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While it was never unusual to take note that Endymion was irritable, recent occurrences proved to be a little more than the scyther seemed to be able to handle. It was apparent that when it rained, it poured, but such knowledge did not make things any easier. The scyther had been on the fence about the regular Gaian populace for a while now, but it was only recently that he decided that he didn't want to have to deal with any of them anymore. They were just too unstable, and hard to predict... and freaking dangerous.

Stress levels for the newly-grown teen had always been quick to fill and slow to dissipate. Panic attacks were a sure sign that the bottle was overflowing, but they also usually indicated a hard reset after letting go of all that emotion at once. Usually.

However, he didn't feel he could deal with it anymore. Maybe traveling with that crackpot researcher and his conglomerate of random studies had been alright at first, but he had suspected that it only made the entire group stick out like a sore thumb. He had been much safer traveling on his own, before he was ever changed by that dang-blasted star... even if most of that was due to hiding in bushes until he couldn't hear anything in the vicinity any longer. Okay, so the plan wasn't as well thought out as he would have liked to have believed, but he was also sure that sticking around was an even worse idea. He never used to run into so many when he was on his own, and never once had to ask what a group like Team Rocket was.

Terpsichore had insisted she come along, though, if only to make sure he didn't end up doing something stupid; her words, not his. Her stubbornness knew no bounds, though, so Endymion found himself unable to shake her. At least she was accepting of the fact that he currently needed some fresh air -- alone -- so she was apt to leave him to his own devices for a while. Thank Arceus.

They had split from the main road a few hours ago, detouring into a section of the forest for a change of pace. Endymion found it more comforting to be surrounded by so many trees, many of which could be used as a hiding spot in a pinch if needed, instead of being out on the open trail. Granted, that also made it a bit harder to tell direction when one had to weave in a nonlinear fashion through the wooden pillars, but it wasn't as though many feral pokémon hadn't faced such a dilemma before; the scyther was sure he could find his way back to where he left Terpsichore... eventually. He wasn't really worrying about it.

Endymion flinched as he heard a voice yelp, and was tempted to turn tail and run right then and there. However, despite the fact it could very well have been the result of a scuffle, he also realized that the sound came out of reaction to someone who may not know what to do out here, so far from civilization. Maybe they were lost, or hiding from something... most short-tempered an battle-hungry people didn't cry out like that. But then... what if it was a human?

Fighting off the urge to pinch his bladed limbs to his torso as a means of looking smaller, to keep out of sight, Endymion took a deep breath and proceeded toward the origination point of the sound. He walked cautiously, trying to make as little sound as possible until he reached the half set-up encampment. Peering around, he spotted the teenaged teddiursa, and released the breath he was holding. His guard was still up in the off-chance this ringlet-endowed poké-teen was with a trainer, however, as he carefully made his way over.

The scyther was well aware that his actions could very well startle the other teen, but it was either that or possibly get frightened instead. His determination to stick with an air of intimidation was remarkable at times, considering they stuck with his actions despite the fact he wasn't trying to exercise the skill on Jayme. After a moment, he took a last glance around before finally saying anything, "...You alright?"

It was apparent that the frilled teen had absolutely any idea that Endymion was in the vicinity, and that knowledge somehow made the scyther feel a bit more secure. Not that the area looked like it was designed to be used as an ambush or anything, but he was much too paranoid about that sort of thing to think about the logistics behind his overabundance of caution. Besides, when had it ever hurt to be too cautious?

His answer came a bit more abruptly than he had been anticipating as Jayme's violently surprised reaction came into play. Truth be told, even though Endymion had always tried to be on the more daunting side, nobody he had interacted with in the past actually had been scared of him, as far as he knew. This was... definitely different; he was more used to it being the other way around!

The quick amount of displayed fear made the scyther-teen flinch in reaction as well, a bit blind-sided. Okay, so... this wasn't going as planned. He fidgeted a bit as Jayme regained his bearings, feeling slightly awkward to just be standing there while someone wrestled with their own panic. Sure he could recognize it a mile away, and oftentimes had to fight with it on his own, but he wasn't sure how to really go about interacting with someone else that experienced similar. Idly, he wondered if that was how others reacted when Endymion had done the same, even if the scyther had shown it a little less drastically.

Endymion perked when Jayme relaxed enough to respond, but frowned when an answer finally did come, "Sort of?" Oh... right, panic wasn't one to let people feel refreshed once it died down, huh? However, as the other teenager's fearfulness persisted, Endymion couldn't help but feel bogged down with more and more confusion. He didn't know what Jayme was talking about, and his ineptitude with eloquence left the scyther speechless under the twisting tension. He... he wasn't trying to run him out! Was he really that scary?

