---

---

Darkness. Whirling darkness was all about him. His inhuman thoughts the only company he had as he fell through this unending hell. As he drifted through this lightless place, the place between worlds that was so much darker than his home ever could be, several thoughts crossed his mind. The loudest and most obvious being, "How the hell did I manage to screw that up?" He had been careful, so very careful while playing their long game. Always making sure to cover his tracks. To mask one lie with just enough truth to throw his opponents off of his trail. But despite all his caution... all his care, the other lords still managed to outsmart him.

And in the most humiliatingly obvious way as well. A tactic that he himself had used more times than he could count at this point.

They had played to his ego, making it seem as though he had finally defeated them all and won their billion years long political conflict, when they were in fact setting up a trap, one which he walked right into. Like a fool. It all happened so fast as well. One minute he was sitting on his throne, musing over ways to tame the westlands his keep stood in and finally bring them to heel, when the doors to his throne room were violently thrown open by a large procession of lords and common folk. He hadn't even had time to question them, let alone stand and defend himself, before they had taken him. He recalled being dragged from his glorious throne and cast into a holding cell before being left alone with nothing but his thoughts and the darkness to keep him company while his captors went forward with their plans.

Plans which he would not learn of till they came to fruition weeks later, when it was already too late for him to do anything about them. He was powerless to stop them from locking him into a more orderly, yet highly limited and easily worn out body. One that bore a very strong resemblance to the fleshy meatsuits that the homo-sapiens from Earth always walked about in, which gave him a good idea of what was going on. He was being exiled. And if the body he was being bound to was any indication, he was being sent to that boring blue marble of a world the monkeys inhabited. Something that was both good and bad.

It was good because the others did not intend to simply end his existence, but bad because he knew that realm lacked, as far as he knew, the one vital source of fuel on which not only his people's immortality relied... chaos energy. Of course, there wasn't much he could do about that at the moment. After all, he was no longer in control of thing's. His enemies were.

And after several hours spent getting him into his new form, it seemed as though they were finally ready to be rid of him. For wordlessly they opened a portal within his citadel, one which led into an abyss darker than anything he had ever seen before, and cast him in.

Thus he found himself plummeting through this empty and directionless place. The once powerful and cunning Alastor, Unifier of Chaazim and Subduer of Lords, now was nothing more than a lowly outcast, stripped of his power, might, and authority sentenced to live out the rest of his life on a backwater world inhabited by a pathetically primitive species. All brought about by his own hubris.

A very ironic end indeed.

Alastor shook his head and squinted as a piercing pinpoint of light appeared in the darkness, momentarily blinding his human visual organs. The place of his exile was fast approaching while the time for reflection on past events was quickly passing. Tensing up, and mentally preparing himself for a very rough landing, Alastor steeled himself as the light slowly engulfed his form...

Life was good. But the mornings not so much. Waking up and having to get up was a daily agony he could do without. In that aspect Andy would rather have a late or a night shift. The first major decision of the day was the method of transportation. Would he take his car or a motorcycle?

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

But it was nice to start the day with a decision that would have no real consequences. The moment he'd step into the hospital that would be different. For the simple reason putting on his motorcycle suit was an effort he didn't feel for doing right now, he chose for the car. With the roof down it would be an enjoyable drive, especially since there were few clouds in the sky and the sun was already up. He whistled, enjoying the feeling of wind blowing over his head. A few strands of hair escaped the elastic band that kept them together.

After he parked in front of the hospital, he entered the emergency department. "Good morning everyone!" he said as he walked through the department. The enthusiasm in his voice showed nothing of his trouble with getting up in the morning, but he went straight to the coffee pot. Of course he had had some coffee at home, but before he started working he liked to drink a cup as well and talk a bit with his fellow doctors and the nurses. Unless of course there was an emergency.

It wasn't possible to predict what would happen, it could be anything ranging from stitching a cut, or dealing with a victim of a car crash. And the diversity was what appealed to him. But he was grateful that he could start the day with a cup of coffee as his colleague of the previous shift finished up her last patient of the night.

