Zidane looked down at the mug in distaste at the slush Cinna had made for him. He glanced to his right, where Marcus was prodding his with his blade. Cinna sat expectantly across the table. "Well?" he said impatiently, "Arn't ya gonna drink it?"

"Sorry man," said Marcus, "But I don't trust any drink that squirms when you poke it.
"It's exotic!" explained Cinna, apparantly thinking this information would put the men's minds at ease. Zidane took a deep breath and, gathering all his strength, throwing away his common sense and bracing himself for the worst...took a swig. He immediatly regreted it and spat the foul stuff out. "Geez, Cinna!" he cried, "People drink this stuff?"

"It's rich people's coffee!" said Cinna, "If it taste's bad it's valuable! Why do you think caviar's so popular?"
"Urgh", said Marcus, trying his, "If this is what you drink when you're rich, I'll live in the gutter thanks."

Cinna gave him a foul look, and went about picking the chunks out of his own mug. Zidane couldn't believe he'd put his neck on the line for this stuff. He hoped there were others out there as stupid as Cinna, so they could make some money out of it. He made his excuses and left to go find Blank, who was probably sorting out the "interesting" things he pocketed from the raid. He found him in the storage room, hastily stuffing an item into his pocket as he saw Zidane come in. "Hey, Blank," Zidane said.

"Hey"
"What's that item?"
Blank put on a confused look. "Er..what item?"
"The one you just put in your pocket."

Blank patted himself down and shrugged. Zidane rolled his eyes. Blank was always excellent on the stage, but in real life he was a poor actor. Zidane turned to leave but was struck with a thought. "Hey, Blank," he started, "Cinna's pouring out that coffee we swiped. Why don't you go try some? It's excellent."

"Really?" Blank said, "You're not usually much of a coffee drinker..."
"I know," replied Zidane, "But this stuff's good! I tell ya, bein' rich has its advantages."

Blank trotted out, somewhat excited, leaving Zidane to snigger for a minute. They were still a few minutes away from Lindblum, so he decided to wander around the ship for a while, staying well away from where Blank would be enjoying his coffee. After a few minutes he heard a sound above him.

"AA-CHOO!"

Zidane smiled and wandered up the spiral staircase. "Hey, Boss," he said as he spotted Baku standing next to Gennaro at the wheel. "A'right, Zidane?" Baku asked. "Cinna get ya to try that coffee?"

"Yeah"
"You throw up? I sure as hell did. He's gettin' a beatin' next time he tries summat like that."

Zidane laughed. Baku scratched his head. "Listen, Zidane. I gotta go see Cid when we get back to Lindblum"
"What for?" Zidane asked.

"Dunno," came the reply, "He didn't say. Sounds important though, so I want ya to pick up some supplies from 'round town while am at the castle. Awright?"
"Yeah, no problem boss. You gonna give me some gil?"

Baku leaned back roared with laughter. "BWA-HA-HA-HA! Good one, Zidane!" He walked away, chuckling. As he did so, Zidane felt a thump telling him the Prima Vista had docked safetly back in Lindblum. Blank, Marcus, and Cinna headed back to the Theatre district, whilst Zidane caught the next cab to the business district. The streets were bustling as usual, with hordes of people beginning their preperations for the Festival of the Hunt. Zidane's arm darted out and snatched a gyshal pickle from beneath the unseeing eye of the old woman, which he chewed on his way to the weapons shop. As expected, men were queing out the door, trying to buy their hunt weapons before the prices went up. What they didn't notice was that the shopkeeper raised his prices a good three months before the festival, but bumped them up another thousand gil two days before the hunt, to trick the suckers into thinking they were getting a bargain went they got their new equipment a week before the main event. Zidane smiled as he thought about this - the best thieves are the ones who don't do anything criminal.

Deciding not to fight the crowd, he headed over to the item shop to pick himself up some sleeping weed. He used the stuff to help him get some shut-eye when Baku had one of his sneezing fits. He spotted the saleswoman, Alice, carrying the box out the stock room. "Alice!" Zidane called.

"Zidane!" Alice excalimed, looking over to him, "How are you? You havn't been here in a while."
"I know, sorry babe. We've been running back and forth to Treno for a couple of months."
"When are you gonna take me on that airship cruise?"
"Huh?"

This caught Zidane off gaurd. He didn't remeber offering to take her on an airship cruise. Hadn't he told Alice they'd go exploring the outer continent together? No...no that was Chantelle. That's right. He HAD talked to Alice about an airship cruise.

"Tell ya what," he said, thinking on his feet, "We'll go if I win the festival."
Alice beamed. "Oooh! You're competing?"
"If it means a date with you, I will..."
By now she was almost speechless as she leaned a little closer to Zidane. "You...um...all ready for the beasts then?"
"Actually," Zidane said, "I came round to buy some sleeping weed. I've had a bit of insomnia and I wanna rest up a bit before the Hunt. How much for a couple of pounds?"

Alice reached below the desk and pulled out a handful of the herb, but held out her hand to stop Zidane as he reached for his money. "Don't you dare, sweety, this is on me."

"Really?"
"Of course! You just make sure you win that tournament!"
Zidane smiled softly at her. "Thanks to you, I've got a good chance."

He walked - no - he strutted out the store feeling extremely pleased with himself. The best thieves are the ones who don't do anything criminal.