[quote=@LePouvantail]
"Yes, ma'am," he said, before turning to Agatha. Barrel gave her a little smile. "Besides. It's always more fun when you're learning with someone."
[/quote]

Agatha slowly broke into a smile again. Ah, yes, of course! He'd simply been too shy to ask her outright, and had backpedaled to seem as if he weren't pushing. And to ask Aggie to be there as a chaperone, why, he truly was a gentleman at heart! 

Carver ignored all the witches as she started putting her cargo on the counter. Once her "hand" vines were clear, she opened her cage and started pulling out a few more. With practiced skill, she "accidentally" dropped her bottle of daphnius potion out of the cage as she rummaged around for the rest of Shock's goods. She visibly caught the bottle with a spare vine before it hit the ground and set it on the counter to be "out of the way" as she finished unloading. A few other miscellaneous items similarly fell and were placed about for temporary safekeeping. The pumpkin creature muttered quietly to herself about just making Shock borrow Behemoth's wheelbarrow next time, just for good measure.

Aggie kept an eye on the two newcomers until Agnes arrived, then focused back on Barrel.

[quote=@LePouvantail]
"So, uh, about what we discussed... You're [i]sure[/i] beetle's eyes aren't a good substitute for spider eyes? They seemed similar enough, but I don't want to ruin the recipe..."
[/quote]

Ah. [i]There[/i] it was. Aggie immediately re-assessed the situation. The tallest trickster didn't merely wanted to learn about potions; he wanted to learn about potions he could use against his [i]siblings[/i]. She harrumphed, but nodded and played along. "Of course I'm sure. The two may be the same on a basic level, but beetle eyes have a completely different texture and consistency. If it doesn't ruin the flavor, you'll still feel like you're crunching through sand."

Her eyes twinkled. "Now you'll pay the full price for proper, quality spider's eyes, or you can leave my shop and eat some more of that popcorn you like so much."



Meanwhile, Agatha was giddy with the belief that Barrel was so shy, he hadn't even admitted to his siblings he liked her yet. No wonder Carver had told her to be subtle! He would be so terribly embarrassed to know that she already knew of their attraction!