Caius actually smiled. A genuine, real smile, without any sort of stress or anxiety in his face. Was it really that obvious how much time he had spent with Vordun, spent studying up on how to take care of him, and the sacrifices made to take care of him? He lowered his head slightly in thanks. "Thank you" he spoke softly. While they hadn't exactly been getting along, Faris clearly knew his keep about drakes. Normally praise from a pirate wouldn't phase him, but in this case, it was appreciated. And once again, Faris continued to surprise him with his anger towards the bandits, though this time could be attributed more to his love for drakes. But he couldn't stop thinking about his reactions to the talk of slavery earlier...

It was the advice that came soon after that made him continue to think.

You don't have to be perfect to do good.

He was right, wasn't he? Caius wasn't perfect. Even he had his temper, and he'd done terrible things. Things that would haunt him for the rest of his life. But it didn't mean he couldn't do good. He nodded slowly. "Not many could say they're like Yuna" he agreed gently. Perhaps he didn't handle everything perfectly. But his heart was in it, and... Perhaps that's all that mattered. It made him think again, what about Faris? He had a good heart, even if he did bad things, and didn't handle everything like Yuna would. But those things he'd done... It was different, wasn't it?

Gods, he didn't know what to think. He almost spoke up. He almost confronted him. Told him straight up he didn't understand him. Told him that he wanted to like him, but couldn't respect what he was and what he did. With one hand, he helped people with a compassionate heart, and with the other hand, he pillaged and robbed and took lives for his own selfish greed, as pirates do. It just didn't make any sense.

But even Caius could read the room once in awhile. It wasn't the time. Not yet. He needed to know more. He laughed a little when Faris was adamant that they needed drinks. He wouldn't say no to that. The place was far from classy, but he didn't mind. Nothing about his life had ever been all that glamorous, really. And anywhere he'd been that constituted "fancy" or "luxurious" always made him feel uneasy and out of place. Faris went to find a place for them while Caius ordered for them, and he nodded in affirmative as he made his way to the bar. Once the orders were made and the drinks handed to him, he waited for the bartender to walk off before he went to work.

He leaned over and smelled at his drink, trying to focus his senses on them, trying to pick up potential poisons. He dipped a finger into his own drink a moment, stirring a bit and watching the liquid flow. Satisfied, he leaned over and took a whiff at the strong drink that Faris had asked for. While he wouldn't take the further steps as a hygienic courtesy to Faris, he couldn't detect anything, and seeing as the same had been for his own drink even with proper testing, he had no reason to suspect that Faris' drink had been poisoned. Why did he do this? Perhaps he was a little paranoid, but it was a habit of his stemming from years ago. He was never able to stop himself from refusing to take chances.

A habit that had saved him and Celes on a mission not too long ago.

Looking around, he picked up the drinks and headed to the table Faris had picked. Faris had been right, Caius wasn't the type for noise or crowds. And he was grateful he'd picked this spot. Setting the drinks down, Caius sat across from Faris as he held out a hand towards his drink.

"Blizzard" he whispered softly as a block of ice materialized in his hand. Crushing it into pieces, he dipped them into his drink to give them a nice icy bite. He looked to Faris. "I can do yours if you want. I'll let you crush it yourself though, I imagine that's no problem for you, and I don't want to get my hands all over anything going in your drink" he offered. He wouldn't mind if he refused, people liked their drinks in different ways.

Once that was settled, he'd take his first swig before asking what he'd decided on.

"With all due respect, Captain Faris. Do you mind if I ask a personal question?" he inquired softly, his eyes inquisitive as he studied his face. It was the first time he'd really had a chance to get a good look at Faris. Perhaps it was because he spent so much time with female Dragonblades and friends and allies, but he picked up very quickly that Faris had... Incredibly feminine facial features. Interesting. He didn't think too much of it, though. Perhaps some people were just born that way? He recalled Kuja being the same way. He may not have sat down across a table with him, but that was a face he'd never forget. All the better to shoot him in it.

"Do you mind if I ask what got you into your profession? And, if it's not asking too much, what keeps you at it?" he inquired, making sure he specifically didn't say "pirating" in case he was overheard. This was twice he'd made an effort to protect Faris. A far cry from the hostility he'd shown starting out. But something Faris had said earlier had prompted the question. It made him realize that you may not be able to change your past, but you can decide your present. And for Caius... His past profession had been out of his control. What if Faris was the same?

Somehow he doubted it, considering he was the leader. But he knew now it was wrong of him to judge too harshly before he knew for sure what drove him.

