“Y-Yere welcome.” Hattori answered, eyes purposely not looking at the hands that held his, because what was going on. Why was Hakuba holding his hand, why was he being so, so… unformal. He’d never seen Hakuba act like this before, reaching out to teach others in an intimate way like this.
“A-Ah, yeah… right…” Hattori swallowed, feeling Hakuba’s hand leave his. Part of his was glad, because his brain could think again, and part of him was sad because he missed the warmth.
“Waiter!” Hattori called out, probably a bit too loud.
A little too loudly, indeed. Hakuba cocked his head in the other direction, looking Heiji over again with a sort of quizzical smirk. Had his actions really been that different? Had the little bit of warmth he’d shown genuinely had that strong of an effect? Interesting, to say the least.
Regardless, the server came shortly afterward to take their orders, smile pleasant, voice chipper. “What can we make for you today?”
“Nabeyaki udon, please.”
It was a risk, getting something that he genuinely enjoyed, but the mood had changed so much that Hakuba felt that it could be worth it. He turned to Heiji afterward, wetting his lips with his tongue before he nodded for him to go ahead. Although both his and the server’s attention were focused squarely on the other detective, only one of them was concerned about the menu.