A New World (Zidane only, others PM me and ask to join)

Heading out the door of the Inn Crucent took a deep breath and sighed happily. It was a nice sunny and warm day and finally she was in Alexandria. A place she didn't know much about but definately wanted to learn more about as the town itself seemed nice enough, and the people were friendly.
Currently she was just wandering about randomely, looking at every shop and having alot of fun. Spotting a ticket Stall in the middle of town, Crucent remembered that she had heard other people at the Inn mentioning a play; 'I Want to be Your Canary' the night before, that apparently was very good, so she decided to get a ticket to watch it.

Walking up to the small window, she purchased the ticket and asked how to get to where it was beeing played. Smiling the lady replied‘ I assume your new here then. Otherwise you’d know that you just follow the crowd over to the Palace dearie.’ Giving the sales woman a quick smile Crucent walked off, making sure she had all her money and important things in a small pouch inside her armor to prevent any robbers or thieves that might be about as the streets were packed with people and children running and shoving as they all tried to get ahead of each other, making it extremely easy for any wandering fingers to cut purses or rummage pockets quickly and unbeknownst to the owner.

Since it was still a few hours till the play was about to start, Crucent decided to go look at the armor and weapons stores in town, in case thay had something new, or, something she’d never seen before but would probably want. Walking into the Armor shop however she got a little disappointed when it didn’t take her long to find out that the armor on this world seemed to be a little less advanced then the armor on her own world.
Making her way to the Weapons section, she got the world differences hammered home even more, as they did not even have any Claws in stock even, and the owner gave her a very odd look indeed when she asked about hand-to-hand weapons, other then knives.

Sighing a little dejectedly, she decided to leave the shops to themselves and went to find something to drink instead as the hot sun combined with the lack of any seabreeze that she was used to from her own hometown of Jeuno back on Vana’Diel was making her feel a little warm.

Heading to a street vendor, she bought a bottle of cool apple flavored drink and went to find a tree to sit in the shade of while looking at the world passing by.
Finding a small park of sorts, Crucent asked the park guard politely if it was okay to walk on the grass and when he nodded she smiled at him then quickly walked off to a small hill with one tree on the top where she laid down under its long slender branches, arms behind her head, closed her eyes and stretched herself feeling extremely friendly towards the world at large as the day seemed to start off very nicely indeed.

The scene opens up to a rather messy room that was located inside one of the few inns to be built in Alexandria, the current occupant of the room was still sleeping in his bed even if most of the world was up and about. He was tangled up in the covers with just his boxers on while his tail swished limply from side to side as he dreamed, but all things must come to an end and for this genome it would be a rather abrupt and painful one. For when his body tossed to the left it sent him off the bed and slammed him face down on the floor with a thud, didn't help that the covers went over with him as he groaned slightly "Ugh.............I hate these inn beds........they never wide enough...." Zidane struggled and fought with his covers till finally he was able to free himself from the cloth bonds that had strangely wrapped themselves around his form.

After getting out of bed Zidane went to take a nice long shower that would wash away the filth and help me smell good so that he could attract the ladies, after washing up and finishing the long process of drying his tail he put on his trade mark clothes that were cleaned and dried with the help of the mystic arts. After slipping on his left boot he was fully dressed and ready to go but had to make sure his daggers and their holsters were firmly secured as he didn't need those things slipping out, trying to run or jump with daggers falling all over the place is highly dangerous indeed as he remembered what happened when he forget to do that when he was little.....nearly stabbed his foot clean through. Thinking back on those days Zidane knew he was far more carefree than he was now, and sad to say he doubt he would ever be like that as the adventure he went through to save the world changed him into a young man who had matured......though he would never admit it and still acted like he did in the past.

Walking out of the building he made his way to the front desk where the inn keeper was at, the man was some sort of fish person which Zidane found odd but not weird as he seen plenty of their kind before. After paying the man for the room Zidane headed toward the exit but the inn keeper yelled after him "Give the Queen my regards!" Zidane froze for a moment before turning toward the inn keeper and giving a thumbs up as he said "Sure thing." Zidane knew he had to get use to that but ever since Garnet and the others went missing the thought of any of them caused him varying levels of heart ache, of course Garnet's disappearance caused him the most pain of all but even he had to admit that he missed Quina, Rusty, and Amerant from time to time......hell he even missed Beatrix and that woman kicked his ass three times without breaking a sweat.

Walking outside he remembered the chaos that followed when his friends went missing, the royal court of Alexandria were in an uproar that their Queen and two best soldiers went missing at the same time. It was then that he was dragged into the mess due to his close relations, at first he was blamed for all the trouble till they learned that his own group of friends went missing as well that and the fact Zidane would never do anything to harm Garnet. It was then his own fault that things were like they were as he suggested they use a Garnet look alike to play the part till they found the real Garnet, the reasons for that being how negatively the population would react if they learned their young Queen was missing. But Zidane knew he shouldn't get too mixed up in politics or he could very well be stuck right smack dab in the middle of it all and never get out, and while he loved Alexandria he was a son Lindblum and would always be so.

Shaking such thoughts from his mind he noticed a poster that was advertising the coming play for tonight and seeing the name of the play caused Zidane's heart to break a little more as he thought '....They doing our play Dagger.....*sighs*.....where are you girl...?' Zidane turned away from the poster to banish his dark brooding thoughts and focused on just getting through the day, but as he walked by one of the park areas that was placed in Alexandria not too long ago he saw someone he never seen before. But to make it stranger for him he wasn't even sure if he seen this person's race before due to how while the girl looked a lot like Gaians she had pointed ears, that and the fact she was not exactly in the average high range.

Zidane didn't know what to do but figured saying hello wouldn't hurt and it would give him something to do so as she rested he sneaked up to her then jumped into the tree she was sleeping under, sitting on a branch he started to pluck some leaves and allowed them to fall on her. He knew it would wake her in due time if he kept it up, so when she finally does open her eyes he said "Hello down there." He grinned down at her like a chestier cat as his tail swished behind him while his blue eyes tried their best to mask his inner turmoil.

Almost asleep, Crucent felt the lightest of touches on her face as the leaves glided down onto her face, making their way along her nose, onto her cheeks, and some ended up resting in her hair or on her neck, itching her just enough to wake her up fully.
Opening her eyes, she blinked a few times in wonderment as the first thing she saw was a pair of bright blue eyes that had a mischievous look in them and belonged to the face of a young blondhaired man that was currently hanging upside down from a branch right above her. he was a pretty cute guy actually, those semilong bangs hanging down his face gave him a cute-yet-sneaky-in-a-charming way look.
Feeling a little startled, she sat up as he said hello then grinned at her. Plucking off the leaves he seemed to have dropped on her, she replied ”Umm… hello to you too, whomever you might be.” Shaking the last few leaves out of her hair, she folded her legs up underneath her as she sat up more straight.

She then looked more closely at him and noticed the tail. Figuring he perhaps was this worlds version of a Mithra, she refrained from commenting on it and said ”Nice to meet you, My name is Crucent.” Smiling she continued ”May I ask why you were dropping leaves on me? Is this the normal way of greeting new people onto this planet or what? Cause as you perhaps noticed, I am not from this world. I come from a world called Vana‘Diel in order to relax, explore and have fun. A vacation of sorts. I travelled here via those new Universal Multiplex things that have appeared on all the worlds, it was surprisingly easy and comfortable.”

