OTA

[fantasticnewt]

Newt sat on a bench in the park across from the building that housed the small flat that the Ministry had provided for him. He held his suitcase on his lap, still wary about having it out of his sight for even a moment. This was a step for him, being out in the world at all. Since he had arrived here a few weeks ago from 1927, everything was simply too much. Too much noise, too much crowd, too much that was unrecognizable, unexplainable...

Sometimes he'd felt as if the world was not all that welcoming to him at the best of times, and now he felt like even more of an outsider. He was an alien here. And not only this, but the shock of going to the Ministry for help and discovering that everyone knew who he was. There was a portrait of him there. A first edition of his book under glass.

He watched a squirrel scurry up a tree. Once safely on a branch, it paused and looked over at him. He offered a little wave.

The latch on his suitcase popped open.

"Quiet down, Dougal," he said gently as he closed the clasp again. "I am not letting you out, not here. If you thought New York was a different world, you've no idea what you might encounter in this place."

The latch popped open again, almost violently this time, and Newt practically flattened himself against the case to make sure it stayed closed, then glanced up and around him frantically, as if afraid he might be caught doing something bad.

[OOC: for the deets on brand new newt, here!">

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[pippa_flynn]

Pippa was out shopping a bit, gathering things for Ichabod. Some new litter, a new stone, and some Halloween decor for his tank so he could feel festive, too. She had her bag and was cutting through the park to get to her tube stop when she saw the curious man launch himself onto his case. Something about him made her tingle. It wasn't the same supernatural sensation she got from Akeem. It was much more like Felix. She stopped and looked at him for a long moment. Odd clothes. Strange magic...

"Are you alright?" she blurted.

[fantasticnewt]

Startled, Newt looked up at her... and then his eyes immediately slid away from making contact with hers. "Yes, yes, I'm just fine," he said, and snapped the clasp on his case closed once more before relaxing his hold on it and straightening his body a touch.

[pippa_flynn]

"Are you...I'm sorry if this is rude, but do you mean to be here? You seem a bit...out of sorts," she said, a bit concerned about how out of place he seemed to be. Generally, anymore, she'd found people out of place ought not be here in the first place.

[fantasticnewt]

Did he mean to be here? No, he certainly did not, and it was such a preposterous question that he felt one side of his mouth curl up, a breath away from a hysterical laugh. However, he managed to suppress it.

"Here in the park?" he said instead, looking down at his hands on the case. "Well. I am... new, here. Far away from home."

[pippa_flynn]

"I could have guessed that," Pippa said, moving to sit next to him. "Your clothes are either terribly hipster or frighteningly antique."

[fantasticnewt]

After a beat, Newt fished a small leather-bound notebook out of his coat pocket. "Would you mind defining 'hipster' for me?" he asked politely.

[pippa_flynn]

Pippa laughed warmly and scooted closer.

"You could just ask Google, you know," she teased. "A hipster is a person who embraces the antique for ironic reasons. They think by-gone times hold romance, but they take it on with a modern sort of gentrified love that they think is sarcastic but it's really just a show of their privilege."

[fantasticnewt]

Newt was not entirely certain why she was moving closer, but to his credit he did not move away, tempted as he was.

The definition was only marginally helpful, but he scribbled it down anyway, and then glanced back up at her. "And who is Google?" he asked.

[pippa_flynn]

That got him a sharply arched eyebrow.

"Are you being serious right now?" she asked.

[shannonteverius]

Shannon didn't talk to strangers on benches, particularly ones that looked homeless or just plain weird. This one fell into the latter category, but there was something about him that screamed that he was in desperate need of a kind word. And a wardrobe update.

Shannon approached cautiously, offering the man a gentle smile. "Mind if I join you?" he asked.

[fantasticnewt]

Newt looked up, a bit alarmed, as if he hadn't expected to be approached, or perhaps had entirely forgotten that there were other humans in the world. Though once he met the man's eyes, his gaze slid away again. "I - well, no." But he did grip the case a bit harder.

[shannonteverius]

Maybe this was a mistake. The man could be certifiable. But it was too late to back out now without being necessarily rude. Shannon took a seat at the end of the bench, leaving space between them.

