IC Contact Post

[mathemagier]

[Screened calls go straight to voicemail, where an impatient recording answers]

You've reached Dr. Hermann Gottlieb. Leave your name, number, and business if you expect a return call. Thank you.

Comments

[driftsintobuffetline]

[He had meant it, but said it somewhat flippantly and expected it to be taken as such. Newt was still not used to the current state of their relationship as Best Friends where hugs were a thing that conceivably happened and where he had a somewhat open invitation to Hermann's apartment.]

Wait, wait. You're actually agreeing to let me hug you? [He edged over a little to Hermann's side of the sofa.] Wonders will never cease.

[mathemagier]

[He hadn't meant for Newton to read into his tacit acquiescence. And while he truly was not opposed to the contact, it suddenly felt like an awkward, weighty subject he shouldn't have mentioned for the sake of conversation.

Had he misread something somewhere? Weeks later and their boundaries were still shifting. If only their relationship would conform to a readable graph.

Hermann eyed Newton with sudden apprehension, like his approach signified something more than a casual exchange of contact]

I wasn't aware you needed explicit permission.

[driftsintobuffetline]

Consent, Hermann, is a wonderful thing. But I'm...taking that as consent. [Frown.] I guess. Sorry. Am I making this weird? I'm making this weird. I'm. Just. Going to...Go ahead and. Hug you before you change your mind.

[With some awkwardness in part because they were both sitting, and because now he had effectively made this weird, Newt scooted out to get a better angle and reached over, putting his arms around Hermann, giving him a firm squeeze and a pat on the back and before releasing him.] Thanks.

[mathemagier]

[It was strange; stilted, unnecessarily awkward. They'd embraced half a dozen times more comfortably than this. Still, he managed a brief return pat before Newton withdrew]

Of course. That's what friends are meant to do. [Support and the odd awkward embrace apparently] ..I believe it also means you don't need to stand on formality any longer.

[driftsintobuffetline]

[Newt gave a small laugh. Hermann! Forfeiting formalities! For him! Not that Newt had ever regularly or consistently followed that, but it still caught himhim a little by surprise when this Best Friendship went both ways.]

You're right, you're totally right--I mean now, about that, not all the time, you know what, let's just say forget that. Point is, that was a crappy hug. You definitely deserved better.

[He leaned in for another hug, a proper best friend hug.]

[mathemagier]

[Truthfully, he'd dropped the formalities around Newton little by little over the years, but it was only now that he acknowledged it and dropped the last, previously unspoken barrier. The man was closer than his own family had been for years.

This time, he has time to return the embrace and though the position is still a bit awkward, he managed to get both arms around Newton properly this time and pat him on the back. And yes, it was-- nice. He let him go with a smile.]

Well if that's the only admission I'll ever get out of you, then I suppose I'll have to savor it.