Capturing the Demiguise proves both easier and more difficult than she thought possible. Easier, because he very helpfully makes himself visible. Harder, because they aren't expecting the Occamy.
Tina thinks that, if she never sees a teapot or a cockroach again, it'll be too soon.
They Apparate to an adjoining rooftop after setting Macy's to rights, landing beneath a giant neon Squire's sign before Newt shepherds them all into his case. Jacob and Queenie happily see the Demiguise into his strange hanging home, while Tina is allowed the honor of handling the Occamy, supervised by a beaming Newt. She holds it delicately while it slithers into its nest, where the creature coils amongst its brethren to caw at her happily. Tina grins down at it before looking around in awe.
This is her second time down here, but her first with almost all of the creatures awake and active. The large and intimidating Erumpent stamps to the edge of her enclosure to trumpet a friendly hello, while the Graphorn family cavorts around playfully. Flying creatures both large and small flit about her head as birds trill and the Nundu roars impotently at it all. Dominating everything is the Thunderbird, large and magnificent and peacefully roosting on a sun-warmed rock, watching over them benevolently.
The case is warm and homey in a way that is utterly alien to her, and she suffuses with simple joy the longer she remains. It allows her to view Newt through the lens of his home (for that's what the case is: his home; she realizes this immediately), and she thinks that, perhaps, his heart may be even more expansive than this magical space. She can think of no other reason for him to be so pleasant to the Jarveys, who spit insults and curses at them as they walk past on their tour.
Queenie and Jacob's heads are held conspiratorially close together over by Dougal. They are deep in intimate conversation if the giggles and hushed sighs are any indications. Slightly jealous but deliriously happy for her sister, Tina pokes around Newt's shed while the man fusses about on a feeding table, sorting bins of feed and soaking in the joy of the people around him. He wears a small, secret smile, and she doesn't miss the way he very occasionally glances over at her.
She's next to the case of Billywig stings that she sees it: a sepia-toned wizards photograph. It features a young but beautiful woman with flowers woven into her hair tossing her head and smiling coyly. She spots Tina and the smile turns into a smirk, her chin rising haughtily. Something in Tina's chest starts to quiver at the gesture, and she plucks up the picture without thinking. "Hey, Mr. Scamander?" She turns toward the door to hold up the photograph and forces herself to meet his eyes. "Who's she?"
Newt looks up with an expectant smile to glance at the item in her hand. His smile turns brittle before slowly falling away, aging him ten years in an instant. He blinks hard and hunches his shoulders, and Tina tastes the tang of regret hanging heavy in the air.
"Oh, that's—that's no one," he finally lies unconvincingly, and Tina brings the photograph closer to her face. The girl in the frame is now glaring, pretty lips twisted into a sneer, and Tina looks hastily away.
"She's very pretty," she prods weakly. From across the case, Queenie is looking at Newt with a dazed expression—one that slowly gives way to deep despair. Newt, she realizes, wear the same look, eyes distant as he loses himself in what appears to be a very unpleasant memory. His eyes cut back to her after a long moment, shining glassily in the hazy sunset.
"Yes, well," he says vaguely. "I suppose she was. Is." A pause, an unsteady breath. "She was...my friend. Neither of us really fitted in at school, and so we grew quite close." He drops a seed pod and sighs deeply before turning to her, looking her in the face. "You said, at the Blind Pig, that your past was a long story, and I did not press the issue. May I ask you, Miss Goldstein, that you extend the same respect to me in this instance, please? I promise that someday I will tell you the whole sordid tale, should you still wish to hear it."
He turns sharply to speak over his shoulder. "And please don't read my mind." Tina follows his gaze to find Queenie standing just to his left, still wearing that stricken expression.
"I know, I'm sorry," she murmurs while chewing her lip. "I can't help it. People are easiest to read when they're hurting." She wrings her hands and visibly gathers her resolve. Then, with a bravado that Tina admires, she plunges on. "That was a real close friendship you had at school, Mr. Scamander. For years. But that was wrong, what she did to you."
Queenie pauses to nibble her lip once more, her eyes sharp as she reads him. Newt, in the meantime, has gone eerily still, and Tina experiences the almost overwhelming urge to step close and tuck his head against her shoulder, to run a hand over his hair and do whatever it takes to remove that devastated look from his face.
"She was a taker," Queenie finally declares, voice cracking slightly on the last syllable. "You need a giver." Her eyes flick briefly to Tina with weighted understanding before return to him.
Newt releases a shaky breath, while Tina holds hers. Queenie shakes her head sadly at them both and drifts away, allowing Jacob to fold her into his arms. He looks at them curiously but without comment before leading her toward the artificial sunlight on the other side of the Erumpent enclosure. Tina watches them go, focusing anywhere but on Newt.
"Does she do that often?" he asks after a time, voice hoarse, and Tina scuffs the floor with the toe of her boot.
"More than I'd like," she finally settles on, recalling her sister's pointed look. Newt snorts and wipes his cheeks with the back of his hand before rallying himself as she pretends not to notice.
"Well, I shall work on my Occlumency then. Wouldn't want her to dig up all my skeletons," he drawls. It's a feeble attempt at humor but it eases some of the tension so she manages a tiny laugh.
"I don't have any left," she confesses, and this time laughs for real. He does too, a low, rich sound that seeps into her chest, and Tina's suddenly unable to draw adequate breath. He stops laughing at the same time she stops breathing, and they look at each other across the space between them. Newt tilts his head slightly and she follows; he smiles, slow and gentle, and she mirrors it.
Tina holds her breath, and Newt steals it when his smile broadens and strengthens until it reaches his eyes.
Then thunder crashes to punctuate Frank's sudden screech, and the moment is lost.
Tina gasps, heart pounding against her ribs while Newt blinks dazedly before running over to the Thunderbird's enclosure. He takes the steps two at a time to crouch before the beast, head craned back as lightning and rain play across his features when he reads the signs.
"Danger," Newt declares flatly and chills chase down Tina's spine. "He senses danger."
Queenie and Jacob trot over, wearing identical awed expressions, and Newt turns to them. "Get your things," he instructs, walking swiftly toward the shed and pulling on his blue coat. "We have to go up and see what the situation reads." He murmurs and his Bowtruckle crawls out of its pocket to hug his breast momentarily, before clambering onto the crowded workbench. Tina bites her lip but can't look away when Newt strokes its leafy head with one tender finger, crooning gently.
He turns back to her, blinking his eyes hard against tears, and thinks a moment before murmuring, "I wonder, Miss Goldstein if perhaps our visit to Gnarlak hasn't escalated thing. I have a hunch that the Obscurial may be on the loose once more, and if Frank's reacting..." Newt trails off, and Tina needs no further prompting.
She tightens her grip on her wand before following him up the narrow ladder. "You guys stay down here," she instructs her sister and her beau sternly, and they nod like pliant, trusting children. Tina steps onto the rooftop and Newt bends to seal the case, but not before murmuring reassurances to the two remaining below.
"We'll keep them safe," Newt promises while meeting her eyes, and Tina nods because she's too choked with fear and nerves to speak.
He moves, and she follows. They hurry across the roof to climb onto the rusting scaffolding holding up the lurid sign, and together begin a silent vigil over the city.