I know you

Do you know him?

You are smack dab in the middle of an area where the only radio stations you can pick up at this hour are pre-recorded religious talk shows and preachers, it probably doesn't help that your passenger had accidently turned the radio to AM. Despite the boisterous voices and intermittent static found between channels it's calm. For many reasons it should not be but somehow it is. The guy had not stopped fidgeting from the moment he stepped in the car. First his hoodie strings then the window buttons, and now the radio dial filling the confined space with a constant stream of quiet ambient noise. The silence between you two straddles the line of being comfortable or uncomfortable. You know you should break it, there are some important things that need to be asked, but you just don't want to.

 Your tongue sits useless as your mind races with questions. What happened to him, is he in danger, who is he, how much will it cost to get the bloodied seat reupholstered? A loud crack breaks your stream of thoughts and momentarily tears your eyes from the road, his head is tilted far to one side and twitches slightly until he slowly and strenuously brings it back to center, the grimace on his face doesn't denote pain so much as annoyance. He Sits back up from his radio scanning position and reaches to rub his neck and turns to you, seeming to be done with the dials. His hands move back to the hoodie's drawstrings again.

"What's your name?"

 "Oh shoot I haven't introduced myself" You mutter, then go on to not introduce yourself. He waits a moment for you to finish but with this one winding portion of the road taking all your attention you don't even realize you haven't actually said your name.

"Okay then, well, I'm Toby. Than-thanks for the help and the ride."

Your brain finally catches up to the conversation as the road straightens out.

"Y/n, I'm Y/n."

You glance at him for a moment. He really does look gray and not in the way that blood loss makes your skin but in a truly desaturated way. His eyes meet yours and it feels like you're mutually studying each other for a second. You turn back to the road, eye contact is not your forte.

"At some point I'm going to have to get your seat cleaned at the wash and I don't know how I'll go about that without being put on some sort of watchlist."

The noise of a stifled laugh emanates from him, his hand covering his already masked mouth, but you can tell he's smiling by the ways his eyes crinkle at the corners.

"Your probably right, sorry 'bout that, but being on a watch list isn't that bad"

Well then! that is not what you want to hear from a stranger in your car in the middle of the night in a desolate forest! But, the way he said it did hold a joking tone so you hope that was in jest.

"What are you on a watch list for? Jay walking under suspicious circumstances?" You do your best to not let the nervous waver sound in your voice and it works thank god.

He chuckles a bit, no malice in it, just an earnest chuckle.

"No, more likely bleeding on public property without a permit."

You exhale loudly through your nose at that.

"So, do I need to call the police or anything? Are you in danger or was this just a stumbling through the woods and fell kind of thing?"

His whole posture stiffens at the mention of calling someone sans one arm which seems to be twitching involuntarily.

"Just a tripping in the woods kind of thing, damn sharp rocks" His voice comes out softer that previous with just a tinge of something you can't place.