Colour Book

"Color Book" by curiumKingyo | burn-gormans-eyelashes. 
Newton has a head full of Hermann's greyscale memories and wonders if Hermann ever misses colors. When the mathematician says he doesn't miss what he never had, Newt decides to teach him colors.
==Blue==
Newton has a head full of Hermann's greyscale memories and wonders if Hermann ever misses colors. When the mathematician says he doesn't miss what he never had, Newt decides to teach him colors.
===Meta===
(From "Blue".)
Also known as Newt almost gets depressed, Hermann gets a lump in his throat and I am a spoiled child playing with pickleplum's toys.
For pickleplum.
Set in the Athene Noctua verse, where Hermann has owl wings and can't see colors.
===Text===
"Do you miss colors, Hermann?" Newton asks out of the blue in a particularly slow afternoon in the lab. Hermann doesn't even turn to face him, perched in the middle of his tallest ladder.
"This is a ridiculous question, Newton." After a second he adds: "How could I miss something I have never had?"
Newt puts his glasses up his forehead and presses his eyes for a moment. "I don't know dude, I miss things I've never had. Like growing up with siblings, or having school mates the same age as me..." He says, staring blindly at his few last samples floating in tanks. Hermann stops writing and just looks down at him for a moment. He seems truly immersed in thoughts, in a way Hermann had rarely seen even during the war.
Hermann considers his own experience on the matter. When he was a small kid he had problems with his siblings, but he couldn't deny how supportive they were in the dreadful times mankind seemed doomed to end. Not to mention how they kept his secret for decades, always willing to help him whenever he needed. Actually, he can't even imagine how his life would have been if he was an only child...
Slowly, he steps down the ladder and carefully crosses the room until he sits in a chair by Newton's side. He gently taps his cane on the biologist's leg, causing him to jump in surprise.
"I don't miss colors, but I do wonder what would it be like to have them." The mathematician says, measuring his words thoughtfully. "What would be different. Would it change anything at all?" He snorts but a sad smile twists his lips. "I have fought so much for this world and I don't even get to see it fully..."
The silence stretches between them and suddenly Newton begins to shuffle the papers that were stacked over his desk. Hermann frowns a bit but remains quiet, watching as his partner picks a piece of paper that, for him, is a light shade of grey. Newt shakes the paper in front of Hermann's eyes:
"This is blue." He says.
"It is grey..." Hermann replies, trying his best not to roll his eyes.
Newton takes the piece of paper and carelessly brushes it across Hermann's hand: "This is grey." Hermann's eyebrows rise and drop in confusion but before he opens his month Newt leans forward and gently caresses the same hand. "This is blue."
It takes him a second, but when Hermann realises what Newton is doing he feels his throat close a bit and he repeats the gesture, caressing Newt's hand: "Blue." 
"But blue can be like this too." The biologist continues, suddenly opening his fingers like fireworks.
"How?" Hermann asks, his wings vibrating under their bindings. Newt repeats the motion, a smile forming in his lips. "Like this! It can be soft and calming, but also electric and exciting." He pets the mathematician's pale hand and then does the sparkling hand gesture again. "Mako's hair is like this." He wiggles his fingers one last time.
"Do people have blue hair?" Hermann's eyes widen in an almost cartoonish way, and Newt can practically hear him reevaluating his whole knowledge of the world.
"No! I mean, they can have, but they dye it." He is smiling broadly now. "Mako has blue streaks because she dyes it, her hair is black." Hermann seems equal parts disappointed and relieved.
"How is Kaiju Blue?" He asks after a while. Newton purses his lips thoughtfully. "It's like this!" As he speaks he snaps his fingers right in front of Hermann's face, causing the other man to back a little. "It is a dangerous color, it seems like it will eat your eyes. And I'm not talking about toxic fumes here! But it is also captivating? It is hard to look away... Well, at least for me." He laughs a bit and Hermann shares his smile. "It is like a boa constrictor, it wraps pleasantly around you and then... " He snaps his fingers again. "It pierces your eyes, because we call it blue but it is much more..."
He falls silent, memories of the disturbingly beautiful colors of the Anteverse playing in his mind. Hermann's hand touches his softly and he meets the mathematician's eyes.
