Tough. He can have waffles. With maple syrup. And sausages. And orange juice.

He sighs. "You are kinder than I deserve, milady," he says, raising his orange juice in an ironic toast.

I have managed an excellent track record of not poisoning my patrons whether they ask nicely or not.

"Well, I wouldn't want to ruin your spotless record."

He applies himself to the waffles. They are of course delicious.

The door opens.

Aral glances in that direction.

It is a confused young-looking man with wings and a tail.

Oh. Great.

"New here?" he guesses.

"...yes?"

"Welcome to Milliways. Where were you expecting to be?"

"...out in the, uh, garden."

"Well, now you're at the end of the universe."

"...Which universe?"

He shrugs. "All of them?"

"I... see. No I don't, what's going on."

"That door you just came through has the ability to selectively connect itself to any other door anywhere in any world, and once you come inside and close the door, time stops on the other side until you open it again. It's also individualized per patron. If I open it, I'll see my father's house. If you open it, you'll see wherever you were a minute ago."

The winged person takes a few steps farther into the bar - observes the stars exploding - "...okay, that's weird. How many worlds are there?"

He shrugs. "A very large number, I assume."

"All different?"

"I have yet to find two the same, but I've only been here a week and I haven't been paying close attention."

"You're sure about the time stopping part -?"

"Tested it. Threw something out the door, closed it, read a book, opened the door, watched the ice cube hit the ground."

...The winged man duplicates this experiment. He doesn't read an entire book, but he seems convinced anyway.

"Something urgent going on at home?"

"Not exactly."