unlucky (newtmas)

19

It wasn't exactly how I had pictured Newt meeting my family. As I got out the first aid kit, he stood shivering in my kitchen, dripping mud onto the white tiles. My mom came in and was on him like a hawk-- not to scold him as I presumed, but rather to make him comfortable. She was making such a fuss that the noise attracted my brother, and a few minutes later, my father. All three of them were surprised by his appearance and were quick to ask, "what happened? What happened?"

And so Newt began his tale, wowing my family with talk of escaped turkeys from the local zoo and his attempts to help coralle one, only to end up lying in a puddle on his back with an angry turkey resting on his stomach. It was something so far fetched and otherworldly that it was inanely comical, and his reenactment of the scene had my mother, father, and brother howling with laughter. It took all of five minutes for them all to fall in love with him. I figured that had to be some sort of record.

After he had changed into some of my clothing and I had convinced my family to leave us alone (only after reassuring them a dozen times that I was going to take care of him), Newt and I sat at the kitchen table. His hands were outstretched as I bandaged them, and I could feel his eyes on my head.

"You haven't laughed at me yet," Newt observed after a few minutes of silence.

I looked up briefly. "I'll laugh at you after I'm sure you're okay."

Newt smiled softly, and the expression on his face made me shift uncomfortably.

"No, you won't," he said. He said it like it was a fact.

I looked back down and finished bandaging his hands. I was conscious of his eyes on me the whole time. When I had finished, he took his hands back and flexed them carefully.

"Thank you," he said quietly. I had a feeling he was talking about more than just the bandages.