead kaijus and he watches as Newton shoves a giant needle into the brain of a dead kaiju fetus. Dread curls low in his gut as he realizes Newton is going to be attempting a drift again, and he can't let Newton die over this. He just can't.
Before he knows it, he's recalibrating the computer and telling Newton that he'll do it with him, but the way Newt looks at him? Hermann starts to hope, more than ever, that they do this and save the world, just so he can have Newton looking at him like that for the rest of his life.
They go into the drift together, and when they come out, both of them are bleeding, and Hermann not only feels the sudden rush of nausea, but the sting of broken blood vessels in his eye. When they're in the helicopter heading back to the Shatterdome, Newt slyly comments that they match, and Hermann's face flushes red. Now is not the time for flirtation or romance- although, a nagging part of his mind reminds him that he might not get another chance.
Later, much later, after the world is saved and their plan worked, after Newton hugs Hermann close and Tendo Choi raises an eyebrow at them, Hermann and Newton stay at the celebrations for a while before the after effects of the Drift start to wear them down. In companionable silence, they start to head back to their quarters. When they get to Hermann's door, he reaches into his pocket, pulling out the recorder he had slipped into his pocket before leaving to meet up with Newt again. When he catches sight of it, Newt's face immediately reddens.
"I uh, don't suppose you listened to that?"
The edge of Hermann's mouth quirks up, and he slides the small device into Newton's shirt pocket, then slides a hand behind Newt's head.
"Why do you think I offered to share the Drift with you? I couldn't see you like that again, especially when I knew how you felt," Hermann replies, and he can feel Newt's pulse start to race under his palm.
"Does this mean-"
His question gets cut off as Hermann leans his head down and captures Newt's lips with his own, one hand held tightly in Newton's unruly hair and the other holding tight to his cane. Newt doesn't disappoint, pushing Hermann against his bedroom door and caging him in with his arms as best as he can. When the hand cradling Newt's head slides down to his tie and tugs it down and over to loosen it, Newton gasps loudly into Hermann's mouth and then whines when the other man sinks down just enough to start mouthing at Newt's inked collar bones.
"M-maybe we should take this inside," Newt tries to say, but half of it comes out as a choked moan. Hermann just hums in response, left hand reaching around to grab a handful of Newt's ass as he continues to suck hickies against colorful flesh, biting back a smile at the noises he's drawing from his colleague.
"Please take that inside," a voice from their left says, breaking the silence, and both startle and look up, guilt all over their faces. Tendo Choi- of course it is- is standing there, bottle in one hand and a few glasses in the other, and staring at them with an expression that is far too amused for Hermann's liking. "Some of us like not having that sort of mental image scarred into our brains forever," he smirks, and Newt, despite his disheveled appearance, manages to bark back, "You're just jealous you're not getting any with someone as hot as us!"
Tendo laughs, loud and booming, and shakes his head. He holds up the glasses in his hand.
"Who do you think these are for?"
He shrugs lazily and continues to smile like the cat who ate the canary, adding, "I just won $300, too. Herc is going to be so miffed I was right all along!"
Without another word, he waltzes down the hall, whistling, and Newt turns back to Hermann, brow furrowed in a way that is absolutely not adorable, nope.
"What did he mean by that?"
"I believe we don't want to know, Newton."
"Hey!" Newt's face lights up, "You called me Newton!"
Biting back a sigh, Hermann brings his hand back to Newt's neck, squeezing gently.
"I do that quite a lot, Newton, but you never seem to notice. Too busy trying to antagonize me, I suspect."
Huffing, Newt doesn't reply, just reaches past Hermann and unlocks the door. He grabs hold of Hermann, who is still leaning against the door, and lets it open behind them.
"How on earth did you know my combination?" Hermann asks, and Newt just smiles.
"I know everything about you Hermy, remember?"
Before he can get indignant about the nickname, he's being kissed again, and Hermann finds he likes it quite a bit. They awkwardly shuffle back into his room, pausing only to shut and lock the door, before heading over to the bed in corner and settling down so they're both comfortable, and both of their coats are hung over the back of Hermann's desk chair, and his cane is placed next to the bed for easy access.
