His words regarding balance kept her interest even more so than the fact she was learning about him. Why? Because that he was able to do such a thing was a thing to be proud of to Kelly. Balance of time and energy wasn't easy. For her, games were always stress relief- they were more necessary than just for fun. For those who weren't accustomed to them, she knew it could be much harder to figure out how much to work and play. "I'm glad you've found the right balance for you. I've been into games since I was pretty small, so...I found my balance early, but I'm always tweaking it based on changes in life." Her grin was a bit more silly than it had been before- she was at ease, and hearing things that calmed her heart even more. "But you even managed to make time for me today, on top of the game. That's pretty amazing, isn't it?" When the man got up to get himself a drink, she idly watched him while sipping her own. She saw his mild bump into a stranger, but was glad to see no real issues arose from it in the end. As he sat down to question her own life in return, she looked quietly at her drink for a moment. "I've wanted to be a nurse since I was little. My mom was pretty sickly... The nurses were always taking care of her, and of me too, making sure I was okay and not worrying too hard. It was ever since then that I admired them, and wanted to do the same...So I could help both the sick and their families, like mine was helped." Giggling a bit, she added, "My little brother sometimes says I should've tried being a doctor instead, but...I'm lucky I manage okay in nursing school as it is. I'm squeamish enough without the extra stuff medical students probably deal with."
Armand blushed just as Kelly complimented his determination to meet her. Considering what he had been through lately, he felt just meeting her was enough to relax him a little bit after Terrasphere's crazy events. Plus that meeting her real appearance like this was enough to lessen his suspicions on her. "I see. A doctor would be a good occupation, but considering your motivations, I can understand why you want to take nursing." But now that she mentioned this, he wondered if she could be a nanny or a charity worker in the near future. Still, he was happy to hear that she took nursing to selflessly help others in need. "At least you have made a good choice for your own future." Just before he can continue, he felt his collar pulled away as he quickly stood up and turned around, seeing the same punk-looking man that he bumped earlier. "Hey! You got anything to say about this?!" As Armand took another look at him, he seemed to be wearing a black leather jacket and a skull shirt, typical of a man that seemed to emulate punk rockers that the kids seemed to listen a few years ago. "You almost dropped my new phone and you just walk away from it was nothing?!" Armand just groaned and scratched the back of his head. Clearly, he seemed to not understand the meaning of manners. "You do realize it's just a little accident. I do apologize for ignoring your presence though." Unfortunately, his calm apology didn't get through the man as he grabbed his collar and pulled closer to his face. "Oh, a sorry is not enough! In fact, you owe me 30 for a coffee and a new jacket. You just dent mine with your sh**** shirt." Just that foul word was enough for Armand to glare at the man. Not only he didn't have any manners, but he didn't understand that he just bumped him, not staining his clothing. "Then just burn it away. But I suggest not to extort me for money because of your horrendous jacket." But it wasn't enough to pacify the punk as he pushed him to the table and said, "Tch... A wise guy, huh? Guess I have to make you pay my shirt by force!" The man then raised his arm and curled his right hand into a fist, attempting to punch him in his desired target. @Solaria
"I can only hope it's a good choice. I worked hard to make it, but reaching it is just as hard, if not harder. I'm really bad with certain classes I need to take, and it was pretty difficult with getting my family on board at first. I have a little brother whose only five, so he was pretty upset about me leaving the house, you know? Him and dad were pretty difficult... Even if I do visit regularly." She blabbered a bit more, but not too much longer thanks to the stranger that returned to take a stab at causing them trouble. Armand's calm demeanor even as he was being threatened by a punk was rather admirable, but considering his attempt at using only his words wasn't getting through, the girl was timidly watching from her seat, a moment of contemplation making her stay silent. While Kelly was more of a thinker in reality, she did have her impulsive moments- and, since she could generally gauge the stranger's skill level, strength and likely weak points thanks to some of her classes, she was able to jump in at the last minute, grabbing the fist before it could hit her friend. She smiled brightly when the man gave her an angered but curious look. Clearly, he wasn't expecting a woman to take him on halfway through and even manage to block his throw. "Mister, my friend has already apologized for the incident. To continue like this and make a scene only shows weakness on your end, not strength. You're doing yourself nothing good by trying to hit someone who isn't even trying to fight back. Would you please be the strong one and let it go? I'll try to chip in for the coat to be taken care of, if it'll help a bit. I'm not made of much money, but I can try, at least. So take it easy. You'll raise your blood pressure like this. Trust me, that's not a good thing in the least!" [OOC: I asked my work's bot to choose if I should take on the stranger's roll as well or leave it to you. It said leave it to you. Sorry. xD]
