Hands in his suit trouser pockets, Johann Storm smiled to himself as he headed down the stairs from seeing that Kadyn Hamilton was suitably engaged with the healers on the third floor. Someone had seemingly spiked Hamilton's morning coffee ritual, and he'd grown a huge pair of antlers. They were really very impressive, and meant he had to pass through doorways sideways, with knees bent to accommodate the extra height.

Johann had seen them pop out of his colleague's head from just across the office on the fifth floor of the Ministry. Shock and hilarity had broken out, and Johann figured it couldn't have happened to a more worthy adversary. Especially as he had nothing to do with it - even if Hamilton immediately assumed he had as they were adversaries from the first day Johann had stepped foot in the department in January.

Gabrielle was anything but pleased, especially when their attempts to remove them by spells just made them enlarge further. That had been Johann's doing, he had been the one silently casting engorgio on them. It was too good an opportunity to pass up. Charged with ensuring the newly antlered Kaydn, his colleague from Trading Standards, got to St Mungo's in one piece, Johann had relished the task, ensuring as many people as possible saw them on their journey.

With no desire to ensure Kaydn came back to the department that day - he reminded his colleague it was Friday the 13th, and left him in the hands of the experienced St Mungo's healers, deciding later he'd seek out the person who had caused the impressive headgear, and shake their hand. He'd also be careful to make his own drinks for the time being.

He had heard on the grapevine that Dr Hannah Bombay had left her post at the Ministry, moving to the hospital, which was quite convenient, given the attacks two days prior, which had meant an awful lot of creature induced injuries from werewolves. Johann had understood Ignan and Georg had been present at the attack at Hogwarts, though he'd yet to have a chance to check up on them and hear first hand, Vedir had been keeping him particularly busy.

However, he missed his time with Hannah, she shared his curious insight into people, only with her own twist, telling him the potential ailments of any stranger during their times sat people watching over lunch. She didn't get put off her lunch by his questions about her work. This was all gone now she'd jumped ship, or been pushed, he wasn't sure which.

Sauntering onto the wards of the 1st floor, he took his hands from his pockets, and drew himself up to full height, realising he needed to command a little respect so nobody thought he was loitering or there to cause trouble. Eyes busy picking through faces and healers uniforms, he eventually spied Dr Bombay, and a grin broke out on his face.

"Loving the robes, Dr Bombay." He greeted from behind, giving a boyish grin to his friend. "They should have made those standard uniform at the Ministry. We'd all look fabulous in them." His hands found their way back into his pockets as he caught her attention.

"How's the land of the living?" Johann asked. "I'd be lying if I didn't say I missed you at the Ministry."

The creature induced injuries floor at St Mungo’s hospital had seen an outrageous amount of action in the past couple of days. This, for Hannah Bombay, the newest addition to the hospital’s staff had been an incredibly unfortunate and stressful time. The woman was used to peace and the ability to work in her own time. If one had tried to rush her at the ministry, she would have put them firmly in their place and instructed them to depart her work room immediately.  But since stepping onto the first floor of this hospital Hannah had been put in her own place. She couldn’t take her time over her work, precisely micromanaging every element of her tasks. Instead she had been rushed, forced to work quickly to save lives rather than tell the story of deaths. She’s dealt with strenuous work hours and a severe lack of sleep.

This is why when Hannah heard the familiar, friendly voice behind her she didn’t smile instantaneously. Instead she lifted a hand to her scruffily pinned back hair and brushed it back from her face with thin fingers. She flicked her wand, closing the curtain to the cubicle she’d attended and turned on her flat heels to face the man who stood at least a foot taller than her. His grin was somewhat infectious. Granted, not the kind of infectiousness  to cause instantaneous death, but the kind to cause an unusually stressed witch to smile ever so slightly.

Even though Hannah would no doubt avoid the fact, she enjoyed spending time with Johann. It was seldom someone like either of them found another of a similar level. One had to make the most of it. Plus Hannah had been told repeatedly she needed to acquaint herself with living witches and wizards. Johann was the least awkward she could find.

