RJ has several younger siblings and a lot of experience with patience, so they don't mind. Clearly she's been feeding herself just fine; they've known for years now that most other races are kind of hopeless when it comes to cooking (Elves definitely get it, though.)

... but after the second time Kaiti cuts herself when RJ has a suggestion or asks for something, they ask her to go pick some herbs for seasoning because it's kind of distressing, even though she's got healing and they're only minor cuts. 

...yeah ok she can do that.

RJ's smiles continue to be confusing... she gets another one when she comes back with the requested herbs. 

"Oh, a good haul! I wasn't sure if there'd be much scarleaf,  but it hasn't been cold for too long, and they're hardy..." 

They have Kaitiaki mortar and pestle the scarleaf into a fine paste while they chop up the tubers and add them to the fish mixture. Then they get out their wok. "I know you can't exactly go to a store out here, but I can't imagine cooking without one of these - they're so versatile." 

...oh wow this food is really really good? omnomnom. 

It takes her a while to notice RJ smiling at her again. "...what?" 

They stretch happily. "Ah, nothing much? It's just nice to have someone enjoy my cooking that much." Gesture at her mostly-empty plate. (... wow, is she blushing? cute...)

Once they've both finished eating, RJ prestidigitates the mess away. 

Right, okay. "I'm willing to help you harvest a limited supply of hothon bulbs and efrofyel, potentially on an ongoing basis, with several conditions."

"The first condition is that I set the limits and do the harvesting. I'm good with plants - I know how to harvest them without hurting them, I know how to split bulbs, and I know where they grow. And I know how much the Forest can give us sustainably." 

Oh! They're getting right into it, apparently? (She's so weird, though not in a bad way.)

"That's fine with me." nodnod. 

"The second condition is that you don't come into the Forest without me. I don't want to have to check for you harvesting things behind my back, and I don't want to find you impaled on a boar, either. I'll pick you up and drop you off at the Forest's edge." 

(RJ nods, so she continues.)

"The last condition is that I want you to pay me. I don't want money - I want lessons in magical crafting, and I want supplies.  Mostly spellsilver, but also..." she glances at the wok "mundane stuff too, I think." She pauses, thinking. "I can help you with your crafting projects some, as part of the lessons." 

They stop to consider.

This is - fundamentally reasonable? It'll cut into their profits, obviously, but so would dying to an angry boar (or Druid). 

RJ nods. "I can work with that. For the pay... how about a quarter of the relevant profits while I'm still teaching you what you need to know to help, half as long as you help me out with my crafting past that point, three parts of ten otherwise?" Given the travel time and how much RJ is contributing, this feels like a pretty fair offer.

 (Honestly, they think they could get a better rate, she isn't the haggling type, but it'd feel bad. They like her.)

She paces, thinking. "...You would be staying here while I helped you with your work? I'm not going to leave the Forest, and I have duties."

RJ smiles. "I can stay with you in the forest while we craft, yes. I will need to bring crafting supplies and tools with me, of course, and I would like to bring... cooking supplies, books to read, other things I like to have when I'm staying in one place for a while, if that's okay?" (She nods. They'll need to maybe see about making this area a bit bigger? She clearly dug it out, so it should be possible...)

"I spend about eight hours each day working on items - you wouldn't need to be around for all of that, but if I'm giving you half the profits, I would want your help for... at least four hours a day? If you need it to be less than that, I'd want to adjust the share." 

Four hours a day is doable, especially if she can pick which hours. She tells RJ that she might need to do more or fewer, if something comes up - she gives the zombie plague as an example. RJ says that they can be flexible, but if it adds up they will want to give her less of a share for that item. She's fine with that.

She tells them that she'll need to wait till the snow melts before she can give them initial estimates on how much she's willing to harvest, and she'll need to re-evaluate over the year based on what she's seeing. She aks them to promise not to tell anyone that they're working with a druid or using magical plants as a substitute without her permission, and they agree.

It takes her a while to think to ask who RJ will be selling this stuff to, but she does remember to ask.

They blink at her, a bit surprised. "Adventurers and soldiers at Worldwound." (...did she actually grow up in this Forest and never leave it??)

...right. (She hasn't really thought about the worldwound since - 

...she doesn't really want to think about it now, actually.)

She nods. That's fine.

...RJ keeps their wince of sympathy internal. They'll get a chance to ask later, hopefully.

There's a few more details to iron out.

RJ will meet her at the edge of the Forest an hour past sunrise, about 2 weeks after the snow melts (it'll take them about that long to journey back here from the city they work out of). She should expect that they might be a few days late or early, depending.

If Kaitiaki wants anything from the city, RJ is fine doing some shopping for her using some of her earnings (or as a loan against those earnings, if she wants any cheap things when they come back this spring). At the reserved frown she makes, they mention having some suggestions - they can talk about it later. She nods gratefully.

Kaitiaki will be responsible for gathering food for them both. RJ wants to take point on cooking, and is happy to teach her if she'd like that. (She would.)

It's exhausting. But in the end, they have a deal they're both satisfied with, and they seal it with a handshake.

Big warm smile. "Looking forward to working with you. Do you still want to go over more basics with me now? I don't have anything better to be doing this week." 

She nods happily! She would like that very much. 

(They really do love the way her face lights up when she gets to learn something new...)

RJ walks her through, step by step, the basics for how a simple cloak of resistance is made. She knows the spellform for resistance already (here's how the arcane version is different, but they're mostly the same) - putting it into an item is just a matter of binding the spell in place. Spellsilver is great for this (they can go over how the plant oils make things different later, spellsilver is the right place to start) - it is really good at binding magic, see here...

They'll continue in this manner until RJ's stomach rumbles loudly. They grin apologetically. "Trout for dinner, as well?"

...whoops! Yes, she's hungry too. Trout for dinner, with RJ taking the cooking lead. (She grabs a few more tubers, but they have plenty of the herbal paste left over from lunch.)

They stay up late, that night. RJ has to sleep in, to get his spells back, but she's under no such constraints - she wakes up early to Damisa licking her face, and once she finishes prepping her spells while petting him, Kaitiaki heads out to do some tasks while her wizard gets their wizard sleep. (They snore, just a bit. It... reminds her of home, but not in a bad way.) She leaves them a goodberry, on a leaf she likes the shape of.

There's not much that she needs to do, in the Forest - it's winter, and the zombies are gone. She and Damisa luck into and bring down a massive elk (Damisa is VERY happy about this). 

She pops by Zisel to ask him if he'd like any hide, or the antlers. (She's clearly operating on not much sleep, and equally clearly in a great mood.)

He would love the antlers if she's not using them for anything but he's good on hide for now.

They're all his! (Unlike the hide, she has them with her.)

Marvelous. Does she want some mushrooms, he found a really good bunch of chanterelles, only took about a third of them, and still has more than he's personally excited to eat soon.

She'd love some! Mushrooms are great. (She yawns.) 

She's gotta head out soon (there's an elk to finish butchering, and magic to learn), but she'll catch up with Zisel a bit.