"I'm gonna beat you!"
"I don't think so."
They stared at each other, rising and falling in sync, sweat beading on their foreheads as they rounded fifty pushups and kept climbing higher. Their training had long since become a common sight among the others in the training field, their relationship a growing one with the more time they spent together, a companionable humor growing between them.
"You're going to give out first, old man!"
"I'm as spry as a youngling."
When it became evident that he wasn't going to be dropping out, upon rounding one hundred and ten pushups, his young companion came to a halt, breathing deeply from the exertion, and fell to her knees. The elder kept going, their goal having been two hundred, laughing in his triumph. She smiled widely, climbing up to her feet, she hopped quickly to his side.
"You're just being a sore loser, now." He chuckled, grunting slightly at the added weight as she climbed up to sit on his back, adjusting his arms slightly, he lowered himself and rose again, falling back into the steady rhythm. She turned, realigning herself, laying across his back. She crossed her arms around his neck lightly and rested her chin on his shoulder. "But you're as spry as a youngling. This should be easy for you."
"I never said it was troublesome." He turned slightly, pecking her cheek fondly, and he felt her smile against his cheek. "I just said you're being a sore loser."
"I am not!"
"Then why are you laying over me?"
She giggled lightly. "You're just comfortable."
The young one carefully turned around, laying back against him, her head resting on his lower back as he legs bent over his shoulders, bare feet dangling in his line of sight.
Coming to two hundred even, he stopped falling, and held himself up for a moment to catch his breath. She yelped excitedly when he lowered himself to his knees, careful to keep himself a flat surface for her, and curled his fingers around her ankles as he climbed back to his feet.
"Nis!" She laughed as she dangled down his back. "Put me down!"
"But I thought I was comfortable, Gzel."
"Not like this!"
He laughed softly, tugging her upwards, she arched her back as she pulled herself forward, coming to rest peacefully on his shoulders. Gzel leaned forward, resting her chin on his head, as he turned them in the direction of the sparring partners.
"How much longer until Akriel comes to retrieve you?"
"Thirty minutes."
The Power Captain nods, humming under his breath. "Do you want to spar?"
"Yes!"