unexpected discoveries
Rating: T
Pairing: Newton Geiszler/Hermann Gottlieb
Summary: "Hermann Gottlieb giggles, apparently, a fact that neither Amara nor Newt is going to let go."
"This was a bad idea," Newt mutters, Hermann's arm slung over his shoulder, barely managing to keep the both of them upright; Hermann's grip on his cane tenuous at best as he leans into Newt's side fully, eyes half-lidded, a dopey smile on his face.
Amara shakes her head; mock-disgust. "You should've thought of that before you went out, maybe? And here I thought you were a genius."
Newt scowls at her, slightly cross-eyed, and hisses, "I am!"
She flashes him an indulgent smile. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Doc. Oh—" She means to warn him, but it's too late; Hermann's already tripping, dragging the shorter man down with him to the ground with a startled huff.
For a second, she thinks he's going to start yelling at Newt about being clumsy, but then—
He giggles.
It's almost a hiccough, but then he does it again and Amara realises, a delighted grin spreading across her face, that Hermann Gottlieb just giggled. Holy shit.
"Holy shit," she says, out loud, "Doc, do you have a—? Oh man, I have to record this, I'm never—"
"Don't you dare," Hermann hisses from the floor, untangles himself, partway, from Newt, and then when Newt reaches for his pocket, slaps his wrist. "I'm going to kill you, Newton, I will—I will murder you, you'll join Vanessa in the grave—"
Newt ignores his protests; tosses her the phone; says, slowly, as if speaking to a small child, to Hermann, "Babe, I saw Vanessa in the elevator last week."
Hermann sputters while Amara turns the phone on, deftly typing in the passcode—"Hey! That's—!""The day of your wedding, Doc, easy, you're such a closet romantic,"—and then says, to Newt, "Make him do it again."
"No," Hermann says, warningly, tries to pull himself up; unsuccessfully, in part, because Newt drags him back down again, a spark of mischief in his eyes, "Newton Geiszler, don't you dare—!"
But it's too late; Newt's hooked his fingers beneath Hermann's ribs, lightly, and Amara's got the camera on, recording as the physicist rolls around on the ground, giggling helplessly as Newt tickles him.
"I h—hate—I—," he gasps, unable to properly string together a sentence through his laughter; the glare he tries to level at them lacking intensity due to the combined factors of being plastered—he's actually surprisingly put-together, given the amount he drank—and Newt's relentless assault.
Finally, though, Newt falls back, lets the other slide to the ground, panting. "I detest you with every fibre of my being," Hermann grunts, once he can finally breathe. "You as well, Cadet Namani."
"Oh cheer up, you grump," Newt shoots back. "'mara, pass me the phone."
For a moment, she debates not doing so; he knows what she's thinking, she can tell, and he wags a warning finger at her. "Phone, please."
"Oh, fine," she huffs, "but if you never use it…"
"What do you take me for, Hermann?" he scoffs. "Nah, man, this is prime blackmail material, thanks. C'mon, let's get you to bed." The last bit's directed at Hermann, who glares, alternatingly, dourly, at the two of them as Newt helps him up. "Oh, c'mon," Newt laughs, "it's not like you haven't done anything similar to me before."
"Yes, but—" he flounders, scowls. "It's not comparable."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Newt replies, indulgently. "Good night, Amara."
"Goodnight, Doc, goodnight Doctor G," she returns, and watches as they make their way down the hallway towards their rooms, and, without meaning to, finds a small smile tugging at her own lips.
Hermann's first words to Newt the next morning are, "I need a cup of tea, now," followed by, once he's no longer blinking dazedly at the wall, "I detest you. You're a pest. Why did I ever agree to this—this—"
"Marriage," Newt offers cheerily, and refills the teacup, a thin wisp of steam curling up off of the surface.
The other scowls at him, but doesn't refute it. "You're a pest," he says, again, instead.
"But a cute one."
"…that depends on what one defines as 'attractive'," Hermann says, after a pause, and sighs. "Which, apparently, in my case, includes you."
Newt laughs. "Oh, come on, I'm not that bad, am I?"
"You really are."
"Well, for the record, I think you're cute too," Newt teases, "I dreamed that one day I'd be whisked away by a knight in shinning armour, but I think I prefer my knight in shinning wool and chalk dust better."
"Newton," Hermann scolds, but there's no heat in it, not with the way that a faint blush has rissen on his cheeks, the corners of his eyes crinkling despite his attempts not to smile.
Newt grins. "Hey, man, it's mutual. I think we've both wanted to bang—"
"Newton!" Hermann hisses, going scarlet. "I—you—"
"Sex is a perfectly natural—"
"No. Shut up. I cannot deal with this at this hour in the morning, I cannot," Hermann interrupts.
"Make me."
"Oh, you—"
