《 Skip a Beat 》

Friends, family, and fire alarms

"Relax, Theo. Why don't you come over here?"

"Theo?" Tina subtly echoed. Newt grinned back at her. "He calls me Newt, I call him Theo. It's a nickname."

"The difference is," called Theseus from the kitchen. "Everyone calls him Newt."

This time, Newt's grin made him look like an incarnation of the devil, and Leta couldn't keep her laugh in. She almost spilled the bottle of wine clutched in her hands, but managed to save it in time to make it look like she was smoothly pouring Jacob a glass.

"Thank you." He took the glass from her hand and leaned back onto the couch.

The six of them had crashed in the living room after that day's excitement, and Leta had stolen one of Theseus' good wines to share, which she was dutifully pouring out for everyone while Theseus burned cookies in the kitchen.

Newt, Jacob and Queenie had snagged the couch, leaving Leta to sit on the carpet, leaning against the coffee table when she finished pouring out the wine. Tina sat on her right, tapping her glass rhythmically and resting her head on the couch next to Newt.

At that moment, Theseus swore loudly and something clanged just as loudly.

"Theseus? What have you destroyed now?" drawled Tina, lifting her head slightly. The sour smell of smoke wafted its way into the living room, and the fire alarm starting blaring at full volume. Tina flopped back to her original position.

"Myself, almost. Can someone open the windows over there?" He had to raise his voice to be heard over the ruckus.

Queenie and Jacob set about shoving all the windows in the living room open, and Theseus opened the single window in the kitchen. After a couple minutes, the smoke cleared, the alarm faded out, and everyone was able to breathe without erupting into a violent coughing fit.

Theseus almost slammed a tray of what looked like crusty, burnt crisps onto the coffee table. "There. Cookies. Help yourselves."

"Still trying, Theseus?" said Queenie, bemused.

He grinned. "At least we know I've been using Leta's cookbook." Leta rolled her eyes, and Theseus dutifully pecked her on the cheek.

"Six months, and you can't bake a tray of cookies?"

Tina and Jacob sniggered at her snide remark, and Newt grinned, reaching for his wine glass.

"Well, now I know who's been stealing all my good wine."

Newt almost spat it into the fireplace, but he cringed and forced himself to swallow.

"Let me explain, Theseus-"

But his older brother broke into a grin and shook his head.

"After all this time, you think I haven't learned that if my wine goes missing, Leta is usually the one behind it?"

Leta raised her glass in salute before knocking it back. Newt smiled weakly.

"Couldn't wait until I got here to drink it, could you?"

Tina smirked. "We were just getting started on Theseus' collection, weren't we Leta?" She grinned back, eyes glittering with mischief. Theseus grabbed the bottle and poured himself a glass.

"Might as well enjoy it before it gets drained by these three," he muttered, indicating his head towards Leta, Tina and Queenie.

All three of them grinned back like devils, until Leta picked up the conversation again.