Haunt Me newt and hermann :^)
Haunt Me- one character watching over another
It’s well past four in the morning when Hermann wakes, feeling a strange sense of unease under his own tiredness. He’s come to recognize the difference between his own emotions and sensations, and the ones that Newton is feeling. Apparently among especially strongly-compatible Drift partners, the emotional echoes can stay for months, possibly longer.
He sighs and swings his legs out from under the blankets, standing unsteadily and reaching for his cane. He shrugs on his bathrobe, stepping out into the hallway and heading automatically for the lab.
As he expected, the lights are on and there’s music playing (quieter than it would be during the day, surprisingly considerate) over the sounds of clanking, splatting and muttering. Hermann sighs heavily and opens the door.
Newt is hacking away at a section of some unnameable organ, dropping the pieces into an industrial-sized blender and humming unevenly to himself. He’s still wearing the same clothes he was yesterday, and they’re stained with all sorts of fluids. Hermann shakes his head and steps further into the room. Newt blows right past him, so far into his own head that he doesn’t even see the other man.
"Newton?"
"What?!" Newt yelps and spins around, noticing that he’s not alone for the first time. "Hermann? When did you get- what time is it?"
"Half past four am, Newton, you really ought to be asleep right now." The taller man rubs his forehead in exasperation.
"What? No, man, it’s, I haven’t been awake that long. I started working after breakfast yesterday."
"You started working on Friday, Newton, it is now Sunday. You need to go to bed; you are keeping me awake."
Newt stops his frantic movement for the first time, blinking up at Hermann. “Oh. The Drift, huh? Sorry.”
"Yes, the Drift, now return to your room and get some rest." Hermann nods once and taps his cane against the floor, punctuating his statement.
"Mmhm." Newt’s answer doesn’t inspire much confidence, his shoulders slumping as he bites his lip. Hermann feels the faint tug of hesitation mix with the weary anxiety flowing from his companion, and he sighs again.
"Or you may come sleep in my bed, if that is the only way I can convince you."
Newton’s head pops up at that, eyes wide and mouth hitching into a grin. “Really? Thanks, Herms!” He yanks a sheet of plastic over the kaiju parts he was working on, snaps off his gloves and comes bounding back over.
Hermann tsks and walks back to his room, occasionally hissing at Newt to be quieter as the smaller man careens down the hallway. Once the door closes behind them, Hermann carefully slips out of his robe and hangs it up, while Newton (under stern prompting) goes into the washroom and rinses off all the built-up stains and various crusts he’s gained over the past three days. The biologist comes back into the bedroom, wearing only underwear and a borrowed sleeping shirt, and crawls into bed, wrapping himself around Hermann without a second thought. He’s asleep within moments, and Hermann allows a fond smile to play across his face before he kisses the exhausted, exhausting man’s forehead and turns off the light.
