Giggle. "Sure."

They go into the restaurant. They don't appear to personally recognize him, but he's wearing the right clothes and projecting the right attitude to get them a nice little table on a balcony with a good view of the ocean.

She's dressed nicely enough to not egregiously stand out, she's so proud! There was never any way she was going to be the best dressed person in this restaurant, but she's glad she doesn't look out of place.

"Well this is way more romantic than I was envisioning. Full marks, especially on short notice," she admits, amused.

"Thank you! It's nice to be appreciated for my successes. Makes me feel all accomplished."

Giggle.

"I would have been all right with a cheap dive, but this is much nicer."

"Delighted to exceed your expectations!"

Esvetielle smiles at him, then goes to peer at the menu to figure out what she's ordering.

"Anything you'd like to recommend, or shall I let my whims lead me?"

"Oh, I haven't eaten here in a while, I wouldn't know what stands out."

"Whims it is! I'd make a joke about trying to avoid bankrupting you, but I get the impression I'd have to try really hard to manage that and probably couldn't even then."

"You are correct."

"Then I will just order whatever I want, while also reassuring you that I did not ask you out because of your money."

"Consider me reassured."

"Good. I'd be frustrated with people trying to manipulate me if I were ludicrously wealthy, I don't want to even accidentally inflict that on you. You probably get enough of it."

"I wasn't especially worried. You really don't come off as the type."

"Good. Just making sure."

She goes back to perusing the menu. She orders something that she recognizes and expects to actually like instead of something that looks new and shiny, because that seems sensible. Experimentation can come later if she decides to keep going on dates with this person.

He picks something. They successfully order their food.

Hooray!

"So, technical architect, anything you've designed that I might make complimentary awed noises at?"

"Mm... I'm trying to think of something you'd have heard of," he says.

(And that isn't known to be the Emperor's work and isn't obviously too old to have been built by someone the age he looks.)

"...oh, you know that library on the northeast edge, with the stone windows? I did that."

She considers.

"I think I've seen it," she says, after a thoughtful pause. "Interior and exterior? The exterior was pretty, but my favorite was the inside, it was very. I felt mildly intimidated by the scale, and this is speaking as a person that is not very intimidated by libraries."

"Yep, I did the whole thing."

"Oh." She smiles at her lap and squirms a little. "You're very talented, it was breathtaking."

"Aww," he says, beaming. "Thank you. I'm very proud."

"You should be. ... I said I'd make complimentary awed noises, not repetitive compliments. Hold on."

She clears her throat. "Oooooo. Aaah. So awed!" Pause. "I did not start that intending it to be sarcastic, it just sort of ended up there by accident. It's astonishingly hard to make convincing awed sounds without anything in front of me to be awed over. Um. Oops. I really am impressed, sorry?"

Cannot answer, too busy with this helpless gigglefit.

"Well," observes Esvetielle, smiling. "That's not a bad reaction to my social awkwardness."

"Your social awkwardness is immensely endearing."