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Well, today wasn't going at all like Endymion would have opted to picture the day. For one thing, he still wasn't at all used to his new 'look.' If he hadn't been informed by two particularly, um... strange girls beforehand, he could have easily labeled this as some sort of ghost pokémon's illusion, or... heck, even witchcraft. It just didn't seem normal to him!

To put another damper on the day, he was forced to come with Nix into town on a grocery errand. Looking like this. For one thing, he'd never been into a town before, but he figured that a scyther-person waltzing around the place would be just a little out of the ordinary. Just a bit. Luckily, nobody paid him too much heed other than to gawk at what a strange costume he had on, whatever that meant. As long as they left him alone, fine. It seemed the clothing he was wearing helped him out in that venture as well.

Now that they were at the grocery store, however, Nix decided to leave Endymion just outside the building, telling the boy that he'd be right back in just a bit. Maybe an hour or two. Goody, time to be a tourist attraction! It didn't help that there was already a dog out front, leash wrapped around the steel mailbox. End glared at the pooch, trying to feel a little less defeated by attacking an innocent animal with scorn. "What you looking at?" he grumbled once he realized that the dog was still happy -- and a bit confused -- despite the look. Instead, he turned his back on the dog; that would show it to mock him!

The poké-child attempting peeking back over his shoulder at the leashed dog, in a way that didn't make it look obvious. While it was unfortunate that it was very apparent what he was doing, he realized with a start that the dog had gotten bored of his little hissy-fit and decided to lay down on the pavement. And was currently yawning. Endymion whipped over, flashing another scowl, "Yeah, well, back at you!"

He backed up, realizing he said that louder than he meant to, which was... not at all. Why was he even angry? The dog was doing exactly what Endymion wanted it to do in the first place and ignoring him! He flushed, but proceeded to 'act casual.' While still frowning, he spun back around -- more slowly this time -- only to come face-to-face with a hooded woman. "Woah, watch it!" he sputtered, though more out of a surprise reaction; his words weren't even tipped with anger at that point.

But something was off, and the scyther-child noticed it despite being so flustered. First off, she was actually concerned for the weapon-armed child, enough to even walk up without worry that he might chop her up or something else as equally ridiculous (he had perfect control of his arms, thank-you-very-much). "Erm... y-yeah, I'm fine. Waiting for my tra-" he cut himself off with a forced cough, "m-my friend, I mean." Ugh, embarrassment is probably a lot more visible now, too, he despaired, knowing how red humans could get when they were at a loss like this.

Glancing back to this woman, he realized what else was off about her. Almost immediately, he momentarily forgot all tenseness, "Are you a pokémon?" Most people weren't that pink... or had markings whatsoever, for that matter.

"Ah... erm..." Endymion tried to retort in protest, but knew that it was a lost cause. 'I wasn't startled! What the heck gave you that idea?' No, despite what he might like to say, there wasn't anything that didn't say that about his reactions; he may be stubborn, but he wasn't stupid. He attempted to wave it off, even though it was obvious that he still wasn't entirely comfortable with it, "I-It's okay, totally my fault. I wasn't... looking where I was going." At the very least, this gave him reason not to dwell on his current predicament, even if it was an embarrassing alternative.

Besides, this stranger seemed very nice, and although first impressions were by no means always an accurate picture (he was testament to that one), they painted a fairly accurate picture when under scrutiny. In fact, he was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable when he picked apart the situation. She seemed a bit concerned for him, like she wanted to help or something. While that was normally a perfectly fine stance to take, and even one that Endymion might inwardly crave at times, he was much too guarded and proud to let it carry on. If he was aiming to put peoples' defenses up against him, he couldn't very well let people start worrying about him; that led to all the wrong conclusions!

It was probably only because this woman seemed so caring and lighthearted that Endymion was allowed the capability of sliding into his so-called part again so easily. Speaking to another individual that seemed to have undergone his own dilemmas only added to the boost, especially since this was the first time he had spoken to another poké-human since his own transformation. Pride was at it again, now that he was able to meander more towards an aloof tone, "I take it you're here for some groceries?" He was still slightly pink in the face, but the edges of his expression helped to lessen the intensity. He pointed behind himself to the front door but, despite the more tense tone, it lacked impatience -- it was almost a chivalrous gesture. "Don't let me stand in your way." He turned away, disappointed at how quickly he drove to end the conversation in his social awkwardness; even he could see it was too soon, but if he ended on a high..? He frowned to himself nonetheless.

Endymion was a bit surprised that, despite his rush to end the conversation, she was still willing to speak with him and elaborate on her situation. Regardless, this wasn't a disappointment in the slightest, and almost made him feel a bit badly for cutting things short. What if she really did just want someone like her to talk to? It seemed there were some individuals who were like that, and despite the image Endymion held tightly to projecting, he couldn't ignore the fact that, deep down, in spite of what he wanted to be... he was too nice to embrace the intimidating labels completely. As long as he was able to do so most of the time, he supposed...

