Chapter 1
Ivar
"Yes, mom, all my documents were fine... I know, I know," Ivar sighed into his phone as he watched the lanky man in the far too thick coat that had sat a few rows behind him on the plane with a frown; the man was about Ivar's age, but he seemed to have no idea what he was doing at the immigration office, and it made Ivar chuckle slightly to himself.
He shifted his attention back to his phone call. "I know, I know. But it's fine, I think I can-"
He lowered his phone a bit before he called to the airport staff member who had just taken his wheelchair at the baggage claim.
"Sorry!" He called loudly and tried to move as quick as he could on his crutches.
The head of the staff member whipped around, so that he faced Ivar.
"Sorry, yeah, that's mine," Ivar brought out slightly out of breath as he came to a halt in front of the man.
The man scanned Ivar from head to toe, then he simply shrugged and left without the wheelchair or a single word to Ivar.
Ivar cursed under his breath as he clumsily navigated his phone back to his head. "The airport staff in New York are assholes," he muttered lowly before he sighed. "I'll call you back, mom. I need to take care of some things now."
He hung off without waiting for a response, and with a few practiced movements, he had managed to unfold his wheelchair, sit down in it, put the crutches into a holder on the backside of the wheelchair and find the small suitcase that belonged to him.
The only problem was that he couldn't reach the suitcase because it was squeezed in between other suitcases and Ivar's limited mobility didn't allow him to just dig it out.
He looked around for someone that could help him as he saw the lanky man in the too thick coat approach him; his head was ducked and he was holding so tightly onto the straps of his backpack that his knuckles already turned white.
"Hey," Ivar called to catch his attention, but the man kept his gaze to the floor and didn't seem to notice that Ivar was talking to him.
Ivar rolled his eyes to himself and moved his wheelchair closer to the man with a few swift movements.
"Hey you," he called. "You in the winter coat."
The man stopped in his tracks, but he didn't lift his gaze anywhere near Ivar; instead he was rocking on his heels and locked rather nervously around while still keeping his head ducked.
"I could need a little help there," Ivar said and nudged his head towards the baggage claim, even though the other man wasn't even looking anywhere near him and didn't see his movements.
He waited for a long moment, but the man didn't respond and it didn't seem like he would anytime soon, so Ivar just sighed and looked around for anyone else to help him.
But before he even got the chance to ask someone else to help him with his suitcase, the young lanky man suddenly spoke up with a thick British accent and such a silent voice that Ivar had almost missed it.
"I'm so sorry, which one is your suitcase?"
Ivar turned around to look at the man again, but the man still didn't look at him. Ivar couldn't help, but wonder why he looked so nervous, almost even frightened. He had gotten through immigration after all; there was no reason to be worried anymore.
"The black one with the green tag at the side," Ivar said and pointed at the suitcase.
The other man finally lifted his gaze to follow Ivar's finger, and for the first time, Ivar could see his eyes from under his messy auburn fringe which were just as scared as the rest of the guy.
The lanky man moved quickly; he found Ivar's suitcase in an instant, managed to pull it out from under all the other suitcases, placed it on the floor where Ivar could easily reach it, and without missing a beat, he left.
Ivar watched as he quickly grabbed an old leather suitcase (Ivar didn't even think it weird that the strange man had a strange suitcase) and almost ran away without saying as much as goodbye or even waiting for a thank you.
"Weird guy," Ivar huffed under his breath as he grabbed his suitcase and continued his own journey; he was finally in New York after all- he had a lot to do!
Matt
"No, Foggy, I'm sure that intro week is only for the people who just started," Matt chuckled and took another sip of his diet coke.
"Yeah, like we did," Foggy gave back no less amused and with wild gestures that Matt didn't see for obvious reasons.
"We didn't just start," Karen huffed out with a laugh and took another French fry from their shared plate. "We are in our third year."
"Exactly," Foggy said and nodded with a wide grin. "We just started our third year."
Matt and Karen both just shook their heads and snickered.
"You have your own kind of logic, Fog," Matt brought out in between his amusement. "No one can take that away from you."
