Chasing Dragons, Falling in Love

The next morning, Newt woke up before Nathaniel. Grabbing his case, he tiptoed to the door and made his way down the hall to the tiny bathroom. He made sure the door was locked, opened his case and climbed inside to check on his creatures. They all seemed to be faring well. Newt noticed the Niffler wasn’t in his coin-strewn nest but figured he was digging a hole somewhere. He climbed back up and headed back to the bedroom.

He opened the door and stopped short. Nathaniel was awake, standing by his bed rummaging through his pack – and he was naked from the waist up. All thoughts evaporated from Newt’s head as his observational mind took over.

Scars crisscrossed a taut, sculpted chest. A strip of dark hair trailed down a rigid, flat stomach into his trousers. Long, tan arms were roped with veins and muscle. Predator, Newt’s mind whispered. Hunter. He wondered what it would be like to sketch Nathaniel like this. His mind conjured an image of the other man standing over him while Newt sat in front of him with his sketchpad as he drew every line, every hard muscle. A rush of heat started at his face and traveled down his body, right to his -

‘’See something you like?’’

Newt started. Nathaniel had finally looked up, a fresh shirt in his hand.

‘’I was just, um,’’ Newt stuttered.

‘’There’s no harm in looking, Scamander.’’ Nate shrugged on his shirt, and began to button it up. He strode towards Newt, raking him with his gaze. Newt felt as if he may as well be naked, the way Nathaniel was looking at him. Nathaniel smirked at Newt as he passed him, his hard body grazing Newt’s. Newt trembled, pressing himself against the wall.

While Nathaniel was in the bathroom, Newt considered just running away. This was too much. The way Nathaniel affected him drove him to distraction. This was exactly the reason he preferred to work alone. Not that anybody he had been forced to work with had affected him like this. No. Not since Leta. And Leta had been very, very dangerous.

But no. Newt couldn’t run away. He was the only thing standing between the dragon and the slayer. He had to stay and see if he could protect the beast, no matter what the cost.

Nathaniel came back into the room, fully dressed. ‘Ready to go?’’ Newt nodded, grabbed his case and followed him out of the room.

From underneath the bed, the Niffler poked his head out.

***

They headed out towards the mountains, closer to the spot where they supposed the dragon might have taken her brood. Clambering up the steep slopes, Newt tried very hard to ignore Nathaniel who kept shooting him sly, wicked looks that had the unfortunate effect of making Newt’s trousers feel tighter than usual. He wrapped his coat around himself and kept his eyes on the ground, desperately wishing he had run away that morning while he still had the chance.

It was late afternoon when they finally reached the top of the peak. They looked down into a vast, green bowl that held a small lake and one extremely large dragon. Newt blew out a long sigh of relief. At last they had found her. She was sleeping, curled up like a scaly dog with one steel-grey wing stretched out, hovering over the ground.

‘’That’s where her hatchlings are,’’ Newt said in a hushed voice. He shot a brief glance at Nathaniel who was staring down into the valley. ‘’What do you think?’’

‘’I think,’’ Nathaniel said, not taking his eyes off the dragon, ‘’that we have no chance of catching her alive while she’s guarding her hatchlings.’’

Newt’s heart sank. He hated to admit it but he thought the dragonslayer was right about that. Just like any other creature, dragons only became deadlier and more aggressive when they were protecting their young. He wondered if he had been foolish to think he could save the dragon. His eyes burned suddenly and he quickly rubbed at them.

‘’We’ll need to set a trap,’’ Nathaniel said.

Newt looked up at him. ‘’What?’’

‘’Well, it’s obvious isn’t it?’’ Nathaniel said. ‘’We need to get her away from the hatchlings to take her alive. Once we’ve done that, we just come back here to get her young and transfer them to some more remote location.’’

‘’You think that’ll work?’’ Newt asked.