It didn't help the fact that it was nice to be able to interact with others without having to worry about falling victim to a battle, like routines had become in the wilds as a pokémon. He would have said more before Meadow had passed by him toward the door, but his indecisiveness on the matter registered to his muscles to just freeze in place, managing to maintain the aloof air that he had wrapped himself in. It just so happened that this may have been the first time regretting doing such a thing, even though moments before he was praising the fact that it was so easy to do around the miltank-teen.

It was only when she had requested his aid did he snap out of it, turning to face her. "I haven't been here before, either. Heck, I haven't even been into town before," he nearly grumbled with a half-hearted shrug. He could have kicked himself for that statement, but found that it might have been better than his initial instinct of accepting without explanation. He sighed, letting the pause drag on for a few seconds before nodding, "Suppose it couldn't hurt, though. It's not like I've got anything better to do." Hmm, did this mean he was getting better at being who he wanted to be like, or was it just a fluke? He supposed it didn't matter at the moment. "So you have a big family?" he asked, remembering that she had at least said that it was going to be a big meal, "Or are you celebrating something? Is... it a long list?"

This teen was certainly talkative, he had to give her that. While Endymion was doing a pretty good job at maintaining a slight scowl, he was actually kind of grateful that the atmosphere wasn't strangled by awkward silence. He nodded as he followed the miltank girl inside, for she did make a good point: it would be more efficient with more people on the job. Glancing up from beneath a shower of multicolored strands of hair, his expression suddenly took on one more fitting of a gawking child, "You're kidding me... that many?" He had no idea that so many pokémon had gone through similar, bizarre evolution cycles, let alone that so many of them had congregated together. He flashed a bit of a meek smirk, "Must burn off a lot of energy." Apparently the ability to easily slide into 'intimidation' mode came with the other side of the blade: the ability to easily slip into 'amiable' mode. Probably due to an unfamiliar amount of confidence at his disposal.

Endymion made another observation about the teenager as they walked: she was also extremely friendly, and he wouldn't doubt that it was to a fault. He hadn't heard of someone throwing a thank-you meal... was it just an excuse to cook a lot of food (did she like cooking?), or was she genuinely just that generous? "Must be a saint," he noted quietly, but not with any sort of venom behind the words. Blinking at the list, he almost cringed, "Are shopping lists... normally that long?" Were they going to be here all day? What was that, a hundred different ingredients? After a moment, he took a glance around the store before he stated with a firm, "Gotta move quicker than this, then!"

He fidgeted slightly in place. "...Feels kind of weird calling them family," he admitted, unsure if he should go any further than that. The problem was, however, that he knew what she meant, so he couldn't very well play stupid on the matter. He brushed it off, trying to sound more confidently distant once more, "There's a strange old man and two other, um... pokémon like, ah, us. They're all annoying, if you ask me." He offered a slightly comical frown on the matter.

Endymion contemplated Meadow's hesitant language, taking note that she was attempting to tread lightly where she felt needed it. Maybe it was so the ones she was referring to didn't get a bad reputation to the scyther, or -- more probably -- that she wasn't the type to bad mouth anyone. Whatever the reason, Endymion didn't refrain, "So there are a few hellions in your family. Seems like there are some in every one, huh?" That was something he could relate to, at least.

The scyther boy nodded in agreement, for he had no idea what a normal-sized shopping list was, either. Nix tended to only go into town for a handful of things at a time, but this made trips into town more frequent. It was probably for an excuse to take a break from his research, for otherwise he tended to overwork himself; his life was his job, it seemed. Endymion tried to imagine what life on a farm would be like, but he had only ever seen one from the outside... miles away. Regardless, it seemed like an adequate excuse not to know about the shopping. Was there any pokémon that really knew much? Perhaps if they had been human for a long enough time, but... "Which is the spice aisle?" he interrupted his thoughts, misunderstanding that the teen had meant for the spices to be the first on the list to grab. Now was probably not the best time to mention that he couldn't read all that well.

The child seemed to try to shrink back at the questions, unsure if he could put words together adeptly enough to get his point across. His more bashful nature was beginning to show through again once the tables had been turned and conversation focused on his own feelings again. Despite Meadow offering a way out of answering, Endymion seemed to forgo the coward's way out, "Well, they're just... weird. Pretty loud, too, and sometimes clingy. They don't seem to, ah..." he paused to think of the word he was looking for, "...they don't seem to, um, value... personal space." He frowned at that, letting another moment pass before realization hit and he elaborated, "When I want to be left alone, they seem to get even more clingy."

