Chapter Text
Leaning over to reach for the taps, Tina caught her darkened eyes in the bathroom mirror and became acutely aware of how exhausted she was. Fatigue had caught up with her numerous times after arduous cases at MACUSA, however the usual satisfaction had instead been replaced by immeasurable grief, the combination of which made her bones feel heavy. Drawing a bath would help, she thought.
In the front room messy stacks of files and papers concerning Grindelwald adorned the floor, evidence of countless hours spent diligently poring over details. This desperate, yet so far futile, attempt to garner some insight into his whereabouts had taken its toll on them all, and was particularly lethal when combined with the sleepless nights of self-blame and worry for Queenie. Both her and Jacob begrudgingly shared this pastime. Newt had frequently resurfaced from his case to find the two in solemn discussion by the fire, talking in whispers each trying to convince the other that they weren’t at fault.
Overcome by grief yet determined for justice, Theseus was much the same. Slouched in the corner of the front room under a large window, the usually well-presented Auror was disheveled from a week of working and sleeping in the same threadbare armchair. In the rare moments when his mind did wander from the investigation he’d watch the people shuffle through the rain in the road below - no doubt hoping for Leta to appear.
Tina felt part sorry that such a miserable cast had suddenly descended on Newt’s tiny flat, and part glad that she wasn’t an ocean away. With her dear sister now missing the number of people she felt she could confide in had halved and Newt’s steady presence was a welcome comfort.
She eased herself gently into the steel tub, focusing on the sensation and briefly allowing the weight of the past few days to dissipate into the scalding water. The house was still quiet in the early morning hour, and as the water cooled around a dozing Tina, the sky outside slowly morphed from black to blue to the kind of murky dawn red that Newt would say sailors warned about.
Tina woke to the sound of knuckles on the wood of the bathroom door and was surprised to find the water lukewarm against her skin.
“Hi Tina, I heard you get up and I uh, made yo-us coffee”
“Morning Newt” she replied, smiling at Newt’s attempted nonchalance knowing fine well he didn’t enjoy coffee “I’ll be right out”
In spite of all there was to worry about, she took solace in whatever it was developing between them. Though neither would dare admit it in such a difficult time, their quiet moments in the basement together had quickly become a necessary ritual. Each evening after tea they would climb down, the case providing fleeting respite from the world’s anguish.
Tina enjoyed the distraction of tending to the creatures and found the wide-open expanses a relief as the flat had become rather poky housing the four of them, but most of all she relished the conversation. They’d unraveled and embraced so much of the emotional turmoil of recent events whilst perched on the ladder, talking at length in ways Tina hadn’t expected to come so naturally. She’d learned how deeply Newt cared for his best friend and his brother, his simmering anger with Grindelwald, how he blamed himself for not taking up a position at the Ministry. But most astoundingly to her, there were glimpses of a feeling she hadn’t dared hope could be reciprocated.
Tina drained the bath, pulling on the well-worn slacks and dress shirt that Newt had set out for her last night. As she smoothed out the beige linen, a brief intoxicating smell of earth and nutmeg enveloped her like a warm breeze. A small smile played at her lips, just threatening to reach her eyes, these were unmistakably his clothes.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt or-or anything, I just thought if the coffee was going cold then perhaps so was the bathwater” Newt remarked as Tina entered the narrow kitchen, not looking up from where he was spooning sugar into his tea. The scarlet-tinged light of a London morning had long-since subsided, instead replaced by a blanket of burly clouds promising a day of misty December rain.
“No problem honest, it was high time I got out anyway. Croissant?” Separation anxiety is agonising enough without knowing the woman you love is under the control of the wizarding world’s most powerful dark wizard, and Jacob had taken to baking to help himself cope. While no one wished the situation to be prolonged, they certainly weren’t ungrateful for the masses of baked goods.
“That would be wonderful. Sleep well?” Newt turned to smile at Tina as she moved to settle in a chair, two pastries and plates following her to the table. He’d no sooner pushed the mass of bed-matted curls out of his eyes when his breath caught in his throat. It hadn’t occurred to him that Tina would eventually take up the offer of clean clothes, always insisting, almost irritatingly, that she could make do with what little she had. He admired the way the belt accentuated her narrow hips, how her dark hair juxtaposed the pale skin exposed by the unfastened top buttons and perhaps most endearingly, the way Tina had cuffed the hems so the trousers hung just above her ankles. She was wearing his clothes. A woman that wonderful in his clothes.
“Is everything alright?” Newt was pulled from the haze of pride and a yet-unidentified feeling to find a quizzical eyebrow raised over the top of Tina’s coffee mug.
“Yes, yes perfect, just glad you finally took up my offer” Newt swallowed, thankfully inaudible over the scrape of chair legs as he sat down. To say he was glad, he thought, was so much of an understatement that it felt like a lie. He quickly changed the subject.
“I was thinking that maybe today I’d decorate the flat for Christmas considering its no more than a week away. I think there’s some muggle decorations in the loft” Tina set her mug down to reply but before she could Newt interjected sadly.
“I know Hanukkah has already finished” Tina was touched that it had even occurred to him.
“Oh it’s no matter, it’s usually just me and Queenie anyway and you know” she let her voice trail off not wanting to taint yet another one of their exchanges with misery “though I would love to help decorate th-“
All of a sudden the heat of Newt’s mug-warmed hand was resting on top of hers, well and truly derailing her train of thought.
“You don’t have to Tina, I doubt Thes and Jacob will be in a particularly festive mood either”
“No no I’d like to” she protested, gesturing in the direction of the dingy living room “and besides, Mr Scamander, I suspect Queenie would say this place needed a woman’s touch”
Newt let out a shaky laugh, not relinquishing her hand as he continued with a squeeze, “I’d be inclined to agree”