‘’You’re the one who said it could be done, Scamander,’’ Nathaniel said, raising his eyebrows. ‘’I’m just offering suggestions.’’ But he smiled at Newt, a genuine smile that made something in Newt’s chest stutter. He looked away.

‘’Probably best to do it in the evening then,’’ Newt said. ‘’Secure some sort of bait.’’

‘’That might take some doing,’’ Nathaniel said. ‘’Why don’t we head back to the inn, grab a bite then head out again?’’

Newt nodded in agreement and, without even thinking, reached out and wrapped his hand around Nathaniel’s upper arm like he did last night. Nathaniel blinked at him in surprise then smiled at him. They both turned on the spot and disapparated back to the inn.

They reappeared just in front of the large wooden door of the tavern. Newt began to detach himself from Nathaniel, but the dragonslayer stopped him, putting his hand over Newt’s, which was still gripping his arm. Newt went still, unable to tear his gaze away from the large hand that was covering his own, holding him in place. ‘’Have dinner with me,’’ Nathaniel said softly.

Newt looked up at him. ‘’You want me to have dinner with you? In the tavern?’’

Nathaniel stroked his thumb over Newt’s knuckles. ‘’In the tavern, in our room, it doesn’t matter, just…have dinner with me.’’ He looked at Newt and grinned. ‘’I just thought you might be as tired as I am of eating alone.’’

‘’I…’’ Newt said. They were standing far too close. If Newt took another step, he’d practically be in Nathaniel’s arms. A strange ache pooled in his lower belly at the thought. The image of Nathaniel in the room this morning, shirtless flashed through his mind and the ache intensified. Newt didn’t think it was hunger. Nathaniel was watching him expectantly. ‘’Er…okay,’’ Newt said finally, his voice trembling a little. ‘’Let’s have dinner.’’ Nathaniel smiled at him, one of his genuine smiles, squeezed Newt’s fingers briefly then gently released him. He strode over to the door and held it open, allowing Newt to enter first – and they both walked into utter chaos.

A large knot of people were crowded around the bar, voices raised angrily at the innkeeper who was making placating gestures and trying to be heard over the noise.

‘’What the hell?’’ Nathaniel said. He nudged Newt’s shoulder and nodded up at the ceiling. There were several large holes in it as if something had burrowed right through the top floor…Sudden realization flooded Newt and he looked around the bar, panicked. Now that he knew what to look for, he saw that almost all of the goblets had gone missing, buckles on people’s shoes had been torn off and he could distinguish several voices in the crowd complaining that the keys to their rooms had gone missing. Their gold keys, Newt thought. He groaned inwardly.

Nathaniel was looking at Newt suspiciously. ‘’Newt,’’ he said slowly, ‘’do you know the cause of all this?’’

Newt nodded reluctantly.

‘’Is it dangerous?’’

‘’Dangerous? No!’’ Newt said quickly. ‘’Just, er, destructive.’’

‘’I can see that,’’ Nathaniel said dryly. ‘’Do you need help catching it?’’

‘’No, I can handle it.’’

‘’Good. You go look for it. I’m going to see if I can prevent a full-scale riot from happening.’’

He headed towards the bar while Newt started for the stairs. He paused and looked back as he heard Nathaniel’s raised voice carry over the din. ‘’What seems to be the trouble?’’

Several outraged voices answered him.

‘’My money was stolen! I had 20 galleons on me and they’re all gone!’’

‘’Have you seen the state of this place! He says it’ll be hours before he’s got everything fixed! I want to go to bed!’’

‘’This innkeeper has played us all for fools! I demand we get the Ministry involved!’’

There were several shouted agreements to this last statement.

‘’People, please,’’ Nathaniel said smoothly. ‘’Be reasonable.’’ He put a reassuring hand on the innkeeper’s shoulder. '‘This man here has been running a reputable business for over twenty years. He wouldn’t throw that all away to steal from his loyal customers. You are all intelligent people, you must realize how absurd that sounds?’’

