That protest actually gets Ashley to give a small, incredulous laugh. "Oh it so is. Don't even deny it." The crossbow retook her attention and she finally offered him a smile. It was tense still, but it counted.
"Good to know. Gotta tell you, writing those incidents up is too much of a pain."
That got him a less tense smile as Ashley finally pushed past and further into the room so she could see her mother better. "I wanted to ask you an opinion, but with Mr. Macho here, I might not want to talk about something as fluffy as dogs."
A teasing smirk was sent Varric's way at that before Ashley turned her attention back to Helen. "Seriously, I can always come back." As she felt the intruder this time and the last thing she wanted was to scare Varric off. Oddly enough.