Oh. Right. He only straightened up a bit once she was over and the weapon was pulled free- Knew better than to move too soon around swords and the like.

"It's a slang term, quick way to say stay alert and ready for action. Picked it up during my time in the military," and of course it was used elsewhere. Video games liked to use it a lot, anything that had any form of military existing. Spread out further than that, too.

"Habit."

One that was coming back the more he ended up working with other people at that. An ear twitched as he caught the sound of movement ahead- almost like the ground was splitting apart just beyond their sight. Rumblings of movement.