forum “So. Am I supposed to believe you, or what?” - one on one. Closed.

Started March 05, 2021 by @Knick

tune

She fought the urge to roll her eyes. A tiring chuckle was forced from her throat. All of this panic leading up to not getting any idea on what's going or who this weirdo is. How absurd. He could've at least showed some sign of not being a threat. Asking for help would've been good too.

"I'm guessing you're not going to kill me then, yes?" She asked. Crossing her arms, she pursed her lips while waiting. Her index finger tapped on the side of her arm as she stared over at the man. "I'm assuming no. You look like a deer in headlights despite your soldier costume. And there's no bark or bite in your tone too. You're strange, Carota."

Suddenly, she heard the sound of a car coming over. The pizza. Thank Madonna and all the saints the pizza arrived! Dahlia almost, just almost, darted over. She turned around and took a step till remembering the stranger. Leaving him here is just a dumb move to begin with. Although, if he isn't going to tell her anything and he isn't going to murder her, then he isn't her concern anymore. Right?

All the words she said before replayed in her mind. The promise to help kept repeating. And the look in his eyes too, she couldn't shake the image away. In a way, Dahlia began to feel bad for the weirdo. Was she being too harsh? Overreacting? She has no clue.

"I'll give you a decision to make. In five minutes, walk over to that door and ring the door bell. If you don't and time's up, I am going to call the cops and I will come after you myself. Got it?" Dahlia had no idea if she was going to regret this, but she ran over to pick up the food she ordered, leaving the guy behind.

Florin had stayed silent while she spoke. Taking in what she said, all of it.. Carota? What did that mean? He had wondered, albeit briefly. But his main focus was more on the choice he had been presented with.

One, was essentially giving himself up. The other one could end in so many ways.

My rifle is probably somewhere in that forest. Florin looked behind him again, back into the woods. If he could grab that, he could retreat into the forest and hold out there until he could actually see, couldn’t he? At first, the concept sounded good. But starting fights wasn’t his style, at least intentionally. And he was in a different place, with no knowledge of the area. Maybe starting a fight wasn’t the best idea. He didn’t really want to hurt people either.

With a mournful sigh, Florin takes a step forwards. I promise I’ll come look for you tomorrow, he had thought in reference to his weapon. He walked up to the house, slowing down as he got closer. Studying the details of the house. Remembering it, making a map in his mind.
Taking a breath, Florin rings the doorbell.

Whatever that situation was completely ruined her appetite. By the time she set the food down and got herself a plate, she wasn't hungry at all. Dahlia slouched back in the chair she sat in with a frown. Her finger tapped on the phone then watched the time as the screen lit up.

After a few minutes, she heard the door bell ring. The sound made her jump. Her heart beated quickly out of surprise. Well, at least she won't have to run out in the dark again. She rushed over to the door, waited a little bit, then decided to open it.

Ah, there he is. Will he tell me something now?

Now with Carota right in front of her, she should have called him Cicognone instead. His height sort of scared her a bit. The fact ninety-nine percent of his face was covered made her shoulders tense up. Thankfully, she can see him in the light now. Something about him is peculiar for sure. Whether it's what he has on, the French, or the fact that he was wandering on her property, she squinted her eyes at him for a second.

A small grin swept across her face. "Oh there you are, nice to see you again Carota," She greeted. Leaning against the doorway, she tilted her head up wanting to get a quick look at him. "I have to give you credit for showing yourself, very brave. Anyways, do you want to come inside? I have some food if you want some."

Florin could smell it, whatever it was. The food she had mentioned? It wasn’t a familiar smell, he could say that much. His eyes drifted around the entire room before he finally went to say something. The look for fear in his eyes from when he was outside had now vanished, although that wasn’t to say he wasn’t feeling completely safe either.
“Yes..I’ll come inside,” Florin responded. Why would he have come up here if it weren’t to go inside?
Well, to make my choice, his thoughts quickly added. Close call, wasn’t it? He almost wondered on how differently the situation would be if he had went back into the woods. His gloved hand brushed against the outside of the house. Come to think of it, it was a while since he had been in a building such as this. As well made as this one seemed to be. Untouched, he thought.

"Okay….Well it's much better than wandering around out there definitely," She nodded while gazing over towards the forest. "It's chilly out there, come in before the spiders do."