“Chaotic.” Bombay responded plainly, slipping her wand into her pocket. “The living are unwavering in their attempts the join the dead.” The healer eyed her friend with mild suspicion, questioning his appearance before moving past him to the main desk to rest against that as she began to neatly scribe a few notes. “Of course you miss me, Johann. Who else is willing to take lunch with you?” As if that had reminded her of the somewhat empty stomach, Hannah glanced at the watch she’d subconsciously pulled from the pocket of her ‘fabulous’ healer’s robes.

“Chaotic. The living are unwavering in their attempts the join the dead.” She didn't crack a smile, despite seeing his own. Rather she eyed him suspiciously. Johann figured it was the fact he was happy to see her, in her place of work which was causing her stress, and the fact he wouldn't ordinarily be there.

“Of course you miss me, Johann. Who else is willing to take lunch with you?”

"Ha!" Johann replied. "Very astute of you Dr Bombay." He added with an element of sarcasm. Catching sight of her looking at her pocket watch, he followed it up a little less forcefully,
"Do I gather by the watch and the introduction of mealtimes to the conversation that its not far off for you?" He asked, drawing to one side to lean on the same desk as Hannah to keep out of the way.
"Because I've sort of got a friend upstairs with antlers," Johann mimicked with both arms at the size, "and I'm sure nobody actually misses me apart from perhaps Yoona back at the office. Certainly not the forty-third revision of the unicorn breeding act that I've been tasked with translating and checking that it makes cultural sense to the Chinese." He frowned and turned his gaze to the ward in general.

"I'm learning far too much about unicorn preservation and breeding routines, its unhealthy." Johann pouted momentarily, and looked back to Hannah with curiosity again.
"How about," he proposed, "I buy lunch, and I promise to eat mine, if you agree to spill the last you know about the tattooed stiff we were discussing the day we met?" Johann asked, raising both eyebrows, hoping she would accept.

It was truthful to say that right now Hannah very much anticipated her lunch. She’d been stood up running around this ward since seven that morning and running on nothing but coffee, a drink she had always promised herself not to touch. However, needs must and when the woman hadn’t slept for more than a couple of hours in the last few days, coffee and energy potions were the only thing keeping her on her feet. Feet that were now encased in a pair of plain white pumps for comfort reasons as much as anything else. But of course it left the usually unflappable healer looking considerably shorter and less perfectly put together than accustomed.

“I honestly hope not...” The small woman’s light brown eyes scanned up from the tiny golden watch in her hand before she slipped it back into the pocket. They fell on her visitor for a moment before focusing back on the parchment and her small neat handwriting covering it.

Did Hannah feel sympathy for Johann and his Chinese unicorn situation? Not in the least bit. “You have unicorns down on paper; I have werewolves and their victims in real life on two hours of sleep. I win when it comes to unhealthy.” The healer stated plainly, a tiny smirk tugging at her lips as she signed off her name on the bottom of the parchment and dropped it into a box on the desk.

“How can I say no?” Finally the woman offered a small smile as she looked up at him. “If you fail to finish yours I shall. I’ve had four coffees and an apple this morning.” And she was starving. Healer Bombay had certainly not expected such a dramatic welcome to the department. For a woman who didn’t get on well with the living she’d certainly been thrown in at the deep end of this piranha filled lake.

Briskly, Hannah started in the direction of the stairwell. She didn’t glance to see if Johann was walking alongside, instead she just continued to speak. “Your 'sort of' friend should be given a potion of beetroot, pixie wings and flobberworm secretion. He’ll be in abject pain during the removal procedure. Those sorts of growths really tend to bury themselves into the bone of the skull. The healer shall have to pick out the last few remnants of the growth with their wand. Quite the uncomfortable process..and the effects can be lasting.”

“How can I say no? If you fail to finish yours I shall. I’ve had four coffees and an apple this morning.” Hannah accepted.

"Excellent." Johann replied, his Cheshire Cat grin growing wider at the prospect before they set off from the ward.

