September 21st, 1894 - Lepidopterarium Opening, Podmore Zoo

This wasn't something Ang would typically would attend, but she felt the urge to get out of London and at least the inside of a lepidopterarium provided her with the humidity she loved about South America. Plus butterflies were innocuous enough. She'd dealt with far too many annoying insects in her travels (the only bad part really) to gain a distinct dislike, but this would be fine.

And it was quite glorious, in fact. She'd gotten there relatively early in the day, just before lunch and had wandered for a little while, seeing what it was the zoo had to offer on the muggle side to start, before heading into the conservatory itself. Inside was a splendid display of flora and water features, a giant tree in the middle of the center dome that went all of the way up to the glass panes at the top. She looked up, shielding her eyes from the sunlight with a fond smile. She could feel the damp and she felt, oddly enough, at home. With a long braid hanging over one shoulder and a deep blue bloomer suit on (jacket hanging over her arm in the heat), she could almost convince herself she was off in some tropical land and not stuck in Scotland.

She took her time wandering both sides of the glass structure, ambling with no rush nor plan in mind, until she thought she might like to get something to eat. As she headed toward the exit, she noticed somebody ahead of her about to do the same, but they had a rather large luna moth on their back. "Oh wait! You have a stowaway!" She announced, rushing forward so the person did not leave with the moth still attached.

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Viola didn't often come out to Irvingly--she didn't have much reason to--but one of her co-workers was apparently a budding (bugging?) enthusiast and had talked Vi into attending this opening at Podmore. Though, she had arrived some time ago and not seen hide nor hair of the woman, so she'd settled to wandering around the glass structure. She couldn't say it wasn't interesting, at least, even if it wasn't her personal cup of tea. Butterflies were surprisingly pretty, as far as insects went.

She had done a full turn around the exhibit and was heading toward the exit, thinking she might see what refreshments were on offer--and see if maybe her friend was lingering somewhere outside--when she heard someone speak behind. "Oh?" Vi turned her head to look over her shoulder. "Can you shoo it away?"

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Angie wasn't sure exactly how to shoo away a moth of that size, but she could try. It was sat there, delicately opening and closing its wings as if it was just leisurely observing the world and not attempting an escape. "I can try. Hang on." The last thing she wanted to do was damage the delicate creature and so she gently laid one hand under its feet and the other behind the long tails of its wings, hoping to coax it onto her hand.

It was a slow process, but once she had it on, she wasn't quite sure what to do with it next. The Luna moth was the size of her open hand, eclipsing her palm completely as she held it up. "There, no escaping for you today." She chuckled, holding it up for the other woman to see.

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Viola turned around when it was safe to and laughed when she saw her hitchhiker. "Well, that proves anything can be stealthy given enough motivation," she said. "Thank you for spotting that." Vi was sure it would have been awkward trying to explain what had happened if she'd made it outside and someone else noticed!

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"To be fair, it was in your blind spot." Angie didn't move too much as she held the moth aloft, getting a good look at it herself. "Its color certainly stands out." The bright green was hard to miss, if the sheer size of it wasn't noticeable. "I think I might be captive now." Angie chuckled. She was in no real rush anyway, still enjoying the heat of the lepidopterarium. Ang had arranged to stay in Britain until at least the new year and this might become her new haunt to keep the chill of the winter out of her bones. It had been a while since she'd wintered somewhere cold and she wasn't exactly looking forward it. Still there were bigger reasons for her staying home this winter and she could handle it.

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