The man sighed as he got into his car, and looked at his cell phone. He'd tried to call a number a few times, but each time, the automated voice had told him that the number was unreachable.

"...guess it was destroyed or bricked by that imposter." he mumbled to himself.

He then drove off, making his way through the city, until reaching a quieter more suburban area of the city. He looked around, before seeing the place that the one he was looking for called home.

He pulled up into her driveway and turned off his car, grabbing a slightly larger bag that had been in the seat beside him.

He exited the vehicle, locked it, and made his way to the front door. Once there, he brought his hand up and rang the doorbell.

As soon as he did so, however, he paused.

"Wait..." he said.

"Wait, hold on a moment..." he muttered.

"She has a home phone." he remembered, before mentally face-palming.

"....." he was silent as he regarded her, before shaking his head.

"My apologies for this sudden visit." he said to her.

"I tried calling your cell phone a few times, but... it's clear that you need a new phone, and perhaps a new number." he went on.

"So I decided to visit you, but as I rang the bell, I JUST realised you have a home phone, and I could have just called that." he then admitted.

"So that's on me..." he mumbled.

"Regardless, I know we're not exactly friends, but I wanted to check up on you to see how you were doing." he then told her, as a rather delectable aroma started to emanate from the bag he was holding.

"....." Hal was silent again, for a moment.

"For starters, you DO know you're on paid medical leave, yes?" he asked. "Your savings aren't in any immediate danger, but I WOULD like you to return to work as soon as you feel you're ready." he told her.

"I am not so heartless as to force an employee to immediately start draining their savings because of a medical issue." he added.

"And... actually, I brought some food for YOU." he then said.

"I do know you're partial to Mediterranean cuisine, but that is a pretty big umbrella, so it's hard to narrow down." he explained.

"So I ended up getting a few things that encompass that sort of cuisine." he continued. "One of the containers has a grilled swordfish steak with a lemon-parsley topping, one has some falafels in it, and the last one has some Armenian losh kebab in it." he explained further.

"If none are something you'd like, sorry about that."

Hal paused for a moment.

"Hang on..." he muttered.

He then snapped his fingers, causing his work laptop to appear in his hand. He set the bag down, connected the laptop to his mobile network, and brought up the banking information that was on Erica's file.

"Check this." he said to her.

"Is this correct or not?" he asked.

"......." Hal was silent, before growling.

"I see." he said.

"We will need to start the proceedings to recoup those funds." he commented.

"For now, I will..." he mumbled, changing the info as he spoke. "...change this... to what you are showing me... and done." he muttered, finishing it, closing the laptop, and causing it to disappear.

"When I get back, I will see to it that you get the payments you should have been getting for the past bit." he told her.

"For now, do you think you can eat?" he asked.

"If anything I've brought catches your fancy, of course." he then added.

Hal just sighed in response, and smiled back at her.

"All right, all right." he said.

"I'll have some falafels." he told her, as they made their way to the kitchen.

"...so... how have you been doing?' he asked her.

"Have the sessions with Dr. Fyrane been helping at all?"

"Hm." Hal mumbled.

"Well, improvement is improvement, I suppose." he said.

"Can't expect miracles overnight and such." he went on.

"I hope he can continue to help you, though." he then told her, as they unpacked the food and opened the containers.

"And do let me know if there's anything I can do to help." he added.

"Besides getting back to my office ASAP and making sure all your missed payments go through." he clarified with a small chuckle.

"Hm." Hal mumbled further.

"Being hesitant to use your mana is certainly an issue." he told her.

'And while your last statement can be seen as confusing... I think I understand what you're saying." he went on.

"I do wish you well on your road to recovery." he continued.

"Take all the time you need."

Hal was solemn and silent as she said what she did, before nodding slowly.

"I understand." he said.

He'd noticed that her last statement seemed to have been worded in a specific way. She knew what he was, and she knew what he was capable of... but he wondered if that was on purpose, or if it had just happened to come out that way.

Regardless, he wasn't going to bring it up. Not yet, anyway.

"If things get that desperate, please... reach out to someone." he told her.

"We all just want you to recover."

She might not have realised that she was omitting contractions, but Hal did.

And he was now suspicious.

Coupled with the fact that her arm was bare... when it never was in the past... made him even MORE suspicious.

"......" he was silent, before putting his food down.

"So." he then said.

"...tell me." he mumbled.

"You ARE the Erica that we've known for so long, yes...?" he asked her defensively.

"Because you are... behaving disturbingly similar to the one that has caused us troubles earlier."