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Natalie was right, that would be the worst thing he could think of. He liked Clarke, he always had in some part of his brain that he tucked away. Seeing her, having dinner with her after a mess of a party, it just brought it back up. He was more nervous about the way she thought of him than he was of his own feelings.
Just as he was about to say something more, the bell rang and he frowned. Caleb gathered up his sad-looking lunch and stood. With a smile, he gave Natalie's hand a squeeze, "You're awesome, as always Nat. Thanks for listening to me ramble and giving me a chance to get it all out of my head. I owe you one, don't hesitate to cash in whenever you need it, yeah?" Caleb started walking away and gave her a wave before pushing the door open to the lounge and exiting quickly back to his office.
He had a phone call to make before his training sessions started.
Caleb chewed on the inside of his cheek and considered her question. It was easy enough, straightforward, but also sort of hard to accept. It was more complicated to admit that he liked her than it should have been, but he came with some baggage that was a best kept secret. The only person who knew was his younger sister which was what made him hesitate in the first place.
"I do, I mean, I think I do. She's cool and she's pretty," But was that enough? He'd thought his last girlfriend was pretty and she started off as a pretty chill person, but he was thrown for a loop after a few years. "You know her better than I do. I guess I'm just nervous because I don't have the greatest luck."
Was he going to ask Clarke out? That was the question that had been lingering around him over the last week or so. They'd exchanged numbers and he did like talking to her. She was easy to be himself around, not judgment to worry about, similarly to Nat. He figured he probably should, but he wasn't sure if they were at that point or if they were just old friends who had reconnected?
Caleb chewed on the inside of his cheek and realized he should probably answer, but he still wasn't quite sure what to say. Especially if Natalie was friends with her, too. He didn't want to say the wrong thing.
"I'm, uh, I dunno. I mean we exchanged numbers, so that's probably the next logical step, huh? But like, I haven't...I don't know.... Help me, I'm awkward," He laughed, his hand rubbing the back of his neck. What was he even supposed to say to a girl like Clarke? He hadn't had a girlfriend since...well, the last train wreck.
The response he got from Natalie was reassuring, he'd had a good feeling about Clarke himself, but his judgment wasn't always the best. But if a lady that was in tune with animals had good vibes from the red-head, clearly she must have been okay. Animals had way better instincts, which honestly always made him want to be one. If only he'd gotten something cooler than his own ability. Like sonar, that would have been cool.
Caleb smiled, "Yeah, she's pretty cool. We got food and stuff the other night, just kinda catching up I guess." He shrugged and tried to ignore the sudden heat that was making his face burn. It wasn't like he'd asked her out again, or that he even knew if he should. She was probably not all that interested, seeing as she didn't really look at him when they hung out together. It sort of worried him that she thought he was some kind of lunatic, which would be justified given his spastic nature. He didn't really know why he brought it up to Natalie, other than, maybe exactly what he'd gotten. Reassurance?
All he needed was Marv, he didn't need to be getting into any kind of relationship or crush-ship since that was about all it would amount to. "I'm glad you agree with that because it's so easy, ya know? Animals are just, like, way chill compared to people."
Caleb laughed, "Oh, uh, yeah. I'm the self-defense instructor and a trainer. Kinda weird, I know. I didn't even like this place that much." Though, there were a few that had made it worth it and he'd learned a lot, so he couldn't bash the academy too much. It wasn't as though he had much else going for him in the way of career choices. He could heal super fast, why not put that to use training the more difficult and dangerous abilities? "It could be a lot worse though."
When she mentioned food it was like his stomach opened up and was trying to devour the rest of his body. He hadn't realized how hungry he'd been until he got that nauseous feeling. Problem number 532 with his ability, he felt like he was constantly eating everything. High metabolism and all that. "Food, yeah, lets do that." Before he got hangry and needed a Snickers. "'I'm not me when I'm hungry,'" He quoted with a smile at her. Eating at the reunion wouldn't have bothered him so much, except for the fact that he'd be hoovering everything, although, most women found that as a turn off so he should have tried something along those lines.
"How 'bout you, Potter, what've you been getting into work wise? Anything good?"
Self-defense class was Caleb's favorite part of the day. He got to get his butt kicked by a few of the students that were advanced enough to do it. While also getting to toss a few around that were big for their britches. Okay, he didn't toss them around, he just taught them the correct way to toss someone around. It let out steam for everyone and allowed them a good release for stress. That had always been his favorite part.
Caleb went around the room to watch how everything was going. He corrected a few different postures and body positions. And he dodged a few kicks that went a little crazy. There was still about a half hour left in the class and Caleb was happy to allow for them to continue the flip move that he'd taught them at the first part of class.
