Despite his enmity with Sapphire at the moment, Abel could not help but admire the way she caught the plate.  Were all nimble lightweights capable of such tricks?  Her declaration of her injuries, made only moments before, heightened the improbability of such a maneuver and by extension the degree to which it impressed Abel.  Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that she had been planning to strike him; for a few moments, her expression had betrayed that she thought he might have as well.  Frankly, the notion that he pick a fight with a near-invalid insulted the guardian, but he did not bestir himself from his silence to interrupt Gren.

While Gren was talking, the feeling of respect Abel felt for him increased.  Not only was this brutal-looking warrior considerate and friendly, but he was also a great speaker.  Abel envied those who could use words with such finesse, well aware of his own comparative lack of charisma.  When Gren mentioned him, Abel's mind flashed back to the moments he had spent in the tunnel using his semblance in conjunction with the Ampere to create a whirling, electrified shield to grab the robot's focus.  Perhaps stirred by the memory, a thin cut along his cheek twinged.  It took a lot of firepower to get even a single bullet through his Vortex Barrier, but the mech had done so in only a few seconds, cutting straight past the protection afforded to him by his aura since he was concentrated on sustaining the Barrier.  

Abel's attention shifted as Gren addressed Sapphire directly.  He looked into the eyes of Kuhaku, which Gren had referred to as Shiro.  From what Abel had heard, it was his last name, but the idea of someone preferring to be called by last name was not alien to him.  That said, he nearly winced every time Gren said 'Fulgurate'.  It was an esoteric and awkward word, pronounced 'foolg-your-utt', and Abel preferred for others to use his first.  Regardless, he found himself wondering if 'Shiro' had really lost his memory.  It struck him as weak, and rather irritating, but probably not as much as it did for Shiro.  

Feeling obligated to make some statement, Abel spoke up right after Gren finished.  “Yeah.  I feel the same way, really, though I probably look like a prick.  We're not perfect, and we have our weaknesses, but the biggest pride in life can be the triumph over yourself.”  Those words were his father's, and his grandfather's before him.  They expressed an ideal that Abel hoped to live by.  “If you're willing to lead, I'll try and follow.”