"Pity. I thought I'd found a new companion," a voice said with indifferent calm, its tone flat and unaffected, an utterance more like an observation than regret. The words drifted through the air like smoke, carrying neither warmth nor malice, simply existing in the space between them.
He stepped closer, his figure becoming clearer through the haze of pain and confusion that clouded Layton's vision. The man's footsteps were measured, deliberate, each one echoing with the weight of someone who had walked countless similar paths.
A moment passed, then his voice came again. "Oh. You're still alive." His tone didn't shift, but his hand moved. "Guess there's no point wasting this."
