Oh, thank God. At least he could rest assured knowing that he wasn't crazy. That was a bit of a relief. In a weird way, being stuck in the middle of the French Revolution had made him feel better. He knew that it shouldn't, and he knew that the fact that it did likely said nothing good about his mental health. But without the pressures of the world outside of him, just focusing on getting through to the next day, was a bit of a relief. He had such tunnel vision now, focusing on just getting by without having much idle time to think, that he wasn't able to fret about his mental condition. Hell, he should have been panicking over the fact that he woke up in a completely different part of the city than he had fallen asleep in, but he just couldn't be bothered.
As she confirmed that she, too, heard a "story," he sighed with relief. "Oh, good," he started, pausing. "Well. Not good, you know, but-" He broke off as she touched his hand, faltering with a smile. "Yeah," he concluded, nodding. "That's a really good thing to know, actually." He took another sip of his water.
"So, if you don't mind my asking, who is your "story"? Let me guess." He stroked his chin, looking at her. "Maybe like..." All he could think of was Disney movies. "Belle? From Beauty and the Beast? She likes books, and she's smart." He nodded. That would fit her pretty well, he thought.