"Mm," Eliot says, finishing up his second cigarette and stubbing it out before taking another thoughtful swallow of the wine. He is very much not a light-weight, though the warmth of the room is lending a flush to his cheeks, as well.

"And what would you say if I told you I come from a country called America, a republic with a president, and I hear us both speaking in English, the language of the English empire?" he asks after a moment. "Any of that sound familiar to you, at all?"