---

---

Light, blinding and scathing, assaulted Alastors now extremely sensitive eyes as the cold air buffeted his naked body to and fro. Quickly plummeting towards the hard ground below, the Laizu did his best to reposition himself in the hopes of making his impact with whatever lay below a lot less painful. Although this was a completely new experience for him, it didn't take much to figure out that this body the others had stuck him in was highly sensitive to stimuli of all kinds, including pain. And while he had felt a form of psychic pain back in Chaazim during fights with other lords, it was very different from the kind of pain he would undoubtedly experience in a few minutes. The psychic pain was more like the pins and needles one feels when the circulation is cut off in a limb. Whereas human pain was much more pronounced. At least, that's what he assumed.

Either way, he'd find out soon enough, as the lush green outline of what looked to be some kind of park rapidly faded into view.

With the cup empty, and the sugar and caffeine mixture doing its job, Andy was ready to take on the world, as long as that world was within the clinical white walls of the emergency department. The lights in the ceiling were bright and the green floor had just been cleaned by someone of the cleaning crew. The smell of the detergent mixed with the smell of other disinfectants that were often used when treating wounds.

First he made a round over the department to check all the beds that were currently occupied and see who could be discharged or sent to one of the other departments.

It wasn't long before his first patient of the day arrived: a man broke his broken arm, fell down some stairs as he hurried to get to work on time.
"If you want my professional advice," Andy said, as he applied a new layer of the cast around the arm, "don't try to ignore gravity when you are in a hurry."
"I didn't," the man grumbled.
He continued with listing all the do's and don'ts when wearing a cast. When he was done he showed him how to make a sling with a triangular bandage, signed the necessary paperwork and left him in the care of a nurse as he went to the next patient.

---

---

Alastor let out a string of curses that would make even the most foul mouthed of people blush as he finally met the ground face first. Bouncing off of the green surface, Alastor's face twisted into a grimace as he felt several bones in this human body of his crack and break from the force of the impact. As he hit the ground, yet again, he rolled for a couple of feet before coming to a stop before some people sitting on a blanket. Gazing at them for a bit, his eyes narrowed out of pain rather than disdain or annoyance, he let out one final curse before sinking down into the inky black depths of unconsciousness as the sounds of screams and sirens echoed off in the distance...

When the doors opened and a patient was rolled in, Andy quickly joined them. He listened to the staff of the ambulance as he walked with them and they went into one of the treatment rooms. The nurses of the hospital together with those of the ambulance moved the unknown man from the stretcher to the bed.

There wasn't much time to wonder about the eye-witness reports, it only mattered that it was reported he had fallen from an undetermined height. He examined the patient's body, checking the pupil dilation, the heart rate and blood pressure, and signals for shock or internal bleeding. Then he ordered a full-body x-ray to be taken and two nurses rolled him away to make sure the ordered test was done.

When the patient returned with results of the scan, Andy examined them and assessed the damage, it looked surprisingly well for the reported fall, and he figured this man's body must have been in excellent shape when it happened, with a bit of luck with the angle of impact probably. Even though there were several fractures, there was no indication of ruptured organs or massive internal bleeding. Some of the bones needed to be set, the right arm, for instance, was fractured in three places, he didn't even need the scan to see one of the fractures. But the cracked ribs wouldn't need surgery, just a painful six weeks to heal.
There were several open wounds too, two deep enough to need stitches. And several bruises that were an indication of the physical trauma his patient had endured, but were not life-threatening.

For the second time that day he applied cast where it was needed and treated other wounds that needed to be treated, and as was doing so he kept an eye on the beeping heart monitor.

---

---

The steady beep of the heartbeat monitor quickened as Alastor's heart beat increased, his mind growing ever closer to consciousness. Letting out a pained moan, the Laizu turned human slowly opened his eyes, which had a soft violet glow even in the bright sterile environment of the room he was now laying in, and examined his surroundings. Instead of a blue expanse with periodic patches of cold and white or the churning ashen gray of his home plane, Alastor saw a barren white plane above him in which squares of light were embedded, hanging in midair a few feet above him. Turning his head slightly, or as best he could given the spikes of pain he now felt radiating throughout his body, a side effect of the impact most likely, the injured Laizu examined the rest of the strange room it now found itself in. Off to the right were several rectangular objects, some with odd billowy substances laying on them, with others being surrounded by the stuff, each of which was a different color. And off to the left was just more of the same, although there were some major differences with these rectangular objects than with those on his right side.

