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"Ha... finally..."
Cale groaned as he stretched his body before he stared at his new dwelling. Boxes of his belongings are scattered on the spruce floorboards. Lifting and moving them inside the building all by himself was exhausting for both him and his spine. Spacious and empty walls, coloured in dark denim, gave off a slight classy, modern, feel. It's nice in a way.
The redhead bought a decent-sized apartment for himself. It contained a master bedroom. A large living room. A small kitchen that is just across the living room. And a bathroom that connects to the bedroom and living room.
Cale bought this apartment for one reason, and that is to liberate himself from his family and the constant gossips circling around the damn house. After years of living there, he just couldn't take it anymore and left. Him being the odd family member in a brunette household. Him being reminded that he is an absolute garbage of a human (Exaggerated and full of bullshit) by the servants. Him hiding behind a false face for so long to the point he forgot his true self. All of it was just exhausting for Cale.
If he stayed any longer, he might just crack— no, crack is an understatement. Cale will shatter from the number of cracks he had accumulated throughout his years living with the Henituse.
The redhead let out a yawn. Currently, time is around quarter to five, the sun is setting, and Cale is too tired both mentally and physically from both moving out and the heavy lifting. He'll unpack his stuff tomorrow. What he needs is sleep. A long one.
The redhead manoeuvred through the pile of boxes and went into the master bedroom where a king-sized bed waited enticingly for him. Just the thought of plopping down on the bed's soft mattress is enough for Cale's stiffness to go away. Cale uncaringly plopped down on his bed, the furniture welcoming and accepting his weight with a soft creak. Drowsiness immediately struck his tired mind and before Cale knew it, his whole world went dark.
____
"Have you heard?"
"He's done it again."
"Unsurprising behaviour."
"Quiet! He'll hear you!"
"Eugh, he reeks of alcohol, again."
"Once a trash, always a trash."
"A literal human garbage."
"Can't he just-"
____
Cale woke up with a sharp gasp escaping his lips. He immediately sat up straight and a chill hit his face before it went down his spine.
'What the hell?' The redhead thought as he rubbed his arms to rid of the chilly feeling. Nightmares of people talking shit about him, of people being gravely disappointed in him, weren't new to Cale, but getting struck by goosebumps? That's new.
With a shiver of his body, Cale glanced at his room.
'Huh?' A bluish blur appeared in the corner of his right eye. He turned to his right and saw a...
"What the fuck?" Cale blurted out when he saw a random dude, crouched beside his bed and staring right at him with a surprised look on his face. The said dude was glowing (What the fuck), and also transparent (Double what the fuck), and most importantly, he's in Cale's bedroom (Triple what the absolute fuck).
The two stared at each other, their gazes latched onto one another in a strong awkward silence.
"...Hi?" The stranger (Stranger danger) said with an awkward grin. Cale's response was throwing a punch (STRANGER FUCKEN DANGER) at the glowing dude's face. The attack failed as the redhead's fist merely phased through the stranger before a chill ran up his arm as a response to the attack. "WATAFAK." Cale screeched before he got up and dashed out of the bedroom, tripping along the way as he bumped into the boxes of his belongings (ShOuLD'vE sTOrEd yOuR sHIT, DuMBasS), whilst ignoring the stranger-glowing-thing-whatever calling out to him.
Cale opened his front door and slammed it shut before he completely ran (liek a widdle biatch) out of his apartment and out towards the cold streets of the night. The redhead was scared, freaking out, and uttely bewildered. Who the fuck was that? How did he get in? AND WHY DID HIS FIST WENT THROUGH THE STRANGER'S ('Gun' rhymes with 'fun' for a reason, Strangah!) FACE.
The redhead kept running, his mind a mess, as his own two feet carried him towards a familiar and trustworthy place only Cale knew.
He went inside a building before running upstairs to the third floor. He then ran past numerous doors until he stopped at a door with the number 320 on it. Cale pressed the doorbell once. No response. Twice. Still no response. Thrice. Same thing. Before he proceeded to jab the doorbell impatiently, as if his intention was to break it.
In an instant, the door opened to reveal a pissed off wolf demihuman. "WHAT-" He yelled before he stopped himself once he saw who it is. "Cale?"
The redhead, panting deeply whilst wearing a horrified expression on his face, stared at the demihuman with trembling eyes. "L-Lewis. Come in. Please?" He said in between breaths.
The wolf, named Lewis, stared at him with a confused-yet-incredulous look on his face before rolling his eyes and sighed in resignation. "...Come in." He stepped aside and allowed the exhausted redhead in. "...Also why aren't you wearing any shoes?" Lewis asked pointedly, prompting Cale to look down and noticed how dirty his feet had become after all the running. There's also slight blisters on the side of his feet. The redhead was then reminded that he didn't wore any shoes when he ran out of his apartment. Fortunately though, Lewis' apartment was decently close to Cale's. If it were any farther then the redhead's soles will suffer more than intended.
"And I just cleaned the floors."
"..."
