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Abandoned... yet again, Endymion thought with an irritated growl. How many times had it been now, that Nix had managed to leave the kid alone to his own devices? Well... to be perfectly honest, End had actually forced this predicament on the man. Nix didn't actually catch the scyther, like a trainer would normally for a pokémon to end up following a person around. He also wasn't the cause of End's transformation into this... ugh, bizarre state, but seemed to be just as lost about it as the boy was.

Pausing, he realized that he was starting to feel downright terrible about doing that to the field researcher. If all that was the case, then it was no wonder that the man had left him out here. Endymion hated it out in the public -- or, rather, he was deathly afraid of it, being a wild pokémon through-and-through -- so of course he was going to leave the poké-child out here, on the outskirts of town, for the time being. He was used to being by himself, able to... sort of fend for himself. Or, at the very least, be able to hide from view from anyone he found as a threat, which ended up being most anything. Nix needed to go into town and ask around, attempt at making this fiasco an easier process or something, and he came back last time he went into town by himself...

Waiting around seemed to only be making the scyther that much more restless and worried. Realizing this, he started focusing his attention more on his surroundings than what was going on inside his head. His eyes caught sight of a thick patch of greenery, neatly aligned to be visually pleasing. It was obvious that it was a man-made sanctuary, but it was also obvious that it was available to the public. He wouldn't be trespassing if he decided to wait in there, would he?

It took him little time to reach the public garden, resting on the outskirts of the town. It was a little closer than he perhaps would have liked, but at least it wasn't in town. Sure, there were a few people milling about, but it was early enough in the morning that they were few and far-between. As long as they kept to themselves, Endymion wouldn't have to have another panic attack... and, judging from previous experience, the intimidating facade he tended to project seemed to keep people at bay. Which meant he was free to admire the scenery and pretend that he was back out in the field, where he was most comfortable. A light smile passed over his face and he crouched down, as eye-level with a nearby patch of carnations as he could get. "I really need to learn to calm down..." he murmured to himself.

Maybe it was the warming weather of the day, the sun's heat making imagination that much more possible, or perhaps he really had managed to relax a little, but Endymion was completely unaware that anyone in the vicinity had the nerve to approach him until it was much too late. His eyes had been fixed on the nearest carnation and he was starting to unintentionally drift into a nap when Carwyn's voice took him by surprised. "GAH!" he coughed out, stumbling out of his crouch to land unceremoniously on his backside. It was a good thing he never had the reaction to flail when startled.

"Wh-what!?" he growled, though it started off with a tinge of worry. He struggled at pulling his intimidating facade back up, a little shaken at having a conversation start that he wasn't aware of. Glancing up at the other child, his glare seemed to soften with the surprise he felt at realizing that it was another pokémon-turned-child that was speaking, and a surge of regret started taking effect.

Rolling back onto the balls of his feet and regaining balance, he kept a slightly grouchy air to his voice but tried to be a bit more amiable in conversation. "Eh, I suppose. They're a bit too pin--" he started, but caught himself before he slipped up too badly. He glanced back up at Carwyn but tried to hide it; the other boy was also quite pink. It would have been a bad idea to make enemies so soon, despite his antisocial nature. He reiterated, trying to make it sound like there was no mistake made, "Girly, I mean. It's a little too... frilly." Adequate save, he guessed, but was still quite embarrassed over his slip-up. Already he was getting frazzled, and this conversation was little more than a passing comment at this point in time. Real smooth.

In a half-attempt to hide any of his self-consciousness over the situation -- something he seemed to be quite prone to as of late -- he turned his head as though he were looking at something on the other side of the both of them within the flower bed. This was probably the single most-despised part of having fleshy skin now: you could actually see when he was embarrassed now. After the incident he had with Sasha, he didn't think he'd miss having a full exoskeleton as much as he did.

He focused on steadying his tightened breathing before turning back to the carnations in front of them, something that took him a shorter span of time than he had thought it would. That is, until the other poké-child brought up what Endymion thought he had altered fairly well. It took him a few more moments to regain the ability to wrestle speech from his throat, worried that he had managed to offend by trying to cover it up in the first place. "I... w-well--" he tried first, clamping his jaw shut when that course of action failed to initiate correctly. Think about what you're going to say before you say it, he scolded himself. There was a problem with growing up so feral, and yet feeling as though you were always on the bottom of the food chain.

