Eyes.
The trio should have been used to this by now. Back in the day wherever they walked a dark look could be felt. But it was nothing like this.
Every eye in the bar was turned towards the motley crew: one tall black mechanical man, one cute thin girl in leather with black hair, and a spiky blonde with a giant sword strapped to his back. No such a thing existed in Ivalice.
They all knew it was best not to make eye contact. Cloud knew if he wanted to, he could take out every single one of those dark stares with one chop of his sword. But that wasn't the goal. The goal was to get information, information on forming a clan.
The three slowly walked towards the counter, as the eyes, rodent, lizard, and humble, all followed. Barret walked behind as if to resemble a "hit man," his eyes darting every which way, left hand polishing the mechanical one.
Cloud approached the bartender, a dark skinned viera in a grey blouse. "Where is your mission board?"
She pointed to the left and the three walked as the stares followed.
The mission board was a mess of pamphlets about everything imaginable. Notices, wanted posters, warrants, treasure quests… Cloud wasn't interested.
He went instead to the "Hired Help" list. It consisted of a long crumpled yellow parchment with names, some crossed out, and addresses to reach them by. Next to each name was listed, race, job class and desired pay.
"We need six members to be considered a clan," said Cloud.
Tifa removed the list from the board and scanned. "They all want at least 200 gil! Do we even have that kind of loot?"
Cloud handed over a decent sized satchel of coins, then quickly put it back in his pocket.
"I don't like this place," said Barret. "Never had so many dark looks…"
"It's because we're not regulars," said Cloud. He had trained this response. "It's the custom of Ivalice."
The three sets of eyes scanned the list. Most of the names had been crossed out. There were maybe a dozen names to choose from.
"We need a mage," Cloud said.
"Why we need a mage when we got materia?" said Barret, whose eyes were still darting every which way.
"Our materia won't work here." Cloud's eyes landed on a black etched name: Bishop. "There's our mage," he said.
"300 gil?" said Tifa.
Barret gave his shifting eyes a rest and snatched the parchment from Tifa. "What's a new mow?"
The pub, which had resumed its bustle and chatter, momentarily stopped and looked at the trio. Cloud grabbed the list while Tifa and Barret looked back, shrinking slightly.
"I think it's best if you don't talk for a while, Barret…" said Tifa.
"Yeah… maybe yer right…"
Cloud continued to scan the list. The name was Bishop Blount, the race nu mou, class white mage, but no address listed. Smart…Cloud said in his head.
The scanning of the list continued. There was another intriguing name scribbled in red: Clog, a moogle thief. Tifa pointed at that same name. "Could be useful, you think?" Cloud nodded. He opened his pocket book and jotted down the address.
A hand tapped him on the shoulder, and it didn't have Tifa's gentle touch nor Barret's brash. It was firm and sharp, like an arrow.
Always calm Cloud turned to find that it was the viera bartender. "Drink? On the house?"
"Sure…"Cloud had read in that mysterious book, that the viera brought about them an aura of irresistible attraction, almost hypnotic. Cloud felt that aura. He watched as she trotted back to the counter and filled three mugs.
Tifa noticed this and gave the spiky rogue a nice jab to the ribs.
The viera returned with the mugs, one for each of the trio. "So you're starting a clan?" she said, eyes scanning the crumpled yellow parchment.
"We're looking to, yes," said Tifa, once again jabbing Cloud out of hypnosis.
"Come with me," said the viera. "I have something I want to show you…"