Newt opens his eyes, suddenly aware of the real world and confused as to why. A glance at his watch reveals the time, 12:38 am. He's only been asleep for about forty-five minutes. Why had he woken up, then?
It hadn't been a nightmare. He'd been having an excellent dream. He couldn't remember what it was about, but thinking about it gave him a good feeling and he had evidently been enjoying it. He doubts, then, that that was it. A look around shows that there's no one else in his room, no weird noises ringing out. His alarm is still set to go off at 6 30, not that he really needs it after waking up at the same time for the last ten years. Why on earth had he woken up?
He's completely awake now and he knows he won't fall back asleep for quite a while, based on previous experience, so he decides to go make himself a mug of cocoa, careful not to wake up Credence, who is sleeping in the next room, and maybe do a quick walk around the case to make sure everyone is all right. He's sure they're fine, but it never hurts to be cautious, and it isn't like he really has anything better to be doing at one in the morning, other than sleep, of course.
His walk through the case doesn't show anything to be wrong. Nearly all of his animals are asleep, except for a few nocturnal ones like the mooncalves, which is a good sign. Generally his creatures sense danger better than he can. Infinitely more relaxed and with his empty mug in hand, he heads back to his room to lay back down and try to fall back asleep.
He pauses just before he pulls open his door, glancing to the right where Credence's room lies. He doesn't want to wake the boy up... but he'll be quiet.
He extinguishes his wandlight and ever so carefully turns the knob, then gently, slowly pushes the door in, being careful not to make a sound. Credence is sitting up on the edge of his bed, head in his hands, very obviously awake. It's clear that he's been there for a little while, that it wasn't Newt that woke him up, which was his initial thought, but the half second of relief fades away quickly.
"Credence?" he asks, more of a whisper than anything. "Are you okay?" He hates the phrase, it's such a cliche and really probably doesn't do anything worth doing - definitely doesn't, he revises - because Credence is clearly not all right, he's very obviously not okay.
"I'm fine," Credence says, but his voice is tight and it sounds like he has to choke the words out. Newt isn't quite sure how to proceed - people are difficult, and he never knows exactly what to do... he supposes that Credence seems more like one of his creatures than ever, though, now, and he does know what to do in that case.
"Can I come over?" he asks, voice quiet and gentle. Credence sort of jerks his head, which Newt supposes could be construed as a nod. He sits down on the bed next to the boy, not saying anything, just being (hopefully) a calming presence.
After a few minutes of silence, Credence speaks.
"It was a nightmare," he says. "It was... it was her, she found me and... and she was angry that I ran away..." His voice trails off painfully. "I can still feel... on my back, just from the dream... I can feel where she..."
Newt doesn't say anything. He isn't sure what to do, honestly. There really is no precedent with his creatures for this. The closest thing is when his rescues have been abused. He considers what he would do in that scenario.
"Can I see your hand?" he asks finally.
"Why?" Credence asks, and Newt's heart swells with pride. Tonight he's been communicative, volunteering information about himself, about his nightmare, questioning Newt instead of being blindly obedient... this is progress and he is so proud of how far Credence has come in the last couple of weeks.
"I'm going to hold it. That's all. Not all touch... it doesn't have to hurt, and physical contact can be comforting. You can say no if you don't feel comfortable, though," Newt says. He's not certain that this is the best idea at all, but it's worth a shot. He's also not sure how blunt he should be about what he's doing, but his rule has always been that honesty is the best policy.
After a moment, Credence slowly holds his hand out, rebalancing to support his head with just the other hand. Newt takes it awkwardly, not quite sure how to proceed. He takes a breath, reminds himself that this is just like dealing with a wounded beast, then clasps Credence's hand in one of his and with the other rubs his thumb in circles across the palm, gently massaging the tension out of it. Slowly, infinitesimally, Credence relaxes.
Eventually, Newt helps Credence lay back down, covering him back up. Just before he leaves, he hears a tired, almost-asleep voice.
"I'm sorry if I woke you up..." Credence mumbles, barely understandable. "I think I yelled a bit... but I didn't mean to... wake you up..."
"Don't worry about it," Newt says gently, and closes the door.
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A/N: 87, 12, 38 - 'This beauteous combat, wilful and unwilling,' Venus and Adonis, Shakespeare
Yeah this prompt kind of got away from me. This is what happens when I write at 3am haha.