"Will you stop?" Sloane admonished Stephen with an undertone of, this is all your fault. "You cannot behave, so I got stuck on emu walking duties, don't start with me." He was big and fast, but Sloane had a good hold on him and she had worked with him long enough to know when he was about to pull something stupid.

He had yet to try her though, so that was good. "I should talk Mr. Podmore into getting you some friends, maybe that would help." Then they could chase each other around their pen and she wouldn't be the one looking a little ridiculous with an emu on a leash, taking a long lap around the zoo at large. The warmer weather and sunshine had brought people out to the zoo today, which was good, she always thought the winters were a little too quiet. Sloane was better with people than she had been in the past, so didn't mind as much when the zoo was busy.

She stopped every once in a while to let some children pet the emu, occupying him by giving him treats from her pocket to keep him from being a pest. The last set of children moved on and Sloane pulled Stephen toward the muggle entrance back toward his pen. When he realized where they were going he put the brakes on and Sloane, who hadn't noticed at first, kept walking until she was abruptly halted by the tension on the lead. "Oh for the love of Merlin, don't start!" She huffed, staring the emu down.

A chuckle nearby had her flushing. She forgot it probably wasn't too normal to talk to creatures, even though she often spoke more to them than people most days.