#reflektor project

This one takes place a few weeks after Newt's birthday, when Newt and Leta reconnect after haven't seen each other since highschool.

It's not the best one, I wrote that on Wednesday, but that's all I have about Newt's birthday for now...

Meanwhile, they had walked to an art gallery, and an almost religious silence had suddenly fallen between them as they began to admire the few pieces they could see from the outside.

“So, you say your work is inspired by hers ?” had finally asked Newt, in a whisper, as his body was almost shivering as all the colors engulfed him, scratched on his skin and tinkled in his ears. Leta just nodded her head, quietly, almost imperceptibly, making him add “Then, I’ really love to see your work. Really. If you are agreeable, it goes without saying.”

Fighting against tears that would invade her eyes anyway, Leta hid them by rummaging through her purse, after another discrete nod. She took out a small package wrapped in some printed paper and gave it to Newt, all smiles.

“Happy birthday, Newt, I can’t believe I almost forgot !”

“Aww... Thank you. You didn’t have to, you know.”

“Well, I wanted to. And… it’s really nothing. Open it !”

As if it were the most precious thing on Earth, and maybe it was, Newt opened the paper, this symbol of their renewed friendship, with caution and delicacy, to discover a tiny stuffed animal which looked like a platypus. Of course. He burst out laughing. A brilliant, exploding laugh, as vibrating as the oscillation of the crystal. “You didn’t…” he managed to say between two uncontrolled hiccups.

“Oh, yes, I totally did. Even if I wanted to, I could never forget about the platypus, and the fact that for years people thought he was a chimera. Or that he’s the only mammal to reproduce by eggs, and that, during the reproductive period the male is venomous, or... No, Newt, I don’t think I can forget. I don’t think I won’t ever forget… So, YES, I did.”

Newt blushed, hoping that the pale light of the night would hide this. This species had been one of his fixations during highschool. Hard one. “Thank you Leta. And sorry about that by the way.” His hands were methodically patting the little toy, running through its fur, his eyes locked on his own hands, his thoughts soothed by the soft and almost tickling sensation on the tip of his fingers.

She brushed off his words with her hand. “Don’t be. That’s some nice piece of trivia. Oh, he needs a name …”

It didn’t take long for Newt to decide. “Shaw. As George Kearsley Shaw who was the first scientist to make a description of the platypus at the end of the 19th century.”

“I see.” she laughed gently. “Now, I count on you to give me updates about him. So you won’t wait another more than ten years to talk to me again. We’re friends. I guess. I hope. I want pictures of him. I hope he’ll travel. I hope he’ll travel as much as this garden gnome in this French movie…”

“Amelie ?”

“Yes, that’s the one !”

“Well, I’m not an air hostess, and I don’t know any.” 

“So you’ll have to travel, as you once said you would...”

It's supposed to fit in my non magical modern AU (that said, there isn't much to change to make that fit into canon), before Newt and Tina are together.

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Newt tried to open a round metallic box, but it suddenly slipped from his hands, as if it had been alive. As in slow motion, the container fell on the ground, all its contents spreaded on the kitchen floor, staining the tiles with tea leaves.

“Bloody hell !” he muttered, before beginning to mumble, as he was looking for a broom. “Can you be bloody careful once Newt ? It’s not that bloody complicated to open a bloody box… I’m tired of you Newt, really… You should be able to make yourself tea without creating a storm in the kitchen…And not be such a failure.” He was almost crying over frustration, over despair at having wasted all his precious tea reserves, and over fatigue. Probably.

A door opened, revealing a feminine shape. Tina’s eyes were barely opened, as if her lids were protesting, manifesting, ordering her to go back to sleep. 

“Newt, ‘re you alright ?”

“Oh… I’m so sorry. Did I wake you up ?”

She softly smiled at him as an answer. “Is everything OK ? ‘re you hurt ?”

“Yes…all good… I just… messed everything up. As usual… But there is nothing to worry about. I’ll just have to buy tea in the morning, I guess. I’m so sorry I woke you up Tina.” He was rubbing the back of his head, looking sheepishly at the dirty floor. 