Unlike the objects off to his right, the one's on his left had what looked to be primitive technological devices attached to them. Most of which seemed to be monitors of some kind, though there were some metallic looking devices with clear fluid filled sacks hanging from hooks sitting next to them. Alastor let out a mental chuckle. These humans and their tech. It was somewhat similar to his peoples technology, albeit much less advanced or sophisticated. Hell, they still had to find a way to convert their physical forms into that of pure energy or something similar to it if they ever wanted to traverse dimensional barriers. That or come up with some pretty powerful devices... Alastor let his head fall back onto a soft puffy surface with a weak sigh as he ended that line of thinking. He'd be laying here all day if he kept musing like this. And that was time he could not afford to waste. He had to figure out a way of getting back to Chaazim. And possibly raising a military force along the way. His power had been greatly diminished since arriving and Alastor knew that his enhanced human body could only do so much, especially in a hostile realm like that of his home plane.

Maybe another dimension could provide him with the tech, forces, and resources he required. Zi'ir or Kakrin perhaps...

Alastor's eyes narrowed into thin slits as he immediately cut off his previous line of thought. For standing directly in front of him was a human male in a blueish shirt, pants, a white coat that reached down to his waist, gloves, and a mask.

"Who are you?" Alastor asked, his voice becoming low and menacing. "And where am I?"

The change in the heartbeat and the pained moan got Andy's attention, and his eyes moved over the monitor, the IV stand, the bags dropping their contents in the tubes leading to his body. He let out a soft sigh and started to clean up what he had used to treat the patient. It was good the man was waking up, not just because it was a sign of recovery, but no-one even knew who this man was.

He allowed him a moment to get his thoughts straight and take in the details of the room, many people who were brought in unconscious were confused at first, some didn't even remember what had happened. The patients seemed to remain calm, that was a good sign. Andy started to remove his first glove when he heard the questions. He looked up and saw the patient looked straight at him. He blinked when he thought he saw a faint violet glow, but he decided it was probably a result of the angle of the light.

"I'm doctor Bansing," he began, as he pulled the second glove from his hand and threw both in a bin. He seemed unphased by the menacing tone of his patient, it wasn't uncommon people were defensive or even aggressive when they woke up in a strange environment. He removed the mask and threw it away. "And you are in a hospital," he continued, answering the second question.

Andy walked to the bed. "I will explain what happened," he told him. "You fell, or so I was told. Crashed into the ground according to eye-witnesses, who were kind enough to call an ambulance, and I treated the injuries I could treat. From what I can tell, you took most of the hit with one side of your body." He picked up the file to finalize his part of the paperwork as he explained. "You dislocated your shoulder and your arm broke in three places, I had to set the bones and put a cast around it. Your hip on the same side was also fractured and I repaired that. And some of your ribs are fractured. It will hurt to breathe for a while, but do avoid shallow breaths, otherwise you risk getting pneumonia and you do not want that because coughing is not going to be pleasant the next six weeks or so." He looked at his patient again. "And there were some cuts I needed to stitch, but nothing life-threatening. You do have several bruises on your body, those will hurt for a couple of days, maybe a week, but they will go away by themselves." He put the file down again. "Now, there are some unanswered questions, which I hope you can answer for us. One is about the nature of your fall; I was told the impact was far greater than what your injuries suggest and it's also not certain where you fell from. And you didn't carry an I.D., so we'll need a name and place of residence and such, for our paperwork."

There was an expectant look in his eyes as he waited for the explanation or answers his patient would give, or any additional questions he could have based on the explanation of his injuries and treatment.

---

---

A hospital? Doctor? Hmm. If his memory served, such words were used by humans in relation to healing and rest. And a quick glance down at the cast on his arm, in addition to the doctors words, only helped to confirm this notion. Shifting his gaze back to the doctor, Alastor swallowed a bit from the pain that began to creep through his physical form, and began to formulate a way of answering the man's questions without revealing his true nature. While he knew humanity was intelligent to a certain degree, he had heard more than enough stories about their fear of his people when they had sent observers to this realm to know that, that was a bad idea.