"I remember the Anteverse blue." Hermann says quietly. "It... it was blue, right?"
Newt nods in silence, hand twisting in Hermann's grip so he can interlace their fingers loosely. "Can it be sad too?" Hermann asks, thumb rubbing circles on the back of Newton's hand.
"Yes. But even when it is sad, it is also soft. It can be melancholic but not depressing. Like this..." He traces the path a tear would follow down Hermann's face with his finger nail. "It kinda tickles but in the wrong way, it makes you want to rub your face and hide for a while. I guess this is why people say when someone is depressed they're 'blue'."
"I like this one better." Hermann caresses Newt's hand softly, smiling timidly at him. Newt smiles back and drops his forehead against Hermann's, closing his eyes for a second. "Newton?" The man looks up at the mention of his name, he stares into Hermann's warm brown eyes. "Are your eyes blue?" Newt smiles again and closes his eyes once more.
"My eyes are the color of the sea..."
==Yellow==
Hermann asks Newt's help with a puzzle and, as he solves it, Newton unravels another riddle.
===Meta===
(From "Yellow".)
Set in the Athene Noctua verse.
OMG check out this gorgeous art the ever loving pickleplum comissioned from the absolutely amazing and talented kelly-draws!!!
Thank you very very much, plum!
(See the end of the work for more notes.)
===Text===
Newton is secretly admiring the stray feather managed to hide from Hermann when the other man called him from across the room. He quickly stuffs the feather back between the pages of his notepad and looks up at Hermann, who is sitting in the bed with a tablet in his hands.
"What is it, Hermann?" He asks, subtly putting the notepad away. Hermann shows him the tablet and motions for the screen as the source of his problem. Newt can't see it from afar so he stands and moves closer as Hermann explains the situation:
"This morning I saw Miss Mori playing this puzzle game while eating breakfast. She asked my help with a math puzzle and it seemed interesting enough so I downloaded it too." Newton sits in the edge of the mattress and looks at the tablet Hermann is holding. "I've been playing it for a while and did most of the puzzles, but I need your help with this one. It is a simple riddle but..." He hesitates and as Newt reads the riddle he easily finds out what is the problem. It is a color-related question.
Newton shifts the tablet so he can take a better look at it. In the screen, many colored blocks are lined up in a square grid. As he reads the riddle his hand gently brushes Hermann's.
"Is this blue?" Hermann asks and Newt looks at him surprised. It actually is. He is about to ask how the man knew it when he feels Hermann's fingers wiggling under his own, a timid smile in his face. He strokes the mathematician's hand a little longer before forcing himself to look back at the screen.
"Yes, it is. And those are white, and this and that ones are black." He points at the blocks as he says their colors.
"And the last ones?" Hermann asks, eyes fixed on the screen, mentally labeling the blocks.
"Yellow." Newt is considering how he could explain 'yellow' to Hermann, but soon realises the other man is already immersed in solving the puzzle. He moves the blocks quickly, occasionally stopping to think or remember which color a determined block is.
Newton watches him in the few moments he needs to solve the puzzle. When he finishes it the tablet emits a cheery tune and the message 'You Did It' flashes in the screen. This time Hermann smiles fully. It lasts only a moment before subsiding to a small up turn to the corners of his thin lips. His eyes, however, remain alight with self-accomplishment. Newton kinda wants to laugh: Doctor Hermann Gottlieb, the man behind the Mark-I coding, the first one to accurately describe the Breach and one of the main responsibles for its closure, is happy because he just solved a puzzle.
But Newton could never laugh at it. Not now that he knows what is it like to have colors washed away from his sight. Not now that he knows how much of what he takes for granted is actually petty and fragile. Not now that Hermann's face is still lit by a small smile as he reads the next puzzle. Looking at him Newt realises. This genuine yet discreet happiness, this sense of accomplishment even in the smallest tasks, this overcoming of small but persistent obstacles... He smiles at Hermann, calling the man's attention.
"This is yellow..." He smiles at Hermann, a small smile but makes sure to crinkle the corners of his eyes. With his pinky extended, he touches the yellow crests tattooed across this colarbones and draws an upwards curve; a tiny simle. Hermann mimics his small smile and much to Newt's surprise, he rests his long finger against the biologist's tattooed chest and draws a perfect curve.
