Oh gosh, maybe she offended him. She couldn’t help the spike of nervousness in her system. Not only had the kind person helped with her beloved canine partner, she was afraid she might have offended him one way or another. Despite how most people would take the flirting as nothing but light-hearted comedy, she wasn’t really one for such kinds of things and it was her first instinct to get out of the topic because she really didn’t know how else to deal with it.
Even if he did say that Akio didn’t need to apologise, the beagle had already pulled himself up on his two front paws and was bowing his head as best he could. The not-so-little puppy had already been somewhat trained, after all (obviously a bit more was needed if the running away was going to be a habit). With that, pets were given as well as a few scratches on the neck in praise for being a good boy.
“No, no, I’m sorry for disrupting your evening and taking up your time. It’s a pleasure to meet you,“ bowing down ninety degrees once more before picking up the beagle into her arms, smiling lightly when he didn’t miss out on the chance to sneak in a few more kisses. ”I’ll replace that tie of yours, it’s only right that I do. Also the tulips, though I don’t think we have yellow ones in the garden.”
“Oh, no, please don’t worry about that…” The tie itself was very expensive, and the detective didn’t exactly want to let on about that. It would be a simple matter for him to replace it if necessary, but it was his own damn fault for using such a pricey clothing item as a dog leash in the first place. “Really, I promise. Everything is right as rain and simply fine.”
It was sweet that the dog had learned to apologize, and the bow from the girl was also appreciated, but Hakuba simply shrugged his shoulders.
“I’ll leave you to your evening, then… Good luck with your pup. Perhaps I’ll see you two around again soon.”
Or not, depending on how she’d reacted to him. He had uncertain feelings, which he wasn’t comfortable with. Startling others was definitely against his usual way, after all.
Hakuba took a step back, waved politely, and turned to head home. Hopefully that would help control the damage that had been done.