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“Big news, Al!” Tendo Choi grins excitedly as he charges into the Jaeger bay.
“Hey, babe!” Alison says, stopping her work on what the PPDC was able to salvage of Cherno Alpha and Crimson Typhoon as she spins around towards her partner, wrench in hand. “What's up?”
“It’s finally something substantial this time!”
“Ooooh! No way! Exciting!” she says as she clicks off her headlamp. “Okay, I’m listening— geez, you’ve got me so invested in these dorks— so, what’s the latest? Tell me the tea, T!”
Tendo gives her a quick peck on her bright red lips before he launches in. “Right, so I went to the lab today with the requisition papers for the guys to sign. Normally I shoot Newt a message to make sure one of them is around. But this time, I figured I’d drop in on them unannounced. You know, just in case…! So, I walk down the hall all quiet-like, and then just, like, materialize in the lab out of nowhere and you’ll never guess what I saw!”
“Oh em gee, you caught them making out, didn't you?!” Alison claps her hands together in unconcealed glee.
“Uh… well, no, see, but they were both standing right next to each other completely red in the face!”
“Okay…?”
“And they were both, like, kind of out of breath!”
“Right…”
“And… they looked surprised to see me!”
“Well, fair, you hadn’t told them you were coming. What else?”
Tendo stops. “Uh… that’s it.”
“That’s it?” Alison says, one fine auburn eyebrow arching.
Tendo pauses for a beat before adding, “Yeah, but like, they had to have been making out, right? I bet if I’d been, like, four seconds earlier, I’d’a caught them in the act!”
Alison tucks an errant ringlet into her polka dot bandana. “Um… I mean, babe, are you sure they weren’t just arguing? Isn’t that, like, on brand for them? Maybe you caught them after a heated discussion about, you know…” she waves her hand vaguely, “science stuff?”
“Huh…” Tendo says, deflating a bit. “Gotta admit, that… never occurred to me.”
Alison rolls her eyes fondly and puts the wrench down. “Ever the romantic.”
“I dunno, Al,” Tendo says, taking her now free hand in his. “It’s just… my gut’s telling me there’s something on the go with those two. And I’m gonna find out what.”
“Good luck with that, Sherlock,” Alison laughs and squeezes his hand. “And keep me posted.”
***
It’s two months to the day since they closed the Breach once and for all. Tendo had been in LOCCENT (obviously) when it happened.
He can still remember it all perfectly. Newt and Hermann had burst into the control room running full tilt, shouting about how the Marshal’s big endgame strategy was on a critical failure path.
The first thought in Tendo’s mind had been, “Holy shit, we’re fucked— the plan’s gonna fail and we’re all gonna die!” The second thought had been “Hey, aren’t N and H kinda acting different? Like, they’re suddenly in sync, finishing each other’s sentences about, uh, grocery store bar codes and crap.”
Then, against all odds, team Hong Kong had miraculously pulled it off. K-Sci had given the Rangers the key to winning the war and damned if they hadn’t just gone ahead and saved humanity from total extinction. A+ for team effort!
Tendo remembers giving Hermann a pat on the back and starting to walk away when he’d noticed the taller, normally austere-AF scientist inching towards his shorter, more bombastic counterpart with the absolute goofiest grin he’d ever seen on anyone’s face, let alone on the face of Hermann fricking Gottlieb. He’d lingered a second to observe them as Newt slung an easy arm around his colleague.
That was when Tendo had witnessed the second wildest thing he’d ever seen in his life (he had to hand first place to watching a giant, monstrous alien creature twisting the Golden Gate Bridge in on itself and causing the premier landmark of his hometown to fall into the ocean).
Dr. Hermann Gottlieb, of the perpetual scowl, didn't flinch. In fact, he’d LEANED INTO Newt’s touch.
The two had stayed like that for an age, all up in each other's space and not screaming about whose theory of the week was “logical, sound and based in reason” vs. “totally awesome and going to prove you SO fucking wrong, dude” and whose was “utter bollocks” vs. “a total assload of crap” (depending on who was doing the yelling).
