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Raz wasn’t sure how this topic had come up but here he was with the other Junior Agents talking/theorizing about what is under Cal’s shower cap. Norma and Morris had proposed that he’s balding which could be true since he is pretty old. Lizzie thinks he has a full head of hair; albeit pretty messy and short. Sam and Gisu think he only has spots of hair tufts/mainly scarred, and Raz proposed the idea that his brain is exposed and has a rim of hair around it.
The others just looked at him a little disturbed by that idea, almost horrified by it. “What? At this point anything could be possible.” To Raz this seemed very plausible, especially as he was the only one amongst them that had been in Cal’s mind. They couldn’t really argue with him so they all just looked at each other and shrugged in agreement to Raz’s statement, mumbling that yeah it could be but.. “Wait! Okay I have an idea on how we’re going to get a solid answer on this but it’s a bit risky.” Norma exclaimed with a sly smile which made Raz a bit uncomfortable. That smile never meant anything good. Gisu raised an eyebrow and asked what everyone else was wondering. “How risky?” Which earned a wider mischievous smile from Norma’s lips. “ Oh no..” Was all Raz could think before Norma gathered them all up, whispering her mischievous plan.
The Junior Agents were now all standing outside the entrance of the training class that Cal and Raz’s dad attended almost every day. The young Agents peeked into the training room where they could see Cal, Augustus and other adults practicing levitation with Milla by doing meditation. Everyone including Cal were levitating, which gave the young Agents a good shot at their plan. Norma smiled wide as she pressed a hand to her temple, summoning up a telekinetic hand. She started to quietly move it closer and closer towards Cal who was busy concentrating on the thought of being light as a feather which kept him about a foot off the ground. All the while Norma’s telekinetic hand inched closer and closer to Cal and he felt.. Uneasy, he supposed. But he ignored the feeling and kept his eyes closed to continue concentrating.
But once the hand was practically hovering atop Cal’s head Norma commanded it to rip off Cal’s shower cap, startling the poor man out of his concentration. He lets out a yelp as he falls to the ground. The junior Agents stifled their laughter as Cal’s cap returned to them, but what they saw was not at all what they had expected. Cal did have hair, and apparently a lot of it. It poured out of his cap thick and wavy, his bangs laying atop his eyes which temporarily blinded him as he fell. His dark locks looked to be about mid-shoulder length with gray streaks splaying from his crown and temples, giving away his age. His hair splayed wide as he now laid on the floor confused and shocked. Milla immediately stopped floating once she heard Cal yelp and made her way to the taller man hurriedly. “Caligosto!!” She called out as she made her way to his side, concern plain on her face. “Caligosto, are you alright darling? What happened?” Her voice asked gently as her hands ghosted over his body, ready to help him up at a moment's notice. She was probably worried that Cal had hit his head as she went to reach for it as he sat up with a loud groan.
“I’m fine I just.. I don’t know I was doing the thing and then suddenly my-” Cal groaned out as he pushed the bangs out of his face and rubbed the back of his head, pausing when he didn’t feel the vinyl texture of his shower cap, but instead the soft brush of his own hair. A horrified expression painted his face as he sat still for a moment before he looked around to see Milla and everyone else in the class now staring at him in shock and concern. His cheeks burned with embarrassment. He started to look around in an almost panicked motion for his cap. He never went out without it, and he wasn’t starting now! Then again, how did it come off? He knew he was clumsy and accident prone but he could swear it felt as if it had been ripped off-
Cal’s thoughts were cut off when he heard a small commotion of laughter and hushed whispers going on behind him. He looked back toward the entrance where he spotted between the some of the others a handful of the Junior Agents staring at him, he scanned them quickly before his eyes landed onto Norma holding his shower cap in her grubby hands. They were all laughing, smiles breaking onto their faces before Norma quickly hushed them and ushered them away quickly from the classroom, cap in hand. Great. Cal scowled deeply before he quickly stood up and headed after them letting out a quick “I’ll be right back.” as he disappeared into the hall.
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The Junior Agents had managed to quickly run back to their classroom, glancing behind them to make sure no one had spotted them. But once they felt the coast was clear, they all let out a loud bustle of laughter out at their success, everyone except Raz.
“Man we barely made it outta there, but did see that hair! Damn!” Morris exclaimed with a happy spin of his chair, a smile wide on his usually chill face. “I know right? Who knew that the loon would have such “ precious locks~'' haha ” Gisu jokes, playfully flipping and playing with her hair before she let out a light chuckle.
