He wasn't sure if the other man's expression meant he was angry or not, but the flicker of tension was gone before Kel could decide what it meant. At least he had a name to give to the man now, one that had the young hunter's expression shifting in turn. Not tension but shock and perhaps a flicker of sadness before he focused on the contest at hand. "On three," he agreed quietly, focusing on the contest at hand.
There was a strength to the old man beneath his sunbrowned skin and greying hair, a core of steel that looked from a distance as though it might have rusted away at the edges, but up close was as solid as ever. Kel flexed and pressed, gathering his strength and trying to focus its flow from chest and pec to bicep, remembering how easily it had come before. Once, he could have overpowered a human with only a little strain. It had been harder to make it look like a contest, so no one would think it strange how much strength the young man had.
Once...
As Zeph's hand pushed against his he realized just how far from home he was all over again, and how much he had lost in the portal's curse. His struggle was all too real, and all too brief as his arm was inexorably twisted back and down; the further it went, the harder it became to resist until the brush of bark against his knuckles signaled his loss.
At least the other man didn't smash his hand flat, tearing it open against the tree's dead skin. Kel retrieved his arm and flexed his hand to regain full blood flow, ears burning at how easily he'd been overpowered. He'd been beaten fairly, but his pride still stung and when the greybeard called him 'kid' again he looked up, the spark back in his eyes. "Best two out of three, old man?" he challenged, setting his elbow back on the mark.
There was a strength to the old man beneath his sunbrowned skin and greying hair, a core of steel that looked from a distance as though it might have rusted away at the edges, but up close was as solid as ever. Kel flexed and pressed, gathering his strength and trying to focus its flow from chest and pec to bicep, remembering how easily it had come before. Once, he could have overpowered a human with only a little strain. It had been harder to make it look like a contest, so no one would think it strange how much strength the young man had.
Once...
As Zeph's hand pushed against his he realized just how far from home he was all over again, and how much he had lost in the portal's curse. His struggle was all too real, and all too brief as his arm was inexorably twisted back and down; the further it went, the harder it became to resist until the brush of bark against his knuckles signaled his loss.
At least the other man didn't smash his hand flat, tearing it open against the tree's dead skin. Kel retrieved his arm and flexed his hand to regain full blood flow, ears burning at how easily he'd been overpowered. He'd been beaten fairly, but his pride still stung and when the greybeard called him 'kid' again he looked up, the spark back in his eyes. "Best two out of three, old man?" he challenged, setting his elbow back on the mark.
