Watch Your Back [Ria/Dale]

Dale allows himself a small measure of relief as the man falls to the ground. It had been another one of those weird, unfamiliar people, but they'd fallen for the thing he'd thrown, and they hadn't turned into smoke or anything when he hit them. He'd got them, and now...
His attention is pulled by a brief electronic bark. Chip had poked his head out of Dale's pocket, tiny tail wagging as he looked inquisitively at Dale. He couldn't help but smile at the sight, but now wasn't the best time. Dangers were everywhere.
They were always, always everywhere. Especially when you had something.
"Come on, Chip. I just need a moment..." He pats the small robotic canine on the head, getting a pleased yip in response as it snuggles back into his pocket.
With that, Dale wastes no time on working over the fallen man, eyes flicking about his surroundings as he snatches up the ration bars and starts rummaging about for anything else they might have.

Dale wastes no time grabbing Chip and immediately diving over to the exit opposite Ria, a ration bar dropping from a pocket as he does, turning to face the robot and looking equally ready to punch her or to run. Or to punch her and run. He wasn't going for the gun yet, though. He didn't want to waste what shots it had unnecessarily.

She wasn't attacking immediately, and she didn't sound like she was going to attack, but that didn't mean much. Still dangerous. His eyes flick quickly to the dropped ration bar, but there was no way he felt confident enough to get it. It wasn't worth it, anyway. He had enough if he needed to run.
Violently distrustful eyes fixate on Ria. "What do you want?"

Dale looks down to the little dog in his hand, and then back to Ria, stowing Chip inside his shirt as he barks enthusiastically.
At the moment, he was probably fine. As much as he was unwilling to believe that it was really going to be the case, the person before him had at least pretended that they'd leave him alone if he didn't bother them. This was a good moment to, at the least, get ready for anything they might do.
More worrying to him was its interest in Chip, and the questions that came with it. They said he reminded them of home, and if they recognised Chip...
...he might need his stolen weapon after all.

"...I don't know." It was a true answer, but it told them nothing. Had to take careful steps here...see what he could learn. "What's it like, where you're from?" They seemed to understand what living like this was like, and they sort of recognised Chip...but he needed more to go off. So what's the best thing to ask here...? "What's it look like?"

He...didn't understand that description, but at least he learned things. For example - they said they were like Chip, so...metal person? Well, Chip wasn't metal. But he wasn't not-metal, so...
Close enough.
Following from there, things like them were called robots. He'd have to remember that.
What else?
They were talking like they didn't come here like he did...alright, not exactly how he did, but with the same thing. Like they were here a while, and couldn't go back.
That bit might be a trick, but if it was right, he had less to worry about. Nobody coming for him. Nobody who'd go back. Nobody he had to hurt until they didn't move any more.

That didn't mean he didn't still have to be careful, though.

He looks at the man on the ground at he's asked about, and back to Ria. "Why do more? He won't hurt me. I have what I need. Better to move before this happens." It's a simple, matter of fact statement.

Yet again, he doesn't understand most of what he's told, and the lack of recognition shows on his face. Had he been aware of the link between Ria and the police people he'd first encountered on Junction, he'd have been a lot more on edge.
Instead, he just figures out that they just told him their name, and that normally, you're supposed to say yours. Better to be safe. "Dale. I'm Dale."

He paused a moment. After they said what they did, they told him not to worry...he thought.
Why would he...?
They were a 'defender of the state', and they fought something called 'crime'. So those were what he needed to learn about.
"What's 'crime', exactly? What's a 'defender of the state'? What do they do?"

Dale seems...confused, by Ria's statement. He thought he got what they meant, but...why would that happen? He didn't have anything to take now.
He watches with confusion and reservation as Ria lifts the junc-son, wondering why they would do this. Why did they care? What did they get?
He just hoped they wouldn't get the chasing people.

He listens to the explanation to his questions and...finds himself just as confused as he usually does when he gets an explanation, understanding just about every other word. For one, he knew what things were unlawful now, but he didn't know what unlawful meant itself. And as for that other stuff...
He shows no recognition of anything Rianara's talking about. Not about betrayal, not about chaos, not about peace...just about the only thing that got a reaction was the comment about her home eating itself alive, a statement it might not have been hard to guess he took literally from the way he winced.
All he got was that 40 years ago, she used to do things she didn't do any more, because of something done to her...things including stopping a place from eating itself, somehow.
More fuel for his nightmares.
All that, ending in them telling him a place where he could see them again. It was an offer he was wary of, but nonetheless, he logged the info away.
"Rusty Goose...right..." It was a wary tone he spoke in, but one tinged by curiosity.
He continues to watch the robot, chameleon-man over its shoulder. He didn't move, or speak up. He just...watched.

"I don't know...read things...?" That was a strange question. One he hadn't been expecting to hear. Like...how else DID you learn? He couldn't think of many ways, but why would you think about this anyway? Why would it come up? Asking people seemed to be the best way anyway, even if didn't tend to go the best a lot of the time. He didn't understand most of what he read.
While Dale didn't respond to the offer, and certainly wasn't less suspicious...he seemed to be thinking about it. It was a starting point, at least.
He still doesn't move though. His gaze occasionally jumps rapidly from the floor to Rianara again, where the ration bar he'd left in his initial leap was lying.

Dale didn't move. Not immediately. He slowly crept about, checking that Rianara had left.
Once he felt like they had, at the least, gotten far enough away not to be an issue, he snapped up the fallen ration bar and gotten moving.
Frankly, the things were many people's very definition of disgusting, but Dale was long past the point of caring what he ate as long as he could eat it. Just one of these would keep him going for a while, and that was what mattered.
For now...he was going to find a place to rest a while. And all the while, the offer he'd been presented lurked in his mind...