“AH! No! That won’t be necessary ….. ah” Azuza glanced down to the dog then back to Shinichi and blushed slightly. “I’m sorry … I just dogs make me nervous and we do have a policy on dogs but if shes”
Shinichi blinked at her then smiled charmingly at her and held up a hand to stop her rambles.. “Don’t worry about it. You didn’t know. There’s no harm in that.”
“r-right” she stuttered. “Ah, tea with honey and a water right? Right.”
When she turned her back to him and hurried off Shinichi’s charming smile vanished and he looked back to Hakuba. “Sorry about that. She’s really nice just a bit scattered.”
He gave a soft smile to him then to Twig as he crouched down to give her a good rub behind the ears.
The charm had been fake and yet Hakuba was taken in an instant, watching Shinichi while he spoke to Azuza until he finished, and it all faded away. He blinked, leaning back on the bench, and nodded while the other– er, the only detective paid attention to the dog again.
“Right, yes, it’s fine, fine… honestly, I’ve come to expect it. She sort of surprises people sometimes, and they can’t always see the vest when she’s under the table.” He frowned, and though he wanted to look under at her, he didn’t really want to risk tweaking his back. Not at the moment.
“I ought to invest in one with Japanese writing…"
Twig leaned into the pets, eyes closing and tail wagging. Hakuba didn’t seem very upset, so she was content to receive.
"Ah, so.” Hakuba cleared his throat with a small cough, putting the pages away. “I suppose most of what we have to discuss are things better left for a more private venue.” An awkward position to be in, for certain. “But, ah, did you see the BBC Sherlock Holmes series? The one with Benedict Cumberbatch?"