There were a few angry mutterings at this but at least the crowd had stopped shouting. Newt couldn’t help smiling. It was fascinating to watch him work. He was the kind of man who could probably charm the sun out from behind the clouds.

‘’Now it is clear to me that this is the work of a criminal, a vandal, a scoundrel of the worst sort.’’

‘’So the Ministry should be involved!’’ someone shouted.

‘’My good man, the Ministry already is involved. I happen to be traveling with a top Ministry official and he is already on the case. The culprit will be caught and your belongings returned to you, I have no doubt about that.’’

The crowd seemed slightly mollified until, ‘’But what do we do until then? This guy says we can’t go into our rooms until the damage is repaired!’’

‘’We’ll just have to make the best of it. I’m sure the good innkeeper here will be happy to provide free drinks to ease your distress.’’

There were excited murmurs from the crowd while the innkeeper looked at Nathaniel in alarm. Nathaniel squeezed his shoulder and gave him a meaningful stare.

The innkeeper nodded and said to the crowd, ‘’F-free drinks for everyone!’’

The crowd cheered at that.

But then, ‘’But the goblets are all gone!’’

‘’Well are we muggles or are we wizards!’’ Nathaniel cried jovially. ‘’Surely, I can’t be the only one here who ever took a transfiguration class?’’

Murmurs of agreement as the crowd started to look for things to transfigure.

‘’You there, young man, I believe you have a fiddle? Excellent, we’ll drink, we’ll dance, we’ll have a good time.’’

Nathaniel caught Newt’s eye and winked. Newt smiled back and went off in search of the Niffler.

After a thorough search of the ransacked building, Newt finally found the Niffler half an hour later, crouching under one of the beds. The Niffler tried to make a run for it but Newt seized him by the back legs and carried him outside. A little ways away from the tavern, he turned the beast over and dangled him over the ground. Showers of shiny objects came spilling out of the Niffler’s pouch – silver, bronze, and gold coins, keys, buckles, jewelry, and what looked like the entire collection of gold goblets that had been behind the bar. By the time Newt was finished, the pile on the ground came up to his knees.

‘’You thieving little wretch,’’ Newt said, not unkindly. ‘’Keep your paws off other people’s belongings!’’

The Niffler blinked up at him and then cuddled into his chest, snuffling at his neck. Newt shook his head, cradling the Niffler. Damn them for being so cute.

Once the Niffler was safely back inside his case (and he double-checked the latches), Newt headed back inside with the Niffler’s stolen goods collected in a small sack. A different sort of chaos met his eyes this time. The tables and chairs had all been pushed against the wall to create a big open space where people were dancing. Well, not so much dancing as wobbling about, bumping into each other. They all seemed quite drunk. Newt looked over at the bar to see Nathaniel surrounded by several witches and wizards. He seemed in the middle of a joke because a moment later, the crowd around him roared with laughter. Newt stared at him for a few minutes. There was an easy smile on his face, his coat was off, shirtsleeves rolled up, waistcoat unbuttoned. He watched as a young man approached Nathaniel, smiling shyly. He spoke a few words to Nathaniel who nodded and then the youth took his hand and led him off onto the dance floor.

Newt averted his eyes and brought the sack of stolen goods over to the innkeeper who was standing at his usual spot behind the bar. ‘’Ah, thank you, lad. You and your friend have single-handedly rescued my business.’’ He looked around his tavern at the drunken revelry. ‘’Best be giving these folks their things back in the morning. Don’t want any brawls, do we?’’

Newt nodded absently, his eyes on Nathaniel. He seemed to be dancing some sort of jig with the young man who was looking up at him hungrily. The sight made Newt slightly queasy and he asked the innkeeper when the upstairs would be repaired. ‘’Oh just a few more minutes maybe. I’ve only got a handful of staff as it were and most of them still young and green. Still, shouldn’t be long now.’’

