Caius nodded when she asked if he was keeping her safe. She was teasing, of course, she didn’t need anyone to keep her safe. But he would play along since she was trying to help him with getting through this. Of course, Caius didn’t fully understand that Lumina had found the whole experience of him pulling her back to be exciting and exhilarating, instead of an inconvenience.

Though it sounded like her impression of Snow was… Less than favorable. Clearly there was a story there, one that Serah hadn’t told him much of just yet. Even if he did apparently step up, in time. “Sounds like there’s some history to be discussed over lunch” Caius mused aloud at that. “And you’ve told me plenty about yourself. Serah couldn’t cram everything in. I do look forward to hearing more, however.”

The right answer, hopefully. Ensuring she knew that he was still very much interested in hearing more. From her, preferably. Though things took a grim turn when she brought up the prospect of being infected. So much for focusing on the date instead of business, he thought, but Lumina seemed to realize this and changed the subject to claim that she was older and Serah was in fact the baby sister. Caius quirked a brow, confused by this. "I understand how you would be the oldest, given you were the older sister before your split, merge, split, merge and all that. But wouldn't the younger Claire now be the youngest, since she's from a time period much earlier than yours? If I recall right, she would be centuries younger, at that" Caius pointed out. Sheesh, this girl's life was definitely a confusing one. How did she even feel, having her younger self walking around? Questions for later, because Lumina was back with a teasing vengeance.

"Is that because you want me all to yourself, I wonder~?" she asked, and Caius smirked slightly at that. "And if I do?" he shot back without hesitation, seeming to have grown a bit more comfortable, enough to meet her teases head on. It was unclear if he would do this with anybody else however, or if this confidence was mainly just for Lumina. He listened then, as she detailed her thoughts about having the sword, or any sword for that matter. Including that she had "retired" from saving the world. The smirk stayed, but for a different reason this time.

“Lumey, be honest with me" Caius spoke up then with a curious eye. "If those screams just now had been real, you would probably either go looking for a makeshift weapon, or bash a monster with your bare hands. Wouldn’t you? You can't tell me you would act only if you needed to defend yourself” the mercenary then asked earnestly, but with a hint of a tease in his voice. “People like you and I aren’t usually able to sit still while people are in trouble and they can do something about it right then and there. I could have retired from fighting if I wanted to. I did my duty and helped save Lucis, and died protecting my king. But I know that if it came down to it, I wouldn’t hesitate to fight. That’s why I chose to become a mercenary. It’s just a part of me.”

Had he considered retiring? Not really that much. He had gone to mercenary work pretty quickly. He didn't want to do anything else, fighting was what he knew.

“And there’s a difference between going out of your way to save the world, and stepping in when people need it. It’s not like I planned on fighting the Lich, or the Kraken, but even if I chose not to, I’d have still stepped in to protect people when the storm hit Torensten” Caius pointed out. "But I also have the mindset that if you know how, or are able to learn. There isn't a reason not to have a weapon handy, and one that you can use without magic at that. Doesn't mean you can't defend yourself, or at least your loved ones. As you said, in am emergency"

He held out his free hand again. "As for your sword... Serah's was a gunblade, I believe, wasn't it? Looked kind of like this?" he asked, summoning his gunblade again and holding it out to her. Making sure it wasn't as obviously in view of the other people around this time. "I built this one. I probably could build another."

Presumably the sword would have disappeared by the time they got to the bedroom. Caius had been wary of how Lumina might react, but when she turned red as could be, Caius' nerves disappeared and he had to hold in a hard laugh. She was the sheepish one now? She did manage out a retort, which got a smirk out of him, but she clearly wasn't of the right mind when they headed into the room. She tried to tease more, but the poor girl was completely out of her depth.

"Oh really? In what way?" Caius responded without hesitation. He didn't have some kind of flirty comeback in mind, that wasn't really his forte. But he did know challenging her to elaborate would potentially bring interesting results.

Poor Lumina was completely out of her element it seemed, stuttering to and fro, from the moment that Caius had made that joke. He actually started to feel bad, this was almost as bad as the nasty look and tone he’d gotten the last time he had tried anything remotely resembling that. Even just trying to say the word “girlfriend” seemed to send Lumina into a tizzy and Caius was not equipped with the skills to be of help in this whatsoever.

