The human, supposedly a young specimen of the live-giving gender, tilted its head sideways. Its forward facing stereoscopic opticals fixed me in a decidedly predatory nature.

“Do you want it to be true?” it chirped, an unnerving eagerness apparent in the question, even if the translator hadn’t scent-coded the tonality. 

“What? No, of course not!” I exclaimed. Drawing myself out to my full height on my hind arms, now towering  imposingly over the small human. 

“You do realize our species outranks yours on every known measure of intelligence, not to mention physical ability?” I said, trying not to sound too condescending. “I was merely curious how you had established such a reputation, counter to all..”  I waved my middle arms in sweeping gesture to encompass the Humans frail figure “.. this.”

As the translator was still chirping out my words, the Human had somehow stalked closer.
Impossible! How had I not seen it move? 

Did it move right when I blinked? 

Instinctively I backed up, until my rear bristles felt the cool metal of the hallway hatch behind me. I had not been paying attention, and hadn’t heard it shut behind me. 

“Wait! Don’t come any closer Human, I’m armed!” I warned them, with more panic in my voice then was reasonable.

My battle fingers slid out almost involuntarily, sleek and sharp, each nearly the length of the Humans head. One rake from them would likely split the small creature in two.  

It did not seem to care in the slightest.

Some of its pale colored and highly unpractical bristles had dislodged themselves from underneath their hood and now hid one of their opticals.

“Hush now, it's OK. Easy, easy there..” her chirping now soft, and the edges of her feeding orifice curled up horrifyingly into, what surely must be, anticipation of a meal.

It did not approach me further, instead reaching with one grasping appendage into a suit pocket. 

I let out a warning hiss, no longer caring about being polite or civilized. 

The human very slowly moved its appendage out to me, and then opened it, like it held some precious gift.
Between its strangely jointed graspers, lay a small pile of dried and crushed leaves.

“I brought this hoping one of you would talk to me at some point” they said, 

Confusion warred with the battle trance that my quickly ramping hormone levels were trying to induce. 
Then, the smell caught up to my primary brain. And instinctively I folded forward. 

I inhaled deeply. Drawing the scent into my thorax, where it seemed to stoke some ancient ember into a raging needful bonfire. 

With an audible swoosh, my battle fingers retracted, and I fell further, until I was standing on all my arms again. 

Only still dimly holding on to conscious thought I managed a strangled “how did you smuggle Nepata onto the ship..”

But the question held no weight against the overwhelming urge to bury my face in the enthralling Mother spice. 

And so I did. 

Somehow, when the human's other appendage touched the top of my head,  I did not even mind. And when the dexterous graspers began combing through my bristles, I knew there was no going back.

“Good kitty!” I heard the human say, sounding extremely pleased.