Newt thanked him and went to sit at a table in the corner to wait. He couldn’t help seeking out Nathaniel in the dancing crowd. He was still dancing with the young man. Nathaniel twirled him and then caught Newt’s eye across the room. He immediately stopped dancing, said a few words to the young man, who seemed reluctant to give him up but nodded. Newt watched as Nathaniel disappeared among the crowd, heading towards the bar. He appeared moments later, two glasses in his hands, and a grin on his face.

‘Well, if it isn’t the intrepid beast chaser,’’ he said, plonking the glasses down on the table and dropping into a chair beside Newt. ‘’I take it your search was successful?’’

‘’Y-yes,’’ Newt stammered. He reached for the glass Nathaniel had brought him. It was butterbeer and his stomach rumbled gratefully. Nathaniel raised his own. ‘Cheers,’’ he said and clinked his glass against Newts. They both drank, Nathaniel drinking deeply, Newt taking a tentative sip. Nathaniel put his empty glass down and looked at Newt. ‘’So what manner of beast was it exactly?’’

‘’A niffler,’’ Newt answered. ‘’Pretty tame by dragonslayer standards but they do have a habit of causing trouble.’’

‘’So it was just a wild niffler then that got into the tavern?’’

‘Seems like it.’’

‘’Hmm,’’ Nathaniel said and Newt noticed him glance down at his case. ‘’You weren’t tempted to keep it as a pet?’’

‘’Nifflers don’t really make good pets.’’

‘’No, I suppose not.’’ There was a knowing gleam in Nathaniel’s eye that Newt didn’t like so he looked away from Nathaniel and watched the dancers instead. They were both silent for a few minutes. Newt was hyperaware of Nathaniel sitting beside him. If he moved his leg just an inch to the right, his thigh would brush up against Nathaniel’s. Goosebumps erupted along Newt’s arms at the thought.

Nathaniel turned to Newt suddenly. ‘Come and dance with me.’’

‘’Wh-what?’’

‘’Come dance with me,’’ Nathaniel repeated. He stood up and offered his hand to Newt. Newt stared at it, disbelieving. Then he looked away. ‘’I don’t really know how,’’ he said.

‘’Oh come on, Scamander, there’s nothing to it. You think any of the people here are professionally trained?’’

Newt looked once again at the crowd of people. Most of them seemed too drunk to know right foot from left but they did appear to be having a good time.

Newt shook his head ruefully. ‘Are you trying to humiliate me, Mr. Blackburne?’’

‘’No, Mr. Scamander,’’ Nate replied, his gaze turning mischievous. ‘’I am only trying to get you to have a little fun.’’

Without thinking, Newt took Nathaniel’s outstretched hand and Nathaniel pulled him onto the dance floor. The feeling of the other man’s hand in his sent an electric current through him and his heart started to race. Nathaniel led him to the edge of the crowd and turned to face him. ‘’Now put your hand on my shoulder, yes don’t be shy, there.’’ He slipped an arm around Newt’s waist. ‘’Now spread your feet a little bit, good, and just follow my lead.’’ Newt nodded, his eyes on his shoes. Nathaniel now had both hands on him, one grasping his hand, one touching his waist. If Newt threw eye contact into the mix, he would surely pass out. Nathaniel began to move and Newt moved with him. They only made small circles at first, Nathaniel leading him gently. Newt actually began to get into the rhythm of it and looked up from his shoes. Nathaniel was smiling at him broadly. ‘Ready for something a bit faster?’’ he shouted over the music. Newt nodded. ‘’Okay then,’’ Nathaniel said. ‘’Here we go!’’

Then they were moving in great swinging circles as they took off and danced all around the edge of the floor, Newt clinging to Nathaniel for dear life. He really was a great dancer and it was easy for Newt to get the hang of it.

And then Newt realized something. Here he was in a crowded tavern, in very close proximity with another human being...and he was having fun? Newt usually avoided situations like this because they made him so miserable but here right now, dancing with Nathaniel…he was positively giddy. Newt felt uncontrollable laughter bubble up inside him and he let it out. Nathaniel laughed with him as he continued to twirl him around and they both cavorted wildly around the dance floor, laughing like hyenas.

