Ford let out a huff of what could have been laughter if he didn't feel so frustrated, before he had time to think better of it. "Yeah, I know," he said dryly. And you probably still do, he thought, but he knew better than to even try saying this. Whatever was wrong with him seemed to act up where Darrow was involved, which meant it had to have something to do with either the spell or the potion from that day in the blizzard. And Noble thought the potion had something to do with making things stronger — that was vaguely ominous, but Ford wasn't sure whether or not to believe it. It wasn't that he doubted Noble's experience with these things, but he knew he wasn't giving him much to work with. These might not have even been all the right ingredients, and he couldn't communicate anything else of value to his brother. He still didn't really think Darrow's potion could have been a pain potion, regardless of how sure Noble had seemed about it.

"Let me try again," Ford said, moving back towards the table with the ingredients. "I think I can do this if —" he stopped, this time not due to any sudden magical influence but rather because he didn't want to say too much. If his suspicion about this was right he couldn't tell Noble everything, and telling him only half of it would just make him worry, which Ford was going very far out of his way not to do. "Just let me try again," he concluded, with a slight flush to his cheeks.