"I know I'm something special," Foggy chuckled back and leaned a bit back in his chair, so that he no longer was under the umbrella of the small bistro to which they were regulars (it was right on campus, had decent food and was cheap enough that all three of them could somehow afford to eat there, even though they all lived off from stipends that they had been given for various reasons).
He blinked up into the sun and let out a content sigh. "It's still so sunny. That's amazing."
"It's September, Foggy," Matt chuckled. "September tends to be sunny."
"Not in New York," Foggy gave back and made Matt and Karen grin in amusement again.
"What New York are you talking about?" Karen asked. "Because the one I've been living in for the last six years definitely is sunny in the beginning of September."
"Also the New York I've grown up in," Matt agreed with his friend and nodded eagerly, but it only made Foggy roll his eyes and lean forward on the table again.
"You can't know that," he told Matt teasingly.
Matt raised his eyebrows in played offence. "Why? Because I can't see the sun?"
Foggy shrugged, which Matt didn't see, but he knew his friend well enough to know what Foggy's reaction would be.
"You don't need to see the sun to know it's there, Fog," Matt gave back with a shrug of his own. "You can actually feel it, you know? And somehow smell it, too."
"Smell the sun?" Karen asked with a chuckle. "How does that work?"
Matt shrugged once again and a smirk spread across his face. "The air just... smells different... it's hard to explain."
"Alright, enough sun smelling," Foggy suddenly said after checking the time on his phone. "You can tell me how the administration office smells because if we don't hurry, we won't get any spots in Professor Henley's class anymore."
"Is it three already?" Matt asked and scrambled to his own feet then; he quickly stuck his hand into his pocket, pulled out a few folded up dollar notes and started to trace the folding lines (he did that to tell the different notes apart).
"It's alright, Matt, I'll pay," Karen quickly said and put her hand on his to make him stop. "Just go, you're already late."
Matt turned in Karen's general direction and nodded with a thankful smile. "Thank you, Karen."
"No worries, and now go," she said and nudged her head towards the main entry of the university building that wasn't far (even though he didn't see it).
Foggy pushed Matt's cane into his hands and gently nudged his arm, so that Matt could grab Foggy's arm and be guided by him.
But they didn't make it far without interruptions; just when they reached the main entry, another man with black shoulder long hair and completely black (and somewhat too formal) clothing (slacks, a button-up shirt with halfway rolled up sleeves and leather shoes) came out of the building, but he was looking at his phone and Foggy noticed a split second too late what was about to happen, so the man walked right into Matt.
"Shit man, watch out!" The guy in all black cussed before he lifted his gaze and looked right into Matt's slightly puzzled face with the dark sunglasses covering half of it.
He scanned Matt from head to toe and a small frown appeared on his face when he saw the cane in his hand.
"Excuse me," he muttered under his breath then and just started walking away again.
Foggy glared at him, but he decided to not pick a fight today (Matt hated when he did that), so he quickly turned his attention back on his friend.
"You okay?" He asked and softly nudged Matt who was still a tiny bit puzzled.
"Yeah," Matt breathed out and quickly pushed away any thoughts of frustration; it usually didn't take him anywhere anyway. "Let's just go in."
Newt
"No, no," he breathed out heavily into his phone. He stood at the side of the main entrance with his back close to the wall and his free hand constantly rubbing over the material of his far too thick coat.
"Yes," Theseus gave back firmly through the phone. "You've made it through security and immigration on your own, you've managed the flight and even the taxi ride. You can do this now, Fido."
"No," Newt mumbled back quietly. He grabbed the handle of his suitcase next to him so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "I'll just go back."
"You definitely won't," Theseus answered even firmer. "You've made it to New York like you've wanted to so badly. All you need to do now is find that bloody office and ask for the key to your dorm room."
"But-"
"No but," Theseus said, his voice leaving no room for discussion. "Go in, Newt. Find the office, ask for the key and call me again if you want. I'll be here if you need me."
Newt closed his eyes and drew in a sharp breath before he nodded to himself. Without another word to his older brother, he just hang off and put his phone back into his pocket.
He drew in another deep breath before he opened his eyes again and started walking off towards the main entrance.
He ducked his head so much that he didn't see more than the shoes from the man that passed him by then, but he heard him muttering something in a foreign language that sounded very much like cussing to Newt.