The more she put on a brave face against danger, the more he was impressed at her couragous act despite she wasn't in the game with her Death Affliction right now. Sure, this would lead her at risk in front of a dangerous customer, but he had to admit that she somehow able to grow a spine just to give the guy a piece of his mind. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough to stop him as the punk man attempted to throw Kelly's hand away. "Sorry, sweet cheeks. That's not how I roll around here. I would usually don't hit girls. So why don't we ditch this nerd and hang out together?" Excuse me?! Armand couldn't believe his ears when he said those words right in front of a young innocent woman. He has no right to do that right after what he had done. "I doubt she will be interested. Just accept her offer and leave us alo-" THWACK! That was a sound of the punk punching the professor's face, causing him to stumble back to his seat as the crowd gasped at what they saw. "You stay out of this! You still owe me a shirt, you dumb***!" The man then turned to Kelly and grinned in a tough and sinister manner. "So, what do you say? I won't take no as an answer, though. So..." At this point, he began to try grabbing Kelly's wrist and pull her out from the cafe, which may result a bad experience for her. But before he can do so or her struggling out of his grip, the man felt something was gripping on his wrist. "W-What th-" But when he turned around, he was quickly horrified to see Armand recovered, but his expression was mixed with calm and rage. For some reason, he seemed to start taking some persona from his Scarlet Dragon's Eye inducement episode. "I don't need to repeat myself. Leave her or else." "Or else what?!" Those are the forbidden words you cannot speak to. Because before the man continued, Armand tightened his grip on his wrist until he heard a small crack. Nevertheless, he then screamed in pain, much to his friends' shock. "Let me repeat this again for the last time. LEAVE. THIS. CAFE. AT. ONCE." Those words are enough for the man quivered in fear as he stared at his calm, yet mad eyes behind his usual blue color. In fact, it was enough for him and his posse to leave the cafe immediantly as they continue to escape from Armand's wrath. Once they did, he contninued to glare at them as they left. But just before Kelly can react, Armand then suddenly fell to his seat, now feeling a small pain in his head. @Solaria
She tried to hide the way her eyes got glazed from the slight shock of being overpowered. She'd worked hard to get as strong as she was, trained regularly for half her life. She muttered a no to the man, hands on her hips the best she could place them with his pull. "I find the word 'nerd' uncalled for at the moment. And for that matter, it's not one to treat as a derogatory sentiment like you did. What gives you the impression I'm not one, hm?" Upon realizing she'd earned more ire, she continued to struggle her way out of his grip, but failed miserably to her own dismay. She tried to deny him plenty, but it took Verity losing his calm and nearly breaking, if not really fracturing, the wrist of the hand trying to pull her out. Before she could murmur a thank you to Armand as the man fled the scene and people were staring, she watched him fall into a seat, causing her already glazed eyes to water slightly. She wasn't sure what scared her more: her own weakness, his strength, or just how much energy he expelled trying to protect her. "You idiot, what would you have done if you got hurt?" With a slight tug of her lips that couldn't be called a frown or a smile per say, she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head into the hair on his crown. "I don't know where you got that kind of strength to make a joint crack without actually moving it, but I'm not sure I want to. All I want to know is why..." She kept her arms surrounding him, as if wanting to protect him from the mix of judgmental and proud gazes of their onlookers. Really, though, holding onto him was just a way to keep her standing. Her knees were clearly shaking if one looked, wobbling like half-set gelatin, and the goose-flesh upon her skin was almost visible on her neck. "Don't ever scare me like that again, Armand. Okay? You have to be safe. You just have to. Alright? Do we have a deal?"
"I-I... I don't want you to take that man's verbal and physical attacks on you. It's just not right for a young lady like you to act brave in that scary situation." Though in his honesty, he was also scared at what happened. It was normal for him to grow angry, yet he never meant to physically threaten that man to leave them alone like that. It was just like that time when he drank the Scarlet Dragon's Eye for the first time. In fact, he accepted her scoldings that he overdid it and risking himself in the process. "S-Still... I'm sorry you have to see all of that. I-I couldn't just help myself..." Just this experience was enough to make him grow suspicious of the potion's effects on him even in real life. Just what kind of game did it affected him like this anyway?! "I promise. I won't do that again, but you also need to promise not to get involved in my troubles from now on, okay? I did have my share of enduring verbal attacks back then..." At least it was better than letting her martyr complex get her, even more, trouble than before. @Solaria
Huffing lightly, she hugged him tighter as he spoke- she was angry, but a little bit happy in some weird way. It wasn't uncommon for people to tell her not to butt in, or to tell her it was wrong for her to get into a fight. But the way Armand had said it, it didn't sound like he was babying her. Even if he said 'young' lady, he'd called her a lady, not a girl. That itself was a change she rather liked, somehow. "I can't help but involve myself when someone important to me is being treated like garbage," She mused, words rather abrupt and bluntly spoken- it lost its edge, however, through the quivering of her lips and the slight shaking of her voice. "I-I don't care if I'm a 'young lady'. It's because it's dangerous to be one that I took classes in self defense anyway. That, and because I find swordsmanship intriguing..." She pulled away, the tint of her cheeks still a slight pink as she wrapped the arms that had been around him behind her back. "Neither of us could help it, o let's not worry about it too hard. You promised to try to be careful, and I'll do the same. Though... It'll be hard not to meddle. I'm just protective by nature, you know? You could ask my brother. He's probably heard plenty of stories from dad, if not seen some of it on his own... Which is what I regret the most, really." Her body moved in a single, fluid movement into the seat she'd taken before, sipping her drink once again. She tried to focus on its warmth, but her head was spinning. "I've dealt with abuse before. It's normal, as much as it's a horrible thing for it to be the case. What bothered me was that it was you being harassed in the first place. I don't know why... But it was because it was you that it bothered me so much. Do I sound strange yet by saying that?"