He went to the front of the room and he folded his arms across his chest as he watched and waited for any questions or for them all to get tired of it.
Caleb was always interested in Natalie's training stories, she had an ability relating to animals, if that wasn't cool, he didn't know what was. In fact, he still couldn't believe that he hadn't brought Marv over to see if she could chat with him. He was curious to see what awful things his cat likely thought about him. But the fact that this particular student didn't have an animal-related ability was fascinating. Caleb was used to dealing with abilities that weren't much like his, but were on the dangerous spectrum of abilities. Being able to heal, he was more susceptible to the crazies that shot fire out of their nose or something wild.
He nodded in response to her answer and shrugged when she turned the question on him, "Outside of annoying the living hell out of my baby sister, not a whole lot. Nora has been pushing me to interact with more people that aren't younger than me that I teach. I actually...after taking some of her advice, I ran into one of our old classmates. You remember, Clarke, don't you? Potter, the short, red-head that has some severe lack of eye contact." He laughed, although he didn't find it something to make fun of her for. He could completely understand social anxiety. He'd lived it.
"I've hung out with my cat far more than people. Is that wrong?" Caleb snorted and shook his head.
Caleb's eyes widened at her offer and he waved his hand at the additional thought, "It's probably better for me than this junk. You should totally teach me your ways!" Because there was no doubt that he'd come out a total master chef after being taught by Natalie. Clearly she was a genius if she could make things that weren't meat look so enticing. Even so, he'd probably need to watch some cooking shows to figure out how to add the meat into his own diet. Tofu just never sounded all that appetizing to him.
He glanced around with her and nodded, "I feel like they have supersonic hearing, too. I'm waiting for one of them to like beat me with a cane or something." Caleb leaned back and smiled before taking a bite of his pizza and tearing into it. He chewed for a lot longer than he'd wanted to, what with it being cold and all. Once his mouth was cleared he frowned, "Yeah, I definitely could use something better than this." He placed it back down in the container and decided he might come back to it later.
"So what's been up, Nat? Any crazies to train? How's the animals and stuff? I need to stop asking so many questions, sorry," He grinned sheepishly.
Her explanation of what had happened made his face scrunch up and he shook his head, "That sounds really terrible. I'm glad she wasn't one of the people that traumatized me back in the day." Caleb didn't really know what kind of things she was made to do, and he didn't plan on asking, but clearly it was worse than eating dirt. He'd had his face smashed against the ground plenty of times in order to do just that before he had the ability to fight back or at the least defend himself. She couldn't quite defend herself against something like that.
When she began panicking that she'd dragged him away from the reunion, he couldn't stop the laughter that came rushing out in a snort, "Oh god no. I see a lot of these people around the school still. Plus, not like I was the most popular kid in the world at first. Some of the guys still hate me for my late blossoming, I'm pretty sure. And the women frighten me with their forwardness." No, he didn't want to go into a janitor's closet to do the freaky stuff, that was highly uncomfortable and unprofessional of him since he still worked there.
"I don't mind hanging a bit with you if you're up for it? But I'm not gonna keep ya here either, in case that scary chick decides to ditch, too."
Lunch was the best. The actual best. Except for the simple fact that he was often berated by his younger sister about trying to eat lunch with her. She wasn't too keen on that thought, so he was exiled to eat with the grown-ups. It wasn't where he felt like he belonged. At heart, Caleb was still sixteen years old, the class clown that either made everyone laugh or annoyed them all to the point that they'd throw him in a locker, it was hit or miss usually.
As he opened the door, Caleb gave a quick glance around to see who all was taking their break. He grimaced slightly at the older faculty, but smiled the moment he saw the hand that stretched in the air. His face lit up and he was quick to claim the seat across from Natalie and her delectable spread. He scrunched his nose a bit when he looked at the cold pizza in his own lunch and laughed, "Nat, you gotta help me. I'm gonna get fat if I keep eating this junk, but I can't cook!"
Caleb smiled down at the pups that were by her feet and placed his hands on the table, leaning in a bit, "I'm so glad we're on the same lunch, I was worried I'd have to eat with the geezers. They creep me out and smell like florals and musk. Ugh. Gross."
Caleb nodded once, "That's right, Potter. And don't you forget it." Of course in a minuscule way, he was joking. But he also wasn't. He couldn't stomach the idea of losing his cat anymore than he could stomach losing anything. Loss was one of those things that Caleb had never quite learned to cope with. And it was highly likely that he would be a sobbing mess the day that Marv did pass on. She didn't need to know those details though.
He placed a hand on his chest and gasped, "Unless the other word coming to mind is stunning, I don't think I want to know!" Being serious was so painful for him that he couldn't bring himself to do it ever. Least of all in this setting where his nerves were running wild because he was certain something was going to happen to him. It was okay when he made a fool of himself, but if someone made a fool of him without his permission, well, he was going to completely disintegrate.