“He looked like a mermaid, majestic but cruel.” Sam stated, her tone contemplative as she looked off into space, as she usually did. Norma just rolled her eyes and lifted the ragged cap in her hands, a confident smile plain on her face. “Yeah sure Sam. But man that was worth it. I've gotta say, he didn’t look half bad with all that hair.” “Gross Norms!!” Lizzie exclaimed, playfully pushing her sister. “I’m joking, I'm joking! Haha!” Everyone let out another round of chuckles, well everyone except Raz who looked a bit uncertain and rather guilty for doing that to Cal. It just felt wrong. Raz stepped up a bit with a lighthearted smile on his face, “Okay guys we’ve had our fun but.. I think we should give back his Cap..” But instead of hearing groans coming from his fellow Junior Agent’s he was greeted with a rough agitated voice looming behind him. “Thank you Raz. It’s good to know ONE of you has a brain.”
Raz and everyone turn around to see the creepy ex-dentist himself standing right behind them ominously, his glasses peeking through the thick forest of hair that was attempting to cover the upper part of his face. He was clearly pissed at each and every one of them, his arms crossed and his frown formed of more of a snarl than anything. This wasn’t the first time any of them had seen this kind of face come from Cal but it was still scary nonetheless. Some of them let out curses as they realized they had been caught and had limited time. “Alright, you little shits have had your fun and a good couple of laughs but unless you want to personally find out why my criminal record is so extensive .. I suggest you give me my cap. NOW.” Cal leaned forward and offered out his hand to the teens, glaring at them with intensity, causing some of them to back up away from him and Norma. But Norma, unlike her friends, wasn’t scared of Cal but she knew that her mentor would have her head if she didn’t do what this wacko said. She rolled her eyes with a “Tsk!” and slapped the shower cap into his hand. He quickly shot back up with his cap gripped tightly, assuring that it wasn't going anywhere. “Thank you.” He let out in a slightly less annoyed tone before he turned away from the teen and left just as quietly as he had entered.
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Hours had passed since that embarrassing incident and Cal couldn’t stand to be in the crowded cafeteria, not after everyone had seen him without his cap. So here he was, sitting outside on the steps in front of the Motherlobe. He even insisted Augustus leave him alone, he needed to be alone for a bit. He chewed silently on his sandwich when a familiar someone walked up behind him, standing in silence. “What do you want?” He asked coldly, knowing too well who was there, which earned an annoyed scoff from them. “They” being Norma, walked up and sat next to him. She didn’t look at him but out at the vast ecosystem that surrounded the Motherlobe. “Nothing you old creep.” She scoffed out, “Mhm, if you say so brat.” Cal commented, not believing her for a moment. He didn’t like her, not one bit. She was quite rude and judgmental and seemed to revel on pushing Cal’s buttons. She had no respect for the senior that could easily drop-kick her like a football.
They sat in silence before Norma let out a loud groan, which earned a glance from Cal as she exclaimed out, “UUUGGGHHH!! Okay I want to apologize for taking your stupid weird shower cap. It wasn’t nice and I won’t do it again….”
A beat of silence sat between them before Cal tsk’d. “Raz convinced you to apologize, didn't he.” Cal stated as he went back to his sandwich. Norma hung her head in her hands. There was no tricking this guy was there? “Yup. I swear guilt tripping is his super power.” This earned a brief laugh from Cal. “Ha! Yeah sure, whatever you want to say to make yourself feel better you little brat.” Another moment of silence sat between them that was once again interrupted by the teen. “Sigh, Look, I wasn’t joking that your hair looked nice. It actually does and I think you’d look more.. Approachable with it down or even tied up.” Cal looked down at Norma a bit taken aback by her genuinely nice compliment. He didn’t hear a sense of malice or forceful kindness in her voice as he usually did, she was actually being nice to him. Huh. “Oh.. thank you..” He awkwardly pushed out as he turned back to his food. Norma smiled up to him, a confident and proudful smile. “You’re welcome!! But I’ve gotta know. One, why is it so long and two, why do you hide it all in that dusty old shower cap?”
Cal sighs, feeling that he should have known she would ask this of him. “Okay well, one, my hair grows pretty quick and I didn’t have consistent access to a barber or anything like that while I was on the run. Plus my kid likes to play with it so I've kept it longer so she can do that. And two, that's a bit more.. Personal. So I'd rather not say, okay?”
