───NEWT WAS BEING FOLLOWED and to create a bit of confusion paired with a diversion, he decided to head off in one direction while Basil and Tyne left in another after leaving Theseus' home. Tyne had yet to really say a word once Theseus came outside to say goodnight to them, she didn't find herself saying it back, creating obvious tension for all to witness. Instead, she clutched her selkie skin tighter to her chest and kept her gaze focused on the floor until Basil finally cleared his throat to announce they were leaving. With it just being the two of them, Tyne found it quite awkward as she didn't know anything about Basil aside from his name and his job title.
However, she didn't want to come across as rude in his company, feeling the need to start up a conversation. She would turn to him, open her mouth, but as soon as he glanced over in her direction, she would quickly look away and remain silent. He didn't seem to mind though, never questioning what she was doing as he walked along, singing a song to himself under his breath that was in another language. It sounded beautiful, even if she couldn't understand a word of it.
Eventually, though, Basil turned to her with an expectant look as they came to a halt on the pavement. Tyne suddenly became nervous, unsure as to why he was looking at her like that. Was she supposed to do something that someone had failed to mention? Taking a step back, she had a firm grip of her wand hidden under her selkie skin, just in case, someone tried to do anything. But Basil made no fast movements, simply watching the nervous features on her face and the reflected fear in her eyes.
"I figured you wouldn't want to walk all the way to the home," Basil said to her, " it would be easier to apparate, no?"
As if being accused guilty of a crime, Tyne looked away once more with a prominent frown. "I never learned how to apparate," she informed him, "I was too young before I was taken from my home and schooling. The education I have through my fifth year is all that I have magic wise. I can't even perform silent incantations."
There was a pause between them as Basil seemed to take the news and scold himself for making the suggestion in the first place. It wasn't his fault though, he was coming into the situation blind, only arriving on the orders of an owl that Newt had sent with vague information. There seemed to be plenty to Tyne's story that needed to be unravelled as he didn't know what she was talking about when she referred to being "taken from her home and schooling." But he was sure during her stay that he was going to find out, one way or another.
"Well then, allow me to be your escort," he said extended out his arm for her to take, "the sooner we get there, the quicker you can put your feet up and relax."
It sounded promising, Basil seemed kind enough, but the slight hesitation on her behalf didn't really have anything to do with him. She had to keep reminding herself over and over that, not everyone in the world was out to get her. With a deep breath, Tyne linked arms with Basil, and he gave her the opportunity to exhale slowly before they disapparated from the scene.
Side-apparating was never a pleasant experience for Tyne, she actually hated apparating even though it was the most convenient form of magical travel. It was one of the fastest ways of getting to a destination, but at the same time, it had always left her legs feeling wobbly and her stomach on the verge of turning. She had nearly fallen over when they reached their destination but thankfully, Basil was steady enough for the both of them.
"Are you alright?" he questioned, waiting for her to nod her head. "I apologise, I'm not fond of apparating either if it offers you any comfort. However, Mr Scamander would apparate across the globe if he could. Side-along apparition with him is the worst, take it from me. If he offers, say no."
For the first time in what felt like forever, Tyne smiled and couldn't hold back a simple laugh. Basil's advice paired with the look on his face made it quite clear that he wasn't joking about side-along apparating with Newt. She watched the man shudder before he made his way up the steps of a Victorian-style home. Tyne waited on the pavement for a few moments until he glanced over his shoulder, surprised that she had yet to follow.
"I can make us some tea," Basil offered, " all you have to do is come inside."
As a storm continued to threaten in the air, Tyne glanced up at the darkening grey clouds before looking in the direction of the home. She told herself that in order to move on with her life, she was going to have to be open to moving forward. Newt was offering her a job and a place to stay, that was far more than what most would offer her. And if she remembered anything about Newt from her own childhood was that the man was incapable of hurting any creature, so he would have no reason to hurt her.
Climbing up the steps of the house, Tyne followed Basil inside through the front door. While the outside had appeared calm and quiet, the inside was almost quite the opposite. Entering through the front, Tyne was immediately met with clutter. Unlike Theseus' flat that was neatly kept with everything in order, Newt's home was a bit all over the place. There were papers and books stacked in corners, all sorts of equipment lying around, and plenty going on for a sensory overload.
"I apologise for the mess as well," Basil told her, " I've been meaning to get around to it, but we've had our hands full lately. It's practically around the clock here with new creatures coming in."
