[IC Contact Post]

[ifoundthem]

[Newt's communicator has no message; it just beeps. Chances of him actually getting a message are slim, given he doesn't know the network exists, yet.

But if you really want to talk to him, feel free to track him down here.]

Comments

[ifoundthem]

I... never really cared for wizard chess.

[He knows the chess pieces weren't alive the way his creatures were, but it was close enough that pitting them against each other made his stomach churn. Especially now.]

[ninefox]

My pieces don't move.

Would you rather cards? I'll thrash you but I won't gloat about it.

[ifoundthem]

I... can attempt Muggle chess, I suppose. I don't know the game well.

[ninefox]

"It's mostly the same, but with less color commentary. I'll bring both."

And sure enough, he knocks in a few minutes later, with a magnetic travel chess set and a deck of cards. He looks - haggard, almost exhausted as Newt feels, but not bleak.

[ifoundthem]

Newt convinced the infirmary staff in record time that he couldn't be trusted to recover in his own cabin, so he's stuck here until he can walk out under his own power.

He looks tired, and so pale his freckles almost look like measles. But he smiles when he sees Jedao, with no sign of anger or suspicion.

"You look better."

[ninefox]

"A little. Fives caught up to me, fixed me up." He's still processing a lot, but at least the gears feel like they're starting to turn, now. He doesn't smile, and he still looks weary, but not hollow or bitter. Pensive.

"I hesitated, because of - some things you said." Not about death, or Fantasia, the topics that drove him into his obstinacy, but about love, and entrapment, and Fives - "Which was all the chance he needed. So. Thank you. For that."

[ifoundthem]

"He always had a better chance than I did." But that doesn't make Newt at all regretful. "I'm glad I could- help. However little."

Because in the end, Newt's never needed to be the hero.

[ninefox]

He nods.

Jedao finds the meal table fold-out on the infirmary bed, then pulls out a deck of cards - simple but lovely, handpainted, with farm animals frolicking in the borders. The suits are roses, eyes, gears, and doors.

"Remind me whether wizards have poker. Or rummy."

[ifoundthem]

"Ah, we do. And if we didn't, those from Muggle households would."

But, well. He props himself up weakly on a pillow.

"I- never learned much of the game, though."

[ninefox]

"For our purposes the important thing to know is the scoring hands," he begins, proceeding to explain a rapid-fire game of bids and discards that will keep Newt occupied for some time.

[ifoundthem]

Newt, to his credit, listens intently, even if he fidgets with his bedsheet while doing so.