Squinting at the menu, he brought it close to his face as if that would make reading it easier. Sure, he just woke up, but it doesn't take long for his eyes to focus. It's more his struggles reading in English. His surprise at hearing Gabriel's mother was still alive gave him a momentary reprieve. Dal always figured that people in that line of work didn't tend to last very long for reasons various and sundry.

Once his initial surprise passed, he offered a warm little smile. "Your secret's safe with me." Who would he tell anyway? But it was nice to be silly like this.

"Is she well, your mother?" More stalling as he tried to decipher the menu.