Hopping mad

Skye's face remained red as he finished changing behind the boxes blocking Anberine's vision in the room.

"You know that was a low blow right?" Skye commented as he sorted out his collar.

"Coming from the guy who loves to annoy people and doesn't keep his word" Anberine said while finishing off the medicine.

"Look I didn't know okay... sorry" Skye said weakly as he left the safety of the boxes once his clothes were sorted, eyeing the cauldron his shoulders sagged.

"Who's the medicine for?" Skye asked now sitting down while resting his head on his arms.

Pursing her lips once more Anberine breathed through her nose while composing herself.

"I'm not asking out of maliciousness, I really mean it" Skye said in a genuine tone, turning her head slightly to look at him she watched him briefly before resuming her work.

"Helga's mother has taken a turn for the worst. We think she has a chest infection so I'm brewing this to help elevate it. There's another part in the page to brew Pneumonia but I am hoping it doesn't come to that but I'll make it anyways" Skye bit his lip as he listened.

'(Don't even think of being snarky!)' the voice scolded to Skye's annoyance.

'I wasn't!' Skye snapped before watching Anberine pack the potion in three vials.

"Can I learn how to make it please?" Skye asked while she packed vial number two.

"It's a bit late though" Anberine replied leaving him wincing at how this came about.

"At least the pneumonia, you haven't done that yet right?" Skye asked despite the fact he was a bundle of nerves about what was doing, Anberine frowned.

"What would you get out of it anyways? You're not aiming to be a doctor plus you care for no one except yourself" Anberine asked after pocketing the last vial.

"I really want to learn it, plus if it helps in the future then I might as well learn it. Listen, I really am sorry and I really want to help... okay learn I want to learn since we both know what will happen" Skye winced under her scrutinizing look.

Closing her eyes Anberine sighed once more before waving for him to open his bag.

"Best start paying attention and bring out your notebook as well" Anberine said to his surprise, warmth filled his cheeks as the muscles of his mouth started to move upwards until he realised what was happening.

Clearing his throat he took out his cauldron, vials and notebook.

"Y-You should also eat, the cook was really worried about you" Skye cleared his throat a few times as spoke.

"I'm too busy, I'll eat later" Anberine said while taking out some ingredients.

"Anberine look" Skye said while placing his hand on top of her left hand stunning them into silence.

"You should eat, it's not healthy and I'm not being rude about it. You look like a walking bag of bones and this was the cook's words not mine" Skye said defensively as she frowned at him coldly.

"She is right though, why not eat and show me how to do this at the same time?" Skye suggested leaving her more suspicious of his intentions.

"Really we're not in any hurry until ten so we have about what an hour and a half?" Skye commented.

"The thing is that this will talk about two to three hours given the time it takes to make" Anberine commented with a weak frown this time.

"I'm sure with two people it should take less time right?" Skye suggested only to deflate from her shaking her head.

"There's the boiling and simmering. Plus the ingredients need to be freshly chopped" Anberine listed.

"Then let's get started, if we're late to history studies then I'll give us an excuse" Skye opted causing her to eye him.

"I mean it, let's do it" Skye said while looking at her book.

"So what do we need to do first?" Skye asked the quiet girl, minutes later Anberine started to instruct the prince on what they needed to do and began to brew with her cauldron.

At the same time Skye was brewing the medicine in his cauldron to help him learn from scratch.

"I didn't realise how time consuming and hard this is" Skye commented as was chopping up some roots.

"It does get tiresome but it's worth it" Anberine said now looking more relaxed as she brushed a strand of her black hair from her face.

"I'm not complaining, I'm just surprised that something like this can actually help make a difference" Skye said while his bare lower arms brushed against the table thanks to his sleeves being rolled up.

"Well people had to experiment, it didn't just come out of nowhere. Trial and errors are made just like swordsmanship" Anberine said after turning the page.

"Mandrake root please" she instructed as she dropped the chopped up root into her cauldron. Skye nodded as he did just that.

"Fair point" Skye replied as he began stirring anticlockwise slowly.

"I don't think I can look at potion-making the same way again thanks to this" Skye said while wiping his forehead, hearing this Anberine released a wry smile.

"Bad luck Sire" Anberine mocked lightly as she sprinkled a grounded ingredient into the mix.

"I'm not saying it in a bad way" Skye defended quickly as he saw her shake her head lightly.

"Yeah yeah mock me, it can't get any worse besides you turning me into a frog" he said while watching her lips purse to mask her amusement, sadly her eyes gave it away earning her a light glare.

"You're fault for going hopping mad" she added earning her a groan from Skye.

"Seriously?!" Skye grumbled weakly before Anberine gave him an ingredient to put in and stir clockwise.

"You deserved it, you were rude" Anberine replied calmly as they worked in semi silence.

"Yeah... sorry, I mean it. I should have taken it more seriously, I had things on my mind" Skye admitted as he saw her disbelieving look.

"Like what?" Anberine said despite her better judgement.

"My father" Anberine nodded as she stirred her cauldron. "He wants me to make peace with Elaine" Skye commented wearily.

"Don't you like her?" Anberine asked with a raised brow "you always let her hug your arm" she commented to his dismay.