Crescendo: A Fantastic Beasts Newtina Fanfiction

Chapter 43

       Tina murmured sleepily to herself and flipped over onto her side, wrapping Newt's blanket snuggly around her. It smelled like him, the comforting scent of earth and wood and rain, mingled with the faint underlying trace of sweat. She buried her nose into it, and hazily wondered why she was awake, as she couldn't remember what had woken her.

       As she closed her heavy eyes, she disregarded this matter and burrowed deeper into the couch. Suddenly, through the smell of Newt's blanket, another familiar scent reached her nose, and this one was much more alarming. Smoke!

       Tina sat bolt upright, flinging the warm blanket off herself. She looked around wildly for the cause, preparing herself to see flames leaping up the walls, but instead spotted Newt at the kitchen. He was bent over the stove, and prodded something in a pan with a wooden spoon, cursing under his breath. He appeared to have burnt whatever he'd been cooking, and thin streams of gray smoke were issuing up from the pan. 

       Tina lay back down with a sigh of relief. She yawned, stretching her arms above her head, and glanced at Newt again. A look of frustration marred his features, and his mouth was set into a grim line. He was still scraping at the pan with the wooden spoon, and having no luck with whatever he was trying to unstick. 

       A small wave of pity swamped Tina, followed by the urge to giggle. Then, deciding that Newt was in need of some help, she heaved herself off the couch and plodded over to him. 

       "Hey," she greeted. "What are you doing?"

       Newt spun around, and upon seeing her, he stepped in front of the stove in an attempt to shield his ruined creation. Then, realizing that this was a hopeless cause, he sighed and threw the spoon his hand down.

       "You mean what am I trying  to do?" he muttered resentfully.

       Tina walked over to the stove, and peered into the pan. A burnt, flaky, black mess had curdled at the bottom, and it was still smoking slightly. "It's not that bad," she said, lying.

       Newt raised his eyebrows at her.

       "Well, okay, it's horrible," she admitted.

       "If you must know, I was attempting to make pancakes for breakfast," he informed moodily.

       The Englishman picked up the pan and carried it over to the garbage can, tipping it upside down. When the charred pancakes didn't unstick from the metal, he banged the pan grumpily against the rim. The black mess unpeeled itself and plopped down sadly into the trash can. 

       "Cheer up," Tina consoled. She went over to him and patted his back reassuringly. "At least you tried."

       "And that's what counts?" he snorted disdainfully.

       Tina changed tactics. "Okay, how about we start over again, this time with me helping you?" she suggested.

       Newt gave a noncommittal grunt, followed by a jerk of his head that the brunette translated as a grudging yes. 

       "Let me change, and then we can get started," she told him. 

       Walking back over to the couch where her suitcase stood at the end, she opened it and took out her everyday clothes. She went to the bathroom with them, and quickly shed her pajamas to change, wanting to get back to Newt as soon as possible.

       Really, Tina thought, smiling to herself, I never thought he'd be the type to be domestic.

       Once she had her white blouse and gray trousers on, she exited the bathroom and went into the kitchen, where Newt was standing forlornly by the counter, still looking quite angry and frustrated.