For some reason, even that struck him as amusing. The whole scene was ridiculous, a woman walking on a chess set, berating him for his choice of leisure pursuits.
And then she was gone, and it was only when she spoke again that he realised where she was, and near jumped out his skin, turning to face her, trying to act unsurprised. "Oh, um- well, I'm from the States originally, but I travel about a lot. Key West was home before I- came here," he told her, uncharacteristically stuttery about it. "I ought to have said when, it was 1938, so-" he trailed off.