He won't admit it, but Hermann takes great pleasure in unbuttoning Newt's blood-stained button up- another unwelcome reminder of what happened earlier- and pulling his undershirt off. At first, Newt seems embarrassed by his slight stomach pudge, but when he sees the way Hermann is looking at him, he relaxes and lets the other man explore his tattoos with hands and mouth. When he gets to Newt's belt, he raises an eyebrow.
"How far down do your tattoos go, Newton?"
"Why don't you see for yourself?"
Hermann can't help fondly rolling his eyes at the line and does exactly that, unbuckling the belt and trying to peel those ridiculously tight jeans off his partner. Newt helps by standing up and helping him slide his pants and (also stupidly tight) boxer briefs off. Standing bare before him, Hermann has never seen Newton look more beautiful, and he beckons him back down onto the bed. They start to kiss again, but Newt pulls away.
"I think there's a little inequality going on here," he says, motioning towards Hermann's clothed self, and it's Hermann's turn to duck his head in slight embarrassment. He knows he's not the most attractive person, being as skinny as he is, and the scars from his leg injury are quite ugly. Newton doesn't seem to care, though, because he's helping Hermann shed his own layers and when the last piece of clothing is finally off, he sits back and evaluates what he sees. Instead of disgust or pity, though, his face is full of…awe?
"You're beautiful," he sighs, and then leans down to plant a reverent kiss on the thick knotting of scar tissue on Hermann's right hip. If at all possible, Hermann falls even more in love with the man above him then.
Newton moves so he's straddling Hermann's thighs, careful not to put any pressure on his injured leg.
"Is this okay? Let me know if I hurt you, alright?"
Newt asks without waiting for an answer, and starts to lean down so they're resting relatively chest to chest, and after some fumbling between them, manages to line their erections together, making sure to bring some of the wetness leaking from the tips of their cocks down to help the slide of their bodies against each other. Hermann sighs as Newt starts to rock them together, and he reaches up to grab at the other man's hips to help him rock, feeling triumphant when a harsh tug causes Newt's voice to get a little high pitched as he groans, "Oh fuck, Hermann, fuck," and he obligingly tilts his chin down so Newt's questing mouth can reach his.
They kiss sloppily for a while, Newt's knuckles white against the bed sheets he's so desperately trying to use for leverage. They're far too built up to make it last, and too tired from the day besides. When his mouth isn't attached to a part of Hermann's face or neck, Newt's running his mouth with every conceivable thought and feeling that he feels, his voice appropriately pitching depending on how good their movements feel. His hips are starting to snap with quick, hard thrusts, and Hermann knows he's close.
"Newton, look at me," he commands, and the other man hangs his head down to look at him. "I know now his not the best time," he accentuates this statement by pulling Newt's hips against his own, "But I thought I should let you know that I love you too."
Newt groans, mouth hanging open in an obscene O-shape, and Hermann repeats, "I love you, Newton."
Newt's back arches and he goes still as he comes between them, eyes never leaving Hermann's for a moment as he pants and moans his way through his orgasm. The feeling and Newt's face is enough, and with a few thrusts up against the other man's stomach, Hermann follows, hands flying to grab Newton by the hair and pull him down for a kiss.
They lay there for a moment, regaining their breath, before Newton carefully climbs off Hermann and sprawls next to him on the bed, glasses askew and hair pointing out in every direction.
"Holy shit," he says, and Hermann can't help himself. He laughs.
"That is one way to put it, yes."
He sits up enough to reach for Newt's discarded button up on the ground and uses it to wipe both of them off, although Newt's indignant squawk at his shirt being used is promptly hushed by Hermann's "Oh shush, it was ruined anyway", and they settle back down on the bed facing one another.
Never one to just let silence settle over them, Newton begins, "You know, I never thought that you'd actually listen to the recording. I mean, why would you possibly dig through my pockets if you found me dead? Like, what?"
Hermann frowns and reaches between them to grab Newt's hands with his own.
"I was so frightened when I saw you like that, Newton. When I found the recorder after you left, I couldn't help but listen to see what was possibly going through your mind that made you do something so…so stupid," He pauses as Newt tries not to look to indignant, "But I never thought I would find what I did. I knew I had to come with you in the Drift, that I couldn't leave you alone. Not ever again."
