Underwater ↠ Newt Scamander

1.02 | What are the Odds of That?

WHAT ARE THE ODDS OF THAT?

NEWTON SCAMANDER HAD a nasty habit of getting himself into the worst possible situations for the sake of his creatures. It was one of the first things Arethusa learned about the man when they met three years ago on the shores of the caribbean. He would break any rule for those creatures, he would sacrifice himself in a heartbeat, but he would never intentionally harm another living soul. Arethusa, on the other hand, had no qualms with it.

Damage control had always been left to Arethusa in these situations. While he focused on the creatures she made sure that whatever went wrong was covered up, any bystanders were out of of the way, damage was undone,  and any muggles that had witnessed it were obliviated. It cut time down in half and made the two-person jobs a whole lot easier.

Just as they had expected the little niffler had made his way into the bank. He proudly began to swipe the shiniest objects he could find and went on to taunt the pair with them. While Newt seemed at least a little amused by it Arethusa was not. To say that she and the niffler were on rocky terms is an understatement: they had always been natural enemies.

Arethusa couldn't find the little guy, but Newt made it clear that he had spotted him as he practically dragged her into the bank. At this point she wasn't sure why they were still connected. They weren't going to get separated now, the crowd had died down significantly. They stood there for only a moment as they looked around for the niffler until somebody approached them. A rather tall blonde man, no doubt one of the bank workers. "Can I help you, sir? Ma'am?"

"Oh no, we we're just waiting," Arethusa spoke before Newt could. She dragged him over to the bench right next to the man from earlier, ignoring Newt's protests. She leaned over just a little bit, whispering: "We have to act normal."

Arethusa sat between the two, with Newt on edge both literally and figuratively. He couldn't sit still, looking around and trying to pinpoint the now lost niffler. There were a couple seconds of antsy silence before the man from earlier looked over at her. It was clear he was nervous from the way he was moving, awkwardly patting his legs over and over.

"Hi," He gave the pair a small smile, and Arethusa beamed back. She didn't say anything back. Her eyes, just like Newt's, scanned over the crowded New York bank. Part of it made her thankful she didn't grow up in the city, but the other part fascinated her. While Arethusa didn't get along best with muggles, her curiosity surrounding their culture only continued to grow. The man didn't seem to take the hint. "What brings you here?"

Arethusa started to respond but she didn't get very far. Newt answered instead, trying to keep it as vague as possible. "The same as you."

"You're here to get a loan to open up a bakery?" The man's asked incredulously, staring at them with wide eyes. Arethusa smiled a little bit at that. It was clear he was already psyched out, she doubted that the mention of any kind of competition would help with that.

Without thinking, Newt still answered: "Uh... yes."

"What are the odds of that?!" The man exclaimed, followed exasperated huff. Surprisingly, the kind smile on his face wasn't replaced with any type of anger or frustration. For the most part he seemed incredibly shocked to hear the news.

"Thusa," Newt grabbed her attention before the man could say anything else, nodding his head in the direction of the lines where the niffler began to hop from person to person. The niffler stopped on one of the briefcases, staring at the pair. This time she had a warning before they were up, making their way through the crowd of people in the bank. Neither of them took noticed to the occamy egg that had slipped out of Arethusa's pocket.