"Merry Christmas, Hermann." He caught the other in a brief, warm kiss before he pulled back to look up at him. "I know you're supposed to bring something wrapped, but you didn't, so I don't feel too bad, sooo..." He offered up a manila envelope, looking both anxious and eager. Inside was paperwork, detailing the information he had compiled on Hermann's leg injury, and the plans for implementing Stark tech to repair it.
He was smiling as Tony made his excuses knowing full well that it wouldn’t bother the mathematician in the slightest. Hermann had, partly hoped that Tony wouldn’t get him anything this holiday season, if only so he could feel some sort of pride in the knowledge that just for once, he had done something for Tony.
Of course it was in the engineers nature to be overly-kind and so he had feigned surprise at the gesture, eyes widening the slightest measure as Tony’s figure approached him with gift in hand. Tony gave too much, and it was one of the many reasons why Hermann felt such a binding sense of loyalty to the other. He took the envelope that was held to him, looking at it curiously before carefully unsealing it and pulling the contents from within.
He was silent, propping his cane against the bench and leaning his frame against it for support while he read through the first page. At first, his expression was utterly perplexed, the information that was presented to him as he shuffled through each page taking several moments to sink in. Then the confusion was displaced, his visage shifting to show something else entirely. He was uncertain how long he’d been standing there, seemingly stuck on the same page and reading with unseeing eyes but he realised, rather belatedly, that he was trembling.
"Tony… I…" His eyes roamed the page, papers splayed out and rustling in his quaking hand. "This…" He finally looked up, swallowing thickly as though seeing the engineer for the first time. "I have no words." With a deep breath, eyes closing for the longest pause, he regained his composure enough to utter a whispered, "Thank-you."
