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WHO: Newt Geiszler & Hermann Gottlieb - eventually Mako Mori [CLOSED]
WHERE: De Chima (two hotels, two taxis, one cafe, and the porter ~~in a pear tree~~), then Maurtia Falls (Newt's apartment)
WHEN: August 15th-16th - immediately following the August 2015 Swear-In, after Qubit portals them out - forward from there
WHAT: The scientists yell, they argue, they cry, they hold each other together. Then they invite Mako for pizza and try not to spoil their canon for her.
WARNINGS: Newt drops several F-bombs and other lesser curses. Lots of arguing, some serious some childish. Some throwing up. Discussion of their respective mental/physical conditions. Panic attacks. Discussion of self-experimentation of the dissection variety. A single mention of embryonic stem cells. Newt puts his tea on ice--and that's apparently sacrilegious to Hermann.

Hermann and Newt - De Chima to Maurtia Falls
( I know that I've got issues | But you're pretty messed up too )

Hermann, Newt, and Mako - Maurtia Falls
( Either way I found out | I'm nothing without you )

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"I would like some tea as well." Mako spoke after Hermann, choosing to wait to see what the other would have chosen first. This way it is less of an imposition on Newt.

So, they had been in De Chima. She had tried to find them before the swearing in, but after had been...chaotic. She had run as soon as she could, to her disappointment in herself.

Next time, if there was a next time, she would look for them until she found them.

"I understand. I did not go in to work today, so it isn't a problem." Even if she had been at work, she would have come, though it would have been later rather than almost immediately.

"I am well." It's only a slight lie. She is in one piece and safe. The only lingering affects from the gas are a slight shaking in her hands, which is why she hadn't gone to work.

"Are you both well?"

He listened as he prepared her tea (and Hermann's, making it to spec) and loaded a plate with two slices of pizza for Hermann. "Pretty sure no one went to work today," he helpfully added.

Newt brought her tea first, juggling with it a little sugar and the bottle of honey (because he wasn't sure how she took it) with a skill that would make Tendo proud. "We're good. I mean, I'm good, and I assume Hermann is good." Speaking in the We and Us between them was one thing, but it was kind of weird to speak for Hermann in front of Mako, even if it came out without a second thought. "We've just been hanging out, you know. Doing science."

They were awesome lies, okay.

He returned to the kitchen, stealing back Hermann's now empty coffee mug as he left, and then reappeared with Hermann's plate, a handful of paper towels for napkins, and a new mug, this one steaming and filled with tea.

"More or less," Hermann said to supplement Newton's response. His smile grew a little tight around the edges because there was no easy way to summarize the past twenty-four hours and there were some things she still didn't know about them.

He watched as her fingers trembled around her tea and knew she hadn't escaped unscathed either. They should've been there for her.

But he accepted his food and tea with a grateful nod and set the former down on the coffee table until Mako had secured her own. For now, he decided a shift in topic was in order, and he latched onto Newton's claim of 'science' rather than thinking too long about the panic attacks they keep narrowly avoiding.

"I'm looking into teleportation." The word always felt vaguely fictional on his tongue, but he was more than aware it was possible in this world. "It's apparently an ability of mine. Should be useful if such an event happens again. With any luck, I'll be able to transport more than myself."

That caught Mako's attention. While she knew the rest of the Shatterdome often thought of the two scientists as a unit, they did not.

She took a careful sip of her tea and watched Newt putter around the apartment. Truthfully she wasn't hungry but if directly offered again she would take a piece of the pizza.

"Teleportation? You were given that when you arrived?" Now, that was truly a power of use. Imagine that with Jaegers- She shook her head, chastising herself for becoming distracted.

"You were both at the swear-in? I looked for you at the exhibits." I couldn't find you. is the unspoken continuation of that thought.

Newt was admittedly a terrible host and given that Mako expressed little interest in the pizza, he failed to continue to offer it. His uncle would have been so displeased with his manners (but then his uncle insisted on shoving food at guests).

In the meantime, he had fetched himself a slice of pizza, no plate and returned to the livingroom space. Newt swallowed his bite slowly after the mention of teleportation, not keen on choking, though maybe that'd be preferential to thinking about the experiments Hermann would be doing for it. He slid over and perched on the arm of the sofa near Hermann, giving a sheepish shrug and looking at Hermann as if to decide who was supposed to apologize for them, two of them, collectively. It was incredibly hard to stop this Us-think.

"Well, we did leave the exhibits early to see the awards show."

Hermann threw Newton a glare and sighed, then set about laying a slice of pizza on a makeshift napkin plate and levered himself up to set the actual plate over on the far corner near their guest with the extra slice.

"You should eat something Miss Mori, even if you may not be feeling up to it. I should know."

He settled back down and cradled his tea once more. "Our apologies for missing you. The exhibition hall was exceptionally crowded." Not that the award show hadn't been, but there at least, he'd managed to wrangle a seat.