But she did manage to say that once the older sister, always the older sister. Even if that was Claire. Of course, their “sisterly” relationship was more complicated than that, too. But at the least, she seemed to have made her peace with the idea of there being two Claires.

She gave her consent? For what? Wanting her to himself? Blast, more riddles. Or at least, words and phrases that he didn’t know very well. What he could better talk about though, was her stance on fighting. She knew that if she tried to fight, she’d never be able to stop. And if there was a problem, he’d come to the rescue. “I think it’s ok to not want to stop, deep down. You just… Need to find a comfortable moderation. With the Dragonblades being where they are now, for example, I don’t feel like I have to always be out there carrying the load entirely on my back anymore. I have a purpose here too, and that’s supporting them. But when the want or need hits, I take a job and off I go. That’s what the freedom of this world has given me.”

He smiled sheepishly at that. “Of course, I don’t begrudge you for your decision. Even if I don’t know if it’s healthy to force it either. Still, if you’re happy, I think that’s the best thing.”

He disagreed with her forcing herself into non-combat, but also understood why she made that choice. Lumina, as Lightning, had sacrificed more than enough for her world. And if she was happy in this role, that was good enough for him. But it sounded like she was purposely stifling herself deep down, and he didn’t know if that would lead to her being happy. That was where Caius was concerned about her choice. Zephon had plenty of heroes… But was Lumina truly happy this way?

His teasing question to elaborate was met with more shyness, but she did manage a more… Professional answer. She was a businesswoman, after all. But then she began to come apart at the seams, as she claimed that the room before them was meant for experiencing intimacy.

And then it all came undone. While saying she didn’t want to rush, the string was unwrapped and Lumina confessed before him on the spot. Caius was… Well, taken aback was an understatement. She wanted… To be with him, romantically? Like, as an exclusive thing? She had decided this soon, just out of the gate like this? He remembered being told that this was a possibility, but to experience it, and as his first time too… It was pretty clear that Caius didn’t know how to react. The mercenary was now completely and utterly out of his depth, as Lumina poured her heart out and asked him to consider her feelings.

Caius chewed on his lip, stunned into silence. What did he say? What did he do? “Lumina, I-“

Silence again. He had no idea what he was doing. Why did he agree to this date? He knew he wasn’t ready. He just hadn’t expected… This. Not so soon. Not before he could learn to understand what that feeling was like. Did he feel it? He didn’t know. He felt something. Something strong. He had immediately prioritized Lumina when his brain had registered their being in danger. But was it a romantic connection? Again, he didn’t know.

But she did say she wasn’t trying to rush. So maybe she’d understand if he was honest. So he took a deep breath, and just did his best. Took both of her hands and everything.

“I appreciate the not wanting to rush. More than you know. So I feel like I owe it to you to be honest. I do need… Time” he decided to start with, clearing his throat after that, trying to clear the nerves away. “I… To be clear, this is not a rejection by any means of your feelings, Lumey. It’s the opposite. I think you’re a wonderful person, and I’ve strongly enjoyed our evening together. And I’m.. I guess you could say I’m interested. I wish I could do the same as you, and talk about my feelings like you. But it’s not something that I know how to do just yet.”

She wasn’t expecting an answer right away, she had seemed to try to convey, so hopefully that would help matters. At the least however, he owed her an explanation.

“You know who you are, and what you want, in terms of a romantic relationship. You’ve been on this road before. I haven’t. Living in that hell for so long, mostly alone and in solitude from when I was young. I never had an opportunity to even think about love and romance and all of that, much less partake, and even when I did reintegrate into society, I couldn’t trust anyone anymore. My time in Zephon has been a long, arduous struggle to find myself and find that ability to trust again. And while I can trust some, I still don’t know myself well.”

He was rambling at this point, he knew, and his confidence wavered in and out. But he kept trying. She deserved that much. She deserved to know who he was and what she was dealing with here if she wanted to take this step with him.

“I’ve never really had a chance to, well, scout for a romantic partner or even put much thought into what that’s like. I’ve tried, sure, but recovering from what I’ve been through and re-learning what I’ve lost out on has been a… Process. I don’t even know what romantic love feels like, in a way. I know it’s something that you just feel; but recognizing it for what it is, is different. I thought I felt it once before, but… I seem to have been mistaken. I think, anyway.”

