Tina murmured sleepily to herself and flipped over onto her side, wrapping Newt's blanket snuggly around her. It smelled like him, the comforting scent of earth and wood and rain, mingled with the faint underlying trace of sweat. She buried her nose into it, and hazily wondered why she was awake, as she couldn't remember what had woken her.
As she closed her heavy eyes, she disregarded this matter and burrowed deeper into the couch. Suddenly, through the smell of Newt's blanket, another familiar scent reached her nose, and this one was much more alarming. Smoke!
Tina sat bolt upright, flinging the warm blanket off herself. She looked around wildly for the cause, preparing herself to see flames leaping up the walls, but instead spotted Newt at the kitchen. He was bent over the stove, and prodded something in a pan with a wooden spoon, cursing under his breath. He appeared to have burnt whatever he'd been cooking, and thin streams of gray smoke were issuing up from the pan.
Tina lay back down with a sigh of relief. She yawned, stretching her arms above her head, and glanced at Newt again. A look of frustration marred his features, and his mouth was set into a grim line. He was still scraping at the pan with the wooden spoon, and having no luck with whatever he was trying to unstick.
A small wave of pity swamped Tina, followed by the urge to giggle. Then, deciding that Newt was in need of some help, she heaved herself off the couch and plodded over to him.
"Hey," she greeted. "What are you doing?"
Newt spun around, and upon seeing her, he stepped in front of the stove in an attempt to shield his ruined creation. Then, realizing that this was a hopeless cause, he sighed and threw the spoon his hand down.
"You mean what am I trying to do?" he muttered resentfully.
Tina walked over to the stove, and peered into the pan. A burnt, flaky, black mess had curdled at the bottom, and it was still smoking slightly. "It's not that bad," she said, lying.
Newt raised his eyebrows at her.
"Well, okay, it's horrible," she admitted.
"If you must know, I was attempting to make pancakes for breakfast," he informed moodily.
The Englishman picked up the pan and carried it over to the garbage can, tipping it upside down. When the charred pancakes didn't unstick from the metal, he banged the pan grumpily against the rim. The black mess unpeeled itself and plopped down sadly into the trash can.
"Cheer up," Tina consoled. She went over to him and patted his back reassuringly. "At least you tried."
"And that's what counts?" he snorted disdainfully.
Tina changed tactics. "Okay, how about we start over again, this time with me helping you?" she suggested.
Newt gave a noncommittal grunt, followed by a jerk of his head that the brunette translated as a grudging yes.
"Let me change, and then we can get started," she told him.
Walking back over to the couch where her suitcase stood at the end, she opened it and took out her everyday clothes. She went to the bathroom with them, and quickly shed her pajamas to change, wanting to get back to Newt as soon as possible.
Really, Tina thought, smiling to herself, I never thought he'd be the type to be domestic.
Once she had her white blouse and gray trousers on, she exited the bathroom and went into the kitchen, where Newt was standing forlornly by the counter, still looking quite angry and frustrated.
"Come on, Newt," Tina encouraged when she saw his expression, "it was a good first try."
"Except that it wasn't my first try," Newt grumbled, sweeping his arm toward the garbage can.
Tina peeked into the garbage, and saw that the bottom was littered with a pile of the crumbly black remains of pancakes. She winced, and took a step back. "Well, you were persistent," she said, though she was starting to lack positive things to say.
"And I used up all the batter in the apartment, so we won't be able to make any more," Newt said flatly.
"Oh," she said feebly. She once more felt like laughing at the ridiculousness yet adorableness of the situation, but stopped herself by biting her lip.
Instead, she strode over to the fridge and opened the freezer door. She rummaged around, shoving aside packs of frozen bean burritos before spotting a carton of waffles. She took it out and set it down on the countertop.
"Waffles aren't bad, and all we have to do is toast these. They're a nice replacement," she said brightly, opening up the box.
"As long as they're not expired," he muttered.
"Oh, Mercy Lewis, lighten up Newt!" Tina cried exasperatedly. "So what if you burnt a few pancakes? It's not the end of the world."
Newt stared at the floor, shuffling his feet. "I wanted to make something for you, just this once," he said bitterly.
