Something that slipped my mind before was why Cale always felt odd/confused when people expressed their gratitude to him (or started following him around). I used to think it was his, well, non-existent self worth, or just something to maintain distance he learned as Krs.
But the thing is, what if his actions are just obvious in his mind? Like if he just considers it as something he simply had to do, and not something he had to go out of his way to think about?
And like, it makes sense then. If someone close to you was stuck somewhere, ofc you'd help them out. You don't need them to ask for help if you see they're stuck. Rather, it would really feel weird if they expressed their gratitude more than a simple thank you.
And isn't that exactly the case with Cale? For him, helping others had always been a natural course of action—and not something he actually pushed himself for. In his view, it would seem more odd if something thanked him for doing the obvious.
Yk, after he saved Raon from living his whole life and ultimately dying in torture, the first thing that came to his mind when the lil dragon started following him was that Raon needed to be responsible. For the life he would spend following someone like Cale, and for his own choice—he even explained to Raon what other option he had (freedom, as a mighty dragon), just so the lil dragon didn't follow him ignorantly.
And yk, that means that Cale vaguely understood that the help he had offered was enough for Raon to follow him for life. His reaction afterwards wasn't repulsion, it was simply bewilderment. He knew what he did was a lot, but what he didn't understand was the dragon's gratitude to him, to someone doing something so obvious. He doesn't downplay what he does (tho he does ignore it), he downplays the reaction he should receive normally, the gratitude and affection.
I don't remember the exact scenes but many times Cale/Krs has mentioned that 'someone else would've done it if not me' and like. my guy. my beloved slacker. That is NOT true.
Literally most of the confusion he faces is because he doesn't understand why his fam doesn't understand that he's doing something very very obvious, and that he doesn't have to be thanked for it. In his mind kindness had always been so simple, so easy.
And like, that is. a bit. Yeah.
Cale is a good person who views kindness as something natural and normal—something easy to do, at least for him.
The thing is, he doesn't even realize just how deeply kind and helpful he truly is toward the people he assists, nor how others perceive his actions; consequently, he struggles to understand why everyone is always so grateful—even to the point of following him around despite the dangers—likely a mindset stemming from his time as Krs.
It is also worth noting that Cale constantly justifies his good deeds under the guise of helping someone now only to use them in his plans later (something we know never actually happens). This makes it even harder for him to grasp why the people he helps—most of whom had lost all hope and believed no one would ever lend them a hand—become so grateful and loyal to him, given that he feels he merely did the bare minimum while intending to use them in the future.
The truth is that Cale is inherently deeply kind and helpful; the actions he treats as the obvious, minimal thing to do for another person are things others would struggle to perform with such ease, or would consider a major act worthy of respect.
