Terrible.

People should have better things to do than become bandits, and people who would still become bandits even if they had better things to do should fear getting caught.

(...although the supernatural monsters might also impact road safety.)

He gives the mental equivalent of a pensive nod.

"Hey Marcus! Why are you so quiet? Normally you'd be all abuzz!" 

"Sorry. I've had a lot to think about today." He tries to sound cheerful and upbeat regardless. 

"Ah." She falls silent. 

:...is it a secret that we were talking?

I mean, I understand not wanting to go into *details*, they're both depressing and plausibly private; and I understand not wanting to be *too* vague, because it might come across as ominous.

I think in your place, I would probably have said that my walk-in had some questions about what life here is like and I was telling him about them, maybe a very broad topic overview like 'weather and food and trade'? But then, I don't know her, maybe that's the wrong approach.:

to be honest he's kind of getting mixed messages here about whether they're closeted: nobody in the logging group has openly acknowledged his presence at any point, including Marcus

:I couldn't think of something which made it clear that it wasn't an invitation to start prying for details while being less misleading. You're right that something was probably possible.: