Occupational Hazard

io9 has a regular feature they call Concept Art Writing Prompts. They post a piece of art and invite readers to submit stories based upon the illustration. I've started writing short—often aiming for very, very short—stories as a warm-up to my real writing. 

This is another one based on a piece by Evan Campbell. 

Occupational Hazard

There was nothing to be done. When one was ambassador to the Ganoobians, one simply did not risk an intergalactic incident merely because one was served a dish outside–even well outside—one's preferred diet. Kribldenak looked at the plate, tried to pretend he didn't recognize his lifelong pet, picked up his eating utensils, smiled graciously, and got to work.