So he decided to make something up instead.

"I'm not entirely sure where I fell from, the impact seemed to have... addled my senses, so I can't say for sure myself." He said, feigning ignorance and uncertainty over the situation. "As for my name... you may call me Alastor. And residence... well, I'm afraid I don't exactly have one at the moment. I'm kind of a... how do you say... a drifter. Don't usually stay in one place for too long." He said, smiling slightly. Hopefully this was enough to appease the man. He didn't want to be stuck here any longer than was absolutely necessary. Working on ways of getting back to Chaazim was of the utmost importance, and he couldn't do any of that by laying here in this bed and answering questions.

Andy listened as his patient answered his questions, nodding occasionally. There would be people who wouldn't like to hear he was a drifter, but it was really one of Andy's least concerns. As for the fall, the explanation was far from satisfying, but it would have to do.

"Okay then, Alastor," he said as he wrote down the name on the file and put it on the table. "A nurse will come to get some personal data for the file and to see if there is anyone we should contact. If you are in pain let the nurses know, they will give you something for it, and if you have any questions, just ring the bell and they will come. You will also get something to eat and I will come back for an evaluation after that." He began to walk through the room to the door. "I have more patients to see and treat and be awesome while doing that, so I will have to leave you." At the door he held up his finger. "Remember, no running around while I'm gone and try not to fall and break more bones, but if you do decide to fall, I did a great job on the cast so that won't break."

At this point he couldn't do much more for Alastor, but he would be back to see how he was doing.

---

---

Alastor nodded at the mans words, feigning compliance. In truth, the Laizu had no intention of sticking around here for very long. Waiting until the man left, Alastor began sending some of his own chaotic energy into his physical form in order to speed up his healing process before sitting upright and using his newfound strength to take off the plaster material covering his arm. Or the "cast" as the doctor had called it. From there he went about unwrapping the various bandages he was covered in, before pulling the needle out of his arm and removing all the other things the humans had stuck to his fingers, other limbs, and chest. Silently sliding out of the bed, Alastor moved over to the waist high window over to his left and began working on opening it. After a couple of seconds, he finally found the mechanism with which to operate it. Popping the latch, he quietly slid the window open and climbed outside, making sure to shut it once he was all the way through. It was always wise to cover your tracks. Especially when suddenly disappearing would mean someone coming to look for you, as it seemed here.

After all, he doubted that the doctor was supposed to lose those he looked after here.

Landing on the somewhat prickly and warm grass, Alastor gave a quick glance to his surroundings before looking down at himself, or rather his physical form, which was still clad in that horrendous blue sheet that he had been given. A sheet which, if the wind he felt on his posterior was any sign, was completely open in the back.

"Hmph. These humans sense of clothing is appalling. I shall have to find something to wear that is more befitting of my status. And it would help with avoiding detection as well. After all, if anyone comes looking for me, they'll be expecting me to be wearing this. New clothes could also help me conceal my face better as well." Alastor mused as he looked around for a place to begin his search, until his eyes finally fell upon a baby blue sign that read "Thompsons Victorian Clothing Emporium". Smiling to himself, Alastor began his trek to the shop, his bare feet making soft scrunching sounds in the grass as he went.

It wasn't long before a nurse entered the room Alastor had been in. She blinked at the empty bed and the remains of the cast on the floor. After a quick search through the room, she hastened out and ran over the department to the main station. "Has mr. Alastor passed through here?" she asked.
"No," the other nurse replied.
"Where is doctor Bansing?"
"Room 1."
The nurse quickly went to the room and opened the door. "Doctor," she said as she entered, looking at a woman and a child sitting on the bed, the boy was crying and the mother did her best to comfort him. She looked at the back of the doctor's head. "Excuse me, but mr. Alastor is missing."
"I'm kinda in the middle of something," he said as he showed a bloody glove and he looked over his shoulder. "Contact hospital security and give them all the relevant information."

