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After being rather abruptly roped into traveling with Sandalphon (which Shrike still isn't entirely sure how that happened) so far, the journey's been relatively uneventful. That is, beyond the random wild Pokémon encounters. And the occasional challenge from a passing trainer. And those weird, inexplicable, annoying ledges that even Shrike, having lived in the mountains for the past three years, couldn't readily climb up.

Well, it's been relatively uneventful according to this world's weird standards, at least.

That said, even uneventful journeys are tiring, especially when you're traveling on foot, so as evening drags on Shrike's getting ready to settle down for the night. Which mostly means unpacking his sleeping bag and getting ready to crawl into it... while still keeping his cloak loosely draped about to keep his head and face covered. What a weird kid.

Sandalphon really appreciated the company, even if it was by underhanded means. He knew Shrike simply needed to get out of his shell, but the hood thing was getting too out of control. As the wise old Pokémon phrase goes: there's a time and place for everything, but not now.

And that couldn't have been truer as for the nth night in a row, Shrike has slept with his hood on. Sandalphon wouldn't have minded two nights, possibly even three. But now it's just gone on too long.

"How long do you plan on wearing that hood?"

Back where Shrike comes from, not hiding his face would get even worse reactions than going around wearing a hood. Or at least, that's been his experience thus far. So as far as he's concerned, keeping his head and face covered is simply a matter of course.

"It's fine, I make sure to wash it with everything else."

He assumes that's Sandalphon's concern.

There were so many things wrong with that response that Sandalphon felt the inklings of a headache coming on.

"What you're telling me is that I'm going to be traveling with a faceless companion. Wonderful. I'm going to enjoy this." he says, rubbing his temples.

"I--you can go without me if you want..."

In which Shrike continues to miss the point. He is at least aware he's a little weird, though, but frankly he simply doesn't trust people at large enough to willingly show his face.

It takes all the self-restraint he has to not yell at him. Instead, he takes a deep breath, trying to calm his anger down before he explodes.

"That's not what I meant and you know it." he starts, his voice even. "I simply want to know how you look like, without that dumb hood on."

Oh. That's what all this is about? Shrike turns away at that, tugging the hood further over his head as he does so.

"N-no you don't. No one does..."

"And who are you to assume what I want and don't want?" he says sharply, crossing his arms. Of course, he hasn't reached the point where he'll pull it off willingly, but boy oh boy is he close.

"It's rude to keep yourself hidden." It's not, but Sandalphon has no idea what's the norm.

Shrike doesn't have a good answer for that question, so he keeps quiet. Especially since this is starting to get a little confrontational, as far as he can tell, and his usual response to such situations is kicking in. Namely, hunkering down and preparing to weather whatever storm comes until it blows over.

"But, it's better this way..."

For himself, he means, but it's said quietly, rather halfheartedly. Shrike dislikes and is uncomfortable with confrontation, and it's probably showing.

A scoff. "Better? What nonsense. You're in a new world-- whatever laws affect your home world do not apply here."

Sandalphon doesn't understand the hesitation, the fear. Yes, there was a time he did the same, but if Shrike doesn't take the first step, then Sandalphon will do it for him... with a sweep kick and a bit of yelling, but he'll do it.

It's a very simple reason, really: people treat him much better when they can't see for sure what he is. Or at least, that's been Shrike's experience so far in his life. And that fear goes double when there's a chance of rejection from someone who's already treated him kindly, as Shrike's known so few of those people he'd hate to lose good standing with any of them.

"I don't know..."

Still, he's not going to argue his point. Arguing just makes things worse, in his experience.

Alright, time to take matters into his own hands.

Without even saying anything, Sandalphon reaches over to grab Shrike's hood and yank it off. He's tired of speaking to someone with a blanket over their face, and he was not going to tolerate it for a second more.

For better or worse, Shrike's response when suddenly reached for is to do... nothing. He'd learned the hard way he could easily inadvertently hurt people if he resists or tries to defend himself, so he tries to avoid any reaction that could end badly. Or really any reaction at all.

