They think the creature is just another earth cat. They should have listened to the warnings about the black creatures with the white stripes down their backs. The invaders need a lot of care and decontamination! -- Anon Guest
"Uh, Byox? Don't pet that one!"
"It's a harmless cat. Look, it has it's tail up, and what a floof!"
"No don't--" too late. Human Dez winced in pure sympathy as Byox got the full treatment from a neighbourhood skunk. "Ooohhhh... Ouch."
Byox shrieked. "That was not a cat!"
"I tried to warn you," Dez was already messaging the nearest Emergency Response Teams. "We're gonna need a decon tent, a lot of tomato juice and a lot of toothpaste."
"And some Solv-it-ol for my clothes?" said Byox hopefully.
"Friend... it's probably going to be easier to burn them... but we can try."
Try they did. The ERT's got the smell removed from Byox's body, but... even Solv-it-ol couldn't get the stench out of the fabric. The old tried-and-true standbys would stain them forever, and Byox had to make a choice...
"These were gifts," mourned Byox. "Gifts from you and Taur."
"And they're unsalvageable. We can gift you other clothes."
Byox called Human Taur and also gained sympathetic commiserations. "If they gotta be burned, they gotta be burned," Taur said. "We'll hold a Viking Funeral for them if you're that upset. Give 'em a send-off worthy of beloved objects."
Byox, dressed in a tourist-trap branded shirt and skirt, sighed. "There won't be fireworks about this, will there?"
"Not if you don't want fireworks," said Dez.
[Photo by Elisa Stone on Unsplash]
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