Her eyebrows raised up watching as he moved his hand along the outside of the house. Strange. Did his head get hit against the ground too hard? Is he okay? The gap between her lips closed. Cazzo. Too many questions arose leaving her to just shrug them all off as she walked over to the table.

Dahlia smiled as she opened the pizza box. Perhaps her hunger hadn't totally disappeared. Taking a piece out, she placed it on the paper plate then sat it across the table. She shuffled to and from the kitchen, getting two glasses of water and also another plate for herself.

"I'll probably ask you to explain why you were out there, but let's eat first," She nodded. Having her hand out, she beckoned for him to come over. "It's not poisoned just so you know. You're safe, come on."

Florin followed her, entering the house. There was a different air in here. A feeling of normality. Or at least, somewhat normal. But to Florin, it was a feeling he didn’t recall, perhaps just due to tonight’s situation. He stopped, glanced around the house a few more times, then turned back to her.

He sniffed. “What is that?” Florin gestured towards the pizza. Her telling him it wasn’t poisoned was slightly reassuring, though he still didn’t really recognize it right off the bat. He could swear he’d seen it before, in a past memory, but the name had escaped his tongue. He trailed up towards the table.

"This?" She held up her slice while pointing at it. In the corner of her eye, she stared at the pizza in with some confusion. This situation seems to be getting weirder and weirder the more it progresses. Well, this is better than before. Lifting up the box, she pointed at the logo of the pizza place. "It's pizza and there's pepperoni and Italian sausage on it. Have you tried it before?"

Dahlia blew on her piece then took a bite. The corners of her lips curved into a light grin as she enjoyed it. Looking over to him, she gave a thumbs-up. Defiantly wasn't poisoned for sure. Her foot tapped lightly against the floor. Focusing back on the food, she reached to pull the box of bread-sticks over and took two for herself.

Florin looked at it. It was faintly familiar, he knew he’d come across this at some point..but that was most likely from before. A long time ago. At least he knew what it was now.
“No,” he began, “We don’t..” ..have it where I come from.. He paused, mid sentence, then continued. “I haven’t had it.”

Florin moved closer to the table and sat down, slipping off his gloves. He kept his wrists pointed down on purpose, as he’d just remembered the tattoo he had on his wrist. Florin was still wary of the woman, if she was working with the enemy or not remained unknown to him. And according to the knowledge Florin had, enemies would have a high chance of recognizing the tattoo and associating him with the Insurgency. Which was something he did not want.

Oh Madone. We? Dahlia stopped what she was doing and gave him a questionable look for a second. There is no need to start with the interrogating. The poor man looks shaken from what happened. She leaned back to get a quick look out the window. No one's else is there aside from them.

Her eyes laid on the gloves that he sat down. They didn't look anything you'd normally see. The condition they are isn't too bad, but it looked like they went through a battle or two. She could've sworn that she had seen them before or maybe it was just her imagination. Perhaps they're a clue. Why would a random guy wandering through the forest have such gloves and a soldier uniform too?

Dahlia leaned back into the chair. "Really? This is the first time I've heard anyone never having pizza before. I hope you like it," She grinned. Looking back at the gloves, she tilted her head then pointed at them. "May I take a look at them?"

Florin lightly tapped the tips of his fingers on the table, perhaps not even realizing he was doing it. He still avoids direct eye contact, or at least for lengthy amounts of time. From time to time, Florin glanced up.
“Oh, um..” When her question came, Florin stopped to think. A few seconds later he replied. “Sure,” he pushed the pair forwards. His eyes remained on his gloves for a few moments before he returned attention to his food.

Florin lifted his slice, but tilted his face away from where she could see it. Then, seemingly lowered his scarf, took a bite, raised it up again and set the slice back down again. He spend a few seconds considering the pizza, the strange food he could faintly recall in his mind, yet only had just tasted it now. And speaking of the taste..well, it was the first thing he’d noticed. The taste of the food, different from the tasteless stuff he was used to having. Weird.

Dahlia's feet tapped on the floor as she happily took the pair. "Thank you", She whispered, closely examining them. The gloves reminded her of one's she saw in a dystopia war movie; not a favorite of hers despite a coworker liking it. Her fingers traced along the seams as she noticed some tiny pieces of dirt on them. She turned them inside-out in hopes of seeing some sort of tag or anything that could give her a clue about this man. Nothing, splendid. A disappointed sigh left her as she turned them outside-in. They look good though, she wished she had a pair like them for some strange reason.