Endymion waved a blade dismissively at Meadow's statement, "You don't have to sugarcoat it." It was at this point that he could tell that the miltank was just trying to be polite, and a little too late, that he just added to the ongoing pun without meaning to. "Well, they're at least very, um... full of energy," he noted, almost flatly as he tried to find the right words, "What makes you think they have a crush on one another? Sounds like they're more like best friends, or sisters. Um... or is it a girl thing?" The word 'intuition' was escaping his grasp at the moment, and he cringed at the wording he had to use instead. He thought about a pokémon with glasses, and although Nix himself wore them, he realized he hadn't really seen a pokémon wearing the accessory. He wasn't even honestly sure what they were used for, really, but was too hesitant to ask. The boy smirked at Meadow's reaction to her unintentional joke, finding it a bit corny but still in good nature, "Well, as long as they're not destructive, I suppose." He didn't really know how to get 'sweet' out of 'hyperactive,' but then again, Endymion wasn't the most patient of individuals under most circumstances.

"Oh! My bad, I thought that's where... you were, ah..." he started before gradually cutting himself off. He didn't really need to explain himself, did he? Fighting the urge to feel embarrassment over his assumptions, he listened to the teen rattle off her list of the items in their current area. He didn't know a good fraction of those items, and refused to ask for direction on where to get them. Endymion didn't want to admit that he couldn't read more than the most basic of words, after all, that would just make him look that much more stupid. Luckily, there were some tomatoes next to the cart, so the boy reached a blade behind a healthily ripe batch of them and slid them into the cart, "One down!" The cucumbers weren't too far away either, and the strawberries seemed to be packed next to the blueberries on the other side of the stand, but he couldn't really pick any of them up and bring them over, so pointed to them with his other arm, "Gonna take down the whole aisle at this rate, huh?"

Tapping his wrists together nervously, much like a child might do with two lightly balled fists when feeling uncomfortable, Endymion thought the sentiment over. "I suppose you're right... but sometimes I think that it might be better if they really didn't want anything to do with me," he attempted to explain, but he couldn't reach down far enough to grab at the why's of his thought processes. He just didn't want to deal with people, mainly because he didn't know how, or if he might just end up hurting someone in the process, physically or mentally. But he wasn't about to say any of this, not on his life. He tried to give a smile, but it appeared more sheepish than what he meant it to look like, "I suppose it's always nice to feel wanted, at times. Even if it's by people that annoy you." He tensed at the dinner idea; while the teen's logic did make sense, it was also a scenario that tended to put the scyther on edge, "But... didn't you say that you had a ton of people living with you? I... I don't tend to do well in crowds..." Pausing a moment, he let the other ideas sink in before glancing to her meekly, "You sure they'd mostly be too distracted by everything else?" As long as they ignored him while he was there, he supposed he could deal with it, especially if they were all turned pokémon. He reddened once he realized he completely forgot about introductions, though the embarrassment was blunted over the fact that Meadow herself had also done the same, "Oh, right! Heh, I'm Endymion. You'd have thought that... that one of us would have remembered to do that sooner!"

"Ah! That was the word!" Endymion grumbled to himself quietly, annoyed he couldn't come up with it but glad that Meadow was able to. He thought about it a moment, but ultimately just started wondering if it was all hopeful thinking on the teen's part. Really, though, who was he to say? He didn't know these individuals as well as she did, and shrugged it off, "I suppose it's possible." The boy smiled at the idea that they weren't as destructive as he might have imagined -- certainly not as much as Margarita -- but still, the accidental breaking of things could get annoying on a semi-frequent basis. Granted, he also knew that he lacked the patience to really deal with someone like that when he could barely stand his current living arrangements; he gave himself far too little in the way of credit. "Running like that should be done outside," he pointed out, trying to prove what he was getting at. He flushed when Meadow had caught the unintentional continuation of the pun, and although he looked grumpy over the fact, he was actually quite a bit amused by how much it tickled the miltank.

Blinking, Endymion was rather impressed by how quickly Meadow moved to grab the rest of the vegetables. Granted, she practically didn't even need to look at the list; she could probably grab some of everything and mark the aisle off on the list, but it was still rather remarkable. When she made it back to the cart, he stared, a bit dumbfounded for a moment before laughing, "Heh, doesn't look like you need my help much at all!" It was more of a joke, though, for he wasn't making any move to leave. He leaned over as though to take a look at the list the teen was holding, "What's next on the agenda?"

Endymion nodded in agreement with Meadow's preferences, feeling that he didn't explain that well at all. No, he actually kind of feared being alone, but he wasn't without a temper. There just didn't seem to be any winning with the boy; he had a tendency to find something he didn't like about everyone, whether he was trying to find it or not, and latched onto those facts. In fact, if he observed his own behavior he may notice that he pushed things away the more he actually liked them. He wasn't sure how to respond, given that he couldn't find the words, and it was making him feel slightly dispirited. He didn't actually want to be left alone, but he liked his space. Argh, he was just going in circles like this! Frustrated with himself, he ended up speaking before fully thinking his words out, "Well, that sounds good enough to me. I wouldn't really mind that, actually." Maybe if he just... kicked himself into something he didn't want to do, he tried to justify after-the-fact. He mustered a grin and nodded to the introductions; she really was a friendly one. It made it easier to not stay so angry.