He pulls Newt's hand up and kisses it, suddenly feeling embarrassed at his own words, but the way his partner is almost glowing with happiness and relief makes the feeling fade quickly.
"Oh, yeah? Why didn't you say anything earlier?"
"I was afraid, but I realized that with the world ending, what other options did I have? I suppose that if our plan had failed, and certain death was upon us, I would have told you then."
"Well, good thing we kicked ass and saved the world then, huh? Gave us a chance to do this!"
Newton motions between the two of them and Hermann huffs, but lets the other man cuddle him closer anyway, although he has to resist the urge to worry over the various scrapes and bruises that now litter Newton's face and body. He saw through the Drift his near-death in the underground sanctuary, and he's immensely grateful that Captain Mori and Becket were able to catch the Kaiju that threatened his- well, whatever he is.
Eventually the stress from the day starts to wear down on them, and Hermann turns off the lights and lets Newton pull him too close for comfort. Just before they drift off, though, Newt begins to whisper.
"You know, ten years is a long time to love someone without doing anything about it."
"We've only known each other for exactly ten years, Newton."
"I know, I've loved you the moment I first saw you, Hermann."
At this admission, Hermann's face flushes and he shifts uncomfortably.
"I can't say that it was the same for me," he admits, quietly, but Newton doesn't seem to care, leaning forward to rub their noses together.
"You got there eventually, Hermann. I never thought you would but I am so glad you did. And now I don't ever want to leave you, not ever again."
He sits up on one elbow, and cradles the other man's face in his hand.
"What do you say, Doctor Gottlieb? How about another ten years?"
Hermann's not sure what exactly Newton is asking, but he licks his lips and slides a hand around Newt's hip.
"I don't believe that a sample of that size can yield accurate results. I propose we raise it to a higher number."
Newt seems to hesitate for a moment, before asking, "So, like…fifty years?"
Carefully, every so carefully, Hermann tenderly wraps his hands around Newton's left hand and brings it up to his lips, planting a kiss on his third finger. Newton's breath hitches, and Hermann pulls away enough to say, "Yes."
"Yeah, okay, yes, yes, Hermann, I absolutely- oh," Newt says in a rush, leaning back down to kiss the other man, and they get lost in each other again.
The next day, when they join their colleagues in the cafeteria, Newt slings an arm around Hermann's shoulders and announces that they're getting married. A low buzz of talking starts around them, but the loudest voice of them all is Mako Mori, whose "Yes!" is almost blocked out by Tendo's anguished "What?!" Moments later, Mako is grinning from ear to ear as she's handed an undisclosed sum by the technical officer.
Maybe they should be offended, but Newton is too damned happy to care, and Hermann's just glad his curiosity got the best of him. He smiles and lets Newt start yelling at Tendo and Mako in the most offended voice he can muster, and for once, Hermann is completely and ridiculously happy.
Rating: NC-17.
Characters/Pairings: Hermann Gottlieb, Newton Geiszler, Mako Mori, Tendo Choi. Hermann/Newton.
Summary: Based on this prompt: During his first Drift with the Kaiju,Newt is recording himself for Science of course but not only. Just before pushing the button, he's leaving a message for Hermann: sweet love confession! Bonus if Hermann find it while Newt is searching Hannibal and this is why he's doing the second Drift with him.
Warnings: Unbeta'd, fluff, some sex stuff.
Notes: Wow, this got away from me.
After Newton runs off in search of the fabled Hannibal Chau and the Kaiju parts, Hermann starts trying to tidy the lab up, although perhaps it's in vain. He's trying to push the chair that only a few minutes earlier, Newton was sitting in, shaking and borderline hysterical, back to its place when he notices a small voice recorder sitting on it. Frowning, he picks it up, and despite his better judgement, starts to play the latest recording. He rolls his eyes when he hears Newton's blathering about science and winning, but after a pause, Newton starts speaking again, this time softer.
"Hermann, if you really are listening to this…I just wanted to let you know that, um…well, I guess if you're listening to this then I must be dead, so it won't hurt to tell you that I, uh, I love you."
Hermann's thumbing the pause button hard and has to sit down in the chair he was trying to move earlier. Surely he can't have heard that right? He puts a hand over his mouth and hits play, bracing himself for the rest of the message.