"Are you in the army or are you just really into dressing up like a soldier?" She asked. Taking one glove, she slipped it over her right hand then did the same with the other. It felt weird on her hands, maybe it's since Carota has bigger hands than her. "Were you playing dress-up in the forest?" Dahlia stared down at them for a while before deciding to take them off.

Florin flicked his eyes towards the ceiling as he drifted into his mind. Here he was, eating at the table with a possible enemy. She had told him it wasn’t poisoned, and that seemed to hold true. He wasn’t feeling any signs of being poisoned after all.
For once, Florin looked back down to her as the questions hit his ears.

Florin stayed silent, staring off into the distance. It would definitely raise suspicions…no, it would be giving himself up if he were to tell the truth. His boot lightly tapped the ground, or as light as one could.
But he also didn’t want to say that he was playing dress up in the forest, because he wasn’t. The very question almost irritated him, but it didn’t show. At the same time, he didn’t know what else to say. And he would very much rather not tell the truth. So, swallowing his pride, Florin answered.

“Yes, I was. I very much like to do that,” Florin responded. And if you could see his face, he would very much be smiling right now. Although there was something different about his voice, even his eyes, if someone was really good at studying them. His answer seemed almost sarcastic or forced. Florin wasn’t very good at lying, or talking in general. He’d much rather stay silent. But in this situation, it wasn’t an option.

Dahlia curled her lips back in hopes of suppressing a laugh. While she did take note of his voice, his answer was kind of funny. And yet, she figured he's hiding something under his sleeve. Maybe it's just her imagination, but she feels like there must be a reason why he isn't talking much or making eye contact. Perhaps that's just the way he is. Perhaps he's hiding something.

…I can't disclose any of that information. The phrase replayed in her head for a second as she lowered her head. Merde. Reclining into the chair, she traced patterns onto her knee in hopes of coming up with some sort of way to get information out of him. Something. Anything!

"Soo….You decided to go the forest to play dress up, stay there till sun down, and walk onto my property looking confused and startled. How fun," She deadpanned, crossing her arms. "Carota, are you lost? Did you park car somewhere you can't remember?"

Car. Florin didn’t even have a car, much less even know how to drive. He knew the bare minimum, but such a thing wasn’t that important in his life.

“I don’t have a car,” Florin answered, briefly lifting his arms as though to stretch, but also by proxy showing the tattoo that he had on his wrist. Florin remembered it within a few seconds, but didn’t panic on the outside. Just as one would normally do, he lowered his arms back down, but instead, kept them below the table this time. There was a chance she may have not seen the tattoo, he uses that thought to reassure himself.

“Yes. That’s about it.” He said, but couldn’t keep the slight confusion out of his voice when the words really hit him. Something wasn’t right, why would she be even asking about a car?

Initially, all she was able to do was sit there taken aback. Her eyes widened for a second while her head tilted. She could have sworn seeing something on his wrist, but barely caught a glimpse of what it was. It could be a scar or something for all she knows. On the other hand, that wasn't the concern at hand. No car? How else would he get to the forest then? This is the first time she has ever seen anybody like him before. There's no way he could have just appeared out of nowhere. Oh, none of this makes any sense anymore.

Getting up out of her seat, she rushed over to get something out of her backpack. Her hand reached in and rummaged around till she pulled out a lanyard with her government ID card attached to it. Dahlia played with the lanyard while walking back to the table. Biting the bottom of her lip, she fell back into the chair then slammed the ID card onto the table the pushed it forward. Her jaw tensed up as she went back to tapping her foot against the floor.

"Look, that pretty face on there is me. That's a government official's ID, which means I'm a somewhat reliable person to a certain degree but I promised to help you, didn't I? I know I must've tackled you hard, but please tell me what's going on," She whinged. Dahlia took a deep breath then held her hand out. "May I see your license? ID? S'il te plaît?"

Florin stared at the ID on the table for a long while. So it seemed that this woman was working for a government, although it didn’t look like any of the Sedorian IDs. He wasn’t even sure if the Sedori people used IDs to begin with. Florin was at a loss on what to do, essentially being chased into a corner. Begrudgingly, he lifted his left arm and flipped his wrist upwards so that she could see the set of numbers. Pointing at them with his other hand, Florin spoke.

“This is my ID.” Was all that came out. The numbers were as follows; 6734. Partially, the truth. The other closest thing that he had to an ID was not on him, nor was it extremely accessible.