He was forced to look up when he entered the building since he had to search for the administration office, but the hallways were crowded with students who aimlessly walked around, professors who tried to navigate everything and answer questions and visitors who were there for no obvious (obvious to Newt) reason.
It was all so loud, so much and so overwhelming for Newt that his breathing quickened in an instant and he felt himself stiffen up even more. He was sweating in his thick coat, but he wasn't sure if it actually was the fabric or the anxiety that made him sweat.
He stood in the middle of the entry for more than a minute and just stared into the hallway while people had to walk around him (and some of them hissed or muttered curses under their breath because of this), when he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder.
He flinched hardly and took a few steps back until he bumped into a female student who groaned at him angrily, but then just kept walking since she apparently was in a hurry.
Newt watched her leave with wide eyes- clutching his old leather suitcase and the strap of his backpack even tighter than before- before he turned around to see who had grabbed him so unexpectedly.
"Hey," the man who stood across from him said with a broad smile. He had dirty blonde shoulder long hair and was apparently sweating just as much as Newt on this warm summer day, even though he was only wearing a t-shirt and jeans.
Newt blinked at him a few times in confusion before he ducked his head again; looking into people's eyes or just into their faces made him really uncomfortable.
"You look a bit lost," the other man- who seemed to be hardly older than Newt- said with the huff of a laugh. "Do you need any help? I've never seen you around here. And you've brought a whole suitcase, so... I suppose you're one if this year's exchange students. Where are you from? My name is Foggy and this is-"
"Foggy, leave him alone," another man that stood a bit aside said with a sigh.
"What?" The man- Foggy apparently- asked, sounding somewhat hurt. "I'm just being friendly. If you would have seen him, so helpless..."
Newt lifted up his gaze just enough to see that Foggy was scanning him from head to toe and furrowed his brows when his eyes landed upon Newt's heavy coat.
"I don't need to see him to know that you're probably annoying him, Fog," the other man said from the side.
Newt tilted his head the tiniest bit to see the other man; he was surprised to find a man with dark tinted sunglasses and a white cane standing at the side of the hallway.
A blind student, Newt concluded rather fascinated. He had never met anyone that was blind- not that it mattered, he just realised it in this moment and since he had dedicated his life to studying different species, a blind person wasn't too uninteresting for him.
Foggy let out a long breath and huffed out a laugh then. "You're probably right. I still want to offer my help."
Newt was still trying to observe the blind man from the corners of his eyes without making it too obvious, and he had completely missed Foggy's offer until the latter cleared his throat.
"Hey, er, sorry?" He asked, sounding a bit perplexed, but not annoyed. "Do you need any help finding your way around here? I'm an excellent tour guide."
Newt shifted his attention back to Foggy. On one hand, he really had no idea where to find the administration office and he knew that he would have a really hard time finding his way around in the crowded hallways, but on the other hand, he was absolutely unprepared to meet other students and potential new friend's already (especially because he never really had many friends before and wasn't sure how exactly making friends worked).
He swallowed, before he nodded ever so slightly to himself.
Foggy practically beamed at him and offered him a handshake- and he even waited patently for Newt to grab his hand reluctantly.
"Good to meet you. As I said, my name's Foggy, and this over there is Matt." He pointed at the blind man who just raised his eyebrows at his friend's openness.
"And you are?" Foggy asked when Newt didn't respond right away (he was still distracted by observing Matt- he found it easier to actually look at someone who couldn't look back at him, he noticed right away).
"Er, Newt," Newt mumbled then as he hastily turned back to Foggy; just because Matt couldn't see him, didn't mean that Foggy wouldn't think it rude that Newt was observing his blind friend like this. "Newt Scamander. Nice to meet you." He smiled awkwardly at Foggy without meeting the other man's eyes.
"Oh you're British, right?" Foggy asked almost excitedly. "That's so cool! I've always wanted a British friend and-"
"Foggy, focus," Matt scolded him from the side (he needed no sight to sense how much the whole situation made Newt cringe).
"Right," Foggy chuckled before he scanned Newt once more. "From what I gather, you're probably looking for the administration office, right?"
Newt nodded quickly. "Yes, please," he breathed out almost tonelessly.