"I don't mean 'I love you' in the brotherly way, either. Like, I love-love-love you with a capital L status, dude. I know it doesn't seem like it, but, well… you're just so brilliant, and talented, and you have stupid sweaters and a dumb hair cut but I love the way your face lights up when you smile- which is like never, by the way- and this is getting really sappy really quick, but um. I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm glad I got the privilege to work by your side the past ten years."
Hermann is fighting the lump in his throat and he scrubs a hand down his face as Newton pauses again.
"Maybe if I had the courage to say this to your face earlier, maybe…maybe we could have had something. Something amazing, you know? I mean, you're the only person who has ever made me want to maybe, like, settle down. Be the best I can be. I love you for that, Hermann. Anyway, I think this has gone on long enough, so I'm going to go ahead and push the button now."
A second after Newton's finished talking, Hermann can hear the faint click of the button on the neural device clicking and Newt's sudden inhale. He clicks the recorder off before he can hear Newton falling to the ground and seizing, an event that's already been branded into his mind. Hermann remembers all too well the absolute terror he felt at finding his lab partner bleeding on the floor, and he's all too glad Newton seems to be acting like his normal self again.
He never gets a chance to talk to Newton about what he heard, though, because soon he gets a call to join Newton at the site of one of the dead kaijus and he watches as Newton shoves a giant needle into the brain of a dead kaiju fetus. Dread curls low in his gut as he realizes Newton is going to be attempting a drift again, and he can't let Newton die over this. He just can't.
Before he knows it, he's recalibrating the computer and telling Newton that he'll do it with him, but the way Newt looks at him? Hermann starts to hope, more than ever, that they do this and save the world, just so he can have Newton looking at him like that for the rest of his life.
They go into the drift together, and when they come out, both of them are bleeding, and Hermann not only feels the sudden rush of nausea, but the sting of broken blood vessels in his eye. When they're in the helicopter heading back to the Shatterdome, Newt slyly comments that they match, and Hermann's face flushes red. Now is not the time for flirtation or romance- although, a nagging part of his mind reminds him that he might not get another chance.
Later, much later, after the world is saved and their plan worked, after Newton hugs Hermann close and Tendo Choi raises an eyebrow at them, Hermann and Newton stay at the celebrations for a while before the after effects of the Drift start to wear them down. In companionable silence, they start to head back to their quarters. When they get to Hermann's door, he reaches into his pocket, pulling out the recorder he had slipped into his pocket before leaving to meet up with Newt again. When he catches sight of it, Newt's face immediately reddens.
"I uh, don't suppose you listened to that?"
The edge of Hermann's mouth quirks up, and he slides the small device into Newton's shirt pocket, then slides a hand behind Newt's head.
"Why do you think I offered to share the Drift with you? I couldn't see you like that again, especially when I knew how you felt," Hermann replies, and he can feel Newt's pulse start to race under his palm.
"Does this mean-"
His question gets cut off as Hermann leans his head down and captures Newt's lips with his own, one hand held tightly in Newton's unruly hair and the other holding tight to his cane. Newt doesn't disappoint, pushing Hermann against his bedroom door and caging him in with his arms as best as he can. When the hand cradling Newt's head slides down to his tie and tugs it down and over to loosen it, Newton gasps loudly into Hermann's mouth and then whines when the other man sinks down just enough to start mouthing at Newt's inked collar bones.
"M-maybe we should take this inside," Newt tries to say, but half of it comes out as a choked moan. Hermann just hums in response, left hand reaching around to grab a handful of Newt's ass as he continues to suck hickies against colorful flesh, biting back a smile at the noises he's drawing from his colleague.
"Please take that inside," a voice from their left says, breaking the silence, and both startle and look up, guilt all over their faces. Tendo Choi- of course it is- is standing there, bottle in one hand and a few glasses in the other, and staring at them with an expression that is far too amused for Hermann's liking. "Some of us like not having that sort of mental image scarred into our brains forever," he smirks, and Newt, despite his disheveled appearance, manages to bark back, "You're just jealous you're not getting any with someone as hot as us!"
Tendo laughs, loud and booming, and shakes his head. He holds up the glasses in his hand.
