What is this "date" you speak of? (Arc/Lani... maybe NSFW?)

He took great care to not let on that her decision only reinforced in him the idea that he had made the wrong choice in bringing them to this particular restaurant. Whether it was true or not was irrelevant; it was how he felt and his socially nervous nature was not helped by the notion. Shifting uncomfortably and reaching to make sure that his neck was still covered, Rogue set about looking for something that was not just appealing to him but that he thought she might want. The problem was that he had absolutely no idea what she liked to eat. "D- do you, ah..." he swallowed, trying to regain some level of control over his vocal chords, "Do you... have any preferences? Anything you won't eat?"

"As I said, I'm not picky. A lot of that stuff looks pretty good, I just don't know what to have." Candy reassured him again. "Pick whatever you like, and I'm sure it's going to be great." She stuck her tongue out, at him, leaning forward on the table. "You're acting all cute again. Stop, or I might get up and hug you." She said jokingly. She didn't really want him to stop.

He sputtered something unintelligible and held the menu higher up, to where he couldn't see her face while he tried to look very, very interested in the various options. Why did he have to fall for someone so infuriating?! Grumbling in his head, he found himself looking helpless, unseeing, at the menu when the server came back around with drinks, setting them down and asking if they were ready. Rogue lowered the menu just enough to allow Candy to see the downright pitiful expression on his face, or at least what was visible of it.

Candy had to keep herself from straight up laughing when Rogue peeked up from behind the menu, though caught herself well in time for it not to be too strange. "I'll have what he's having," She said.

Rogue looked like he was internally screaming to the point that steam might come out of his ears before his head exploded. He wasn't mad or anything, just simply very, very much panicked. Swallowing hard, his chakra beginning to light up behind the mask, he fought himself to regain control and actually bring himself to talk. Eventually, he managed to order steak and shrimp for them both without fumbling over the words too much. He ordered broccoli and mashed potatoes as sides before asking Candy, a bit more confidently, if she wanted an appetizer.

"If you're getting one." She answered with a smile that was somewhere between reassuring and plain evil. She was enjoying this a little too much, she thought.

The flickering at his neck started back up again and he started rubbing at the area to try to hide it. Appetizers were for sharing, why couldn't she just give him some sort of help, here? Groaning a bit to himself, he ordered some chips and queso for them both. The server seemed only to find him weirder as every second passed by, offering no real help throughout the ordeal. The second she disappeared, Rogue was glaring at Candy, now without a menu to hide his face.

"I'm sorry." She said, though she certainly didn't look sorry with a big grin on her face, exuding nothing but innocence with the purest of intentions. "I'll try not to make you light up too much, whether it's your face or neck."

"I could eat you." He growled, looking away from her before some joke about the statement could be made.

"Are you trying to let me embarrass you?" Candy asked, crossing her arms and and slowly shaking her head, in a mock gesture of disapproval.

He held a hand up with a single digit, not braving the risk of speaking to her.

"Hey, that's rude." Candy said, still joking around. "And I didn't make the myriad of jokes I could have. You should thank me."

"Eat me." He grumbled, folding his arms over his chest and absently rubbing at his neck.

"I'm trying not to break you completely, but you're making that difficult." Candy said, sighing.

He looked over at her from the corner of his eyes, glaring slightly. "Why are you so mean to me?"

"I'm not trying to be..." Candy said, leaning forward on the table again, pouting.

He narrowed his eyes, more friendly this time but still not trusting her. "Oh?"

"I can't help thinking that you're cute when you get like that. I make it pretty clear that I think that, anyway." Candy explained.

He glared at her, even while trying to smother the light pulsing from his neck. "You make social functions difficult..." Rogue muttered, grumbling.

"But it's cute..." Candy said, pouting again. "I can't help it, anyway, I do anything and you get flustered. Good for me, I guess, but..."

"Not anything," He said, though he definitely understood what she meant; this was why he hadn't really taken her out on dates. Rogue was simply too damn awkward and easily flustered to be out in public like this.

"I don't mind at all, though, so just ignore them and be awkward in peace." Candy said, waving in the general direction of the rest of the room.

Peace and awkward did not, by any means, sound like words that belonged together. Still, he might as well try to enjoy the date. After taking a few moments to control his breathing, he relaxed a little, "Any... way. How have you been?"

"Good. Spending most of my time reading, as usual, but fine." Candy said, apparently now shifting into normal conversation mode. That was fine. "You been doing anything interesting lately?"

There wasn't really anything he could talk about, work wise; she already knew that, though. "Programming... playing some games." He shrugged. Without Tony around, he didn't socialize much anymore.