Opening the bottle she took a sip of the apple drink she had purchased earlier as she was still feeling a little hot and also quite thirsty. It tasted very nice, it had been in the shade of the tree trunk and was still very cool, so she took a bigger sip then offered him the bottle in case he also wanted something to drink.

“Perhaps you can show me around town? I have bought a ticket to see this play, ‘I Want to be Your Canary’, but I am not entirely sure of how to get to where the play is beeing held.” Standing up, she brushed any grass away that might have gotten pressed onto her clothes when she was resting then continued “Of course, only if you have the time and want to show me around. Beeing a visitor here I am a little at a loss, trying to find my own way.”
Biting her lower lip a little, she wondered a little how long time she had been lying down, for all she knew the play might have started already. Only then did she realize he was quite a bit shorter then herself, reaching to somewhere between her waist and shoulder, but it didn’t seem to bother him at all so, she wasn’t about to bring it up as she was used to beeing taller than most anybody, even back home as well.

Zidane was pleased to learn that he was right in thinking that his little approach to waking the visitor was effective as he only had to pluck and drop about ten leaves onto her before she got up, he watched her look him over in appraisal to see just what sort of person she was dealing with and he didn't mind it one bit. He knew if the roles were reversed he would be doing the exact same thing, when she sat up Zidane watched her a bit more and figured this lady was young of body but not young of mind considering how calm she was. This made him wonder just what she was but he didn't want to blurt out his question, he then heard her awkward hello and nodded his head slightly to confirm he heard it.

When she was able to work out a more constructed sentence it was strangely only after he saw her glance at his tail, that made him mentally grin as he let his legs that were holding him up on the branch let go. It seemed like he would fall but just before he really started to move his tail sprung into action, it wrapped around the limb tightly and easily supported the genome's weight even with all the stuff he got on him. As he hung by his tail he crossed his arms lightly and listened to her go into a long talk about many different things in a row, yet even with her talking about so many different things and asking questions this way and that he kept up with her and listened with a care free air about him.

When she stopped long enough for him to get a word in edge wise he said "Nice to meet you as well Crucent, my name is Zidane Tribal. Now let me break down my answers into simple little responses......felt like an interesting yet gentle way of waking you up, eh no it not the standard greeting, yep I knew you was an off worlder from the way you look and the fact you had to ask who I am. Also I have no idea what this Vana'Diel place is like since I haven't gone to see any of the other worlds yet, but you seem to have the right idea on vacation ideas......hope you don't mind if I steal it and use it as well. Though I'll use my personal airship to travel instead, better in flight food hehehe~" With that Zidane let his tail drop him down to the ground where he landed before Crucent with a very light thump as his hood settled around his body now that he was right side up fully.

He took notice of the drink that Crucent was now drinking and when she offered him a drink he held his hand and shook his head slightly to politely decline though he was thankful for the offer. It was then that the young woman asked him if he wanted to show her around town, and he was about to say sure why not but then she mentioned the ticket and his mood darkened a fair amount. That shine in his eye faded and his smile slightly shrunk before he said with forced enthusiasm "Hey sure I'll show you around this place, not my home town but I been here plenty of times to know what is where. Now for the Play it will be hosted at the castle grounds, it.....is where it was done last time. I'll take you to the drawbridge, I can't go any further though than that since I don't have a ticket. Though the play won't start till later when it gets closer to getting dark, the night time lighting is more dramatic and fitting for most of the scenes as well as helping the special effects stand out more."

(OOC: sorry it's so short but my imagination sucks today)

As Zidane used his tail to hold on when he jumped down from the tree branch Crucent was a little surprised at how strong it seemed to be. Smiling she said “Wow! Impressive trick with the tail. Can I ask, what are you, some kind of Mithra?”

As they started to walk towards the entrance to the park, Zidanes sudden hesitance hadn’t gone unnoticed when Crucent had asked about the play. Her ears, that usually stood up when she was happy, were now drooping as a clear testament to how sad she was that she might have offended the only person on this planet that wanted to help her.
Wondering if she had perhaps said something wrong and upset him she figured it was best not to say anything further on that subject until she perhaps could find out what she had said in the first place. Instead she just admired the beautiful flowers in the park and listened to the birds singing as the golden sun bathed everything in a golden haze.

Crossing a small wooden bridge, Crucent stopped for a little while, just admiring how clear the water in the little river was. She could see small fish darting from rock to rock and a green frog lazying among the reeds by the bank as well. For some reason it helped cheer her up a little bit, and she was soon back to her normal smiling self again.

When they reached the end of the gravelfilled path, she nodded slightly to the guard, then as they stepped onto the cobblestones back in the crowded street, she felt a slight nudge but didn’t think anything of it as there was no chanse of avoiding getting bumped by anybody at all. Perhaps it was some sort of festival since there was such an abundance of people everywhere, young and old. Turning a little towards Zidane, Crucent tried again to hide her own feelings, she gave him a small smile as she looked at him and asked “So, what is there to see around here, is there perhaps some kind of festival going on since it seems like there is so many out and about?”

Zidane was very confused and not sure exactly how to respond to the question that was asked of him before he then said "Thanks I'm very good with my tail......and what is Mithra?? What my people are called is not that, we are called Genomes. If you got any questions about my kind feel free to ask, I don't mind answering questions from pretty women." Zidane smirked a bit at the last bit as he was being slightly flirty at that current moment.

But after all that was said and done their departure from the park was in process yet as they walked Zidane noticed Crucent's ears were drooping slightly, he then said "Hey now what got you down? It won't due for you to be upset while in my company, makes me feel like a poor guide." Zidane turned to face her as he walked in reverse to look at her, as he did so he did a full back flip over a guard that he nearly ran into to avoid bumping into the young female guard. But soon Crucent would notice that Zidane was really good at walking backwards as he would always know when to turn or move out of the way of something, and to be honest it looked like he had a second set of eyes or something on the back of his head with how well he was navigating around things.

Zidane caught notice of that and then said "Hehehe impressive isn't it? Before you ask, nope I not using magic, nope I don't got a second set of eyes on me somewhere, and yep I'll tell you how I doing this but only if you cheer up okay?" Only after Zidane got Crucent's agreement to his cheer up request he then stopped walking backwards and let his tail swish from left to right behind him, he then said "It my tail that letting me do that, I know I know a bit strange to hear that but just how it is. I asked my younger sister about it once....she said it was something to do with how genome tails are sensitive or something........either way at the end of some long drawn out speech she said it because my tail can feel very faint air currents. So when a person moves I can feel the air their limb is pushing out of the way, pretty useful little trait to be honest."

Zidane went back to walking normally as he didn't want to be a total show off and as he crossed a small bridge he stopped as well, it was mostly due to how he was letting his guest of sorts enjoy the water and sure enough the girl was back to being perky again. Why he wasn't sure as it could be a combo of their deal and something else but he didn't mind one bit since all that mattered what she was happy, as they walked out of the park he looked at the male guard and waved a slight bit as he knew the guy. The guard was one of Rusty's Knights of Pluto though which one it was didn't exactly come to mind, the male guard gave a slight nod back to the two before going back to his job.

When the two reached the streets Zidane was on high alert again due to how he knew this sort of crowd would have plenty of pickpockets sneaking around, and sure enough one went right after his guest though Zidane was far better at stealing that some pickpocket since hell he had to steal from still living monsters in the past. So when the pickpocket tried to get away Zidane's tail shot out and snatched the ticket out of the little thief's hand, when the pickpocket came to notice that Zidane looked over his shoulder and let his tail wave the ticket at the kid. The kid sighed as he knew he was beat and went off to find another target, as he knew trying to get into a stealing contest with Zidane was pointless.

