He has let her have the booth because you should let the lady have her view of the room that is the custom and proper thing she told him. He is a sucker for etiquette and ritual and superstition so he worried sort of smiles and furrows to himself and says okay.  He thinks about joining her on the bench side because he prefers to eat alongside anyway sharing plates and bowls and the sidelong contact warmth of hip to hip and the accidental closeness of turned head conversation at point blank. The flanking maneuver has fared him well in the past and it is deeply satisfying to view a room together but he stays put still considering objection to the placement of her and him because while politeness is all well and good having his back to the one place of egress means a constant tingle and twist in the neck to make sure whatever predators might be stalking upon him are not a surprise and as he thinks that he thinks O. I suppose ladies have been preyed upon once or twice before. Historically speaking. Snuck upon from behind like ambushed in all the senses of the word and notion and maybe thats why its thought considerate and proper for the lady to own her space and her view and her tactical advantage and thats something he can understand so he settles into his tingling twisting neck over the tea they have just put down. Besides if anyone in the world is going to have his back its her. He picks up one of the featureless steaming cups. If anyone in the world its her.