"Oh, don't they?" This was . . . it was easy and comfortable, just bantering with a friend (she'd already decided he counted, and hopefully he wouldn't mind) without anything heavy lurking beneath the surface; she was starting to feel much more like her old self.

Gabrielle dropped into a chair across from him and propped her elbows up on the table. "What is it about men of Gondor that makes them so stubborn?" she teased.

. . . so she was curious about his world. Sue her.