Oh, he didn't shirk on the strong drinks at all. Caius had a pretty good eye for how much a man could drink, typically. He'd been around these kinds of environments enough, even if he didn't always like them. They were necessary for his job, and he'd learned to gauge a lot of things from it. And in his time with Faris, he'd gathered two possibilities. Either he could hold his liquor like not many could, or he was full of hot air and would go down like a ton of bricks. Considering Faris had proven his strength in battle though, Caius decided to go with the former and hope for the best. He didn't seem to mind when he declined the ice, shrugging it off and moving on.

But Caius was fully aware that what he had asked was a loaded question. But he'd made his decision on the way here. He wasn't going to judge on pretenses anymore. If they were going to have this conversation, he was going to look at Faris for who Faris was throughout it. He refused to look at this conversation and what followed with anything but what the Captain deserved, for better or worse. And almost to his surprise, Faris obliged. Caius listened.

A Princess?

Then he was...

Caius squinted a moment, studying his features. Then slowly nodded his head. It made sense. The "wench" comment made his likely reasons clear, though while he did have questions about some loose ends, he didn't ask right away. That was a more "personal" question, and he didn't think he'd earned the right to that just yet. This first personal question was already ambitious enough, even if it was one that Caius felt necessary if he was ever going to understand Faris. Still, he had to wonder... Why was Faris still calling herself a man here? Was she just used to it now? Surely she knew by now there was no shame in being a lady warrior in this world. But perhaps her world's culture had done damage that couldn't be repaired so easily. He couldn't imagine it, himself. The women in his world had been strong, and had even been in charge of running an entire city. And in this world? He could go on all night about Celes and Yuna, but he'd already done so to Faris for both previously. Faris was fully aware of how much he respected General Chere and Summoner Yuna and considered them to be the best of the best in and out of combat.

But perhaps it was just their preference? Not that he minded. Whatever worked for them, really.

Caius chewed his lip though, as he got his answer to what he had been looking for. Despite being in this profession because it was all she knew, Faris only robbed the horribly rich, the ruling class that wouldn't miss it. While it wasn't perfect... It essentially voided what had tied Caius to his hatred of Faris. There was a long silence, as his eyes moved to the table. Eventually, he took a long swig of his drink. He shivered a bit after he'd taken it down too fast, but he shook his head before letting out a long sigh.

"No. I'm not going to judge" he spoke softly, as he finally met Faris' eyes. "What I do owe you is an apology for how harshly I've treated you. All this time I've assumed you've been hurting innocent people on a daily basis, indulging greed at the expense of the very same people that look to my guild for help. And I didn't understand it, because you... Well..."

He tapped his fingers on the table, trying to find the words.

"Perhaps I'm going to bungle up the wording of this, I always seem to. But last time we met gave me a healthy respect for you, as a person. But it was difficult for me to believe that someone like you would make that conscious decision on a daily basis, going and hurting people. I wanted to believe that there was a mistake, or that maybe I could help you. But over time..."

He chewed his lip. He supposed it was his turn to be honest. "I don't exactly have the best history with brigands, bandits, pirates... You get the idea. I lost everything because of that depravity and lack of care for life they hold. They held me and my family hostage, took everything we had, and held their lives on a hook if we didn't..." he trailed off, deciding if he was going to go through with this, he was going to knock back the rest of his drink. So he did. "I... Did horrible things, to keep my family safe. I was only a child at the time, but the people I hurt, the people I killed still stay with me. Our attempt to escape that life... Well... It didn't go well. I was the only one left. When I was sent to this world, a lot of things were different and I got... Complacent, I guess. Relaxed. Convinced that the terrible things I saw in my world weren't as bad here. But I was wrong. What I told you out there about the Original Sin, and what they've done since we last met, that changed everything. It woke me up, so to speak. But it also made me hate their kind more than I ever have. In my mind, nobody who swore by a bandit's creed could be anything but... Well... You get the idea."

He sighed. "But I was just being short-sighted. I let my hatred for their kind keep me from trying to understand you as I should have, and that you might not be... Well... Like them. Perhaps there are more honorable ways to enact the trade after all, but either way I didn't try hard enough to consider your circumstances or how you might be handling things. It was what you said outside just before we came in that made me realize that perhaps I'd been wrong. And for that, you have my sincerest apologies."

He managed a sheepish smile. "Next round's on me?"

Ah. Yeah, he supposed that made sense. Sort of, anyway. Caius traced the table again as Faris lightly admonished him for his misconception. At least this time there wasn't any yelling and killing any chance of talking things out peacefully, again. He supposed he was back to not being sure what to think of Faris. On one hand, it was clear there was some honor there, just... Not as much as he'd like to think. It was funny, Caius wanted to think the best of Faris, while Faris didn't want him to. He wanted it to be accurate. Which he supposed he couldn't fault him for. At least he, or she, was honest about it? He wouldn't pretend to be the biggest paragon of morality either, like Faris he was nothing compared to Yuna on that scale. But there was one thing he preferred black and white over anything else, and that was honesty. So points to him for that, he supposed.

