Arja had to smother a giggle as the man took her words to heart about the gagging. So literal and offended on her behalf. He really was a knight, like the kind you could read about in a picture book. It was almost too sad to admit to the joke, but she didn't want him thinking that the people of Gwaren were just ruffians. “Was only a joke, no one here would ever think about trying it. Then they'd all just have Micah to listen to, and anyone 'round here knows I'm more pleasant.” Another laugh and a smile followed with an affable shrug. “I'm no siren of the sea, but I'd dare to say that the music would draw more people into the pub than push them out.”
This was exactly why she loved working in the bar, she knew not his name even, but already was pleased that he'd taken the time to comment on her song. People, in general, were just so fascinating and they all had their own stories. Really, she hadn't expected much in the way of conversation from him since he'd sat at the bar, but happily she was proven wrong. “It's never been enough to shut down the bar, so it couldn't have been that bad. Mostly just a few loose teeth and some bloody knuckles. I've some healing salve stashed behind the bar to take care of the minor wounds. Usually that's enough.” All of it was said with an easy smile, like that sort of thing happened with some regularity. “How bad do they get in Denerim? That city's so much larger than ours, and with so many travelers, I imagine it's a lot easier to run into strangers there.”
Pleasure ran across her face as he asked a question of his own. Just went to prove that maybe he was enjoying speaking to her as well. Sometimes people just got caught in conversation with her and couldn't find a polite way out, she knew it but usually chose to ignore it. “My mother's one of the best warriors in the city. Maybe the best! She was in the Warrior Caste before she left Orzammar and can fight darkspawn with the best of them. When I was six, during the blight, she battled along all the men in the forest and killed just as many of the beasts if not more. Think most just assume that I'm off hiding that dwarven spirit and they don't want to rouse it out of me.” The laugh wasn't even bothered to be hid behind discretion. Anyone who'd been within earshot of her lessons with her mother knew that she'd been hopeless with the blade. The bow had been for her, but it didn't exactly make for a fierce warrior.
“Oh don't say such a thing to me!” Arja warned with a suppressed eyebrow waggle and grin. “Ask anyone 'round here, once I start going on something you'll be hard pressed to ever hear the end of it. Even something so droll as barfights, I can chat your ear off in no time flat, but you've probably already got a feeling for that haven't you?” She had the grace to look a little embarrassed. Hopefully if she were bothering him he'd feel free to tell her so, but she wasn't getting that feeling so she plowed on.
“Anything,” the word was simple but the truth, “Whatever seems miniscule to you, 's probably a whole new world for me. You travel a lot? I've never been past the forests. And a knight, surely there's a tale there? Where'd you grow up? Have you ever been to the Frostback Mountains?” The questions were spilled one after another, anything she could say to spark a memory or get the knight to open up with a story. “I'd even accept something made up, because they're usually just as fun. And what's a tale without a little embellishment?”