[MINGLE] Just don't touch the puffball

[markwatney]

WHO: Mark Watney
WHERE: 6I Town Hall
WHEN: 7 June, after lunch
OPEN TO: ALL - MINGLE
WARNINGS: n/a
NOTES: Please note in your subject line if a top-level is to Mark (or whoever)

---

I have to be honest, as a botanist, there's a lot about this new, expanded world to be excited about. It seems like almost every time I go out to collect samples, I find something I haven't seen before, and nearly every minute I'm not working in the fields or greenhouse, I've been in Ravi's lab doing tests and compiling observations. Some of the specimens are pretty spectacular, but for a lot of them, the things that make them impressive are also things that could be a problem for the average villager.

Which is why I'm here now, in the town hall, lining up a variety of plants on a long table at the front of the room, some dried, some placed carefully under glass, many seeded in whatever I could find to use as a pot: Sauce pans, old boxes, tea cups.

Early this morning, I left a message on the blackboard in the Inn in big chalk letters:

Seminar on new native plants
TODAY - TOWN HALL - AFTER LUNCH
IMPORTANT INFO!!

In the old place, I used to take folks out one at a time and give them a crash course on what was edible and what was poisonous, but that's just not going to cut it now.

As I wait for folks to arrive (As I wait, hoping folks will arrive), I lay out labels in front of each plant listing what I've been calling it, whether it's dangerous, and any known properties. Once I'm done running my mouth, people can come up and get a good look.

Comments

OTA

[fwips]

When Mark's finished talking, Peter's the first up to the table at the front of the room, his eyes round with childlike delight as they sweep over the plants there and the descriptions laid out in front of them. The puffball he affords a wary look, but he grins when he gets to the blue lily, vibrant beneath its glass covering.

"That is so cool," he murmurs as he drops to a crouch in front of the table so the flower is directly in his sightline, his mind already racing with what he could do with a power that let him manipulate electricity. You'd probably have to be really careful until you'd mastered using it, or you could do as much damage as good with it. "It would be like being a living Tesla coil but better because you could control the voltage more consistently."

What if they could use it to power the houses? They'd have to figure out a way to store it, some kind of battery, probably a big one because of how low-tech everything is here.

He glances up, looks one way and then another from where he's still crouched in front of the table. "Has anybody used this? Is it AC?"

[freightcars]

Learning what plants could potentially kill him seemed like a useful expenditure of his time, and so despite not being the most social person on the planet, Bucky graces the event with his presence. He's two plants down checking out the Clematis when Peter starts talking to himself, and he levels the kid with a look before he even starts looking for a conversational partner.

It's an amused expression, maybe a little judgmental, but captain one-arm really shouldn't be judging anybody considering, "I have no idea what that means."

[fwips]

"Oh, AC is alternating current," Peter begins, and looks up with his mouth open, poised to further explain, only to falter and then pop back to his feet, eyes wide. "Sargeant Barnes! You're here!"

...just like Mr. Barton and Black Widow and Miss Peggy and that Starking Guy. Peter doesn't know whether to be excited or worried. One the one hand, the more people who show up, the better they can put their heads together to try and figure out how to get home. On the other, the more people that are here, the fewer there are back home trying to figure out the same thing, and by Peter's assessment, that's more likely to actually work.

Gosh, he really hopes Mr. Stark isn't next.

"Listen, I'm really really sorry about that thing at the airport in Berlin," he hurriedly adds, gesturing with both hands. "I already told Mr. Barton, I don't know if you know he's here, and Ms. Romanoff too, and Miss Peggy— Not that Miss Peggy was Berlin, I just mean she's here." And he really probably needs to stop talking. He darts a look to the mechanical arm and then back to Barnes' face. "Anyway, sorry."

[freightcars]

Sargeant Barnes takes him aback even further than the recognition does, mouth dropping open incredulously. Bucky he gets a lot, James Barnes he gets sometimes, but Sargent Barnes is something typically reserved for government officials or Hydra.

He squints, because the voice sounds familiar but he can't quite place it. At least, not until Peter mentions the Berlin airport, and then recognition floods his features along with incredulous indignation.

"You're that spider kid!" He declares, pointing accusingly. Not that he'd exactly known it had been a kid at the time, but it's not wholly surprising considering the cadence of the voice. Still, he got the absolute crap beat out of him by basically pre-serum Steve Rogers. "How the hell-"

[fwips]

At this point, Peter doesn't honestly know why he's still keeping secret that he's Spider-man. The excuse that they could all get back home is pretty thin, considering that for a lot of these people, home isn't even Earth, or a totally different time. It's instinct, though, to frantically wave Barnes off from saying more.

"Nobody knows," Peter hisses as he steps closer. His expression pinches. "I probably could have led with that."

[freightcars]

He dips backward at the frantic waving, as though he's expecting Peter to start some shit or something. He doesn't, not really, solely because the image before him is clearly a teenager. Logically, yeah, he vaguely remembers Spider Kid getting the upper hand of one thrown punch, but even so he's inclined to underestimate the kid's talents immediately.

