Yeah, total deja vu here. Char was still going to venture that "oh crap my brother passed out in a poisoned little pile of ick" and "I look like someone ran over my puppy for Everstone-related reasons I guess" were crushing enough that bringing up body art would have been a very unwelcome out-of-place topic shift.

...No excuse for the parts before that, admittedly, other than dumb Charizard pride. He was not especially proud of looking weak, and looking weak in front of his little brother was even worse. There was also the very delicate complication that Max was very much Bulba's friend. That was... something. Char was getting kind of really tired of being the reason that good things in Bulba's life tended to get ruined.

Char shifted to look at Bulba, a little unsure how to proceed. The invitation was right there, laid bare for him, but... "You talked to Max about it, or did you hear it off Green?" Maybe it would be easier if he got a feel for where he lay; maybe it'd make him feel better to confess just how much it stung to have a friend pull something so fucked-up, but what good would that do if it made Bulba feel he had to martyr one more of his precious few bonds?