Azura tilted her head as she settled back down in her seat, her screechsnap was sitting happily in it's pot and she wearily pushed some of her sweaty hair back from her face.

The arm that had been holding the plant felt like a lead weight and she was trying to massage it a bit when Professor Meyers spoke.

Laws against plant cruelty?

She raised her hand to speak. "I think there should be laws. They can feel pain.. so it's up to us to protect them and make sure they are safe and happy. They should be protected." She said with a nod as she looked at Snappy, she wouldn't want anyone hurting Snappy or Sunshine.. She reached out to give her plant a little pat as she took a breath..

She needed water.

O_o They were going to CUT UP plants that could FEEL?! This didn't seem like fun.

ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY SQUIRMED!?

Couldn't they just... petrify them? That would work, right?

Kaycee examined the plant in front of her. She spotted a dead branch and attempted to hold it still enough to cut it. But... this was NOT working out for her. Couldn't they work in pairs or something? Or tie it down? A little help would be nice.

Juno loosened her grip, though she didn't think it was that tight, it was the same as she had on the Daffodils....these must be very, very sensitive plants.

As she was loosening, her Screechsnap, though still very wiggly, calmed down to were it was manageable again. "Sorry little one. Didn't mean to be too rough. Now I am going to cut off some dead branches and leaves so do try not to wiggly too much. I don't want to hurt you." Juno quickly picked up the pruning sheers and located the first dead branch.

She did just as the Professor asked, snipping off the dead branch at an angle. She felt the Screechsnap shudder a little. "Don't worry, almost done. Two more branches and two leaves and we are done." Juno continued to the next branch, snipping it off at an angle. Then went to the last branch and snipped it off at an angle as well.

"See that wasn't so bad. Now just the two leaves and we are done, little one!" Juno located the first leaf, putting her sheers in exactly the right location and snipping off the leaf at an angle. She then found the last leaf and snipped it off at a perfect angle as well.

Juno placed her sheers on the table and listened to the discussion. She didn't really have anything to add. There should be laws to protect those magical plants.

Yeah, Esme was completely ignoring those garden gnomes. She was way too busy trying to keep a grip of her screechsnap. Besides, not like she was getting a valentine message or anything.

Keeping the firm grip on her plant, she picked up a pair of shears. This was the way that she helped her mother work in the garden at home so it was her favourite way to get this done. If it ain't broke don't fix it and all that jazz. Furrowing her brows slightly in concentration, she positioned the tool so that the blade was hitting one of the dead branches at an angle. Snip. Easy as pie.

Snip. Snip. Snip.

Continuing to struggle with the plant, she cut away branches. "See, this isn't so bad?" At least she had experience with this kind of thing? Granted this was the first time she worked with a plant that both moved and also expressed pain. Huh.

Thinking she was finished, the screechsnap decided to try and get out of her grip, and Esme had to put the sheers down for a moment as she wrestled with the plant. "Hey, you need to let me finish!" Goooosh, someone was impatient. Shaking her head, she picked up the shears once things were under control again. Snip. Snip. Snip. There. That was the dead leaves dealt with as well.

Pleased with herself, she raised her hand to answer the question. "Plants are alive and feel pain just like we do. Who are we to say that what they feel is less? Or that they don't deserve protection? I think they deserve it." There was more she could say on the matter but she didn't want to be long-winded. Professor Myers would get the gist of things.

Fiyero considered Professor Myers's question as he listened to some of his classmates' answers. He wasn't sure how he felt about laws against plant cruelty. He liked the idea of protecting anything with feelings, but where would they draw the line? Surely they wouldn't lock people up for hurting a plant accidentally, would they?

He raised his hand. "I'm sort of on the fence about it," he said. "I'm all for protecting anything with feelings, but I think punishing somebody for accidentally hurting a plant, say they snipped the wrong leaf while pruning or something like that, is going a bit too far. A law against plant cruelty should take intent into consideration, not just the act itself."

Kitty was fighting a losing battle trying to hold her plant still and cut at the same time. It thrashed to and fro like a ship tossing to and fro in the middle of an epic thunderstorm at sea. There was no way she could cut its leaves now, not like this! And its shrieking only made everything twice as hard. It wasn't hurt or anything, no, it was just complaining.