And weirder still, the duo proceeded to not leave each other’s side the entire night. They just kept looking into each other's eyes (dare he say it, longingly?!) and smiling and he could’ve sworn he even saw Gottlieb giggle at one point.
Oh hell, Tendo had thought, with the warmest of fuzzies in his heart for his two forever-alone friends. Those nerds are totally gonna bang tonight.
But when he’d seen Newt the next day in the mess hall, his best bro had been beyond casual; all shrugs and chuckles at Tendo's— in retrospect— super blunt questions. He and Newt had eaten dinner together and the little bastard had given him absolutely nothing to work with.
“That doesn’t mean nothing happened between them,” Alison pointed out when he dished that night. “Only that Dr. G (the shorter) didn’t tell you about it.”
“No way, no how,” Tendo said, a bit quicker than strictly necessary, because it was absurd to think about Newt not telling him a thing. Newt told him everything, and it would totally not hurt Tendo’s feelings at all if the little punk-ass was holding out on him.
“Newt and I have been best bros since the Academy. Like, you have NO IDEA the debauched things I’ve heard the little fella say after his vast and unrelenting string of Grindr “dates,” he air quoted. “The guy is not exactly subtle and he’s not exactly shy.”
“Well,” Alison had replied with a small shrug, “it sounds to me like this is a bit different, no? It’s one thing to brag about a hook up. But, after everything those crazy kids have been through— didn’t they, like, write a bunch of letters to each other at one point?— maybe this, ya know… means more.”
Tendo thought about this for a moment, chin in hand.
“You might be right,” he said.
“I usually am,” she replied.
***
Tendo saunters into the mess hall on a random Thursday evening to see none other than Hermann sitting by himself at a long table with a ham and cheese sandwich and cup of tea.
Tendo grabs himself two mugs of coffee and an everything bagel and makes his way over to the mathematician.
“Good evening, Mr. Choi,” Hermann gives him a single, curt nod along with the formal address despite the fact that they’ve known each other for literal years and survived the apocalypse together… ever the picture of awkward over-formality, this guy.
“Hermann, Hermann, Hermann,” Tendo chides with a comically overt shake of his head. “How many damn times do I have to tell you, brother? Mr. Choi was my grandpa Yeye. I’m Tendo. Mr. T, if you must use an honorific. I’ll also accept T-dawg, T-man, dude, bro, guy and hey you.”
“I won’t be calling you by any of those names,” Hermann says, but he’s lightened up a bit and a barely perceptible smile twitches at the corner of his thin-lipped mouth.
Tendo stands there for a moment before realizing he’s not going to get an invitation, so preempts with a, “Mind if I join?”
“Oh, er, yes, by all means,” the other man replies, seeming to belatedly clue in to his slight social transgression.
Tendo plunks the mugs down in front of him, as the acrid, caffeine-filled liquid sloshes dangerously close to the edges, and takes a big bite of his bagel.
“So,” he starts, very smoothly with a not-at-all subtle eyebrow waggle. “You and Newt…”
Hermann pushes out his chair and gets up to leave.
“Wait, wait, wait!” Tendo back-peddles, and puts a halting hand on the other man’s elbow. “I was going to say, do you and Newt want to hang out before we all ship out for good? I've got a half decent bottle of whiskey left and I was thinking we could toast to… well, not dying a horrible death being smooshed by kaiju.”
“Ah,” Hermann says, the blush that had swiftly bloomed on his face receding slightly. “Er, yes, that would be very nice.”
“So, what's the plan after this for you anyway?”
If Hermann's not going to talk about Newt directly, maybe Tendo can piece together the two scientists’ respective stories retroactively. Newt’s coming over to hang out tomorrow night and he can pop the same question and see if the facts line up.
But Hermann just avoids eye contact and starts ripping tiny pieces off his napkin. “It's… well, it's not… things are not yet, I mean to say. Fully, er, settled.”
“Uh, but,” Tendo quirks an eyebrow, “aren't you leaving in a week like the rest of us?”
“I am,” the scientist affirms. “But I just need to, well,” he coughs, “there is one final detail which needs sorting. A question I must…” he cuts himself off and clams up. The napkin’s now in tatters. “What about you and your, ah, lady friend?”