Which is to say Sandalphon easily removes the hood when Shrike freezes. Underneath is, well, a mostly human-looking boy who appears maybe about twelve at the oldest, though that might not be as noticeable as the fact that his ears aren't quite the right shape. And that his olive skin features scattered dark blotches; ordinarily vaguely resembling animal-like markings, but since coming here more like an unusual number of birthmarks or some sort of pigmentation disorder.

Oh, and his short black hair is a bit of a mess and clearly hasn't been properly cut in some time, to judge by how ragged and uneven the ends are.

In any case, Sandalphon has a few seconds while Shrike's expression works its way from startled to mildly panicked, after which he'll try to pull the hood back up if he can.

Sandalphon stares at Shrike for a moment or two, only to zero in on Shrike's hair. God, it looks like a rat's mess. The angel pinched the bridge of his nose as Shrike started pulling on his hood, but he didn't let go for a second.

"Next time we get to a place with a shower, I'm giving you my hair care products." He says after a couple more seconds of silence. He then lets go of his hood, shaking his head. "I could care less about you wanting to wear that thing, but it's a good thing to finally put a face to the name."

"Your--huh?"

That reaction, and mention of 'hair care products', whatever those are, manage to confuse Shrike just enough to pause for a moment himself.

"What are you talking about?"

He's only familiar with bar soap and has no clue what all those other fancy things are, let alone how to use any of it.

"Your hair is an unkempt mess. Leave it like that and you'll never be able to brush it out." He could just see the amount of tangles in it. The thought of brushing it in that state makes him slightly grimace in pain.

"Take care of yourself better. Honestly, I could care less about your appearance, but at least do that for yourself."

That actually succeeds in getting a somewhat indignant look from Shrike.

"I wash it when I bathe!"

He just didn't have reliable access to nice things like combs or brushes for some time before arriving in Johto. But he definitely did the best he could with what he had.

It's when that last remark fully registers though that his self-consciousness kicks in again. Not in regards to the hair thing (well, okay, maybe a little to do with that) but the... everything else. Shrike quickly looks away, starting to pull up the hood again.

"I'll believe it when I see it."

He doubts he would even do such a thing, but he doesn't say that. But he does watch him retreat into his shell once more, shaking his head. He's not a therapist-- he'll let Shrike figure out that Sandalphon doesn't really care.

"I'm not stupid."

Apparently Sandalphon's remarks are getting under his skin a little.

"I can't help if it gets messy again right away!"

Well, wearing the hood isn't helping. He used to mostly live away from other people, so he'd only needed to wear it up when going somewhere populated. That, and he still doesn't know about things like shampoo. The idea of special soap just for hair is new to him.

More raised eyebrows.

"That's because you're not taking care of it properly." he starts, hands on his hips. "It's tangled and clearly damaged. The more you keep that up, eventually it won't recover."

Sandalphon doesn't bother mincing his words. He really is doing this because he cares.

The good news is, whether intentionally or not, Sandalphon's managed to distract him from the matter of someone seeing what he looks like.

"What are you talking about?" He's still pretty indignant though. "I straighten it out when I can, and I just said I wash it."

What else is one even supposed to do? Not to mention Shrike couldn't have afford even nice combs or such prior to coming to Johto. He's just done his beat with what limited options he's always had.

"No wonder it's littered with split ends."

Sandalphon is definitely going to spoil him with good hair care products. That much was a given. "For now, just keep that hood down so it could air dry when you do clean it, at least."

"Split ends?"

Do introduce him to the wonders of modern hair care and such products. Shrike may not realize it yet, but he'll definitely appreciate it. Though, getting a proper trim is a whole other matter that will doubtless need to be addressed, too...

Though, the talk of leaving his hood down does give him a little pause.

"... Do I have to?"

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Action, backdated to a couple days after leaving Cherrygrove!

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