《 Skip a Beat 》

No one said this was going to be easy

The medical assistant subtly shooed his sister out of the room a few minutes later, and Pickett dutifully climbed back onto Newt's sleeve before forlornly waving after her. Almost immediately after she'd left, he'd asked them how the previous day went. After a moment's hesitation on whether it would be safe to tell him, Newt and Tina both gave him a full rundown of what they'd found in the ministry. By the end, Nick uncannily resembled Newt when he'd been told that there was a prophecy, with his jaw hanging open and his eyes wide as dinner plates.

Regrettably, though, he didn't have the time to stick around and help them find a seer with the matching initials to the name on the tag.

Around midday, Queenie and Jacob both dropped in by surprise, claiming that they'd swap with Leta. Within minutes, Newt, Tina, Jacob and Queenie were talking and laughing just like old times, perusing divination books all the while.

The remaining sandwiches quickly vanished as well, and Tina offered to go downstairs to buy them all coffees.

Needless to say, the remaining three blazed through their books, chatting in hushed tones all the while. Every so often, Pickett contributed something to the conversation, which Newt eagerly translated for them.

In fact, he was almost certain it was Pick's fault when the conversation turned towards Tina, and he was inclined to stop translating for the bowtruckle for the remainder of the day.

Coincidentally, Pickett decided that it was the perfect time for him to jump back into Newt's pocket and go to sleep when Jacob asked him when he was going to confess to Tina. Newt was left resembling so much as a gaping fish. He attempted to speak, but it seemed that his brain had shut down and buggered off to parts unknown.

Jacob leaned over and teasingly patted his shoulder.

"Aw, it's alright pal! We can help, can't we?" he suggested, striking a sideways glance towards his beaming girlfriend. Newt apprehensively switched his gaze between the two of them, not saying a word.

"So, the first thing you do is make sure that she notices you." Jacob launched into an explanation without waiting for an answer. "Whenever she walks into a room, you are the first person her eyes land on."

"Uh..."

"Jacob, that's the case anyway! Haven't you seen how they look at each other?" chided Queenie, blatantly ignoring Newt's barely contained cringe.

"No, I think... no," murmured Newt finally.

Queenie and Jacob both looked appalled.

"I'm not confessing anything, I just..." his sentence faded into nothingness, and Newt was left staring, embarrassed, at the bedsheets.

His two companions swapped glances.

"Okay. Let's try something else," prompted Queenie encouragingly. "Do you have any really amazing skills that she doesn't know about? Like, a secret talent?"

When Newt didn't answer, Jacob asked him, "D'ya know how to play any instruments? Like- uh- I dunno, uh, guitar?"

"Er- no." Newt firmly shook his head, trying to banish a vision of him sitting in his shed, strumming a guitar and singing to his creatures.

Now both Queenie and Jacob looked at a loss. Lucky for them, Tina loped in at that moment, holding four steaming cups of coffee.

Jacob immediately went to take two of them before they spilled, and Tina handed one to Newt, then sank into her usual chair right by his side, sipping from her own cup.

"Are you allowed coffee?" inquired Queenie blandly, eyeing Newt, who, in turn, eyed his cup.

"Probably."