Nice socially appropriate deflection, Dr. G. Smooth, real smooth, Tendo thinks with a chuckle.
“Alison and I are going to give the whole living together thing a shot. She's a special gal and I'm a helluva lucky guy,” he smiles to himself, he can't help it. He's excited for a taste of the lazy, snuggly Sundays he never thought he'd be fortunate enough to experience. “She's from Vancouver, so we're gonna give it a go there; she's got something lined up already work-wise. The city’s been restored a fair bit since Karloff attacked in ‘15.”
“The domestic life,” Hermann says with an unreadably neutral expression. “That sounds… very appealing indeed.”
Tendo is about to give it another whirl and ask Hermann at least what city he's going to, but the other man's phone pings and he grabs for it at lightning speed.
His prominent ears are suddenly more than a little red and he starts working his jaw in that funny way he (according to Newt) does when he's feeling big feels.
“Everything okay?” he prompts.
Hermann looks up, startled, almost as if he'd already forgotten Tendo’s there. “Ah, y-yes, quite fine, quite fine, quite fine,” he repeats too many times before adding after a long pause, “it would seem I'm, well, n-needed in the lab.” He stands up stock straight and gives a stiff bow. “Good evening then, Mr.— er,” he stops, then, “ah, Tendo.”
“Mr. Tendo,” Tendo chortles. “You're halfway there, brother.” He adds cheekily, “Say hi to Newt for me.”
But Hermann has already turned to go and is clacking out of the mess hall at a clip.
When Tendo swings by the lab to say hi to the guys about half an hour later (and not at all to confirm a strong suspicion he may or may not have), he finds it completely and totally devoid of bickering scientists.
He crosses his arms, laughing, and shakes his head.
***
It’s Saturday night. Newt’s over for their weekly game hang— a tradition they've upheld since their Academy days— and Tendo’s determined to use the opportunity to get to the bottom of ‘The Curious Case of the Silent Scientists.’
The biologist shows up in his usual Pac-Man pajama pants and band tee selection du jour (this time around, a threadbare ‘Stoplight Observations’ shirt), a giant bag of blue raspberry kaiju gummies and M&S sweet and salty popcorn to compliment Tendo’s overflowing collection of beer and spirits (he notes to himself he probably shouldn’t buy any more considering they’re all gonna be shipping out soon).
He and Newt make a pillow fort on his couch surrounded by snack bowls. Then they pick out their system for the night— the N64 to play the most classic of 1990s video games: Golden Eye.
Tendo jams the cartridge in and the title screen loads up. He tosses Newt one of his friend’s weird, funky-flavored sour beers and cracks open an ice-cold IPA from his mini-fridge, takes a big ol’ swig and selects multiplayer.
“Death match?” he doesn’t need to ask.
“Death match!” Newt doesn’t need to reply.
He sits back down, passes the xenobiologist a controller and the night begins.
“Alright, alright, alright,” he says, raising his can aloft. “Not to get too sentimental, but here’s to surviving the goddamn apocalypse and to years of games, brews and bros!”
“Fuck, yeah, man!” Newt says and their cans knock together with a muted thunk. “Our game nights helped keep me sane(ish) throughout this apocalyptic shit show!”
“You're telling me, brother!” Tendo agrees. They both select their characters.
He resists the temptation to kick off the convo with the same failed, ‘So… you and Gottlieb…’ tactic that’d gotten him nowhere with Hermann. He’d clearly spooked the other scientist and got stonewalled because of it.
Now, it’s amply possible that Newt would just dish if asked directly— the kid’s never been exactly secretive— but Newt did block him out the last time he’d gone that route. If it fails, he’ll be S.O.L. and out of chances to find out just what the hell is going on behind the scenes in the K-Sci lab.
He can’t risk that, so he’ll play it cool and see where that gets him.
“So, I already told you all about Alison and my big Vancouver plans,” Tendo starts, “but you still haven’t mentioned what the hell you’re gonna get up to after this. What level do you wanna play, by the way?”