Tyne stopped and looked at Basil with a surprised expression. "You have creatures here?"
Basil turned to her with a grin. "Of course we do, would you like to see them?"
Not having to ask twice, Tyne followed him to a door that led to what she figured was a cellar of sorts. However, nothing could prepare her for what she was about to witness; after living in a magical world all her life, it was nice to see that there were still so many things that she could be surprised by. Just down the steps, the home had been turned into a kingdom for creatures as an entirely different world opened up.
As she slowly embarked down the stairs, Tyne took her time to observe her new surroundings, her eyes wide enough to try to take in everything at once. Her lips were parted in awe to see the variety of creatures that seemed to be moving around their own enclosures. And when she came to the last step, she stopped as a thought came to her mind that caused the sudden feel of magic to vanish from her chest. Suddenly, she was left feeling entirely cold and stiff before she looked over in Basil's direction.
While Newt had said that she would be offered a job and a place to stay, Tyne was wondering if it meant that her "job" was going to involve her being placed in her own enclosure. Was she there to be placed on display again? She had only been joking around when she had been offended by Newt's lack of selkie information in his most recently published book, but it didn't mean she wanted to become a creature of study locked away in a basement.
Basil's next choice of words didn't make her feel any better either. "Make yourself at home," he said, as he removed his cloak and started to walk around. She didn't follow right away, standing in place for a few moments.
She wished she could comfortably stand there without being paranoid that someone was going to come from behind and lock her away in a cage or a tank of sorts. She had her selkie skin in hand, which meant that she was in charge, and she had a wand now to defend herself. Maybe she wasn't the most educated witch of her time, but she remembered a lot from her childhood and her time at Hogwarts. Her memories at school were some of the only things she could hold onto during the darkest time of her life when she wanted to find some light.
While Basil seemed too busy tending to other creatures to notice her stiff reaction, she watched as he started to feed some of the creatures that looked rather excited to see him. And eventually, she took the final step off of the stairs and started to move around. He called out a warning to her not to touch any of the creatures, but she wasn't foolish enough to stick her hand in the closest enclosure to pet anything either.
Instead, she was drawn to the large body of water that was in the distance, spread out like a lake. There was no sign of anything at the surface, but the call to the water seemed so inviting at the time. Since Basil was distracted, for the time being, she was able to cross the area, passing through so many sections before she came upon the indoor lake. She could easily slip on her selkie skin and dive in to hide away, but she decided against it, just taking to sitting down at the edge and dipping her feet in the water.
Basil had his hands full with baby nifflers when he realised that it was awfully quiet with Tyne not making any sort of noise. He turned his head to see what she was up to, only to see that she was sitting by the kelpie's lake. Immediately, he placed the baby nifflers down and hurried off in the same direction to tell her that she had not chosen the best seating choice.
"You don't want to sit there!" he called out. "There's a-"
"Kelpie?" she replied, looking over her shoulder as he approached. "Yes, I've seen him already. He surfaced as soon as I sat down."
The Kelpie by no means was considered a friendly sort, at least, not to the standards of Newt and Basil. It had bitten them countless times as they were trying to heal a wound on its neck, but the aggressive nature made their jobs difficult. However, Basil was left stunned as he stood there, witnessing the kelpie come up and run under Tyne's bare feet.
"Alright, how are you doing that?" Basil questioned her. "He's one of the most aggressive bastards we have in here."
"Perhaps it's the bond of the water," Tyne answered quietly, " water is its own form of magic and it's something that the kelpie and I have in common. Our kind has shared waters before."
Unsure of how to respond to such a statement, Basil remained silent, however, he was quite nervous about just leaving her at the edge of the indoor loch. The Kelpie was showing a kinder nature, but he was also known to be quite tricky. But Basil didn't know much surrounding the selkie lore and what they were capable of, perhaps Tyne was right, maybe they were destined to get along, just like how Basil got along with the mooncalves on the nights of the full moon.
Newt returned a little while later and as he came down the stairs of the basement, he called out to Basil that the baby Nifflers had been loose again. He was carrying them about in his hands as they attempted to escape and move all over the place, but Basil abandoned what he was doing to walk over and assist. Grabbing a gold chain from one of the tables, he started to dangle it in front of them which attracted all of them to look in his direction. With the lure in place to bring them back into a nest full of sparkling objects, the baby nifflers were placed away, freeing up Newt's hands.