Zidane figured he would tell Crucent about the ticket thing soon but her question caught him off guard and he stood still for a few moments to think, he then said "Well.....I don't know of any festivals that Alexandria has.......the only festival I know of is the Festival of the Hunt in Lindblum. I take part in that festival every year, though it not as fun as it use to be when I first started to join in on it. I think there is just a lot of people here because of the......the play, the people here really enjoy this particular one........oh speaking of which..." Zidane snickered a bit before his tail lifted up her ticket that it firmly held, he placed the ticket in her hand before saying "Got to be careful with your stuff around here Crucent, there are pickpockets all over the place when crowds are this big."

As Zidane told her his race, Crucent couldn’t help but laugh a little at the flirting then said “Well, a mithra is a race from my world, but it’s mainly just females. The males are few and far betweeen.The reason I asked is because like you they have tails, but now that I think about it, they are more cat-like then you are, even though you are probably just as agile as they are. They also tend to wear a lot less clothes then you seem to do.”

He then gave her the ticket back, using her tail wich impressed her quite a bit, and she accepted it with a hug, literally picking him up and squeezing him tightly before putting him gently down again, and a little squeal of delight that it wasn’t lost forever and said “ I’ll try to keep that in mind, but, unless I strap my possessions onto my own body underneath my clothing, it’ll be a little difficult. Not to mention managing to pay for anything.”

Feeling a little mischievous, she thought about his explanation about the tail and she couldn’t resist so she said “sooo…. About what you said, If your tail is sensitive… what happens if someone is to stroke it, and may I try?”

Gently but swiftly, she reached out and took a hold of his tail then stroked it in one long motion, feeling the soft fur glide effortlessly under her fingers, giving her a slight tickling before she let it go again. “im sorry if that was rude of me, but…” she winked at him “its easier to get forgiveness then permission, and, it was just too tempting. But it is a very nice tail, as far as tails go.”

Feeling a little hungry, she asked “do you know of any good places to eat? Im a bit hungry now as I haven’t eaten anything since god knows when."

Zidane enjoyed hearing others laugh and it was a bonus if it is a pretty woman laughing, it was then that she pointed out things about the Mithra he then said "So......there is a race of cat people who are mostly made up of girls in showy outfits......Okay then first place I going is Vana‘Diel after today......*snickers* Well now about my race since you shared with me that stuff....Genomes are not like most other races......we were manufactured by a now extinct race of people. They made us be completely soulless vessels since we were to be replacement bodies for them, but things didn't go their way and their sleeping souls were lost so now my race are trying to adjust to living their own lives. I'm one of the few genomes that got a soul, the rest are rather dull and the strangest part is we look a lot alike to one another unless we do things to change ourselves. Ability wise we are......how did Rusty put it once.....'Damnable speed demons who are infuriatingly hard to hit.' or something like that I can't talk like Rusty did....."

Zidane shrugged a slight bit near the end before getting slightly startled by the taller woman picking him up and squeezing him like he was some doll after giving her the ticket back, Zidane stumbled a slight bit when eh was set down before saying "Well that was nice, you're welcome. If you want I'll hold onto it for you, I'm a thief myself so I am pretty difficult to steal from anyway. But ya strapping the stuff to your body would make things difficult to do stuff....."

It was then that Crucent asked a rather embarrassing question to which Zidane blushed and said "W-wait...what??" before he had a chance to say anything more though he felt her grab at his tail, normally he would move it out of the way but the shock of the question kept him from doing so in time. Soon enough the stroking started and his fur on the tail stood on ends as his body locked up, soon enough he could feel every strand of fur getting stroked and the feeling was shooting up his spine. He shivered slightly as he tried to not make a sound and was happy that she was done when she did before he did something crazy, he quickly took his tail in his hand and held it possessively before saying "I-it okay....j-just don't do that......ever again.....gahhh that was pure evil......p-pure evil of you..."

Zidane wasn't upset but clearly flustered by that and when she asked her food question he had to calm himself down first before saying "There is good food to be bought from some of the markets.....better to eat the stuff fresh and what not....." Zidane led the way toward where the food market is at and soon enough they could hear people bartering and selling goods too and fro.

(OOC: sorry its so short, im trying to focus on my exams tomorrow. I promise ill improve post length after that.)

Chuckling to herself at Zidane’s reaction, Crucent nevertheless said “I’m very sorry, I won’t do it again, but it was just too tempting. Can you forgive me?” Looking directly into his eyes she put on the poor-puppy look with her big golden brown eyes and pouted a little, batting her eyelashes at him.

When he mentioned food, Crucent’s ears perked right up tho, and she followed him eagerly, wondering what kind of food they had on this world. They probably had never heard of a Meat Mithkabob, but a girl could dream… Snapping out of it, she made sure to stick closely to Zidane so as not to loose him in the throng of people milling about. “What kind of food do you recommend? I don’t know what’s good on this world, and I don’t have the time or money to experiment and figure out what I like that way.”

As they came to the food market Crucent all but purred when all the delicious smells wafted enticingly at her, but the combined level of noise with all the sellers made her ears, wich was very sensitive to start with, want to curl up and hide. “umm…. Can we possibly find somewhere to sit down and eat, where it‘s a little more quiet?” Walking over to a stall, Crucent just looked at what the seller had, wich was mainly meat, in shapes she couldn‘t recognize at all, before following after Zidane to an Inn.

Sitting down at a table, she asked the waitress that was walking by what todays special was, then ordered one for herself, along with an ale. Looking at Zidane she folded her fingers and rested her chin on them and asked “So what do people do for fun around here? Is there any battle arenas, chocobo races or something like that? It‘s just… I don‘t have the patience to lay down on a beach in a skimpy bikini and do nothing for my holiday. I prefer to go out and explore new things, possibly fight and have fun.”

Zidane was in the process of holding his tail protectively after what Crucent did but soon she brought out the biggest guns a girl has that won't get people up in arms over doing in public, the evil woman started to use the old puppy dog pout on the poor genome. This caused him to quickly look away for fear of its powerful effects as he thought *NO no no nonononononononooooooo, don't look don't look if I look I'll loose but........NO.......* sadly though Zidane lost his mental battle and looked at Crucent's face and was beaten by her easily. He grumbled a few times before finally saying "......Ya I forgive you......no fair using the big guns on me..........." Zidane shook his head a few times then turned to lead the way as they should get going while the markets are still all open.

It was then that after mentioning food and such that Zidane learned how Crucent could act pretty child like in her mannerisms, this was mostly seen when her ears stopped drooping and how she would follow him as close as she could without running him over if he stopped suddenly. When they finally got closer to the markets smells and sounds she asked her questions and he answered "Food......well we got Zaghnol meat for burgers and stakes, Zuu meat is used for nuggets and stuff......a lot of nuggets,Clippers are normally eaten for seafood along with any normal fish that can be caught, and then there are the Gyshal Pickles as well as Pumpkin bombs.......oh wait also there is an Owl Stew. As for trying out stuff......hehehe I might be a thief but it only an occupation not a way of living so don't worry about Gil so much, I got me a fair amount thanks to my travels." It was then that after they drew closer that Zidane was able to learn that just like his tail had a weakness so did those ears of Crucent's, hearing her request he followed her around as she looked at the meats of a vendor as Zidane didn't know what they were exactly either from just a glance.

