His Only || Newt Scamander

Candor

"Seeing as Nundu attacks are rarer than Billywig stings to No-Maj – maybe this antidote is less needed than others. Not your best argument, Wycky boy."

"Why Wycky boy?"

Pinfield rubbed a finger between her eyebrows, "Now that I've returned your toddler can I be promised an update report by the end of today?"

"Yes, Healer Pinfield," Anna replied, busy over a boiling cauldron and a container of brightly colored frogs.

"Poison dart fro..."

"Yes, yes, dart frogs contain the batrachotoxin we need. I'm trying to reverse engineer it to find the compounds we can neutralize and possibly bring out a..."

Pinfield sidled out of the room, muttering curses and wishes for interns that spoke better English like herself.

Wyck scoffed and went to sit on the table, but Anna smacked his arm before he could make the jump.

"You shouldn't jeopardize your job like that." She transferred a vial of the cauldron mixture to a vial filled with a powdered substance. "You never know, one of these days could be the last straw."

"Eh, it's fine," he waved her off and admired how the vial began to fizz and bubble into a bunch of sparks. "Bonham and I have a few secrets on the downlow. When you're as smart as I am – it's hard to get fired from a prestige place like this."

She shook her head and took notes on the reaction, "You're starting to sound like Derwent."

He scoffed and slid away from the table, "Don't you dare compare me to that guy; we're nothing alike."

Anna brushed some hair aside, "You know I'm only joking, Wyck. Everyone knows Bonham keeps you around for some unbeknownst reason." She slid a questioning look towards him from her downturned eyes.

He only leaned back on his hands and stared at her configurations and formulas on the blackboard. If he wanted to, he could interpret each numerical equation, but he was wondering about a few questions himself.

"What are you doing this weekend?"

"The same thing you are, Wyck."

He blew a laugh through his nose, "You're going to Flourish and Blotts to get your edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them signed? I thought you weren't particularly fond of..."

"I'm going to pick up shifts at the hospital and focus on our research." She flew past his words as if afraid of what they'd do to her, "I thought you knew better than to take a personal day."

Wyck drummed his fingers into the wooden table, flickering his eyes between the fizzing vials and her strained face.

"It's not a crime to want to have a relaxing weekend," he retaliated. "And I think you should pick up on that."

"I don't need leisure weekends when there's work to be done here."

He watched her hands begin to get shakier, a sign he learned meant she was getting nervous. Soon she'll be hiding twitching fingers and avoiding all eye contact.

"You're going into overtime, don't lie to me, I know how many extra hours you take a week. The chief is going to pull you aside before long – there is more to life then just working, you know?" He leaned forward and placed his elbows onto the table, resting his chin in his hands, "Why don't you come with me tomorrow?"

She hesitated in transferring a dart frog sample to a dish, "Where?"

"I just told you, Diagon Alley – I do believe that's where Flourish and Blotts is." His eyes twinkled mischievously as hers darkened. Ever since that initial first visit by Mr. Scamander weeks ago he had become animatedly involved in the case of why she hated to see him.