Leama had landed on the edge of town, and found the perfect creature to spy on some humans, hoping to find the owner of one of the SOS blips.
A small creature, furry, four legs, pointed ears, small and sensitive nose, whiskers, big shiny eyes, and a tail that looked less useful than a tentacle, but pretty. Best of all, most humans were eager to interact with the animals, and were not surprised when they spurred their advances.
Leama managed to take a quick sample from a sleeping cat, in order to transform. Then it was just a matter of time being used to study how these animals acted.
Clumsily coordinating the legs and tails, Leama fell off things as they practiced the elegant ways in which these animals moved. Their translator picked up on humanity’s name for the furry little hunter shape they now inhabited; cat.
Cats hunted, they balanced they did this thing called purring which was the weirdest sensation Leama had felt in a long time. Vibrating from the inside out wasn’t in the repertoire of any Qwortarian creature. Another odd thing, was the extent of self grooming cats did. It was eating, sleeping, and grooming, day in and day out while Leama kept an eye out for a human who might actually be a shape shifter in disguise.
It was during another grooming session, rough tongue taking dirt and grime from their fur coat, Leama felt a pressure in their gut. The heaviness had been bothering them on and off for a bit, but today, there was an extra edge to the intensity.
Their whole body shook and something came up and out Leama’s throat. Upon opening their eyes, they spotted the white tangle of fur and liquid that had come up with the fur ball.
It was digusting, and Leama curled up under a dumpster for safety while they figured out how to turn off this feature. They were never going to cough up a hairball again.
Word count: 332
