With everybody now gathered in the living room, albeit with Izaya keeping a safe distance from the dog by staying close to the bedroom door, Shinra was ready to start delivering some good news. "All right, now, I'll be the first to admit my previous plan wasn't the best, but-"

Izaya scoffs, interrupting with a grumble, "It could've gone well, but it doesn't really help when someone unknowingly puts a treat in someone else's back pocket…"

"...I know, but let's be honest here, Izaya, I think our previous attempt was severely unbefitting of our four-legged friend. She's special." Regardless of intention, Shelby seemed to take offense to the comment, turning her steely gaze away from the broker and to Shinra, pulling her leash taut as she tried to approach. Thankfully, it looked like Celty was holding it pretty tightly.

"Hm, and of course, easy to upset," he noted, taking a step back to ensure that a lunge from the dog was less likely to floor him—should she try and bite something sensitive, "but while Celty and I were walking, we were struck with a revelation!" Inexplicably, and with great confidence, he swiveled around and bent over, getting close enough to let Shelby bite onto him, which she did without hesitation.

Taking everybody in the room by surprise with the action, and Izaya sharing a sympathetic wince, Shinra whimpered to himself, surely regretting his choice of example. Nonetheless, he shakily brought out his phone, tapped on its screen for a second, and then started playing soft violin music, holding it close to one of the dog's ears so that she was guaranteed to hear it.

Shockingly, as the music continued, Shelby's tense body seemed to slowly relax, her fur stopped standing on end, and while taking a seat, she released her grasp on Shinra's backside, letting him stand back up. "G-good dog," he sighed, clearly in pain, turning around while rubbing the spot she had grabbed onto, "...Music… soothes the savage beast..! Or, well, violin music does, at least."

With Shelby slowly sinking to the floor, now lying on her belly as Celty reached down to pet her, Shizuo spoke up, "You… couldn't just play it without having her bite you?" Shinra shrugged, looking between the two other men, "No better example that it works than that."

"And how did you find out that that calms her down?" Izaya asked, watching the dog roll over and let the dullahan scratch her stomach. "We walked past a violinist playing for money on the street, and we weren't able to get her to leave until he stopped playing—we had to tip him well." Taking note of Shelby now accepting belly rubs, and his curiosity apparently sated, Shizuo headed over and kneeled beside the dog, following Celty's lead as he started to pet the dog along with her.

"Alright, then," Izaya started, "any clue as to why violin music calms her?" Shinra again shrugged, "The best theory I have is that it's probably the kind of music they played after her performances back home. An interesting way to calm her, sure, but it seems effective."

"Hmph, at least they had some failsafe in mind," Izaya huffed, "just wish I knew it sooner. Better late than never, though, huh?" Shinra nodded with a slight smile, but then offered a warning, "Though, for your sake, I'd still be careful, just in case her 'love' for you overpowers her love of music." Izaya didn't say anything in return, keeping his attention on the dog as the others made her love drunk.

"Hey, Celty," Shinra called, making the rider lift her head, "we should probably get home, it's getting late." Celty nodded, leaving Shizuo to continue petting the dog as she stood up and handed him her leash. "Wait, you're just going to leave?" the broker said, clearly concerned, "What if this is just a band-aid fix?"

Shinra did acknowledge that up and leaving might not be ideal, especially since he'd be leaving Shizuo alone with Izaya, but a part of him felt like things would be okay, "I don't know, Izaya, she seems pretty calmed down by it. Plus, I got her to let go of me! Though I really wish I thought of another way to show you, she does have a nasty bite to her—and here I was thinking you were being dramatic..!"

Izaya glared at Shinra, sending a slight shiver down his spine, and prompting him to hurriedly follow Celty to the exit, but not before mentioning, "If things get bad, you can always call—I'll try and leave a line open just for you." He also shot a glare at Shizuo, "And don't you think about siccing her on him, all right?"

"Don't give him any ideas, please," Izaya frowned.

Shizuo looked up from the dog, adding, "No, no, let him talk, he might say something I haven't thought of yet."

