If you don't want to be a tripping hazard, you might try being taller is probably not the best conversational gambit here. Rinzler had clearly not taken this form by choice, and as deliciously telling as Bel might find it, he'll probably remember this later.

(Which is not to say that there won't be MID video taken the minute the kitten isn't looking. Not for the network, but some things need to be documented for posterity.)

The little shoulder-twitch is just beautiful to watch. Everyone on the Moira has grown familiar with Earth-type cats and their pointy bits, though Bel's heard the homegrown article is often much bigger, and the coiling resentment is palpable. It takes a heroic effort to keep a straight face, but Bel manages it, light voice as neutral as hell. "If you need a lift back to the ship, I was going that way myself."