Going to animal shelters was dangerous business for Declan. He had a soft spot for animals, especially dogs, and knew that there would be some little guy in there whose sad puppy eyes he couldn't resist. He knew what his sister would have to say about it, too, when he brought the little guy home to the apartment they shared. They already had two dogs - that was enough. But those were Teagan's dogs, not his, and they were...well...girly. He liked them and all, but a man needed a man's dog. Something big and playful, like a german shepherd, or a husky or great dane or something. Not a peppy dalmatian and a little weiner dog.

 Still, he was going to try to refrain from giving into whatever sad puppy turned their big brown eyes on him. He hadn't come to look at dogs for him, anyway. Candice had mentioned going to look for a puppy, he'd said that he liked dogs, and she'd asked him to go with her. He hadn't seen his old house mate in a while, work had been keeping him busy, and he liked Candy. She was nice and pretty. He'd accepted with no hesitation.

 Now he stood outside the muggle animal shelter, hands shoved into his coat pockets. It was freakin' cold out. He just hoped Candy got there soon, so they could go ahead and go inside.

Outfit

Candice had been talking about going to adopt a puppy for a long time. She had thought about getting one as a present to herself on her birthday, but hadn't had time to really get around to it. Besides, it wasn't very fun to look for puppies by yourself. It was nice to have someone else to tag along so you could talk about how cute they were with someone who didn't have to see them every day. While she was talking about it, Declan Murphy had come into the conversation- a hitwizard she had gone to school with and was friends with (to an extent, the closest thing to a friend she really had at work) and somehow Candice had ended up inviting him to go.

She had been surprised when he seemed so eager to tag along. Candice had decided not to dwell on it (regardless of how cute she had always thought that Declan was) and just assumed that he was a big animal lover. Lots of guys had soft spots for dogs.

Candice had arranged to meet him at a shelter in muggle London, thankful he had enough of a background in the non-magical world to be able to meet up with her and for her to not worry that he was going to act weird. Some wizards and witches just could not function in the muggle world, and it was kind of sad really. Candy definitely believed that being of mixed blood status was the most beneficial background that anyone could have.

The weather was cool, so she threw on a sweater and popped in a warming candy that she had bought for the walks through the streets. Defintiely a great invention of magic, having potions that could keep you warm. She smiled when she came up to the shelter, spotting Declan waiting on her, hands in his pockets. Candice giggled as she approached, tugging him gently by the arm into the shelter. "You didn't have to wait outside, Declan. I'm sorry you got so cold." Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out one of the candies and offered them to him. "It's good, it'll keep you warm."
 
She adjusted her sweater and the hat on her head before approaching a lady at a desk. "Doggies?" she asked, quirking a brow. The woman pointed her to a door to the left, and Candice grinned at Declan before going to the door and holding it open for him. "Age before beauty," she quipped, smiling brightly.

 Finally Candice's familiar blonde head came into view, Declan grinning as she approached. "S'okay - it's not too bad out here," he lied, allowing the pretty psychiatrist to lead him into the building. It was fairly chilly out, but...well, he'd rather wait outside where it didn't look so weird than stand around awkwardly inside. He supposed it was a good thing that he'd been there early and not her - if she'd gone inside before he'd gotten there he would've been stuck standing out in the cold for a long time.

 Still, even though he'd only been out there for about ten minutes, he was thankful for the offered warming candy. The temperature inside was, of course, significantly higher than it was out of doors, but this would help the chill pass faster. "Thanks," he told her, accepting the candy and popping it into his mouth. How had he ever gotten along without these? They satisfied his sweet tooth and protected him from the weather at the same time. An amazing invention.

  "Age before beauty," Candy said, holding the door open, causing Declan to grin as he passed through. He wasn't that much older than the blonde - just a year. But she definitely qualified in the beauty category. "Good to know chivalry isn't dead yet," he replied teasingly, turning to peer into the nearest cage, which contained a small, scruffy little mutt - looked like some kind of terrier- with pleading brown eyes. Sigh...it was going to be difficult to resist not taking one of these home. "Any idea what kind of puppy you're looking for?"

Candice watched as Declan peered into the first cage, smiling to herself. It was cute to see grown men who had a soft spot for animals. "What an adorable little guy!" She inched close to Declan, peering into the cage with him, poking a finger through and giggling when the dog licked her. She scratched underneath its chin and withdrew her hand, removing herself from Declan's personal bubble.

