break and enter

It was a thoughtful question, and Sedna tried to offer what she thought was a reassuring smile, but it felt foreign on her face. “Nobody’ll expect yer ter fly solo until yer comfortable.” Each of the jars Otis had passed over were bought down in turn and the monochrome woman squinted against the distortion the glass offered. “Otis ‘as a habit o’ passin’ over poisons, so I know that this one needs ter be treated a bit more carefully. O’ course, ‘e’s a lot smaller’n we are, and poison is in th’ dose.” She opened her jaws to pull the cork stopper free and gave the jar a sniff. “This one is pennyroyal, it can be mixed up as a tea an’ used as a contraceptive, but add too much an’ yer’ll give yer patient th’ shits. May even shit themselves ter death. O’ course yer can add other herbs to it ter offset the side effects an’ make it taste a bit less like ass. But it’s not gonna be pleasant fer whoever chooses ter take it.” She gave a shrug and added it to the pile of things she wanted to keep.

The jar of dark dried berries made her eyes light up ever so slightly. “Ah, now this, this’ll either be dried blueberries, or nightshade. What do yer reckon we’d use either o’ those for?”

“Speech”