"Dear, oh dear. What was it? The hunt, the blood, or the horrible dream?"
Balyn took a step back. He really didn't like Gehrman's tone of voice. It was the kind of voice that one used with children, idiots, or people you suspected were losing their wits.
"Um, really, no, it was none of that," the hunter stammered. "Waking up sounds great, honestly! But…er…it's just the whole 'die' part that I'm not too on board with. I've had quite enough of that already, and the way you're saying it sound a little bit more, um, final than it has been?"
"Oh, it doesn't matter."
"No, no, trust me, it really does. When you start throwing around words like 'die,' you definitely need to give full and complete explanations of what you mean."
Gehrman did not appear to be listening, however. The old man had planted his withered claws against the armrests of his bath-chair and was pushing himself upright.
This can't be good, Balyn decided. Gehrman was missing at least part of his right foot, after all. He couldn't stand upright. Courtesy—heck, basic decency—said that Balyn ought to rush over and help support the old man before he fell trying to stand.
Right then, though, he was far too creeped out to be courteous.
"It always comes down to the hunters' helper to clean up after these sorts of messes."
Missing foot or not, Gehrman was standing. Straight up, too. Good posture, no hint of osteoporosis despite his age, honestly cutting a pretty impressive figure in his top hat and slightly ragged cloak and—
Wait a second. Hadn't he been wearing a slouch hat and an old, beat-up jacket a second ago?
Which is kind of impressive, Balyn thought. Even music-hall quick-change artists have to duck behind a screen.
His aesthetic appreciation was a bit less enthusiastic for the scythe Gehrman had seemingly produced out of nowhere, its blade locking into place with an ominous clunk of magnetic siderite pieces attracting one another.
Oh, crap.
"Tonight, Gehrman joins the hunt…"
"Oh, crap!"
"…And you finally get what's coming to you for telling Lady Maria about the doll I made of her!"
"I swear, I didn't mean to! It just slipped out in surprise!"
"HUNTER BRO CODE, BALYN!"