After that he took her to an inn to just rest but soon enough Crucent flagged down a waitress for the special and that caused Zidane to snicker a bit, he then said "Today's special is Dead Pepper Chili.......oh boy your mouth is going to be set alight today. Not even my old friend Choco could handle eating one Deap Pepper and you going to have it with Zaghnol meat.....going to be fun to see if you take to the skies like he did when he ate the stuff." Zidane ordered a vegetable stew with some Ale after getting hold of the waitress again, as he waited for his food with his out of town guest he watched her closely as while he forgave her he wasn't stupid enough to not be cautious.

He then heard her questions and shrugged slightly a bit before saying with a playful smirk "Oh well then would laying on a beach in a really skimpy bikini be more fun...haha okay I'll be serious. Well it really depends on the kind of people, most are content with just living their lives normally. Others play simple games like jump rope or the like, though a few do play Tetra Masters which is a card game though I haven't played in a while after getting one of all the different cards." Zidane stopped for a moment to think a bit harder on the question before finally he said "Hmm there is a place in Treno were Card Tournaments are being held.......then there is that one rich family there that enjoys watching people fight their pet monsters..........could just go outside of the town and beat the snot out of monsters. But me.....I really enjoy just traveling the world and exploring, main reason I got an airship though I enjoy using my pet Iki for traveling more as she keeps me company."

Listening to Zidane rattle off alot of names that mainly sounded like they had all been at the back of the line when the consonants were beeing handed out, Crucent couldn’t help but laugh softly to herself. She most definately wasn’t in Jeuno any longer. Every food sounded so alien and strange to her, but it was the same for those who came to Vana’diel for the first time as well.

After they had gotten settled at the table, he told her what today’s special actually was, and she said ” Dead… Pepper… Chili….?” Just the name alone sounded ominous to Crucent, but she squared her shoulders and when the Waitress brought her meal over, she smiled politely and said thank you nonetheless. Cautiously watching the hot steam eminating from the plate, she sniffed it veeeery carefully causing her eyes to water quite a bit afterwards. Blinking furiously she wiped away a few stray teardrops and discreetly pushed the meal off to one side of the table instead of trying to actually eat it. ”yeah… think i’ll pass on *that* meal, I don’t want to fly off anywhere yet.”
As Zidane told her about what sort of things people did for amusement on this world, she gathered it was pretty much the same as back home, only a little less fight related Thinking a little she said ”well, cards isn’t my thing, but this Treno place sounds intresting all the same. Perhaps we can go there and explore later? And what is an Iki?”
Stretching her legs where she could find the room to do so, she listened to Zidane’s answers and nodded. As he finished off his own meal, Crucent still hadn’t touched her own, instead letting it slowly dissolve the metal fork that had been pushed into it.

Watching it, utterly fascinated, it still went ’bloup’ on occation, like some primordeal ooze from the innards of the world itself. And people actually ATE that, wich was the amazing bit of it all. It looked far more like something to remove tough stains with instead of food but, to each world their own. When Zidane had finished off his meal, she finished her ale in one last sip and said ”I’d quite like to go see this Treno if it’s possible, after all I am a tourist and your the guide so…guide me.” Smiling at Zidane she stood up as the waitress came back again to clear the table and paid for her meal then walked outside.

Reaching into her pocet, she felt the ticket for the play, then figured since they were gonna go to another town, she didn’t need it so as a old woman walked by, she gave her the ticket instead, and told her to enjoy the play. Just then Zidane came out from the Inn as well and she asked ”How are we gonna get to Treno then? Airship, walk, chocobos? Or do you have other means of transport on this world that I don’t know about?”

Zidane couldn't help but noticed the strange looks Crucent was giving him for each thing he told her about and just figured it was due to how the names of the food was different to her, he just shrugged a bit and ignored the look as he figured he be the same if he was on her world and listened to her foods. But what really got Zidane's attention was the look of pure dread that was on Crucent's face after he told her what the special was, he snickered a few times and then said "It not that bad, they just called Dead Peppers because before recently they use to be an extinct herb. The name just stuck an the fact they are so spicy.....well it helps make people not underestimate the hot level they can produce . Not like you going to die from eating them."

Zidane though noticed that his words fell on deaf ears and watched as the girl sniffed the food with caution and even avoided eating it at all, Zidane was going to offer to switch foods but remembered how he reacted the last time he ate the stuff. He was sure the place didn't need him accidentally breaking stuff in here from the sheer heat of the things, thus he simply snickered a bit and said "Now I'm not paying for that.....I'll pay for the ale and stuff but you paying for the wasted chili." with that said he dug into his stew with gusto as he was pretty hungry and as he ate his tail swished to and fro with a bit of joy. Zidane then listened to her response to what he said to her question an simply smirked a bit before swallowing a mouth full of stew, washing it down with some ale, then wiping his face to clean it off. He then said "Well Treno is known as the Dark City since it always dark there due to mountains that keep the light off it, but ya it a interesting place to be though I like Lindblum more myself but that place might be a bit to big for a proper tour today. Anyway you should see it when a Festival of the Hunt is being held, who knows you and I could join it and see who can beat the other in the contest it holds. As for Iki......well I'll show you when I'm done." Thus he returned to his meal.

After finishing his meal he paid the waitress for his share then let Crucent pay for her chili which was by now done devouring a spoon some how, Zidane didn't really pay much attention to the food so he didn't care about the spoon. With that he then listened to her agree on seeing Treno and even said that he was her guide, he found that to be a bit silly but he didn't mind as it was fun doing this for Crucent. When they walked outside Zidane lead her toward the gates of the city so that they could leave this place, but as they went through the market he bought a a small loaf of bread, sliced Zuu meat, and some diced Gyshal pickles. As he walked he used his tail to take a small knife out of a holster, it was a simple food prep knife and he used it to cut the bread in half. After that he put the meat and pickles together and handed it to Crucent before saying "Eat that, it really good. Also you do not want to try to get a meal in Treno, it either really cheap bad food or really pricey gourmet food there."

After getting them through the city without incident though he waited long enough for Crucent to give her ticket to a little old lady, as they stood outside he listened to her questions and snickered a bit as he said "Remember how you asked me what an Iki is? Well....just wait and see." Following that he then brought two fingers to his lips and used them to make a shrill whistle sound toward the sky, it was followed by a few moments of silence before a draconic roar responded. After about oh a minute the source of the roar showed itself as it was a large pony sized feathered dragon like creature, though it more correct to call it a drake due to its young age and small size considering its species. The dragon landed on the ground with grace as a few feathers drifted down to the ground around it a fair distance away, but soon the dragon bolted toward the Genome and Elvvan before skidding to a halt in front of Zidane. The creature started to rub its head against him affectionately as he returned the affection before saying "Hey there Iki, you getting faster and faster at responding now. Oh ya I want you to meet a friend of mine, her name is Crucent and isn't from around her so be nice as she might be scared of ya okay girl?"

The silver dragon nodded her head before turning to look at Crucent and moved closer to the woman, she soon started to sniff the smaller being to get a scent before following that up by rubbing her head against Crucent's hand to try and get petted. Zidane then said "Well Iki likes you it seems, and if you haven't figured it out yet.......Yep she is our ride. Hope you like riding bare back."

Follwing Zidane Crucent accepted the sandwich from him gratefully, cause she was still feeling hungry.

Taking a bite of it, she was pleasantly surprised as it was very tasteful, and she finished it off quickly before saying thanks. When they reached the outside of town, Crucent nodded when he asked if she remembered about the Iki. He then whistled and waited a little bit, but said noting else so Crucent just stood there and looked around.

