“Tel me you’re not going to eat that.”

  Kraussen took a look with fear at what Jaime was holding. He shivered as his eyes turned yellow, not believing what they were witnessing.

  “I’m sorry?” Jaime answered, interrupted mid bite.

  “Do you have any idea of the amount of chemicals in that? Do you know what would happen to your skin if applied directly?”

  Jaime turned to Alan, who shared his expression of confusion. Still with the fork in the air, he told Kraussen: “Doctor, it’s a pineapple. You do know what a pineapple is, right?”

  “Of course I know, I’ve lived on Earth for years studying the flora.” Kraussen talked back, his eyes a bright orange and irritated about the insinuation that he was so ignorant he wouldn’t know what that fruit of a plant (the thing that was his specialty) was.

  “So?”

  “So I know what kind of barbarities you humans consume for fun, and I hope I don’t have to witness it even here.”

  Alan almost snorted. Jaime didn’t know if he should laugh too or rub his forehead. But Kraussen was determined to stand his ground. There were things one could never understand, even if that one was a brilliant scientist from another world. An entire society that shared the bizarre custom of directly consuming foods that were guaranteed to be a hazard for themselves, 100% of the time? Well, that was one of those things.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  From plants that evolved to be venomous and harm whoever eat them like mint and coffee, to fruits that burn from the interior like pineapple and chilies, to addictive substances like sugar… And sometimes they even combined these things! It was unbelievable. From Kraussen’s point of view, humans lived tempting luck daily in a sort of morbid obsession of testing their own limits or a cultural masochism.

  Sure, he consumed some of those same foods. But he was a being from a different world, with a biology that allowed him to endure the consequences. He’ll never suffer stomachaches, or migraines caused by abstinence, or the issues created by excess. But humans? Humans went around and about wearing themselves from the inside out, almost with pleasure.

  “Don’t worry, it’s not dangerous.” Jaime was able to say after the initial shock.

  “Chemistry says otherwise.” Kraussen crossed his arms, his eyes a deep brown again, filled with confidence. He’d learnt from humans that crossing his arms was a sign to show a complete lack of faith, which was what he felt exactly at that moment since he had science backing him up.

  “Chemistry will eat his words like I’ll eat the pineapple”, and Jaime ate it with dramatism.

  Kraussen flinched, but Alan just laughed. The doctor shook his head and decided to just let it be. Even after years living among them, humans were truly incomprehensible sometimes.