"Everything's different how? The city's been like this as long as I can remember." The sudden interaction made him jump up from his daze. He didn't expect an individual from a sea of other "individuals" to attempt a sort of conversation with him. It was off putting, to say the least due to it being so...unforeseen. Yet it was all the more welcome. It wasn't his escapism that relied on familiarity, but maybe it can be used as a substitute. Something to distract him from the loneliness that...being in an unknown environment brought, even if this experience with another person was fleeting, and the feeling would be finite. 

He gazed emptily at his book for a few silent seconds, gathering his thoughts. He looked up to the stray person, trying his best to seem welcoming as opposed to repelling. [i]Oh right...she asked a question[/i]. "Everything just...is...Oh. I suppose it just seems really different to me. The city, the people, how everything looks, sounds, smells. I'm...not from here. I'm from...beyond." Realizing how ambiguous  his explanation was, he quickly edged out the alleyway and pointed to the general location of which he was from, which from the distance resembled more of a naked hillside, not even housing the place he called "home" with people, and daily experiences he would recognize.

"I'm from out there, you see? The city is not my native land, I'm from..." Hesitating, he tried his best to pull together words that would sound or seem familiar to this person who resided in this city, this person who lived a very different life than he had at this point. Vocabulary that he heard being thrown around beforehand came to mind, yet they all left a bitter taste in his mouth given their derogatory intentions. "I'm from what you would call the 'Outlands', one of those 'risters'." The Outlands were a term he heard coined to describe those who live outside the large cities where civilization flourishes. Those who live in the Outlands, are also referred to as risters. He grimaced with saying those words out loud, yet he felt that was the only way to get his point across.