When Hermann returns from his meeting with Pentecost, it is to find Newton exactly where he had left him two hours before: dressed in ratty sweatpants and a hole-ridden tee shirt covered in sweat stains and other miscellaneous liquids, milling around his half of the laboratory with his headphones on, mumbling along to whatever obnoxious song he is listening to and flapping his hand in time with it. At this very moment, he is standing in front of one of his computer screens and bouncing on the balls of his feet as a program loads.
"Newton," he calls. "Newton. Can you hear me?"
"Not enough, I need more, nothing seems to satisfy it," Newt sings. "I don't want it, I just need it, to breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive. Load, dammit! Ba-ba-something, something, I don't know the words, show me that you love me and that we--- Fuck!"
Hermann had only placed his hand on Newt's shoulder, but the man jumps as if he's been struck, spinning around and nearly knocking Hermann over with his flailing. "Do be careful," Hermann exclaims, staggering back.
"Dude!" Newt yanks his headphones off. Hermann can hear the guitar and drums loud and clear even standing a foot away. "You be careful! You scared the shit out of me!"
"I did call your name," Hermann replies, unphased. Newton is never particularly pleasant to deal with in this state, and he is accustomed to it. "By jove, Newton, you smell like a garbage dump."
Newt shrugs expansively, gesturing at the mess of kaiju entrails on the table behind him. "Kind of an occupational hazard, man. I don't know what you want me to do about it."
Hermann reaches out and turns Newt's headphones off. "Perhaps taking a shower would be a start. You have not left this room in almost sixteen hours."
"That's not true," Newt protests, but then he pulls his phone out and checks. "Well, shit. I was in the zone, I guess."
"'In the zone,' indeed," Hermann says drily. "Well, you've missed breakfast, lunch, and dinner."
"Also not true!" Newt fishes around in his pocket and pulls out a protein bar wrapper. "I've been eating!"
"Nothing good," Hermann retorts. "Those do not count as meals."
"Uh, it clearly says 'meal replacement' right here."
"Not all three meals!" Hermann stops himself. "Besides, you need water." He points to Newt's empty water bottle.
Newt follows his gesture. "Damn," he says. "I knew I was forgetting something. That probably explains the headache."
Hermann shakes his head. "You would be dead were it not for me."
"Hyperfocus, man. Blessing and a curse." Newt shrugs again and reaches for his headphones.
Hermann bats his hands away. "No, you don't. You have been in here long enough. It's almost eleven pm; come get some sleep."
"Aw, Herms," Newt protests, dancing out of his reach. "I'm in the zone!"
"You are going to collapse," Hermann corrects. "Come with me."
Newt grins. "Is that an order?"
"Yes, it is."
Not ten minutes later, Hermann has Newt in his shower while he heats up two of the frozen meals from his small refrigerator. A kitchenette is not a luxury granted to many in the Shatterdome, but Hermann's disability sometimes prevents him from making his way to the mess hall. He has a small stock of frozen and nonperishable food, as well as a microwave and refrigerator/freezer combination, and it has served him well many times.
The first time the water turns off in the shower, Hermann knocks on the door and informs Newt in no uncertain terms that a five minute shower is not enough to make up for the three or four days it has been since he's last washed himself. Newt laughs, surprised and musical, and Hermann smiles despite himself. The water turns back on, and Hermann sets the two meals on his small bedside table. He normally prefers to eat outside of his bed, but Newt is prone to falling asleep suddenly following stints of prolonged work like this one, and Hermann would rather he do so in bed.
Ten minutes after Hermann's command that Newt shower more, the water turns off again and Newt steps out of the bathroom amidst a small cloud of steam, one towel wrapped around his waist and the other scrubbing at his hair. "Happy now?" he asks.
Hermann leans close and makes a show of smelling Newt's hair before kissing him on the forehead and deeming him acceptable. "Now, eat something before you fall asleep standing up."
"I'm not even tired," Newt protests. "I am hungry, though. I'll give you that. Can we watch Evangelion?"
"Of course."
Newt sheds his towels (Hermann makes a mental note to pick them up and return them to the bathroom later) and pulls on a pair of boxers before practically jumping into bed. While he turns on the television, Hermann strips down to his own boxers and undershirt and climbs in after him. Sharing a twin bed is not easy, per se, but it does give Hermann the perfect excuse to spend as much time as possible on top of Newt. Newt appreciates it, he knows. The pressure is comforting for him, just as the warmth and closeness is for Hermann. For now, though, he stays upright long enough to eat his dinner. Newt does the same and then pulls Hermann on top of him for a proper cuddle.
"Hey," Newt says, pressing a kiss to his hair. "I love you."
Hermann hums, closing his eyes. "I love you as well." He tucks his face into the crook of Newt's neck and presses a kiss there, just long enough to make Newt shiver.
Newt makes it through about fifteen minutes of the first episode of Evangelion before he starts snoring, breath going slow and deep under Hermann's ear. His heart beats even, too, lulling Hermann into sleep after him.
He wakes up some time later with the lights still on and a crick in his neck and Newt squirming under him, trying to relocate him without waking him up. He makes a small noise to signal his own wakefulness and Newt whispers an apology.
"Sorry, Herms. Gotta get up. Idea. Lab. Tell you later." He's out of the bed before Hermann can respond, tugging a shirt over his head and tripping into a pair of jeans.
"Turn off the lights?" Hermann asks as he leaves.
"Sure thing." The lights go out, and Newt is left silhouetted in the light from the hallway. "Love ya."
"I love you, too," Hermann responds, and goes back to sleep.