Marcos attempts to smile when he says he nearly misses eating squirrels, but it turns into more of a grimace. He did meet those bandits, and while they went down easily enough, it wasn't before roughing up some people who were already in a bad position, and who hadn't done anything wrong to start with. If Astarion is one of them, the whole thing would have been even more confusing.

"I tried." Some elaboration is probably owed there, but he doesn't seem interested in giving it. Instead he spares a glance at him, trying to get a sense of something. "How far is Baldur's Gate from here?"