Work Text:
Japanese was the most difficult thing Newt had ever tried, and this was coming from someone who went through the narrow field of kaiju biology. He learned languages easily, loved to learn them, really. As a kid, he'd wanted to learn every language in the world. He hadn't really had time for that, but he knew German and English like the back of his hand, and Mako and Raleigh said they were more than willing to teach him Japanese.
Hermann looked over his shoulder as he passed Newt's chair on his way out of the lab.
"That doesn't look like your usual kaiju blue stained notebook, Dr. Geiszler," he remarked, trying to sound uninterested. "Did you finally get a new one?" Newt shook his head, still poring over the notebook.
"No, it's my Japanese homework." Hermann scrunched his eyebrows together.
"Homework?" Newt nodded, still not looking up at Hermann. "Why on earth do you have homework?" Newt sighed, closing the notebook. Hermann was taken aback at how familiar the whole thing seemed, though usually their roles were reversed. Newt would ask questions that annoyed him and he'd finally stop trying to wave him off and explain it to Newt.
"Mako and Raleigh promised they'd teach me Japanese. These are some kanji, hiragana, and katakana characters they wanted me to memorize. I'm also supposed to write twelve sentences using specific words. Any other questions, Captain Curiosity?"
Hermann supplied a simple 'oh' and left the lab, completely surprised at Newt's passion for something other than sifting through kaiju guts.
When Raleigh and Mako came down to the lab to see Newt and check his homework, Hermann seemed only slightly surprised to see them. "Are you here for Newt?"
Mako nodded. "Yes, we're here for his Japanese lesson. Did he tell you we would be coming?"
"No, but I saw him working on his 'homework' rather diligently the other night."
"Oh, well that's good," Raleigh said with a grin. He looked around the lab. "But where is he?" Hermann pointed to the side of the lab opposite himself. Raleigh and Mako looked over and saw him laying on his blanket nest, his glasses still on his face, drooling on what appeared to be his Japanese notebook. Mako walked over to him and knelt down, picking up the book, examining Newt's work.
"His penmanship is actually excellent, but his translation needs work." Raleigh moved next to her and looked over her shoulder.
"Why do you say that?"
"This sentence says 'The scientist has a big head and nose and thinks he is smart, but really he looks like an idiot'."
Hermann scowled and cleared his throat.
"I believe that sentence is what he meant to write. He said I had a big head yesterday, so I assume the sentence is referring to me." Raleigh stifled a giggle and Mako covered her mouth, also trying not to laugh.
"Oh, goodness, Dr. Gottlieb, I'm terribly sorry."
"It's all right, I'm used to Dr. Geiszler's...pranks. But I must say, he works exceedingly hard on that homework the pair of you have given him. I think it means a lot to him that you're willing to teach him."
Mako and Raleigh smiled at each other, then thanked Hermann and left the lab.
When Newt woke up, he found his Japanese notebook on his desk, with a note in Mako's handwriting on the top of his homework page: "Great job, the big head scientist told us how hard you worked", accompanied by a large gold star sticker.