The song ended and Newt and Nathaniel stopped to catch their breath. Newt was grinning so widely his face hurt.

‘’See?’’ Nathaniel said. ‘’That wasn’t so bad.’’

For whatever reason, the man playing the fiddle chose that moment to start playing a much slower song, with notes that flowed through the room, sultry and mellow. Newt looked nervously down at his boots. ‘’Well, I should head to bed.’’

‘Just one more dance,’’ Nathaniel said softly and he stepped forward and drew Newt into his arms. Something like a whimper escaped Newt. Nathaniel was holding him a lot closer this time and instead of great spinning circles he was just swaying in time to the music. The music surrounded them, slow and heady, and Newt felt dizzy again. Nathaniel’s hand was on Newt’s lower back and he felt it slip down slowly until he rested it just above Newt’s backside. He tightened his grip and pressed Newt’s body flush against his, grinding his hips, tantalizing and teasing. Newt gasped at the incredible friction and could plainly feel Nathaniel’s hardness through his trousers. Newt’s own body started to respond, blood rushing to his groin. Nathaniel groaned. ‘Newt,’’ he breathed.

Newt closed his eyes and moaned, overwhelmed with sensation. He vaguely remembered that they were in a crowded room surrounded by other people, people with eyes that could see them. But right now the only thing that mattered to him was Nathaniel, the feel of his hands on Newt’s waist, the tickle of his breath on his ear. Nathaniel’s face was close to his now, his lips hovering right over Newt’s. He leaned forward.

The song ended and the spell was broken. Newt stumbled a couple of steps back from Nathaniel, his face burning. Nathaniel’s face was flushed too but not from embarrassment. There was naked lust blazing in his eyes and Newt could see the hard bulge in his trousers. And he knew that his own arousal was just as obvious. A wave of shame crashed over Newt and he felt his eyes start to burn. Tearing his eyes from Nathaniel, he rushed over to his case, grabbed it and flew up the stairs without looking back.

Newt hurried into their room, closing the door behind him, praying that Nathaniel wouldn’t follow him up right away. He longed to escape into his case but he guessed that Nathaniel was already suspicious about what he kept inside there. And he didn’t want him to know – because he didn’t trust him.

And that was it wasn’t it? That’s why he had panicked when Nathaniel almost kissed him. Newt wasn’t supposed to feel this way about someone like him. Someone who killed innocent creatures and made a living out of it. And it wasn’t just Nathaniel. He could never get close to anyone ever again – not after what happened with Leta.

Newt sighed and headed for his bed. He got under the covers fully dressed, only pausing to take his boots and coat off. He pulled the covers up to his chin and turned off the lamp. He closed his eyes and immediately regretted it because an image of Nathaniel swam before him, shirtless and beckoning. Newt imagined the scenario that had come to him that morning, Nate standing over him while Newt sketched him. And then maybe when he was done the sketch, Nathaniel would take the sketchpad out of Newt’s hands and lay it aside. Then he would take both of his hands over Newt’s and bring them up to his chest and Newt would run his fingers along Nate’s body and Nathaniel’s head would fall back and he would moan as Newt’s hands traveled lower. And then Nathaniel would push Newt down on the bed and lower his body on top of him…

Newt fumbled his trousers opened, and wrapped his hand around his aching erection. It only took him a couple of strokes before he climaxed to a vivid image of Nathaniel moving over him. He gasped for breath and then froze as he heard the door open.

Newt went very still as he heard Nathaniel enter the room. ‘Newt?’’ he said quietly. Newt bit his lip to keep from making any noise, attempting to modify his breathing so it sounded like he was asleep. He heard Nathaniel sigh and then heard clothes rustling, and the creak of the other bed as Nathaniel lay down. Newt buried his face in his pillow, a silent tear slipping down his face.