Tina blinked, surprised, and immediately regretted her sharpness. She felt a stab of pity in her chest as she gazed at Newt, who was looking rather miserable. Sighing, she put down the box of waffles and went over to him, giving him a hug.
"I appreciate it, Newt, I really do," she murmured. "But what made you think you had to go to all the trouble?"
"I just needed to do something nice for you," he mumbled, a pink blush accenting his freckles.
"You do something nice for me everyday," Tina said, enveloping him tightly. "Letting my sister and her husband stay at your parents' house, despite the fact that they're both on the run from the law? Nice. Showing me around your cupboard? Nice. Going out into a storm with me? Nice."
Newt huffed softly, although she could see that his grumpy mood was fading. "Thanks," he said.
Tina gave him a final squeeze before pulling her arms away. "Speaking of that storm, how's your cold?" she added, a touch of concern creeping into her tone.
"It's fine, I'm hardly even sneezing anymore," he said, sounding much more like his old self. "Now, what say you we get going on those waffles?"
Tina smiled at him as he slid two slices of the checkered bread into the toaster, then pushed down the button. A bottle of syrup was already sitting out on the counter, and plates had been taken out, too.
Newt's apartment didn't have a dining table, as it was rather modest and small. Tina figured that he didn't really need one, either. She knew him well enough by now to know that he was one to only buy what he needed. Because of this, they ate all their meals in the living room, which seemed strange at first, but Tina had learned to enjoy it.
They waited patiently for the waffles to pop back up, and as they were both staring childlishly and intently at the toaster, a loud knock sounded at the door. Tina jumped, and shared a confused glance with Newt. Bunty wasn't coming today, so who else could it be?
Newt left the kitchen and began to walk toward the front door, with Tina trailing behind him. He peered through the eyehole, and furrowed his brow. "It's Queenie and Jacob!" he informed, surprised.
Queenie and Jacob? Tina stared as he opened the front door to their beaming faces. Queenie and Jacab stepped inside, and Newt closed the door hurriedly.
"Hi, Teen!" Queenie chirped brightly.
"Hey Newt," Jacob said, lifting a hand up.
Irritation made Tina frown. "What are you two doing here?" she shot at them. "You can't be seen! You're criminals on the run from the law, remember?"
Jacob had the grace to look ashamed, lowering his gaze bashfully and clearing his throat, while muttering something about Queenie being stubborn and insisting that they come here.
"Don't throw me under the bus, Jacob!" Queenie said indignantly. She turned to Tina, who had her arms crossed and was glaring sternly at her. "And besides, Teen, we Apparated right onto the doorstep, I bet no one saw us."
"It took time to knock, didn't it, it took time to answer the door!" Tina burst out, paranoid and angry. "You could have been seen! What would we have done then? MACUSA's already hot on your trail, you don't need to help them!"
"It's alright," Newt said hastily, stepping in with a warning glance at all of them. "As long as you weren't seen, it doesn't matter. For now, anyways. And in the future, do stay where you're meant to," he added to Queenie and Jacob.
Jacob looked relieved that the argument had been resolved, and Queenie still seemed somewhat indignant, but she shrugged it off. Tina could feel anger boiling away in her stomach, coated by anxiety, but she took a deep breath and forced it to calm down, anchoring herself on Newt's calm green gaze.
The sound of a toaster popping up reminded her of the waffles. "Would you guys like some waffles?" she asked.
"They're frozen, but I reckon they're not all that bad," Newt added.
"Sure," Queenie and Jacob chorused.
The group headed into the living room, with Tina walking past to toast another pair of waffles. When she returned, they were all seated, and she took a spot beside Newt.
"–misses his bakery, but it's okay," Queenie finished.
Jacob nodded in agreement. "At least I know Hendry's got things under control," he pitched in.
"Has my mum been bothering you?" Newt asked tentatively, as if he was afraid of the answer. Tina thought that he had a great deal of reason to be.
"Oh, not at all!" Queenie replied cheerfully. "Though I did help her start the Newtina fan club, we're going to invite some of her friends from the book club to join next–"
"You what? " Tina and Newt exclaimed at the same time.
