Quote:
Originally Posted by
sweetpinkpixie 
He really needed to keep his hands out of his pockets. Something he could easily achieve if he kept the little box in the drawer on his bedside table like he had been telling himself he should do for the past however many (read: six) months. And yet, every morning Cooper woke up beside Olivia and every morning he stealthily slipped the box into his pocket without her noticing before he left their flat for his work of the day. There really was no rhyme or reason as to why he insisted on carrying it on his person and, honestly, doing it this way was greatly increasing the chance of him losing it before he plucked up the courage to do what he had been fretting over for the good part of a year now...but he would not be a Branxton without overthinking every action and decision before doing it.
Thankfully, it wasn't a distraction from doing his job here at the Menagerie and if anything it had become a sort of fidget toy during his downtime. Downtime like he had right now as he escorted a pleasantly plump woman wearing enough pearl necklaces that he wondered how she managed to stand upright while she strut with her kneazle cradled in her arms to the register to ring her up for Mademoiselle Butterscotch's check-up. "Perfect, I'll see you both in about a year's time, Mrs. Buttonwood," he smiled to the woman and hesitated to give the ginger kneazle another scratch behind the ears. Closing the till, and doing what he could to wipe the bright cherry red lipstick stain off his cheek as Mrs. Buttonwood sashayed her way out of the shop, Cooper ran his fingers through his hair a few times to occupy his hands while he debated what to do next since he had some more downtime before his next appointment.
If enthusiasm could be bottled up and made into a person it would look like Aurora Ackerly. With her OWLs well and truly behind her and the potential that she
might not have done as well as she hoped, she’d made the executive decision to apply for a summer job in her field of ‘expertise’ in the hopes that when graduation did come around, she’d be one step ahead of her more intelligent compatriots.
It was surprisingly Ravenclaw of her really, proof that the Sorting Hat hadn’t made a big mistake in her first year. Her Ma had been pretty shocked too, especially considering they had just rescued a golden retriever and Aurora had spent the first day upon returning from Hogwarts crying into the poor dog’s fur from happiness and had stated that she ‘didn’t want to leave her’. Yet here she was midway through her first week at the Menagerie, bounding in half an hour early with her ponytail swinging, narrowly avoiding the woman with her Kneazle who was recipient of a brief coo from the blonde.
“He was CUTE!” she commented in the general direction of Cooper whose job she most certainly wanted to steal in the future.
“Although I’ve heard that Kneazle’s aren’t very good with medical procedures. Did you get scratched? I made a Kneazle Scratch Lotion in potions this year. I kept the notes, I’m sure I could brew you a vial.” She’d tested it herself and didn’t grow any extra limbs or fur or whiskers so it was most likely safe for use.