Only a taste

Prudence wins out, and you decide to proceed with justifiable caution. You place your finger over the mouth of the bottle and tip it up, just enough to feel the slippery, viscous fluid within moisten your finger. Placing the bottle back on the table you then lick your finger, tasting sweetness and fruit. Without even realising it you are soon suckling lasciviously on your finger, and it's only when you catch sight of your reflection in the mirror out the corner of your eye that you stop, suddenly embarrassed.

Reaching for the potion vial, you catch sight of the label, and suddenly find yourself able to decipher the strange script on there, which reads

Beware the serpent's gift of knowledge

Turning to your Uncle's book, you find that unfortunately that is all the knowledge a little taste brings. You reach for the vial again, perhaps to take another taste, when the you feel a a sudden shiver and a bone deep agony. It only lasts for a fraction of a second before it passes, but it's enough to leave you in a cold sweat. And you decide to put the vial back for now, until you find out more about it. You don't want to go through that again in a hurry.

You don't even notice the slight plumpness of your lips, or softening of your facial features, until later...