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“Coffee, black.”
“Sir, if you’re going to smoke that cigarette, please sit outside.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
Zantafio sat at the cafe contemplating his coffee, it was nice to have a moment to just sit and think. He lit his cigarette and took a long drag, tomorrow there was a show, some stupid rock from space that had great scientific potential had been discovered. There was going to be a press conference and a viewing party. He was going to scope it out, something like that had to be worth something to someone, at the very least the institution would pay to get it back. Anything to pay off his debts. His flight left early in the morning.
And yet.
He knew Spirou and his meddlesome younger cousin were in town. Which means that they would probably be covering the story, which means they would probably interfere,“Definitely” he corrected in his head, “Replace those with definitely.” It was times like this where he wished he hadn’t so dutifully ruined his reputation with his younger cousin. It would be so much easier to use his press connections to get around and do the things he wanted to do. He smirked, mindlessly blowing a smoke ring, “Oh Fanta, I just want to see it, it’s fascinating stuff isn’t it baby cousin? You do trust me don’t you?” It would be just like the old days, Zantafio chuckled to himself. Fantasio had always been just a bit too trusting back then, although that certainly wasn’t the case nowadays. Well, good, he had just been the first to teach his “baby cousin” a hard lesson in life. Trust no one. Not like Zantafio ever did, well no one except Fantasio, he could always trust that no matter what he did those baby blues would be looking to him for guidance “What’s next Zanta?”. He could practically hear his baby cousin, defending him from other family members. “He’s not bad! Leave him alone, he’s the best!” Pathetic, that’s what it was, who needed a hanger on like Fanta anyway? “I want to grow up and be as cool as you Zanta.” Zantafio sighed, finishing his coffee as he stood up, “Definitely not me.”
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“Cafe Mocha, cocoa powder please.”
“Sir, if you’re going to smoke that cigarette, please sit outside.”
“Sure, yes of course.”
Fantasio loved warm drinks like this in the fall, the mild air, the pretty colors. Made him feel poetic, maybe when he got back he’d finish developing one of his more personal collections. Not that anyone besides Spirou and Spip acknowledged them, “These are great buddy, I don’t know why you haven’t been invited to any art shows yet.” Pfft, yeah whatever. Instead they were going to cover some space rock, Champignac had tipped them off to it and managed to get them an exclusive with the person who found it and the curator of the temporary exhibit. Boring stuff, but it was something Seccotine hadn’t gotten. She had turned such a nice shade of red when she found out. It was enough to almost make him excited to go.
And yet...
Something valuable in a not well guarded area? “Something interesting is going to happen, I can feel it.” Spirou had quipped, Fantasio silently agreed. Zorglub was good now and who else would try to steal something potentially valuable like a space rock? Fantasio sighed, who else but Zantafio? In some ways, Fantasio mused, he looked forward to seeing his older cousin again, it was something of a relief to hear that he was still alive, still troublemaking and still leaving his mark on the earth, just like when they were kids. “Oh Fanta don’t worry, nothing bad will happen, trust me.” and trust he did. Hell, he even started smoking because of Zantafio. “Oh baby cousin, it’ll be fine, they’re not as addictive as everyone says, plus I can show you how to do a cool trick.” Cool trick indeed. Smoke rings sure were easy after 3 afternoons and several cartons of cigarettes, comtemplatitvly,he blew one, a perfect O, just like Zanta taught him, it was like riding a bike. He sighed, it was pathetic, the way he missed his older cousin, the way he often just wanted to turn back time and hug him over and over until the darkness inside him went away. “Maybe you’ll be as cool as me if you keep taking pictures like this, chicks dig artists, you’ve got talent Fanta.” Fantasio sighed, finishing his Mocha, when you got down to it, the situation really was kind of sad.