Chapter Text
Dr. Hermann Gottlieb, PhD, had made love more times in the past month than he had in the sum total of his entire life up until now. He hadn’t needed his advanced degree in abstract mathematics to do that rather simple bit of arithmetic.
The context was this; exactly one lunar cycle ago, (and this astrological detail was factually relevant) his long-time lab mate and object of equal parts professional rivalry and decidedly unprofessional infatuation, Dr. Newton Geiszler, had returned after his monthly three-day absence, marched straight up to Hermann, grabbed him by the lapels of his threadbare, chalkdust-covered tweed blazer and kissed the living daylights out of him.
“Sorry,” Newt had lamented once he pulled back with a deep, rosy blush dusting his freckled cheeks. “Had to do that before I lost my nerve.”
Hermann had responded by wrapping his arms tightly around the shorter man and locking their lips together again.
Things had moved quickly after that.
It turned out that Newt’s parting words before locking himself in the containment vault hidden within Pentecost’s quarters had been entirely correct; Hermann really had been more distressed by the erroneous assumption that Newton was sleeping with their boss than by the reality that he’d been a werewolf as long as Hermann had known him.
The Hermann Gottlieb of pre-2013 would not have believed the evidence of his own eyes on that night one month ago as Newton had begun to transform in front of him. His rational mind would have rebelled against the notion that supernatural beings that went bump in the night were real. He’d have dismissed any statement to the contrary as unscientific and unempirical twaddle which flagrantly contradicted the laws of nature and reason.
But that was a version of himself who'd existed before a drove of gargantuan alien life-forms bent on humanity’s destruction had poured forth from an extra-dimensional portal in the most remote depths of the Pacific Ocean.
Rather, finding out that the occasional spooky story or two had more basis in reality than he'd previously thought had been comparatively easy to parse, and 2024 Hermann had taken the news that his lab partner was a lycanthrope well in stride. In fact, if nothing else, it explained a few of Newton’s more outlandish habits.
Lying in the heap of tangled— and probably now ruined— sheets in the afterglow of the most intense and passionate sex of Hermann’s life (the kiss had escalated quickly), Newton had told him everything. How it had happened (“fieldwork during doctorate number three turned cheesy B-movie horror flick!”), who else was aware (“only Pentecost and Carole, the head of HR, and boy, had that been a weird clause to have drawn up in an employment contract!”), and whether the transformation heightened all his senses (“NO! It’s seriously so unfair, I still can’t see for shit without my glasses!”)
Throughout the month that followed, the work days were punctuated by stolen kisses in the lab leading to nights of thorough love-making and exploratory intimacy (and the perhaps unsurprising revelation that Newton was an unabashed cuddler in the aftermath).
The time flew by at such a pace that Hermann found himself unprepared when Newt made the inevitable statement that the full moon was fast approaching and he would have to absent himself for three days again.
“Pentecost is away for a bit,” said Newt as they lay in bed together, all the while drawing concentric circles on Hermann’s concave stomach with his thumb. “Apparently he’s going to Alaska to try and re-recruit some former Ranger hotshot who gave up piloting a few years back. So, I’ll have to go extra early when I lock myself in to make sure it's completely secure.”
Hermann startled at this. “Lock yourself in on your own?! Is that really safe?”
“Sure,” Newt shrugged, “I’ve done it tons of times before; Pentecost is a busy guy, you know? And I'm a pro at securing the cell properly. Don't worry, there’s no way I’m getting out of there. It’s a double redundancy system: dynamic PIN code along with an old-school lock and key. Over a decade now and not a single breach. Heh, feels weird to use the word ‘breach’ in any other context, right? Anyway! You know what I mean.”
“No…” Hermann said, feeling a little twinge of sadness. “I meant safe for you. To be in there by yourself with nobody to ensure your well-being.”
“Huh. Honestly? Never thought too hard about it. You’re the first one to bring it up,” Newt said. “But seriously though, it's fine. It’s just something I have to do.”
“Yes, but…” Hermann dropped his gaze, unable to quell a deep pink flush. “You… you don’t have to do it alone anymore.”
“Aww, dude, you're such a sap,” Newt said lightly but his smile was wide. “I mean, I guess…” his rising inflection betrayed his uncertainty, “I guess, uh… maybe you could come along? Just for the first bit? Then Pentecost will be back on day three and he can let me out.”
“I don’t much like that idea,” Hermann said quietly.
He saw Newt’s face fall for just a moment before regaining his usual baseline nonplussed casualness. “Fair enough, man, I get it. No need for you to see me like that.”
Hermann furrowed his brows, then raised them in realization. “Oh! No, darling, that’s not what I meant at all. Rather… I don’t like the idea of leaving you by yourself for days on end. What if you were to become injured and need assistance while in confinement? What is the contingency for that possibility?”
“I mean… we’ve never really had a plan for that…” Newt said. “None of this is ideal but neither is living through the actual apocalypse, you know?”
Hermann was quiet for a long time then, “Newton… would… would it bother you if I stayed?”
“Stayed?” Newt’s eyes went wide. “Uh, you’re serious? I-I mean… you’d be cool with that? With seeing me fully wolfed out…?”
“Well, I believe I saw it already in the hallway last month,” Hermann pointed out.
Newt made a noise between a snort and a chuckle and shook his head. “No, dude. Not even close. You saw, uh, let’s call it a sneak-peek... A teaser! A preview! I was just starting to change and I could still, like, form coherent thoughts. When I go full wolfman, I totally lose my ability to talk or reason. I go, like, completely feral. And what you saw wasn’t my, uh… full size yet.”
“Oh,” Hermann choked slightly on the syllable. “Indeed,” he added awkwardly, feeling an uncomfortable flush begin to creep up the back of his neck. “How, er… well, ah… large do you get?”
“About nine, nine and a half feet, give or take.”
“I… I see,” Hermann nodded, at a loss over what else to say.
“But, I mean… if you don’t think it’d be too freaky for you… I guess it would be nice not to be alone for once.”
If Hermann harbored any remaining doubt, Newt’s statement settled the matter. He leaned forward and sealed the pact with a kiss.