How would Jade react to a prefect who already knows all about foraging? If he had already caught feelings, and if he was still just meeting the..
Example: He's out and about because Mountain Lovers Club and the prefect is out there with a friend. He finds them playing 'death or dinner' with mushrooms, berries, and other plants.
Love your work! Your stories always make me laugh.
I finished the last episode of The Apothecary Diaries a few weeks ago and this made me think of a semi-mad scientist Prefect who is super knowledgeable about herbs and plants. They're scarily good at potions, and are able to identify poisons with just a sniff and a silver cup.
“They are also prone to straight up eat those poisonous plants because they just want to know what it feels like”.
Jade is rather fond of you, infatuated even! Mostly due to your straight-up feral antics in potions, as you and Grim are constantly causing all sorts of mayhem with your potions. He loves watching you as there's never a boring moment with you around, and you're so diligent with trying again and again to get your potion just right, Jade might just say he's charmed!
Come a random, warm Saturday, when Jade is out hiking and taking photos of the landscape, that that charm turns into a full-blown crush. It's quite peaceful, until he hears some rustling nearby. He softens his footsteps, cautious in case it's a wild animal, until he hears voices.
Peeking through the foliage of the bushes and trees, Jade saw you and Ruggie picking at a wild blackberry bush. You two were quietly sharing ideas on what you could do with your share, evidently splitting your findings in half.
“Think I can mix this with the dandelions for a salad?”
“No, blackberries are too tart. You should make them into a sauce, you got those discounted pork chops from Sam's, right? I asked him to save some for you.”
“Yeah, I almost forgot about those I was so busy, thanks. I can do that...hey, what about those mushrooms down there?”
Jade watched as you looked towards where Ruggie was pointing, at a cluster of orange-yellow funnel shaped mushrooms. To the novice, they looked like the chanterelle mushroom. Edible and delightful in a saute, the ones that Ruggie were pointing at were not chanterelles, but false chanterelles.
You gasped in delight, your eyes practically glittering as you squealed, “Oh! Neat!”
They looked similar, but the gills were different and the colors more white. Jade's eyes widen as you reached for them; they weren't fatal, but they would cause some stomach issues. Jade could use those blackberries anyways, so he decided to step in and 'save' you in exchange for a third of the berries.
“I recommend that you don't eat those, those are false chanterelles. They are rather harsh on the stomach.”
You both jumped as Jade emerged from the thicket, Ruggie giving him a wave as your face soured. Ruggie opened his mouth, the beginning of a 'thanks' leaving his lips before you bluntly replied.
“I know what I'm doing, thanks.” Jade blinked as you took out a small knife, cutting the cluster up and throwing them in your pouch. “And you're wrong, they're not false chanterelles.”
Jade slowly blinked again as you turned to him, displaying a small orange mushroom in your fingertips. Looking at it closer, Jade noted that the gills were well-developed and unforked.
“These are jack-o-lanterns, they're poisonous, so you were right that they are 'harsh' on the stomach.”
Jade's open fell slightly open, and Ruggie let out a harsh yelp, as you popped it your mouth and started chewing.
“Prefect!” Jade stepped back as Ruggie rushed over to you and attempted to pry your chewing mouth open. “I thought I said no more eating poisons! Weeds or herbs! The nurse is going to murder me! This is why I don't take you foraging with me!”
Jade watched as you swallowed, just as Ruggie managed to open your mouth, sticking your tongue out and saying 'aaaah' mockingly to him. Like you weren't even worried that you'd just swallowed poison.
“I told you, I'm super resistant to poisons! I used to eat them all the time!” You closed your eyes and smile, hands on your cheeks as you gushed.
“This one is gastrointestinal only, it leads to nausea, vomiting, and sometimes diarrhea.” You continued squealing like a schoolgirl about her crush.
“But my favorite are the ones that make your tongue go numb and body tingly until you're convulsing on the ground and twitching! They feel so electrifying! Aaa! How am I supposed to resist?”
Ruggie continued to fuss over you, dragging you back to the main path and muttering about having the nurse keep you on a leash. So concerned with you and your health, neither he nor you noticed Jade's wide eyes and red flush as you left.
Once you two were out of earshot, Jade clutched at his chest, right where his heart was, and fell to his knees like he'd been shot. Perhaps cupid finally decided to let loose the arrow he'd been pointing at Jade's heart for some time.
The glazed look in your eyes, the blissful smile, the near drunken looking flush on your cheeks. You'd looked absolutely breathtaking, you looked like you truly appreciated the mushroom for all its beauty and danger.
Would you eat anything? If jade were to gift you with a bouquet of hemlock and foxglove, would you sniff it and smile at him like he presented you with something priceless? Would you eat a white capped mushroom if he presented to you, taking the gamble between it being a death cap or a paddy straw mushroom?
Would you let him watch you writhe on the ground from eating fugu, the blowfish's poison entering your system? You wanted a tingling sensation? You wanted the pins and needles, the sweating, the tremors as you slowly became paralyzed?
Yes, you would, wouldn't you? Up until he presented you with some activated charcoal (you'd probably have some anyway), holding your hair back so you could puke your stomach out. Then he'd be able to nurse you to health again, up until you excitedly asked him to test out a new concoction with that same glitter in your eyes.
Jade covered his face, letting out a small whining noise as he felt the heat fill his face. Oh, how pathetic he must look, curled into himself and red-faced, squealing into his hands like a child. Can you fault him, though? He's hopelessly in love!
