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Had he been pressed, Howth would not have admitted that he was stalling on the whole 'wrestling and subduing large animals' outing he had promised Zumei, but he very much was. He wanted to do it, really, but he hadn't wrapped his head around the reality of tackling a scrofa or a snapptrotter or whatever into submission. What would he wear? What would happen when one of them died? It was the little things that had him worried.

Howth emerged from the alley with a selection of potions lined up on a long, wooden tray like a wine flight. "I'm hoping we can rate these on a scale from one to five," he told Zumei, "though I'm not sure what the rating would measure. Taste? Temperature? Overall delight?"

He almost laughed, holding it in at the last second and huffing his amusement through his nose. A crooked rock wall caught his eye and Howth led Zumei that way, balancing the tray on top of it. There were six slender bottles in total, each a different color, and they all had about a mouthful of liquid inside. They really could just slam them all down in a row, if they were so inclined. No. This was serious.

"Effect, taste, texture, and an overall score determined by adding the other three. Very scientific, indeed." He let his smile grow a little as he chose the first of his samples, a thin, dark substance that sparkled in the sun. "A toast to... learning things."

This wasn't a wild party, at least not yet, but Howth could meet somewhere near the middle.

He didn't hesitate, tipping the liquid down his throat and muffling a cough into his fist. It burned all the way down, and when he spoke again, his words sounded rough and strained. They were also in another language.

"¿ssǝnƃ I 'ɹɐpǝɔ ˙˙˙ɟo sǝʇou ɥʇᴉʍ 'ɹǝʇʇᴉq ʎɹǝʌ s,ʇI" Howth stopped, glancing at the now-empty bottle with curious disbelief. He kind of wished he'd been able to get two of these so he might try to deconstruct the recipe, but all of the potions he'd chosen had been marked final sale. They were the last of their kind, or so the seller had claimed. He looked to Zumei with a bemused shrug, then held up four fingers. Four out of ten. Without knowing what language he was speaking, the effect was rather useless, and it was murder choking the stuff down.

A faint exhalation of surprise left him as he was shaken, but he didn't protest. When her questions and jostle-therapy had ceased, Howth paused to consider them. His mouth and throat felt raw, but it would pass. And he was fairly sure he wasn't feeling compelled to confess anything to anyone, potion or not.

"ʞuᴉɥʇ I 'ǝuᴉɟ ɯ,I," He narrowed his eyes at the empty bottle Zumei held. Would taking another negate the effects of the first? Or would they stack, turning him into a babbling purple-furred monster that no one could understand? There was only one way to find out.

He pat her shoulder with an amused shake of his head, examining the potion flight and choosing his second selection. The purple one. Had to get the right color fur, after all. Howth plucked the bottle from its stand and downed it like the first, wincing a little in anticipation of a bitterness that never came.

"That one was much nicer. Hm. And it looks like these potions might be one effect at a time." He held up his hands, showing off spindly, dark fingers that ended in barbed claws. Their transformation hadn't hurt. How had the one who made these managed this? "A seven, perhaps? It tasted good, but what am I supposed to do with these?"

"Zumei." There were so many things he might have said in response, but none of them got past his social filter. "Yes. Next one." Before he chose another potion, Howth fumbled a bit for a notepad and wrote their scores in the neatest rows he could manage. The claws were definitely a hinderance.

He looked over the potions once again. The other two had been so dark. Choosing something lighter this time probably wouldn't make a difference, but he felt compelled to anyway. Yellow. That was a nice contrast.

"Do you want to try one?"

It was one thing to suggest... activities involving these claws, but to bear witness to her spontaneous qualifier without warning... He hoped he wasn't blushing as he took down her score, his hot boy claws pricking his palm.

"I'll agree. This would be more useful if you could fly. Should we each do one more at the same time? I can put the last bottle away for another time. And then we can see how long the effects last. Unless you want to keep the feathers? We can wander around town scaring the children." He didn't mean that, but he smirked anyway.

He took a moment to choose, looking over what remained and eventually picking up the red potion. The other he stowed in his bag.

"For another time," Howth said with a nod. "On three?" He counted down as she had suggested, opening the bottle and drinking the liquid inside shortly after "one". It was spicy, like he had always assumed the fancy drinks in Venner tasted, but it didn't burn his throat, not until it came back up.

"That was quite—"

With each word came a tiny plume of flame that barely cleared his mouth by an inch and a half. He took a quick step back, worried that he might light Zumei's hair on fire.

"I get the feeling that some of these were made for customers who enjoy the nightlife."

He almost kept his thoughts to himself, but shortly after Howth recorded her score, he admitted, "I honestly have no idea how these were made. They are very unique. If I believed this could happen, I would think we were both the victims of some sort of shared delusion. I will run some tests on this one I kept though. Perhaps I can reverse engineer the formula, like you say."

Looking between her bottle and his, he placed the empty fire potion back on the tray with the rest and picked it up. "I'm glad it was a good time." He smiled. "Now it's time to wait, I guess? We can go look at... baby capramels?" It was either that or they really run around scaring the children.