#So I'd imagine it might take him awhile to get comfortable there and fully come to accept his new crewmates/business partners

[pointycorgiears]

Mihawk is coming back from a mission, strolling from the shore of Karai Bari, and over to his personal tent to rest and have a much desired bath. Cross Guild is still fairly new, dynamics are still being smoothed out, and he's still getting used to constantly being around so many people.

He just wants to relax, but Crocodile still amanges to catch him along the way. "Welcome home," he says to Mihawk.

Mihawk just nods and continues on, but his brow raises just a smidge.

Then, he sees Buggy coming towards him further ahead.

Why is his tent so far away?

"Welcome back, Hawky!" Buggy says, full of cheer. "Glad you made it home!"

Mihawk acknowledges him much the same way he did Crocodile, and keeps walking.

As he continues on, something keeps repeating in his mind. "Welcome home. Glad you made it home! Home....Home."

When he reaches his tent, he sets down Yoru and hangs up his coat, letting his bare skin breath and sweat dissipate. He sits on his bed, looking around his space. This is it. This is his home now. This tent holds all his few possessions that he brought with him from Kuraigana. This is where he sleeps at night. This is where he can come back to, safe. This is home now.

Something catches his tired glance. A tray sitting on his desk. He gets up to go look at it, finding filled with sweet treats. Cookies, pastries, and a few pieces of fruit. There was also some scented bath oils in a small basket close by with a note attached. He recognized Buggy's handwriting.

'Welcome home! Time to relax!'

Again. Same phrase.

A slight tingle runs up his arms and back. It settles low in his chest and draws the weight away from his shoulders. He breathes.

The wind rustles the canvas of his tent.

This feels...nice.

This is home now.

This is his home.

[throwaway3844893]

Imagine: Newt proposes to Tina

Tina welcomed the warmth of the case with a sigh. Though it was nearly summertime, and New York continued to get hotter every week, Tina still enjoyed the homeliness of the case. She had grown used to it over the last two years. Tina caught a movement in the corner of her eye."Hello, Dougal," She said with a smile as she knelt down, watching as the supposedly concealed creature ran around with bundles of apples in his hands. It froze, allowed itself to be seen again, and ran up to her, dropping the apples in the process before enveloping her in a big hug. Tina laughed quietly, standing up to accommodate the added weight of the creature. She raised an eyebrow at the creature. "Do you have any idea where Newt might be?" She asked it before its eyes turned blue, predicting where he could be. The demiguise made a loud noise that resembled the screech of a phoenix and climbed down her body, pointing in the direction of the mooncalves and occamies. She set off in the way Dougal had pointed her. Tina walked through the case, the stress from the day easing off her back. She'd taken her jacket off up in Newt's apartment; he had given her a spare key, "in case I ever forget something," though there was a definite underlying meaning in those words. She walked through the green, rubbery vines that hung from the trees into the occamy exhibit, where many tiny, violet and indigo snake like creatures greeted her with a series of chirps. "Hello," Tina said softly, holding out her hands for one to slither on. They were awfully apprehensive of her at first, not doing anything she asked unless ordered by Newt, but gradually her kindness to them took its toll and they began to trust her. Though she suspected it also had to do with her and Newt's relationship status as well. Things had progressed smoothly over the last two years; they basically lived at each other's apartments now, though neither had made the motion of fully moving in. The occamy wrapped itself around Tina's shoulders as she exited its enclosure, her entourage of creatures providing a wonderful company. Dougal pulled gently at the hem of her blouse, inspiring her to look down and see what he pointed at. A large smile began to spread on her face as she spotted Newt, his hair shiny and golden in the artificial sunlight as he worked to feed a runespoor.

He looked beautiful. Tina reveled in the sight of him for more than her fair share of moments before he turned around and got a glimpse of her, flashing his toothy grin as he raised a hand. "Welcome home, darling!" He called, wiping his hands off with a rag before making his way toward her, arms spreading wide.

"Home?" Tina inquired, raising an eyebrow as Newt enveloped her in a hug. He kissed her for a moment: a short, no-nonsense kiss, and smiled at her comical look. "That's a new one."

Newt chuckled nervously, avoiding her eye. "Yes, well, you technically live down here now, don't you? There's rarely a time when we aren't together." At Tina's look, he continued. "That's not a bad thing! I thoroughly enjoy every moment we spend together. I love you, Tina."

"That's true, and I love you too," Tina responded, beginning to walk around the case. A slight breeze picked up, gently swirling her waves behind her face. The sun had begun to set, and a soft glow emitted from the artificial light in the case. Tina took a deep breath, enjoying the familiar sent of Newt's case. She could spend her entire life here, she thought to herself.

Not that she was going to.

Tina sighed, ridding herself of the thought. Those were nothing but intrusive, false lies she thought sometimes. She could never present these ideas to Newt, however, because he would most certainly take them to heart.

Newt noticed her change in demeanor and quickly came to action. "What's upsetting you, my love?" He asked, keeping enough open for the conversation but allowing Tina room to exit in case she didn't want to talk about it. He always was sure to do this, as Tina was a complicated figure. There were times she wanted to talk and times she wanted to be left completely alone. The timing varied on both her tone and the setting of the conversation.

Tina turned to face him, deciding that now was her only chance to finalize the thoughts she'd been suffering for awhile. "Newt..." she started, meeting his concerned gaze. She took a deep breath before continuing. "Do you see a future for us?"

Newt swallowed hardly, ignoring the lump in his jacket's pockets that had been there for days.

