James decided it was too great of a risk to take. Not only did he not want to risk upsetting Nicola further, but he also didn’t want to risk falling into some sort of moral trap that Elspeth was potentially laying out for him.
“Um..... I appreciate it, Mustress Elspeth. But I don’t think right now is..... is the best time. What with her being annoyed at me as it is and all that. Even if she doesn’t know I asked you.”
Elspeth shrugged, keeping James balanced in her hands the entire time. “Well, if you change your mind, feel free to let me know! In any case.....” Elspeth began to carry James downstairs as she continued speaking.
“I figured I’d let you spend some time in the living room before we head out”, she mused.
“Head out?”, James asked.
“Yes. We’re going to be heading into town, all four of us. We can all leave the house so long as I allow it. The reason is that I just remembered I need some new ingredients for a potion I may need for an..... well, let’s call it an assignment. There may be some wickedness at work in this area, and I need to be ready to deal with it.”
James remembered that Elspeth had told him she was a witch police officer, or something akin to that. He wondered what exactly that meant, though. Did she fight other wizards or witches? Fight evil monsters? Hand out tickets to improperly parked broomsticks?
“Sorry to ask, but why do you need to go out to get the potion ingredients? Can’t you get them from the kitchen like the food?”
“No need to be sorry with those kinds of questions. Unfortunately, no. The ingredients I need are very specific items that have been specially fermented and cured by witches and wizards who are even older and more experienced in alchemy than I am. It’s sort of like buying vegetables from a farmer when you have a garden in your back yard. You COULD grow it yourself, but it would take more time and wouldn’t be as good as what the professionals have to offer.”
As Elspeth sat James down on a chair in the living room, he noticed Silas sitting on the couch adjacent to him, and Nicola laying on the floor in front of the both of them. She didn’t seem interested in talking to Silas (James figured this was due to him being revealed as a liar earlier), and she certainly didn’t seem interested in talking to James. The awkward tension could be cut with a pipe cleaner.
“I’ll be right back, dears. Just need to get my shopping bag and some money and whatnot.”
Elspeth left the room, and James found himself stuck silently glancing over between the two humans-turned-cats in his human-turned-toad body.