10. The Blood

Waking up comes as surprise to Hermann since he never expected any of them would be able to sleep that night.
He can't remember falling asleep but it must have been around dawn because that night seemed everlasting. Just one long, cold night that did not want to pass and the sickness in his stomach dissolving only slowly, ever so slowly, under the comforting warm surge of Newton's body heat.

He feels better now though, and the fact that they did fall asleep after all means their minds got calmed a lot more than he had dared to hope.

The soft weight of Newton's arm and leg slumped over his own body feels cozy and for a moment he just lies still, enjoying, pondering.
How to progress from here?
Will they have to spend more nights like this? And how do you meet someone after a night like this?
It certainly is a little awkward, but there is no doubt that his lab partner needed it as much as he did. So they should be professional about this. Yes, that sounds good.

But what on earth is the professional approach to waking up after a night of clinging together like drowning people, holding on to each other as the only way to keep your sanity?

As much as it goes against his wishes, just sneaking out without a word does not seem to be the road to take here.
So what he should do, probably, is get up and get dressed and then ask Newton to meet him for coffee and talk it over, like sensible people and, yes, probably get back to the hospital wing and have them determine how long these after-effects are expected to last.

After all the war is over. They will both have to go and find a new occupation and since it is not exactly likely that they will end up working together again, it is crucial to find out how much longer they will depend on each other like this.

And yes, the whole thing is embarrassing in a way, but there is a logical explanation for all this and any person who thinks this through logically can't deny the fact that this is what is their situation right now.
And if there is anything Hermann takes pride in, it is never denying the logical explanation. Even if it does make him slightly uncomfortable.

But discussing all this would be easier under less incriminating circumstances, so they could get to a professionally detached starting point.
Yes, that sounds like a feasible plan.
So – get up, get dressed.

Hermann moves carefully, trying to swing his good leg from the bed, but before his foot even gets close to the ground, two arms tighten around his chest and pull him back towards his sleep-over-companion. Newton yawns and then smiles at him with his eyes only half-opened. "Morning gorgeous." he mumbles and places a soggy kiss on the exposed skin, just under Hermann's ear.

Hermann chokes a little and feels his body stiffen. "What the-" he starts and then just doesn't know how to go on from there.
Who does that man take him for?
Granted – Newton is as good as blind without his glasses, but still, this is preposterous.

Suddenly nervous he pushes himself up to a sitting position.
Sleepy eyes glance up at him: "Want to get up already? I feel like we just fell asleep."
This is irritating. "Newton, get a grip. It's me, Hermann."
A tattooed arm reaches up, trying to pull him back down again. "Yeah, but we've won. We can sleep in today, we earned it."

Exasperated Hermann loosens the fingers that are grabbing his shirt and shoulder and tries to sound more stern: "Stop fondling me. We have to talk about these – weird consequences."
Not the way he had hoped to address this. Not at all.
Still in bed together and all. He feels vulnerable all of a sudden and crosses his arms in front of his chest.

"Oh." is Newton's sole reaction for a moment, before he turns to the nightstand, fishes for his glasses and then sits up, too, breaking the body contact.
The loss is unexpectedly uncomfortable and Hermann's first instinct is to move up to bring their skin together again. But he fights that and tries to catch his partner's eyes instead. However the other's gaze is glued to the sheets.
"I'm sorry, I thought-" Newton starts and then suddenly jumps from the bed, biting his lip and looking quite erratic. "God." he breathes and finally looks back at Hermann, still sitting in bed and quite at a loss of what to do. "Would you mind giving me a moment?" he asks. And he sounds hurt and sad and he looks like he is trying to just vanish into thin air.
This is wrong. This is very wrong. This is not how it was supposed to go.

After a moment's paralysis Hermann jumps up guiltily, searching the room for his clothes and walking aid.
Of course, he placed everything on that chair, right next to that obviously upset dark-haired man and he hobbles over. Newton doesn't catch his purpose appanretly as he looks at him all confused and there is a red spot forming where he's still furiously chewing into the delicate flesh of the lips and somehow, Hermann is not thinking very straight any more because he does not reach for his trousers, but brushes careful fingertips over the tense lips just saying "Don't.".

And he doesn't know why he's suddenly tasting blood, but it doesn't matter because that gaping hole, that had started growing in his chest, is closing up again and somehow he managed to make things right.

They decide to sleep in after all.

TBC