"Well, where I come from, sometimes people offer small gifts as peace offerings." He offered her a sly type of grin. "Like, say you see a particular piece of bench real estate that looks good for people-watching, but there's already a lady taking up half the bench. So, you have to give her something to show that you don't mean her any harm, and sort of as trade for the bench he'd like to sit on."

He looked down at the bench under them. "Hypothetically, at least."