Suddenly a very dragon-like roar was heard, easily as loud as Fafnirs or even Nidhoggs from back home, and it made Crucent jump a little as she definitely wasn’t expecting that here. But before she had time to do anything, a beautiful, feathered silvercolored dragon came down and landed gracefully, only to ruin the image completely by running at Crucent and Zidane, screeching to a holt right in front of Zidane making Crucent laugh as it looked so cute.

Reaching out her hand slowly; not wanting to startle or offend it, Crucent was completely enthralled by it. It was totally different from the dragons she was used to back home, they were great big things, and Iki was so lithe and elegant in comparison. “Hello Iki, you’re a gorgeous lady.” The apparent awe in her voice couldn’t be missed by anybody, Crucent was rapidly becoming Iki’s greatest admirer. So when Iki started to sniff her she wasn’t afraid at all, and as the dragon started to rub against her, Crucent was completely sold and just went “ awwwwwwww, she is the prettiest dragon I have ever seen” and smiled her biggest smile ever as she petted the dragon on its beautifully sculpted head.

So when Zidane told her Iki would be their transport, Crucent squealed in delight and hugged him tightly as she exclaimed happily “Really? I’d LOVE to ride on her, if she doesn’t mind it. I have never ridden on a dragon before, and she is just so stunning!” Finally letting go of Zidane again, she turned back to pet Iki more and when she heard him mentioning the bareback bit, She just looked him with a naughty grin and replied “What a coincidence,as a matter of fact, riding bareback is my favourite way of riding.”

She then looked properly at the dragon, noting the lack of any saddle or anything even remotely like it, and quietly wondered if this would mean her thighs would be shredded by the scales, but hoped for the best as she was fairly confident that Zidane wouldn’t let her get hurt during their flight.

Turning to face him again, her eyes gleamed with adventure and she asked “ so, how do we get up on her?”

Zidane was pleased that his selection of meat and such went well with the bread, as he did feel bad about Crucent not getting a bite to eat simply because she didn't know better than to order the special without checking first. After telling her she is welcomed for the food it was just a matter of time before she would be talking a good amount, though it did take a while since they had to get all the way out of the city and he had to call in their ride before she started up again.

But sure enough after Iki had arrived and was in the process of nuzzling and cuddling Zidane he heard her laughing and he had to admit that Iki was rather silly at times. It was then that Zidane noticed that Crucent was staring at Iki quite a bit and wouldn't take her eyes off Iki, and when Crucent went ahead and called Iki a gorgeous lady he knew the little dragon would just eat up the praise as most creatures just love to be admired by others. So after nuzzling Crucent Iki even licked the Elvaan's face with her tongue which wasn't forked at all, after that Iki laid down next to Crucent and continued to just eat up the attention.

Zidane laughed at this s he knew how Iki was at times and found her actions to be down right encouragable thus he sat down and let the two girls get their fill of one another as Zidane said "Ya she is a silver dragon, they are native to Terra but well.......Terra was blown to bits.....and a lot of the dragons were killed.......So Iki is most likely the last of her kind. I was lucky to have found her egg when I did, didn't expect to have the same pet as my older brother did but I can see why he liked his so much." Zidane smiled at the memory of when he and Iki first met or better way to put it the day Iki was born, to tell the truth he was pretty sure he lost a few years from the startle.

After giving them enough time he stood up and walked toward them to explain their transportation setup but as soon as he did he was suddenly picked up, hugged tightly, and smooshed into some rather nice.......chest pillows. He enjoyed the hug as much as he could before she put him down, as she went on about how much she would love to ride Iki he simply said "She is pretty fast too so.....ya have to hang on tight ya know. Also if you keep complimenting her she gonna get a fat head and be impossible to be around hahaha." Iki heard that and lifted her head to stare at Zidane and let out a huff of annoyance.

Zidane just snickered a bit and got things set up for their leave as he always makes sure to check Iki over before flying as he knows that if her wings were a bit messed up she wouldn't be able to carry anymore than herself in the air safely. After making sure she was ready for carrying others he heard the bearback comment and caught the hidden meaning, he laughed loudly this time and said "Well just shows how skilled you must be." He moved over to Iki and got her to stand back up again before hearing the last question Crucent asked and said "Watch and learn." Zidane walked up to Iki and as he got next to the base of her neck he started to climb on, as he got one foot over Iki lifted her front left claw that Zidane was standing on to help him step up. He then held out his hand to help Cru up as she was to do the same for her turn.

A little nervous Crucent walked over to Iki and followed Zidanes example. Taking his hand as she stood on the dragons claw, she swung her leg up and over it’s back in one fluid motion slipped her arm around Zidanes waist and held on as she adjusted her seating before she said “okay, I am ready”, a little trepidation apparent in her voice.

As the dragon spread her wings and started pounding them against the air to get enough lift momentum, Crucent held on a little more firmly around Zidane, trying not to worry too much as they rose into the air. Looking down, she saw the ground getting further and further away, small dust tornadoes appearing and disappearing in the turbulence Iki was creating. Swallowing hard, she sat back up again, took a deep breath and tried to relax and enjoy the trip. It turned out to be easier said then done. The wind whipped in her hair and face, and it was a little bit cold to put it mildly. Even so, Crucent was loving every second of it.
To be so high up, going so breathtakingly fast, with all the world laid out underneath them like a carpet, it was simply too beautiful to describe and she didn’t even bother trying. Instead she tried her hardest to memorize everything, all the mountains, hills and valleys that seemed to glide by below knowing that she’d never forget this flight no matter how long she would live.

After a few hours however, the afternoon was starting to turn into night and it was getting noticeably darker around and underneath the trio. Looking down on the land, Crucent could see small yellow lights appearing as the people turned on lights to chase away the surrounding darkness, it looked like glowing diamonds that had been carelessly strewn on a black satin spread by some careless god. It was one of the most gorgeously overwhelming things she’d ever see, especially with the darkening night sky beeing dotted with stars as well.

Some time later, they could see a fairly large town still far away, wich was a very good thing as Crucent was now nearing frozen-solid temperatures, at least it felt like it. Again, Iki circled rapidly down towards the ground , elegantly and smoothly before she extended her legs and landed. As Zidane helped Crucent down, she barely noticed they had landed,. For a little while she simply stood there, still taking it all in, before she came to her senses again, at least, enough to turn around and walk up to Iki’s head wich she grabbed in a big hug before whispering a thank you to the dragon.“It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced”.

Wiping away a tear she took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, then walked over to Zidane. “I don’t know how to thank you enough, this has been… I don’t even know what to say... so I’ll show you instead”
Getting down on her knees in front of Zidane, she simply held his face in her hand, leaned in and gave him a light kiss on the mouth before pulling back with a little smile and standing up again. Then said “Thank you.”

Zidane had easily noticed how nervous Crucent was and to be honest he didn't blame her one bit as he too remembered how nervous he was when he first took Iki out for a fly, though he planned to make Crucent's first flight a lot less scary than his was. After getting her on Iki properly he did enjoy having Crucent hanging onto him since hey a pretty lady having her hands all over him was pretty sweet, but it got even better after Iki started to try and get airborne as the next thing he knew he had Crucent clinging to him for dear life and easily pressing her chest into his back rather nicely. His tail wiggled a bit in joy before wrapping around Crucent's waist to help her feel safer and to get her to enjoy the trip instead of trying to crush the life out of him as she was starting to do.

