Into the bin went the old towel, which was dripping with cleaning solution and marked all over with grease and rust stains. Mo carefully cleaned his hands to avoid leaving any smudgy fingerprints on his telescope before retrieving a new cloth and returning to his work station.

"Hullo, lovely," Mo patted the telescope fondly as he was seated, and then he gingerly picked it up and gave it another once over to identify the remaining bad spots. Still a bit rough around the lenses in particular. Mo applied the new towel, working his way carefully across the entire telescope to remove the excess solution and dry it.

Once it was dry, he used that same towel to apply more of the cleaning solution, focusing in particular on the worst spots, although the entire telescope got a little cleaning along the way too. The hard part, now, was the waiting. He would apply the solution and have to wait for it to dry before applying more. Then dry, check the telescope, and start again. Would it be so bad to use a drying charm?

Probably so, since the professor hadn't suggested it. Mo sighed loudly and with great annoyance each time he would clean the telescope and then have to wait for it to dry. Finally FINALLY, he removed the last bit of cleaning solution and dried off the telescope, and when he gave it a look over, he found no evidence of the gunk that had once marred its surface.

The telescope went back on the workstation, and Mo dropped another towel in the bin before cleaning his hands again. No smudgy fingerprints allowed, ok? He also retrieved the holding cream while he was out of his seat, and when he returned, he carefully applied a thin spritz of the cream across the entire telescope. Ideally, with the holding cream applied, the telescopes wouldn't be able to get as dirty and misused as they had been when Flamsteed found them.

He really REALLY wanted to take the telescope with him today, as it looked all pristine and lovely, but Mo was aware that the holding cream hadn't properly dried yet. And he had to be patient. Again. Which was so hard. He stared a hole through the entire telescope in despair for several minutes before cleaning up his work station and heading out the door. He'd just have to come back later for it, then.