He took a step forward but stopped abruptly short of minimizing the proximity any further, in the off-chance Jayme had a large enough personal bubble he didn't want to have pop. Besides, he didn't want to scare the teddiursa any more than he already had, considering that's not really why he had even chose to come over here.

Once he finally grabbed hold of his voice, he was disappointed to find it riddled with such familiar speech hesitations, but tried to get his point across nonetheless, "Ah, w-wait, I never said that! I-I was just--" He flinched again, spotting the mark across Jayme's cheek as the other teen turned, his face blanching at the realization, "I-Is... is that blood..?" Oh boy, he was already getting dizzy.

Despite feeling a bit badly about being the instigator of Jayme's hasty retreat, Endymion still had to marvel at how quickly the other teen was capable of packing up the scattered belongings. Sure, he had wanted to stop the frazzled teddiursa before too many things were packed back up, but the anxiety of the situation seemed to bring such contrary observations into focus. This seemed to be a completely different kind of awkward that what the scyther was so prone to causing, or experiencing.

Once Jayme had confirmed the mark across his cheek had been an injury, Endymion had to avert his gaze in an attempt to forget what it was he had just seen. He didn't even know how to respond in kind to the explanation, just trying to keep himself from passing out. Focusing on his breathing, he scanned the area to look for something that could help with the injury; it was almost a selfish undertaking, but even if the scratch hadn't drawn blood, he likely would have done similar. After a few seconds, he managed to grasp at what he was trying to do and convey it verbally, "Is... is there anything that c-can be used for, um... sterilization?" A cut was still a cut... and at least if it was bandaged, it wouldn't bother him so much. Out of sight, out of mind. Unfortunately, he was not the best at any sort of herbal remedies, having grown with an exoskeletal frame and all.

He froze in his search when Jayme called attention to Endymion's complexion, and when he turned back to the frocked teen, noted that the teddiursa had already taken it upon himself to get rid of the most visible traces of blood. Well that was good, and care should probably still be taken to keep the scratch from getting infected, but... had it at least stopped bleeding? "Ah, I-I'm fine..." he attempted with another fidget. The scyther huffed a bit of a sigh -- residual from taking slower, deeper breaths -- before eyes flicked over to the nearing teddiursa. Well, he was offering, and it probably would help...

His gaze kept finding their way downward, most likely in response to the unsure atmosphere between the both of them. He was careful about taking the canteen, using the joints where blades connected to forearms in order to pincer the container. He held it a moment before offering a return, "Um... thank you." Well at least he wasn't unfamiliar with embarrassment by this point, but he had no idea how to explain himself without having to go into detail about how much of a pansy he could be. While image wasn't everything to Endymion, he still didn't want to utterly trash what he had of it.

He didn't take too much of the water in the container, just enough for a bit more feeling to come back to his head. While the faint feeling had come and gone, he still felt like he should probably sit down, but the scyther was still latching on a mite too tight to his pride, deciding it was better to locate something to somehow bandage up Jayme's injury first, or at least help on that front. He was still quite pale, but first things first, "So, did you... bring any f-first aid with you?" That could simplify things.

Jayme's skills at observing and connecting two-and-two together were lost on Endymion as the scyther struggled to try to hide what he hadn't wanted to show so openly. In all honesty, though, he had never been too good at such an undertaking unless acquaintances were fully preoccupied; it didn't look like the other teen was as distracted as he was before.

Sighing, he tried to come up with anything that may work as an adequate sanitizer in a situation like this, if the regular store-bought applications weren't available. He could have kicked himself for not looking something like that up, considering how he reacted to injuries anyway... and considering he was more prone to the same now as well. Who knew Endymion would actually be wishing Terpsichore was here at the moment; he'd bet she would be more knowledgeable about something like this, since she was also the one that injured herself setting up camping materials as well. In fact... the similarities in that respect were actually kind of amusing, come to think of it.

And completely irrelevant, he thought with a slight shake of his head. The teen blinked in reaction to Jayme's amazement of how the scyther gripped the canteen, feeling a bit amused when it was something that Endymion had done all his life, if a bit awkward about the attention given to it. If he hadn't already gone pale at his light-headedness, he probably would have flushed instead. "Well y-you have to adapt when other things won't and..." he trailed off, realizing he didn't really need to explain himself.

