hadriel | video- don't you put it in your mouth

Hello, Hadriel.

We have a garden now, and Sorrow has made comments to the effect that the food in it might disagree with us, so I'm going to talk to you about how to test for poisons in plants.

First of all, to those of you who aren't human, let me apologize, because I won't be able to help much with your physiology. But for those of you who are-

We need to catalogue and name everything we can that's growing in there, and then identify the plant species that no one knows. Once we have the unidentified species, each one needs to be assigned a volunteer. The testing period takes several days, and if you do two at once and get a reaction, you won't know which are poisonous.

The first step is to test for contact toxicity- that is, touch the leaves and stems and fruit juices of the plant to your skin, and see if it poisons you that way. Plants that provoke that kind of reaction aren't generally safe to eat. You take a few days to see if a reaction develops, and then begin by cooking small portions of the plant, and holding it in your mouth for a few minutes- three, and then later fifteen, testing to see if it provokes tingling, swelling, or any kind of reaction.

No one should try to test any plant with milky sap, white berries, or any kind of pod. You never want thorns, spurs, on the plant itself or on grain heads. If you get an almond scent or a bitter taste, stop eating, and just to play it safe, avoid plants with leaves in clusters of threes.

I've got a small supply of activated charcoal in the clinic. Let me know if you can help. Nothing is ripe yet, but we can begin classification and contact testing immediately.

Thank you, everyone.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That's convenient.

[Especially in a place like this. Who knows when the food might try to kill them again?]

I can try something.

Go right ahead.

[He's already reaching for his pen, to take notes.]

[He picks up a bluish, oddly shaped fruit and takes a careful bite.]

Tastes like peaches and cream. A little sweet, but not bad.

[And his magic doesn't seem to be reacting, though who knows what that means.]

[He reaches for some, eager to see-]

Cream. You get literal cream from that?

[Adam hands the rest of it over.]

Well, it's not actual cream, it just sort of tastes like it. It's... weird. But all right.

[He nibbles a bite, and then sighs in relief.]

Fresh food, thank god.

It's definitely a nice change.

[Though, as a teenager used to eating crap, Adam could probably live off protein bars and cereal for months.]

Um... sorry I snapped at you earlier.

That's all right. I should have realized it was a complicated topic.

[He promises, unconcernedly.]

It wasn't your fault, though.

[And he needs to keep a better handle on his temper.]

No, I know. I'd just be a hypocrite to judge.

[He knows a thing or two about temper.]

I know you can't possibly be all right, but if there ever is anything I can do-

I guess I'm as all right as I can be. It's over, it isn't going to happen again.

[He just has to live with the memory of it.]

I just wish no one knew.

How long has it been for you?

[He asks, much more gently.]

It's very fresh, isn't it?

A couple weeks.

[So yeah, it's pretty fresh. That's not the sort of thing Adam can get over quickly.]

I could have killed him.

I'm really sorry, Adam. The only thing I can really say is, even if it doesn't necessarily feel like it, time will help.

[He nods.]

I know he doesn't think it's a big deal, but that just makes me worry about what could happen if I ever actually hurt him.

When you have something about you that makes you a danger to others, it can be almost impossible to live with. It's hard to know how much you should respect their wishes and accept their compassion.

I don't want to be a danger. I don't want to hurt anybody.

[It's so personal, for Adam. He's terrified of becoming his father.]

How do you do it?

I don't-

[He starts, and then pauses.]

I don't know what you know about my condition, actually. What Ronan has told you?

I already knew some of it. I was around when you - lost control.

[And Ronan told him more, because they talk, of course.]

I know that was you, anyway. And obviously you usually have better control.

But it has taken the better part of ten years for me to get that kind of control. Initially-

-the accident came about when I was trying to duplicate the process that made Captain America. Steve Rogers was a good man, and made better by what happened to him. I, on the other hand, was furious.

Did it make you angry, or were you already angry and it just gave you way to express that?

[The difference is negligible, maybe, but it matters to Adam.]

I was already very angry. In fact, I'd already blacked out so badly during a fight I probably killed someone.

[He says, just to illustrate the threshold he's describing here.]

The person who murdered my mother, to be clear, not- not some stranger in a bar. But all the same, I had this capacity before it was amplified.

[He nods. A lot of Ronan's anger stems from his father's death, as well. Adam's has different roots, but he thinks he understands.]

I guess it's not the same for me. I'm afraid of something like that happening, I feel like it could easily happen - like it's in my blood, it's inevitable. But it hasn't yet.

I'm sorry. It's frightening, feeling like a time bomb.

[He remembers that.]

[He nods. Like a lot of things, though, it's something he needs to live with.]

I've always been afraid of that. So when I actually did hurt him, even though it wasn't really me - it was awful.

(no subject)

zen_en_vert - 2016-08-12 19:08 (UTC) - Expand

unknowable - 2016-08-16 01:48 (UTC) - Expand

zen_en_vert - 2016-08-16 20:57 (UTC) - Expand

unknowable - 2016-08-18 17:12 (UTC) - Expand

zen_en_vert - 2016-08-19 01:13 (UTC) - Expand