He was not confident in saying this at all, and he clearly was out of his element talking about this sort of thing in detail. He’d never had to before. “The person I am right now? I feel like someone who doesn’t have that figured out doesn’t deserve you as a partner. Being your… Boyfriend. That’s a big thing. That’s a commitment, one where if I was to commit to it, I would want to help you find your happiness. And I need to figure this out. Figure… Myself, out. If I’m to play that kind of hand in helping you find the happiness that you should have.”

He took a deep breath, then squeezed her hands to remind her that he wasn’t going anywhere.

“I’m sorry if I’m rambling, and making this worse. but what I can tell you is, I want to keep doing this. More days like today, I mean. I want to spend more time with you, get to know you beyond this one day, as wonderful as it has been. I want to understand you better. I want you to know me for who I am in full. And see if I’m able to feel these feelings the same way you can. If that connection has formed, and it’s very possible that it has, I need to learn to recognize it. If you can bear with me long enough to see that through, I…”

He remembered what she had said before. She didn’t want to see him with anyone else. And he knew he was asking a lot, even if she was just being transparent about her feelings. So…

“… I can at least do one thing. I don’t intend to let Claire set me up on anything with others in the meanwhile, if you’re worried about that. A warrior’s word is his bond, and you have mine on that.”

That had been a lot. Way more than what she’d said. She’d summed it in a few quick phrases and he had just… Sheesh. Caius was beet red by the end of it. Whether it was because of his being flustered, or from lack of oxygen, who knows?

“I’m sorry that was… A lot. I’m not used to these things. Nobody’s ever asked me on an actual date before. It’s always been setups and they’ve never gone anywhere in the romantic direction. Nobody has ever confessed like this. This is… Completely new territory for me” Caius had to admit, his grip steadily receding as if he was quietly preparing for her to get mad and yank her hands away.

Expecting pain, Caius had begun receding his grip and slowly unlocking his hands from hers. Only for Lumina to, in a surprising twist, tighten hers and actually hold him even more to ensure that he was not doing that. With her grip, he couldn't let go of her hands if he wanted to. Caius let out a quiet "huh?" when she did so, and when she claimed he shouldn't sell himself so short. Caius chewed the inside of his cheek as she started talking. Saying he overestimated her, and that they weren't so different. He didn't understand. She had experienced love, had been in a committed relationship. She knew these feelings intimately. Caius... Didn't know where to start. Though she did stress they were covering different areas. He wasn't so sure about that.

"Now who's selling themselves short?" Caius teased quietly, his voice not having found its confidence again just yet. "Don't make me start telling you about all the things you are in succession, Lumie. I'll be here all night, but I'll do it."

Still, he did appreciate her understanding, and her desire to support him in finding what he was looking for. Even if she'd understood, she could have easily said that this was just not what she was looking for and he would have been understanding himself, even if he wouldn't have been happy about it. Though he was confused a bit when she claimed this was different from her last relationship. That the feeling was different. That this was... Special?

That just sounded like she was buttering him up, trying to make him feel better. And he quirked a brow at that. But she kept going, actually explaining why she felt this way. It was the fact he'd taken the prospect of being a partner to her so seriously and with the amount of care he had done so with. After that whole ordeal previously, Caius hadn't... Really considered that worrying so much about things like that could be seen as appealing. But for Lumina, apparently it fit.

It was a lot to take in, and Caius wasn't sure right away how to respond, beyond the previous joke. But after a deep breath, he did try.

"I... Thank you. That means a lot. That you understand, I mean, and... That you want to keep trying with. I wasn't... Sure if you would want to, after hearing all of that" he admitted softly. He had been expecting to potentially scare her off with all that, so this was definitely a surprise, to say the least. He supposed the question was, what now?

Would it be foolish to say that he hoped that he found that spark with her? Yes, maybe it was. That might be pushing it, even if that's how he felt. That seemed too tactless, even for him. It would be better to tell her when the day came that it did. Though he didn't know what she meant by "more profound than her experience" relating to a spark. Chalk that up to inexperience. Of course, he hadn't forgotten what had been brought up regarding her fighting and the gunblade. He had questions... But he would save those for tomorrow.

"Well, as for the here and the now. Lumie, shall we tackle this fabled master bedroom?" Caius brought up then, remembering where they were. "Also... Would you happen to be free for awhile after our lunch plans tomorrow? There's something I want to show you, I think you've earned the right to see it. It's... An integral part of me, I guess you could say. Typically where I go, as do they."