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It was one of those days.
Outside was beautiful, the sun shining down and brightening up everyone day’s in a promise of enjoyment, of all that was good. Not a single cloud that could single out rain could be spotted, and not a single ounce of chaos could be heard outside. People outside on the streets of New York were all chattering with each other, and even those alone couldn’t help but smile at how beautiful the day looked. It may seem like the most perfect day ever.
Only that it wasn’t.
It certainly had started out that way. Newt had been the first one to make up, stealthily moving away from Percy’s grasp as to not wake him up. The other man hugged a pillow, Newt’s pillow, unconsciously as if it was enough to make up for the loss of his lover’s warmth. Pickett had woken up when he felt Newt’s feet planting on the floor, immediately signaling the other to pick him up because there was no way that he was letting Newt go far without him. The man had smiled, offering him a quiet “Good morning, Pickett”, carrying him in his hand as they walked into the kitchen of the small apartment building.
He had learned the routine of their mornings, something he took pride in because he was the one who reminded Newt to do certain things in case he forgot. His companion made coffee, enough for him and Percy, serving a cup for himself and leaving the rest for when his mate woke up. He sometimes made breakfast when he was feeling good enough to do so, and it seems like today was one of those days, because the red-haired man had taken out pieces of bread and with the wave of his wand, they turned brown and slight crunchier. His stomach grumbled at the simple yet tasty breakfast.
They ate fast, with Newt eager to go inside the brown bo- suitcase (he’s almost there. The word is just weird to him) to tend to the other creatures. It was when they went to check on the occamies nest when they noticed. One of them wasn’t moving.
Every occamy in the nest surrounded their unmoving companion, some of them nudging the body with their beaks to try to get a reaction. In their eyes he saw heartbreak, and it would be a lie if he said he wasn’t saddened by this as well. In such a lovely day a life from one of their own was lost.
He held on tight on Newt’s shirt to prevent his figure from falling, watching in silence at his companion’s reaction as he crouched down to the nest. The other occamies looked at Newt pleadingly, begging him to do something- anything- to save their friend. Newt swallowed hard, starting to tremble as he hopelessly picked up the lifeless creature. His eyes were watering, not looking at the others in shame because he didn’t know what to do.
Pickett noted how the creature in his companion’s arms differed from the others, the colors in her feathers duller in comparison. She had been sick it seemed, and they weren’t able to notice on time.
“Lilia,” Newt whispered, voice wavering as a sob threatened to get out. Pickett chirped in worried, trying to ask his companion if he was okay.
But Newt didn’t notice him, not at that moment. He cradled the body to his chest, apologizing over and over as the other occamies understood, sadly, that they wouldn’t be getting their friend back. They curled into themselves, hiding away their faces as they coped with the loss, and even though they weren’t crying out loud, he could still feel their anguish.
And Newt, he didn’t dare looking at them, ashamed and miserable, tears finally slipping out of his eyes. The droplets rolled down his cheeks, making their journey and falling onto the body in his arms. Oh no, he was crying. If there is any human in the world that deserved all the happiness in the world, it was Newt. Those tears shouldn’t be falling. Newt shouldn’t be suffering.
If Newt suffered, he suffered.
He wiped away one of the tears with his tiny- branch-like hand, whining to catch his attention again. He wanted to distract him from the discovery, but nothing he did worked.
“I’m so sorry,” he kept on apologizing, even when it was anything but his fault.
He always did his best to take care of them all. Any other human wouldn’t care about a dead creature, much less occamies that could be sold or used to create expensive gadgets. But his human, his dear companion, always cared for all of them like family. No one was more important than the other, and if one of them dies, he took the death to heart.
The last time he had seen a creature die in his care had been last year, and it took a visit from Newt’s brother Theseus to get him to calm down and go back to his normal self.
He was sad for the loss, yes, but Newt felt sadder. He had taken the opportunity to take care of these creatures and make sure they are well taken care of and one of them was dead now. The waterworks didn’t stop falling, and Pickett was feeling helpless, not knowing what to do to help the red-haired man. He did what most humans did when they cried, he hugged his human as much as he could, not letting go even when some of the tears began falling on him.
“Newt?” He heard Percy, who had just walked inside the case, looking slightly disoriented from having woken up.
As soon as he saw his crying lover, his eyes went wide in alarm, rushing to him and crouching down, looking understandingly as he saw the body that Newt was holding. After what seemed like a lifetime, Newt finally looked away from the body, directly towards Percy.
“She’s dead. She was sick and I couldn’t help her in time and now she’s dead,” Newt told Percy, almost not understandable due to the level of pain he was in. “I couldn’t help her, Percival. She’s dead and I’m at fault.”
“Hey, listen,” Percy told his mate, using a softer tone. “Don’t blame yourself for this, love. You care about these creatures more than anyone else in the world would, and you would never willingly hurt any of them. I don’t want you blaming yourself for this.”
Good Percy. Say good things to Newt.
“She was the youngest one. She had a whole lifetime to experience.”
“These things happen,” Percy told him, placing both of his hands on top of Newt’s, holding the dead creature with him. “I know it hurts, but know that I’m here for you. We’ll handle this together.”
He kissed the corner of Newt’s lips to seal the promise. Normally Pickett would be against their displays of attention (especially after the ‘show’ they put on the other night), but the tenderness in Percy’s action while trying to comfort Newt were breathtaking. He really was a good mate.
It was when Percy broke the little kiss when Newt broke down, not doing anything to contain the tears, full-fledged sobs erupting from his lithe frame and Pickett had to be careful not to misstep or else he could end up falling at the way his companion’s body was moving.
Percy frowned at the way his lover was breaking down, hating to see him in this state, but he understood why he was like that. He maneuvered the both of them so that he was sitting on the ground, putting Newt on his lap and held him tight. Percy’s shirt would probably end up wet from all the tears, but the man didn’t care for anything other than his lover’s wellbeing.
“It’s going to be okay. Just let it all out,” the older man said as ran his hands through the ginger curls, offering whatever comfort he could offer.
It was one of those days when it’s beautiful on the outside, but dark on the inside. While the rest of the people are smiling, they found themselves suffering. But they would all get through this moment. Together.