"Then stay in Torensten awhile. The body needs to rest to operate at full capacity in battle" Caius advised Enma, and Mu in kind. Completely oblivious to the irony that he didn't follow his own advice. His only rest lately was when he was with Lumina. Though his attention was taken by Mu revealing he was not, in fact, as human as Caius was. Instead, he was part of a race called the Au Ra. He actually had a tail! And scales! And those horns on his mask were-

"Those are real? I thought they were decorative" Caius admitted with a small laugh. He had thought it an ornament, and had never put stock in the idea that maybe Mu didn't just have a keen sense of fashion. "They are very... Draconic. You're not selling me very well on the idea you don't fit with the Dragon-blades" Caius cheeked, with a rare pun shot by the Dragonblades leader. It wasn't often that Caius was this laid-back, not when in the midst of the Rest. But with people like Mu? It came to him a bit easier. "Suppose enhanced hearing would aid your profession, however... Though I'm still not entirely sure what your profession is or who you work for."

It seemed he had already filled Mu in on Kuja before, and had simply forgotten. A lot had happened since, so he was bound to forget some details. But he was glad to have someone like Mu around, keeping an eye out. Even if he didn't think himself a fit for their organization, Caius wouldn't say no to Mu's aid when it was offered. Nor to offering him a drink if he was thirsty. Letting Mu take their pick, Caius poured a drink for him. And one for Enma, just as a courtesy. Then one for himself, because it had been a long day.

"Sephiroth tried to destroy his world. He claims to not remember anything of it, but he got into a fight that levelled Central Provo. Not very convincing that he won't do it again. He has two confidantes, Genesis and Angeal. Genesis is a pyromaniac, an unfeeling sociopath. Angeal is more reasonable but didn't hesitate to help him in a fight with a lot of collateral damage, either" Caius thought it right to share his intel, if it might help Mu with his hunt through the shadows. "The parasite is... Complicated. The woman that is its current host is..."

He took a deep breath. This was going to be heavier than he had hoped.

"My partner. Romantically. I have to find a way to expunge it before it takes her completely, and her body will have to be destroyed to render it dormant again."

Yeah, a LOT had happened since Mu had been here last, Caius having an actual romantic partner being chief amongst them. But if he couldn't figure things out with that parasite, it would be a short-lived affair.

"The Original Sin has been... Quiet, since Celes and I stopped their leaders. Too quiet. Their activity has slowed to a crawl, but I don't trust it. They have too many resources, and I don't know where they're coming from. I feel as though they are biding their time, but I don't know what for."

Part of Caius' subconscious asked itself: Why didn't he try to appeal to Genesis' humanity? Surely there had to be something in there. Something that he could tug on to get him to cease his ways and embrace some level of inner compassion. But that was where reality stepped in. Because Caius knew one thing just from talking to this Genesis.

He would be wasting his breath.

This was the kind of person that the redhead was. It wasn't a new thing to Caius, far from it actually. The brigands that had taken his family from him, their employer Cortez, the Original Sin bandits, Kuja, Sephiroth, Emet Selch, Ardyn... Alex. They all had that in common. Trying to appeal to their humanity was a wasted effort. Caius had accepted that as fact. Genesis joined a growing list, and his response further confirmed that theory.

Though speaking of Sephiroth, it seemed he had encountered another one of his buddies. Caius' breath hitched when he heard the name spoken with such familiar tone.

"Served a king. Kingsglaive -- special forces unit, essentially."

Not far from SOLDIERs, really. Not that Caius knew. What he did know however, was from Angeal that Sephiroth had once had a group of friends. But judging by the destruction in Provo, and that Angeal had previously turned into a monster that one time and flown away... He supposed it made sense that another of Sephiroth's friends would be unhinged in some way. He was differently unhinged from Angeal, however. Angeal still held some of his humanity. This one? He wasn't so sure.

Caius didn't really want to know what Genesis was inferring about the corpse. He didn't know what Emet had done with it, and he wasn't that curious. What was done, was done. They would deal with it later if they had to.

"Might not be fancy enough for your taste -- may put the gil towards the honeymoon instead. She seems to enjoy trips like this."

Was that a bit of cheek? Caius wasn't exactly Genesis' biggest fan right now, but talking about Lumina did put him in a better mood at least. He wasn't sure if "just missing each other in the middle of a burning manor" was something to bond over, but debating semantics seemed pointless. Though Caius wasn't sure how he had managed to keep a straight face while even entertaining the thought of marrying Lumina.

Thoughts for another day. Caius watched curiously as they were strapped onto the thing. Being strapped onto said thing alongside a pyromaniac psychopath was not his idea of a vacation, but if anyone was going to keep Genesis in check, he supposed, it was him. Though apparently he had said something that stirred the man's interest, as Genesis suddenly perked up a great deal when Caius asked about the poem. "A poem from your world, and a play as well? Interesting," Caius mused aloud. "I've only seen a play once, by request of one of the trope I saved on the road. It was... Nice. I shall give LOVELESS a try whenever you finish that play."

