Helena listened silently to Ray's reactions to recent developments. Apparently he'd met Fei at some kind of Institute. Likely the Magic Institute thing she'd heard stories about. Something about the boy's talk of incidents and getting expelled made Helena wonder what kind of shenanigans they had gotten into in their time there. Still, it wasn't of Helena's concern. At least, not yet.
Then, though, the councillor showed up. And promptly took Helena's joke seriously, earing a soft chuckle from the ice mage. The councillor seemed nice enough, she seemed to have the best intentions in her heart, wanting to ensure that this hypothetical date didn't leave any... lingering concerns. Of course, the councillor did act a bit too quickly, not taking time to really figure out what they were actually talking about.
Helena was about to correct her.
Ray interrupted her.
The ice mage was beginning to sense a pattern.
Ray's response to the Slime Woman's concerns weren't particularly polite. Just like how the boy had reacted to the food and Daria's criticsms of his behaviour. Of course, the latter was kind of justified, it wasn't like Daria decided to be particularly polite about the matter herself.
However, something about Ray's words did not sit right with Helena. Particularly his speak of rumours that slime could be used for jelly. Of course, the ice mage assumed that Ray wouldn't actually go through with what he was hinting at, but it was clear that he was picking on the poor woman, at least to some degree.
"Leave her alone, Ray. She was just trying to look out for us, it's not her fault she only overheard part of our conversation." Helena snapped, forcing herself into the conversation. "I don't care much for these so-called rumours of yours, but at the very least try to pretend to show some respect. And if you don't know how to do that, then I believe you aren't intelligent enough to be here."
As one could likely deduce from Helena's tone, the ice mage was... annoyed, to say the least. Sighing, she turned to the slime woman, and gave her a polite smile.
"I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, miss. Ray and another student had a... slight disagreement, but I convinced them that this party is not the place to settle arguments. The date in question was me joking about how they'd agreed to meet back tomorrow to... talk it out. Sort of." Helena said, leaving out or embelleshing certain parts of the truth. The woman didn't need to know the full story, after all, just enough to get a better idea of what was going on.
Then, she glared at Ray for a moment, before turning back to the woman. "That being said, I do appreciate the fact that you're looking out for us, miss. Don't let Ray's ramblings about rumours distress you, he just needs to..." Helena once more turned to look at Ray, staring him in the eyes for a moment as a few sparks lept from the girl's hair. "...cool down a little."