Already sick? You don't say. Axel quirked his mouth to one side, then hacked off another piece of pancake, twisting the syrup strings off and holding it off to one side.

"Okay, this?" he said, indicating the be-pancaked fork. "This is the point. And this?" He flattened his other hand, then sent it soaring over the fork with an airplane noise. "Yeah that was you."

He made a face then, putting the fork in his mouth and letting it hang there a moment before removing it.

"Xheha-ort?" he asked with his mouth full, and then swallowed. "What, that dorky forgetful labcoat guy with the white hair and the bad tan?" He stabbed at the pancakes again. "What's that guy got to do with anything?"