“Your 'sort of' friend should be given a potion of beetroot, pixie wings and flobberworm secretion. He’ll be in abject pain during the removal procedure. Those sorts of growths really tend to bury themselves into the bone of the skull. The healer shall have to pick out the last few remnants of the growth with their wand. Quite the uncomfortable process..and the effects can be lasting.”

"Oh dear." Johann replied with absolutely no remorse. "Perhaps he should have opted to keep them. Actually, they were quite an improvement." They began to ascend the stairs.
"And before you look at me like that, I didn't cause them, even if he thinks I did. I merely admired the handiwork." He followed Hannah a step behind, allowing for people to descend on the other side in hurried bursts as healers moved between floors talking rapidly to older healers, seeking advice. They all wore the same uniform as Hannah.

"Look like you won't be short of something to do." Johann commented from behind Hannah, eyes busy watching the activity.

Shortly they reached the top of the building where the tearoom was, and entered side by side.
"So yes, I am buying, but perhaps I should have checked how hungry you were first." Johann confirmed, as they  both examined the counter for suitable sustenance.

A matter of minutes later they were seated over towards the windows that looked down upon Muggle life below, which slipped past unknowing of what was going on above them. Johann stirred a pot of tea thoughtfully, his eyes drawn to the window for a moment before settling back on Hannah.
"How is your ward coping with the recent events?" He asked her softly, and politely, replacing the top of the teapot with a ceramic clink and pouring it into a mug, where the milk jug poured itself some milk into the mug behind and the teaspoon stirred it all together of its own accord. There was nothing worse than weak tea, which was why he'd pinned down the self pouring teapot with a hand to insist on stirring it first.

Johann had enquired on behalf of the ward because asking how Hannah was coping would provide an uncomfortable conversation for the two of them in their odd, closed off little ways. It would have been politer, yes, but this at least gave Hannah the opportunity to reply in an abstract way that hinted to her answer to the politer version, without actually having to answer it directly. Or something like that, Johann's head wasn't the best at explaining its curious motives.

Hannah lowered herself into the seat and her eyes scanned across to peer out of the window at the muggle world below them. She didn’t have many dealings with muggles and as a result knew very little about them. Hannah was aware of three things to do with muggles. They didn’t have magic, they moved around in noisy veelacools and conversed with other muggles via the use of mobility tellyfones.  From up here they failed to look exciting. Instead they looked like tiny ants, or bacteria, swarming around ignorant of their surroundings. That was a fourth fact about muggles that Hannah knew. Muggles were ignorant. They failed to notice what was blindingly obvious in front of them.

Light brown eyes scanned back to her lunch companion and she pushed her glasses up from her nose to rest on the top of her head. How was her ward coping…? She didn’t answer for a moment, instead placing her focus on the cup set on the table before her. Coffee. Black, no sugar. This drink was one of those things the young woman had originally avoided. It wasn’t necessary to dose up on caffeine when you could work at your own pace, set the tempo for the work day and take the time to be precise. As it was now? She was rushed all over the wards, functioning on a severe lack of sleep and begging internally for the merciless week to cease.

“Terribly.” It was the only word Hannah could think of to describe the state of the particular ward she worked in at the moment. She paused to think, lifting the coffee cup to her lips and taking a sip. Soft features screwed up in disgust as she once more made a vain attempt at liking the bitter taste of coffee. “I’ve never seen such disorganisation.” That was certainly a way of describing it. Perhaps not the most accurate.

“I’ve been home once since Wednesday. The healer-in-charge hasn’t once. The ward is now over occupied and I’m presuming there is a much larger amount of werewolves roaming our streets than registered if my visit to the ministry on Wednesday evening is anything to go by.” Hannah took another sip of coffee.  “You picked an incredibly inconvenient time to visit your antler laden friend, Johann.”

“Terribly.” Hannah replied, which by her expression could also have answered 'how does your coffee taste?'

“I’ve never seen such disorganisation.” In the back of Johann's mind, he heard Gabrielle's house elf, or imp, whatever it was, say that exact phrase about the room Johann inhabited in her house. He didn't have too many possessions, but paperwork and books filled everywhere but the bookcases. His mind's eye conjured the memory of Hannah's former office at the Ministry and completely understood her situation.

