He's a ragged stranger, looking more like he belongs in the sewers, even here in the slums, than in a bar. But he props up 50 gil on the counter in front of him as he takes his seat, and Tifa can't argue with that. She leans one arm on the bar and is pleasantly surprised when he looks at her face, not her tits.

"What'll it be?" she asks.

"Whiskey," the man says. He grins at her, his teeth white in a dark face, and his eyes are lazy and a bit glazed, as if it's not the first he's had tonight. But he's talking clearly enough and he hadn't wobbled on his way over, and he hadn't stared at her tits, so she nodded and poured some, sliding the glass down to him. "How's business?" he asked, catching it easily and taking a sip, swirling it in his mouth before swallowing.

She shrugged. "It's raining today," she said, and gestured around at the bar; there was one other man, who Marlene was serving, standing on her stool; other than that, the place was empty. "We're usually doing better than this when it rains. But Shinra's been doing sweeps of the area lately, and people would rather stay home. Can't blame them. Still," she added, and wiped at a spot on the bar. "I can't complain."

The man finished his whiskey quickly enough and popped another 100 gil down. She reached for his glass, but he waved her away. "Nah," he says. "I've had enough. But you'll need this."

Tifa flushed. "Work's not doing that bad," she said. "It's--"

"No, to outfit yourself." He rose and stretched, yawning lazily and showing rotting teeth at the back of his mouth. "You'll need it when he comes back."

"He--?" Tifa thought he must be talking about Barret -- come to think of it, he looked like one of Barrett's friends. Still, she couldn't risk AVALANCHE; this guy didn't look like Shinra's goons, but looks could be deceiving. "Dunno who you're talking about."

"You will," the man said, cheerfully enough. He gave her a wave, his fingers twirling in the air, then stuck his hands in his pockets and was gone, back out in the rain.

There and gone like he'd never been, leaving 150 gil and a dirty whiskey glass as the only sign he'd been there.

She found herself thinking of an old friend, who'd also been with her and vanished without a trace, and sighed to herself, sweeping the money behind the bar, into the till. No point worrying over the past, she thought, though it had been so long since she'd last thought of him, and wondered how things had gone after he'd joined SOLDIER like he'd always wanted to do.

Still, she thought, turning her back to wash the glass clean, it wasn't like she'd ever see him again.