Clarke pulled him out of his worrying with her own and he looked up at the girl she claimed to be afraid of. Caleb couldn't quite understand it, but he wasn't one to judge, so he went with her without question. Once they were far enough away, he cleared his throat, "Never pegged you as one to be afraid of anyone. Shy maybe, a little quiet, but not scared. What'd she do to you?" It was more curiosity than anything else. He'd been bullied his whole time growing up, it was fascinating to hear other stories about the same kind of thing.
Caleb nodded, relieved that he hadn't broken his time restraints. Typically the kids would let him know if he was, a dramatic sigh or a foot tapping that didn't cease. Even as fun as he tried to make the class, some people got bored once they knew what they were doing while the rest tried to catch up. He'd been that kid, but he also had too much energy to burn at that age so his patience was severely lacking.
"Welp, I mean, the classes are always open. Observation is welcome, so is criticism," He smiled good-naturedly. More often than not, he even let some of his students bring along a friend if they just wanted to sit in and watch before signing up.
Caleb glanced around when she did and he rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of what he was supposed to be doing. There had to be a reason for her catching up with him, right? He chewed on the inside of his cheek and cleared his throat, "So uh, did you need me for something? Like a new student you think should join or uh...?" He trailed off, not really sure what else it could be about. He didn't typically get social visits from recruiters.
"You take that word back!" Caleb gasped, with a hand placed dramatically on his chest. "You mean I have a cat! Don't jinx him, he's old, but he's still kicking." He took his relationship with Marvin very seriously, it was the longest span he'd owned an animal before. Marvy was getting up there in age, Caleb knew, and he'd invested lots of money in vet bills. But he couldn't fathom his life without good ole' Marv.
Caleb took notice that she wasn't looking at him, and while it didn't bother him at all, he was curious why. It wasn't like he had some kind of hideous face right? He had to think on it for a moment, back to when they were growing up and he could vaguely remember that it was normal for her not to make direct eye contact. Eye contact was a terrifying thing, he could admit that. What with the looking deep into another person's soul and all that. Caleb scrunched his nose, yeah, he definitely couldn't blame her for not making eye contact.
She nudged him and he snapped back into their conversation. His eyes followed where hers went and he arched an eyebrow. He remembered her, too. Goths always had given him the heebie jeebies. Not because he didn't fancy some black attire sometimes, but because he was pretty certain they could summon demons to possess other people. It made perfect sense. "Huh, weird. I wouldn't say everyone looks that different. I mean, I'm still as dashing as ever, thank you for noticing," Caleb glanced at her with a smirk.
The joke, although terrible, was something he'd have said to anyone with that last name. That being said, he knew he could count on Clarke to appreciate it more than others might. He remembered her well enough to know that she wasn't quite as pretentious and snobby as some of the rest, which helped him break the awkward ice fairly easily. It was almost painless except for the fact that he had made an ass out of himself in less than five minutes of being there.
Ah well, life was short.
"Ayyy, that was funny. Uh yeah, just strolled on through. Passed go, collected 500 dollars and all that." He needed to stop talking. It was like a constant stream of references just spewed from his mouth and there was no reeling them back in. First Harry Potter, now Monopoly. The man was all over the place. "How ya been? Life treating you well? Got a main squeeze? Kids? A golden retriever?" Seriously, he had to stop talking so that she could answer. He practically shoved the cup of punch into his face to keep himself from continuing.
Caleb was well aware of his looks, he guessed. He knew that he wasn't ugly, he knew that his ability aided in his muscle definition and he knew that girls liked that kind of thing. What he didn't know was how to tell when someone was flirting or admiring him. They all seemed to look at him the same way. Girls in his class were a bit obvious, mostly because Nora had pointed out each and everyone of them to him that had a crush. It helped that she knew them from taking the class. She was always pretty disgusted by it, too.
But women his age, well, they were hard to read. Some of them were blatant, some of them were shy, but they all handled him nearly the same.
After some last minute fixes on posture or positioning for a few students, Caleb allowed everyone to leave, waved and shot the finger guns at them as they left. It had gone well, as well as it always did. He always hated the end when he had to put his equipment away. Typically he lingered and worked out a bit on his technique. As he began lifting one of the mats, he heard a throat clearing behind him.
Caleb set the mat down and turned to see a familiar face. While he sort of knew her, he wouldn't say he knew her that well. "Ha, well, unfortunately not all instructors have an ability that rejuvenates their body the way mine does. I can't take much credit, it's just genetics and all that." He shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck, "Did I run over my time? I really need to start paying attention to the clock more, but ya know when you get into it, you just...laser focus, ya know?"