“I’ve been home once since Wednesday. The healer-in-charge hasn’t once. The ward is now over occupied and I’m presuming there is a much larger amount of werewolves roaming our streets than registered if my visit to the ministry on Wednesday evening is anything to go by. You picked an incredibly inconvenient time to visit your antler laden friend, Johann.”

"Inconvenient, but convenient to give you a break, so it seems." Johann replied softly, "You'll need a sleeping potion to forget everything and counteract the coffee." He sipped his tea, "and I wasn't visiting him, I was just making sure he didn't take anyone out with his antlers on the way, and I swear, I didn't cause them, even if I wish I had." He held up his hands in innocence, after putting town his mug.

"If there is any way I could help, Hannah, then name it." Johann told his friend sincerely, knowing that even though he'd spent time amongst healers translating medical explanations to patients from foreign countries, he knew nothing of treating injuries or sick people. Actually he was pretty horrendous at it.

“It seems thee dost protest too much.” Hannah stated, a small smirk tugging at the edges of her lips, betraying the disapproving expression she’d been going for. She never wanted to seem overly amused by things. The woman liked being taken seriously. Not many people took a short 23 year old female seriously if they smiled and showed more personality than intelligence.

“If you insist you weren’t behind it once more, I shall have no choice but to believe it was you. You even accompanied him here to ensure your handiwork was seen through to the end.” Her eyebrows rose, the smirk growing as she leaned forwards, resting her arms on the table between them. Sometimes the woman’s more fun, youthful side created a very minute, indeterminable chink in her serious armour. “Certainly the action of a guilty man.” The healer winked before sitting back slowly and picking her coffee up once more.

"If there is any way I could help, Hannah, then name it."

Hannah blinked. She took a sip of the bitter tasting liquid. She blinked again.
Her first thought was to request he get her previous job back. That, even in her head sounded pathetic and impossible. Therefore she waited a few moments to answer once a far more suitable response had formed inside her head. The woman always gave her words a deal of thought but took little time to do it. This time it was evident thought processes were occurring as she looked down at the mug of freshly brewed caffeine.

“Thank you, Johann.” Hannah finally responded before looking up at him. Well, this wasn’t awkward at all... “Is your talent multi-faceted? Do you hide a healer’s badge in your robe pocket for special occasions?” The woman forced a tiny smile as she glanced distractedly at the counter, wondering when their food was going to be brought over. Yes, he was offering to help the ward. That was all the man was doing. That was all Hannah’s emotionally distanced personality needed or could handle.

“Thank you, Johann. Is your talent multi-faceted? Do you hide a healer’s badge in your robe pocket for special occasions?”

Johann's surprise and haste to explain he hadn't meant it quite like that was interrupted by two plates appearing before them, full of what they'd ordered. Judging by Hannah's request, she was particularly hungry, in comparison to Johann's stack of buttered toast. Not one for eating well or sensibly when he did, hence his rakishly thin figure and pallid tone, he had smelt it as they walked in and had decided it would be something he could eat.

"I, er... of course I don't. I'd be a liability." He confessed to Hannah. "Its the done thing to offer though, I'd just have to get inventive with my solutions for what you needed, that's all..." He poked at the pile of toast with one of the triangular halves of a slice between his fingertips. Hell, he'd promised to eat it hadn't he?

"Well, perhaps I can take your mind off things a bit. Tell me about the tattooed man? Your former colleagues hate me asking, so yes, I'm bothering you. Besides... I miss you." Johann told Hannah quietly, raising the piece of toast in consideration, and then lowering it again uneaten, turning back to sipping his tea.

The healer knew he hadn’t meant it like that. She had simply hoped. The offer of help in any way of the form other than with a few patients was too much for Hannah to deal with. She liked uncomplex relations with uncomplex people. That meant people wanted one thing, she would provide it and that would be it. This offer from Johann of help simply perplexed her inner workings and she had little idea of how to process this information.

She decided not to respond at that moment and instead turned her attention to the large pile of food served up in front of her by the beauty of magic. A steaming pumpkin soup took centre stage, smoke billowing and lifting the exquisite aroma into the air. It presented itself on an oversized plate served with herbed bread and a ham and pickle sandwich. The young woman was hungry. And she wasn’t buying. Who could blame her?