“Let's just put it on random,” Newt says. “No way! Thought I’d told you, man! Shipping off to Boston!”
“Yeah, sure, random works,” Tendo says. “Oh shit! That’s awesome! MIT?”
“Yeah, got a lot of wicked offers, even some big-wig shit in the private sector! GET READY, DUDE, IMMA COME FIND YOU! Ever heard of Shao Industries?” Newt says, focused both on the convo and the game.
“For sure, that’s that weapons tech place, right? I'M IN THE BASEMENT, COME AND GET IT.”
“ON MY WAY! Yeah, they offered me a job as the head of R&D for six figures, a sick signing bonus and absolutely wild benefits— crap like stock options and stuff.
“Jesus! What’d you say?”
“Exactly what you’d expect, my dude.” Newt says, “I wrote back like, ‘Dear Fuckfaces, I hope this email finds you unwell. You can shove your corporate sell-out job up your weapons-mongering fascist asses. Love, Newt.’ That was the gist anyway.”
“Atta boy!”
“Yeah, I’m way too punk rock for them,” Newt shrugs, shoving his glasses up and leaning in towards the screen. “THERE YOU ARE, YOU SON OF A BITCH! Anyway, MIT wanted me back big time, and they laid on the charm. By which I mean direct tenure. And hey, I’m not immune to flattery!”
“Return of the boy wonder, huh? WOOOOOOOO, NICE SHOT! Celebrity alumni status and all that.”
“Heh, yeah, pretty much. ARGH, YOU GOT ME!” Newt gets the 'Game Over' screen. “Seriously though, it’ll be cool to be back.”
Tendo notes that, so far, Newt hasn't made any allusions to whether he’s heading back to Boston alone or accompanied. And to be fair, Tendo hasn’t asked. Time to go fishing.
“Another round?” he grabs a gummy kaiju and chases it with a swig of beer and says with feigned chillness. “By the way, I ran into Hermann earlier.”
“HELLS YEAH! I’M GONNA TAKE YOU TO SCHOOL THIS TIME, DUDE, JUST WAIT! That’s cool. What’d his Royal Math Highness have to say?”
“NICE, I LOVE THIS LEVEL! Not much, actually, you know what he’s like.”
Newt snorts, “Do I ever…! I mean, five fricking years in a shared lab together!”
“For real,” Tendo decides to dig a little deeper. “Plus, you’ve been inside his head now too. You’re not just lab partners, you’re drift partners.”
“OHHHHH GET READY, BITCH, I JUST FOUND A ROCKET LAUNCHER! I mean, hardly. There was so much going on, what with the alien hivemind bent on our specific annihilation as soon as they figured out we were snooping.”
“HA! CRAP, I'D BETTER GET A GUN TOO, HUH? Fair point. So what are his plans after this?”
Newt's character slows on screen and Tendo sees his buddy look at him out of the corner of his eye. “Uh, you didn’t ask him?”
“No, I absolutely did.”
“And what’d he say?”
“That he had to finalize one last thing… said something about a question he needed to figure out.”
“Cryptic,” Newt laughs. “Typical Hermann. Did he say anything else? UGH, THAT WAS SUCH A NOOB MOVE, I SUCK!”
“HEH, SELF BURN, NICE. No, he got called away. Said he had to go to the lab.”
“Sounds about right. OKAY, THIS TIME, YOU’RE TOAST!”
“I figured you were the one who’d called him. WOOOOO, I JUST FOUND THE PP7 SPECIAL ISSUE, HERE WE GOOOOO! But I swung by to say hey about twenty minutes after, and neither of you were there.”
At this point, Tendo decides that throwing the match is 100% worth it and looks over at Newt to gauge his reaction. He narrows his eyes and tries to will Newt to give him some kind of sign.
But the little bastard only shrugs. “Oh yeah… it was a snap. We figured it out in, like, two seconds, then called it a night. BOOM!!! FUCK YEAH!!! I TOTALLY SMOKED YOU, HA-HAAAAA!”
Well, Tendo’s character’s dead and that conversational highway landed him straight into nowheresville. Better change tack. Newt’s not above being baited and Tendo’s not above baiting him a little. He drains his beer can with a slurp. Enough is enough. Time to go in for the kill (both in-convo and in-game). “Ready for a slap battle?” he asks.
