“Wood and ducks,” he repeated as if it made perfect sense. Why wouldn’t ducks be conducive to magical properties? They tasted good, anyway. Riley wasn’t as up on Ornithology as it seemed the Professor was, though he was learning quite a lot. Not just about himself but about the world around him. Up until the Carnival he had no idea magic even existed as he suspected most humans didn’t. They seemed to wear blinders for the world and being part of such an event had been an eye opener. Riley nodded in agreement. No geese. Got it.
A shrug coupled with a nod and a look of contentment would come. “I ain’t arguin’ with ya, you’re more of the expert than I am. Maybe the geese have more of those feather things...” Riley said, taking a moment to mull over what he was trying to get at. What did they call that stuff? It was a direction, he could remember that. “...down. Down?” Did that sound right? Maybe down repelled magic whatsit. Whatever it was. The Professor made stuff sound like it had sense, the articulation of it rang in Riley’s head in a tone he seemed to sort of actually get in an odd sort of way.
The thing with the coin had his eyebrows nearly hitting his hairline. He’d seen such things before, he didn’t dare call them tricks, but this felt somehow different. “Woah,” he blinked. Head would shake and he glanced at the marble again with wonder. See, he had gotten a lot keener in just those few moments spent in good company. “You’re really good at that. You’re sure that’s not a real marble?”