[ he's used to it. blame it on his premature gray hair. ]

Then you'll want to be good. It's always worse if someone catches you.

[ he can recognize it, a little. the types of kids he's used to were the sort that never really had a childhood, that had been trained as soldiers practically since birth.

still, he can't exactly help but feel for him. ]

You'd be surprised. Once I knew a kid who was able to take down a fully-grown man. Of course, when he came up against someone with real skill, he went down pretty quickly, but a kid like you would never have to put up with that. All it takes is building up a little endurance.

[ he makes it sound simple, but when he was this kid's age, he'd had to go through worse. ]