Jen walked down the main road of Aegis Town just after noon, the sun high and steady, the air smelling faintly of cut grass and gasoline from the lawnmower a street over. Dusty padded along at her side, head low, nostrils twitching at every scent the wind carried in. The Arcanine was small for her species, but her steps were sure, and she kept pace with the ease of long habit.
They passed the post office when she saw someone standing near the bike rack, in front of the town bulletin board. Jen slowed a little, not wanting to startle, but not wanting to seem like she was ignoring anyone either. Jen cleared her throat once and Dusty looked up at her, then turned those gentle, obsidian eyes toward the stranger.
"Afternoon," Jen said. Her voice was quiet, not low on purpose, just soft around the edges. "You new around here too, maybe? Or someone I just haven't been introduced to yet?"
She didn't wait long for an answer, didn't press. Instead, she shifted her weight, one hand brushing the frayed cuff of her flannel and continued. "Name's Jen. This is Dusty." The Arcanine lifted her head slightly at the sound of her name, then went back to sniffing the sidewalk. "We've only been in town a couple weeks. Long enough to know where the coffee's decent, and the hardware store closes early on the first day of the week, which nobody told me until I showed up with a snapped saw."
Jen smiled then, small, more at her boots than at the person in front of her. "Anyway. I do some fixing. Fences, porch steps, wiring, a little plumbing - nothing too fancy. Sometimes people need help lifting heavy stuff. My number's on the board there if you ever need something."
Jen didn’t say why she was in Aegis Town, didn't say what she'd been before. She didn't really need to. Anyone who'd ever ventured beyond the rural borders of Kanto - any region, really - had probably seen a Jenny. Seen a stranger with her face. The thought made Jen lean back slightly to escape scrutiny that she was probably just imagining. Dusty moved a little closer, the pokemon's shoulder brushing her thigh like she always did when Jen seemed distressed.
Eventually Jen looked up, still smiling - just enough to show she meant it. She wasn't going to let her insecurities hold her back forever. Then her eyes dropped back down and she rubbed the back of her neck. "And if you don't need anything fixed," she added, "we're pretty good listeners. Don't even charge for that part."
