Abigail hadn't gotten out of bed all day. She wasn't sick or depressed, though, she was just busy studying Dwarvish. Rasmodius wasn't going to give her a traditional paper exam; he was going to send her to the mines to speak to the Dwarf himself. Her task was to buy a Life Elixir, then ask about the ingredients in it and tell Rasmodius whether she could use it in the Forest Essence Potion. If so, she'd have to know how much to use, since she would be in charge of making the next batch of that potion.

Of course, this also required her to memorize the ingredients of the potion, which she'd been drilling herself on nightly. One pine needle, one oak leaf, one maple leaf, two fiddlehead ferns, one half of a slime…

"Hey, Abigail!" Sebastian walked in without knocking.

"UGH! I just lost my train of thought!"

"Oh, did I interrupt your work?"

"YES!" She slammed her book, sat up, and turned to face him.

He stepped back. He wasn't used to seeing her like this. She was still in her Junimo pajamas, her hair piled up in a messy bun on her head. She had no makeup on, her nail polish was chipped, and books and flashcards were strewn around her bed.

"Sorry. I was hoping to jam with you and Sam today, but since you're working, I won't bug you." He pulled out a paper bag from the pocket of his hoodie. "I brought you some food, though, see?" He handed her a bag of roasted chestnuts. "Even added cinnamon and sugar."

"Hey, how'd you know I was hungry? This looks delicious!" She stuffed a chestnut in her mouth.

"I'm glad. I know all too well what it's like to get interrupted when you're working,. Want me to come back later this evening with dinner?"

"Yeshpls." Her mouth was still full. She covered it, swallowed, and laughed. "Yes, please. And thanks. Tell Sam sorry I can't jam with you guys today. Not only do I have to learn Dwarvish, I have to memorize this freaking Forest Essence potion."

"Why can't you just, like, do a magic spell to put all the Dwarvish in your head?"

"That's not how it works." She gestured over to her desk, which was covered in books. "Before I start doing magic, I have to learn languages: Dwarvish, three different Fairy tongues, the languages of the Elementals...then I have to learn how to make potions, and why the potions work, and the history of the balance between Light and Dark, and what happens when the balance is off...the Forest Essence is my first potion, and Dwarvish is my first language, so it's gonna be a long time before I do any real magic."

"Aww, that sucks!"

"It's not terrible," she countered. "The languages are interesting stuff, and some of the potions will be really helpful."

"What's the Forest Essence, anyway?"

"It allows someone to learn the language of the Junimos. That's the only one I don't have to study, which is nice. The potion's made out of, like, the entire Secret Woods! One pine needle, one oak leaf, one maple leaf, one half slime, two fiddlehead ferns," she said, looking up as if to see the recipe in her mind, "two pinecones, two acorns, two maple seeds, one holly, one horseradish, a handful of chips of hardwood, a handful of Woodskip scales...one red mushroom, one purple mushroom, one morel, and one chanterelle!" She squealed out loud. "I remembered it, yay!"

"Nice! But, man, that's gotta taste disgusting!"

"It's actually not bad at all."

"Says the girl who eats rocks."

"Not rocks! Gems and minerals. I've tried stone before, that's gross."

"Doesn't the potion taste like veggies, though?"

"No, it tastes like the forest."

Sebastian laughed. There was no way he was going to understand Abigail, ever, especially now. "I'll take your word for it. I haven't tried eating the forest, either. Hey, Sam's waiting on me, so I'll let you get back to studying."

"Thanks. It was good to see you, but man, being able to study without getting crap from you means a lot."

Sebastian bit his tongue. He hoped she'd be as understanding of his work now. "Thank you. I'll be back on my way home, I'll grab something from the saloon. Or maybe Sam's mom will fix something, I dunno. See ya later!"

With that, he walked out. Abigail popped another roasted chestnut in her mouth and opened her Dwarvish For The Arcane Studies book again.