Arden sighed, not very intensively but sitll enough for anyone in his vicinity to notice. All that week long of meandering through the density of the woods and all they'd end up with would be a stay in the stable. If the Skayleigh was honest to himself he wasn't sure if he should be surprised about the local tavern already having so many guests or not: On one hand Berute, with its at best mediocre looking farmland and rocks that probably did not hide any precious minerals, did not seem like anyone's dream come true. On the other hand if one's stomach was just as empty as one's waterskin and belt pouch pretty much any settlement was welcome. Still... there had to be something about this calm village which kept it going well, but which at least he had not yet figured out.

Arden darted a glance towards his companion, trying to read the small woman's thoughts just by looking at her face only to discover once again that he was no good at it. Then he made the decision he thought she'd agree with: "We'll take the barn. Are there any distinct times when food is served or are things handled one a basis of come and get it ?" the Skayleigh replied to the raven-haired local with a friendly, but dark voice. He tried to look at it from the plus side of things: The barn was for free -- and given that he had a horse that was in need of some kind of stay as well he could look at their sleeping place this night as some kind of permanent watch over one of his more valuable possessions in an unfamiliar environment. A fresh stack of hay couldn't be any more uncomfortable or dirtier than the bare forest floor, could it ?

In the meantime, the events to his rear did not entirely slip past Arden's attention. That harsh tone gave him a hint about the species of those behind him even before a quick turn of his head could provide any visual confirmation: Dwarves... definitely not his favorites, but even if they'd have demanded for the melody to stop by kneeling in front of the elf and kissing his feet: the demand itself just was utterly wrong! If the elf would pay brief attention to Arden's presence he'd be able to notice a brief occurrence of commiseration in the Skayleigh's facial expression before the latter directed his attention back towards the tavern's owner. Seeing the workers had given him an urgent reminder about another pouch being close to empty -- the one containing the little remainder of his money.

"Excuse me if this request might appear a little... direct, but do you know of any work for our kind ? Like some kind of seasonal work or such ? Pretty much anything that comes to your mind ?" Mercenary stuff was not what Arden would like to do most at the moment, but a realistic onlook on reality dictated that such was to be expected more often than not.