where you lead, i will follow

"I'm sure you'll get the loan. They won't be able to say no once they've tried one of your pastries!" Adeline said to Jacob as they both made their way down the busy New York street. She hoped that she was right and that her friend would be given the loan from the bank, she knew how much opening this bakery meant to Jacob. They'd been good friends for years now, since elementary school, and she knew how badly he wanted to get out of that canning factory. He wasn't happy with his job there, with very good reason, and Adeline wanted him to be happy. The last couple of years had been tough. First there was the war, then he came back from Europe and the only job he could find was in that canning factory. She knew that he'd be so much happier if he just convinced the bank to give him the loan for the bakery. She knew there was the issue of collateral, but she was hoping they'd make an exception once they tried one of Jacob's pastries. He was an excellent baker, and if he was given the opportunity that he deserved then she knew he would blow all those machine-made baked goods completely out of the water with his own.

---

"Yeah? Well, lets hope that you're right, doll." Jacob said with a slight shake of his head. He wanted to trust Adeline's intuition and optimistic attitude, but he also liked to look at things realistically. If it wasn't for his friend, he wasn't too sure he'd even be going to the bank right now with a suitcase full of pastries in the first place. He'd mentioned wanting to opening the bakery to her on a number of different occasions, and she had brought it up on a number of different occasions herself there after, and he kind of wished that he hadn't mentioned it to her. He knew that she meant well and only wanted to see him happy, but he just didn't see this ending well at all. He had nothing to offer the bank in terms of collateral, and he knew that the likelihood of him being granted a loan without it was very slim if existent at all. He'd give it a try though if only for the sake of getting Adeline to stop pestering him about it.

Newt made his way down the busy New York Street not really heading anywhere specific. Honestly, he was looking for someone who he'd heard living in New York and traded magical creatures because Newt had hope that he'd be able to get his hands on a Horklump to give to a friend as a birthday gift. At least that's what he planned on telling everyone. Really he'd come to America because was trying to get one of his many magical creatures back to Arizona where it belonged, and his starting place was New York because that's just where the boat took him. And honestly, he didn't mind traveling across America to get to where he needed to be. Honestly, he kind of preferred it that way. It gave him a reason to travel across another country and see the sights, while also possibly rescuing any magical creatures that might have needed him. He did take note though as he walked down the street that there were muggles standing on higher ground rambling on about the magical world. Which he was pretty sure wasn't normal, though he knew to keep his mouth shut around them, because they had very backward laws here in America. But even in Britain, it was important to keep the magical world secret from the muggles as best possible.

---

As per usual Queenie spent her morning making coffee and unjinxing the john. It was part of her job at the Wand Permit Office at the Magical Congress of the United States of America. And though Queenie knew it was likely below her qualifications she didn't mind. Because honestly being skilled in Legilimency wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Sure she could read the minds of others without raising her wand, and maybe it could have been useful it some way or another, but she'd rather not deal with all of that. Plus they'd likely want to make her a spy or something which would require her to leave Tina more than she'd like. And Queenie knew they wouldn't live together forever, but she also knew that right now wasn't a good time for them to be apart. So she stuck to her simple job and let her sister be the career woman of them two of them. "So you out for the day Queenie?" Abernathy asked.

"Yes," she said softly smiling at him. "I like to be home early so I can do some cleaning and things before Tina arrives home," she told him before bidding him a goodbye and then walking out and into the streets of New York, that were always filled with something new she felt like.

Adeline more or less ignored the group of Second Salemers preaching about witches and magic on the steps of the bank as she pushed her way through the crowd that the woman, Mary Lou Barebone, had attracted. Yes, whatever was going on in the city was strange, and hard to explain, but could it really be attributed to witches? She knew enough about the Salem Witch Trials to know that none of the individuals who had been persecuted and killed in various gruesome ways had actually been witches. Needless to say, she was pretty much certain that witches weren't behind the newfound destruction in the city. There had to be something that actually made sense causing it. As she pushed through the small crowd with Jacob not that far behind her, she bumped shoulders with a tall, sandy-haired man wearing a blue coat. "Excuse me, sorry." She apologized, sending a small smile his way as she made her way up the steps of the bank.

