Samuel smiled, in full agreement with his neighbor's assessment. For his own part, having another military man in the building afforded him a sense of camaraderie he had long missed; it was one thing to serve with fellow veterans in his work, but another thing entirely to have them close at hand, friends and confidantes in a building full of strangers. Things were looking up indeed. But happy though he was, there was no chance Samuel could pass up another opportunity to needle his new acquaintance.
"Well damn," Samuel said. "A smart Marine. Now I've seen it all." He laughed aloud, a boyishly happy, contagious kind of sound. "Military history, huh? That actually sounds interesting." Taking a cue from his host, Samuel leaned back against the counter, arms folding across his chest. It was clear he was in this for the long haul; faking interest in anything had never been his strong point, and though it surprised Samuel himself more than a little, his curiosity about his new neighbor was only growing the more that they spoke. "I hope a perk of that major involves getting to shoot era-appropriate weapons." He flashed a bright grin. "I dunno if you watch that show Top Shot, but they got to play with all kinds of shit. Winchester '73s, Kentucky Long Rifles, Peacemakers... it was like a playground out there."