Re: [ER: Newt & Patrick]
Newt could stray to the gutter. He wasn't above filth, but, ah, he was rather more tactful, especially around Patrick. With the mere notion of homosexuality causing the younger man such strife, it didn't seem particularly nice to taunt him. Now, he did it if Patrick did. And he flirted, if Patrick did. But, Newt didn't make the foray himself. He'd not've gone there about the hands if he'd thought about it at all. As it was, Patrick's ears were reddening terribly, and Newt, who desperately wished he wasn't quite so easy, found it all rather charming. He shook his head at Patrick, but it was with a smile on twitching lips, and he left the topic of the case behind with the others, including the demons (who'd arms and wings, which was utterly odd; they'd not evolved from anything like a bird then, most likely). It was left with the topic of Connie and the skeleton and the accident, and Newt wondered how much of Patrick's life, the younger man simply tamped down. Perhaps they were both learning about one another tonight.
He could discuss Adrian still, since it wasn't really about Adrian, anyway. "It was. Seventh Year, about halfway through. I finished everything, passed my exams, and off I went. But, there were a handful of weeks where it was all in limbo, and Adrian—honestly, I couldn't've told you if he'd died that night or not." In the face of Patrick's sheepishness, Newt lifted their linked hands to nudge at the man's chin. "It's all right. I know what you meant. But, part of what makes it difficult—to be gay, for example—are thoughts like that. They're in all of our heads. It takes time to tear them down."
When Patrick snatched at Newt's offer as the older man edited it, trying to find a way for it to work, and he, Newt, gave a nervous chuckle as Patrick took both his hands in his. "It's illegal. In England. I don't know that it is here." Newt had no especial loyalty to the law, just as the law had no especial loyalty to morality. And this was what he thought was right. For Patrick. He'd've done it, even if it'd've gotten him in trouble. "I'll be fine. I've done it before. Erm, not this specifically, but Obliviating." He squeezed Patrick's hands. "I want to do this for you, all right?" He glanced at the door, at the camera, then back to Patrick. "Shall I start?"