==Brown==
Newton buys chocolate in a post-Valentine's sale. It seems like a good opportunity to teach Hermann "brown".
===Meta===
(From "Brown"
For pickleplum.
As always, this belongs to the Athene Noctua verse, by pickleplum.
The idea for this one came up after I read this ask on plum's tumblr. I asked plum about the quasi-kiss and was delighted when she allowed me to write it.
If anyone is wondering, this is the origami Hermann was making when Newt arrived :)
===Text===
It's been years since the last time Newton celebrated Valentine's properly. In the first years of K-War he managed to go to pubs and hook with someone nice but it was a long time ago. With the recurrent attacks and ever increasing pile of work to do he had no time left to this kind of thing. Not to mention he simply wasn't in the mood to celebrate love and happiness.
However, there was a thing he appreciated about the holiday, and that was: post-Valentine's chocolate sales. Understandably, chocolate was one of the things that got hard to find during the war. Hard to find and not quite as afordable as it was before it. But in Valentine's it could be found in almost any market or store, and in the day after it would be abundant and much cheaper.
This year he felt like celebrating. The Breach was closed and the future seemed brightest then ever, specially with someone worth sharing it with. With the convoluted end of the war and their status as "resistance" he was low on funds, so he waited for February the 15th to go shopping. He spent the entire afternoon searching and bargaining but by the begining of the night he was heading back to the Shatterdome with a pile of heart-shaped boxes under his arm.
He gave one to Mako and Raleigh, causing the young couple to blush and thank him awkwardly. It was mostly pleasant to see Mako, usually so composed, actually blushing. Tendo stole one, but he didn't care since it was meant for the tech anyway. He also gave one to Marshall Hansen, albeit he was sure the man wouldn't eat any of it. With three boxes still under his arm, he went back to Hermann's room.
Hermann was sitting at the desk, curved over it looking very concentrated. "Hi, Hermann." He greeted, placing two boxes over a tall pile of books and hiding the third behind his back. "What are you doing?" He got closer and saw that from all the many things Hermann could do, he was doing origami.
"The printer got jammed and I had to reprint some pages of my latest report. I didn't want the paper to go wasted so I decided to do this..." He turned and showed him a small origami newt, white and covered in numbers and smudges of ink.
"Wow, dude! This is so cool!" Newton bend forward, looking at the cute sculpture. "I forgot you were so good at this."
Hermann smiled, his wings fluttering pleasantly. "It's been years since the last time I did it, I got the paper all crumpled before I got it right."
"It is still awesome!" Newton smiled down at him, appreciating the smile he got back. He straightened up and grinned, pulling the box from behind his back. "Quite as cool as what I got for you!"
Hermann lifted his eyebrows and took the lid off the box. Newt could barely contain his smile but, much to his disappointment, Hermann only frowned when he saw the contents of the box. "And you call yourself a biologist, Newton..." Hermann said, looking up at the other man. The look of hurtful confusion he found there made his heart sink. "Chocolate makes me sick, Newton... Bird, you know?" He looks down at the pretty chocolates lined up inside the box and feels really bad about it. Newt wanted to make him feel good, wanted to do something nice for him and he rebuffed it with absolutely no ceremony. But at this age he simply knew better than to stuff his face with candy.
Newton closed the box silently and went to the bed, sitting on the edge and poking at the pink cardboard on his lap. Feeling guiltier than he could expect, Hermann stood up and limped across the room, wings extended to help him keep balanced. He sat by Newt's side and gently put the paper newt over the chocolate box. The shorter man pushed it slowly across the lid, making little noises as the origami moved over the box.
Finally, Newt took the paper animal and put it on his breast pocket and opened the chocolate box. "Would you mind if I ate all of these?" He asked, running his fingertip over the plastic holding the candies. "They are still kinda yours I guess..."
Hermann didn't answered, but he picked one of the chocolates and pressed it against Newt's closed lips. "Chocolate always cheers you up." He said and Newt opened his mouth carefully. He slid the candy into the other man's mouth where it immediately began to melt. Newt savored the thick sweetness with half closed eyes. Hermann was right, chocolate did always made him feel better; yet now he wasn't sure if the warm feeling in his chest was due to the chocolate, to Hermann's behavior of to the fact that his long finger was still resting against Newt's lips.
