[Darin is used to people moving away not towards him. And while he's far from shy and usually the first person to get all up in someone's personal space, having Zelda lean in for a closer look at his bare chest and abs makes him flinch. There's that godsdamned heat in his cheeks again.]

[But she settles back and...did she just liken him to a frog?]

[He snorts, unable to help laughing at that. Darin's been compared to a lot of things but never a frog.]

Can't say I've ever been hurt this bad before. The arms are mostly my fault.

[No use beating around the bush. She knows how strong he is. At least, somewhat. Not even he knows his own limitations and he'd prefer to keep it that way.]

I'm human. [As far as he knows.] So while I'm resilient, I'm not immortal. I still feel pain I just recover quicker. But my strength...has limitations.

There's a recoil when I go above a certain threshold of power. I was trying to ground that giant harpy and put too much strength behind my punches. [Even though he has a perfectly serviceable dao strapped to his back.]

I'll be feeling this for a few weeks. Last time I broke my arm I was a kid and I fell out of a tree. I was only laid up for a little over a week so...

Believe me, I'll be fine. [A beat.]

This...doesn't freak you out? Bother you?

[He has to ask.]