"...Thank you, Dr. Gottlieb." With her apparent refusal and hunger so plainly objected to, there is little she feels is appropriate but to take the offered plate and at least try to eat something. Hermann was right, however. She did not feel up to it at all.

"There is no need to apologize. We could have made plans to meet if it had been necessary." Which it certainly had not been. Mako had enjoyed having free reign to explore as she pleased, and meeting Qubit before the attacks had been refreshing as well.

"Are you-" She paused, setting the pizza back down and clasping her hands in her lap to stop the shaking that still persisted.

"Were you both there for the attack?"

Fear pooled quickly in his stomach and Newt's hand reached out to Hermann's shoulder, squeezing it once firmly, then relaxing into a rather unconscious and slow kneading-massage in place that was as much for himself as it was for Hermann.

"Just at the start." The nervousness in his voice betrayed his attempts to play it off like it wasn't that bad. "We were out before the roof--"

He felt the fear spike through in his heart rate, and his hands closed more tightly around his mug. Newton's reassurance helped some, self-conscious as he was of the gesture.

"We managed to escape without injury," he supplied where Newton broke off. "Our friend Mr. Qubit provided us with a portal to a safe location. I'm assuming you were there as well?"

Edited 2015-09-03 06:55 (UTC)

Mako stared at the hand on Hermann's shoulder for a long moment, the question forgotten as she puzzles over the meaning of that touch. In all of her years knowing the scientists she had never seen them touch each other so willingly.

"Yes, I was there." She finally answered the question, nodding just once. "I'm not hurt." It came as an afterthought, but she wanted them to know that she was fine.

Newt looked guiltily down at his pizza. She was there and, looking back, he was pretty sure he hadn't even thought to rescue her. Or Hiro. Or anyone else he actually saw, whether he knew them or not. He may not have even pressed for Qubit to come with them through the portal had Hermann not suggested it first. Wow, I am a shitty person.

He was glad she wasn't injured, but Newt didn't trust that she wasn't hurt, because not all pain was physical and apparent and he suspected she, like Hermann and Newt himself, was still struggling with the hallucinations; even if the actual hallucinatory drugs had worn off, those visions weren't likely to go gently into the night.

"Good. I mean, that you're not hurt." Then, even at the risk of being insensitive, because what the hell, he was already shit as it was and he was curious and it was somewhat scientific, he asked, "What did you see? Ah, that is, if you don't mind me asking."

The derogatory feelings that rolled through him were most certainly unwelcome. Self-loathing. They'd have to have some kind of talk about that at some point, preferably in the far-flung future.

Granted, the question was rather insensitive, and he shot the man a frown.

"Excuse him, Miss Mori. There's no need to answer that. We're simply relieved to see you're in one piece. Would that we could've been of assistance."

Mako dropped her gaze to the tea in her hands, frowning into the steam as she considers the question and the fact that she doesn't have to answer it.

But why shouldn't she?

"Onibaba's attack on Tokyo." The scientists knew she had lost her parents, but not how. She hoped they would be able to put the pieces together. She could not bring herself to say the words.

"Mr. Qubit helped. I got home safe." That was what was important. They were all safe.

Instead of jumping into fighting Hermann at that look, Newt's expression was apologetic and a bit like a scolded puppy, though the wordless apology seemed directed more at Hermann than Mako.

"I'm sorry." This, now, to Mako about her visions. What a day to relive, but he filed that information away to scrutinize for science later.

He seemed to perk at her mention of Qubit. "He's been a lifesaver. You know if Qubit got himself out? He wouldn't come with us and you're the first person we've contacted since."

Hermann's frown turned on Mako, this one softer and more sympathetic. She had been so young. How terrifying that must have been for such a small girl. Not to mention losing her parents and being adopted into military life. And now even Pentecost was gone.

If he could reach, he would've attempted to impart some measure some level of comfort. They weren't replacements for her family or Pentecost, but they could stick together at least.

"The Kaijus are gone now, Miss Mori. We can only be thankful for that." Maybe not permanently, but they had peace for the foreseeable future- both here and back home.

"I'd hardly call them gone." Of course there were no Kaiju here, but back home there was still the threat. The Breach was still open.

Still, she looked at both of them curiously.

"What happened to both of you?"

"No, they're--they're gone. Basically."

Probability of Breach reopening was infinitesimally small, even if it was something he and Hermann had discussed and would likely be worried about when they returned, but for all intents and purposes, the Kaiju were gone and--that wasn't what she was talking about, was it. Newt exchanged a look with Hermann as a mixture of surprise and vague alarm dawned over his face.

He giggled nervously. Shit. Why did she have to be so bright? Why couldn't they have gotten a lug-head pilot like Hansen's son (no, no don't think about Chuck right now--Oh my god she doesn't know about Chuck. She doesn't know about Pentecost--Hermann, what are we going to do??!)-- "H-hold up! What's the last thing you remember? I mean, back home."

Hermann gave her a puzzled look. Perhaps for them, and particularly for her, they'd never be truly gone, but after twelve long years of global destruction, they had peace. It was worth something.

