Their plumage was red, black, and yellow. Beings thought they were either venomous, or poisonous. But they've never heard of the false coral snake, or other such pretenders. -- Anon Guest
"Red then yellow, kills a fellow. Red then black, venom lack." -- Terran Mnemonic.
It's rather shocking that truly dangerous creatures bear the same rough colour scheme. So it was no shock that the dangerous things became marked in a similar fashion... and then dangerous people. The code was well established by the time P'rrti entered the greater Galactic Alliance concourse. Ze was new to this world, and initially thought people were respecting hir space as a Havenworlder.
Until someone asked the question, "Are you venomous or poisonous to touch?"
P'rrti boggled at her, confused. "I'm a Havenworlder," ze said. "Very harmless."
"Why are you danger-coloured?"
That was how P'rrti learned the code. How all of the Alliance was colour-coded for the convenience of all. And since it was the convenience of all, the fact of hir plumage was a relatively small inconvenience. It wasn't hir fault that hir plumage matched every warning for those who used the narrow visible spectrum.
P'rrti's striped plumage had been made to dazzle during display, not for the purposes of threat, but for the purposes of romance.
Ze sought out guidance on what to do. P'rrti knew that plumage dyes existed, but wasn't certain if that was a worthy measure. Ze subtly worried that the result would make hir plumage look sickly, and tried to weigh it against accidentally frightening everyone who saw hir.
There were other alternatives, including a body covering with the words, Certified Safe! across it in GalStand. There were holographic veils that could cover over P'rrti's feathers to produce the illusion of safer colouring. And there were plenty of beauticians who could not only dye P'rrti's plumage, but maintain its appearance of health.
That was too many options. P'rrti took refuge in the counsellor's office to think it over. None were truly appealing, all were an expense that ze had to consider as part of hir future plans.
Until a Human sat by them and asked, "Excuse me. May I pet you?"
"You're not afraid of my toxins?" asked P'rrti.
"Nah, you're red then black. Poison lack." The Human beamed, careful not to bare their teeth in the Deathworlder way. So they knew how to be polite around Havenworlders. "So... may I?"
P'rrti realised then and there that ze was feeling more than a little touch-starved. "It would be my pleasure," ze said honestly.
All it took was a Terran mnemonic to spread virally for folks to get used to hir.
Convergent evolution was just amazing.
[Photo by T I M E L O R D on Unsplash]
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