Over the months that Asterion had been seeing Erato come in here, he slowly realised she probably hadn't meant anything mean when she had propositioned him. She probably hadn't been intending to laugh at him. In fact, she seemed like a very nice person, and Asterion had judged her unfairly. He had good reason to distrust people, sure, but she had given him no reason and he had hurt her feelings.
He often came into the bar even when he wasn't working, because it was just nice to be in a place where people did stare at him. Here, he wasn't some lonely weirdo, he was Asterion. He was helpful. He kept people safe and they appreciated him. It was a new feeling. He liked it.
He was there off-duty that night, and watching Erato act very differently than she usually did. And so, with a bit of bravery bourne from finally feeling comfortable somewhere, he left his table and went to hers, though he didn't sit. He gave her a worried look and said, "are you sad?"