Hide and seek, she thought? Didn't he seem too old for a game like that, Gillian wondered further—but then, what did she know about these matters anyway? It all seemed a bit strange in her regard and so skeptical she remained, even if it didn't seem to be a grievous enough error to warrant any sort of proper scolding.
Leave that to the boy's actual mother (and if he'd been caught running away from her, well, that was another matter Gillian didn't care to involve herself with). And so, deciding not to interrogate the young man, this Conan, the samurai gave a short whistle and told the dogs to sit. They obeyed like the well-trained dogs they had been raised to be and planted themselves down on the spot, keeping their eyes on the young man in eager curiosity.
"Not a very common activity, I'd wager," she commented. With a sigh, Gillian moved her paper underneath her arm and her coffee to the other hand, enough to allow her to offer the boy some assistance off the ground. As she watched him gaze up at her like a frightened lamb might look up at riled wolf, ready and waiting for the slaughter, she realized he might very well do with some reassurance after all.
"Don't worry over the dogs, by the by. Edmond and Mercedes are usually friendly enough."
Usually, she had said, as if there were, perhaps, some exceptions to the rule. However they looked to be of perfectly easy temperament here, and much more likely to warm up to the boy than the samurai did, who still gave an indication of holding herself at a distance.