If he's honest, Newt usually only asks small talk stuff like this to be polite. That's one thing that Darrow has changed about him, sometimes he actually goes out of his way to be polite. It's not all the time, but Other Newt is cool, so it's fine. His ears perk up, though, when Other Newt mentions studying creatures because what the hell? That'd totally been his job back in Hong Kong, and he's never really figured it as a real option here in Darrow. This place is weird, but it's not kaiju weird, unless Other Newt has some magnificent secret Newt needs to nose is way in on.

"Creatures?" he asks, not bothering to hide his curiosity. "Niffler? Dude, I mean, I do good stuff at the lab and all but I need to hear more about your shit. You got some time to spare, sit down with me once we've got our coffees?"