Fantastic beasts and where to find them
I don't own Fantastic beasts and where to find them or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.
Making friends
Newt is homeless and the Niffler tries to help him but since he has a tiny problem with the concept of personal belongings he actually ends up casuing more problems instead...
He doesn't look up, doesn't lift his gaze from the pavement as the steady flow of people continues, an endless stream of different persons parading past him where he sits slumped against the wall. Jeans-clad legs, the swish of a skirt, baggy sweatpants and nice pin-striped dress pants. Expensive shoes, ratty sneakers, high heels clicking sharply and the occasional pair of wellies, probably the smartest choice of footwear on such a miserably rainy and cold day. Everyone is bustling to and fro, going places and having somewhere to be. Everyone except him. He just sits and waits for lack of anything better to do.
As it gets later the crowds thins out and he's alone again. He hasn't had any luck with the shelters, all of them over-crowded because of the bad weather and unable to admit more people, and he doesn't have enough money pay for a subway ticket and spend the night going back and forth on a train. Besides, he knows the looks he'll get from the other passengers, how they'll move away from him and choose to sit elsewhere. How they'll look at his well-worn clothes and shabby backpack and comment on it behind his back. He's not prepared to face that tonight and instead settles for a cold night outside. It won't be pleasant but he's done it before.
Just as he's settled into a corner that is somewhat more sheltered from the wind he hears a strange, barely-there clicking noise. He looks up, trying to locate the source of the sound but it's dark and he can't see anything. As he busies himself with pulling on extra sweaters to prepare for the night he hears it again, followed by a chirp and then another one. The chittering gets more intense, insistent almost, and he looks up to find him himself face to face with a weird-looking creature. It resembles a platypus but it has clawed little feet instead of webbed ones and it has a shorter tail. He has never seen anything like it before but it seems friendly enough. It chitters again as it holds out its tiny paws, cupped and palms facing up, offering him a small pile of coins. It's not much but after a quick calculation he knows that will be enough to buy him a cup of coffee and a roof over his head for as long as he keeps sipping on it.
He hesitates slightly before holding out his hand and the creature happily dumps the coins in his palm before bouncing closer and starting to inspect his backpack, seemingly very interested in the fake brass buckles on the straps. He smiles, already tasting the warmth of the coffee, when someone clears his throat. He looks up to see a pair of boots and knees dressed in blue uniform pants. When he tilts his head back even more he realizes that the uniform-clad legs are connected to an equally uniform-clad torso and is topped with an unamused face and a police cap. The officer looks pointedly at the money that he's holding and he realizes that the strange creature is gone and that there is a small red purse on the pavement beside him. It's open, empty and he's willing to believe that the coins that he's holding used to belong in it. He swallows and gets to his feet, allows his hands to be cuffed behind his back. There is no way that the officer will believe him even if he explains how it all happened.
When they arrive at the police station the custody sergeant must feel sorry for him because the cell he's led to after being processed is equipped with both several blankets and a tray with a piping hot meal. As the cell door clanks shut behind him he almost shrieks as something wraps itself around his ankle. He jumps aside but when he looks down he realizes it's the small creature from before, a contrite look all over his furry face, and he sighs as he reaches down to pat it on the head. He's not happy about being arrested but he's not sorry about being inside and warm either and he says as much to the creature who chirps happily, head-butts his hand and scrambles onto the cot to inspect the tray.
They share the meal in companionable silence and then the creature clambers up to perch on his shoulder as he untangles the heap of blankets, holding a steady grip on the collar of his coat for balance, and then burrows down with a content snuffle as he stretches out on the narrow cot and drapes the blankets over the both of them.
Oh well. The situation might not be ideal but at least he's got a warm bed for the night and a friendly little companion and when he wants to get out, he's sure that he can convince his furry little friend to steal the shiny, nice key from the guard for him.