"I'm not sure. I'm just looking. I want a younger puppy, though, if I can find one. Something that won't get too big. But I don't guess I want something too tiny either." That definitely wasn't very descriptive, but Candice wasn't sure what she wanted. She had a feeling that she wouldn't know until she found the right one for her. "I'll know when I see him," Candice added. "It's one of those things where you just gotta look around until you find what's right."

Not that there was anything unusual about that. There were many different facets of life where people didn't know quite what they were looking for until they found it. Candice had been told that love worked that way, but she didn't believe it. She knew what she wanted. Or, at least, she knew what she didn't want. Her last relationship had been a not so good one, and she knew that she didn't want that again. Candice hadn't wanted a relationship at all, really, hence why she'd been single the last two years. The puppy was supposed to help ease that loneliness that had been starting to weasle its way back into her life.

"I just know that I don't want a cat. I'm not a big fan of cats. They're cute, but I got tired of them at Hogwarts. Puppies are much better. They're more personable and stuff." Candice squatted down to peer at a group of puppies huddled together in a bed in a different cage, cooing loudly at them. The little tag said that they were lab mixes, which meant that they would be a bit bigger than she was hoping for. They were still cute, though. Especially the one that was chocolate brown. "So how did you manage to find the time for a day off to hang out and look at puppies?" Candice asked. "They don't seem to give you guys very much time lately. I hope I'm not interrupting your rest and relaxation time. I'm sure you need it."

 As the blonde moved closer in order to get a look at the puppy, Declan couldn't help but notice how nice Candice smelled, particularly in comparison with the animals in the room. He didn't know if it was her perfume or shampoo or if she just naturally smelled like flowers, but he found the scent coupled with her proximity to be...distracting. He found himself paying more attention to the pretty psychiatrist than to the dog he was supposed to be inspecting. Oops. "Huh...? Oh, yeah. Adorable."

 Young, not too big, not too small... That didn't really tell the hit wizard much that he could work with. Not that it mattered, anyway. He was content to look at the dogs (and hang out with her), however long it took for her to find her furry Mr. Right. "Um...okay, then. We'll just keep looking, I guess," he shrugged, moving onto the next cage.

  He had to applaud her choice not to go with a cat, though. They were all right, he guessed, but he'd never been overly fond of them. You couldn't teach a cat to sit or stay, couldn't play fetch with it. And they always looked so judgmental, like they thought they were better than everybody. Dogs didn't judge. They had that whole unconditional love thing, like moms. Only...furrier. "I've never been much of a cat person, myself," was all he said out loud, however.

 "They do have to give us days off occasionally," he pointed out, grinning. "Much as they seem disinclined to do so. I already had the day off, and I didn't have anything else to do..." he trailed off, shrugging, as he bent down to look at the lab mixes with Candice. "Besides, I like dogs and I like hanging out with you - it's been nice, catching up with you again. Haven't had a lot of time for that lately."

"Only occasionally? Perhaps I'll have to put in a word about that." She bumped him with her hips, smiling. "If you ever feel like you need a few days of rest, just let me know, and I could arrange it." That wasn't exactly ethical, Candice supposed, but she had no doubt that when people needed a few days off they would come to her and talk about how stressed they were. It was an effective method of getting their days off without getting into trouble.

"And it has been nice catching up," Candy agreed, moving on to the next cage. She stuck her fingers through the bars, and some very fat puppies fell over themselves as they licked her. Candice read the little paper, seeing that they bulldog mix. "These are cute," she commented. "I love ugly little wrinkly dogs. Bull dogs are good, lazy dogs. Great for indoors." Yes, Candice had done her puppy research.

She cooed at the fat little puppies. "I definitely want to see one of them, but I want to finish looking first." The next cage was a large one- housed within was a gigantic beast of a dog. "He's huge!" she exclaimed. "Awh, but he's cute and fluffy." The dog padded over, pressing its nose against the bars. A Newfoundland mix- way too big for Candy to keep inside. "It's a shame big, cuddly guys like that aren't so great for inside dogs. But I don't think he'd like life in a flat. He needs a yard to play in."

"Have you got a dog?" Candice asked. "You seem like a definite animal person... Well, not a cat person I guess, but you look like you would enjoy a nice, loyal canine." She didn't know if he had a yard or not, but she thought he'd look cute with a big, fluffy beast like that one. "Perhaps a teacup chihuahua?" she asked, giggling.