He almost seemed to huff in irritation as the teddiursa-teen apologized for what had happened moments before, finding it unnecessary to do such a thing. "Anyone would be jumpy if they weren't expecting s-someone to be there. I wasn't exactly trying to be noisy... so it's more my fault," he insisted. His words probably came more from a need to believe them himself, but at least he was able to find a way to say 'I would have done similar' in a roundabout way. A small smirk appeared at the introduction, finding it a bit of a relief that Jayme didn't seem so wound-up anymore, "You, too. Name's Endymion." Eh, he just needed to relax a bit. It seemed like there wasn't anyone else here, and Jayme hardly seemed like a threat.

Leaning over a bit, Endy attempted to see what it was before Jayme had pulled out the item he had been searching for. His focus was on each item in turn, noting that while none of them were in an actual first aid kit, the necessary equipment was still all there. "You really are prepared..." he mused, though the comment was more out of relief than trying to poke fun at.

His eyes drifted a bit when Jayme went to apply the cream to the cut, but quickly darted back when the request for aid was issued. He fought the urge to bite at his lip at the question, but considering the injury was so small and mostly wiped free of blood, Endy grabbed hold of stubbornness and nodded, "Sure thing! A little to the right... ah, no, I meant my right. Yeah, there' you got it." Well that wasn't too bad.

Spotting Jayme's flinching in reaction to the application, Endymion found himself wincing in sympathy, "Maybe we could put something cold on it when it's all done. Might help." If nothing else, he might be able to help with that part, though he kind of hoped he wouldn't have to. Seeing that the teddiursa had the current part down, he wondered what else he could do to help out. Without moving from where he stood, the scyther glanced around the haphazard encampment area with a quirked eyebrow, "Um... did you need any help setting up the area? S-Since I'm here and everything anyway..." Well the stuttering had temporarily desisted, but it didn't seem like it wanted to die off so quickly.

He hadn't been expecting a response to his explanation, but the fact that Jayme seemed to hop on board with it made Endymion grin. If things stayed this carefree, it would hardly place difficulty on the ability to relax. For once, the conversations didn't seem awkward or forced; the other teen was genuinely connecting with what he had said. However, the smile didn't stick around long, quickly reverting into its polar opposite, "Wouldn't keep you?" Okay, he didn't have much experience with true trainers, but that sentence still seemed off to him. Very off.

As Jayme's posture turned more submissive at the scyther's pointed remark, Endymion was able to grasp at how careful he should continue being with the way he directed himself. He knew he should be concerned about something, but was unable to pinpoint what was wrong with the teddiursa's actions. The other teen was trying to keep more of a low profile, appear smaller... was it something he said?

At the idea of splitting the blame, the scyther wanted to quickly shoot the idea down -- why be at fault for hypersensitivity? -- but the notion that he should tread carefully stuck with him. Did he need to accept the offer, not for his sake but for Jayme's? He sighed, thinking on it, "I suppose we could... but it still feels like it was my fault." He was just being honest, but he tried to play it off an air of nonchalance in the off-chance saying such a thing would have made matters more awkward. As a matter of fact, maybe he should try to guarantee that it wasn't taken badly... "I mean, I don't even know everything that's out here. Could have been a member of Team Rocket or something." Oooh, he shouldn't have said that; he really didn't want to be thinking of something so nerve-wracking.

Instead of taking heed to the nervousness that would have followed, he noticed Jayme's cheeks tinge red a bit and proceeded to be confused as a change of pace. "Ah, oh thanks," he grappled with the words, as though trying to catch something that was tossed haphazardly his way. He fidgeted a bit, trying to think of a comeback without it sounding slapped together; he was never good at introductions. Once Jayme finished resituating the medical supplies, Endymion tried his metaphorical hand, "I-It's a pretty name, Jayme. Did someone give it to you?" Yep, definitely not the best at introductions.

Endymion cringed at Jayme's pessimism, feeling obligated to try to remedy the slip-up his query caused, "H-Hey, you did okay. It's hard to put a campsite up by yourself unless you do it all the time!" Some tents could be really confusing, but maybe Endymion had observed enough to be capable of lending his help regardless. Wouldn't do to be uncertain about it, though, "Sure I'll help, why not? I wasn't in the middle of anything, so it's no inconvenience." Maybe it was just him that was picking up the 'I don't want to be a burden' on Jayme's voice, he wasn't absolutely sure, but he reacted to it all the same. "It's not a bad idea to sleep without the tent, really," he noted with a snicker, "Though it's a lot safer with one."

