"Whaddaya know, a ninken. Haven't seen one of those in a while." That particular conclusion was fairly easy to make when the large pooch referred to as "Koushi" suddenly chastised the blonde for his blatant staring. Well, it certainly wasn't the first time he'd been called out for gawking at an attractive woman nor would be be the last but having the rebuffing words come out of a dog's mouth instead of a human's was definitely a first. The canine evidently wasn't the only one peeved about his less than elegant entry; the women's companion, now revealed to be named "Kharon", had closed his eyes in an attempt to contain what was undoubtedly a wrathful temper. The blonde had half a mind to fire a quip at the raven but quickly decided against it. Teasing a caged lion was one thing but prodding one while being forced to sit mere inches away from the subject of one's wit was suicidal, both socially and possibly even literally.

In his defense, the raven did have every right to be jealous. The woman sitting opposite him and the blonde was stunning in a very unconventional way and the almost regal manner in which she carried herself suggested to the Jounin that the redhead and her party were more than just wandering tourists. He had absolutely no concrete proof of course but then again, ninken didn't just dedicate their services to random couples on street corners do they?

"You're missin' something baka" chimed the little voice in the back of his head "stop checkin' out the chickadee and pay attention!" The blonde did a quick run through of the newly learned names and allowed his intuition's nudging to pass unheeded for the time being. The woman's name in particular was rather flowery and there was nothing worse than calling a pretty lady by a name other than her own. He took a moment to ensure he had the redhead's name firmly ingrained into his subconscious before grasping her outstretched hand with his and taking the offered handshake.

Things were going swimmingly until he realized the woman had not relinquished her gently but firm hold of his hand. The blonde gave a gentle tug, barely discernible in force, to test the waters but found her grip unyielding. Shinji found himself unfamiliar with being on the receiving end of such social awkwardness and directed a blank glance at the woman's eyes only to be met with an equally blank response albeit slightly more literal. "Blindness? Well that's...interesting." The revelation, unexpected as it was, barely registered in the blonde's quietly friendly expression but he nevertheless felt his body give a slight stir in surprise, a motion he hoped no one at the table would notice. At last the woman released his slender hand after what felt like an eternity and the pair settled back into their seats, the redhead seemingly distracted by something as she did so but by what? Perhaps only time would tell.