He looked up at her initial comment, grimacing slightly. It really wasn't the best remedy, but what business was it of hers whether he made himself sicker? Shrugging in response, ready to forcefully ignore her in favor of that gin, he tried to look as healthy as possible. A healthy face, now what was that supposed to look like?
Her next comment puzzled him, though, and tentatively he angled his head back in her direction. "No, not at all," Ashley began weakly, then cleared his throat. He nodded before introducing himself, "Gulliver."
Talking to women in bars had never been his forte. He worried about whether he should treat them as women or as people- male people. That wasn't to say that he didn't think of women as people. But sometimes, if he treated a woman as a woman, she became offended, thinking sex was the only thing flying through that head of his. And other times, if he treated them as simply people, they became offended that he wasn't over the moon about them. Probably he was thinking about it too much and nervously paused before trying out a neutral conversation starter, "Do you come here often?"