"Well, I figured most guys were like that about girly things, yeah," he stated aloofly, keeping his eyes off of Carwyn. Not the brightest thing to say when one feared social standing, but at least it was more thought through?

He blinked at Carwyn's perky attitude, and he wouldn't have been surprised if his face faltered to his confusion, even if only momentarily. Was it... unusual for this other kid to be acting this way? Was... hm, was this kid a boy or a girl, come to think of it? He jumped to conclusions about the gender, but maybe it was wrong? That just made the silence a bit awkward, and he'd rather drop dread before asking a question like that to anybody. "Red's... okay, I s'pose," he interjected flatly, trying to meet Carwyn halfway. In truth, he could be a bit of a wimp when it came to red, mostly when in reference to blood; he could be pretty squeamish. As a color, however, he didn't particularly mind it.

At Carwyn's posed question about most guys liking it when girls were more girly than boyish, Endymion tried to retort, but stopped himself after a quarter-breath. He frowned deeply at the thought before his expression quickly softened into a more contemplative look. After a moment or two, he glanced back up at Carwyn -- only briefly, since it took courage to do so -- still trying to determine if this was a query offered by a boy or a girl. When he found himself still scrambling for the correct answer, he tossed the confusion off to the side and attempted to compose an answer that wasn't dependent on gender. It was more simplistic of a response, but it was all that was really needed, "Hmm... you have a point. I think they do." He seemed to crouch lower, but instead of being out of uncomfortableness, it was still in befuddlement, "That's really strange. I don't get that. Do you know why that is? The, um... male preference, that is. N-Not my confusion..." He closed his eyes at the awkward correction; after-the-fact, he realized that he probably had no need to clarify and further embarrass himself. Of course he wasn't asking a stranger why he might be confused! What was he thinking!?

He stiffened as he felt the drapion's hand on his shoulder, but a cold fear kept him from lurching back and out of the way. His reactions were malfunctioning at the moment, and he found the switch stuck on 'deer caught in headlights' instead of the usual 'run far, far away" he was so used to. Perhaps it was because he was rarely caught by the object of his distress; the other poké-child was certainly closer than most would dare venture toward the intimidating scyther! He would have expected his vocal chords to have seized up in reaction as well, but alas, they decided to do one worse to him instead, "I-I... umm, I don't... I don't know. I never really thought about... A-All of them are pretty okay, I--" He sighed as a way of stopping himself from falling over any more of his words (or half-words), as though he were nudging a skipping record on a phonograph. He tried to ignore the scorpion-child's proximity, but if the kid got any closer, he wasn't going to be able to.

His head jerked backward slightly as the shorter child made avoiding those big eyes impossible. His jaw clenched at the increasing tenseness coursing through his body, and he couldn't stop himself from tugging his arm, in an unconscious attempt at trying to take it back. He froze once he realized what he was doing, and his face only reddened further. The next time the scyther-boy spoke, it didn't help his mental situation any better, "W-What are you doing?" He frowned at that, more in reaction to himself than to the one currently clinging to him. After a short pause, he replied with a short, "I-It's Endymion. Sorry..." While he was apologizing for not introducing himself further, he didn't seem to realize it could have been for any number of things. He was too busy trying to not have a severe panic attack.

The fact that this pink-and-red poké-kid kept his amiable composure through the encounter probably helped Endymion a lot more than he realized, but all he could think of was how bad of a first impression he was giving off between brief bouts of mental clarity. He was suppose to be intimidating! How was this intimidating!? It didn't help that he was getting all kinds of mixed signals from Carwyn, across a variety of fields in play; he wasn't sure how he was suppose to be reacting even if he hadn't been currently freaking out. At least this sort of conversation wasn't currently too embarrassing, but more of a thread of curiosity he hadn't really thought about before, though it was leaning heavily on becoming more awkward as it went. Especially when he had to maintain eye contact, a trait he was not very good at unless at a distance. Used to keep people at bay. "How..." Endymion managed to ask, in an effort to break the current track the conversation was heading in, "How do you know all this?" It seemed a little strange to the scyther that the drapion would have such extensive knowledge on this sort of subject. As long as he could keep the conversation off of himself, all the better. Aim it at the other.

