A potioneer, lucky him. It had taken him a while, longer than he would care to admit, that it was not a weakness to accept help. So far Miss Owens had been nothing but generous and so he was not surprised by her offer to make him something. "I received treatment in the States and it is leagues better, but I will never say no to anything that could possibly rid me of the ache." It was dull and manageable, but it was slightly maddening sometimes. He'd been down this road before and it was better than it used to be, so he wasn't going to get hung up on hoping for some miracle cure.

At the mention of her cousin, one who worked in his department, though not directly under him, Eugene nodded. "I know the name, the Spirit Division is its own entity sometimes. I wouldn't pretend to know how they get on." He chuckled. "I worked in the Beast Division previously." There was rarely overlap. It wasn't like manticores often turned into ghosts. Wouldn't that be terrifying?

The housekeeper finally arrived with their cocoa and some other treats on offer. She poured them each a cup, but Eugene held back to let Miss Owens have first pick. Which was of course when Ginger and Pepper came careening into the sitting room, heading straight for Theseus with his trains. "If you'll pardon the menagerie, I cannot often keep work at work." He motioned with his head about the nifflers with a soft chuckle.

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Lorelei laughed at the animal intrusion. "At least in this instance the work you've brought home is small and cute," she said, chuckling into cocoa as she took a grateful sip. "Considering your department, the available options could be much more fearsome." And of course, Lorelei couldn't judge bringing work home, since she specifically worked out of hers.

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Bee is actual magic

"Mm, until they do that." Pepper had wandered up and was tugging at the button on Miss Owens' boot. "Pepper," he warned. She was often a little more reasonable than her mother; Ginger was a terror, but he could hear Theseus' giggles from behind the couch, indicating that he was occupying the little heathen. She seemed to have a soft spot for his son, so there was no complaint there.

Pepper seemed to think better of her actions and instead climbed up Eugene's pant leg to sit in his lap, no doubt hoping for something from the snack tray. "You are right however, it could be worse. Fortunately we have a good relationship with the Podmore Zoo, they tend to take the larger animals we cannot find a home for." He chuckled, leaning forward to take his cocoa and pulled a slice of cucumber from one of the sandwiches for Pepper.

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"I do my potioneering out of my kitchen," Lorelei mused. "Your work has a little more charm, I think." Attempts at button-stealing and all. "Though the hope is one day I'll be able to open my own storefront. I wonder if I'll end up missing the convenience." Perhaps. Never truly being able to leave her work behind was her only real annoyance, to be fair.

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Eugene chuckled. There were many creatures that were very charming. Then there were firecrabs and dragons and blast-ended skrewts. None of which had any charm whatsoever. Typically the smaller, the better, but he had still met a cat-sized animal or two that had given him a run for his money, Ginger included.

"Maybe you could get a store front with a flat above it," Eugene suggested. Close, but still separate. "I'll be your first customer." He mused. There was already an apothecary here in town, but he supposed ready-made potions were a different business? Truthfully it hadn't been his best subject at Hogwarts, but he saw the necessity and the usefulness of it

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Lorelei smiled. "That would probably be the best compromise for practicality and personal space," she mused. "I used to work at the apothecary," she said conversationally. "When I first arrived and was still gathering a client base." She wondered if, when the time came, she wouldn't need to move somewhere else to open up shop. There was already a fair amount of overlap with her cousin Noble. Well. She'd figure it out. Nothing was set in stone for what had to happen, after all.

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"It's been a while since I had to haunt the apothecary." Eugene admitted with a wry smile. He'd been a frequent visitor back after his brush with the dragons in London. Trying anything and everything to get the wound to heal more thoroughly, to fix the aches in his joints and muscles. It had all be temporary or minimal relief. Thankfully it was much better now.

"Sounds like you were successful then, if you were able to go back to potions full time." Eugene could appreciate the hard work that must have taken, to build up a business from the ground up. "Congratulations." He sipped at his cocoa thoughtfully. The fortuitousness of their encounter today was coming full circle. "I'll be happy to add to your customer base, if you think there's something you can do for this mess of a leg." He wouldn't mind something to help with the more minor aches he still felt, or the stiffness in his muscles.

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"Hopefully I can," Lorelei said. "I got into this because I wanted to be helpful to people." Well, that and Potions had been her favorite subject at school, and had sounded the most appealing as a career when she was trying not to flounder in her last year.

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Bee is actual magic

He certainly wouldn't mind getting any extra relief for his thankfully far less severe ache. Even if all she could do was improve the physical appearance of it. It was still mildly terrifying to look at, not that anybody was looking at it these days. He did want to get remarried at some point though, but that line of thinking had no business here. "Well, I look forward to working with you then, Miss Owens." Eugene nodded decisively.

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