[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)

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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

[fwips]

"Yeah," Peter agrees with a minute nod, and casts a glance to the room around them, his lips pressing thin as he takes in everyone who showed up for this thing, how normal they all seem as they mill about. "It's not what I would've expected, but I guess it could be a lot worse. At least— I mean, we know each other, kinda. Not everybody's that lucky here."

Heaven and hell aren't concepts Peter puts much stock in, but it definitely doesn't seem like the second option. Then again, he knows it's not the first, either — There's no Uncle Ben.

[freightcars]

Another sudden rush of sympathy for the kid floods him; if he's labeling Bucky as someone he knows then he's really grasping at straws for a connection here. Bucky wandered in to having Peggy already, to definitely knowing Clint more than Spider-Kid knows the Winter Soldier. He's alone, Bucky realizes, and a long-dormant protect the kid feeling that never quite went away shimmies to life. He forces it down, but he can't help reaching out to gently clasp Peter's shoulder with the metal hand.

"Yeah," he mutters in a sort of awkward agreement. Lucky. "Well. No hard feelings, then. Maybe we can figure something out while we're here. A way to get back."

[fwips]

So, Peter doesn't want to freak out or anything because they're having a serious heart-to-heart here and that's awesome on its own, but Bucky Barnes is gently squeezing Peter's shoulder with his robot arm like they're pals, and did he mention it was a robot arm, and this is one of the most amazing moments of his life.

"Oh yeah," Peter replies, nodding just a touch too quickly. "Yeah. I mean, all we can do is try. And look out for each other and everybody else."

[freightcars]

Good lord, Spider-Kid, it must be so hard to be in your brain. Bucky tries really hard not to look like he thinks Peter's on the edge of vibrating himself into a bunch of pieces. Instead, he gives Peter one more quasi-supportive pat on the shoulder, and then drops his arm away.

"Alright. Well." How do normal people end conversations non-awkwardly? "I'm gonna go... plants."

He gestures vaguely toward the tables, one eye sort of squinting uncomfortably. Good talk.