Honestly, he couldn't help but feel really happy to see her. He did not belong here. This was not his element. And she was the only thing familiar, the only soothing presence that he was comfortable around and felt like things could actually be okay with her there. Her presence brought a wash of relief over him when he became fully aware that it was her. But... She was distressed. It was clear in her tone, and in her body language. She didn't even need to say anything for him to see that. When she asked if she could go and admitted she hated this place, he smiled lightly behind the mask.

"I thought you'd never ask" He admitted in a hushed tone. "I can't take this either. I know we should wait things out in case of danger, but I'm... Really not comfortable in this environment. I hate it" He spoke honestly. "Hate it" was putting it mildly. He was an anxious wreck, though he was trying not to show it too much. Though it shined through a fair bit more than he would normally allow, in Celes' presence.

He was happy to leave if they were both amenable to the idea. More than happy, at that. He felt... Tired. This experience had been draining, to say the least and Caius didn't see himself going anywhere near a place like this again. It seemed they were both like that. At least that meant there would be no complaints on her end about leaving. He certainly picked the right person to go here with, in a way. If he'd gone with anyone else, there was a chance they would have insisted he stayed through the night, and gods did he not want that. And if he'd gone alone, he wouldn't have even lasted this long.

But something was bothering him. Her breathing indicated she had just been running. Her voice sounded like she'd just been through something. And what had caused her to jolt up like that when he approached her? Something was off, and not just her exhaustion at all of this nonsense.

Then she looked to the group of dancers. And then to a specific man who was staring back at her. Caius followed her gaze to him, and his brows tilted down as he squinted. He then looked to Celes and spoke his question bluntly. He couldn't see her face, and she couldn't see his. But his gaze was piercing, his expression had turned stone and his voice reflected as such.

"What did he do?"

She relented, though not very strongly. It was professionalism at best, and Caius understood that. No, the mission was very much a major factor in his mind. The fact was, he and Celes had just killed two very important people in a very dangerous organization that had more power than Caius had initially expected. But as much as there was a possibility this was a trap... This was just not something that either of them could do. Neither of them were cut out for this. They were soldiers, warriors. Not social butterflies, aristocrats or even dancers. The both of them knew how to do one thing, and that was survive. This fell outside of that expertise and the both of them knew that they, and the other, were not cut out for this. Though Caius could admit to being glad Celes wanted to leave. He didn't feel as bad about contemplating leaving himself, though he certainly wasn't going to leave Celes here by herself. So if she had mandated she stay, he would have stayed. This reaction made leaving a lot easier, and while Caius was irritable about the thought that people may be harmed, he knew that he wasn't at his best right now, nowhere near in a state to fight.

Not that he didn't want a fight. To be honest, he'd take a good scrap right now over whatever the hell all of this was.

"We're not cut out for this" He responded with a casual shrug, with about as much energy as she had given to her relention.

Celes went on to talk about the "expectation" to be a "woman" in an environment like this. Caius didn't really understand. Did she really need to be? Sure, they didn't want to stand out too much... But everyone had their personality, right? And Celes was what Caius considered to be a proper sort, in his mind. Strong willed, independent, able to handle herself in a scrap. Had a good head on her shoulders and was always thinking on what she could do for others when the opportunity presented itself. She was perfect to him, and he didn't understand why she felt the need to change or why someone here would feel that she needed to. If she had socked someone causing her trouble, he wouldn't have batted an eye.

Not that he didn't know anything at all about these sorts of affairs. Just the expectations on someone like her. He would have never known that someone being like Celes was discouraged. Quite the opposite, in fact.

When one considers the kind of women that Caius has met though, is this truly a surprise?

But the way she said it caught his attention further. Her voice, her body language, he picked up on it pretty quickly. The whole thing was definitely bugging her, and this was definitely not nothing. Her words, and the remarks about him being a creep only served to make his brow furrow even further when he glanced back at the man. For a moment, his expression looked like he might even be considering walking over and throttling the man out of his fancy, probably overly expensive boots.