Before the nurse left, Andy turned his attention on the patient in front of him once more, stitching up a deep cut in the boys hand. He talked with the boy during the procedure, to calm him and his mother down. The boy sobbed, but kept his hand still as Andy had requested.
"So, all done," Andy said at the end. "You were the bravest patient I have ever had!" Well, not entirely true, the group of bravest patients grew steadily, but the boy needed to hear it.
He gave some final instruction about the wound care and when the stitches could be removed. After sending them to the nurses station, he cleaned up.

Now that the patient was gone, he had time to think about Alastor. Was he really surpised he had left? Not really, a drifter probably didn't have the money to pay the hospital bill. But how had he been able to sneak out the room with a cast around his leg and no-one noticed anything. He decided to check the room himself, it would only take a minute and there were no dire emergencies.

In the room he noticed the removed bandages and the remains of the cast. He frowned as he examined it. That was peculiar, how had Alastor been able to do that?
After a sigh he left the room, what more could he do? Hospital security would have to deal with it, he'd tell them what he knew when they would ask him. Now it was time to treat one of the waiting patients.

---

---

Alastor readjusted the somewhat stiff collar of his new undershirt and coat as he stared down at the unconscious man lying at his feet. The storekeeper. While the former lord would have preferred to slip in and out with a new change of apparel unnoticed, the human seemed to have had a difference of opinion about the matter and confronted him. First to see if he was a potential customer then, after taking note of the hospital garb and overall disheveled state Alastor was in, the man quickly changed his tone to one of worry and concern. Emotions which quickly shifted themselves into distrust and wariness as the man realized that Alastor must have escaped from some institution nearby. Seeing the realization dawn upon the mans face, Alastor had watched, in a rather nonchalant manner, as the storekeeper made a move for the phone sitting on his desk, letting him get his hopes up, before utilizing his new bodies seemingly enhanced nature to intercept the man and swiftly take him down.

After that matter had been taken care of, Alastor had chosen the clothes he had wanted, and was about to leave the store when an odd pang radiate throughout his body from somewhere deep within him. It was almost as though it was a hunger of some kind.

And so he found himself standing here, staring down at the man he had rendered unconscious, desiring something without knowing exactly what it was. Slowly lowering himself into a crouch, the Laizu reached out and gently laid his hand against the mans forehead as the hunger within him roared to life, and before he knew it, the mans body had became a shriveled husk. Completely devoid of life. A very curious thing indeed. Getting back to his feet, the exiled Umbral Lord looked down at his hands, examining them closely for a bit, before letting them fall to his sides. Turning towards the stores entrance, he started to leave, when a cane leaning against a nearby wall caught his eye. Picking it up and tearing off the price tag he did a small flourish with it, as though it were a sword, before tucking it under his arm and exiting the building. Setting out at a quick pace, Alastor strode down the street the shop was situated on, wanting to put as much distance between him and the place as possible.

After all, it wouldn't do to get captured again just because of a moments hesitation or indecision.

The dayshift came to an end, the day had been hectic as usual. Maybe a little more due to the disappearing patient. As Andy walked to his car, he thought about the security agents and the head of the department about the events, having to explain how a man with such injuries had been able to remove his cast and leave the hospital undetected. Of course he couldn't, according to the data he had the man shouldn't have been able to do that.

It wasn't his problem, after a patient left the hospital it was out of his hands. Still, it was a curious case.
Once he reached his car he got in and drove away. Instead of going straight home, he drove into the city to do some shopping. Probably get a frozen pizza for tonight and some other things he needed to get. The music blasted through the speaker and he whistled along with the tune.
Then the news came and they reported about a mysterious death in the Thompsons Victorian Clothing Emporium.
It was a place he knew, a quaint shop, but they didn't exactly sell his style of clothes. His current T-shirt evidence of that: a red shirt with the black text "awesome ends with me".
Nothing about the escaped patient, but that would at best get a small article in the regional newspaper. A murder was more likely to be on the news.

He turned into a parking lot in front of a big supermarket and turned the engine off. Plenty of cars were parked there, it would be equally crowded in the shop. All people like him, doing some last-minute shopping.
Closing the car, he started going towards the supermarket.