"So what you're saying..." Lewis rubbed his temple as he leaned back on his comfy armchair, likely a headache is causing a ruckus to whatever bullshit Cale spouted. "A ghost broke in?" He raised a tired brow towards the redhead sitting in front of him, who is nursing his blistered feet by letting it submerged in a half-filled basin of warm water, courtesy of the wolf demihuman. "And you tried to punch it?" His tone is literally judging Cale mercilessly.
Cale glared at Lewis, who is giving him a very unamused stare right now. "Don't look at me like I'm spouting bullshit."
"Oh, so you weren't babbling nonsense?" Lewis tilted his head in mock surprise.
"Fuck you and I know what I saw." Cale insisted. "A literal fucking ghost was watching me sleep!"
The wolf demihuman rubbed his eyes in exasperation. "Or..." He then sent Cale a tired look on his face. "Maybe you're just tired?" He offered a reasonable excuse instead of believing the redhead. "Moving away and starting a new life on your own is a huge change, Cale." Lewis said as he leaned back against his armchair. "Unlike you, I had some help with moving away, and I could have done the same for you, too, you know."
The wolf demihuman had offered to help the redhead with moving, but the latter declined out of consideration for his friend, his only real friend, because Lewis was busy trying to make sure that he still have a home for himself. The demihuman had saved up a lot of money by taking on tons of shifts when he was working part-time and managed to rent a nice apartment for himself. Currently, he's unemployed and is actively looking for another part-time job because this apartment was far away from his previous workplace, and the only place that gives out a reasonable price. Any other apartment near his previous workplace were expensive and are filled with scams.
Cale offered to buy him a home in the past (Typical rich kid behaviour), but Lewis declined his help. The wolf didn't want the redhead to waste (Cale wouldn't even bat an eyelid) his money just to help him out. He hates being on the receiving end, especially when Cale had helped him out for many years now.
Lewis wanted to do this on his own. He wants to be independent instead of being dependent on Cale. No matter how much the redhead is willing to help him.
Cale glanced away in response. "You're already too busy, though." He mumbled. "I dion't want to trouble you."
A faint smile formed on Lewis' lips. "I don't mind the extra work." He said before pointing at the redhead. "You're the one who's going through a lot right now."
'But you're the one who had it worse than me.' Cale sadly thought before he noticed a few papers slightly scattered on the kitchen counter. "What's that?" He asked, prompting Lewis to look over to where the redhead was staring at. "Oh, my resumes?" The wolf demihuman stood up and took one of the sheets on the counter before he handed it to Cale, who curiously inspected it.
"Lewis Venn... 19 years old... 3 years of work experience in hospitality... All rounder at Brew @ Andy's Cafe... Fluent in English, Korean, Japanese and German..." The redhead muttered as he read the contents of Lewis' resume. "Damn, there's a lot in here..." Cale handed the resume back to its owner, a look of amazement was shining in his auburn eyes.
Lewis merely shrugged at the redhead's awe-filled gaze. "If you want a good job, you're going to need all the skills you can get for the job that you want." He said before deadpanning at the redhead. "We're getting off topic. Go home and sleep."
"No."
"Cale, you need to sleep."
"I can just sleep here."
"You still need to unpack."
"I can do it tomorrow."
"Cale Henituse, stop being a little bitch and go the fuck home." Lewis rarely swears. He only swears when:
1.) His patience is being tested.
2.) Someone is being very annoying.
3.) Cale Henituse.
"Rude-"
"You're too old for ghosts." Lewis sternly cut him off. "Go home."
"...I ate some cookies today."
"ARE YOU TWELVE!?" Lewis exclaimed in mock outrage, going along with Cale's shenanigans. "GET OUT!"
Just like that, Lewis, by holding the scruff of Cale's shirt, dropped him outside of his front door before shutting it.
Cale turned towards the front door. "HEY! WHAT ABOUT MY FEET!?"
The front door briefly opened and two pair of shoes came hurling at Cale's face. The redhead failed to dodge in time and yelped when the shoes hit his face. "Give them back to me tomorrow." Lewis' voice rang out before the front door closes.
"RUDE!" Cale yelled before he reluctantly stood up and wore the wolf demihuman's shoes. They were a bit big for him but at least he won't be getting anymore blisters!
With an exasperated sigh, Cale forced himself to go home. Lewis might be right about being tired, though. People tend to hallucinate if they don't get the proper rest they need. Maybe Cale was just hallucinating, right?
____
Nope. Cale was not in fact hallucinating, because, after all, Cale had a bit of sleep before, so he must've regained a bit of energy. Why did he come to this reasonable conclusion?
That's because the transparent stranger is currently laying on his bed, wailing, screeching and crying all together like a big ass baby while rolling around like a petulant child.
For some reason, Cale isn't afraid anymore. Seeing the ghost acting like that somehow puts him at ease.
The petulant storm rages on for a few more minutes until Cale that his ears will bleed if this continues. He loudly cleared his throat, making the ghost flinch before slowly turning to face the redhead. The latter felt a rush of fear surge back inside him.
