It was with one fell swoop that Bulba realized with mounting horror that he had clearly said something completely wrong. He didn't see the folding of Char's wings as a good sign. In revealing himself, Bulba just saw the walls going right back up around him. The flickering flame curled in close to him was the beacon telling the grass-type to get out. The worst part was that he wasn't even sure which part of what he had said had been the worst. He would just have to assume it was the whole lot.

If they had reached this point far before now, maybe things would have still been going okay. With their walls down, maybe Bulba would have had some sort of true idea of the phobias that plagued Char's heart. He knew the dragon had troubles, but he could still only guess at their depths.

The Ivysaur truly believed that his brother was strong. He'd believed it long before he'd ever called him brother. He had no idea to look for anything pointing towards a fear of weakness. The idea of looking in towards the insecurities he was trying to shelve for himself never occurred to him in this regard.

So this reaction confused him. It hurt knowing he'd made it worse. He knew there had been a chance that this would happen but... that didn't make it any less painful to see that he had screwed up. Was this how Char felt all the time? Talking to him?

"That's not..." Bulba shook his head, looking at him. "I don't care. It doesn't matter how much or little I have to worry about. I don't want you to be anyone else, Char. I want you to be... you."