---

---

Alastor let out a soft grunt as he felt a deep rumble radiate throughout the depths of his bodies core. A rather strange sensation to be honest, but one that wasn't too dissimilar to what he had felt before draining that man of... well, whatever it was he had drained him of. It was almost like a... hunger of some kind.

And that's when it hit him.

Human's, from the stories he'd heard told by his scouts, needed physical sustenance to survive rather than the chaos energy upon which he and his people naturally produced and absorbed. Looking about at the urban environment around him, Alastor noticed a small building with two golden arches on its front. Feeling another one of those rumbles bubble up deep within his bodies gut, the Laizu let out a small sigh as he made his way to the place.

He hoped that this habit of eating wouldn't become too much of a distraction in the future.

As Andy walked towards the supermarket he noticed the building with the golden arches. And that made him wonder: did he really want to go into the supermarket, buy a pizza, drive home and then wait another whole twenty minutes before he could eat, or eat something now and then do some shopping. It had been at least a week since he last had eaten at a similar place, that was definitely long enough to allow himself to change his dinner plans.

After going over all the facts, there was really no other conclusion to make. Dinner first and shopping later.

Crossing the parking lot in the new direction he kept his eyes on the target. Some other people were entering it too. A family with two young children who nearly dragged their parents inside, it was a sight that made Andy smile.
One figure seemed to be out of place though, the manner of which he walked gave the impression he was heading to an opera or a classy theatre play. Or dinner in a five-star restaurant. But to each their own, people were free to eat wherever they wanted. The gait and clothes were a bit peculiar, it seemed out of place. Out of time. Again Andy decided it didn't matter. Ever since he had treated someone dressed in a big bunny costume he didn't care how people wanted to go through life.

And more importantly, he was close to a good meal, with potatoes and meat and vegetables. Yes, the dietitians in the hospital would be pleased with him, if they ignored the deep-fried aspect of his envisioned meal of course.

---

---

A low growl welled up within Alastor's throat as he made his way into the brightly lit building, the unidentifiable smells emanating from the back of the establishment making his mouth water and stomach grumble. "That must be the food these humans rave about constantly." Alastor mused as he made his way through the small crowd and moved towards the front counter. Leaning his cane on the divider, the Laizu gazed up at the electronic screens displaying the vast selection of food they had for sale.

Well vast in Alastor's mind anyway. Being native to a plane of existence where chaotic energy was his primary source of food, the former Umbral Lord simply didn't understand why the inhabitants of this world needed so much choice in what they ate. Was it simply because they were picky or indecisive? Either way, the sheer amount of foreign and alien things on the menu he could choose to eat was not only somewhat daunting, especially to a being out of his element such as himself, but very irritating as well.

"Can I help you sir?"

Alastor jumped involuntarily as a somewhat higher pitched male voice disrupted his thoughts, breaking his concentration. Shifting his gaze from the menus to the owner of the voice; a rather heavy-set tan skinned man with stubble covered cheeks, green eyes, and short brown hair done up in a spiked fashion, Alastor cleared his throat and did his best to articulate an accurate request for what he wanted.

"Um yes, I was wondering if I could get some... how do you say... food?" Alastor asked, stuttering in spite of himself. Looked like this human prison of his would be more problematic then he had originally anticipated.

"Uh... alright." The cashier said, taking notice of the strange manner with which the man standing before him spoke. "You can have whatever you like from the menus there-" He gestures to them with his left hand. "-if you can pay for it that is."

"Pay?" Alastor asked, quite clearly confused. "I'm not sure what you mean." Back in his home, back in Chaazim, his people didn't have an economy. At least, not in the way humans do. Rather than using material wealth or resources, his peoples realm ran off of the concept of power and influence. Those with the least power and influence, the Lowborn or common folk, were at the bottom of the Laizu pecking order, while the Umbral Lords, beings who could reshape the portions of Chaazim they ruled over on a whim, were at the very top.

"You're joking right?" The man asked, staring at Alastor blankly.

The Laizu simply stared right back, a completely serious expression on his face.

