Bert looked up, taking stock of the man who'd hailed him. Around his age, scruffy, looking a bit as though he'd just shaken out of a dream. There was something familiar about him, which was funny as Bert was sure he'd never seen the fellow's face before.

And yet...

"Hey," he responded, using the bare minimum of syllables needed. It was easier to sound...well...less painfully foreign that way. But still that trace of not-quite-American lingered.

"Yeah?"