"Erm..." he started, unsure of what to say. Of course he saw a future for them, he was planning on proposing to her! He fidgeted with his hands while searching for an answer, his mind flicking back to the Ministry letter he had received the day before purchasing her ring.

The Ministry had offered him a position as a research lead and expert on an ancient beast that travelled through London once every few decades, a breed of creature nobody knew much about. Newt hesitantly accepted the offer, and was off on his way.

"It's okay if you don't," said an anxious Tina, biting her bottom lip. "I'm sorry I said it, just forget I ever aske-"

"Of course I see a future with you, Tina!" Newt started, desperate not to lose her in this time of need. He wouldn't— no, couldn't— let her get away. Not when he had their entire life together to look forward to. "I love you, and I want to build a life with you. I would be honored to have a future with you, in whichever capacity that could be. If only..."

Tina's face had fallen. "If only... what?"

Newt knew this was a pivotal moment. He thought carefully before speaking. "I got a letter from the Ministry. They want me to go back to London to research a magical creature they've just discovered," he said, avoiding Tina's eyes. Newt hesitated before saying the next sentence. "They want me to go back in four months."

He watched as Tina's face dropped, and a million different emotions seemed to take place at once. Anger, confusion, sadness, fear. All of those were accomplished in what felt like a millisecond before Tina began to stutter out a response.

"No, they can't, we- you have a life here, in New York. They can't just whisk you away whenever they please just because they want someone to research creatures that they could study perfectly fine themselves. It just... it isn't fair!" Tina said, her accent growing thicker as quickly as her voice did shrill. She threw her arms into the air before placing both of her hands on her temple, burying her face in them with a sigh. The occamy had long since slithered off of her shoulders, not wanting to endure listening to the two argue any longer than it had to. "It's not right. They can't force you."

Newt shuffled for a few moments, sticking his hands in his pockets as he watched the ground beneath his shoes. A stray piece of grass stumbled around the floor, and it took all of Newt's willpower not to scoop it up and finish his plan early. His plan that had gone horribly wrong. "Actually, Tina... I volunteered to do it," he admitted, avoiding her eye.

The silence that followed was deafening. Though she made no noise, Newt winced. Tina's refusal to speak was enough. She tensed up and turned around, busying herself with the feeding of a creature. She stared at it intently, willing herself not to cry. He'd volunteered to leave? After everything they'd built- a home, careers, a life, he'd decided to go back to London? Her mind raced, and Tina was unable to form a steady thought as panic after worry after anger rehashed in her mind. Newt stuttered behind her, trying to find the words to rectify his mistake. "I'm sorry, I know it was a rash decision, but it was an opportunity I've been waiting for for years-"

"Years?! What, have you just been waiting for a perfect time to up and leave?" Tina yelled, not believing what Newt was telling her. She knew she was being irrational, but the thought that he'd wanted to leave for so long absolutely tore her apart. It was one of her fleeting thoughts; sometimes he would mention how he missed London, but she knew she'd be the same if it were the other way around. But if he left for London, that would mean she'd lost him. For good. Tina couldn't stop the indomitable tears that began to fall from her eyes.

Newt stared back at Tina, who still faced away from him, flabbergasted that she would make such a claim. "No, Tina, no. If I could stay here and study the creatures here I would. But they only travel in packs throughout London once every few years, it could be a decade before they come again," He explained, taking a few cautious steps toward her before stopping. "I would never leave you on purpose. I don't want to leave you here. If there was a way I could take you to London with me, and you could live there with me, I'd have told you."

He began to realize that his plan was diminishing drastically, and the small box that resided in the pocket of his waistcoat seemed to weigh one thousand more pounds.

Tina was quiet for a long time, sitting down on a bench in the case to steady herself.

"How are we going to get through this?" Tina whispered, allowing a few tears to fall from her eyes before wiping them away and standing up. "How will we survive with an ocean between us?"

Newt held onto Tina's forearm, trying to comfort her. "We did it before, we can do it once more. It would be for just a few months and I'll be back. If I can find a way to get you to London with me I will, but I'm not sure how the laws work between MACUSA and the Ministry," he explained, and she nodded. It was difficult to accept, but this was the opportunity of Newt's lifetime. Tina knew she couldn't take that away from him.

"Is there any way you know of that I could go to London with you?"

Newt could feel it. It bubbled in his chest, his heart pumping the fastest it'd ever gone.

"Marry me," Newt said all of a sudden, and before he could stop himself he was reaching into the top pocket of his waistcoat. The black box showed itself, and the simple ring began to reveal itself. But when Newt realized Tina had stilled and wasn't speaking, instead staring at him, his hands stopped. "I-I'm sorry, it was out of place for me to say that, if I've upset you-"

"No," Tina said, walking toward him and shaking her head. Newt felt his entire world crashing down on him. She'd rejected him, and he couldn't help the tears that began to fill his eyes. "Don't apologize, I-" Tina stopped mid-sentence when she saw the state Newt was in, and everything seemed to click. "Oh, you stupid idiot, yes, yes, I'll marry you, of course I will!"

Tina crashed into him then, enveloping him in the most passionate embrace he'd ever felt. She kissed him once, twice, three times, before backing away. "Did you want to do it proper?" She asked. Newt nodded.

Tina smiled considerably as she watched him get on one knee. "Tina..." he started, opening the box and revealing the ring that was inside. "Porpentina... Goldstein, I have loved you ever since the day I met you. You have brought so much joy into my life; you accepted me when no one else would, cared for me when everyone else was as sick as I, and cared for my creatures as if they were your own. I'm in the hopes that someday they will be. Will you, Tina Goldstein, give me the pleasure of being your husband?"