Does it count as an attempt if he had no intent to grope her?
He would have stopped if she said so. He’s lived away from the main branch entirely for a while, and just kind of assumed that Shannon was still his friend just like old times. I’d understand dropping if there was an additional instance of this, but aren’t we all learning creatures?
Also, wasn’t Shannon shirking duty being in that room with them, or wasn’t she on break or something? You can’t blame Battler for not thinking of her as a servant during that interaction.
Please note, if part of the (unsuccessful) joke/plan was to actually grope her, then I wouldn’t be defending Battler in this situation.
But it was never part of the plan. At least, that’s how I read the scene.