[closed] May Catch All

[nastyboy]

Who: Dimitri, Grant, Claude, Dedue, Eri, and Shrike
What: After lots of loss, Dimitri manages to sheepdog herd the people he cares about into getting back onto the road. First stop: hitting up the Kanto gyms
When: May
Where: Saffron, Vermillion, Cerulean

Comments

[fayblood]

Shrike can't quite fully relate, but then again, he's still pretty young. And still getting used to the whole meeting people who aren't immediately judging him thing.

"Oh..."

He's also still struggling with the 'talking to strangers' thing, don't mind him.

[woofdad]

Honestly, fair - on both counts! Grant really can't judge, seeing as how... well, he still has trouble with those things in his thirties.

For now, it seems to him like the kid might need a bit of time to recover from... well. Meeting people. So: "I still got a couple Pokemon to round up before we go; if you wanna help out you're free to! Though, I also get it if you got your own stuff to see to."

[fayblood]

"Do you need help?"

Shrike may have misinterpreted that offer, there.

[woofdad]

Oh, hm. Okay. He'll try again. "Well-- I can do it on my own, yeah. Really, I'm asking whether you'd like to meet the Pokemon, and maybe talk more if you're up to it."

[fayblood]

"Oh..."

He's a little bit confused at how the previous comment was supposed to mean that, Shrike's still not all that experienced with socializing.

"Um, but just meeting them and talking is different from helping?"

Sorry, he's kind of bad at this.

[woofdad]

...Oh bud.

"Alright, uh - I'm sorry, I think I see what happened here." He smiles reassuringly. "The idea behind asking if you wanted to help was to give you an excuse to come meet them if you wanted to, without risking feeling like you were intruding, and while giving you an opening to back out if you didn't want to. Sorry about that, it was a little indirect; some people where I'm from think being too direct about what you're asking is rude, so I've gotten in the habit of talking around my actual point sometimes."

He's been working customer service for too long, man.

[fayblood]

On the one hand, Shrike did make at least one solid, lasting friendship during his time in Johto, that definitely helped a bit with his social skills. On the other hand, said closest friendship was with Sandalphon.

Which is to say, a lot of social nuance is still lost on him.

Fortunately, that also means he's not terribly bothered by the miscommunication once it's explained.

"Do people usually say things like that?"

It is making him wonder if that's something he should be keeping in mind in general. Again, a significant part of his social skills here was learned from a very prickly angel.

oh god i'm so sorry for the wait on this lol

[woofdad]

Interesting question, Grant thinks.

"Well, it depends on the person - but, sometimes, yes. Learning to pick up on when people are being literal and when they aren't can be pretty tough... I can try to be more direct with you, though, if that's easier for you."

I MEAN I kinda disappeared for almost 2 months myself there so XD

[fayblood]

The kid definitely has a lot to learn.

"Oh, um, I don't know? I mean, I didn't know about that before..."

Maybe it would be easier? But maybe this is the kind of thing that, had it come up before, Sandalphon would've insisted on him learning. Shrike isn't sure.

[woofdad]

"Hm... it is true that it's something you may run into again," Grant notes. "But, if that kind of communication isn't intuitive to you, insisting on talking to you that way may not do you much good, you know? It's up to you in the end, of course - so, you can think on it if you need to."

[fayblood]

"I guess so..."

Maybe it's something he ought to try to learn? Shrike honestly isn't sure. He just knows he's really not used to interacting with people much, even now.

[woofdad]

Grant regards the boy silently for a couple moments before speaking again.

"Alright, for now, I'll just ask this: Do you want to introduce some of our Pokemon to each other? Since we're going to be traveling together, it'll be good to get an idea of how some of 'em get along."

[fayblood]

"Oh!"

That's actually a good point, as well as a better topic to focus on right now.

"That's probably a good idea, yeah..."

approaching a wrap?

[woofdad]

"Great." Grant smiles brightly, and starts toward the yard where several of his Pokemon are playing, gesturing for Shrike to follow him. "C'mon, let's see how this goes."