Cale was sweating through his clothes. He had been working in the weaponry room on a secret. He had to keep all the doors closed, magic on, and windows binded so people wouldn't accidentally peek at it. Even the kids were unaware of what was being made behind the door. Unfortunately, that meant there was barely any ventilation in the room and he was working with a furnace - albeit magic so there was no smoke - causing him to overheat.
He stepped out for a few moments, taking in the cooler air. He undid the zip of his shirt - courtesy of Eruhaben - slightly before using his other hand to brush back his sweat-soaked hair. He let out a sigh, already anticapting Beacrox's strangled cries seeing him so dirty. He looked down at the metal covering of his lower abdomen - a combined courtesy of the children and Bud - before hearing a call of his name.
"Cale!" "Cale-nim!"
He glanced up at Alberu and Choi Han, his eybrows raised.
They smiled at him; cute, innocent, twinning looks. They looked so sweet, barely even a hint of the abomination that they were about to do. Cale grew suspicious, but he couldn't turn away fast enough. Quickly, they dipped down and threw their arms against their face.
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...They had dabbed. In this era?! In front of Cale?!? How dare they have the gall to do something so unexplicably terrible in front of the absolutely defenseless Cale!!! What did Cale Henituse do to deserve something such gut-wrenching and sickening?!?! The wine-tasting arrangement was weeks ago, and it wasn't his fault that so many people had died that day!!
Cale's eyes widened in a mix of exhaustion and PTSD. Not shock however.
Yes that's correct, this wasn't the first time something like this had happened.
For absolutely no reason, they decided it'd be fun to bring up the oldest and dead-est trends up to capture Cale's expressions. First, they'd T-Pose in the corner of his room before dropping the position before he glanced back at them. Then they'd follow him, randomly doing *gag* Fornite emotes. Choi Han would dance the Orange Justice and Alberu would do Best Mates. Cale would be equal parts disgusted and intimidated seeing men who could kill him easily, stare him down while simultaneously doing the floss, and only getting closer.
The worst part was that Cale was the only one who could see it. As soon as someone came in the room they'd put on their normal facade. Only Cale saw. Only he knew. Only he was aware of the monstrosities. And he couldn't do anything about it, other than accept his fate of being 'YOLO-ed', 'ROFL-ed' and 'That's so lit dudeee' for the rest of his life.
Except that's not the Cale we all know and love, is it?
His previous expression had melted off, and the absolute triumph on his face had those two slightly scared.
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Cale pointed at the two, laughing. Immediately, Clopeh popped up from behind him, almost as if Cale had summoned the damn bastard. The annoying bastard. The deluded bastard. Several other curses flashed up in their heads. Ignoring Clopeh, and the fact Cale himself summoned him, they focused to the ball in Clopeh's hand.
Time seemed to slow, and everything went quiet, ignoring the maniacal laughs of Cale. Clopeh had a recording of the dabbing. They watched in horror seeing it wasn't just the dabbing. Cale had been getting Clopeh to record everything - from the dancing to the slang. They had been caught.
Quickly, Cale stole the ball from Clopeh's hand and ran out of the room - the manic, inncessant laughter only growing louder.
In barely 15 minutes, everyone who could tease those two had seen the recording. And, boy, did they tease. Unrelentlessly, they threw shallow references and quick jabs. Cale's only wish for this scenario was for Jung Soo to have been able to see the video and throw his better informed insults in too.
A new core memory, and he replayed their expressions of betrayal and shock at least twice a day after that incident. Even after all the teasing died down, Cale would sometimes drop a simple something to stain their faces red.