He hadn't noticed that his arm had caught on the hem of Carwyn's shirt until the other child had gasped in reaction to it, End's eyes growing wide as the sound caught his ears. He was usually so very careful about the blades, trying to use them as little as possible, but his anxiety must have caused him to lose too much focus over such a minor detail. Before he even glanced at where the blade had snagged, he coughed out a quick, "I'm sorry! I-I didn't hurt you at all, did I?" That would be the last thing he needed, to harm someone he just meant... or to faint at the sight of blood, if he drew any. It gave him a further excuse to pull away, but he didn't yank too far lest he cause any further damage. He just didn't trust himself to be so close to anyone. Although Carwyn's explanation gave him a channel with which to settle down a bit, something that did actually occur, Endymion was much too terrified to outwardly show very readily. Despite being grateful, he could only manage to repeat, "I'm sorry..." It wasn't even what he meant to say, but it was the only thing that his voice would allow. Glancing downward, he pulled his arms up to himself, blades pointed inward as a protective measure and a means to hide in public both. This was definitely not the image that he wanted to project.

And Carwyn seemed to hit the nail on the head with his next suggestion. Glancing back up to the child, he then proceeded to take a hasty view around them. There were still people in the area, weren't there? This was all just too embarrassing! His eyes turned back down and he nodded, but kept his distance. He didn't want to repeat anything that only caused negative repercussions. He didn't even realize that it may have been a bit strange for the scyther to have gone along with the idea so readily. He didn't want to seem too rude, despite wanting to put on a harsher front, so he tried to fill the silence he would have otherwise left his response at, "Yeah, that... Yeah. I don't really like it out here like this. B-But I'm waiting for someone, so..." He winced, deciding he'd rather go somewhere else if it meant getting out of public view, even if it was for a short amount of time, "J-Just not too long."

Endymion was finding it harder to glance back up while the both of them were still in the middle of above-average traffic than he was used to, and the flush that he still felt on his face only helped to hamper further. At times he could take a quick look up, but before his head lifted much higher, he found it clamping back down in an effort to hide in immediate view. As much as he wanted to give off his previously unapproachable air, he was much too tense at the moment for that to happen. If he wanted any chance at regaining it, he was going to need to give the situation -- or his demeanor -- a hard reset; at this point in time, the cluttered emotions were just piling up on top of him without time to whittle away.

Despite everything that was happening, and despite the kind of outgoing and shameless type of person Carwyn was playing, Endymion seemed rather remarkably unphased by the kid. It was mostly the context that put the scyther on edge; he really had nothing against the drapion, other than how touchy-feely the other seemed to be.

He flashed a brief, quizzical look to Carwyn before his eyes turned away again, glancing to the side as if to make sure passersby were still out of earshot. His vocal cords were tight, though, so he found it difficult to respond in a timely manner. All comments and questions came with delay as he filtered through his mind, but his thoughts were connecting with accuracy. Where exactly did this kid live where he would be able to observe such behavior so easily, and common? Did he (she?) just in a very large home? Did the other live on the streets?

It wasn't until he was assured that he had done no -- or, at least, little -- harm to the drapion-child did he find access to his voice again. "Are you sure? You're sure you're okay?" he asked, though he felt that it was a more selfish question than he was letting on. He winced inwardly, but remarkably, held it from showing for the time being. However, that was mainly caused by another off-guard comment, and Endymion was left clueless again. "Why would you want me to do something like that?" he asked, oblivious. It hadn't hit him yet what exactly the words implied, still falling under the 'stupidly-naive' category. If given a clearer head and less tension, he would surely find it much more scandalous. It was only a matter of time before he'd be kicking himself for not understanding sooner.

He was following the candy-coated scorpion almost unconsciously by the time he was being led away from sticky gazes. He didn't offer any questions, taking a seat where instructed. Already he was feeling much less warm from the embarrassment of being out in the open like he had been before, and it helped to know that some of the same flowers bloomed even here. He took a few breaths to clear his head, but tension was already beginning to rise again at the thought of his personal space being violated again. But... the kid was really only trying to be helpful, and Endymion would hate to have to deny the drapion-child further. It took some doing, but he managed to spit it out, "I... um, well... a-alright." That was much more difficult to say than he was anticipating. With a start, he realized that he was being rather rude on another subject that was already touched upon, making it twice the blow. He hesitated, "S-So... I never did catch your name." Maybe it would help shed some light on gender, at the very least.

Surprisingly enough as it was, while Endymion took Carwyn's statement completely adversely to how the drapion-child had meant it, the fact that the taller boy could relate it to something made him slightly more comfortable, and a touch more talkative, "I... suppose. Hmn... you mean kind of like Margarita?" He frowned, realizing Carwyn wouldn't have any idea who that was, and shrugged it off with a reiteration, "Um, some people don't like the feel of clothes, I mean. Is that what you meant?" Endymion may have been in the same boat, had the loss of part of his exoskeleton with the change hadn't been such a severe change to what he was so used to.

