"You need to eat more! Try to gain thirty pounds of muscle within six months. Otherwise, your opponent will be able to pick you up with one hand in the middle of a fight!"
Elias looked Eli over carefully before turning to Nathan for a second opinion. Nathan studied Eli's slender frame with the same seriousness he might have shown when assessing a potential opponent, then nodded thoughtfully.
"Gaining thirty pounds of muscle is possible for you, Elias, but for Eli, even putting on a little more weight would be an achievement."
Eli stood between them with his hair sticking up in every direction after Elias had ruffled it. He listened as the two men discussed his weight as casually as if they were deciding how much food to prepare for an animal being raised for slaughter, and for a moment, he didn't know whether to feel offended or grateful that they were taking his training so seriously.
