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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[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.

[utterly_mysterious]

Angelique certainly had a sense that this quiet young man was overwhelmed by his surroundings, but here they were in the middle of it all and she wasn't sure how to make it better. "I could show you, if you'd like to take a walk?" she offered. "It's quieter, there."

[fantasticnewt]

Newt considered this for a moment. "All... all right," he said, because he really did think that it would make him feel better to be around some wildlife. Even of the non-magical kind.

He stood, gripping the case tightly at his side.

[utterly_mysterious]

This poor dear man. How could anyone be so sweet and yet so nervous at the same time? Angelique instantly felt protective of him. With a warm smile, she gestured along the pavement, and started to lead the way. She did her best to find a path that wasn't too crowded, turning down a side street instead of the main thoroughfare as they went.

And, she was careful with her conversation. Angelique could easily overwhelm someone with too much talk, so she kept an eye on his reactions. "I'm Angelique, by the way. No last name. Utterly mysterious, I know, but I think you can bear a bit of mystery."

[fantasticnewt]

Newt wondered if that was a modern thing. No need for surnames now? Or perhaps it was a Muggle thing.

"I - yes. I suppose you could say mystery is part of my trade," said Newt, looking around them as they walked, clearly taking everything in.

[utterly_mysterious]

"Such as the mystery of your own name," Angelique pointed out, with the warmest smile she had under her power. "It's quite all right, of course, names have barely anything to do with who a person really is."

[fantasticnewt]

"Oh, yes, right," Newt said. "My name is Newt."

Then, as an afterthought, as if realizing it was a thing that people said: "It's nice to meet you."

[utterly_mysterious]

"Likewise, Newt," Angelique agreed, but did not offer her hand or otherwise try to touch him. She had a little experience with people on the spectrum, and she knew that much.

"Ah, here we are," she added, as they approached a small green space, lush with trees slowly turning to autumn, flowering bushes in their last bloom, and the quiet twittering of birds. She led them past the low iron gate, and the sounds of the city faded somewhat within the embrace of natural, growing things.

[fantasticnewt]

"Oh, this is lovely," Newt said, brightening. He smiled broadly, and then put his hands to his mouth and made a bird call remarkably similar to those in the trees. They called back at him.

[utterly_mysterious]

Angelique felt like she was catching a glimpse of a different person that lived underneath Newt's shy exterior. Was that the key, then? Nature, perhaps animals? She observed as best she could from the corner of her eye as she looked up into the tree branches. "They seem to like you," she noted, gently playful.

[fantasticnewt]

"Most creatures do," said Newt after he'd lowered his hands and looked back from the trees to her. "I suppose you could say I have a connection with them." Even if it wasn't nearly so strong with non-magical creatures.

[utterly_mysterious]

"That's beautiful. I don't think I... oh!" Angelique's breath caught, and she went very still, then nodded Newt toward one of the hedges where an orange-and-white face was just barely peeking out.

"There, I knew there were foxes," she whispered, sidling just close enough that he could still hear her. Her attention was focused on the fox, with the kind of delight that only a city girl encountering nature could muster.

[fantasticnewt]

Newt smiled in response to that, and knelt down as he watched the fox. It tilted its head at him curiously as he set down his case in the grass next to him. And then after a moment, it made its way out of the bushes towards him.

[utterly_mysterious]

Angelique tried to remain quiet, but she knelt down in the grass as well when the fox came forward. How pretty it was, golden-orange with the sunlight gleaming off its fun! She wanted to say something, but feared spooking the beautiful creature. All that escaped her was a soft gasp of delight.

[fantasticnewt]

The fox moved directly to Newt, and sniffed curiously at his hand. Then it sniffed very curiously at his case. Newt smiled. "There now, aren't you clever," he said. "And don't you worry, there's nothing in there that means you any harm." That, perhaps, was not entirely true, but Newt had no reason to think that his creatures might escape again. And there were very few of them who would find a fox a tasty dinner anyway.

[utterly_mysterious]

Angelique noted that Newt spoke a good deal more to the animal than he had to her; another useful bit of information. She remained as quiet as she could, despite her deep curiosity. Watching Newt make friends with the fox was a small, glimmering droplet of wonder in a world too often devoid of it. "You're magic," she sighed very softly, though she clearly meant it metaphorically.

[fantasticnewt]

Nate glanced at her with a little smile still on his face, but then when he looked back at the fox... they had a visitor.

A bowtruckle was climbing out of the brush towards them, its attention entirely on Newt. And Newt knew that he should probably be alarmed by a magical creature revealing itself in front of a muggle, but he was also simply glad to see one.

"Hello there," he said.

[utterly_mysterious]

Angelique had been a city girl all her life, and knew very little about wildlife in general. She knew that insects that looked like sticks and even leaves existed, but... not one that appeared to have a face, too. Curious, she leaned forward, blinking as if she needed to clear her eyes, and that would somehow make the creature make more sense.

"What is it?" Angelique whispered, not wanting to disturb the... insect?