He tried to take a glance back, as though he would be able to see what Carwyn was doing despite not being able to crane his head that far back and knowing full well. It was just... he couldn't see what the kid was going to do to him back there, and it was starting to make him uncomfortably vulnerable. He was told what was going to happen, or at least had been given a bit of forewarning, but once he felt Carwyn's careful hands on his own shoulders, he temporarily tensed up even further. The wings that had been avoided seized up, but he wrapped his mind around what the other poké-child had told him to do, and forced himself to relax. What had he been thinking, saying that he thought it was okay for the magenta-haired kid to get back into his personal bubble like this!? He shook the thought free, finding it deconstructive to the whole point of the action... the drapion was only being utterly nice, there was no point in thinking like that!

Endymion flinched when Carwyn inadvertently started voicing his worry. He bit at the bottom of his lip when he noticed that his social awkwardness was starting to rub the shiny poké-child the wrong way. He felt compelled to explain himself, although he was completely at a loss as to how to go about it considering he was unaware of how much he had actually hurt Carwyn emotionally. "Yeah, that, um..." he felt his eyes start to drift away from trying to focus on the poké-child behind him, "Th-That's my fault. I'm..." He couldn't finish the sentence. It was one thing to act cripplingly shy when one wanted to be seen as something contrary, but it was quite another to actually admit to such a thing.

Although the redness on his face was beginning to make him feel uncomfortably warm, he couldn't help the small smile that forced it's way out of his grumpy frown. "I didn't ask, so it's my fault," he tried to reassure, feeling better about forgetting to ask the question earlier with the blame cut in half, "It's a... very nice name." He wasn't used to complimenting people, but it was the least he could do as thanks for everything and to make up for what a horrible person he was to talk to. Unfortunately... it still didn't clue Endymion in on the gender of the child, which frustrated the scyther more than anything. Despite the lack of ground, he couldn't deny the fact that Carwyn was right -- he was starting to feel less tense, even with the nearness involved.

Endymion shook his head as though to say 'don't worry about it,' "It's... just some crazy kid; never mind." Honestly, he'd rather not go into detail about someone he was glad to be away from; Carwyn was already proving to be at least three times more tolerable that Margarita, even if they did start off on the wrong foot. "I don't really mind them, either, though it took some getting used to. As did having skin, but..." he agreed, glancing down at his own bladed arm -- at least he still had some of his previously all-engulfing exoskeleton. Being all the more physically vulnerable like this probably hadn't helped his jittery nature, and he was only now realizing that fact. It took a bit of time, but Endymion was slowly starting to realize what exactly Carwyn had meant by his previous statement. True, he didn't know much at all about... well, that, but he knew enough. He stopped himself from turning his head around to make sure the drapion-child was serious in favor of hiding any blush that threatened. "O-Oh..." he stammered, biting his bottom lip nervously. Despite the embarrassment -- both from the indication as well as the length of time it took Endymion to understand it -- he was managing to loosen up a bit.

He tried to relax further when he noticed that he may be making things harder than he should. Despite not being used to such a thing, Carwyn's massage felt really nice. Instead, he tried to turn his tension more toward his mind, in order to jump start it. There were ways of explaining things where one didn't have to admit things in so many words, after all. He snickered a bit, something he hadn't expected, "No, it is. How to put it..." He paused for a moment before continuing, "I'm not used to talking with people, or being out in public. It's just... strange to me, I suppose. So I haven't had much of any, well... practice." No use of the word 'shy' in there at all! He counted it as an accomplishment.

"Is there any history behind it?" Endymion asked, indicating Carwyn's name. It seemed so unusual, but then again, he didn't really find his own name so usual either. The casual speaking combined with Endymion's own redirected energy (caused by both outer and inner aid) were beginning to wear down the scyther-child's own anxiety, and he was sure that the secluded environment only managed to further the calm. "Truthfully..." he murmured, head tilted in thought, "...I think it's working better than I thought it would." He grinned, particularly to lighten the mood; it seemed that Carwyn wasn't in very high spirits, by the way he began talking down about himself. When he wasn't sure if the gesture was even coming across, he added as an afterthought, "...Thank you."