Carter laughed against her shoulder. He had done a lot in his life, to be sure, but that was one particular act that he could not claim to have tried. And he was alright with that. For there were just some things that no man was meant to do.
At her touch he immediately relented, taking the hint. Though his arms remained around her all the same. By the time she shot the question back at him he was facing her again, keeping her close. He liked the tone of her voice, but he could tell it was for a purpose. Now she was probing him, and in the face of her question he realized his mistake. Curiosity kill the Hawk.
He was going to ruin this if he was not careful.
It was only then, as he considered his answer, that he really, truly, recognized her. And with that recognition his answer became all the more difficult. His thoughts raced, but like her he remained stoic on the outside. He had known she practiced martial arts, but it was only now that he realized he had seen someone move just like her before, and he could have kicked himself for not realizing it sooner.
"I have many specialities", he said, and it was true. Egyptian warrior, gladiator, samurai, knight... he had learned so many different means of inflicting violence, that it was hard to summarize them all without something resembling one of his history lectures. Instead he decided to press his luck, as he was already on the fence anyway.
"The truth is that I used to run with your mother", he said. He added emphasis to the word 'run', because what he really meant was that he had fought with her. "I did not realize it until just now, but you look just like her..."
Before she could react-for he was not sure if she would pull away-he leaned in, thinking it prudent to introduce himself again. "My name is Carter Hall, but your mother also knew me as Hawkman."