“Robot Building for Beginners,” they both said at the same time. Isha smiled at him across the table. Jaya could see that Isha was beginning to warm to Grey, simply because he showed an interest in her completely inappropriate hobby. And speaking of completely inappropriate hobbies, did she have to talk about it to the very person who’d brought her down in flames for another one of her inappropriate hobbies? (Well, two others, if you counted “boys” as a hobby.) Not that Isha knew about Grey’s involvement in her scandal, but still.

Still, this wasn’t unsalvageable. So far, Isha hadn’t divulged anything tremendously harmful that Grey could use. Jaya just needed to step in and manage the conversation. Maybe pivot it to draw Grey out more.

She scrunched up the paper her straw had been encased in with rather more force than was strictly necessary. “Oh, I didn’t know you were into robotics too, Grey.”

He grunted without saying anything further, but Isha pressed on. “Have you taken the robotics elective?”

“Robotics I, last year.”

Isha waited for more details. Ha, Jaya wanted to say. Don’t hold your breath. The boy hoards his words like they’re air and he’s in outer space without a helmet.

Grey shifted in his seat, as if he were gearing himself up for what he was about to say next. Jaya watched, fascinated. “I didn’t take Robotics II, but an engineer from MIT comes in to teach the second half of that class. You get to set up a think tank and lab and brainstorm some of the most pressing problems plaguing robotics.” He sat back, as if exhausted from the effort of saying all those words.

“Wow,” Isha said, her eyes shining. She obviously hadn’t noticed how bizarre their dinner companion was. “That’s so cool.”

Jaya laughed politely. The last thing Isha needed to do was join robotic think tanks. Forget building robots, she should be focused on rebuilding her reputation.

“Thanks for telling me about it, Grey,” Isha continued.

“Sure,” he said. After a pause, he added, “Have you heard of Next?”

Isha shook her head. Jaya wanted to reach across the table and stuff her paper napkin into Grey’s mouth. Was he just baiting Isha into divulging information that showed her interests were completely unsuitable for a young royal woman? You’ve already shown everyone in Mysuru that, Jaya thought, gritting her teeth.

“They’re a nonprofit based out of Denver, and their mission is to get more women into STEM fields—”

Thankfully, the waitress interrupted them by bringing out their plates of food. When she was gone, Jaya said, “Ooh, all of this looks so yummy.” She beamed a little savagely at Isha. “Eat!”

Isha rolled her eyes and tucked into her unagi. “Mm, this is good,” she said. “How’s yours, Grey?”

He grunted and shoved a masago roll into his mouth.