For a second she thought that he was joking. Seriously. Dahlia stared into the man's eyes till glancing down at his wrist. 6734. Her index finger traced those numbers on the table over and over again. A dumbfounded look swept across her face. Why would someone have a tattoo as their ID? "That's it? Are you even registered?" She wondered. "I'm guessing you're not from here. You're French-speaking so you could be from France or Canada…"

Lowering her gaze, she bit on her bottom lip. What to do…What to do…What to do. If the only he has to prove his identity is that tattoo, then she's assuming that he doesn't have anything else on him. She could just call a few people to get this sorted out. Her boss should probably be the first. On the other hand, something seems to be really off. It's too confusing for her.

Dahlia removed her scrunchie, letting her hair fall down behind her shoulders. Standing up from her seat, she tried to get closer for a better look at the numbers. "You're not from here, I believe so, but this doesn't make any sense," She murmured.

“I’m registered,” Florin stated, although not even knowing what kind of registered she was referring to. After a pause, he spoke up again. “My country of origin is Switzerland.”

Something was wrong, here, something was extremely off. Some of these questions barely made sense to Florin, and the whole setting….was he even in Sedori anymore?
Florin pulled away when she got closer, but kept his hand on the table, albeit hesitantly. “Where is here?”

Switzerland. Makes sense to her, sadly it may be one of the only things that make sense now. Dahlia bit the inside of her cheek as she gathered up all the details that she knew about this man. Dressed like a solider, tattoo numbers, from Switzerland, quiet, and lost…..

"I'm sorry?" What a baffling thing to ask. The fact that he does not where he is right now….It's just so strange to her. Not every day does she hear someone not knowing where they are. She held the side of her head up as she sat back down. "You are in the United States. About less than twenty minutes or so out from Seattle." A strand of hair fell into her field of vision. She took a deep breath in hopes of moving it away then stared back at the man. "It's strange, the fact you're here and you don't even know where you are. Did something happen to you?"

The United States. Florin stiffened, unsure as to how longer he could keep up his facade. He wasn’t doing so well now. Had someone knocked him out, then taken him to the forest somehow? But why would they do that, and leave him be? This whole situation made no sense, and it was even weirder that he was several hundred miles away from where he was in the past hour or so. That had to be a lot of distance to come over.
“I’m not supposed to be here,” Florin barely whispered out.

Dahlia was starting to feel bad for this man. Even with most of his face covered up, she could tell that something was wrong. The way his body appears so rigid is all that she needs to know what's going on. Well she has an idea at the least. Still, how does someone with no ID get all the way from Switzerland over here? It makes no sense, like it's something out of a movie or book.

"Obviously, there'd be no way y-" She bit her bottom lip, stopping herself from saying anything further. After clearing her throat, she put on a gentle smile. "It's okay. Let's relax for a moment then figure out what is going on since either of us don't. What do you say?"

Florin wasn’t sure how he’d be able to calm down, especially in this situation. Still, he didn’t seem to freak out too much on the outside, opting to stare blankly into space instead. He really, really wished he had his rifle with him. He also wished he knew where his companions were..a sudden idea jolted his mind.
Florin suddenly checked over himself, seemingly looking for an item. Unfortunately, much like his rifle, he didn’t find it, either. The grimace was not visible, but much to his dismay, his radio was nowhere to be found either. He had to assume it was near his rifle then, wherever that may be. Maybe the people who took him here took it off of him?

Florin slowly looked up. For what felt like the first time, he’d made eye contact with her. “Sure.” His voice came out neutral, surprisingly. “I can..I can do that.”

Crossing her arms, she began to tap on the side with her index finger. The smile softened as she watched intently, waiting for an answer. Though her expression did change once she noticed that he was looking for something.

Dahlia stared across the table, wide-eyed. She wasn't sure whether or not she was more taken aback by him making eye contact or the stability in his voice. Perhaps both, but everything single thing he does is more surprising than before. Still, she kept herself from asking any more questions. Relax, it's time for the two of them to relax.

"Okay! Carota, you don't have to tell me everything right away. Whenever you feel comfortable, you may," She nodded. Slouching back into the chair, her foot tapped against the floor as she pondered. Her eyes lit up as she sat up. "I know you saw my ID already, but my name is Dahlia," She greeted, holding her hand out. "Let's be friends, that way things will be easier for the two of us."