Don't ask, don't tell

"...But what would I do with bloody skin?" Yvan asked, puzzled.
"What are you, a damn aristocrat who's never made a thing with his own two hands?" Valdyr grunted. And the dwarf facepalmed again when Yvan tried to poorly lie about a "no, no, you see I am very, uh, crafsty."

Horknath put the skin down. Then he threw a long, meaningful look to Yvan. "Can you even survive out in the wilderness on your own?", he asked. "Because I am really starting to think you've never even gone camping in your life, let alone stayed away from a city for a long time."

Yvan shrugged. "Well, usually I travel with other people, or I let Ash do the travelling."
"...Who's Ash," Valdyr asked, tense again. His nerves were suffering so much today.

"The one that lives in his head", Horknath grumbled, going back at cleaning the other boar. "Apparently he comes out only when he is asked to."

"... You mean he's got a- nevermind," Valdyr grunted as he took some of the meat to cook it.
Yvan looked awkwardly at the both of them for a little while, before clearing his throat. "You'd rather have to, uh, deal with Ash than me, maybe?"

"If you think it could be better", Horknath shrugged. He was actually kind of curious. If they were traveling with two people, it would have been good to know both of them. "Your choice, though."

"Okay," Yvan said with a shrug, as Valdyr tried to mouth "No" a good number of times behind him. Yet, Yvan had already straightened up, and his eyes gone all black before he smiled to Horknath. "Need some help with the gutting?"

Horknath narrowed his eyes. Should he trust someone he... well, actually just met, by giving him a knife? Then he shrugged. To hell with that. If Yvan wanted to kill them, he would have Ash come out way earlier. "Sure", he said gruffly, handing him the knife and the corpse. "Have fun."

Ash smiled widely, and took the knife, which he flipped expertly in his hand, giving it a long look. Then he started gutting the boar like an expert, not caring about any blood ending on his clothes. "Have you ever tried magic-roasted boars before ?"

Horknath raised an eyebrow. "No. Can't say I travel with magicians that much", he said, looking swiftly in Valdyr's direction. "They tend to be a bit too... well. They don't like to be around me much", he added.

"Oh. Why so?" Ash added with a bright smile, as he started to cut out pieces of meat, laying them together.

"Well, I don't know. People don't usually like me, you see. Magicians are particularly closed, they want to protect their secrets, and I am a guy who likes a bit of chatting", Horknath grumbled, observing him carefully. Well, the guy was skilled.

Valdyr mumbled something along the line of secrets supposed to remain so, but Ash just grinned wider. "Oh. I have plenty of secrets too, but I don't mind talking about them. By the way, I'm not a wicked second personality. I'm an actual being," he smiled, as he set the meat on fire, magically controlling its heat.

Horknath almost gasped. Almost. Because half orcs do not gasp. He scoffed a bit at Valdyr. "I already told you I won't put my nose in your secrets. Relax." Upon hearing Ash's words, half a grin spread on his face. "Ah. Was I right then? Are you a demon?"

Ash laughed. "Woops. There it goes." He stopped the magic fire by snapping his fingers, then took a morcel of meat for himself. "I'm a fire demon. Yvan never trained to be a magician, I gave that to him. Poor baby can't handle it properly."

Horknath wasn't too impressed by learning that he had to do with a demon. He had met a few around already. What surprised him was that he wasn't causing any trouble. ... well, big troubles at least. He felt a bit sorry for Yvan, honestly. He said all of that to Ash as he took a piece of meat for himself. "And why did you choose him then?", he added.

Ash shrugged. "I was wounded, and the woman going after me could seriously have gotten me killed. So I did the first thing that came to mind, and... Well. Ran upstairs, found her baby, fused with it. That way she would never end me," he grinned widely. "I learned later that she was just a sort of guard in that home, and that I'd chosen to possess the baby of her employers. Kind of ironic, in a way."

Horknath was unable to hide his half terrified, half impressed face. "... well. That's- kinda sick", he could just say. He couldn't honestly blame him for wanting to survive, though. "But... you wanted to live. That's not a crime, I guess", he added, roasting his piece of meat.

"We are so ditching you at the next crossroad we find," Vadlyr spat, simply horrified."

Ash laughed heartily. "Oh, but you know, Yvan likes me in the end, so that's a win-win situation, right ?"

"Well, from what I know, you make the guy's life very difficult", Horknath answered honestly, chewing his food. "I mean. First time I met him, he was getting shit drunk trying not to hear your voice. That doesn't really say 'besties' to me." He threw a glance at Vanyr. "Wouldn't do that. Crossroads equals more demons", he said.

Ash arched a brow. "So what, you expect me to stay quiet ? I'm stuck in that brain all day long, anyone would be driven mad at some point."

Valdyr just grunted about how great the rest of this journey was going to be.

"I'm not saying that, just... he seems a nice guy. Don't destroy him", Horknath muttered. He threw an apologetic glance to Valdyr. It was partly his fault if that demon was travelling with them. He had half an idea of pulling out his lute and strum a bit, to lighten up the atmosphere. But he preferred not to know how Valdyr would have reacted to the umpteenth revelation of his mercenary being an half-time musician.

Ash shrugged. "That's our business, not yours. How d'you like the meat, by the way ? Ain't it much more juicy than when you cook it over a fireplace ?"

Horknath made a face, but kept himself from commenting further. "Yeah, it's good", he muttered, finishing his piece. He distractly scratched the scarred patch of skin under his covered eye, and took another one. "Say. Why did the people want to keep you inside the town?"

"Oh, I killed someone," Ash answered with pure honesty, causing Valdyr to spit whatever he was drinking at that moment.