"Observation: This is the third time in two minutes that you've reached to fidget with your jacket, Skye."

The massive Umbreon-morph grunted softly and let go of the zipper. His recent considerable bulk provided plenty of insulation from the drizzly chill of the city night, but he still found himself missing the days when he could zip up his coat. "... it's ... uh. Reflex. Yeah. The drizzle and all. I keep forgetting I don't wear glasses anymore, so ... uh. Yeah. I try to clean them."

"Skye ... you never were very good at lying." The holographic projection of a Skitty in Skye's eyepiece smiled, but its vocoder was modulated to show concern. "I can only help you as much as you give me honest feedback. What's on your mind?"

"I ..." He actually had to stop a moment and compose his thoughts. Much as he looked like a massive uncaring brute, under the considerable tonnage he was the same bundle of social anxiety and complex PTSD that he had been as a human. "... I'm afraid people are gonna stare at me. That I'll scare them, or ... or look like a huge target for some asshole to try to attack." He sighed, ears splaying, and leaned against a wall, turning his face away from the stinging little droplets of rain. "More things change, the more they stay the same, huh."

"Hey." Skit-chan played a little animation of bumping her nose against his cheek. "In a neighborhood like this, it's reasonable to worry about getting attacked ... but you and I both know you can handle yourself in a fight now. As for staring ... let's be honest, Skye. You're somewhere around ten feet tall and parts of you glow like a neon sign. If anything, people are going to go out of their way to ignore you out of spite."

He paused and looked around slowly. Not a pair of eyes on him at all. People had places to be, things to do, phones to scroll. No time for more than a passing glance at the hulking dark-type. The knot in his chest slowly unworked itself, and his shoulders settled down and back. "... you make a good point, Skit-chan."

"You programmed me to~."