Laurel Hill Springs

The sun slowly began to rise as Ashe walked down the road. He stopped at the entrance of the town. He'd only seen towns like this in old movies and stories. Pulling a pack of Lucky Strikes from his pocket, Ashe shook a single cigarette out. Placing it between his lips, he pulled a flip lighter out and lit the cigarette.

He knew this body wasn't his. But he had to have a few pleasures from when he was alive. He took a long drag from the cigarette, letting the smoke dance out of his mouth. Flicking the ashes onto the ground, he stomped them out with his boot.

Taking another step, Ashe crossed the threshold into the town. This was going to be different than the other places he'd been to. He could feel that in the pit of his stomach.

As he walked through the town, Ashe did his best to look natural as he walked; that was easier said than done. He'd only been in this body for a few days now. He was still adjusting to everything. He felt a little bad about taking over this girl, but he had a mission to finish. She'd understand, hopefully.

He took another drag from his cigarette and looked around. There were so many places to go to. Pulling out his wallet, he checked it. He had a few hundred dollars left on him. He needed to reopen his business or make some side money somewhere. This world ran on money, that much hadn't changed in the years he'd been dead.

Looking confused, Ashe leaned against a lamppost and did his best to plan his next move.

Jackson had been notified of some entity walking into town by one of his roving patrols of skeletons, keeping their distance and staying out of sight while providing updates before retreating back to their cenotaph hide away. With it being morning the town starting to wake, he had taken it upon himself to bolster the defenses throughout the night and early morning.

Wearing a purple hoodie with Faust's Font on the front and black jeans with all black boots, he was rounding the corner to spot Ashe walk with some difficulty and then lean against the lamppost. Body snatcher? A feral creature of the night with illusion magic getting used to walking on two legs like some civilized being?! He couldn't be certain, and he couldn't pull out any of his items from his armory, as that could alert them. He'll just play it normal.

As he walked in their general direction, he took in his surroundings. Quiet, little to no activity, and routes to flee in case of something going wrong. Smart little quarry, whatever they are. Upon getting in closer range, the bald necromancer's eyes inspected her, and he stopped before turning to the side before addressing her. "Good morning, is everything okay?" As genuine as he can muster, Jackson posed the question. His body language was relaxed, looking comfortable and defenseless.

Ashe glanced at the man, his eyes going up and down his figure. What was this guy's deal? In Ashe's line of work, everyone had an angle. So, what was his? Flicking the ashes of his cigarette onto the ground, he turned to face the gentleman, smiling as best as he could.

"The name's Ashe, Ashe Walker, I'm an investigator of the strange, dark, and mysterious." Ashe decided to be upfront with this guy. If he died, he'd just return to that hellhole he crawled out of. But the girl, he didn't know what would happen to her. Fuck. He had to consider her soul in all of this.

His body language changed when he thought about damning this girl's soul along with his. His right hand tightened on his cigarette before he took another drag to calm his nerves. Remember, poker face, poker face, keep calm. He had to act as if nothing was wrong and he hadn't just hijacked this body. Returning to his calm facade, Ashe continued to talk.

"I'm looking for a place to set up shop. I've been out of the game for a while. So, I'm...looking for a new place to work. This place...it has a whole new kind of feel, savvy?" He waved his cigarette in the air as he motioned to the town around him.

Jackson wasn't the sharpest on body language oftentimes, sometimes getting signals mixed if it was someone new, and he hadn't had enough time to understand them, or if he was already thinking something about someone. Ashe sadly fell into the second camp, as Jackson was really trying to see if he needed to shove this person into a barrel and kick them down a mountainside.

He picked up on the needing to smoke before answering him, and Jackson just wore a smile before nodding along. "Well, you might be able to speak with a business realtor. Or just open up a personal business that lets you have people come to you! I own a bookstore in town. C'mon, I have maps on sale, and I'll mark some places of interest and places to stay away from. Oh, if you ever need to come by or call, I'll give you my business card." He raised a hand before reaching into his jeans pocket and pulling out his black leather wallet and 'dug around' inside the wallet. With his positioning and distance, he cast his gaze down and squinted his eyes just enough to disguise the activation of his magic. What was he doing? Setting a little alarm to go off if the person holding it had any mana, though it'd require a weird way of presenting. With enough believable fidgeting in his wallet, Jackson smiles.

"Here we go! A bit of a mess inside." The bald man chuckled softly before he presented the business card, letting it rest in between his thumb and pointer finger, which caused it to be more inside his hand to ensure that it remained stable.

Ashe eyed the card, and as he was about to reach out and grab it, he stopped. His hand trembled mere inches away from the card before he pulled his hand back. The last time he trusted something, he had a demon riding shotgun in his head. He didn't know this guy from Adam, so he had to be cautious.

Plus, this guy is a businessman, right? Why would a businessman take so long to get his card out. Had professionalism gone out the window since he was alive?

Shifting his stance, Ashe slipped his right hand into his coat pocket. Subtly, he dug through his pocket and gripped a protective rune. If this person had any intentions of hurting him, Ashe would as least be able to keep himself from getting hurt. Although this rune was a one time use. He'd have to make more later.

Using his left hand, Ashe took the card and politely smiled. "Sorry, I forgot. I just got my nails done on my right hand. I didn't want to mess up the coating."

He had to think on his feet. If this guy was some kind of exorcist, then he'd really be fucked. His soul could just get ripped out of the girl's body and thrown back to Hell. He hoped the rune was enough to protect him from any sort of attack. That's all it was good for. Alarms on the other hand, it didn't fare as well.

It mattered not what hand took and held the business card for that alarm went off, although faint. Low mana? Probably a circulation issue or something else. But what made Jackson wear a devious smirk was that switch of hands.

"Right, but who just does one hand and not the other in one go?" He chuckled softly and waved Ashe on. "At least make it believable. Like saying that you're a germaphobe and have gloves in your pockets. Or at least use mage hand to grab the card like a glove over your hand." Amateurs, he was surrounded by them! Back home and now here in front of him. "Well, I know that you have some mana. Not a lot. Official warning right here: Behave yourself in this town, and you won't have any problems from me or the residents. Other than that, let's go to my bookstore. I'll still get you that map." Jackson pointed towards the general direction of his shop and started to walk, which is in the opposite direction of where he was originally heading.

"If you do have questions, then I would suggest asking them now. You can even ask what I am, if that helps you relax."