Delightful

A faint glow of sunlight makes you wince, curl up from the lack of duvet covering you for warmth. Muttering a wandless tempus charm, you figured that the artificial sunlight within the suitcase didn’t do much justice for the fact that it was only 6:34 on a winter morning.

A sleepy whine escapes you as you stretch your arms out, feeling a pop or two in your joins. Your arms fall next to you on the empty cot. The empty cot. Empty cot?

You shoot up into a sitting position, turning to look at the—much unfortunate—empty space next to you. A minute or two of replaying the scenes that had occurred the night before, your ears reddened substantially as you closed your eyes and buried your face in your hands.

There was simply no way. You were sure you didn’t sleep with the zoologist, but you sure as hell had him in bed with you, rubbing rather inappropriately against him until the both of you passed out eventually. You groaned lightly at the thought of it again, not sure if you’re embarrassed by the fact that you sat on him or that the thoughts of ravishing him again filled your head the moment you woke up.

But he likes you.

A quiet voice in the back of your head reminded you, bringing you back to your senses. A type of warmth filled your chest, so much so that it was unbearable. The years of secretly yearning for reciprocated interest for a night in a cot together was the least of your worries. You had thought your relationship was completely platonic up until the night before, which adds to the uncertainty of what the shuffle of roaming hands and skin touching yesterday meant.

You weren’t sure what was going to happen in the next moments you see him, but you sure as hell needed to find out. The space next to you still had a shrivel of warmth, indicating that he couldn’t have been gone more than 20 minutes.

Stomping your shoes on with newfound ambitions, you went to find Newt, uncaring of your morning appearance. The zoologist was definitely not out for work yet, but you had figured that the hunger of his creatures pulled him out of bed early enough. Neither of you wanted to deal with a hungry Zouwu.

It didn't take long before you exited the workshop and spotted a head of ginger a slight distance outside of the workshop. You slowed your tracts simply to watch the view in front of you with fondness. Crouched down, the zoologist was gently stroking the head of an eating baby occamy.

You weren’t sure as to how you were going to approach the man, but figured you’d let him know you’re there.

“Newt?” You start, closing in the considerable distance between the both of you.

You saw him eye you through his peripheral before turning to you, barely startled as though he already knew you were there. The ginger blinked a few times before he started walking in your direction, evidently a bit nervous from the way he looked down at the grass like it was the most interesting thing in the world. He stops just about in front of you, finally meeting your eyes. You could smell him this close, a hint of sandalwood and cinnamon and the bit of creature feed that you think won’t ever come off him for the rest of his life. Nevertheless, he looked absolutely gorgeous up close. You haven’t had the time to fully appreciate how he looked under the sun, artificial or not.

“Morning” he says shyly, noticing the pause from you staring at him. You felt the heat rise in your cheeks. “Morning to you too”

Another bit of silence. This was going to be harder than you thought, and you start feeling a bit panicked.

“When did yo—” you begin.

“I’m sorry” the zoologist says quickly. You make a face of utter confusion, hoping he didn’t mean what you think he meant. “What? Why— what’s wrong?”

“I— I suppose I wished to tell you, or show you more formally how I felt about you earlier on. I know this is a large step in— in our professional lives but—” your fingers found their way to his, lightly grabbing his hand, tugging at the tips of his fingers.

“No no, Newt it’s okay, it’s okay” you assure softly “it was just— also completely not my intention to do something so sudden. You know, the niffler, and stuff. We can go at our own pace and…” You trail off, finding yourself staring
at his lips way more than you should be, and softly lean your forehead against his.

“I understand,” he whispers. And god he smells so good. You could barely contain yourself when you could feel his breath against your lips.

“Can I…?” You whispered, sucking in a breath.

Almost like he read your mind, he gently hooked an arm around your waist, you shutter as his fingers came in contact with an area of your skin that wasn’t completely covered by your sleep shirt. You blamed the rushed shuffle you were in earlier when you woke up. The zoologist’s other arm was placed securely on your lower back, almost as if you were going to disappear if he did so much as blinked.

The warmth of his hands worked a hum of satisfaction out of you as you wrapped your arms around his neck. The man lets out an appreciative sigh, closing his eyes.

He leans in, and kisses you— achingly tender. Your right hand went to the back of his head, running your fingers through his hair as you kissed him back. He handled you as though you were snow, as though the slightest touch would make you disappear.

Merlin, not even Albus Dumbledore’s strongest disillusionment charm could hide your adoration for this man.

Your knees felt weak when the both of you parted— his fingers still stroking the skin around your waist, nothing sensual, nothing lust-driven. Leaning on his shoulder as he tightened his grip into a comfortable hug. The two of you stayed like that for a few minutes, a light sway every now and then as you breathed in each other's scents.

“How long?” You broke the silence. “Hm?” Newt hums with his face pressed against the side of your neck and in your hair.

“How long have you been… interested?” Unsure as to how to ask such a question, you deadpanned at having said anything at all. You could feel him smile slightly against you, “I’m— I’m not too sure.” He admits, “I’m usually not too comfortable around others, really, in such close proximity but…er…” he continues, trying to find the right words “I suppose after having the chance of working with you, I really felt—”

“Comfortable? Close? Smitten? Helplessly in-love?” You added on jokingly, feeling him chuckle against you.

“Spot on, my love” you felt something grab your heart and shake it relentlessly with the affectionate nickname. You were glad he couldn’t see your face with how red your ears and cheeks probably were.

“I’d travel the world with you” he added after a pause, and you nearly blurted out the L-word right then and there, but decided you both needed to work things out properly after this first.

“I’d love that” came out of you as nothing more than a whisper.

Newt places a kiss on your temple, “what could I do without you?” He says adoringly.

“Not a whole lot” you admit in a joking manner, “I was still making plans for our next trip. Qilin, remember?” You reminded him. He hums in acknowledgment, “yes, definitely.”

You knew you both had to get back inside and make plans for the day. And you knew he had to leave soon, but you wanted him to yourself for a second longer.

That was until, a brown, fuzzy creature appeared in your peripheral and tugged at your pants. The two of you parted slightly and looked down. It was the niffler.

Remembering that everything that had just happened was mostly due to this little scoundrel, you couldn’t help but look at the playful creature with fondness.

“So, breakfast? For him too of course” the zoologist maxes a gesture towards the niffler, and you nod with a smile.

“Yes, I’m definitely just as starved as he is right now” you said and tugged him with you, your fingers slightly intertwined as he makes no complaint to follow you to the kitchen.

You decided the niffler was going to get an extravagant side of sausage to his breakfast that morning.