"Then just follow us," Foggy said cheerfully as he passed Newt to get to his friend to simply grab his arm without as much as an announcement. "We know exactly where this is."
Loki
He rushed down the path leading from the university to his apartment building and was still muttering under his breath, but he wasn't looking at his phone anymore- running into one blind guy was definitely enough for a day.
He was just about to turn into the alleyway that his apartment building was located in when he saw a taxi stopping right in front of his building.
He watched with a frown as the taxi driver got out of the taxi and walked around the vehicle to take something out of the trunk- something he had never seen in the fifteen years that he lived in New York now; taxi drivers weren't usually the most forthcoming people.
His confused frown only grew as the taxi driver took not only a suitcase, but also a wheelchair out from the trunk, and he was endlessly perplexed when the taxi driver opened a door, and a moment later a young guy claimed the wheelchair.
Loki stopped in his tracks and watched with a bit of a distance how the young guy paid the taxi driver, and then made his way towards Loki's building with slight difficulties as he apparently struggled to navigate his wheelchair and his suitcase at once.
Loki noticed two crutches at the backside of the wheelchair and he wondered if that meant that the guy could walk with the help of crutches- and then he wondered why he wondered about this.
As if he cared about some guy in a wheelchair that was just about to enter his building.
He waited until the guy had made his way into the building, then he wanted to continue walking himself, but his ringing phone stopped him from doing so.
"What?" He almost barked into the phone right after answering the call.
"Very nice," his brother chuckled sarcastically on the other line. "What if it would have been someone else... a girl, maybe? You shouldn't risk to answer a call like this."
"I've seen your name on my display, you dickhead," Loki grunted back annoyed as he dragged his hand through his hair. "So tell me: what do you want?"
"What? Am I not allowed to call my brother just to have a chat with him?" The older brother chuckled in amusement.
"No, you're not," Loki grunted back. "Because with you it's never just having a chat. You're checking in on me. But I tell you, Thor, I dont need that."
"Alright, alright," Thor huffed out, still amused. "You're right. I called to see if they already expelled you."
"They didn't," Loki gave back agitatedly, though he couldn't hide that he was secretly relieved.
"Good, good," Thor said and it was obvious that he also was relieved to hear that. "What's your punishment then?"
"Who says I've been punished?" Loki bit back. His eyes were still fixed on the building and he would have much preferred to just go in and find out what this wheelchair guy was doing in his building instead of standing around in the burning sun while answering his brother's annoying questions.
"Because you've almost burned down the entire chemistry laboratory," Thor deadpanned.
Loki sighed and dragged his hand down his face. This whole conversation was already way longer than he had hoped for. "It was an accident," he defended himself, even though he knew how weak it sounded.
"Accident?" Thor asked, his tone tinged with annoyance. "Seriously, Loki? You think anyone- let alone me- is buying that? You don't even study chemistry."
"You don't have to study chemistry to he in the chemistry laboratories," Loki grunted back, but it only made Thor snicker.
"Yes, Lokes, you do. They are strictly forbidden for anyone else. So tell me now, what's your punishment?"
Loki sighed to himself; his brother was right, he would be punished and he wouldn't enjoy this punishment very much.
"I have to do some social work," he muttered out then in frustration.
"Social work? Like cleaning the city?" Thor asked confused, but Loki only shook his head (even though Thor couldn't see it through the phone).
"No, this wasn't a real courtroom, idiot," he muttered. "Social work on campus. Or actually with the students."
For a second, Thor was completely silent and Loki had already started to wonder if his brother had hung up on him, but then Thor practically bursted out into laughter.
"You're joking," Thor brought out under laughter. "With students? So you're supposed to organise one of these social groups or what?"
Loki sighed. "It gets better..."
"Better than that?" Thor asked in genuine amusement.
"Yeah..." Loki grunted. "It's all the special cases. Support group for all the students with disabilities and stuff. And apparently some of them are even exchange students and don't know their way around, so it's double work."
This time, it didn't take a single second for Thor to break into laughter. And it took him several long moments until he could breathe properly again.
"For fanden," Thor huffed: "My brother, the social worker. How is this supposed to end?"