Pride goeth before XP Debt

Margie switched off the TV. “Honey, I’m heading up.”
“Okay, I’ll be coming up in just a minute.” I’d gotten back from the Vestry meeting, tidied up the kitchen for the cleaning people, and was finally getting down to some admittedly-brief City of Heroes play, running Velvet Jones around Steel Canyons, beating up on Outcast gangs.
“No problem,” she replied. She came over behind me, watching me play. She asked a couple of questions. I explained what I was doing, how I was balancing toggles, dealing with Endurance, what the various colors of villains meant, the difference between hunting and running missions, how the bad guys behaved, how the civilians behaved, etc. She pulled over a chair and sat down.
I got over near the south transit station, beat up on a couple of guys, then spotted a largish group. Four white, one yellow. Hmmm. I expressed a bit of concern over the numbers, but Margie said, “Go for it.”
Ah, well. So I powered up a bit, then threw myself into the fray. A minute or two later, five Outcasts down with no really serious threat that couldn’t be handled in-battle by healing and endurance Inspirations.
Catch breath. Look around. Hey, there’s another group, same setup. One yellow, four whites.
“Go ahead,” Margie said. “Impress your wife.”
So I made sure I was all healed up, powered myself up, and set once more into the fray.
Wham, bam, punch, munch. “You’re going critical,” Margie noted as my health flashed down to yellow, then orange. No healing Inspiration left, but Dull Pain should do it. Click.
Few moments later, I noticed it hadn’t gone off. And that — hey, that stun a moment ago must have knocked down my defensive toggles — son of a — gotta click aga–
Thud.
Just goes to show you, guys. Trying to show off for the women-folk in your life will only get you in trouble.