"Let me guess, he made advances?" He inquired toward her in short. "Asked for a dance, perhaps?" He added. Well, it had been noted he wasn't completely oblivious to these things. Caius had picked up in his time in this hole that people had been doing. Their language, their actions, the whole performance. There was a pattern here, and if Caius knew how to do one thing, it was adapt and survive.

And he knew about desire, even if he didn't know how to feel it himself. Nor how to pick up on it unless it was spelled out for him as it had been here.

But one thing Caius caught in Celes' voice was what he interpreted to be a desire for spite. He didn't know where the interpretation came from, or why for one reason or another he got the impression Celes just wanted to spite, to strike back somehow. Especially at that guy. Perhaps he had just spent more time around her than he had thought about? He didn't know for sure. But a thought came to mind, and a mischievous grin slowly spread across his face. It was a rare look for him, but... He had found that if that ended up being something Celes wanted, he had no reason not to try and indulge her. The question was how? If she had to be "helpless", she couldn't exactly go and act out. And he couldn't either, or it would turn foul attention on the both of them, which customs dictated her to seem to not want.

Hmm...

He looked around a few moments, before looking back to the man one more time. Then back to Celes. He held out a hand to her as he leaned in slightly to speak in almost a whisper.

"Want to spite him before we leave?"

He had no problem with leaving now. But it couldn't hurt to offer if it might make her feel any better. And if that "creep" as she called him had made her feel this way so strongly, deep down he sort of wanted to strike at him the same... Not that he'd admit to it.

To be honest, while Caius thought he had been around her enough, and knew Celes well enough to have a pretty good idea of what she wanted in a situation like this - he was still surprised when she actually considered, and then accepted his proposal when it clicked. His eyes quirked a moment, making that surprise fairly clear. He had offered in hopes that it would help her leave this infernal place a little more cheerful from getting a chance to spite that man a bit, or at least make her laugh at the offer and give them something to joke about later once they were away from this place. But he hadn't had a whole lot of stock in the idea she might actually accept despite his suspicions. Still, his surprise faded quickly as he smiled, letting her lead him toward the floor. Caius noticed quickly that there was a more purposeful way she moved compared to the Celes that seemed like she was running away before. Honestly he liked her better this way. The fiery Celes was the Celes he knew.

But at the same time Celes seemed to realize that she couldn't dance, the same realization hit Caius like a ton of bricks as he looked around at those around them. It hadn't looked hard when he was just viewing from a distance, but now that he was right next to them...

Oh no.

Caius' breath hitched when Celes let out the foreboding sound of "Err..." which made it clear she didn't know how either before she even said anything. The realization washed over Caius very, very quickly that he hadn't thought this through. He'd walked with confidence onto the dance floor, but once they were there, once he had a good look at what was going on around them... It was pretty clear that he had no clue what he was doing. Sure, he had seen the dancers from a distance, but perhaps if he had planned this earlier, he could have... Well, no, that was just negative thinking, he knew he couldn't have known he would think to do this...

He had completely charged headlong into this idea without thinking, or with a plan. It had been a spur of the moment decision fuelled entirely by a desire to lift her spirits. Caius nearly swore under his breath at the realization of what he had done, but instead he took a deep breath as he tried to steel himself. It was then he realized that his hands, one still locked in hers, were shaking. He looked her in the eyes as he tried to figure out a response, and it hit him that she seemed just as nervous as he was about the whole thing, probably from realizing she was in the same boat. He chuckled lightly, almost amused at how ridiculous all of this was. How ridiculous the two of them were.

"No" He answered honestly. "But I can learn."

His gaze darted to the dancers around them once more as he tried his best to mimic their positioning. These were strange positions, weren't they? They left little room to maneuver. Either way, he took a deep breath as he steadied himself once more, doing his absolute best to get past his insecurities and lack of confidence to make this work. He had promised her this, and he was far too stubborn to give it up without giving it a serious try.

He supposed it wasn't the worst thing in the world if they failed, right? They could always laugh about it later. But giving Celes an opportunity to laugh at whatshisname would be more satisfying, and he'd decided he'd stubbornly tackle this as best he could to ensure she could. (He didn't have much in the name of opinions on the matter of the man, it hadn't been him that had been inconvenienced after all. But if Celes had been upset and made deeply uncomfortable, and that was the biggest cause... Well...)

