By how she had been described, Lumina had seemed like a mischievous, impish bundle of self confidence. But there seemed to be some insecurity in the idea that she had once been able to look even older than she did. “If it helps any. I could tell right away you were an adult, just looking at you. You carry yourself a certain way, and I suppose the glasses help” he brought up, doing his best. He just hoped the way it was worded didn’t offend. “You have your own unique charms too. Something tells me you didn’t need your sister setting you up in order to gain your fair share of dates” came an actual, honest to goodness tease. Even if Caius didn’t fully get what these words could imply, she seemed to respond well so far and he did hops to raise her spirits if at all possible.

“I have heard of some strong magicks here in Torensten. Perhaps if that is your desire, something in this city could return you to an older form? If you’re really that intent on calling Claire the little sister, I mean” he cracked with a cheeky smile in kind. She talked about Claire a bit more and what she had lost, it was clear that in the future, Claire had gone through much. As had Lumina. “Now it seems Zephon has seen it fit to grant a second chance to you both. Just as it has for me” he spoke softly. “I know it’s easy to think about the past often. But I hope you can focus more on the here and now. And the life you can now live.”

She asked a question, and Caius smiled slightly. “Of course I’ve felt this way. So I did just that. I built up the Dragonblades” he answered. “I’ve carved out my own happy place. Maybe you just need to do the same?”

A lack of initiative, and being just fine with her predicament. That was fair, and Caius simply shrugged at that, not really finding a reason to protest. "It's absolutely possible that if you had the ability to shift your form, if I'm understanding how your abilities work... Then it may just come back to you" Caius brought up at that, flashing a gentle smile to try and reassure Lumina. "This world... It's strange. For some, when they come here, this world takes a toll. Sometimes it's your abilities, or others even your memories. For me, it was my memories" he expressed, a soft frown slowly forming in place of the smile that had been there before. "My childhood completely disappeared, leaving nothing but the cold, hard reality of what my world had become that I had been forced to endure alone. And the sense of duty that later becoming part of the Kingsglaive brought me."

He tried to at least bring back the smile, bit by bit, as he recalled fonder times now that he had them once more. "Over time, they came back. And I feel somewhat like myself again. So I wouldn't give up on the idea just yet" Caius remarked. Though she didn't seem to mind that she looked younger. Caius didn't quite understand the appeal, but if it made her happy then he supposed that was fine. "If that's what you prefer, then I guess you win no matter what happens" he responded with a casual shrug. She talked about how his thoughts mirrored Serah's. And how they wished their parents were with them.

"I miss my family as well" Caius spoke softly, his smile gone bittersweet. "There's not much I wouldn't give to have them here with me in this new world. My parents, and my two siblings."

Though all of a sudden, Lumina wanted to go somewhere. Caius tilted his head curiously at that. "I am good with that. But where to?"

Deceiving her older self? Did she mean Claire? Though Claire was only 15, even if Lightning had been older. How did any of that work? Why did she want to deceive Claire? Serah and also Claire had forgotten some bits of this puzzle, and Caius looked to her with a quirked brow of suspicion when she stated this. Regardless, it seemed she was working with them for now. So he didn't need to get all protective just yet. She then conceded that she had lost some memories, before bringing up something that Caius had known before.

"Your sisters told me" Caius spoke up then, his expression solemn. "Someone special that you met here was returned to their own world without you. And now you can hardly remember but a trace of their existing at all. Not their name, hardly even their face. Just the idea they existed and even that's faint, leaving naught but an empty hole" he echoed, reflecting on how he had felt in her shoes. "I've been here long enough to lose several. But there was one I had a... Special connection with, that disappeared. You have my condolences."

She went on to talk about the issues with her business and her dating life, which... Caius had put thought into, but really didn't know how to bring up in a natural way. Especially when he didn't know much about dating himself. However he understood that generally, an adult dating a child was wrong, and... Well, no bones about it. Lumina resembled a child. She couldn't date anyone her own age as it was because she was already hundreds of years old, and yet other adults wouldn't think she was anything more than a kid by her appearance. Which explained the attempt to assuage the issue with glasses and makeup.

"Ah that's..." Caius' breath hitched as she brought up Legends Square. "That's fine." It wasn't a bad place at all. It was just... They'd just unveiled that stupid statue recently. Did a whole unveiling ceremony and everything. Caius wasn't there, of course. He'd been off on a job at the time. Scheduling conflicts and all that. Definitely not on purpose and not because he didn't want to stand in front of a crowd again. While Claire had probably told Lumina he was one of the Dragonblades' leaders already, hanging out with someone new with that statue staring at him was... Well, intimidating. But he was going to have to make peace with that being there eventually. But what came next was far from what he had been expecting. Her "adjustment".

"Oh."

Caius scratched his head, bewildered at the transformation. Just like that, Lumina had changed form to a woman more his own age. "Wasn't her shapeshifting" she said, and Caius was so busy trying to connect the ramifications of that that he almost didn't catch her saying something was all about keeping appearances.

Wait, what.

Now this was a date? For real? Caius took a deep breath as he tried to catch up with the sudden developments in all of this. Apparently she was able to conjure something that resembled an adult body. But if it wasn't shapeshifting...

Curiously, Caius moved to tap the top of Lumina's head, just to see if his hand would phase through it. Regardless of the result however, Lumina had after all asked for him to regale her on his family. Since he knew all about hers, it seemed fair. Caius shrugged, before opening the door for her once she was ready. "Well, we're certainly not anywhere near as interesting as yours. That's for sure. My family owned a chocobo farm" Caius responded at that. He did miss that farm.

Lumina seemed surprised that Caius knew. He responded with a sympathetic smile. He hoped she didn’t mind that he knew, and would maybe take some comfort in the fact that he did understand. He did not understand romantic bonds as well as others, and he did not know if his bond with that person he had lost was romantic in nature. But what he did know was that he had valued and cherished this person. And now they were gone, leaving nothing behind but the faintest memories, doomed to slowly fade until naught remained but an empty void where their presence had once been. This world, in many ways, was just as cruel as it was wonderful.

Lumina shifted a bit when Caius tested the illusion, before making an allusion that while Caius did not entirely see proactivity in, at least recognized that sort of line from the books he’d read. “Yes” was the only verbal response Caius gave, flashing an amused smile as he gave no further context. Except, of course, to ruffle and mess up her hair a little just to see if it would actually move and become imperfected by the movement of his hand.

As Lumina spoke next, Caius noted that her voice had changed. Was this part of her attempt to seem more her own age? “It always was fun. I learned to ride when I was young. I find more comfort riding an animal than I do operating a vehicle, though I do not know if your world had both or not. But an animal provides a comforting presence once you have grown to understand one another” Caius mused aloud.

Lumina had held out her hand. Not recognizing her intentions, Caius saw it instead as an outreached arm, and moved to loop her arm with his own. This seemed to be a custom for some, or just for navigating Torensten’s very crowded streets in cases it was necessary. He knew that much. However, while he had seen people holding hands, he had gained the impression from body language that this was something exhibited as custom by romantic partners, or a parent with child. Thus, he had incorrectly guessed Lumina’s desire. She still got an arm though.

“We had a few colors, if I recall right. I believe white ones were quite rare, however. I was hoping to help with catching more wild ones when things… Well, when they changed. But while my dad was really dedicated to his work and the chocobos, mom really liked to garden.”

Should he ask her more about her past life or would that be weird considering what he could gather from her being made of Claire, sort of?