"So what happens to you is gonna affect me whether we're datin' or not," Hawk continued, and added in an almost mutter, "An' it woulda been nice to know what I was gettin' into beforehand, but..."

This seemed to startle Numair. He looked away, and after a moment, whispered a slightly panicked "...Oh no."

Hawk raised an eyebrow. "You din't realize...?"

Numair waved him off. "I--I did, but--" he stammered, actually seeming unseated by the whole thing, "I wasn't thinking long-term, I suppose, a-and--and it was different, before the Assembly hearing, and seeing--"

He broke off when Hawk calmly reached out and grabbed the hem of his housecoat. Hawk loosened his grip immediately as Numair looked round at him, and said, "It's okay. You got me back to Liya. I woulda said yes to anythin' for that.

"Only, trouble tends to find me, y'know," he added dryly. "I dunno if you realized that when you sponsored me. Sorry in advance."

"Oh," Numair replied, equally dryly, "It can't be worse than the trouble I'm already in."

Hawk stretched out a wing into the sunlight filtering down through the trees, fanning it out to its full extent. "Then let's forget about all a' that."