---

Jacob never really paid any mind to the Second Salemers either. He didn't know whether he believed what they were saying was true or not, but he hadn't exactly ever given much thought as to whether or not there was such thing as magic and witches let alone whether or not they were causing the recent destruction in Manhattan. Truthfully, it was the last thing on his mind as of late. He had bigger things to worry about, like whether or not he'd be able to get the loan to open his bakery without any collateral to offer. He kind of had a feeling that he knew the answer to that question already, but he would allow Adeline's optimism to keep him going for the time being. If it wasn't for her, he probably would have turned around and gone back to his apartment already. Following behind the petite brunette, he pushed through the small crowd that had formed around the bank's steps. He was too preoccupied going through what he was going to say to Mr. Bingley once he was called inside to pay any mind to the suitcase that was on the ground near the man that Adeline had just bumped shoulders with moments before. This lead him to nearly tripping over it.

"It's alright," Newt replied before being distracted by one of the muggles talking right to him, asking him a question he wasn't about to answer. And he was sure he looked a little ridiculous attempting to avoid her gaze and all, but it had to be done. Though it led him to look over her shoulder and seeing his niffler. Newt wasn't exactly surprised that the little bugger had made his way out of the suitcase and was now roaming the streets of New York as if it were no big deal. It was, in fact, a big deal, though. So Newt ignored the muggle and whatever she was talking about and started to head into the bank where he saw his niffler headed. Newt knew this wasn't going to be the easiest task because it never was when it came to the little guy, but he hoped it would be easier this time around than usual.

---

Queenie walked down the streets of New York and saw, as usual, the Second Salemers standing out in front of the building going on about witchcraft and how it was all around them. Queenie also without meaning to heard a couple of their thoughts and felt a shiver run down her spine. She didn't often pay attention to the Second Salemers because she'd found it was best to ignore them and not feed into what they were saying. Sure she was a witch but no one out here knew that they all just thought she was like them so it was likely they'd think she agreed or something if she was to stand out here and look like she was paying attention. And she couldn't have that. What she did find odd this time around though was that one of them thought someone they'd just seen believed in witchcraft or something along though lines because of how he'd acted. Now it wasn't Queenie's job to chase after witches and wizards, and it wasn't her job to talk to No Maj's about well anything, but that didn't mean she wasn't curious. So out of curiosity, she followed the man in the blue coat to see what he was up to.

Adeline entered the bank with Jacob who was a bit early for his appointment with Mr. Bingley. The brunette took a seat on one of the empty benches in the bank with her friend before noticing the man she'd accidentally bumped shoulders with outside moments before enter the building. He seemed to be scanning the place in search of someone or something. "Hey." Adeline said to Jacob, nodding wordlessly towards where the man was just brushing off one of the employees who had just asked if he needed assistance with something. He seemed to be a bit on edge to say the least, and Adeline couldn't help being a bit nosey. His demeanor had definitely changed a bit since they had bumped shoulders outside, and she honestly wondered what he could possibly be looking for inside of the bank of all places.

---

Jacob followed Adeline into the bank and took a seat on one of the vacant benches to wait to be called in to meet with Mr. Bingley. He was still sort of nervous about it and definitely wasn't feeling confident in the slightest. He wanted this to happen so that he could make his grandmother proud, however he had a feeling that it just wasn't going to work out the way that he wanted to. He'd be surprised if Mr. Bingley didn't know straight away that he didn't have any collateral to offer just by looking at him and simply laugh in his face the second he walked on in there. He knew that was probably just his mind getting the best of him, but he didn't think the end result was going to be any better. He was taken from his own thoughts when Adeline spoke up and nodded in the direction of the bank's entrance. There stood the man with the blue jacket who they had seen outside moments before. He seemed to be looking for something, but Jacob just shrugged in response to Adeline's evident curiosity. "He had a bit of an accent, didn't he? Probably doesn't know where he has to go for something."

