The food cooking still smells like Heaven, but now Danny is more determined than before not to taste it. This isn't sorcerer's magic, this is something darker and wilder and Danny's smart enough to know how dumb he is when it comes to things like that. He wonders if anyone's taken Drulb up on the food and come back again and again, trading memories or the way they whistle or whatever, until there's not much left of the original person.

He reads through bits of the book fast, skimming enough to get a picture, and it's not specifically instructional, but it's really interesting. He wants it, and the others like it, but not enough to offer anything too vital. He hands it back when the time is up, without protest, and reminds himself he can walk away.

"Okay, gimme a sec, I'll make an offer, but can I just ask something first? I've always wondered for this kind of thing, if someone trades you something they've learned, can they ever learn it back or is it just poof forever no matter what? Like if someone offered you their knowledge of how to spell words with more than three syllables--that's not my offer, just an example--and you accepted, would they just be a shit speller forever or could they take classes and eventually they'd be able to spell 'superfluous' again?"

He's not just stalling, believe it or not. He really wants to know.