After she finally relaxed and looked around Zidane focused on keeping a firm grip on Iki's feathers yet was careful not to tug them as while the feathers were strong they are sensitive as well, stroking Iki's neck as she flew he looked over his shoulder at Crucent to see her looking around in every direction and figured this was a really fun thing for her. Though there was one thing that riding Iki entailed and that was the trip takes a while, though one couldn't blame the dragon as she had to fly carefully when carrying people and due to how she is rather young so can't fly as fast as a fully grown dragon.

It took quite a few hours before they drew near their location and by now it was dark all over this part of Gaia which means it was going to be very dark in Treno when they got there, but one thing of pressing concern for Zidane was the fact he could feel Crucent shivering a bit so he knew they needed to hurry up or she would get sick from the cold. Thus he urged Iki to be a bit faster than normal so that they landed a few minutes earlier than usual, after getting off himself by simply sliding off Iki's neck he helped Crucent down since with her being so cold she would be a bit stiffer than himself since he was use to the temp.

After that he simply waited for Cru to stop acting like a statue and sure enough she did and to the delight of Iki went and hugged the dragon around her neck and thanked her, Iki crooned in response and rubbed her head against Crucent during the hug. Zidane smirked a bit as he knew the two would get along great but then Crucent walked up to him and caused him to be very confused, when she mentioned showing him how thankful she was his tail curled into a question mark shape as he said "What do you mean show...*gets his face held*....uhhh Crucent what are y-" Zidane's question was stopped by the kiss on the lips as his body became ridged as his tail straightened out as the fur on it bristled.

When she pulled away he stuck like that for a moment or two before his tail went slack and limply hang off him as he then said with a straight face "Well.......you are very welcomed then.......nice set of lips by the way." Zidane's straight face was ruined by the time he said the last part as he smirked at her. Behind the two though Iki's feathers were standing on ends as she saw that, she let out a low growl before moving forward and nudging her head in between the two and tried to get all of Zidane's attention. Zidane though knew what was up and said "Awww Iki are you jealous?" the young dragon quickly stopped her nuzzling against Zidane and turned her head away from the two as she wouldn't look at them, Zidane laughed a bit and stroked her neck enough for Iki to look at him again before giving her a light kiss on her nose before saying "Now no more jealous acting okay, Crucent was just thanking me is all."

Hearing and seeing Zidanes reaction Crucent laughed softly, but when Iki growled she looked suddenly sad and said “He is right Iki, I din not mean to offend anyone, I just… had no other way of thanking him for this amazing experience. I‘m sorry, it won‘t happen again… can you please forgive me?”

Hanging her head as her ears fell down again she sighed heavily and turned away, walking towards the city not even waiting for Zidane to catch up. She didn’t want to upset anybody, and now she had just offended a dragon for pete’s sake. Best to just stay away from the both of them before she made things worse. Granted, she didn’t know this world, but, she was an Adventurer and fully capable of looking after herself, no matter where she found herself.

Looking around the very dark and damp city of Treno for the first time, Crucent didn’t care for it one bit. It was too wet, and ugly, and even without trying she could easily spot people lurking in shadows of houses in the less crowded streets, probably thieves, or killers… Oh well. It wasn’t that she couldn’t defend herself, it was more a case of wanting to be left alone and feel rotten for having miffed off Iki and possibly making the dragon mad at Zidane too. Making a face as she wandered along, she realized she missed the Genome. He was funny to talk to, and in this town it was easy to feel alone.

Not knowing where she was going, it didn’t take her long to find a very shabby looking inn, but, right now it was as good a place as any, so she stepped inside and had a look around before she walked up to the counter and booked a room for the night. The clientele didn’t seem too brutish, so she figured it was a decent place to sleep, so when the young woman behind the counter gave her a roomkey and followed her up the stairs to her own room, Crucent knew she was right. The room was nice and clean, one bed on each side along the walls, between them along the furthest wall was a roughly made nightstand with a small vase of flowers on it.

Mumbling a thank you to the woman as she left, Crucent got a pail of water, took it back to her room and set it on the nightstand then locked the door from the inside, took of her clothes and had a quick wash before she opened the window a little and slipped into the covers and relaxed as she felt her body slowly warm up under the thick blankets as she drifted off to sleep, the last thing on her mind was ' how do I get back to Alexandria now, i don't even know the direction?'

When Crucent laughed a bit at how Zidane reacted he was gonna ask what was so funny but as soon as her expression took a turn for the worse after what Iki did he noticed, when she took off after saying how sorry she was Zidane tried to take off after her but tripped over Iki's claw causing him to hit the ground with a thump. By the time he got back up he saw that he lost track of Crucent when he ran into the city of Treno and knew at this rate he would never find her due to the crowds, but Zidane had a back up plan which involved using a rather childish dragon as a tracker.

Running back outside of the city Zidane walked up to Iki and with a bit of work on his part he was able to convince the little silver dragon into doing what he asked, though Iki didn't like to do it she still took off into the sky and started to sniff the air for any traces. While it did take Iki a bit of time to finally catch Crucent's scent through all the other smells of the city it did happen faster than if Zidane tried to look for her himself, to signal Zidane the location Iki let out a loud roar causing Zidane to rush toward her location while everyone else ran as they thought it was an attack.

Zidane didn't have too much trouble sneaking around though after that since people were still running around even after Iki flew off to avoid getting attacked, with all the stealth he had he sneaked into the inn that Iki pointed out for him and started to look from room to room. Only after finally tracking down Crucent's room did he go inside without making a single sound while his vanish spell cloaked him from view, after that he only had to work his way over to Crucent's beside before standing over her sleeping form and smirked.

While Crucent was different from most women he has seen she did have a certain beauty about her yet didn't seem delicate either, looking at her though Zidane felt a bit bad about this as he remembered the times he had with Garnet and how much he cared for her. But as Zidane thought about it he slowly started to think of how such a relationship would work out, and the more he thought of it the less likely it was to happen as he knew he had to travel around but if he was with Garnet he would be a King who would be limited in what he could do. Also he knew the people would approve but the ones in charge of everything would not, he was a commoner and a thief at that so being accepted would never be possible.

But Zidane shook the dark thoughts away and got a little trick in mind, he lifted his tail so that it was above Crucent's nose and gently tickled it. But every time she would reach for it he would move his tail away only to start at it again, and with her unable to see him...well he could do this for a while.

Sound asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow from the exhaustion of the flight, Crucent completely ignored the roaring dragon in the night . Neither did she react when the door that had been locked earlier, suddenly and very very quietly got picked and opened allowing someone to quietly slip inside her room, then shut and lock the door behind them. Only when something started to tickle her nose, did she wrinkle it a little a few times.

It still tickled.

Now only half-asleep, she tried to wave it away with her hand, but still no luck. Whatever it was it was still there, still tickling. Giving up and opening her eyes in the dark, she laid there trying to find out what it was, but the tickling seemed to stop, so she figured it was just her imagination and closed her eyes, trying to go back to sleep.

A few minutes later tho, she could have sworn she heard something like surpressed giggling not far away just as something felt like it was tickling her nose, yet again! Right, that settled it! Now she was getting annoyed so she trew off her blankets in one sudden move and got up out of bed then pulled down her short red silk night gown. About to walk over to the door to make sure it was still locked, she suddenly bumped into something, causing it to fall over and curse a bit and she recognized that voice!

“Zidane, What the… What in all hells are you doing here?!?!”

