#maybe 2011

“How—comforting,” spits the man, and Newt holds up his hands in surrender.

“Woah, dude, no need to be pissy,” he shoots back, “jeez.”

The man does look contrite, though, and he says, “My apologies. I’m simply a tad bit—stressed. My…friends insisted I came with them for a trip over the weekend, and, well, they decided to rather abruptly abandon me in the middle of the night.”

Newt frowns at him. “Dude, who the hell does that?” he asks rhetorically. “Dicks.”

That, at least, manages to pull a wry, if pained, smile to his lips. “Yes, quite so.”

“Do you wanna come in?” Newt offers, propping the door open, and the other ducks inside. 

“Thank you,” he says, “truly—I honestly was quite at a loss for what to do, given that they took the tents with them.”

“Fuck,” Newt whistles. “Wow. Asshats. Well, I’m glad I was home to open the door—the next house isn’t for fifteen miles. Dude, you wanna sit down?”

“Yes, thank you,” he says gratefully, slumping back onto Newt’s sofa. “Ah—I’m Hermann, by the way.”

“Newt!” He debates offering a hand for the other to shake, but Hermann looks exhausted. “Do you want to crash here for a bit? I can call you a taxi later and you can get back to—”

“Most of my items are in my hotel room back in the city,” Hermann provides. “But are you certain? I don’t want to impose—”

Newt waves him off. “Nah, dude, it’s fine,” he reassures. “The bedroom’s right down that way—I’ll wake you in a few hours, yeah?” Hermann doesn’t look fully convinced, but he nods grudgingly.

“Alright—though I don’t know how to repay you for this…” he trails off.

“Dude,” Newt says, “dude, your friends left you in the middle of the woods and drove off. I’m not gonna ask for anything. Just sleep, yeah?”

Hermann finally seems to accept it, dragging himself back to his feet, and Newt watches him with a careful eye to make sure he doesn’t fall over on the way to the bedroom.

Later, Newt watches the taxi pull away, disappear over the horizon, and he thinks, Hermann seems like a cool dude. Pity we’ll never meet again.

Three years later, after Tresspasser’s defeat and then, Hundun’s, Newt sits down for a three-day long manic brainstorming session, and, at the end of it, presses send on an email to Doctor Hermann Gottlieb.

Doctor Gottlieb,