Norma was taken a bit back by Cal’s tone toward the end. It seemed like the subject was a sensitive one, which made sense. Most everyone here had some kind of heavy trauma going on in their heads and she knew that everyone processed it differently, so clearly that cap was a comfort mechanism/object for Cal, probably relating to all the scars she could see peeking through. “Damn, no wonder he was so upset about it.” She thought to herself as she sat there quietly, wondering what she should do. She dug through her pockets and finally managed to pull out a hair tie, placing it right next to Cal. “Here, for when you feel more comfortable to wear it out.” Cal looks at the hair tie, picking it up to look at it closer. He looks back at Norma and gives her a gentle smile. “Thanks, I’ll.. consider it.”
“But just know that this doesn’t mean I like you. You’re still a little shit.” He states, not much real venom to his voice. Norma laughs at this, giving him a snarky grin. “Yeah I know. The feeling's mutual.” She stood up and dusted herself off. “Alright I'm gonna go now, enjoy your lunch creep.” He watches her with a happy confused expression. He’ll never understand her, but that didn’t matter. He looked back at the hair tie and smiled.
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A month had passed by since this little incident and Norma’s words stuck in Cal’s mind. He knew deep down that he didn’t really need the cap and it would be better to throw it out. It was old and patchy, and had a certain smell he couldn’t get out no matter how many times he cleaned it. But it held an emotional protection. It made him feel safe from the world, it made him feel that if he wore it then no one could touch his mind like that again. But was it true? Deep down he knew that it wasn’t. But trauma was a bitch.
So he spent time with Dr.Limbic tackling this particular comfort he had adopted over time. They didn’t belittle him for such a ridiculous thing, telling him that it was perfectly normal and getting rid of such a comfort wasn’t going to be easy. But with more practice and patience with himself, eventually he won’t really need it. Until then, he could keep it on his person at all times and put it on when he needed it or when he felt he truly couldn't go without it. He liked this idea so he was going to try it. Well here he goes. He had already caught some people’s eyes with this decision as he walked through the Motherlobe lobby and halls. He went through his lessons and had even the first part of his shift with Otto without complaint, a few surprised looks and lingering stares, but he didn’t feel they were bad, just.. Surprised. Lunch time soon came around and he got up, stretched his back and took off his lab coat. He bid Otto goodbye since Otto insisted on eating in his lab which Cal understood, he had done that plenty of times in the past so who was he to comment on it.
He grabbed his lunch and spotted Oleander, Sasha, and Milla standing off in the corner chit-chatting away. Milla had offered him to eat with many times over the past three months but he hadn't taken her up on it. Mainly because he didn't want to feel like he was intruding or nudging his way into their inner circle. But He has gotten more comfortable with himself, and with others so he was going to finally join them. “Okay here goes..” Cal made his way toward the trio, smile wide and attitude hopeful. “Hey guys, how’s it uh, going? Hehe.” He chuckled lightly and the beat of silence that sat there was almost unbearable. They all looked up to greet him but instead just looked at him in shock. Instead of wearing his shower cap, he had it tucked in his back pocket while his hair had been neatly brushed and put into a low ponytail. Milla is the first to break the silence, smiling excitedly at Cal’s new look, “Caligosto darling you have your hair out! That’s wonderful! You look very handsome~” Cal blushed, rubbing the back of his neck while smiling nervously. “Oh, you really think so? I was worried I’d look a bit strange with it out.” Sasha gave him a reassuring smile, nodding gently as he scanned Cal’s dark locks. “She’s right Cal, it looks good on you.” Cal smiled even wider, wait if he was right he could swear he saw a light blush on Sasha’s-
“I’d say you look like a million bucks Cal!” Cal’s thoughts were interrupted by Oleander’s booming voice. He gave Cal a light job at his arm which earned a small chuckle from him. “Thank you, thank you! I really appreciate it you guys! I’m glad that you like it.” “Of course Darling! I’m happy to see you trying something new.” Milla replied warmly, her smile as kind as it was possible. Cal smiled even bigger, in an almost full tooth grin. “Well, we’ll see how long it’ll last huh? Hehe”
The four of them then laugh and Cal just smiles, feeling very happy and comfortable with himself for once. He wasn’t sure how long he’d keep his hair out, but for now he was going to enjoy every moment of it.