Moving over to where the collapsed tent was currently stationed, he tried to take note of what kind it was. As he did so, he explained something that probably had the other teen a bit curious, "The, uh... the blades, they're not super sharp or anything. I can grab things and not damage them if I'm careful enough." They were much like any other kitchen blade that wasn't overly sharpened, and it was easy to tell that Endymion wasn't in the habit of purposefully sharpening any on-hand weaponry. Granted, he didn't tend to like risking the use of them, what with the jagged edge partway down their surface, but the situation was a bit more of a controlled environment that he was used to seizing, too. "Well... I'm not exactly sure how this type of tent is set up, to be honest," he admitted as he prodded at the material, "I can still help, but I'd probably be just as clumsy." Okay, so he was capable of poking some fun when he wasn't so tense.

Endymion faltered at Jayme's explanation. While he was getting some answers to some of the reactions he was witnessing from the teddiursa through reminiscence, he hadn't really been expecting something so disheartening. Or maybe he had, and was only just now realizing how much he had been prying. He scuffed a foot, "I'm, um... s-sorry for bringing memories like that back up." He was almost about to say something about knowing right away who your friends were when something like that happened, but it seemed like it would have felt more like a physical hit than a notion more comforting. Maybe he had just grown to be that cynical over time... His wings stiffened when Jayme had laughed, and didn't untense with the sentence that followed it, "It... didn't really get any better for you, did it?"

Thinking on it, Endymion mulled a thought over for a second before shrugging, "Tell you what... it's neither of our fault. The blame's on circumstance." Honestly, it didn't really matter, for neither one of them seemed to want to hold the other accountable, and he agreed with the combined sentiments that ended on the same note, "Yeah, I can go with that idea."

Well crap... he really didn't want to have to explain Team Rocket to his new acquaintance. They had been cause for a spiraling effect in his past, and the origin of much of his current paranoid anxiety in the present. Worse, he didn't want to have Jayme experience anything similar as well, considering it seemed likely the teddiursa would freak out just as badly as Endymion had. "They're... well, they're just not very good people, especially to pokémon. Erm, kind of like bullies?" he tried to tiptoe around the issue, but the group was really a lot more frightening to the scyther than all that, and it was making him feel a bit light-headed again. "Th-They shouldn't be a bother, really; why would they be out so far?" he quickly added to convince both Jayme and himself of the statement. As much as he tried to hide it, it was fairly obvious he was frazzled.

Endymion seemed surprised when Jayme stated that people hadn't really complimented his name before. It was only after that statement was completed that the scyther-teen notice the flush across the teddiursa's face. Was he not suppose to say something like that? Was it a little too strong of a comeback? "Well... they should have," he retorted with a sheepish smile. He hadn't actually met anyone that had been able to pick out their own name, as far as he knew, and he thought it was pretty fascinating. "Wow, really?" he asked before snickering a bit, "Then you must have good taste."

He continued prodding the tent, moving folds over until he finally spotted one of the corners, carefully sliding it further out with the end of a blade so he could get a better grasp on the fabric. Peering back to Jayme, he queried, "So this is Urban's tent, then? And he didn't leave any instructions?" Well darn... but he was fairly certain they could figure it out, even if it was through trial-and-error. He picked up the scorn in Jayme's tone of voice as he mentioned Reese's name again, and frowned in consideration of why that was. Instead of bringing it up, he gave a quick nod in reply, "Heh, I might be making the bigger mess! Really, though, it's no problem." It wasn't every day that he could do something useful, so it actually felt kind of nice to have the chance for once.

With the passing statement in reference to sleeping out under the stars instead of having a makeshift roof over his head, Endymion couldn't help but push the issue anymore. Jayme was feeling a lot of tension about his home, and, well... "So what's with this Reese guy and the club? You don't seem to like either one that much. Ah! N-not that I want to pressure you into saying something you don't want to!" he quickly reiterated, just about negating what he originally intended with the question. Ugh, rephrase... "It's just that... you seem like you really need to vent..." And maybe End should learn to just keep his mouth shut... he hoped this wouldn't just lead to awkward silence.

He smirked at Jayme's observation of his bladed limbs, finding it a bit amusing that what the teddiursa was saying about his arms was probably the reason why he decided to go along with the image it entailed as well. He wasn't even sure if he really wanted to be seen that way, deep down, but there wasn't a whole lot he could do about how others saw him. In fact, he was about to say something to that effect, but ended up sputtering instead, "You... you'd actually want to deter people from approaching you?" To say that he wasn't expecting a response like that might have been a severe understatement, and Endymion wasn't sure how he should be reacting to it; irritation, confusion, fascination, amusement... all of the above? He pulled out a second located edge to the tent as he thought about it. "Well, um... I think if we can get the tent pulled out, maybe we can figure it out before we even try putting it together. I think it should be pretty easy, if we both work on it," he agreed, scanning over the surface of the frame.

