You know how certain tastes allow you to know that you shouldn't eat something, though humans are weird so we do it anyways?
Was thinking how certain foods are bad for animals, like citrus foods
What if aliens' sense of taste indicated things that could kill them
What if to aliens the entire flavor profile we call sour meant poison
What if a human walked up to one of these aliens and took a bite out of a lemon slice without breaking eye contact
Could be a dominance move, a lead into a prank, or just being oblivious that from the aliens' point of view the human was attempting suicide right in front of them when the human is just a weirdo who eats lemons
These are the things I think of when I should be sleeping
Please elaborate on this idea if you want to
Another Trilyn and Jamie!
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Trilyn had been friends with the little human for about a week now, talking on their galactic devices (GDs as the human called them- they all had this odd obsession with efficiency). They were planning on meeting up this evening for what the human named a sleepover. It was where 2 or more beings gathered at 1 being's abode to sleep at that abode, playing games and the such. It had sounded like a neat idea, and so Trilyn had agreed.
A knock rung out throughout Trilyn's home, though it was rather quiet due likely due to Jamie's size compared to the 25 foot door, with over 2 feet of material front to back- very, very thick for human standards. Trilyn might not have heard it had he been making any noise; Krakoor weren't known for a keen sense of hearing. Trilyn opened the door, looking down at the human, who carried a zipped bag and a bag made of thin plastic, tied by the (also thin and plastic) straps. Trilyn eyed the small bag curiously, as what he could vaguely make out through the thin plastic didn't seem like the things Jamie had listed as 'sleepover musts', but he brushed it off.
It had started off great, with Jamie sat with him on his couch, the two of them playing games on the hologram in Trilyn's living room, and when Jamie had lost for the third time in a row (definitely pouting despite his denial) he had stretched, claiming he was hungry.
"I didn't have time to figure out whether or not you, uh... Krakern? Sorry, I forgot your species name- have human food so I just brought some leftovers from home."
Jamie then pulled out a box from the plastic bag, opening it, and Trilyn was immediately concerned.
See, Krakoor (not Krakern, Jamie) had an extremely keen sense of smell (which enhanced taste by proxy), along with a keen sense of touch, due to their evolution. Part of that was being able to smell when something was poisonous or rotten, as it was harder to tell millions of years ago. Jamie's lunch smelled like pure poison, and he felt his eyes water a little at the sheer amount of it.
"Have any way I can heat this up? Like, a microwave or something?"
Trilyn gaped at him- did he not realize that the food was poison? Humans didn't have a very good smell, did they?
Jamie, confused at Trilyn's staring (specifically the horrified look at his food), waved a hand in his face.
"Human. Are you... can you not smell that that is poisonous food? You'll get ill if you eat that..."
Jamie looked down at his food, picking around in it a little, before looking back up at Trilyn.
"Looks fine to me."
And then, to Trilyn's horror, picked up a piece of the food, bringing it to his mouth. Trilyn's instincts took over (he had to keep the human safe!), and he smacked the piece of food from the human's hand, much to Jamie's confusion.
"What was that for, dude?"
Jamie looked a little annoyed at him (Trilyn was well aware that humans were protective of their sustainance), and scowled, clearly not understanding that he had almost eaten poison. Humans definitely didn't have the keen sense of smell as Krakoor did.
"You almost ate poison, Jamie. That food is- is practically citrus or capsaicin!"
Jamie blinked at him- as if he had two heads, humans often describe it as- before seeming to come to a few conclusions, his eyebrows furrowing.
"Uhm. You've mentioned before that Kra... your species can smell and taste poison, right?" Jamie was met with a nod, to which he continued, "So, citrus is- and I'm assuming here... poisonous to your species? Well, it's not to humans."
Jamie calmly ate a piece of food, and Trilyn barelu held back from smacking it away again (he literally stopped himself moments before he had smacked another piece of food), deciding to trust the human on this. The human was perfectly fine.
"Citrus isn't poisonous to humans. Nor is capsaicin. This chicken just has a lot of citrus cooked in."
Jamie ate another bite, and Trilyn felt his heart stop racing a little- it really was fine.
These damn humans. How would they even evolve to eat capsaicin or citrus? Were they forced to when a drought happened? No, those types of foods need more water. Perhaps competition?
And so Trilyn asked Jamie what exactly led to them being able to eat capsaicin or citrus, expecting either an 'I don't know' or an explanation.
What he didn't expect was that humans hadn't evolved to eat either. They just did anyways.
"Why?" Trilyn asked, exasperated. "Why would you eat poison?"
Jamie just smirked. Little bastard.