“YES!!! ALWAYS!!!” Newt says and takes another swig of his beer, then crams a handful of popcorn into his mouth while Tendo switches settings.
“Alright, brother, get ready to take it IN THE FACE,” Tendo quips as the match starts.
“LOL, DUDE. Now it just sounds like you’re flirting with me,” Newt says with an eyebrow waggle.
“You wish, little man,” Tendo laughs, then reverts back to their main conversation. He side-eyes Newt and says, nonchalant as anything, “Come on, level with me, Dr. G. I feel like there’s something you’re not telling me.”
Newt cocks his head to the side quizzically, “Like what?”
“Something big. Something more, you know…” he leans in a little, “personal.”
Newt adjusts his glasses and grabs another gummy. “You know me, Nin-Tendo. I’m an open book. I wear my heart on my very tattooed sleeve. THERE YOU ARE!!! READY OR NOT, HERE I COME…!”
It’s now or never. Tendo’s ready to put on the pressure. “Bullshit. How long have we been best bros for?”
“ARGH!!! NONONONONONOOOOOO! WELL PLAYED, YOU SLAPPY BASTARD!” Newt focuses his attention fully back onto the game, clearly avoiding the question. But his cheeks have a little smattering of color they didn’t have before. Then he lets out a long sigh as he gets another 'Game Over' screen.
“Damn, dude, you know me too well,” Newt gives him that little lop-sided grin of his that makes him look even more like a freckled hamster than usual. He puts the controller down properly and reaches over to grab another beer; a bright blue vanilla and berry flavored monstrosity called ‘Kaiju Brew.’ “But… I did promise not to tell. So, like, sorry, Ten, my lips are sealed.”
Tendo knows Newt better than to say words at this stage. He just needs to let the silence awkwardly hang there and he knows Newt will fill it.
“I mean… I really shouldn’t tell you.”
Tendo says nothing.
“We talked about it and decided to keep it under wraps until we officially announce it.”
Almost there…
“But like… I know you can keep a secret and all.”
Just a little more…
“Okay, fine, dude. You got me! Just… you don’t know this, okay?”
Tendo lights up. Bingo! Apparently all it took was a little conversational foreplay to get Newt good and ready. “You know me, brother. The buck stops here. I won’t tell a soul.”
“Right, so, you didn’t hear it from me, buuuuuuut… as soon as I get back, we’re gonna announce… drumroll please!!!”
Tendo humors Newt with a drumroll.
“The Black Velvet Rabbits are going on tour! We're gonna be one of the openers for ‘Against Me!’ Isn’t that wicked?! I negotiated time off into my MIT contract to be able to do it! The gang are so excited, man, we promised once the war was done, we’d get the band back together!” he picks the controller up again and goes back to the title screen. “Another round?” he asks without asking and the level loads up and they start playing again.
Tendo opens and closes his mouth a few times. Super cool news for Newt, his band had actually gotten a few fans before he had to give it all up and move to Hong Kong. But that was not the big reveal he’d been expecting. All he manages is, “Nice! Give me the dates and Al and I will try to fly out for a show.”
“Hell yeah, that’d be rad,” Newt effuses around a mouthful of popcorn. “OH CRAP, DID YOU JUST PICK UP THE GOLDEN GUN? I’ll put you both on the guest list! You’ll be VIP!”
Tendo deflates a little. This makes no sense. Newt has big Boston plans; his band is touring and he’s got a sweet job offer with his alma mater and everything… but Hermann supposedly still has to sort his shit out? No mention of the taciturn physicist in Newt’s future anywhere! Has he been misreading the whole thing after all?
He’s startled out of his protracted confusion spiral by an ear-splitting, “WOOOOOOOOOO YYEEEEEAAAAHHHH HEAD SHOT!!! BOO-YAH!!!”
Suddenly Newt’s pumping his fist in the air, then jumps up out of his seat to do his little signature butt-wiggle victory dance.