"You know, I believe I could have one without any harm." Hermann said, dropping his hand and looking at the candies still resting inside the heart shaped box. "Chose one for me, please."
Newt swallowed audibly and stared at Hermann for a few seconds before looking down to study the chocolates. He picked one and brought it closer. "This one... It is the same color of your hair."
Hermann snorted. "Aren't they all brown?"
Then it was Newt's time to snort. "Don't be so simplistic, Hermann. There are lots of different shades of brown and I know you can tell it." Hermann actually looked like a child being told off and Newt shouldn't find that cute. But he kinda did. "This one, is the same color of your hair." Newt said once more. "It is dark, but not in a black-y way. It is just like really dense brown, and it actually is bitter chocolate. You can tell by the color bu also because of the smell." He held it near Hermann's face and he sniffed at it and indeed it smelled stronger than regular milk chocolate. Then Newt brought it closer to his own lips and ate it. "This is too strong for you, might make you sick even being this small."
Hermann frowned and that brought a smile to Newt's lips. After he swallowed, the biologist took another chocolate from the box. "This is the color of your eyes." He put the candy near Hermann's temple as if comparing it to the mathematician's eyes. "It is not as dark as the other one, but it is a dense color too. But more on the red side. I believe it is called chestnut brown." He sniffed at it and offered the candy for Hermann to do the same. "It would be a good choice for you, but... " He popped it into his mouth with a mischievous smile. "It is my favorite so I'm not sharing it."
Hermann was split between being annoyed and charmed by his child like behavior. Something in his easy smile and shiny eyes hit hard on Hermann's heart, causing his own smile to bloom effortlessly. Newton's hand was hovering over the remaining pieced of chocolate, thoughfully considering his next choice. When he finally picked one he studied it a little longer, throwing side glances at Hermann every few seconds.
"Yes." He finally said. "This one is the exact shade of your wings." His voice was soft and filled with wonder and Hermann briefly questioned if it would wear off anytime. He didn't want it to, he wanted to be target of those wonder filled glances and words forever.
Said wings twitched in curiosity as he leaned forward. "How is it?"
Newt put the candy up and looked at it against the white artificial light of the room. "It is the warmest shade of brown in the box. It is soft and velvety and has a yellow undertone." He doesn't see but feel Hermann's pinky drawing a small smile over his chest. He smiled fondly at the chocolate before bringing it down. " By the weight I can say this one is filled. I wonder what with..." He bit half of the candy and soft caramel invaded his mouth, mixing with the hard chocolate perfectly. He pulled the half bitten treat away and a string of caramel extended for a few inches before breaking and clinging to the corner of his lips.
Driven by an instinct that he couldn't quite name yet, Hermann gently cupped his cheek. "This is the one I want." He said and pressed his lips to the corner of Newt's tasting the chocolate in his breath and the caramel on his skin. It lasted only for a second and when it ended Newton was deeply glad that Hermann couldn't see the boiling red rising to his cheeks.
"We... we should save the rest for latter." Newt finally squeaked, hastily closing the box just to have something to do with his eyes and hands. Hermann smiled fondly as he awkwardly stood up and picked the other boxes and put them away over the desk. He stayed there, poking on the jammed pages of Hermann's report and failed attempts at origami just to busy himself while his heart was still racing.
Hermann looked down and found the other half of the caramel filled candy. He picked it and delicately put it inside his mouth. He wasn't used to the taste of it anymore but he could appreciate it. Specially when the taste was now inextricably linked with his brown memories of cocoa filled lips.
==Pink==
When red mixes with white, Newton shows Hermann pink.
===Meta===
(From "Pink".)
For pickleplum.
It takes place in the morning after chatper 19 of Athene Noctua.
As usual, it belongs in the 'verse created by pickleplum and will be better understood if you're acquainted with their work :)
Plum, I hope this pleases you and works well with your new chapter ^^
This actually turned out to be my favorite xD
===Text===
Newt wakes up earlier than he needs that morning. The previous day had been tiresome with all the walking up and down stores aisles carrying tons of bags and witnessing first handed the inexplicable instant friendship between Tendo and Bastien. Tiresome, yes, but so pleasing! Even more after he saw how this simple act afected Hermann. He had fallen asleep in a matter of minutes which was rare.