But just as she was about to ask Professor Myers for help, Jaemin came and offered to help her. Merlin bless him. Kitty gave him a grateful look and nodded because she wasn't sure if he would be able to hear her over the shrieking of the Screechsnap. "Yes please, that would be helpful!" She only shouted to be heard over its screaming.

It became much easier after that as Jaemin held her Screechsnap still and she began cutting off its dried branches and leaves. It eventually quieted down. "Thanks Jaemin," said Kitty with a sincere smile as they finished. "That would have been impossible on my own."

Just then Professor Myers asked a question about plant morality. Hmmm. Kitty raised her hand. "I think there should be laws to protect plants who can feel pain from being intentionally hurt. If someone accidentally hurts them then I don't think they should apply though."

Yes good. He was going to help her even if she said she didn't need his help, honestly, because she seemed to REALLY be struggling with that plant. The small boy very carefully held it for her while she snipped away, patting the bloom lightly to try and calm it. It grew quieter as she worked, and less raucous, and when she was finally done he gave her a grin and a nod. "Good job!"

He patted her screechsnap one more time before reaching for his own, patting it absently as he too offered a response to the professor's question.

"It's kinda hard to decide how laws like that would work though, isn't it professor?" He said, rather softly, head tilted to one side thoughtfully. "I think it would have to fall under the same guidelines as stuff like animal cruelty, but it'd be even lesser, because animals are fully sentient and stuff... so in the end, is there even a point?"

They probably couldn't even properly quantify the pain that plants felt, could they? Because they didn't have brains like animals did. For all they knew, the pain the plants felt would be equal to a pinprick for humans - barely worth actually bothering about. It was hard to decide stuff like that when the target of the abuse would be something that you could argue didn't even have the stuff required for it to properly feel pain...

"I don't think there should be laws. I think people shouldn't be terrible, but... we don't really know enough about plants and plant pain to put laws down for it, do we?"

Paul thought Tencius' thoughts were interesting. Deforestation was not what he would count as CRUELTY, per say, but yes, along the same lines and all. "Well, fruits and grains can't feel pain, can they, Tenacius?" he asked with a smirk.



Well.

That happened. And Paul thought it was....FABULOUS. GREAT. GRAND. LOVELY. AH GLITTER. He clapped a little for the creepy cute little gnomes and was reminded why he never kept gnomes around the vineyard at home---HAHAHAH NO. "Well--that was certainly--interesting--" he blinked a little.

But he suppose that he was happy there was some LOVE SPREADIN going on.



Paul smiled in Azura's direction. She had such a good little heart. "Perhaps you're right, Azura. But then again, not all plants feel pain...and most people think 'plant cruelty' is a bunch of hogwash anyways. But I agree that...you know, we should be careful with those plants who DO feel pain."



While Juno was quiet during the brief discussion, Esme was not, and Paul smiled in both of their directions as Esme spoke. "Well, you seem to feel very strongly for that, Miss Darcy!" he chuckled a little.



Paul nodded. "I agree with you there, Fiyero. I do. But sometimes...when you're not careful, people can say you were 'neglectful," when it came to children and animals, that was. "But it seems so silly to...punish someone for accidentally cutting off the wrong leaf...."



Well, Kitty's screechsnap was giving her a run for her money, eh? Paul was about to step in and help, too, when little Jaemin offered his services. Nice boy, he was.

"It seems you and Fiyero are in agreement, then! Very interesting, yes."



He expected a long answer from Jaemin. He also...didn't quite expect what the boy DID answer with, but he was impressed with, at least, how the boy's thought process worked. "Well, you're right about that. And we'll never truly know what it's like to BE a plant..."

Hmm..

It was all just...so fascinating to Paul! He smiled and clapped his hands a few times before bouncing to his feet. "Well! I think we're out of time for today, kiddos!" he grinned. "That was a wonderful lesson! You all did so well and were so caring and kind to the plants--I greatly appreciate it! Thank you all so much for the good thinking and the great behavior!" he gestured at the door. "Just leave everything as is...I know you all have more classes to go to!"

And Paul would just tidy up a little after them and then put the plants where they were supposed to go in the correct greenhouses and stuff. The screechsnaps were being still....for now.