"Who do you think these are for?"
He shrugs lazily and continues to smile like the cat who ate the canary, adding, "I just won $300, too. Herc is going to be so miffed I was right all along!"
Without another word, he waltzes down the hall, whistling, and Newt turns back to Hermann, brow furrowed in a way that is absolutely not adorable, nope.
"What did he mean by that?"
"I believe we don't want to know, Newton."
"Hey!" Newt's face lights up, "You called me Newton!"
Biting back a sigh, Hermann brings his hand back to Newt's neck, squeezing gently.
"I do that quite a lot, Newton, but you never seem to notice. Too busy trying to antagonize me, I suspect."
Huffing, Newt doesn't reply, just reaches past Hermann and unlocks the door. He grabs hold of Hermann, who is still leaning against the door, and lets it open behind them.
"How on earth did you know my combination?" Hermann asks, and Newt just smiles.
"I know everything about you Hermy, remember?"
Before he can get indignant about the nickname, he's being kissed again, and Hermann finds he likes it quite a bit. They awkwardly shuffle back into his room, pausing only to shut and lock the door, before heading over to the bed in corner and settling down so they're both comfortable, and both of their coats are hung over the back of Hermann's desk chair, and his cane is placed next to the bed for easy access.
He won't admit it, but Hermann takes great pleasure in unbuttoning Newt's blood-stained button up- another unwelcome reminder of what happened earlier- and pulling his undershirt off. At first, Newt seems embarrassed by his slight stomach pudge, but when he sees the way Hermann is looking at him, he relaxes and lets the other man explore his tattoos with hands and mouth. When he gets to Newt's belt, he raises an eyebrow.
"How far down do your tattoos go, Newton?"
"Why don't you see for yourself?"
Hermann can't help fondly rolling his eyes at the line and does exactly that, unbuckling the belt and trying to peel those ridiculously tight jeans off his partner. Newt helps by standing up and helping him slide his pants and (also stupidly tight) boxer briefs off. Standing bare before him, Hermann has never seen Newton look more beautiful, and he beckons him back down onto the bed. They start to kiss again, but Newt pulls away.
"I think there's a little inequality going on here," he says, motioning towards Hermann's clothed self, and it's Hermann's turn to duck his head in slight embarrassment. He knows he's not the most attractive person, being as skinny as he is, and the scars from his leg injury are quite ugly. Newton doesn't seem to care, though, because he's helping Hermann shed his own layers and when the last piece of clothing is finally off, he sits back and evaluates what he sees. Instead of disgust or pity, though, his face is full of…awe?
"You're beautiful," he sighs, and then leans down to plant a reverent kiss on the thick knotting of scar tissue on Hermann's right hip. If at all possible, Hermann falls even more in love with the man above him then.
Newton moves so he's straddling Hermann's thighs, careful not to put any pressure on his injured leg.
"Is this okay? Let me know if I hurt you, alright?"
Newt asks without waiting for an answer, and starts to lean down so they're resting relatively chest to chest, and after some fumbling between them, manages to line their erections together, making sure to bring some of the wetness leaking from the tips of their cocks down to help the slide of their bodies against each other. Hermann sighs as Newt starts to rock them together, and he reaches up to grab at the other man's hips to help him rock, feeling triumphant when a harsh tug causes Newt's voice to get a little high pitched as he groans, "Oh fuck, Hermann, fuck," and he obligingly tilts his chin down so Newt's questing mouth can reach his.
They kiss sloppily for a while, Newt's knuckles white against the bed sheets he's so desperately trying to use for leverage. They're far too built up to make it last, and too tired from the day besides. When his mouth isn't attached to a part of Hermann's face or neck, Newt's running his mouth with every conceivable thought and feeling that he feels, his voice appropriately pitching depending on how good their movements feel. His hips are starting to snap with quick, hard thrusts, and Hermann knows he's close.
"Newton, look at me," he commands, and the other man hangs his head down to look at him. "I know now his not the best time," he accentuates this statement by pulling Newt's hips against his own, "But I thought I should let you know that I love you too."
Newt groans, mouth hanging open in an obscene O-shape, and Hermann repeats, "I love you, Newton."
