The encounter with Draekon had been unplanned. That much was obvious, at least. It had just been a spur of the moment thing, when Aurum had gone on a walk to clear his head and the tiger had suddenly emerged from the shadows in a brand new form, begging the proxy to listen. Draekon hadn't smelled at all of the Pitt then, which made sense considering the other hadn't been there in months, having abandoned them after the rescue raid. Aurum had practically been in hysterics during their conversation, confused and hurt and desperately trying to remain angry at Draekon for disappearing on him. But then the other had revealed that he had always been around, lingering in the loner lands and watching over Aurum in an effort to help him remain safe... Aurum had crumbled after that, and suddenly they had been kissing, and there had been tears in his eyes, and one thing had led to another. When Aurum had woken up the next morning and found he couldn't shapeshift back to his usual lion form, he had thought very little of it. It wouldn't have been the first time he had been stuck in a form before, and usually he just needed some time to relax, or get used to shifting back and forth. Unbeknownst to him, this had been the sign of something much more important.

The proxy had already come up with a cover story for what had happened if anybody asked why he was stuck in the form, figuring it was best not to mention Draekon in any way. He didn't want to open that can of worms up again. So, instead he had just decided to say that he had an encounter with a loner while drunk, and leave it at that. It was rather believable, considering the male had been more than a little depressed lately, and going out to get drunk to dull the pain was hardly the most unbelievable thing in the world. One might've questioned why the whole "sleeping together" part of the story needed to be involved, but that was mostly just to explain why this new form was female, while the rest of the things he shifted into had always very intentionally been male. Either way, all things considered, this was hardly the worst form for him to be stuck in. It was far better than his undead hellhound form, what with its silky and warm cream and orange fur, pale blue eyes, and fluffy, welcoming figure. He didn't have his wings on it, which was a little bit of an annoyance, but it unfortunately had retained his usual trait of only having one eye. That was actually the reason why most had been able to recognize him so quickly.

So far, the only problem with this form seemed to be... well, the sickness. Aurum wasn't sure what the hell he had caught, but he had been feeling weird, for the past few days. All of his senses felt oddly heightened, particularly his sense of smell and taste. His appetite was constantly fluctuating, desperately seeking out one type of prey while viciously rejecting the other. Finally, there was the vomiting. It usually came out of nowhere, with a sudden, panicked wave of nausea and him rushing for the nearest open space where he wouldn't actively be puking on someone. He hadn't gone to Selby or any of the other medics so far because he honestly didn't think that it was all that big of a deal. After all, his symptoms weren't bad enough that they couldn't simply be something like the flu, and he was sure that Selby had his paws full with himself and Moth, and their soon to arrive kits. He could make it through this on his one, just until the stomach bug hopefully passed and he could shift back to his usual golden self.

Or at least, that's what he had been hoping to do. Unfortunately for him, it seemed as though his little "stomach bug" was overwhelmingly, stubbornly attached to him. He had just been minding his own business, talking casually with a few npcs about patrolling schedules and newcomers, when suddenly an all too familiar wave of nausea had come over him. The proxy had mumbled out a half hearted apology before he went bolting for the tavern, knowing that there was a large trash bin in front of the building he had helped remodel. Thankfully, he managed to get there in time, his paws colliding with the side of the bin as he hastily pulling himself up, his very unfortunate lunch being deposited inside. It was several long seconds before he finally slumped down next to the bin, seemingly done, although the nausea still clung to him. He groaned loudly, leaning his head against one of the railings of the tavern as he grumbled bitterly, "Ugh... I really need this fucking sickness to pass..." He didn't even stop to consider the possibility of pregnancy for a moment, having never had to deal with the threat of it ever before.

All things considered, of all the people that could have shown up first to witness him puking his guts out, Aurum supposed he was glad it was Kaito. Despite their occasional butting of heads, the boy was always fairly helpful to him, and this proved to be yet another one of those times where the other was thinking of how to assist. Taking a deep breath inward – and immediately regretting it afterwards, wrenching his head farther away from the bins – the proxy found himself mumbling softly, "Some water would be nice, if you wouldn't mind. I'd get it myself, but I feel like pure shit... I've been getting nauseous for what feels like days now." The tigon closed his eyes briefly to stop the spinning of the world around him, very much not wanting to have do pull himself back up for a round two with the bin. Had this been anyone else besides himself, Aurum probably would've found it obvious to identify the source of the problem. However, since it was him, the thought of pregnancy never even crossed his mind once. After all, he was so unused to even having a female body that the possibility remained a 100% impossibility in his head.