Quickly remembering she was in a very short night gown, she spun around on the spot and practically dived into bed again, wrapping her blankets around her all the way up to her jaw, glaring at the emerging Genome, still livid with rage at his intrusion.

“what, why, how…how did you get into a locked room? WHY did you get into a locked room, and more specifically why MY locked room?” Still feeling angry she took a deep breath and started calming down from the shock so she shuffled over in bed, making room for Zidane to sit as well, making sure she was still covered completely by the blanket.

Zidane never had this much fun simply teasing a person before but honestly for him it was just too good, seeing the Elvaan woman squirming in the bed, wrinkling her nose, and pretty much doing all she could to make the tickling stop. Even after she got up and looked around to try and spot the source of the tickling he still went right back at it after snickering a bit, this time though it seemed to be enough for her to get up and try to find the source of the trouble in a more in depth sort of way. Now Zidane was ready to move out of the way so he wouldn't get bumped into but seeing the Elvaan beauty in nothing but a short red silk night gown well he couldn't move, his eyes were glued on her and his body froze up for a good amount of time.

Sadly that caused him to be unable to get out of the way in time to prevent Crucent from walking right into him and knocking him onto his backside due to his lack of balance, he swore a bit under his breath at his game being ruined due to his simple perverted nature tough he gave himself some slack......Crucent was SMOKING hot in that outfit. But sure enough it seemed it gave her enough of a hint to let her know he was the one there, he then watched her duck for cover in her bed and snickered a bit at how cute she was when she is embarrassed. He let his vanish spell shatter around him letting his body show and then said "Wellllll let me think....I was in here having fun tickling your cute nose with my tail. You make a rather adorable face when your nose is tickled it seems..."

Zidane figured though it be best to put a bit of distance between himself and her so he did a back flip to let him land in front of a chair so he could then sit down, he then rubbed his chin a bit in fake thought before saying "As for how......well I am a thief Crucent, picking locks is part of the job, now for why.......well cause I wanted to get in this locked room, and why your room out of all the others. Because YOU was in this room and I wanted in here, not that hard to figure out really. I'm a young, energetic, charismatic thief and I like to do what ever whim hits me, well as long as it doesn't clash with my moral codes that is." Zidane leaned back in the chair for a few moments as if he was simply relaxing in the room as if he was invited in.

Zidane then got a serious face before saying "But more importantly I wanted to make sure you was doing okay Crucent, you looked really upset when you left. I mean......well I guess I should of told you that Iki is only a few years old, so she is really childish and is highly possessive and protective of me. She was simply jealous of you like a little kid would be jealous of someone messing with their......oh I don't know best friend or something. You didn't do anything wrong in the slightest, so don't feel like you did some great wrong.............Oh and......you look smoking hot and rather sexy in that red night gown....it's silk right?" Zidane flashed her a roguish grin but kept ready to jump out of the way if something was thrown at his body.

As Zidane mentioned her nose, she blushed a little and was VERY glad it was still dark in the room, her nose tip twitching a bit, much like a rabbits nose. He then explained the how’s and why’s and she listened quietly and when he got to the misuderstanding part, Crucent relaxed greatly as it was good to hear that she hadn’t done anything wrong.
That lasted right up to the bit where he said she looked, what was it… smoking hot and sexy, and she felt like giving him a right ding upside the head, if only for making her blush even more. Again she secretly thanked the darkness of the night and no lighted candles.
Growling she said “ Thank you, yes, it is silk.” Relaxing a little more, she leaned her back against the wall and continued “it’s my one little luxury item, reserved for times like these, when I get an opportunity to sleep in an actual bed and not curled up under a tree to avoid rain and wind.” Laughing a little she said “That is hardly the right place for silk anything, so, instead I compensate when I can, wearing this to remind myself I am not solely an Adventurer.”
Sighing a little, she stretched her legs so her bare feet dangled off the bed and pulled the blanket around her body again then said “cause when your all alone, out fighting monsters for weeks on end, trying to just get from one place to another safely… not many monsters will care to tell you that you look stunning as your busy trying to kill them before they kill you, but I can’t really blame them. I don’t find anybody attractive either when they are covered in blood and has that crazed fight-or-die look in their eyes.”

Making a face as she snapped out of her own loneliness of the mind and said in a much cheerier voice “But where ARE my manners? It’s like two in the morning and its raining outside. If you want you are welcome to have that other bed over there for the rest of the night, it beats both trying to wake the Innkeeper and rent your own room as well as sleeping outside. I promise, I’ll be on my best behaviour and stay safely in my own bed, just sleeping. And YOU promise to do the same and especially not try anymore funny invisibility tricks, okay?” Looking at Zidane she winked and gestured to the bed by the other wall of the room.

“Then in the morning, if she wont kill me on sight, I’ll go and talk to Iki again, make sure she isn’t mad at me.”

Snuggling up in her own bed, she looked at Zidane, waiting for him to get into the other bed then smiled happily at him and said goodnight.

While the darkness of the night would of been helpful for hiding things from normal people Zidane was not normal, he was use to working in dimly lit areas and thus could with a bit of effort see Crucent rather clearly. So when she blushed and her nose tip twitched a bit his smirk grew into a full on grin, and after seeing her face become even redder after hearing him call her hot and sexy he had to hold in a few chuckles and snickers as he found Crucent to be rather cute when flustered.

After hearing her say her gown was indeed silk and started to go on about the thing Zidane closed his eyes and let his tail flick in the air behind him and said "I knew it had to be silk, seems my days of a full on thief still sticking with me. As for the luxury of it all, hey I think you and I can both agree that it was best you had that with you to wear to bed instead of sleeping in the nude. I quite like not blacking out from a nose bleed if you don't mind me sayin, that and eh....free peep show....while fun tends to end badly 99.999% of the time for the peeper. And hey I understand why you want to have it around, not everyone wants to be stuck in armor all the time even if it is just simple enchanted fabrics. No harm in wanting to have some of normal everyday stuff from time to time, I like sleeping outside with nature a lot but a nice warm bed is pretty enjoyable too." Zidane then listened to Crucent talk about how fiends don't exactly tell their foes how nice they look and he laughed a bit to himself.

He then said "Honestly I think I would be more shocked and confused if they did compliment a person's outfit instead of just ignoring it, the thought of a Tonberry trying to say I look good is enough to make me laugh almost. As for the attractive during a fight thing........ehhhhh I'll have to disagree, I fought General Beatrix, Headhunter Lina, and some Alexandrian Soldiers in my time........they looked pretty good even when I fought them.....though out of them all General Beatrix was less fun to fight.....woman is a one person army or something never once beat her.....lucky to have lived through the fights actually......." Zidane rubbed his chest slightly as he remembered some of the old scars that the woman gave him, they were gone now but the memory still held their painful sting.

Soon enough he was snapped out of his memories when Crucent offered to let him sleep here though his playful smile was soured a bit when Crucent told him to sleep in the other bed and behave, Zidane let out a slightly childish moan before saying "Ohhhhhhh alright I'll be good for tonight." Zidane walked over to his bed and without even being bothered he stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed after putting his clothes and daggers away. As he started to get ready to sleep he heard the Iki comment and said "Don't worry she jealous not mad, she only attacks a person if they are down right rude to me or her. Or if a person attacks me or her, so don't worry the worse you'll get is her turning her head to pout.......oh and Crucent......you look pretty cute when you are bushing. Heheheheh~ Goodnight~" With that Zidane went to sleep his tail finally stopping its movements as he drifted away to dream land.

