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“You promised.”
“No, I said I would consider, there’s a distinct difference. I wasn’t aware the film of choice was going to be a cartoon.”
Newt made an irritable sound, sitting down on the edge of Gottlieb’s desk and glowering at him. Gottlieb studiously ignored him, more focused on the holographic display of his computer than any dirty look Newt could muster. Newt slid off the desk and seemed ready to slink off back to his corner of the lab, then suddenly turned on his heel and leaned forward right through the display.
“Serious dick move, dude. I recall for a fact that you said ‘fine, yes, now please stop bothering me’. That’s a promise.”
With an irritated sound all his own, Gottlieb put a hand on Newt's face and shoved him back.
“I don’t see why this is so important to you,” he said waspishly, watching Newt readjust his glasses. “And your liberal interpretation of what ‘promise’ actually means is rather worrisome. Don’t you have anyone else you could bother?”
“It’s not bothering anyone, it’s nicely trying to share interests,” Newt snapped. “Excuse me for trying.”
“There’s no excuse for half the things you do. I shan’t use my spare time to indulge your fascination in things that are so utterly age-inappropriate. It’s embarrassing, Newton, truly.”
“Okay, okay. Fine. Jesus, who pissed in your tea today?”
Gottlieb shook his head in disapproval and went back to typing, ignoring Newt as best he could. Insulted and sulking, Newt went back to his half of the lab and started to poke and prod at his latest kaiju sample. Even the massive, jellyfish-like glob of flesh and tissue couldn’t cheer him up, and he went about his work with an almost visible cloud of disappointment hovering over him.
Gottlieb glanced over at him from time to time, less vindicated in winning the argument and more guilty by the moment, an uncomfortable feeling that grew stronger as Newt gave a long, soft sigh.
“Are you upset?”
“No.”
“You look upset.”
“I’m not. Go do your math, would you? I’m trying to dissect shit.”
“You’re poking at it with a pencil.”
Newt made a face at Gottlieb, turning away.
“I’m doing age-appropriate work. That’s all I ever do, I never get to do anything fun.”
“I was under the impression you treated every day at work as though it were a free-for-all.”
“Why are you picking on me? We already filled the ‘let’s be a boring jerk’ quota for the day.”
The guilt was being swiftly replaced with deep irritation, but Gottlieb pushed it away. He had hurt Newt’s feelings; that was growing quite apparent now.
“Is it…are there singing animals in it?”
“Huh?”
“Your movie, Newton. I must draw a line somewhere.”
“You don’t wanna watch it,” Newt said. “Don’t bother, I won’t make you sit through it.”
“Just answer the question. Singing animals, yes or no.”
“Well, there’s…not really? Uh. I mean, not like a Disney thing or anything. It’s a classic, I wouldn’t make you sit through something stupid.”
He gave Gottlieb a narrow look, pointing at him with the entrail-slimed pencil.
“Are you only agreeing ‘cause you feel bad?”
“Absolutely.”
They studied each other for a moment, and then Newt brightened and shrugged.
“Alright, fine. I can work with that.”
--
“Did you actually steal food from the mess for this?”
“You better goddamn believe I did. Take your popcorn and shush.”
With a muttered ‘absolutely unbelievable’, Gottlieb took the bowl Newt pushed at him and settled onto the couch. Newt’s mood had been cheerful to the point of annoyance for the remainder of the day, but now he seemed to have turned into an overexcited twelve year old.
“So what is it we’re watching, precisely?”
“You ever heard of Hayao Miyazaki?”
“I…can’t say I have.”
Newt grinned widely, throwing himself onto the couch beside Gottlieb and stuffing a handful of popcorn into his mouth.
“Well, you’re in for a treat then.”
Gottlieb rolled his eyes heavenward and sighed, picking at his popcorn. It was slightly burnt and tasted greasily of fake butter; how Newt could be wolfing it down was a mystery.
“If I hear a single song coming from an animal caricature, I’m going to bed.”
“Man, you really have a vendetta against that shit, don’t you?”
“It’s saccharine and irritating. For all the rubbish you like, I didn’t think watching cartoons still-”
“Shh, shh! It’s starting, shut up!”
With another sigh, Gottlieb settled back into the couch and glared rather resentfully at the TV. He had felt bad about hurting Newt’s feelings, but now he was committed to at least an hour watching some idiotic…
Huh. Wait, the animation was actually rather nice. And the music, too.
“Is this…actually for children?”
“Dude, I’m gonna crank the volume if you keep talking.”
Gottlieb watched the title screen in puzzlement. It didn’t have a flowery name like a children’s movie would; it was rather poetic, actually.
“Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind? What on earth does that even mean?”
“Hermann, shh.”
Not even two minutes in and Newt was focused on the television, eyes wide as though he had never seen anything like it before. He had begged and cajoled Gottlieb for hours about it, saying things like ‘it’s awesome, I’ve watched it like twenty times, Hermann please c’mon just watch it once with me’. His tendency to fixate aside, maybe Newt had a point about enjoying it so much – Gottlieb couldn’t help but be mildly interested.
Twenty minutes in, the mild interest had turned to fascination. A half hour in, he was quietly trying to figure out the physics and mechanical practicality of the mehve. An hour in, he was astonished to find himself utterly committed to the story, leaning forward to pick out details in the animation and backgrounds. He could almost feel Newt’s smug sidelong glances and he ignored them – Newt had made a distinct sniffling sound whenever the Ohmu had graced the screen, after all. It would be incredibly hypocritical to call Gottlieb out on being interested.
By the time the movie ended – Newt insisted on watching the credits all the way through, humming along to the ending theme – Gottlieb had sat back, feeling rather shellshocked by the whole thing. Newt looked at him expectantly.
“Well?”
“Well, what?”
“Well, did you like it? You got really into it towards the end.”
Gottlieb cleared his throat awkwardly, setting aside the half-full bowl of popcorn he had completely forgotten about somewhere between Princess Kushana’s attack on the village and the dramatic crash landing in the Toxic Jungle.
“It was…endurable,” he said carefully, not meeting Newt’s eye. “I suppose not everything you like is utterly juvenile.”
Newt smiled very smugly, leaning closer.
“You liked it. Just whisper it to me, I won’t tell anyone else.”
“I will not be pressured to confess anything. You have no proof I even sat through it.”
Newt poked Gottlieb’s shoulder insistently, the smile turning into a sly grin.
“You wanna watch it again, don’t you.”
“Certainly not.”
“You wanna watch it and figure out how the mehve works, don’t you. I can tell, I could hear the gears turning in your head the minute you saw it.”
“Stop poking me this instant.”
Newt slid back to his side of the couch, taking Gottlieb’s bowl of popcorn with him, scooping a handful into his mouth.
“There’s books too, I can lend ‘em to you,” he said thickly. “There’s like…seven volumes.”
“Is there really?” Gottlieb asked, the interest leaching into his voice before he could stop himself. He could have kicked himself for the triumphant look that crossed Newt’s face, but there was no undoing the damage now. “Oh…just shut up, you imbecile. Yes, I liked it. Happy?”
“Hell yeah I am, it’s no fun watching good movies alone. I’ve been dyin’ to have you watch this for ages.”
“Yes, well,” Gottlieb said dryly, abruptly pulling his bowl out of Newt’s hands and gingerly nibbling at a burnt piece. “It seems the quota of quality time has also been fulfilled, wouldn’t you say?”
“Only if you promise to watch it again with me tomorrow.”
Gottlieb hesitated only briefly.
“Fine. I promise.”
“Actually promise, right? Not just consider?”
Gottlieb actually smiled at that, amused.
“I promise.”