"Look..." The man began, letting out an exhausted sigh. "I don't get paid enough to deal with this kind of shit. I don't know what your problem is buddy, wether you're on drugs or have some kind of mental issue, but I don't feel like dealing with it tonight. Now, I'm going to have to ask you to step aside the people behind you can actually order." He said in an aggravated manner, pointing to the line that had formed behind Alastor during their conversation.

The Laizu's eyes flashed a brighter shade of violet for a moment before dying down to a barely noticeable glow as Alastor did his best to keep his new emotions in check. If this were his home plane, he'd have this fool flayed alive for his impudence. But this was not his home and he had no such power or authority here. And causing a scene would most likely only hinder his efforts rather than aiding them.

"Fine." He said tersely, grabbing his cane and tucking it up under his arm. "Have it your way." Turning away from the counter, Alastor stalked back towards the main entrance, his teeth clenched in frustration. Not only did he need to get back to Chaazim somehow, but now he had to find another way to get food as well.

The doors opened and the scent of the food, the buzz of voices and the bright lights greeted Andy even before he stepped inside, as if a good friend waited for him. Maybe he just went too often to places like this, in the end they all looked and smelled alike. As he entered the fast-food restaurant he glanced around, starting to his left. It was busy, but not more than usual around this time. A few children were playing in the corner, a group of students were eating a meal while being busy on their phones, a family of five were unpacking their freshly fried food.

Finising his glance over the entire establishment, his eyes lingered on someone he recognised standing at the right side. Alastor, the disappeared patient. Obviously he had upgraded his clothes, and starting with a hospital gown even a saggy t-shirt and torn jeans would have been an upgrade, but it was definitely him.

"Well, that is curious," he said, taking in Alistors posture and he stepped towards him. "I am certain the test result showed several fractures. Yet you stand here as if nothing is wrong," he gestured to the cane, "I mean, that thing is just for show." He knew the difference between someone relying on a cane to stand or move, and someone using one as a fashion statement. Alistor, with his entire outfit, seemed hopelessly out of place here and the cane was just part of the outfit. He put a hand in his side. "Although," he continued, "I suppose what surprises me most is that you stand here, and not in the line to order something. Aren't you hungry?"

---

---

"Hungry?" Alastor asked as he turned to faced the approaching man, even more confused then earlier. "Is that what this rumbling sensation I feel within the depths of this body is? How strange." He pauses for a moment, examining the man standing before him for a bit before realizing that he was the same person he'd met in the hospital earlier that day, before continuing. "As for why I'm not standing in line, it is for many reasons. One, because I should not have to wait to be served by others. I never had to do such a thing back in my own home, and I should not be required to do so here. And the second reason I am not standing in that line with all the rest, is because the man behind that... thing-", he gestures to the counter and registers, "-wanted 'payment'. Something which I do not have." He finished, leaning against his cane, his eyes narrowing slightly in annoyance.

The words and posture definitely seemed out of place, not just for the cheap dining establishment they were, but for this country. Or this time. And then the lack of knowledge about something as simple as a register or hunger. Odd, but one couldn't be a doctor for a long time and not run into the occasional oddball.

Andy nodded to himself and crossed his arms. "Well..." he began, locking eyes with Alastor. "Being a fantastic doctor with a supreme knowledge of the human body I can confirm the rumbling sensation within the depths of your body is in fact hunger." There was a hint of amusement on his face. "I can even explain in details how it works, but let's just say your body is telling you it is time to eat. And what better place then this burger-paradise?" He opened his arms as if he embraced the entire room. Then he gestured to the menu's, with an enthusiams that would fit in nicely with a game-show. "We have ample choice of the finest burgers, but how about I will just get you the best burger they have to offer and you go find a place for us to sit." He rose his indexfinger and wiggled it in front of Alastor's face. "Just don't run away from me again, you'll seriously hurt my feelings," He put his hand over his heart, "and I don't think I can survive being abandoned again."

There was something strange about this man and he was intrigued. Maybe it was the curiosity of a doctor, but he wanted to discover how Alastor could walk around after the evidence he had seen should have had indicated a recovery that should have taken weeks.