"I'm serious," Shinra said sternly, "I don't want to wake up to news of dog-based castrations, okay? Play nice." And again, Celty and Shinra left the apartment, leaving the two men, and the dog, alone. Still rubbing Shelby's stomach, Shizuo turned his attention to Izaya, "So, what now? I head home and leave you with, clearly, your best friend in the whole world?" Shelby cocked her head in the broker's direction, a light growl signaling that she was starting to come out of her trance.

Izaya did have a proposition in mind, but he was unsure if he could say it out loud. With a potential night of endless ass-biting from the dog, however, he couldn't think of many other options, "Well, maybe… you could stay here for the night…" Shizuo perked up, halting his pets and letting Shelby roll back over, "What was that? You didn't say it loud enough." The broker's eyes darted between the two, but eventually focused on the dog as she started to sit up, clearly gearing up to go after him.

"Shizuo..!" he tried to assert, but just as the dog seemed to fully prime herself for a lunge, he cried out, "All right! You can stay here for the night!" Shelby bolted forward but was stopped just a few inches short of biting Izaya by the leash that was still attached to the nylon collar Shinra had fitted onto her. "That's all I needed to hear," Shizuo grinned, gently pulling the dog back to his side and scratching behind one of her ears in praise, "So, what do you wanna do? Watch a movie or something? It may have been 'getting late' for ol' Shinra, but the night's just getting started for us."

Izaya hated the sound of that, but again, what choice did he have? …At least Shizuo would be strong enough to pull her off of him if she bit him. "A movie sounds… wonderful," the broker said through gritted teeth, "How about you look for something to watch, and I'll make some popcorn?"

"Sounds good to me," Shizuo smiled, "we'll make ourselves comfy!" Izaya kept facing the living room, hesitant to turn his back on the two, and instead walked backward into the kitchen, hardly turning his attention away from Shizuo as he looked for something to put on. And, of course, as Shelby watched the broker through narrowed eyes.

Never in his life did Izaya think that he'd be bullied through the use of a dog, but here he was.

Eventually, the popcorn was ready, and he joined Shizuo and Shelby in the living room once again, sitting at a cushion's distance from the two. The bartender had put on some generic action movie, and at the very least, had managed to get Shelby to rest her head on his thigh while he absent-mindedly pet her. Despite her still looking directly at him, her now calm expression was rather refreshing.

No way in Hell he was going to reach over and try to pet her, though.

Instead, he sat the popcorn down on the cushion between them, getting Shizuo's attention, "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, "Can't sit close to your old pal?"

"I can, I'm just choosing not to," Izaya grumbled, crossing his arms, "So much for that sappy stuff we did earlier, huh?" Shizuo sighed softly, "...I did mean what I said, you know, I am capable of compassion," Izaya raised a brow, turning away from the movie before Shizuo continued, "And yes, even for you."

"Now that's sappy," Izaya noted, "but it's not like I don't believe you—it's just hard to be confident when you weaponize a bus for fleas." Shelby barked at the broker, but didn't move from her spot, clearly still enjoying Shizuo's thorough scratching. "Oh, hush, you know it's true, dog," Izaya huffed, picking up a few pieces of popcorn from the bowl to munch on.

"She'd probably like you slightly better if you didn't villainize her," Shizuo scolded, but only made Izaya lightly chuckle, "...Shinra said something like that, didn't he?"

"Almost verbatim."

"Sounds like something he'd say," the bartender acknowledged, "but you do realize that if Shelby is as smart as you think, she'll probably treat you better once you start treating her nicer, right?" Izaya swallowed down the popcorn, looking down at Shelby with an inquisitive look, "Is that true?" Shelby didn't give any indication that she agreed or disagreed, simply staring back at him, "...Interesting."

"'Interesting' how?" Shizuo asked, looking down at Shelby as well. "She usually gives some sort of indication of an answer, no matter how small," Izaya explained, "but she just stared at me, almost like she was unsure." Shizuo turned his gaze back upward, clearly a little weirded out, "We're missing the movie."

"...Right," Izaya said, looking towards the screen as Shizuo did the same. In turn, Izaya also casually picked up the popcorn bowl and scooted closer to the bartender.