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"I got accused of being a lustful creature when I was younger - particularly during the wars. I was the only one of the main generals for my side that didn't have a mistress or some sort of love slave and for that reason, one of the only ones who lived." he informed the other calmly, rolling his eyes at the statements. "I was often said to lust after the concubines of the others when I told them to get rid of their precious bed-toys. Something about wanting them for myself." There was a bite to his voice that indicated just how annoying that'd been.

"The what?" he blinked a few times at this, not being too familiar with psychology from this world. Things were veeeeery different where he was from - but then, why would a field advance if the knowledge gained from its advancement would upset the power those in charge had?

"Ah. Well that part of my brain has been almost completely shut off since I was young. It was necessary for survival to keep my head where it belonged and not let things of a sexual nature cloud my judgment." he commented with a nod, "That's the main reason I don't date now that I'm here - it's much harder to learn to function differently from what I'm used to, to what has worked for me for so long."

Charlie's eyes slitted a bit at that statement and he worked to not clench his jaw at that. Honestly, whether it was meant as a hint or not - he never could be sure - it was one of those things that sent practically all of his ingrained warning signals off. Someone showing an interest in him had almost always had a motive for it in previous times. A person who didn't want to take advantage of him was hard for his mind to justify. Trust was never one of his strong suits.

And yet, he didn't want to completely block this guy out - he had been amiable with that guy, Vic, even to the point of going to eat with him twice. Here, he felt more vulnerable and was not in the best of positions to be considering his stance versus another person. But Odin didn't seem like he would hurt him, would play him for a fool - still, caution was necessary.

So it was that Charlie couldn't quite bring himself to respond with more than a quiet "Mm."

Charlie nodded and put the tube away, smiling lightly as he stood. "Thanks."


~~

Close to a month later, the pomped man returned. Today his hair was back in a tight, thin braid at the nape of his neck - this was mostly due to his nephew practicing braiding hair himself. Dartie usually did it but she wanted Kahlua to get better at doing his own hair.

That day he wore a rather strange shirt - a tight, spandexy looking turtleneck that seemed to lack a right sleeve - it had been worn as part of a uniform previously, but he was fond enough of the shirt to wear it that day. He was also wearing a newish pair of dark blue jeans and vaguely wondering if he was at all recognizable. His nephew had convinced him to go shopping and it felt strange picking clothes that weren't either for fighting or suiting Ixxie's dress code.

"Hallo" he greeted Odin as he entered, not quite sure if anything besides would be necessary for a greeting. He used to have all sorts of different salutations to memorize depending on the rank and station of who he was talking to, but now it seemed all vanished.

Walking back as indicated, the man took a few moments to process who 'the ol girl' might be. "What?" he asked, blinking in confusion. "To what are you referring?"

Strange strange terms these people used.

Referring to inanimate things with gender pronouns was something Charlemagne wasn't yet used to. But now that he was sure as to what was being spoken of, he could answer more definitely.

"Seems to have healed just fine." he commented, looking at his arm once more as he sat down and noticing no apparent damage since the last time he'd looked.

"Fine with me." he commented, shrugging a bit.

"How've you been?" Charlie decided to ask as Odin set up to work on his arm. He wasn't quite sure what he should talk about with the other man but asking seemed the right thing to do. And in a way, he was genuinely curious.