Genesis had a weird response to being asked if he was ready, and Caius didn't really understand it. Was that also from the poem? Weird time for it, but...

Caius made a motion with his hand to indicate he was ready.

"I am a touch inexperienced in interpreting poetry, never had time. What is LOVELESS about?"

Famous last words, as the boat below would start up, and Caius grit his teeth...

Caius didn't seem too surprised when Enma commented on the strangeness of him being here. Mu had tried to be cordial and not voice that sort of thing, but.. Enma was another story. And they weren't the first to ask today why Caius was manning the front desk. “The girls got the day off. So I’m filling in,” Caius answered with a shrug, making that a part of his stretches as he finally managed to get himself comfortable before stepping out from the desk. “It’s part of the growing pains of any organization. We have received a lot more work after the Kraken incident. We’ve restructured and I have been running the Rest myself, though Celes came back from Provo once our new operation was stable, to fill in for me while I had business to take care of. Right now we’re both here, so we gave the girls a day off. The girls being our two administrative clerks."

The mercenary cocked his head towards the main room for if the two wanted to sit by the fire and relax after walking all the way here. "I'm glad your travels haven't dampened either of your spirits" he commented, though Caius would quirk a brow as he turned to Enma for a moment. "Does Mu actually have a tail and scales?" he inquired curiously. He hadn't known Mu to be anything but human, but... With all that armor, he had never really had reason to suspect otherwise.

"As for work... After the Kraken, we've weathered the influx of jobs and hired some administrative staff. Celes went to Provo to help one of our leaders start a clinic over there, so it was up to me to train the new staff. Strange for me, considering I'm not used to staying in one place for very long. But it was fruitful, I have learned a great deal about how much more there is to this job than just fighting. I've trained recruits, done paperwork, trained staff, gone on grocery runs, and made time to meet people around town and get to know the town we've been protecting," Caius continued to elaborate as he walked into the main room, looking around the bar to see if he could fix up Mu some kind of drink. "There's also been some threats we've had to deal with. Kuja, who worked with the Lich. Sephiroth, who laid waste to Provo's square and may be at risk to strike again. And while Celes managed to quell the Dominant Clive's attempt to destroy Torensten's crystal, we had been holding him here on house arrest until recently. Not to mention the re-emergence of a parasite that once took over a host and slaughtered hundreds. It's been extremely busy, to say the least."

He would offer Mu a choice of drinks, even offering one to Enma as well even if he doubted they could drink. "You here to join up and lend us a hand?" he joked cheekily then. He didn't think Mu would actually accept, but it was worth a shot.

All of this was a problem. Potentially a very big problem. Was he in danger of dealing with someone who could kill the crew right here, maybe torch the ship itself? That would put everyone on board, including Lumina, Claire and Serah, in danger. Caius refused to allow that. So for now, the best thing he could do was gather intel. And gather intel he did, as this Genesis not only openly admitted to setting the manor on fire, but why. Apparently he wasn't entirely an arsonist, just... Someone who had accidentally set the manor on fire. And didn't regret doing it at all. Even seemed to think it was for the best.

He didn't know if that was any better. Because it sure didn't feel like it was. "That's a tactical error, not considering your surroundings when using magic. Especially elemental magic," Caius mused aloud, unsure why he was telling a maniac that his tactics in trying to murder a man were wrong. Force of habit, maybe? But he supposed he could make use of it, since he had already blurted it out. Maybe even figure out how to tone down the man's capacity for uncontrolled destruction. "Yes, I recognize the man you describe. Likely committed the murder himself, if I was to guess. Abducted the body too, it was weird. But had debris, or burning debris fallen atop you, enough of it may have been enough to keep you from escaping in time. Or ruined that nice jacket you had," Caius reasoned, not sure if objective logic would do any good. But Genesis had shown no real regard for anyone's well-being. So purely objective may be the only language he would understand. "Even without care for the well-being of others present, preventing collateral damage to your immediate environment can be best for your own interests. He could teleport, setting the place aflame only benefited him."

He couldn't blame him for attacking that streak hair guy, but did he really have to use fire magic in a clearly very flammable place? It was clear he didn't care, and even his half-hearted apology rang hollow. "I got them out. The one I couldn't save was a stranger, got out on her own. Now we're dating, strangest thing" Caius remarked offhand, not even bothering to get offended at how flippant he was about it. Caius knew his kind too well at this point. People like him were why he had grown to distrust people growing up. It was useless to appeal to their humanity or sense of compassion when they didn't have any. Which was why Caius didn't even react when he said he would have killed the host anyway.

He was getting far too desensitized. It was a problem. "Doesn't seem worth the trouble to kill someone for that" was all that got out of him as they were brought up, and just as he feared, they were indeed partnered up. Perhaps for the best. If he snapped and lashed out over something trivial, Caius could summon his weapon and take him out. Though the one thing he didn't understand was Genesis' next statement.

"Is that a passage from somewhere? It sounds interesting" Caius inquired as he stepped up to the parasails. If he kept him talking, at least it might lessen his threat levels for a minute. And the passage did sound neat. Caius was still learning more about literature in Zephon.