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Danny flashed a look of irritation at his nephew before gesturing for Al to join them. Jack had just finished explaining that Al didn't know anything, and that it'd all be fine. Yet that bit about not saying anything made Danny think maybe the boy hadn't been as honest about their conversation as he could have been. In any case, the guy seemed ok and hadn't started yelling - signing? - about animals and blue eyes yet. Maybe it'd be ok. Danny knew his brother wouldn't have been quite as understanding, but Danny thought they might as well see how things went. They'd only be here a few more minutes anyways.

~~~

Tyko offered Jack a nod and twitched the small plate before him, holding half of the chocolate glazed donut a little closer, giving the stranger a bit more room to sit and spread out at the table with his larger meal. He then looked back to Jack, and introduced himself, "I'm Tyko." He offered a smile, though it lacked warmth and honesty, too much worry and trepidation seemed to be clouding his mind as he thought about what may happen in the coming days.

~~~

Jack offered a half-hearted grin in return. He wasn't sure what this guy was going through, but judging by the beady eyes and pointed ears Jack had seen ducking below the window in the truck Tyko had come in, they were pretty similar to his own.

"I'm Jack. This is Al." He bobbed his head in Al's direction as they both sat down. The squirrel had make himself comfortable in the pouch of Jack's hood, luckily the sweater was quite a few sizes too big and the hood hid the little red-furred body just fine. Jack could feel the heat of the small creature seeping into his back right between his shoulder blades, it was comforting to know he wasn't alone. Wouldn't be alone again. For a shy and quiet kid that meant a lot.

"So, you're coming with us then?" He made no effort to avert his eyes, if his uncle trusted this guy enough to bring him along he had to know what was going on. At least part of it. Besides, Jack was reasonably sure that if the guy met his eyes they'd be the same ice blue his own had become last week.

~~~
He looked up from the surface of the table to Jack's face and hesitated for a moment, the piercing ice blue irises catching him off guard. When he had looked into the mirror this morning, he noticed his own eyes rather vividly, but hadn't anticipated just how...distinct and eye catching they may be to others. Seeing another who shared the same affliction, he realized the weight of it rapidly. "Uh, yeah." He quickly looked around, suddenly feeling like someone had to have noticed, that someone had to be watching them. The quick shift of his eyes over the interior of the coffee shop revealed nothing blatantly obvious; a pair of paramedics in the far corner, one with a bowl of soup finished, and pushed to the side of the table while he flipped through the paper, while the other was talking quietly, holding the the last two bites of his bagel sandwich in hand. A group of truckers were the loudest party, hard to see past the divider and fake foliage, but easy to hear as someone was animatedly talking about Doug and his flat tires. A pair of high school students sat nearby, headphones on and eyes glued to their laptops as they worked on something. A young woman sat in the eastern corner, dark hair tied back in a pony tail and reading a novel. Nothing stood out.

He looked back to Jack and Danny, making sure his eyes met theirs for a moment, "I have a couple pair of sunglasses in the truck, if you need them Jack." He then lifted the semi-circle of chocolate and took a solid bite out of it. Trying to return to normal, shed the worry. He was going camping. Camping was good. Relaxing.
He tried to smother, bury the knowledge that it wasn't so much of camping, as it was hiding. Hiding from potential violence.
~~~
Danny's lips quirked as he imagined the likely effect of too-large and very dark sunglasses on his diminutive nephew. He shook his head, "I think we'll stop at the gas station on the way out of town and get him a pair he likes. It seems he'll need them, and they may as well fit."

Jack shuffled his feet under the table, refusing to look at either of the older men. He'd never liked sunglasses, and hated the tan they would give him even more. He might be a boy, and an out-doorsey one, but he still didn't want to look dumb.

"Right then." Danny said, looking at Al, "I think we'll be off. We've got a long day ahead of us yet." He nodded and stood, grabbing his tray as he did so. He'd met one or two deaf men in his time, and was pretty sure Al would be able to lip read the meaning at least. A sneaking suspicion told Danny the fellow wasn't deaf though, something in the way he cocked his head. Either way, the well worn cards he'd produced at the counter suggested he wasn't faking it, but chances are he had some hearing at least. There was no way to ask that sort of thing without risking offending someone, so he just left it where it was.

An odd feeling struck him, as he looked down at the older man who had obviously had a bit rougher of a life than some. He stuck out the hand that wasn't holding the tray and said "Look, if you need to get a hold of a friendly face I'll be visiting a bar called the Lucky Strike in Calgary once a month, My buddy Carl works there and you can leave a message with him if you need to get in touch."

He hesitated and debated offering the guy a ride, but the fact is they were already taking plenty of risks and if things kept going the way they were Danny needed to protect the people who were already counting on him more than he needed to collect every stray that wandered by.

~~~
Al nodded as he swallowed the lasagna he'd had in his mouth before shaking the man's hand. He jotted out a quick "Thanks. I'll remember." on his note pad and flashed it at the man and boy with a brief smile. Who knew,maybe he'd see them again in a few months.

~~~
Tyko nodded at the idea of picking up a pair from a gas station, it made sense. He listened to Danny offer Al a way to get in touch with him, and smiled; he was a good man, with a warm, welcoming heart who didn't seem to pass judgement easily. Standing himself, he laid a hand on Al's shoulder lightly, to get his attention before saying, "It was nice to meet you Al, take care of yourself." He smirked when Al held up the note he had just written for Danny, except holding him thumb intentionally over the last two words, a way to save time and paper.

As he moved to the exit, he held the door for his to-be traveling companions, squinting in the brightness of a passing break in the cloud, allowing the harsh light winter sun to beam down. "Danny," he began as he walked them to their truck, "We taking 2A or 549 out?"

~~~
Danny tipped the brim of his hat up and squinted into the bright sun, assessing the time before answering. "I think we'll go the long way. I want to avoid Calgary entirely, so I think highway 7 out to 549. and North from there."

He slung his arm around his nephew as they scuffed their way to the truck. Theirs was obviously loaded for a trip, and Danny was pretty sure the other fully loaded vehicle was the same one Tyko had been driving the previous summer. If that was the case they were going to do ok for the summer, if anyone else showed up - he figured they might get a few visitors - hopefully they'd bring supplies. It was still too early to garden, especially up in the mountains, but they'd need to get seedlings started indoors right when they got up there.
"Alright. Lets get going. Do you need to gas up before we go? I topped up just before we went into Tim's. I think it'll be best if we try and stick together, so if you need to stop we'll grab those glasses for the kid while you're grabbing gas."

~~~
Nodding, he agreed with the idea of keeping a healthy distance from the city. Less traffic, but the roads would theoretically slow them down, but they had the time to kill. At the question, Tyko shook his head twice, "Nah, had time to kill before the bike store opened, so I filled'er near to dribble, and double checked the jerries. Could, in theory, drive straight to Grand Prairie if needs be." He smirked slightly, "But I suppose a couple bags of road food wouldn't go amiss." He paused to twist his torso around, stretching out the muscles in his back in preparation for a long stint of driving. "Lead on, and I'll be on your bumper....unless you push past one-twenty...then well....you have my number, and I'll catch up."

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