Newt's back arches and he goes still as he comes between them, eyes never leaving Hermann's for a moment as he pants and moans his way through his orgasm. The feeling and Newt's face is enough, and with a few thrusts up against the other man's stomach, Hermann follows, hands flying to grab Newton by the hair and pull him down for a kiss.
They lay there for a moment, regaining their breath, before Newton carefully climbs off Hermann and sprawls next to him on the bed, glasses askew and hair pointing out in every direction.
"Holy shit," he says, and Hermann can't help himself. He laughs.
"That is one way to put it, yes."
He sits up enough to reach for Newt's discarded button up on the ground and uses it to wipe both of them off, although Newt's indignant squawk at his shirt being used is promptly hushed by Hermann's "Oh shush, it was ruined anyway", and they settle back down on the bed facing one another.
Never one to just let silence settle over them, Newton begins, "You know, I never thought that you'd actually listen to the recording. I mean, why would you possibly dig through my pockets if you found me dead? Like, what?"
Hermann frowns and reaches between them to grab Newt's hands with his own.
"I was so frightened when I saw you like that, Newton. When I found the recorder after you left, I couldn't help but listen to see what was possibly going through your mind that made you do something so…so stupid," He pauses as Newt tries not to look to indignant, "But I never thought I would find what I did. I knew I had to come with you in the Drift, that I couldn't leave you alone. Not ever again."
He pulls Newt's hand up and kisses it, suddenly feeling embarrassed at his own words, but the way his partner is almost glowing with happiness and relief makes the feeling fade quickly.
"Oh, yeah? Why didn't you say anything earlier?"
"I was afraid, but I realized that with the world ending, what other options did I have? I suppose that if our plan had failed, and certain death was upon us, I would have told you then."
"Well, good thing we kicked ass and saved the world then, huh? Gave us a chance to do this!"
Newton motions between the two of them and Hermann huffs, but lets the other man cuddle him closer anyway, although he has to resist the urge to worry over the various scrapes and bruises that now litter Newton's face and body. He saw through the Drift his near-death in the underground sanctuary, and he's immensely grateful that Captain Mori and Becket were able to catch the Kaiju that threatened his- well, whatever he is.
Eventually the stress from the day starts to wear down on them, and Hermann turns off the lights and lets Newton pull him too close for comfort. Just before they drift off, though, Newt begins to whisper.
"You know, ten years is a long time to love someone without doing anything about it."
"We've only known each other for exactly ten years, Newton."
"I know, I've loved you the moment I first saw you, Hermann."
At this admission, Hermann's face flushes and he shifts uncomfortably.
"I can't say that it was the same for me," he admits, quietly, but Newton doesn't seem to care, leaning forward to rub their noses together.
"You got there eventually, Hermann. I never thought you would but I am so glad you did. And now I don't ever want to leave you, not ever again."
He sits up on one elbow, and cradles the other man's face in his hand.
"What do you say, Doctor Gottlieb? How about another ten years?"
Hermann's not sure what exactly Newton is asking, but he licks his lips and slides a hand around Newt's hip.
"I don't believe that a sample of that size can yield accurate results. I propose we raise it to a higher number."
Newt seems to hesitate for a moment, before asking, "So, like…fifty years?"
Carefully, every so carefully, Hermann tenderly wraps his hands around Newton's left hand and brings it up to his lips, planting a kiss on his third finger. Newton's breath hitches, and Hermann pulls away enough to say, "Yes."
"Yeah, okay, yes, yes, Hermann, I absolutely- oh," Newt says in a rush, leaning back down to kiss the other man, and they get lost in each other again.
The next day, when they join their colleagues in the cafeteria, Newt slings an arm around Hermann's shoulders and announces that they're getting married. A low buzz of talking starts around them, but the loudest voice of them all is Mako Mori, whose "Yes!" is almost blocked out by Tendo's anguished "What?!" Moments later, Mako is grinning from ear to ear as she's handed an undisclosed sum by the technical officer.
Maybe they should be offended, but Newton is too damned happy to care, and Hermann's just glad his curiosity got the best of him. He smiles and lets Newt start yelling at Tendo and Mako in the most offended voice he can muster, and for once, Hermann is completely and ridiculously happy.