He strokes the thick sheets before letting his hand drag over Hermann's bare back, softly petting the tiny feathers around the spot his wings grew out of his shoulder blades. He looks down at him and smile as he realises Hermann is awake but pretending to sleep by his side. By now he knows the other man's breathing pattern well enough to tell when he is sleeping or faking it. And he is definitely faking it. He doesn't breath this deeply while truly asleep and his eyes are perfectly still under his closed eyelids, indicating no REM sleep. He snuggles closer to him and press closed lips to his temple.
He briefly wonders how Lars did in his meeting with the UN representatives. The Wall had been an utter failure, specially after Otachi, but it has been a well looked project during years; it was hard to tell how the closure of the Breach would affect it. Thinking about it make him boil. He remembers their own panel with the UN and frustration claws inside his chest. It had been an exercice in futility, as fruitless and enraging as he was expecting it to be. Except that he hadn't anticipated Moore and his personal attacks and he actually has to bite the insides of his cheek to keep from trashing in anger and frustration.
His previous good mood crushes under a crimson wave of resentment and regret. Why had he even begin to tread this path of thoughts?!
As if sensing his distress Hermann buries his face deeper in the curve of Newt's neck, inhaling his scent and sighing. "Did you enjoy our last night in the king's bed?" He asks, voice muffled against Newt's skin.
"Yes." He answers softly. "You?" Hermann nods and props up in one elbow to look down at his bedmate's face.
"But you're not happy now..." He muses, squinting at him. "What happened? Did Bastien annoyed you too much yesterday?"
Newt snorts, slowly going back to a lighter mood. "Are you serious? He and Tendo teamed up against me the whole day! They kept babling about that dorky British show you guys like and talking about how they know you so much better than me."
Hermann frowns. "Is it so?"
"Yes. Like... I drifted with you and I didn't know you liked that Doctor When thing. And sci-fi. And Joy Division!" He actually whines. "I mean, I like Joy Division too! We could have bonded over it ages ago!"
Hermann considers his words for a while and finally smiles fondly at him, he puts his wings up, cocooning them from the outer world. "I suppose you're aware that this isn't a competition about who knows me better, right? And did you actually expected to know me better than my brother?"
Newt pouts. "No! I mean, not better than him. But better than Tendo? Definetely! He even knew you are colorblind! I just found it out because of the drift and I worked with you every single day for the last years."
"You know the important things about me." Hermann says seriously.
"Like what? That you have wings?" Newt closes his eyes and presses his lips together.
"Like that I take my pills in size order and that I always manage to pick the lemon hardcandies even if I can't see their colors." Hermann informs and Newt feels a slight blush creeping to his cheeks. "That I like to take hot showers even when it is warm and that I like to spread my wings under the sun. That I can see with most lights off and that's how I manage to go to the bathroom without turning the lights on at night. Or that I like to sleep on the left side of the bed, and that I sleep better to the sound of your heartbeat. You are the only one to know many things about me..."
Newt stares at him, chest tight with an ever growing ball of affection taking the space his lungs and heart should occupy. The previous red feelings of anger towards the blind and ignorant men who were to decide the destiny of the world fades in the white light of Hermann's tenderness. They mix in his mind, the intensity of red and the sweetness of white, turning into a rich pink that envelops his senses.
He smiles deeply and affectionately and Hermann responds with a shy smile. His finger is tracing the yellow curve on Newt's chest, happy to make him feel better. Newt nuzzles his face tenderly. If he hadn't known by now, in that moment he'd know: this is where he belongs. Under Hermann's wings, bathing in his small smiles and in the deep feeling of acceptance and care he seem to emanate when they were alone.
"This." He says, tracing a line connecting his heart to Hermann's. "Is pink."
Category:Ficlet
Category:CuriumKingyo
Category:Colour Book
Category:Hermann
Category:Hermann (ficlet)
Category:Newt
Category:Newt (ficlet)
Category:Hermann is colour-blind
Category:Hewt
Category:Hewt (ficlet)
Category:Mako (mention)
Category:The Resistance goes to Geneva