It seemed that Endymion possibly hit the nail on the head in assuming that Jayme may want to vent out his pent-up aggravation on his current living arrangements. While he could relate to Jayme's early recollections of being on his own, the scyther felt like he was being rather self-centered in his own anxiety, strangely enough. In comparison, the insect pokémon hadn't had it nearly so bad, he just overreacted to everything around him... it seemed Jayme actually had a logical excuse for the way he met encounters of this caliber. He wanted to smile at how Jayme's situation seemed to turn around, being taken in by someone who went out of his way to keep the teddiursa happy and safe, but he was not deaf to the undertone of the story, remaining braced.

He was glad to hear that Urban was considered a friend when this Reese guy didn't seem to match up to the qualifications, and while confused as to why this was, he was quickly met with an answer to his unasked query. Once Jayme pulled up his sleeves, Endymion jolted upright, an unfamiliar flash of rage quickly sweeping over the teenager. "Why would he do that!?" the scyther nearly shouted, anger pointedly aimed toward the man Jayme thought he could trust. He inhaled sharply, trying to calm down before he scared the other teen again. He all but ignored the apology, finding it unnecessary, "You... You can't go back to something like that..." End didn't want things to escalate any more than they already had, and although he felt absolutely powerless in being able to help, he also wanted to do something in the attempt. Even if all he could do was offer a suggestion that was impossible to carry out... he didn't want Jayme to get himself killed over some human's whims.

Despite the roller coaster of emotions that seemed to be occurring throughout their friendly conversation, Jayme's smile managed to rub off on Endymion as well, to a lesser extent. He was just such an easygoing poké-teen, it was difficult to linger too long on any negative emotion. Hopefully that meant that Jayme was no longer nervous about the scyther... though the irony of Endymion's thought processes on the situation were not lost on him.

There was a sigh of relief that emerged when Jayme hadn't pressed Endy for further explanation of Team Rocket. He had been trying to be vague about it, after all, in order to avoid letting paranoia creep into the exchange. It was short-lived relief, unfortunately, as a new piece of information to worry about emerged instead. "You don't know... any moves?" he asked, shocked. Didn't all pokémon have default moves, at the very least? Had Jayme just forgotten them? Did the star's transformation capabilities cause the loss of any moves? Well... he supposed there was no use questioning if the facts were straight; Jayme would know if he was capable of using any moves better than anyone else as it was. As much as he wanted to offer to help in learning at least a basic Leer, he wasn't exactly sure what a teddiursa could learn. "Any idea if you're very good at using rocks and sticks?" the scyther-teen asked, incredulous, "How about you prove to me that you actually could defend yourself with those." He sounded a bit blunt with the proposition, but he wanted to make sure that Jayme was proficient enough before staking too much worry on it...

"You're sure?" he asked, finding it improbable that he had been capable of saying anything nicer than anyone before him had. While the nervousness in the conversation had died down and the scyther found the ability to relax when in the clearing, Endymion also found that the more amiable atmosphere also lead to more undesirable outcomes as well, his face already tinging a more rosy color. There were some things he just absolutely despised about having skin now, and the display of embarrassment or nervousness were some of those things. Luckily, this was also the exact reason he kept his bangs cut so long, with their susceptibility at hiding these flaws, "Well, you're welcome."

Oh he was so horrible at taking a compliment... so continued to busy himself with the setup of the tent instead, preoccupying thoughts through actions. "Eh, I'm sure we can figure it out. It's just a tent... we both know what it's supposed to look like when it's done, right?" he pondered aloud, taking a step back in order to picture it. Okay, so maybe he didn't know what it was supposed to look like exactly, but there was a general idea adrift. "We'll just have to make sure you don't do anything that could get you smacked like that again," he added with a bit of a snicker, "How's it feeling, anyway?"

It took a second or two to register to the scyther that he had just been inadvertently called a friend, but he was completely taken off-guard by the 'handsome' comment. That... wait... what? That didn't make sense... others didn't look at him like that! He could tell that his own face had begun turning a brighter shade of red, but the hesitation to glance toward Jayme at that moment left the both of them safe in indicating to the other the flushed tint to their expressions. Endymion's quiet squeak in surprise, however... His mind just about blanked out about then, absolutely unprepared in reacting to a statement like that; it didn't help that he never once thought anyone would consider adapting such labels to him. It was hard enough for him to gain a friend, let alone...