He appeared a bit flustered from whatever adventure he had been on to get the Ministry off his tail, but looked rather relieved to be back in the comfort of his own home alongside Basil. He glanced around quickly before meeting Basil's gaze.
"Where is Tyne? Did she decide to go to bed early?"
With a shake of his head, Basil pointed off in the direction of the loch, bringing Newt closer. Immediately, Newt looked as though he was going to run over and pull Tyne away from the water, but Basil stopped him by placing his arm out.
"What are you doing, Basil? She can't be that close, no one should be that close to the kelpie! You've seen how difficult it's been managing him to put ointment on with two of us-"
"Newt," Basil cut him off before the man could ramble on any more, " she's been sitting there for the last hour or so. The Kelpie has already checked her out and left her alone, it doesn't seem to mind her presence at all. She says it might have something to do with her being a selkie or something like that."
A silence fell over them for a moment before Newt looked back in Tyne's direction, where she was leaning against one of the stone columns that supported the area. She wasn't moving and even at the sound of Newt's voice, she didn't stir to look over in their direction either. Making his way over, Newt slowly approached where she was sitting, wondering if she had fallen asleep, but as he came to rest by her side he saw that she was awake and simply staring out at the water.
"Are you alright, Tyne?"
There were the obvious signs that she had been crying as her cheeks were wet with the remaining tears that had yet to dry, her eyes seemed swollen and red before she sniffled and ran her hand under her nose.
"I'm fine," she replied, " just fine."
Newt glanced over in Basil's direction unsure of how to proceed because it was obvious that Tyne wasn't fine, but at the same time, it seemed she didn't want to talk about her being upset either. Basil gave him a look to say something else, but Newt gave a nervous shake of his head, looking for direction. Between the silent conversation that was taking place between the two men behind Tyne's back, the Kelpie came to the surface once more, but this time it seemed to have ill intent.
Of course, it wasn't towards Tyne but for Newt as it felt the ever loving need to drown him.
"That wound is going to need ointment," Basil called out to Newt as Newt backed away from the edge for a moment. The Kelpie slid under Tyne's feet once more as Newt observed before he reached for a silver bridle resting at the side. Tyne's attention perked up as she watched Newt approach the dark water once more, curious as to what he was going to do.
Newt offered a smile before jumping backwards into the water, leaving her to quickly remove her feet and jump up.
"What is he doing?!" she cried out. "He does know that Kelpies live to drown people right?"
"He knows," Basil replied, " that's probably why he loves the thing so much."
"But he could get hurt, he didn't even bring his wand down there with him, did he?"
"He doesn't need it," Basil informed her, " believe me, he's done this before. Don't worry. I'll be right back, I need to get the ointment, here I'm the one who should have my wand on my person."
He had only had his back turned for a second to grab the ointment off a nearby table, but when Basil turned around again, he saw that Tyne was gone. He stood completely still for a moment, unsure of where she had gone until he noted her clothing and wand on the floor. Her selkie skin was gone as well and with the water right ahead, he had a pretty clear idea as to where she had gone.
"Well then," Basil replied resting a hand on his hip, " I'll just wait here then until you three are all done splashing around."
As Tyne entered the waters in her seal form, there was a moment where she could hear thrashing in the distance underwater. Yet, there was such a calming effect that washed over her as soon as she moved around. In the distance, she saw a large shadow of what she assumed to be the kelpie, it had obviously been attracted to the sound of her entering the water, perhaps believing she was food. But as it grew closer, it seemed to check her out and note who she was before darting off with Newt still attached to its back.
Following along through the water to witness what Newt was attempting to do, Tyne swam as fast as she could just to maintain the speed of the creature ahead of her. It seemed like an awkward and aggressive dance under the water as the kelpie jerked around to dislodge Newt from his back, but eventually, Newt was able to get a hold of the creature, long enough to bridle him.
The kelpie raced towards the surface where it became docile, shaking its mane as it neared the stone edge. Tyne followed and merely watched as Basil handed over the ointment with a shake of his head in the direction of the two.
"Well, Tyne," Newt said as he climbed out of the water, " it looks like you'll fit in here just fine. If he allows you to be in the water like that, I might offer to let you place the ointment on him. Might save us some trouble...and some fingers in the long run. Would you be up to it?"
Unable to verbally answer in her seal form, Tyne attempted to slap her flippers together to accept the job, only to end up splashing Newt in the face with water. Basil started laughing while Newt spat the water from his mouth, as Tyne sunk under the water quickly to hide in embarrassment.
"I'll take that as a yes."