《 Skip a Beat 》

It's all in the details

"Pick! That's not funny!"

But Jacob, Queenie and Leta were all howling with laughter.

Tina ducked her head and pretended to be doing more paperwork. Newt scowled at Pickett, who stuck his tongue out at him.

A nurse passed outside, then paused and stuck her head into the room. Everyone got the hint, and things were fairly quiet from then on.

"Can I draw something?" asked Leta softly. She had a mischievous twinkle in her eyes that made him reluctant, but he snatched the marker from Pickett before the Bowtruckle could do anything else to embarrass him and handed it to Leta.

Jacob gave Newt a full run-down of how his creatures were doing while Leta worked.

The Nifflers were a handful, as usual, and the Occamies were okay, but had a tendency to nip whoever tried to feed them unless it was Tina. She was their favourite, apparently. Only Tina and Jacob went near the Graphorns- nobody else trusted themselves. The rest of Newt's animals were okay, and although nobody had an exact idea of how to care for them, Newt gave them his notebook a couple weeks ago, which left precise instructions on how to care for them and helped lots, according to Jacob.

Leta finished within five minutes, and stood up while everyone admired her work.

"Wow! This is amazing!" murmured Newt, attempting to shift his leg slightly so he could see the delicate red swirls. He winced and didn't try to move his right leg again, but he did tilt his head so he could see the design better.

Queenie went next.

She took the marker from Leta and knelt down in front of the bed. She thought for a moment about what she'd draw, then tentatively raised the marker and began.

"Are those... stick figures?" asked Jacob, raising an eyebrow. Queenie turned around. "It's all I can draw."

"It's fine," chipped in Newt. "Go ahead."

Queenie turned around again and kept drawing. She make four- no, five- more than five stick figures and lined them all up down the side of the cast. Then she added hair, faces, and joined their hands together.

"Is that... us?" asked Jacob eventually.

Queenie nodded beaming, then she gestured to each stick figure in turn. "Jacob, Me, Tina, Newt, Theseus and Leta."

"That's brilliant," laughed Leta. "Absolutely brilliant!"

All five of them gazed at the stick figures for a moment, then Queenie stood up and handed the marker to Jacob. "Your turn." He grinned and took the marker, then moved from his position behind Queenie's chair to kneel in front of the bed. "Is there anything you want in particular?"

Newt shook his head, but it sent a jolt of pain coursing through his nerves, so he replied verbally instead. "Whatever you want to draw is fine."

Jacob nodded, and he only hesitated a second before lifting the marker and drawing two large circles side by side. Tina started guessing.

"Is it a car?"

"Nope."

"A fish?"

"Try again."

"Is it a type of food?" Leta chimed in. Jacob shook his head, outlining a wiggly shape around the circles. "Keep guessing."

"Is it an animal?" Tried Tina. Jacob nodded, and Leta grinned at her. They kept guessing.

"A cat?"

"Nope!"

"A dog?"

"Nope!"