"Sorry?" He says, although it's more of an uncertain, incredulous question. Part of it still from trying to metabolize this whole situation, partly because he can't imagine what good keeping a secret like that in a place like this is. "So all that- stuff from before, was that you or the suit you were wearing?"

It's his first question and god he hopes it's the suit, not that he has a penchant for toxic masculinity but.

Come on.

[fwips]

Peter rears back, incredulous. "What? That was— It was me," he answers, still careful to pitch his voice low. "I mean, I can't do it now, here, but back then, all that was me. Well... technically the web fluid wasn't me, myself, physically, but I did come up with the formula." On accident, but that's not really relevant.

He hesitates a moment, and then leans in a little. "Did you really know I was a kid at the time?"

[freightcars]

In answer to his question, at first all he can really manage is a huff and a crossing of his arms. Debates on a reply, and abandons it. There's really no good way to handle being beaten up by a mathlete with dignity.

He's the god damn winter soldier how

the russians would be so offended

"And now we're both here. Small multiverse." He mutters in deadpan, though the observation is valid. Of all the people in the multiverse, what are the odds that tangentially related ones would happen to get randomly plucked?

[fwips]

That isn't an answer to his question, but seeing as how he's having a conversation with the actual Winter Soldier, Peter lets it slide.

"Yeah, it's weird. I don't think it was on purpose, but you have to wonder if it was random or if there was some kind of unaccounted for criteria we all met to end up here together," he says instead. "And why this place? Was it already here?" He lifts his hands helplessly. "There are a lot of questions."

[freightcars]

The kid may be an annoying pain in the ass that he will feel perpetually bitter about young, but he's astute at least. It's exactly the thing Bucky himself had been thinking, starting from the moment he ran into Peggy and doubling down as she mentioned Clint, all but solidified by Natasha's sudden appearance. He frowns, lips pulling back into something thoughtful and displeased.

But he doesn't have an answer to provide, and speculating will do them no good. So, like an ADHD train, he changes tracks again. Clears his throat.

"Listen- nobody here... knows about what I did back home, who I was, except, you know." The people that were there. Not even Peggy knows. "That's not... really who I am. So I guess what I'm saying is... I'll keep your thing hush hush if you keep mine. Deal?"

[fwips]

"Oh. Yeah, totally," Peter is quick to reply and nods rapidly, not least of all because it looks like he's irritated a man with a super-powerful metal arm who may or may not wish he could throw Peter into next week with it.

"I wouldn't ever even bring it up," he adds, just to drive home the point. "And like... I don't even really know what you did? Maybe you helped old ladies across the street everyday, I wouldn't know. So, that makes it easy."

[freightcars]

Some of his irritation may overlap with amusement, because he's just... such a god damn teenager. His eyebrows arch, sort of dip into a knit, and he can't help the subtle back and forth shake of his head.

"You got in a fight and you don't even know why?" He observers wryly, but then holds up a hand immediately after to stop that conversation from going down. Grumbles out an uncomfortable: "You know what- that's. Probably for the best."

[fwips]

Now that he considers it, Peter probably should have asked more questions— No, strike that, he should have asked more questions to Mr. Stark, because he asked plenty to Happy, and that got him nowhere.

"Yeah, you know, when you're me and Iron Man shows up at your house out of nowhere when you've never even met before and says he needs you to help save the world, you just sort of go with it," he admits with a slight shrug. "What was going on?"

[freightcars]

He can't exactly knock the kid for that, he knows more than most people do about Tony Stark, his history, his parentage. Knows his reputation, and knows a starstruck kid from Brookyln (or Queens, whatever the case may be) would jump first and ask questions later if Stark came knocking. Especially one trying to find his place in the world with a persona like spider kid.

"Long story," he grunts, tearing his eyes away and fixing them somewhere on the table. Absently, a metal hand reaches out to touch the leaves of one of the plants. "Long and complicated, and totally irrelevant now, considering the bigger issue."

You know, the big purple man with the fist that murdered half of everything? Funny how it puts everyone back on the same side again.

[fwips]

"...yeah," Peter agrees with a slow nod. Not that he has confirmation that Mr. Stark and Cap made up, or would have, but he likes to think that half of everyone in the universe dying, or disappearing, or whatever this is, would override just about anything, including superhero infighting and Spanish tests.

"So, did you..." he asks with a motion Bucky's way, not quite knowing the polite way to phrase 'crumble into dust,' if there even is one. "Some people here say they just disappeared, no... you know."

[iron_beneath_beauty]

He a sort of wonder and delight that she has never really seen anyone before. Despite his youth, he reminded her of Maester Luwin, pleased and excited by the simple things in life. It made him seem far younger than he was, which was strange to see, knowing that they were not far apart in years.

Despite herself, she leans closer to look at the blue lily as well, careful to keep from touching it. Tesla coil, voltage, all of these flew over her head, but she wasn't in the sort of mood to ask. She was already learning about plants, learning about technology from his world would be a bit overwhelming.

"I think others have only accidentally touched it. No one has really tried to use it for...AC?" She said, hesitating over the word, making certain she had heard him correctly.

