The veins on his temple throbbed. "Cut my hair? Did you just say cut my hair?" Was the lad trying to make a joke?
Elmah's eyes remained unbothered, calm yet decisive. "Yeah. You can remove everything."
The throbbing worsened. "I should remove everything—you mean everything on my scalp?" He pointed at his own head.
Elmah frowned. "You don't look old, so there's no way you're hard of hearing… or are you?" Why repeat the questions? What was his deal?
His face darkened, lips twitching. "You oversized rat!" His voice rose, though not enough to carry beyond where they stood. "Are you calling me deaf?"
Elmah's face tightened, surprise briefly surfacing. "Who are you calling a rat?"
"Who are you calling deaf?"
"If you're not deaf, why do you keep repeating questions back? Isn't that what deaf people do?"
"How does that even apply here? With your bull-headed self saying the most absurd things, do you honestly think you're being reasonable?"