Despite his explanation, it was still an improvement. So there was that. He still disapproved of his practice, but it was clear that he wasn't anything like the Original Sin. Caius had made it clear that was the basis of the issue, and it had been cleared up. The most important thing was that while Caius was aware there was a morally grey strain here, it still encouraged him to look at Faris as a human being, instead of the monsters that the Original Sin had shown themselves to be.

It wasn't perfect, but who was, really? He wasn't. Faris was now aware of the blood that Caius had on his hands, could he really pass all that much judgement on Faris for it?

After a long silence, he still smiled softly.

"Yeah. I don't see why not" he spoke with a small laugh. "I guess there's no point in looking for black and white when it isn't there. I suppose I'm not really in a position to judge, anyway. Treat Yuna well and we won't have any problems anytime soon."

Was that a bit of cheek? Why, yes! By the looks of the grin that cracked across his face soon after, it was clear he was actually starting to make jokes! His wit was still as dry as their mugs, but it was there. With that, he got up but first looked to Faris. "Same as before? Or something stronger? Weaker?" he inquired real quick, and headed off when he got his answer. Sliding some gil onto the counter, he quickly ordered them a new set.

In what was perhaps the best way to sum up if Faris' explanation had made a difference or not, Caius' practices for ensuring the drinks were safe were repeated for both drinks, no difference. When he returned, he gently slid Faris his drink as he sat back down. He raised his drink in a toast, seeming to at least be in a much better mood than before.

"What're the odds you've got any exciting pirate tales to tell?" he inquired with a small smile. Caius did enjoy hearing tales of exploits and adventure, and the squashbuckling pirate would more than likely be a great source for that. "Ever had any big and exciting ship to ship duels with other pirates?"

And Faris had been a foul-mouthed, selfish, greedy, honorless stain that deserved to die with the rest of the trash that did nothing but prey on innocent people. Or at least that's what he had thought going in. But Faris, well, there was still a lot of grey area there but at least Faris was respectable enough. Human, even. He had made it clear that he still hurt people, and he didn't really know how to look at that, but there was still something there. Something that made him more than just another gutless slimeball. He had set himself apart, and Caius wasn't sure what way that was just yet, but at the least he'd made for good company thus far. He was agreeable, easy enough to get along with when they actually made an attempt to understand each other. He had eased his conscience by associating these bandits with the monsters he fought for years, but Faris wasn't like any of them. And he cared for Yuna, that was clear.

And speaking of it brought a jolly laugh to the mercenary. "Good!" he cracked right back, followed by another laugh. One that only escalated when Faris asked him if he looked like he needed a weaker drink. This, he could do. This he could handle. Joking around, being able to knock professionalism aside and just muck around over a few drinks? This he could get comfortable with. Not too comfortable, but enough. Though he quirked a curious brow when he mentioned that he had been handling his liquor since he was ten.

"Since you were ten? That sounds like quite a story."

And Caius loved hearing tales just as much as he enjoyed telling them. And when he returned, he saw the fire when he inquired about possibly telling about exciting pirate duels he had been in. He might just get a good story after all. Hopefully, anyway. Caius had listened and had ordered the strongest thing they had. And changed his own order, too. He couldn't let the pirate outdrink him now, could he? He could hold his drink, and he'd show it.

Caius took a long swig, but immediately regretted it as he pounded his chest to ensure he swallowed. "Sh-" he nearly cursed loudly as it felt like he'd been hit in the gut with the barrel of a gun. That was stronger than anything he'd ever had before. But he listened carefully as he could, interested in Faris' tale. He nodded his head along. Made sense. There was hardly any honor among thieves with the Original Sin either. They didn't get along with other groups, and sometimes they didn't even seem to get along with each other. Cutting out the middleman en route to treasure and literally plucking him out of the picture entirely seemed like something that pirates would do. Hopefully it would make for a good squashbuckling pirate story.

But he was distracted a moment when Faris brought up that he'd had a sea drake by his side, and used it to their advantage. He would have too in his shoes, but what he was more interested in was...

"You had a sea drake? That would explain your knowledge" he brought up, his following swig of a drink being a little more ginger. After cannonballing the last one and paying for it, you couldn't blame him for that. "What's her name?"

How did he know it was a she? Because Faris had kept calling Vordun by that, and Faris seemed like a creature of habit if he ever saw one.