Some people were unfortunate with small talk, but this stopped before even small; abortive tiny talk. David was half tempted to make up answers to the questions Arla didn't end up asking, offer them back and then make her guess what exactly his answers were in response to. Nothing massively clever was coming immediately to mind, though, and he couldn't think of any good questions what would end in 'purple' or 'pumpernickle'.
Her last one was much more interesting anyway, though David blinked at the unconventionality. And for such a direct question, the answer was far from simple. When wasn't it? "It depends," he answered slowly. "I mean, yes. However you look at it, yes, I guess I have."