There were a lot of unfamiliar faces here, but that's thankfully something that Hikaru's used to. He's not really used to one of those faces being a… dog creature, though. That's a new one.
Well, if he talks to the dog creature mask person, then that's the weirdest thing here out of the way, so surely everything would only get easier from there. More of an optimistic assumption than he'd usually make, but he's going to try to talk to everyone sooner or later, anyway, so why not?
"Hey there, er…" What is the best way to address someone dressed as a cartoon animal? They look like a kid, and he's not calling some stranger 'puppy'. Maybe best to avoid it altogether.
"I didn't know they had mascots for prisons now. Are you here for morale, or something? New take on a therapy dog?"
