"Pushing my narrow elven ass, I had to drag it out of you, and I probably wouldn't have managed that if you could throttle better," he said, still feeling pretty good about it all. "My real strength is not dying despite being hit by things that really ought to cause that, but I sure don't mind finding some success in other areas like this one."

Of course, she couldn't name names without him wondering who those people are, even if he didn't do so out loud.