Watching as Zidane took his clothes off, Crucent smiled to herself but as Zidane said his last comment she was extremely glad as he had his back turned since she turned a lovely shade of red before she snuggled up in her own bed and fell asleep again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the sun shone in through the window the next morning, it finally managed to wake up Crucent as well. Yawning and stretching she turned over to look at Zidane who was still sound asleep by the looks of things. But remembering his obvious skill in seeing more then he should in the dark, she definately didn't trust him to not look when he had the benefit of broad daylight so she thought quickly and decided to play it safe. Sliding up to the head of her bed, she stretched her arm fully and got her clothes from the chair that was standing nottoo far away from her bed, then with some slight acrobatics managed to get dressed under the blanket before she got up and walked over to wash her face at least.

Drying off her face, she turned to Zidanes bed where the Genome was starting to wake up and said “good morning sleepyhead, how did you sleep??”

Giving him a smile she walked across the floor and closed the window before making her bed and getting her things in order to leave then continued “About Iki, do you think she’d be less mad at me if I brought her some food? I was thinking perhaps an entire dead cow or something…or maybe jewellry? Isn‘t that normally what Dragons like?”
Folding up her night gown she put it away, then turned to look at Zidane again “And, before I forget it, thank you for finding me. I appreciate it a lot, but don‘t worry; I won‘t kiss you again. Even if you do look cute when your just waking up Giving him a quick wink, she grabbed her things and said “Are you ready to go? I'm all packed and hungry. Maybe we can have some breakfast here before we explore the city” then headed out into the hallway and downstairs to deliver her key back.

Smelling food, Crucent wandered over to the dining room, and felt famished so she found a table and sat down. “ok, I learned my lesson, what do you recommend for breakfast?” Looking at Zidane as he sat down she didn’t want a repeat of the last time she had ordered anything on this planet, so she figured her safest bet was to let him order for the both of them, or at the very least, give her his recommendations before she ordered anything at all.

While Zidane did indeed go to bed that night it was not a very restful sleep for him since while he was a cheerful guy he still had suffered some rather traumatizing events, these events manifest themselves as nightmares in his mind that torment the young man from time to time. This night would be one of them as he tossed and turned in his bed while clinching his fist tightly on the covers, he was forced to endure a fear that haunted him due to ghost of the past haunting him so doggedly.

This nightmare centered around Zidane's reason for being born or 'made' as his creator would put it, it was mostly caused by Zidane nearly having his soul drained out of his body and his memories taken away when he was placed deep within Pandemonium by Garland. Soon though his nightmare shifted toward a now completely different and evil version of himself standing before a now ruined Alexandria Castle with death and destruction all around him, on the ground next to his evil counter part's feet laid Save the Queen, Excalibur II, and the Tiger Racket...each weapon stained crimson red by the blood of their now departed wielders.

That scene was the triggering point for Zidane to jerk awake an hour before Crucent awoken and caused the Genome to look around in a slight panic, seeing though that it was only a horrible nightmare though Zidane slowly calmed down and laid back in his bed but knew he wouldn't be going to bed any time soon now. Thus he simply chose to act the part of being asleep which seemed to work slightly, he could hear the sound of Crucent doing something in her bed but since he couldn't exactly look yet he just had to guess on what it was. Only after the sound of water being splashed around did he break the act and moved a bit to pretend he was waking up just now, he soon looked up at Crucent and said "I slept very well, had plenty of interesting images to dream about."

Zidane grinned a bit before snickering as it was quite obvious he was talking about seeing Crucent in her short red silk gown, though really he did that just to ensure the girl didn't figure out he had not slept well at all. He soon got out of bed and didn't care if Crucent saw him in his boxers, though his morning issue that all men face did cause him to try and avoid facing her direction till AFTER he got his pants back on. After getting fixed up he heard the Iki comments and said "Huh not sure what she eats now really, when she was little she enjoyed eating fish mostly. But now days I let her fly around when not with me and normally when she comes to me she is full, I think she hunts and kills when not with me so good chance she won't eat anything big like a dead cow......what ever a cow is. As for jewelery...are you trying to be her friend or date her heheheh okay I kid that is a nice thought but she is a kid dragon, so she will want something a child would like.....sweets or maybe a toy when she gets older then she'll be into more adult thing I think I not an expert on Silver Dragons really." Zidane shrugged slightly as he finished getting his weapons holstered away and fixed his bed up slightly.

Zidane then heard the comment about not kissing him again and quickly said "Hey who said I want you not to kiss me, I enjoy a good thank you kiss............HEY now I am not cute, I am handsome got it." Zidane didn't look upset more of slightly irked as his tail was slightly stiff in its movements as a very light dusting of red graced his cheeks. When she asked if he was ready Zidane motioned to himself to show he was ready as he could be before standing up and following her downstairs, Zidane watched Crucent give her key to the inn keeper and waved at the guy who gave a nod back since Zidane knew the guy and the inn keeper owned Zidane a big favor. Zidane watched Crucent head toward the kitchen area and after sitting down with her smirked when she mentioned she learned her lesson this time, Zidane then said "Well it breakfast so.....some Eggs, Bacon, and some toast will be a good choice, also good to have it with some fresh Dali orange juice."

Soon after getting that ordered two servings of the food was brought to them and they were able to dig into the meal with gusto, it didn't take too long for them to finish and as Zidane drank the last of his orange juice he then said "Ya know before we head out, you look a bit tense. I know some massage techniques that will be perfect for helping get rid of it...." Zidane was up to his old tricks this time and after a bit of work got Crucent to get up and follow him back to the rooms, he gave the Inn Keeper a nod before leading her to a room he got set aside for him as payment for helping the Inn Keeper. As Zidane shut the door though if things went as he planned there would be far far more than simple massaging happening in there......but sorry kiddies no details for you!

Watching Zidane as he rose and got dressed, Crucent was simply enjoying the show right up to the point where he said he had ‘interesting images’….
Then she suddenly felt a lot more thoughtful, and also a little embarrassed if he was actually saying what she thought he was saying. As he got ready, she was now so deep in thought that she hardly heard what he said about Iki at all.
When he felt the need to point out that he was indeed handsome and not cute though, she couldn’t help but smile and said “very well, your handsome instead” and patted his head playfully. Carefully refraining from asking about his dreams as they went downstairs she suddenly found that she was having some very intriguing thoughts about the genome.

After all he was funny, and cute. Sorry; handsome, she corrected herself with a small smile as they sat down and he suggested a safe meal. And it’s not like either of them had anybody else as far as Crucent could tell.
When they had finished their breakfast, Crucent sighed happily as it had been a good choise.
Feeling a lot more relaxed and amicable to the world in general, regardless of wich one she actually was on, Zidane spoke again and offered to give her a massage, she couldn’t help but grin and raise an eyebrow quizzically as she looked at him. It had been a very… emotionally intresting kind of day already, and she was fairly sure what he had in mind but, why not? Thinking a bit, she then shrugged her shoulders, smiled her sweetest smile at Zidane and said “Thank you, that sounds lovely. I think I’d like that.”

Standing up, she followed after him into another room then the one they had been sleeping in last night, and it was immediately clear upon entering that her suspicions were justified as it was a far more lavishly decorated room, and it felt a lot more private as well. Turning around as he closed the door, Crucent smiled to herself and sat down. As Zidane walked over to her all she could think was ‘He’d better be giving me a massage when all this is over’

but as for what actually happened between them, that is best left unsaid.