"Yep!" Queenie giggled at their disbelieving and horrified reactions.
"There's actually a lot of people who joined, too," Jacob said. "Newt, your old teacher, Dumbellpop or something, he joined too."
"Dumbledore?! " Newt yelped, his face flushing and pink. "Merlin's Beard, no, not Dumbledore..."
"Oh yeah, Dumbledore, that was his name," Jacob said. "And Theseus also joined."
Newt looked like he wanted to sink through the floor and never resurface aagain. He buried his face into his hands and mumbled disbelievingly to himself. Tina laughed slightly, but was feeling equally mortified herself.
A chink from the kitchen distracted her, and she got up to retrieve the waffles, putting them onto some more plates and drizzling syrup all over them. She slathered Queenie's waffle in syrup so that it was drowning in brown gooeyness, just as she liked it. Then, levitating the four plates with her wand, she poured out four glasses of milk and magicked everything into the living room, where they floated to the designated individuals.
"Enjoy," she said.
"The very un-burnt waffles," Newt added.
"Huh?" Queenie puzzled, confused.
"Nothing," he said quickly, but he flashed a grin at Tina, who smiled back.
The group of friends happily ate their waffles and drank their milk, while just enjoying each other's company. The mood was light and carefree, even though Queenie and Jacob had just narrowly avoided being seen. A rush of affection for her sister and friend came over Tina as she thought of the risk they took to visit her and Newt.
"And how have you two been?" Jacob asked.
"We've been okay," Tina responded.
"How are the creatures doing?" Queenie inquired curiously.
This comment made Tina remember something. She glanced sideways at Newt, wondering when he would be showing them his beasts in the cupboard, but his face gave away no indication of his intentions.
"They're quite happy and content," Newt replied. "Though Pickett still has some attachment issues."
Tina laughed, along with Queenie and Jacob. They all knew despite the Magizoologist's frequent scoldings and complaints about the little Bowtruckle, that he had an affinity for him. They whiled away the hour chatting whitch each other, making jokes, and laughing. Newt pointed out a smear of syrup of Tina's upper lip, which made them all chuckle, and she remembered the time when she'd had mustard on her lips instead, which was the first time she met Newt. Queenie humored them with more tales about The Newtina Fan Club, that was its official name, and Newt and Tina cringed, blushing. Jacob told them about all of his ideas for pastries that he'd been mapping out, and he couldn't wait to get back to New York to make them.
Finally, when it was past noon, Queenie and Jacob stood up, saying that they had to go. They seemed to be sad that the four of them were separating again, but promised to keep undercover and not be spotted.
"You'd better Apparate away in here, then," Newt said.
Tina and Queenie exchanged a hug, while Newt and Jacob did some sort of complicated handshake. When they were ready, Jacob placed his hand on Queenie's arm and she spun on the spot, waving goodbye.
"And make sure you Apparate directly on the doorstep and hurry in!" Tina called after the whirling blur of colors. In an instant, Queenie and Jacob were gone.
"I hope they don't get spotted," Newt said nervously.
"They'd better not," the brunette muttered darkly, "or I will be after their blood myself, nevermind MACUSA."
Newt laughed. "I can imagine that," he said, amused.
Tina hesitated for a moment, then made up her mind. "Newt, can I ask you something?"
"Go ahead," he encouraged openly.
"Why didn't you show them your cupboard full of creatures?" she asked.
Newt paused for a moment before answering. He seemed to be genuinely thinking it over, and not stalling.
"I don't know," he said slowly, tentatively. "I guess I wanted the cupboard to be our thing. I mean, I am aware that other people already know about it, like Bunty, my family....But it feels different between you and me. It's sort of stupid, I know."
Tina felt touched, and a warm glow spread inside her, making her fingertips tingle. A smile bloomed across her features, and she couldn't make it stop. The thought of having something special to share with Newt, and the further extension of him thinking that she was worth sharing with, made something inside her soar.
"It's not stupid at all," she said softly. "Not at all."
Newt's shy gaze met hers. "You really don't think so?"
"On the contrary, I like the idea of it being our thing," Tina said. "Very much."