[The change is like a ripple passing over Diarmuid. Fire burns in his eyes for a moment before they become sharp and cold. It's an intense expression that few have seen in him. The most familiar with it?

Sephiroth.

Diarmuid closes the space between them in a flash. His servant speed is not fully back yet, but he is still very quick. What is fully back? His servant strength, which is why the punch lands not on Reno's jaw, but on the wall very near the Reno's head instead. Had the wall not been a Tower wall and resistant to damage from their powers, it would be sporting a very large hole right now.

Reno doesn't escape that easily, though. Diarmuid very carefully pulls back on his own power and the next punch, connects squarely with Reno's jaw.

It's certainly not the joking tap from before by any stretch.]

Don't confuse kindness, compassion, and understanding for weakness.

[His voice is a low hiss.]

Just because I suffer things others would not doesn't mean I don't know how to protect my own. They are more important to me than I will ever be to myself. Learn to accept that because it will never change. I am a knight. I protect. Plain and simple.