"You need to ask before you drink random potions," Naomi admonished as she cast a reversal spell over her familiar. She could cast a potion reversal in her sleep now. "For all you know, I could be making a poison."
Emeril shrugged, "You hardly ever make dangerous brews; you wouldn't leave those just lying around." He watched the artificial color drain from his skin with mild interest. His most recent potion theft had turned him cobalt blue.
"For this precise reason. You're blue today, you're dead tomorrow! Not every unlabeled bottle is for drinking, Emeril. At this point, I could leave rat poison out and you would eat it."
"Hey now, I know better than that. Rat poison is green and powdery, and it tastes bitter, hardly easy to mistake for food." His words did little to lessen her concern. The witch stared hard at her familiar, hoping he'd understand that he should not know what rat poison tasted like. Emeril was blissfully unaware.
The fae hopped off of her table once his skin had returned to its usual autumnal gold, long crimson hair falling back around his shoulders as the magic faded. "Besides, I'm testing your potions for you. Isn't that what you summoned me to do? I'm tougher than you are, human. Imagine if you drank this, you might be green."
Naomi lifted her glasses to pinch the bridge of her nose and sighed as she said, "Look, just ask me next time you find something laying around that you want to taste. I don't want to come home to a blue fae in my kitchen again."
"Yeah sure, I'll ask you if I find something while you're here." Emeril was already distracted by his next bought of mischief, not even looking over his shoulder as he spoke. He was like a cat, wandering around her house and knocking over things-- or drinking them-- just to see what would happen.
"I'm going to banish you if you start digging under the cushions for crumbs again," she warned him with a stern glare. He looked up from the couch with faux innocence.
"I'm just cleaning up. I thought you wanted me to tidy," his devilish grin told her he was doing anything but.
"I mean it. I'll send you right back to the astral plane." Her empty threats were falling on deaf pointed ears. She rolled her eyes and busied herself with preparing dinner.
Naomi had entered into her pact with Emeril two years ago, and the fae had been nothing but trouble since. He was helpful enough, a good test subject for her spells and potions when she needed it, but he loved to stick his nose just about everywhere it wasn't supposed to be.
She ought to teach him a lesson, show Emeril exactly where this bad behavior could land him if he wasn't careful. Naomi thought carefully over her stew as it simmered on the stove. Emeril seemed to take her contemplative silence as actual anger, and he'd snuck upstairs to hide from her potential wrath. She let him hide while she schemed.
Naomi's trap was easy to set. She made a batch of fragrant and enticing potions the next day. Emeril was hanging over her shoulder for longer than necessary, peering at the bright pink liquid swirling in her cauldron.
"What are you making?" He leaned on her counter, far too close to the hot cauldron for comfort.
"It's an anti-fae potion," she said, deadpan. Her answer didn't dissuade the nosy fae. He reached down to dip his finger in and Naomi smacked him away with her spatula. "No samples. This is for a customer, not for you. I don't want you contaminating anything."
Emeril retreated, but eyed the pot while she added the ingredients and brought it to its final rosy hue after a long two hours over the fire. When she was done, she bottled thirteen potions. Twelve were sealed and packed into a crate to be brought to the "customer" that afternoon. It didn't take long for Emeril to grow bored of the packing process. He left the kitchen and gave her plenty of time alone to add the final ingredient to the thirteenth bottle.
Funny thing about health potions, they could be mixed with a bit of lotus blossom and saffron to create a love potion. As far as love potions went, the effects were pretty weak. She wasn't trying to actually make Emeril fall in love. She just wanted to teach him to stop drinking from random bottles. At most, he would become deeply infatuated for a few hours with the first person he laid eyes upon, following their every direction. Naomi was nearly giddy at the idea of him actually listening to her for once.
She left the potion on the counter while she readied her cart.
"I have to go deliver this batch. Don't destroy the house while I'm gone," Naomi said as she loaded the crate and took up the handles on the front.
"Yessir," Emeril replied. He was back in the house and had shut the door before she even had time to roll her eyes. She knew exactly where he was going.
Naomi was only gone for an hour. Despite the late-season chill in the air, she walked happily down the snowy path into town to make a surprise delivery to the doctor there. She insisted she didn't need payment, and that the effects of her potion were enough of a reward. The doctor was confused but happy to accept her gift. She practically skipped through the woods on her way back to her house.
"I'm back, Emeril! You better not have gotten into any trouble," she called from the front door.
There was a noise from upstairs but no response otherwise. Was he already feeling the effects of the potion? Naomi left her coat at the door and walked up the short staircase to the second floor, where her bedroom was.
The sight that greeted her was... unexpected, to say the least.
Emeril was on her bed, face pressed to her pillow as he took deep breaths. He raised his head when she came up the stairs. His face was flushed deep orange, from his nose to the tips of his ears. His mouth hung open. He panted like he had just run ten miles.
"Naomi..." His eyes focused on her and he began to crawl across the mattress. "Naomi, you're home!"
"Em? Are you feeling alright?" Naomi knelt to meet him, only to be overtaken by the fae. He pulled her into a tight embrace, arms winding around her back as he buried his face in her shoulder.
"I am so glad you're home," he said. "I missed you so much while you were gone. Did you miss me?"
"You missed me? I was only gone for an hour," she chuckled. His silly behavior didn't assuage her worries, not when she could feel the warmth emanating from his body. Fae ran hotter than humans normally, but Emeril was burning hot. She tried to pull away to take a better look at him. Emeril was usually so magically put-together. It was odd to see him like this, hair mussed and clothes askew like he didn't care.
"Did something happen while I was gone?"
"Mmmm.... No..." He made his dishonesty far too obvious.
