Scorpius held his reply while the waiter came and took their orders, letting Amelia order first, then telling the waiter his own choice. He sipped his water as they were left alone again. "I have been making an effort to get out more, yes. Fortunately I do get a choice about who I go out with." That is, he could choose, so long as they met the strict standards expected from a family like the Malfoys. They had to be pureblooded, naturally, and from a respectable family. Though when it came to the latter point, he had pushed the limits a bit by dating a few girls from more obscure families in hopes of finding someone he could actually fall for. Perhaps it was about time he got over his silly notion that he could marry for love.
"Why don't you tell me a bit more about yourself, Ms Rowe. Are you employed? What do you enjoy doing in your free time?" Rattling off questions like that were easy enough methods to keep the conversation flowing, he had learned. Formal conversations like this came easy to him if only because this was what he had been brought up with. He would be lost at a party like the ones the Woods had. Slinking off to hide in dark corners was his method for coping in those kind of situations. Not that he had faced many of them.
The waiter returned to pour wine for both of them. Scorpius sipped his lightly, though he had no intention of having a refill, let alone getting drunk. That kind of loss of control was dangerous, especially for him. He could only trust himself around one person, possibly two, while so heavily intoxicated. Having too much wine on a date would definitely be a bad idea, as tempting as it was to let the evening dissolve into a pleasant blur.