"Otachi in our case, primarily." A primal fear he could still vaguely feel, even now. He refused to go into detail about what had 'happened' precisely.

It was possible Newton had the right of it, however. He did recall mention of people being drawn from alternate points in time. He just hadn't put any stock into the possibility until now.

"We closed the Breach, Miss Mori. Or rather, yourself and Mr. Becket did so."

Edited 2015-09-04 08:15 (UTC)

She immediately set her tea down as Newt begins explaining, and when Hermann speaks up to tell her they closed the Breach-

They closed the Breach. She and Raleigh do it?

"No, we haven't. We just took down Otachi." They had just gotten back to the Shatterdome. She had arrived still in her pilot's uniform.

"But that's not what I'm asking." She took a deep breath here, looking between the two of them for a long moment.

"You're acting strangely."

That got more nervous laughter from Newt. They were acting strangely? Uh. He withdrew his hand from Hermann's shoulder. When did that get there? Where should he put it now, uh...

"No, yeah, we--we closed the Breach. Definitely closed the Breach. You're about...three Kaiju behind schedule here--four, actually, if you count..."

He would forgive Hermann if he told her Newt drifted with a Kaiju and made no mention of himself. But it was a cool story. Their part, at least. Mostly cool. Some parts were less cool. Yeah, actually, maybe they shouldn't tell her anyway, though that look she was giving them was making Newt wonder if they even had enough deception skills between the two of them to keep her in the dark.

And speaking of not telling: Hermann, why did you have to tell her who closed the Breach? Striker was supposed to run point on that mission. Fortunately Mako was more concerned with their behavior, and maybe that was good. Maybe they could keep her more concerned with their weirdness. Telling her they drifted with a Kaiju was a lot safer in comparison to the story of the Breach. Yeah, yeah let's stick to that.

It was something of an oversight either way, and Hermann internally winced along with Newton. She'd caught onto their behavior, and he spared a brief wonder for how they were before. Except he knew, because actual physical contact between them had been quite rare and now it was.. comfortable.

She was behind, although not significantly in terms of time. But in all other ways that mattered. What should they tell her? No wonder people sent back to their worlds didn't remember anything, if there were paradoxes to consider. At least they didn't have to worry about that.

Taking a measured sip of tea, Hermann used it to clear his throat and set his mug down.

"I'm sure there's no point in keeping this from you Miss Mori, so I'll be frank. In our.. dimension, Newton and I drifted with Otachi's dying offspring. We discovered the key to getting through the Breach and returned to LOCCENT to make certain the operation didn't fail. Two more Kaiju had risen from the Breach- Scunner and Raiju, I believe- and later Slattern, the world's first- and thankfully last- Category Five Kaiju. Together with Striker Eureka, you managed to defeat them and the operation was a success. Newton and I were drawn here almost immediately afterward."

"You drifted together with a Kaiju." She knew Newton had, but she had trouble imagining that Hermann would put himself in such a situation. However, she also knew drifting alone nearly killed Newton.

Mako shook her head, imagining the difficulty that must have involved. And then a Category Five appeared at the Breach when they were attacking it? Was that coincidence or had there been an exchange of information that helped with that? Either way, it was all almost unbelievable, but she had no reason to mistrust them. They knew she would be able to figure it out eventually.

"Thank you for your honesty." They had closed the Breach! Amazing. And that explained the strange behavior. Of course they had Drifted. It made complete sense.

"I am glad we were successful."

"Me too. You have no idea." Knowing what the Precursors had in store for Earth made Newt all the happier that Earth's final stand was a success, no matter the costs. The drift, and any damage to his brain as a result, had been worth it.

He was pretty sure the Jaeger pilots who died would agree that their sacrifices were also worth making for humanity.

"And yep! We drifted... are drifting, now." There was a pride and enthusiasm not entirely unlike his research in Kaiju. Unintentionally, there was an emphasis on the idea of a We that he just couldn't get rid of, and maybe, if his smile was any indication, didn't really want to. "I don't remember if we told you yet, but that's one of our powers, to perma-drift with each other. So if I seem kind if weird, that's why--I've got a permanent case of Hermann on the brain. Anyone would be weird with that."

Hermann dipped his head in a nod, brushing off a twinge of guilt for the omissions in the face of her gratitude. They likely should tell her, because there would never be a good time to do so, but now seemed particularly ill-advised. She was obviously still suffering from the visions of her past. There was no need to make the future haunt her as well.

"I question the accuracy of the drift being classified as a 'power'." he remarked, taking up his tea again and sending Newton a slightly exasperated look with no real feeling behind it. "Rather more of an awareness, but an interesting experience just the same."

"It's a power," Newt argued, mostly because he could and because he did believe it was more than just an awareness. They shared memories with an extreme vivdness. This was so much more than a Hermann compass and empathy. "You're just failing to see the practical applications for it, dude. You have to think outside of your perfect cube."

[Closed]

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Feel free to interrupt them, Mako

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is it my turn? I kind of messed up the order T_T