Newt looked around the bank after he'd brushed off the employee because well he didn't need help with anything, and certainly not from a muggle who would like just get in the way. So he walked further into the bank being sure to look around constantly just in case. He did end up taking a seat on one of the benches with the hopes that maybe it would give him a better view of everything. He had chased after the niffler more than once and knew how to catch it. Honestly, catching it was all about patience and cunning. First, you had to be patience in finding them and then you have to be cunning in finding some way to keep them from scurrying off because they were smart and could always just tell when someone was about to take them away from hunting pretty shiny objects. Which Newt found both amusing and annoying. It was nice to have a niffler around when you were out actually looking for treasure because they're the best at finding anything shiny which can often be valuable, but they were annoying when they got loose and started to steal people's jewels and coins and other shiny objects that later just had to be returned usually anonymously.

---

Queenie kept her distance as she followed the strange man in the blue coat into the bank, and she couldn't help but find herself more curious as she watched him. He brushed off the people who worked there and were simply doing their jobs, and clearly he was looking for something. Something that she was assuming was magical because there was no denying what he was now. Even though she hadn't seen him pull out a wand or cast any kind of magic, she could tell. Not only because of the way he was acting, but also because she'd tried to read his mind and see if she could figure out what was going on, but it didn't work out too well. And she knew it was because he'd felt it when she'd noticed him looking at her and he asked her to stop without ever opening his mouth. Which she knew then that she'd have to apologize, so she started to make her way over to him before he got up from the bench and met her half way. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be intrusive. It just happens sometimes."

Newt blinked a couple of times he'd never met a Legilimens before because it wasn't very common. And he did wonder why she was following him, or if he could truly trust her given that well this wasn't England. But he also had more pressing matters at hand and decided to worry about catching the niffler now and everything else could be dealt with later. "It's perfectly okay, uh if you don't mind though I do have some business to deal with," he said before walking off once he'd spotted the niffler convinced that he could catch it and be done with all of this soon enough.

Adeline frowned slightly in response to Jacob's words but didn't say anything. Something just told her that the sandy-haired man was up to something and that he wasn't simply in the bank to inquire about some confusion of sorts. "But doesn't it look like he's looking for something?" She finally pointed out after watching the man for a little while longer. When she glanced over to Jacob, it was clear that he'd stopped paying the man in the blue coat any mind at all. The brunette understood why, her friend would be getting called into Mr. Bingley's office any minute now, however she kind of wished that he'd been at least a little bit more curious about the strange man's reason for being inside the bank.

"Huh? I'm sure it's nothing, Addy." Adeline frowned when Jacob brushed her words off. It certainly didn't look like nothing to her. However, Jacob didn't fully understand why his friend was so fixated with the guy. Sure, he seemed like a strange fella, but they lived in New York City, there were a lot of strange people who lived there. Maybe if his mind wasn't so clouded with worry and nerves over the impending loan for his bakery he'd be a bit more curious but the fact of the matter was that he was worrying about it, and the last thing on his mind was the strange English guy in the blue coat.

"Jacob, look!" He sighed, following his friend's gaze when she nodded to where the guy was across the bank. His back was to them and he was looking at something underneath one of the desks near the teller's line. "Must be an animal person or somethin'." He said, shrugging his shoulders as he noticed the woman at the back of the line had a dog.

Queenie easily could've just walked away and left him be so he could search for his magical creature that he seemed to have lost, but she couldn't help herself. Probably because she never got to go on fun adventures with other witches or wizards. She was usually just making coffee for people, or bringing people their lunch if they sent her out of anything. Which yea it was the job she'd taken while she'd let her sister run off and be the one who went on adventures, mostly because Queenie didn't want people knowing about her and then trying to exploit her. None of that meant she didn't wish she could go on adventures though.

"Oh alright you can help me okay," Newt finally said standing up again and turning to look at Queeine almost with a look of defeat on his face, and she just smiled. "I'd be delighted. Now what exactly are we looking for? I couldn't quite get that out of you," she said glad she could be of assistance.

Newt sighed. "We're looking for a niffler. The little bugger's somehow slipped out of my suitcase and is now out cauing mayhem. And you'll likely find him somewhere with lots of shiny objects. So um if you see him catch him and bring him to me okay, thanks," Newt said before he turned around and went back to his own searching.

Queeine couldn't help but smile as she was finally getting to help do something. Plus she'd always wanted a niffler. But well magical creatures weren't exactly allowed in New York, she wasn't even sure if they were allowed in America honestly. Well of course unless you had a permit to have them and well most people didn't have one of those. So Queenie had never been able to have a niffler and this was probably as close as she'd get to one.