Honeyed Pasture [M] bargaining chip

Family medical history had been his next question, so he was pleased when Hokulani offered it freely. He filed the information away, and the woman shifted easily from lover to patient in his mind. Perhaps he liked being a doctor just a little too well.

"They should not inherit anything troublesome from my side," he told her, though there was perhaps a part of him that wondered if his breathing trouble could be passed on. It had only started after that illness that had almost claimed his life — but his siblings had been ill as well, and none of them had suffered lasting effects. He'd long since decided to treat it as an old injury.

He stood and stretched, a gamely glint in his eyes.

"I will make every effort to attend you, and to be there in plenty of time," he replied, his tail gently whisking. "We ought, then, to be sure that it takes — don't you think?"

Perhaps he was pressing his luck. Aureli was not usually a risk-taker, but in these situations, he found himself ever weaker to temptation.