"Y-you..." The ghost said before more tears welled up inside his eyes. "YOU CAME BACK!" He proceeded to pounce at Cale, prompting the latter to scream.
"W-W-W-WAIT!" The redhead closed his eyes shut and shielded himself using his arms.
The ghost stilled and immediately obeyed, his crying fit halted for a moment as he floated right in front of Cale. The ghost then noticed the redhead's trembling and fearful stance. "Ah..." He then slowly lowered himself until he's standing on the floor. "I-I'm sorry." He mumbled and looked down to stare at the floorboards and his transparent feet.
Cale opened one eye to see a very guilty-looking ghost. He slowly and hesitantly lowered his arms. Huh, for some reason, Cale is the guilty one now. The mood swings this guy has, amaright?
The ghost sniffled pitifully, and Cale grew more and more ashamed. "H-hey..." The ghost looked up, his eyes bloodshotted from crying, and a subtle spike of fear went up within the redhead. "U-um..." Cale's auburn eyes darted everywhere in a panic. What the fuck should he say!? He wants to comfort the poor bastard, but at the same time, he's still scared of said bastard! Because he's a ghost! A legit ghost! A ghost that's always in the horror movies! The ones that want you dead and six feet under!
...
THE ONES THAT-
Atro poofs upside down from the ceiling: SYBAU AND APOLOGIZE╰(艹皿艹 )
Cale: WATAFAKITIFAKFAKFAK.
The ghost: High-pitched Konosuba screeching.
Anyways... after everyone calmed down.
Cale, despite his heart wanting to burst out of his ribcage, sat on one of the boxes that contains his stuff. The ghost on the other hand, is sitting cross-legged on the floor whilst wearing a combined expression of a kicked puppy, and a frightened kitty.
The redhead sighed internally before glancing at the ghost. The latter is a teenager, a European face, handsome, blue eyes, and blonde (Damn it. This guy has a certain someone's colour scheme!). He's wearing a white singlet and a pair of blue shorts which exposes his well-built arms and legs. This ghost is jacked, damn.
Clearing his throat, and ignoring the fact that the ghost flinched at the noise, Cale spoke. "...You're a good ghost... right?" He asked. "Not the murderous type...?"
The ghost blinked owlishly at the redhead, sniffling gently, as if he asked a very weird question. "...Why would I want to kill ya, mate?" Okay, an Australian accent? This guy's an Aussie kid? Born and raised in the oceanic region? Wauw.
Upon hearing the confused, and a tad bit emotional response, Cale felt relieved. Okay, cool. He wasn't thrown into a horror movie and he's still in reality. Nice... unfortunately so. He can feel his heart pounding in his chest, the slight tremble of his hands, and the tad bit of nausea circling around his head due to being afraid. These negative feelings are grounding him, telling him that he is not in some sort of nightmare or dream.
Cale glanced at his apartment, where a couple of his belongings were toppled over because of his previous hasty exit, before staring back at the sheepish ghost. He sighed, prompting another flinch from the ghost. "...What's your name?" The redhead asked in resignation. The ghost stared at him in surprise before sniffling again. "L-Lachlan." He mumbled. "Y-you can call me Lachy, though."
"Lachlan... cool name." The redhead said and it made Lachlan slowly smile. The ghost's smile looked... childish and innocent.
"...And what's yours, mate?" Lachlan stopped himself and mumbled an apology, prompting Cale to raise a brow. "I-I mean... sir?" The ghost politely inquired, making the redhead furrow his brows in confusion. Why is Lachlan being polite all of a sudden? Seeing the expression on Cale's face, Lachlan felt a rush of panic and began to fumble his words.
"U-um! I-I uh...!" The ghost waved his hands around in a frantic manner, as if it would help him justify and defend himself for whatever's about to come.
"Cale."
"T-that uh-!" Lachlan stopped and gave the redhead a look. "What?"
The redhead scoffed before smiling. "I said my name is Cale. Cale Henituse." The redhead already bought this apartment and moved all his belongings in here for the sake of living solo... but with the sudden appearance of Lachlan the ghost, it would seem that he's not living solo anymore.
This arrangement could be seen as one of those comedy shows and Cale isn't against it. In fact, Cale gladly welcomes it. Besides, Lachlan looks like the type of ghost who couldn't even hurt a fly.
Therefore, the redhead is staying. He's staying because he alredy bought this place and moved in. He's staying because he doesn't want to go back to his old home. He's staying because Lachlan... shows promise. The kind where Cale can be safe around with. Just like with Lewis.
"Cale Henituse..." Lachlan mumbled to himself. "...Yours sound more cooler than my name."
"Ha! Don't put yourself down. If anything, your name is a first for me."
"R-really!? Then same here!"
The two talked for a long time, like two friends lifelong friends who've been together since they were children. The redhead was surprised that he could talk this much. The ghost's outgoing and friendly nature felt like it was tugging at Cale to keep going, to keep talking, and to be friends. This was a new experience for him. Very new compared to how he became friends with Lewis through shared empathy. This? This was him getting to know another person.
It feels... nice.