《 Skip a Beat 》

There's no case like home

"It's the..."

"30th."

"30th! Yes!"

"Last day of September."

"Yes! Last day of the month! Also very important," chorused Queenie, trotting into the living room.

The brothers were already awake, and wolfing down eggs and bacon (which Theseus had miraculously managed to cook properly, with help from Jacob).

Droplets of rain were splattering down the windows- an incessant albeit quiet harmony of sounds when mixed with the sizzling of eggs on a frying pan. Bleak grey clouds rolled overhead, and Jacob took it in his liberty to switch on all the heaters in the room.

Tina grinned and slapped down a newspaper on the breakfast table.

Newt and Theseus jerked, dropped their cutlery, and gave her a slightly irritated look before curiously peeking at the paper.

"Grindelwald... Sighted in Germany... Should I be surprised?" murmured Theseus, turning back to his food.

When Leta cocked an eyebrow at him, he frowned and stuffed more bacon into his mouth.

"It's Saturday! I don't want to go to work!" he argued.

"I didn't say anything."

"You didn't need to."

She chewed on a lip, then took a plate from the cupboard and stole some of Theseus' bacon, to which he angrily tried to object to without much success.

"Mmrf!"

Leta smiled sweetly at him, and sat down at the opposite end of the table. Newt beamed brightly at his brother's miffed expression, until Tina reached across the table and stole some of his bacon.

"Hey!"

She smirked, stabbed it with her fork, and swallowed it before he could object.

"It's only fair." She paused, tapped her chin, and amended. "Actually, it's not. I just wanted to steal someone's bacon too."

"Lucky me," he muttered. Jacob placed another two plates- one full of fried eggs and one full of bacon- and took the seat on Newt's right.

"Guys, there's plenty for everyone!"

"Good," cut in Queenie, plopping down on Tina's right. After planting a quick kiss on Jacob's cheek, she piled her plate high with food, still slightly miffed at her announcement about the last day of the month being ignored. Jacob brought another plate out- toast, this time- Queenie was the first person to snatch a piece.

"I could eat a horse," she muttered, trying to fit the toast on her plate.

Theseus smirked. "Very ladylike."

"Shut up. The lady is hungry."

He watched her with amusement dancing in his eyes before attacking the egg on his plate.

"What's the plan today?" asked Leta.

"Newt wants to see his creatures again," responded Tina softly, stealing a glance at him. Newt smiled back, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks.

Leta frowned.

"You're on crutches."

He ducked his head, immediately recoiling and becoming shy again. "Nothing's going to happen," he responded, sotto-voiced.

She crossed her arms. "You can't see them until you're absolutely confident with moving around."

"But it's been a really long time for him," piped Theseus. Newt flashed him a grateful look, not trusting himself to argue.