"Bet I could," Gabriel shot back, more for the sake of form than out of any true indignation.

Then he paused. "That depends on what you mean by 'like this'. Blinding myself because a reality pocket blew up in my face, no, not so much. Getting stabbed through the chest because my stupid older brother refused back down, well, that only happened the once."

Gabriel put a glib tone on it, but if Re-l listened closeness there was still a trace of bitterness to the words.