He swings his hips gleefully and sing-songs, “I TOTALLY PWNED YOU~ YOU HAD THE GOLDEN GUN AND I STILL PWNED YOU!”
“Holy crap, you just scared the shit out of me AND probably woke up my neighbors!”
“Aw, whatever! You’re the fricking Golden Eye master! Let me have my win, man!”
“Yeah, that’s fair. I usually destroy you in this game.”
“Exactly! But I’ll totally whoop your ass in Mario Kart!”
“Game on, brother,” Tendo says and gives Newt a one-armed side hug as he lets out a big sigh. “I'm gonna miss your little punk-ass. You know that, right?”
Newt swings his free arm around to bring Tendo into a bear hug. He holds him tightly for a long moment before letting go and looking up at him with a wide smile. “Yeah man, me too.”
***
It’s the night before they ship out for good. Alison left a few days earlier but Tendo needed to wrap up his final PPDC to-do list and had stayed on until the last possible day. He flies out to B.C. tomorrow evening.
Time for one last Shatterdome boy's night. He fires off a quick message, snatches up the last bottle of whiskey in his now depleted collection and sets off to look for the guys.
The lab is empty. Like, empty-empty. All the blackboards and holodecks, kaiju bits and scientific (as well as musical) instruments are gone. The only thing that remains of its former glory is the scuffed and fading remnants of the yellow line painted down the center of the room since god-knows-when. He allows himself a little sigh as he feels a twinge of not-quite-but-not-quite-not melancholy at the vacant, echoey space.
“End of an era,” he says aloud to no one. Then he turns tail and heads to the mess hall.
It's not nearly as lonely as the lab; a few scattered J-techs are grabbing a meal in the corner, and a couple office-y types he’s seen around are there too. But there's no sign of the K-Sci boys.
He furrows his brow and heads to Newt's bunk next, then Hermann's. He checks his phone. His earlier text to Newt is still unread.
“Well damn,” he says, looking down at the bottle. No sense in wasting it, so he makes a snap decision to head up and out for a solo sunset swig (or four).
The rusty old door to the roof creaks open and he gives it a light shove and steps out onto the large Shatterdome upper deck. He's timed it perfectly— Victoria Harbour shimmers with azure-lined golden flecks from the fading light as pinkish-streaked clouds meander above the horizon.
He starts to walk towards the railing to look out over the ocean when the sight before him stops him dead in his tracks.
Well, at least he finally found the guys!
Newt and Hermann are here all right, although at the moment they're standing so close it's hard to tell who’s who.
Their lips are locked together in a messy tangle. It's a bit like witnessing one of their many spats, with both boys clearly vying for the upper hand.
But, like, a lot cuter.
Newt's hands are wandering frenetically all over Hermann and he's literally up on his tiptoes to try (in vain) to even the height difference playing field.
Meanwhile, Hermann's one hand is in Newt’s thick, dark hair, making even more of a mess of it than its usual chaos state. His other is stroking Newt’s cheek, dragging over the biologist’s perpetual five o'clock shadow.
Newt's shirt is partially unbuttoned and his ridiculous, tiny tie is flapping around for its life in the wind coming off the water. Both their jackets lie in a forgotten heap next to them.
Then one of them breaks the kiss and Newt says something to Hermann that Tendo can't hear over the wind and distance. Suddenly, Hermann takes Newt's hand in his own and he's kissing each knuckle and smiling with such a tender and joyful expression Tendo’s never once before seen on the man.
He’s worried for a second that they might notice him. He prides himself on being a wing-man extraordinaire. He'd hate to cock block his bestie as the man of his dreams is clearly, like, confessing his undying love or whatever.
But, no, he realizes with a grin that there's no risk of that. The boys are now going at it again, and he's pretty sure he just saw someone’s hand slide down past the belt loop of someone else's pants and it's time to make an exit before he starts seeing something he really shouldn't.
He quietly turns and closes the door behind him softly, careful not to alert the new(?) couple to his presence.
He gets down to the bottom of the stairwell and whips out his phone to make a call, a silly, happy smile plastered on his face.
The line connects.
“Hey, Al, guess what?” he says. “I totally called it!”