“Oh… that’s a chance that I actually bought some tea of yours a few days ago.” She opened a cupboard and stretched, her pajamas lifting up, revealing a bit of skin over her stomach. He hurried to look away, his cheeks abruptly burning. 

“I think it’s the right one ?”

A paper bag appeared in front of him. He took many precautions to open the bag and plunged his nose to smell the content. Straight away surrounded by the scent of orange blossom, he whispered. “You remembered… Thank you Tina.” He smiled at her, a golden sparkle in his eyes, and brushed her cheek with his lips. She was the one to blush, now. 

“What if I made that tea for you ? Does that sound great ? So you’ll tell me why you were up in the middle of the night.”

“It’s 5AM, not the…” She gave him a glare, making him stop his sentence. “Right. I couldn’t sleep, I’m up for hours already. I was working.” He kept the rest of his thoughts for himself, trying to avoid to incur her wrath again, even if he was endlessly spiraling. “And you’re right, I should sleep, or rest, or things won’t get pretty soon… As it always turns when I begin to lose my motor skills.” 

As Tina pushed him out of the kitchen space, he returned to his seat at the table, and got back to work… before being interrupted only a few seconds later, by her hand putting a bookmark inside the large volume that was in front of him.

“Certainly not Mister Scamander. We’ll have that tea together. But no work. I think that all of this proves to us that you need to rest. I’ve two free hours before I need to actually get ready for work. Do you want to watch that show we began last week ?” He looked at her, flabbergasted, then nodded imperceptibly. Then, as he began to grab the teapot, she stopped his move. “What about I take care of everything breakable today ? And you get us some pillows and plaids ?”

I wrote that this morning for my AU, it's just a brother interaction in their family home. Not really edited and raw translated, but, well, I felt like to share it.

When the comforting heat of the spring sun disappeared, replaced by a sad freshness left by the shadow standing above him, Newt opened his eyes and raised one hand to shield his eyes from the effects of the backlighting. His brother was standing in front of him, smiling from ear to ear. 

“You came !”

“I didn’t feel I had a choice…”

Theseus sniggered. “In the past, it didn’t prevent you a lot to act only as you wished.”

Silence.

“I’m happy to see you, Newt.” He pointed at the house with his chin. “And she’s undoubtedly very happy to see you too. It was almost…undreamt of.”

“Theseus…”

“Newton…” The older sat next to his younger brother, pulling on blades of grass, as he spoke again. “Try to avoid to do the same thing as you did when I went to your home. Stay close, at least during the meals… Please ?” He made puppy eyes to plead his cause. 

“I already told you that … nevermind.” Newt shook his head a bit, transferring his gaze on his old friend whose coat, in the past of a sparkling chestnut, was now snowed of so much white.

Silence. This silence stretched, squeezed, stretched again, as the marshmallows knead by the funfair’s machine. The promise of a truce, maybe. Something soothing, certainly. 

“She grows older”

“I can’t believe she’s still here. I can’t believe I found you here, once again. You never left her side. Mum scarcely managed to unglued you from Billy to go to school, or to bed.”

Newt smiled shyly. “I came back to her stall, sometimes. Often. When she sounds of the house, the clinking of the clocks, the jingling of the water rhythmically escaping from the taps, the whistling of the electricity from the sockets, the crackling from the roof, … or your infuriating snores were overwhelming and prevented me from sleeping.”

Theseus looked at him, at length, tilting his head, pouting half sad, half proud, his eyes full of sparkles. “I know.”

“You knew ?” Newt was flabbergasted to learn that what he thought was one of his best kept secrets had been only transparency, all this time. 

“Hum… of course. I’m not sure Mum knew, though. You’ve always been more … serene by her sides. As if you managed to regain some colours, to catch your breath again when Billywig was around. I never understood why but… at least we knew where to find you.”   

At the sound of her name, the mare moved forwards towards them, her nostrils dilating as she rubbed the bridge of her nose against Newt. He put his head at her contact, his hands losing themselves in her coat, getting tangled in her long and coarse hair. 

“She’s also happy to see you. And I believe that the pleasure is shared, that you’re not feeling so bad, here.” 

The younger one just smiled, still absorbed in his exchange with the animal.