“I miss you buying me lunch.” The witch stated plainly before dipping her spoon into the luscious soup and lifting it to her lips.  “Winkleberry Gobletworthy.” She stated before taking a sip of the soup and plunging the spoon back into the orange mixture. “A quite impressive name. He was a bounty hunter from Iceland. Apparently they have a problem with vampires there. Especially six months of the year.”  The witch smirked and took another sip of soup.

“He came over to England and got in quite a bit of trouble with some vampires. It’s their handiwork you witnessed in my office.” Another few more mouthfuls of soup and Hannah now began to break her bread, dipping it into the liquid. One would think she hadn’t eaten in weeks. Johann obviously hadn’t expected to take the starving, bottomless stomached woman to lunch. She hadn’t expected this either. But the smell of food only made the usually polite and reserved healer positively ravenous.

Johann watched, mouth ever so slightly open as Hannah explained the dead man and also began to devour her food ravenously. His eyes dropped to his toast, and he pushed the plate aside for moment, wondering if Hannah would devour that too.

He contented himself with asking questions about the body further, mulling over possibilities with Hannah, just like old times. Minutes slid by, Hannah's dinner disappeared, Johann's toast went cold, and he poured himself another cup of tea.

"You know what you need, Dr Bombay?" Johann asked as the case began to close on the vampire victim, "A decent drink, in a pub. Not here, not home, but in a pub, with me." He delivered the line with his crooked smile, the sort of suggestion that would turn some of his unfortunate female admirers weak at the knees with the suggestion. Actually, Johann meant it because he enjoyed Hannah's company intellectually, and as a friend, and friends went drinking. The best theories came when there was a bit of alcohol there to knock the edge off the world. Hannah wasn't one of those women who'd read into that being a potential flirtation - not that Johann had realised it could be interpreted that way either.

"What time are you meant to finish tonight?" He asked, new steaming cup of tea poised between his fingertips below his chin.

"You know what you need, Dr Bombay?"

Hannah looked up from the bowl she had just wiped clean with the final piece of bread from the sandwich. A pub? She frowned before light brown eyes settled on the pile of untouched toast. She knew that would happen. He ordered something as if pretending he was showing an interest in eating. It. Hannah had mentioned the health aspects of him not eating before but she cared about that as much right then as a dragon cares for a spider. The toast was going free and she had room. She wasn’t going to have enough energy to cook tea when she got home.

“Are you going to eat that?” The healer enquired, failing to await a response, she pulled it towards her, exchanging its place with the empty bowl. A wand was produced from the pocket of her robes and she began to heat the bread once more. No one liked cold toast.

There were no surprises that Hannah failed to notice the smile directed at her. Her stomach was doing the thinking right then. She had no idea what had actually come over her. But a lack of sleep and a huge amount of coffee seemed to make one incredibly hungry.
“I...” well she didn’t drink. She had tried some. Had the occasional glass of wine. But the woman didn’t have the time, the company or the inclination to drink. She shrugged. “Seven.”  She pondered for another moment over a slice of toast. “I don-” It wasn’t necessary to state such a truth. Instead Hannah nodded her head and looked up at him. “I have no other plans but to sleep.”

"Sleep? Well, yes you can do that too... after." Johann replied, smug that Hannah was eating his toast. He'd long given up paying attention to his stomach. It was terrible for him, and he'd make up for it later, he'd remember to eat, or his body would literally march itself to somewhere with food and shake a fist at his preoccupied mind.

"Seven it is, and you can forget your day then, and have something to look forward to... other than your bed. It'll be good for you." He added the last with a cheeky grin, teasing her status as a doctor.

Finishing his cup of tea, he consulted his watch.
"I should probably check on my deer colleague before I make my way back to the unicorn legislation." He thought aloud and peered at Hannah again. "Drinks, tonight... with food perhaps. I'll see you later." He smiled genuinely and kindly, patting Hannah's arm absentmindedly as he got up.