"The town matchmaker? Hardly..."
The professor chuckled to himself, shoving his hands into his pockets and giving her a sideways smirk , head still facing the general direction in which James was. Of course, just one glance wasn't quite enough.
Her personality was warm and comforting, despite the cold. Something about her commanded warmth itself. He'd have held her attention for a chat for longer if she hadn't done as he said, and made her way to James, and-
[i]Huh, wait, he's standing, and he hasn't even looked my way yet.
Wait, they're lea...ving?
Goddammit, Avery![/i]

Shou watched with his eyebrow raised and as nonchalant a look he could manage as the girl with the innocent eyes and vivid personality despite the cold walked away, side by side, with the ginger haired boy. Truly, he was in disbelief that the entire interaction worked out without so much as a glance in his direction.
...James Avery was the very best at avoiding him, though, that much was clear.
The odd part was, he was the very best at avoiding most everybody. So it was a curious thing to watch him walk a path, side by side with the girl picking leaves off shrubs, and Shou could not help but shake his head and smile. He reached down and ruffled the fur of one very patient German Shepherd cross, whose tail thumped softly, happily against the ground.

[i]Go get her, kid.
Maybe she'll be good for you, heh.[/i]

He took a final sip from the coffee to go, and upon realising it had gone cold, grimaced in disgust. There was little worse in the world than cold coffee.
So he disposed of the cup, and with Romeo wordlessly by his side, the man in the trench coat and the royal blue scarf continued to walk down the central path of the park.

[i]Me, a matchmaker? H-hardly...[/i]

--------------------------------

"Ah, yes. The more lively side of town."
Shou gazed through the windows of the buildings, tall and letting light out, from the casino to the stores (he made a note to come back to his glasses store of choice, An Eye For Fashion) and happened upon the Lancome arcade. There was always a dull buzz about the place, but it was probably from the electronics inside. He was about to pass this building by, too, before noticing two familiar faces in the window, sitting by a table that wasn't far off.
Should it have been anyone else, it would have been odd to approach them, but Shizuka was in there. And, with her, an ex student of his. Beloved Nicholas Weston.

Giving the signs a check, thankfully there appeared to be no such rule against pets (Shine City was stellar for that) so he walked through the door and, after being momentarily debilitated by the fogged up glasses he had to suffer through, he propped them up on his head before embracing the feeling of the warmth of the building, and making his way to where his students were, Romeo nearly bounding over at the recognition of familiar faces.

"Bit late for you kids to be up playing cards, isn't it?" he spoke soft and low, and in the same motion of sitting down on an empty seat before the pair, picking out a little white cylinder and unwrapping it quickly before placing it between his lips.
His first had been a cigarette, earlier in the park on the way. They helped him settle his thoughts.

"Don't know about you, but a place like this on a Thursday night really makes you feel life's bittersweet clutches."
Here, he smirked.
"Hello, Shizuka. And Nicholas, it's been quite a while."

[@Stern Algorithm] [@Dynamo Frokane]