He recognizes the tease for what it is, and keeps meeting it back with amiability. He's glad Miguel feels like Dan can be teased. Assuming Dan were too brittle for it would be a mistake.

"I get pulled into translating on ghost hunts pretty regularly, but I got other limitations that keep me from making translating my main means of income."

He guesses that's opaque enough that it doesn't completely tip his hand that he's illiterate, but maybe Miguel can read between the lines. Dan suspects that just about no one's illiterate in Miguel's time; the march of technology seems to always demand more and more fluency, more and more tech-savvy, and people like Dan's get left behind with their dirt roads and well-water and barter economies. Dan suspects Miguel can see it on him, the battered hands, the much-patched clothing, the imprecise haircut Dan gave himself to save a few dollars, the peek of scar under his lower lip that shines in the firelight, the missing tooth that only shows when he grins - all the visual evidence of a life held together with both hands and a prayer.

"I think my hands are warmed up enough that I could pour us each a glass of rum, if you were still interested in that."