It was the sudden gravity to her feminine voice that caused Alistair to truly consider the young woman's offer. A soft breath left his lips as his gaze deviated from her, glancing about the lobby of his work building to the people who, while largely returning to their own little lives, still occasionally eyed the pair with curiosity. How...nice it would be to get away from those weighty stares, even if such meant accepting what Alistair was certain was a...peculiar offer. No singular woman had ever offered to pay for his meal, she was the very type of 'modern' woman that his father abhorred vehemently. A soft breath left his lips as he acquiesced, albeit with the condition that she was joining him for dinner rather than paying for his meal. His very acceptance seemed to prompt a warm smile upon her features before her lips parted, her question, however, was one Alistair begrudgingly interrupted as he inquired after her bags. The polite dismissal was one he ignored, with yet another sigh upon his lips, as he scooped up several of her bags, freeing her from hauling them across the retail before Alistair turned, leaving the young woman to follow him towards his restaurant of choice. He was aware, of course, that she had been trying to speak to him, though her questions were largely ignored if only because Alistair was rather certain he knew what she was going to ask him. There was little point in wasting breath on those comradely conversations of 'oh, where do you want to go, no please, you first!', particularly when he knew exactly where he intended to take her.

He led her towards a rather obscure storefront, the restaurant's exterior hardly as boisterous as some of the others. Rather, it was almost...sleek and intimate with it's black paint and darkened windows, the golden sign upon the door the only real point of intrigue. He held the door open for her, only to step into the restaurant behind Piper and, in turn, move around the girl to speak to the hostess himself. The young woman was quick to pluck two menus from her stack before she led the way through the dimly lit restaurant and towards a requested booth in the back corner. The back of the booths were wholly unique in the way they nearly touched the ceiling, causing each table to seemingly be a world of it's own in a way that appealed entirely to the Dark Hunter that so often strove to put distance between himself and the rest of society at large. Alistair placed the young woman's shopping bags at her feet, only to pull off his messenger bag and slide into his side of the booth. Although Alistair heard the almost demure 'thank you', upon her lips, he said little of it, much less to bolster those words of appreciation of his own. Rather, the artist silently took the menu he was offered before the hostess took her leave with the promise that their waiter would be with them shortly.

Her feminine voice caused Alistair to glance up from the menu in his hand and slowly, his head bobbed as his emerald gaze returned towards the laminated menu in front of him. "You're welcome." The Dark Hunter responded, hardly expecting her to continue at all. Sluggishly, his attention was forced back upwards and upon her as she took the opportunity to continue...and introduce herself to him all over again. Clearly, she hadn't remembered occupying his table with her ridiculously loud computer only to ask his opinion on her odd....dystopian...romance novel. Piper...that had been her name. He'd remembered it was...unusual but it had largely escaped his memory. Still, perhaps it was best not to admit that...at least for now. "Alistair." He answered, finally. The Dark Hunter was well aware he had been avoiding giving her any reason to really know him and yet...when directly asked of it...it would be rude to deny her and still have dinner with her. She seemed satisfied, however, with his answer and quickly the crystalline hue of her gaze returned to her menu in front of her, Alistair, in turn, glanced down at his own. He had tried at least half of the menu at some point or another, the artist content to continue his food adventure with whichever item was next on the list. It hardly took long for Alistair to find where he left off, only to gently place his menu upon the table, his gaze content to wander towards the large, tinted window to their left.

The silence between the pair seemed to persist for some time before her voice pulled the vibrancy of his emerald irises back towards her. His eyebrow rose ever so slightly at her insistence that she was well aware she'd made a bad impression, though he hardly saw fit to add that the third time had hardly been much better. Her words, however, halted abruptly as she reached up to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, only to insist she was not an idiot. His same raised brow shifted briefly, furrowing as he considered, for the first time, what she suspected that he thought of her. Her voice trailed off yet again, that hesitation only brief before she blundered on to insisted she was interested in him, and, if he only gave her an hour of his time, she was certain she might be interesting to him too. That warm smile lit up her feminine features as she asked his thoughts on the matter and, for a moment Alistair merely...stared at her. His lips parted, briefly, only to close again before his hand rose to gingerly massage the side of his temple.

Shit.

This...was not what he had expected. "Piper..." He began with surprising gentleness, "...what you're feeling..." His voice trailed off as Alistair searched for the word he was looking for, his head shook ever so slightly before he started again, "It happens all the time, women fall in love with the firefighter who pulled them out of a burning building or start religiously baking muffins for the police officer that saved them from....oh I don't know. My point is that it's not really me you're interested in, okay? You wouldn't be if you knew me so...why don't you let me buy you dinner and tell me about your book and...I will consider myself thanked."