"Are you OK?" he asked. "Do you have a stomach ache or something?"

[fantasticnewt]

"What? Oh. No, my stomach does not hurt," said Newt, sounding confused.

The clasp on his case popped open again, and it rattled a bit on his lap. He clamped down on it with one hand.

[shannonteverius]

"What was that?" Shannon asked, somewhat alarmed.

[fantasticnewt]

"Um," said Newt, and the case actually rattled out of his lap and onto the ground.

Newt leapt to his feet, grabbing his wand from his coat pocket, and pointed it at the case. "Colloportus," he said sharply. The clasps closed harder, and it lay still.

[shannonteverius]

Shannon had leapt to his feet as well. Suitcases did not move on their own like that. "What did you just do?"

[fantasticnewt]

Newt regarded him calmly, though he did still have his wand out. "I locked it," he said. Then paused and added, "Well, locked it again."

[utterly_mysterious]

Angelique paused on her stroll as the gentleman on the bench seemed to be having an issue with his case. She was, in a remarkable bit of coincidence, wearing a blue drop-waist dress she'd made based on a vintage pattern from the late 1920s, with her dark hair curled up in a stylish chignon. Anachronistically, however, she carried a very large white cup with a green logo stamped on the side, full of coffee.

"Do you need a hand?" she offered, catching the ginger fellow's eye. Oh dear. He was adorable.

[fantasticnewt]

Newt glanced up at her, taking in her appearance for a moment before his gaze slid away from making eye contact.

"No, I ah - I think I have it handled..." The case rattled slightly in his lap, and he clamped down his grip on it.

"I like your dress," he added, partly as an attempt to distract her, and also because it was true, she looked familiar to him.

[utterly_mysterious]

"Why, thank you," Angelique said, a little surprised, but smiling. She gave a quick pose, side to side in order to swish the skirt a bit, and then stepped over to perch on the end of the bench. If he didn't like making eye contact, he probably didn't want a stranger too close to him, either.

"I'm simply mad for all things vintage. I found the pattern in a charity shop and I felt like a treasure hunter," she chatted merrily, only pausing for a few sips of her coffee. "Based on the fantastic condition of your suitcase, there, I might guess you're a fellow seeker of relics of days gone by?"

[fantasticnewt]

Newt didn't like lying. Particularly after spending time in New York, seeing how the wizards there treated Muggles. All those stupid rules about not intermingling. It seemed an injustice, just like the ill treatment of magical creatures.

But he knew he had to lie.

"I suppose so," he said. It seemed odd to think of his own possessions as relics.

[utterly_mysterious]

Angelique clearly had no magic of her own, and she had very little knowledge of it at all. It simply was not part of her world. Adorable gentlemen with an appreciation for fashion, on the other hand, absolutely were.

She smiled at him, and something around her eyes and in the shape of her face was not quite traditionally feminine. "Were you waiting for someone? Or just enjoying the day? I hope you don't mind terribly, I've been on my feet for hours and I just need a few minutes to sit."

[fantasticnewt]

"Oh, that is perfectly fine," Newt said politely, even as he hoped that his case behaved itself.

"And no, I am not waiting for anyone. I am staying just over there." He pointed. "I haven't left my flat much, and I thought it would be good for me to get some fresh air."

[utterly_mysterious]

"Are you new to the area?" Angelique asked brightly. "There's a charming little park just a few blocks away. One doesn't manage to glimpse much wildlife in the city but I know I've seen foxes there. Such beautiful little creatures. I hope you've already noted the best tea shops on the block, that's essential when you're somewhere new."

She could talk to strangers all day long, and easily do most of the talking. This fellow seemed shy, but he hadn't yet seemed like he wanted her to go. Angelique kept a sharp eye out for signs that she was exhausting him, though.

[fantasticnewt]

"Oh. Yes, I have not been here long," said Newt, though he did look slightly more interested when she mentioned wildlife. "Foxes here in the city? It's nice to hear that they feel comfortable here."

He didn't. Not anymore, not with how loud and bright and alien everything was.