[fwips]

Still crouched beside the table, Peter looks up at Lyanna and smiles. "Hey, you're back." She's probably been back for awhile, he realizes, and he's been too much of an idiot to notice, but at least he's noticing now?

"AC is alternating current," he explains, and pushes himself back to his feet. "Electrical current. It changes direction back and forth, as opposed to DC, which is direct current and only goes the one way. AC is used for the electricity in the houses, like the lights and stuff— Do you know what electricity is?"

In this place, it's so hard to tell, and Lyanna seems really old-timey. Like knights and ladies old-timey.

[iron_beneath_beauty]

"I am." It's a half hearted smile she gives him, her early delight strained and weathered away, first by the long trek and then the loss she suffered when she returned. As like before, Peter manages to make her feel more at ease. His energy and spirit were imbued with a warmth she had never seen in her life. Being around him lifted the weight on her shoulders and made her feel as young as she was supposed to be.

"Electricity, that is what lights some of the houses?" She wasn't certain about the name, but she understood that much at least, even if she disliked the concept as a whole. The unfamiliar wasn't pleasing to her. "What is DC?"

There were times when these sorts of conversations made her feel slow and dim. Her cheeks turned red, embarrassed to admit her handicap with these concepts.

[fwips]

"Direct current," Peter repeats, and motions forward with his hands, probably unnecessarily. "It doesn't switch back and forth, it just goes the one way. And yeah, electricity is what lights the houses. It also makes things work like the stove and the refridgerator at the inn, I don't know if you've seen those. Like the stove doesn't need wood or coal or whatever, and the fridge doesn't need ice to stay cold."

Which really begs the question of where that electricity is coming from. He's wondered in an idle sense before, but felt like he had bigger fish to fry. But if he can find the source of the electricity, maybe he can find some clues about how to get back home.

[iron_beneath_beauty]

"And AC is what moves back and forth?" It made a little bit of sense, enough that she could follow him and he still had her attention. "I have, but I don't use them. I'm not much of a cook." Give her a fire and a slab of meat and she could manage, but using a stove was a bit beyond her.

"You seem to know a bit about this. Did you study it in your world?" Others were familiar with electricity, but they didn't explain it this well. He was like Mark in that sense, and from what little she knew, he was similar to a maester. Peter was young, but it wouldn't be a shock to learn that he was the same as Mark.

[fwips]

"Right. Alternating," Peter answers with a quick little nod. If Lyanna's from some kind of medieval place, he figures it's good enough if she can understand even the most simple electrical concepts.

"And yeah, I did," he adds of studying, "but like, science more broadly." He spreads his hands out. "Not just electricity. Especially robotics and chemistry... which is, um. Kind of like potions, I guess? Or alchemy? Alchemy is probably closer."

[iron_beneath_beauty]

"Do you know how it is that electricity can start and stop by a switch?" It was a random question during this lesson and probably didn't matter, but it was something she had been curious about for awhile. "Is it safe to touch those switches? Every time I am about to, I worry that there will be a spark." Which was a bit embarrassing to admit. Her cheeks turned crimson as she looked down at the ground.

"So you are like a maester...I mean, a scholar?" That word didn't seem to mean very much to others, scholar was as close as she could describe it in other terms. "Are you studying to be a healer or an alchemist?"

[fwips]

"Yeah— I mean, yes, I know how it works. You shouldn't have to worry about touching a light switch. Just don't touch any of the wires inside." The infrastructure here is a really old style, but Peter hasn't seen anything yet that seemed dangerous to the casual user.

"Sort of?" he answers of her last question. "I'm in high school, which is like... a secondary school? My school has an emphasis on technical stuff, but we learn all kinds of subjects. Where I come from, most people go to school for general subjects until they're about eighteen, and then they decide if they want more schooling in something more specialized or to just start working or whatever."

[iron_beneath_beauty]

"What keeps those wires from sending shocks through the switch? It doesn't seem like a very sturdy shield?" She somehow doubted that she would feel comfortable either way. It was a bit too much for her to wrap her head around. He at least could explain it to her in a way that was clear. No one else had been able to do that much beyond simply saying, 'this is what it is.'

"School?" No, it wasn't a word that she had heard before. "Eighteen? That is rather old to continue studying unless you were intending to take vows as a maester. You have no land to manage or wife?" It wasn't uncommon for a boy his age to be married, but it wouldn't be surprising to her if he was.

[fwips]

The functions of simple household electricity is, Peter realizes now, a lot more complicated than he might have imagined. "To simplify it a bunch, there are certain methods and materials that keep the electricity from shocking you. But mostly, think of it maybe like this: The switch is you sending a signal to the electricity. It's not the electricity sending one to you. One way."

Which might be confusing with the AC/DC distinction they talked about earlier, but he hopes she gets the gist enough to not be scared to turn on the lights.

He laughs a little at her last question, and shakes his head. "No, I don't have any land or a wife. People don't really do that where I come from anymore— I mean, some do, farmers and stuff, but sixteen is still considered a kid."