He resolved himself to make this work as he gingerly held out his other hand, giving her a nod as if to signal to her that he was making the attempt at that moment. That arm went to her waist, right? This was nothing new, right? It was no different from times in battle she had learned on his Warping abilities for them to get through a situation or an instance in battle. That's what he told himself anyway. This was nothing new, he continued to tell himself, perhaps he could treat it as just another battle, just with... Certain condition that needed to be moved past.

Conditions that he had no idea how to deal with.

One to her shoulder, one to her waist, he thought he recalled. The dancers were constantly moving around, it was a little hard to know for sure. But while Caius knew nothing of dancing... There was one thing he did know how to do. Survive. Adapt to survive. These were just conditions to adapt to. So he tried to mimic the movements of the dancers, and...

He moved too hard, too quick.

It had started well enough. He had gently eased himself against her, position and posture right... But when he tried to actually move to mimic the dancers, he completely overshot in the rotation. He managed to shift himself to keep her - and himself - from wiping out completely, but that was not a good first impression. "Sorry" He whispered, realizing quickly his mistake. Okay, maybe not exactly like a battle... But similar, right? Conditions to adjust to, as he kept telling himself. In a stroke of luck at least, her height made this a little easier, as he could see her movements a little easier than if she had been shorter, and also made it easier to get back to base without making complete fools of themselves in public. It'd negate much of the disadvantages of his own height, which was good.

He took a breath, and muttered another apology to Celes as he looked to the dancers again a moment before looking down to his feet, and then to Celes. "You want to take a stab at setting the pace?" He whispered with a sheepish smile. His grip had tightened a little bit and his breath was a little more hoarse, indicating he was even more nervous than he had been when they started. He wanted to keep going though, but he wasn't too confident he could dictate the pace well, at least not at first... Hopefully Celes might have better luck.

"I'm sorry" He spoke softly, his expression sheepish, his eyes as soft as his voice. He sincerely wanted to make this happen, give her something to laugh at, something to smile about. But he wasn't off to a good start. Yet despite that, to his surprise, she started to laugh. While surprised for a moment, he couldn't help but laugh as well when she brought up how silly all of this was. It was, wasn't it? They weren't cut out for this, yet here they were. Bumbling across the dance floor like idiots, and doing it in record time. Yet it made her smile anyway. It relaxed him, he didn't feel so highly strung anymore.

She took the offer to attempt to lead and get them rolling. He hadn't wanted to ask for help, but here they were. Well, his pride was a little bit wounded, to say the least. Here was Caius, who had spent ten years doing everything alone, independently relying only on himself and adapting to survive every situation, now needing help. But… He supposed this wasn’t the first time since coming to this world that he’d found he couldn’t do everything on his own. He had grown to rely on Celes so much. He supposed it couldn’t hurt to rely on her again here. He trusted her.

There was that laugh again. He couldn't help but follow, it was infectious. His chest heaved as he buried his head in her shoulder a moment to stifle his laughter before bringing himself up straight again. He returned with a big, almost goofy looking grin as he tried to settle himself to focus on the steps needed. He looked downward, trying to keep track of her own movements as well as his own. The laughing had set him at ease a little, though he caught himself just in time - his foot inches from crashing into her own before he brought it down into the right position at the last moment. He muttered a mild curse, but didn't acknowledge it otherwise. He did his best to keep his calm. With Celes here, that shouldn't be hard, right? They could do this.

Just like sparring, she had said... Just like sparring. He thought over those words over and over again, let them run. They could do this, it was just like sparring. With those words in mind as his guide, he mimicked the steps she showed. He managed to do so well - or it seemed right anyway since they weren't falling over each other - though it took some time for the heavy rise and fall of his chest to settle down.

"I didn't know they taught dance as part of military training. I must have slept through that class" Caius teased, indicating he was settling down a bit as they'd managed to pull it off without fumbling it. It was a compliment, so that was probably a good thing. The problem was they were moving too slowly, and nearly collided with the nearest group of dancers. The next challenge would be memorizing the steps while upping their pace. "I've never thought of dance like a battle before though."