Gene winced a little at the call-out. He'd always pushed himself way too hard, and he'd apparently started to fall back into that old bad habit.

"I was fine," he said to Zohvin once Chel had gone for her break. "Just missed a step, that's all." For once, he's not lying very well. Even if he'd been able to pull off the tone, his physiological reaction to that much sustained fighting and little rest would have been betrayal enough.