"What?" Nester hissed back in their reptilian language.

"It's only in the incipient stages, but that's what the grayish discolorations on your neck and forearms are all about."

Nester sat quietly, reaching a sharp, taloned finger into his mouth to scratch at his sharp, beige teeth.

Scale-rot wasn't a very common condition, and the name was perhaps a bit misleading. It wasn't so much a disease of the skin, but of the immune system. When beings of his race remained isolated from the opposite sex for an extended period of time, glands crucial to the proper function of the immune system shut off, leaving a Lesher prone to many diseases. Prior to the immune system shutting off, patches of skin turned gray and black, making a decayed pattern appear, hence the term scale-rot.

There was only one known cure.

"What ever am I to do?" Nester asked, aware of the answer, yet hoping for an alternative.

"You must bed with a woman immediately," Hissar said calmly.

"Must I?" Nester asked. "With all the new medical breakthroughs of our industrial age, can you not prescribe some medication?"

"Our understanding of our own hormonal physiology is still something of a mystery. Perhaps in future centuries... Now what in the depths is wrong with you, Nester, that you find it offensive to sleep with a female?"

"Just the thought of sleeping in the same bed with a stranger... It creeps me out," Nester said.

"Well, it need not be a stranger. Perhaps you know of a young woman willing to assist you."

"Do you believe I would be in this shape now, had I known one?"

"I suppose not," Hissar replied. "Well, in this day and age, your condition is becoming more and more common, with solitary-minded men and women shying away from traditional pairings. There are a few clinics in the city, alone. I'm sure I could set you up in a bedding center for a few nights."

"Never!" Nester protested. "I find the thought of a stranger repulsive enough. I'll not share a nest with a horde for group sleep."

"I'm afraid there's little alternative," Hissar replied. "Unless you wish to die from having your immune system shut down, you've got to find someone of the opposite sex to bed down with you for a couple of nights."

"I'll not pay for it," Nester said. "The thought of sleeping with another is revolting, and I'm no masochist. I'll not pay for self-torture."

Doctor Hissar let his scaly brow droop a little, as he pondered the dilemma. The slick, green shine of his still-youthful scales revealed the strength of his glands, as he’d been wed since puberty. His had been an arranged marriage, an old and practical custom which was quickly vanishing in the modern era. While he could understand Nester's morality, he could never fathom his need.

"What will it take for you to bed down with a female?" Hissar asked.

Nester thought for a moment, sliding his thin tongue around in his mouth, tasting his teeth. After disgusting himself with numerous imagined situations, he gave Hissar his answer. "It would have to be a woman with whom I would be comfortable, a true consort."

"Yet you know of no such woman," Hissar replied.

"No, but she must be out there, somewhere. Tell me, where do unbonded females roam in this city?"

"I haven't the faintest," Hissar said. "Tell you what. Since it's late, and your need is so great, I'll help you find what you need. It will be a night on the town for us both."

"You have no idea how relieving that sounds."

"Yes, anyway, let me give my wife a call and we'll be on our way," Hissar replied, pulling on his shiny, black doctor's cloak. The white insignia on the collar and sleeves noted his credentials and place of education, both of which were highly revered.

Walking into the lobby, Hissar stepped up to his secretary's desk, which had already been vacated for the evening. There were no patients in the office at this dusk hour, except for Nester, leaving the young doctor free to phone his mate in relative privacy.

Picking up the phone receiver, Hissar tapped the cradle a couple of times and caught an operator's attention. "Laushek 442-395, please," Hissar requested.

There was a brief pause, after which the ring tone sounded and a feminine voice answered. "Hissar residence."

"Ah, Haushina, tell me you haven't prepared dinner already," Hissar said.

"Grior, I served it an hour ago, as usual. I was just about to see the children to bed," she replied.

"It's that late? I've been so busy today, with spur of the moment patients and the like. That's why I've called."

"You're going to be out even later?" Haushina asked with surprise.

"I have a special patient I must attend, but don't worry. I won't be terribly long. I'm sure we'll have ample sleep this night."

With a loving farewell, the doctor and his wife ended their call, and Hissar's attention returned to Nester.

"Is your wife upset?" Nester asked.

"She would be, had I told her it was you I was helping. She has a certain resentment for my childhood chums, let alone one with scale-rot."

"So that's why I haven't been invited over for dinner lately.”