Varric and Rahne, Backdated to 3/17/16
Mar. 16th, 2016 06:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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om_mainVarric invites Rahne down to his workshop to unveil what he's been working on for the last few weeks. She ends up getting talked into a celebratory dinner, and dress-shopping.
Varric had sent Rahne a text just a few minutes ago. He had a look that showed just how pleased he was with himself, looking at the finished product on his workbench. He'd told Rahne which workshop to go to; Varric called them workshops, rather than labs, because Varric used his as more of a workshop. The word 'laboratory' evoked images of chemicals, safety goggles, and lab coats. There was a decided lack of lab coats in his workshop. It did have lumber of varying cuts and sizes, various power tools, clamps and vices mounted to tables and walls, and of course the stone-topped workstation he was sitting at now, with the veiled mound atop it.
All he was waiting for was Rahne to show up. Hopefully she wouldn't mind the smell of sawdust. Varric found the cedar and pine to keep the place smelling nice enough that he wasn't bothered.
Rahne was at a loss as to why she had been called upon, but for Varric she was happy to drop what she was doing and head down to the labs. And, in fact, she put a bit of a hurry on it in case he needed help with something. Like a trash can fire. In the empty hallways between her room and his lab, she got on at an easy jog, and it was not long before she was letting herself in. No smoke. Good sign.
"Rosie! Glad you could make it," he said with a smile, turning around on his work stool. He stood up and pushed the stool aside, revealing his work table with the veiled mound atop it. "I wanted to show you something. Might not exactly be your kind of thing, but I made it for myself. I wanted you to be the first one to see her."
She was looking around as she came in, but nothing seemed out of place other than the veiled mound. She came up and rested her forearms lightly on the table. "This is what you've been down here working on?" Many a time had she texted him, only to hear that he was in his workshop. But he had kept the nature of the project to himself.
"Yeah. Something of a little secret. After hearing about some of the nasty things that happen sometimes to kids around this school, I figured that a guy like me could use some protection. Decided to make my own." He smiled at the veiled object on his table, and rested his fingers lightly atop it, grasping the fabric. "You want to see?" he asked.
"Of course I do!" Though she had hoped it would be something a little more cheerful. But she supposed that he was right--his mutation didn't equip him with the same kind of protection that hers did.
"Well, then, Rosie..." He pulled the veil off with a showman's flourish, revealing a rifle-like crossbow with its four arms, rather than just two, folded against the sides of the body. It had brass embellishments up the side, a brass plate bolted onto the rear of the stock, where it would meet his shoulder. It was contoured to fit his shoulder and his specifically, and the trigger grouping (which featured, oddly, two triggers, side-by-side) was all brass as well. The arms of the crossbow were riveted and reinforced with brass, and beautifully made, stained a lighter shade than the darker body, The end of the crossbow's barrel was fitted with brass as well. It was clearly intended to load internally, but Varric had concealed the breach opening and hinge so well that was near-invisible to the untrained eye.
"Meet Bianca," he said, fondly. "Bianca, this is Rosie. I hope you two ladies can play nice together," he said, smiling at Rahne.
Rahne's eyes didn't even know where to rest on the elaborate crossbow. "Bianca? You named your crossbow Bianca?"
"Yep," Varric replied, simply. "And she's a beauty, isn't she? Been working on her for weeks. Totally unique design and operation. Did the entire thing from scratch." Fondness for the crossbow, as well as the craft, was evident in his tone. He almost sounded like a proud father, or maybe a proud husband.
"This is...wow." She reached for it, but shied away from touching it at the last moment. "I was expecting a gun."
"I value my hearing a bit too much to be shooting a gun. Besides, guns and bows get plenty of attention in media and movies. Crossbows? Not so much. Besides, building and customizing a bow is fun, but it takes only a couple of days if you have a solid idea and all the things you need available. Building a crossbow from scratch is a bit more rewarding and time-consuming. Besides, I wanted to make something that other people would have trouble using if they got their hands on it. Makes it harder to turn it against me, if I do end up getting snatched." Not impossible, of course. Probably anyone with time, half a brain and desire could figure out which trigger combinations were draw, load, and fire, but it didn't matter.
"I'm working on a launcher for a net or bolas that will fit under the barrel, but that's a bit more tricky." Mostly because he'd have to choose between one or the other, and he'd have to craft either one by hand. He was leaning more toward bolas, anyway; they were a bit more compact, and easier to produce in large quantities.
"I guess I just assumed because you're American..." They sure liked their guns here. "A crossbow named Bianca that fires nets is the last thing I expected."
"Don't get it wrong, Rosie. Bianca here fires custom-made bolts. Shafts are lightweight, aluminum construction. Stabilizers are angled just so to give the bolt a spin as it flies, to help it fly true. I've been experimenting with broad-head bolts, and then some that have a three-point cross-section, and four-point cross-sections," he said. "Boring mechanical stuff," he chuckled. "I just wanted to show her off to you. With how much time you and I spend together, I didn't want Bianca going and getting jealous on me."
She was glad he had excused her from trying to comment on all that technical talk. "Well, she has nothing to worry about," Rahne assured him. A bit nervously.
He chuckled. "Anyway. I was thinking that I've earned a bit of a celebration, maybe heading out for dinner or something like that. You want to come out with me? It'll be my treat. I just like company."
"That sounds very nice, yes." She couldn't keep herself from flushing a bit. "I'd like to."
"Great," he said, pulling out his smartphone and swiping around on a few things. "It's a bit tight to get reservations, but I think dropping the name 'Tethras' will free up some places. I'm not usually one to step on toes, but hey, I just finished up one heck of a project. I think it's time I treated myself to something nice. And you, for that matter." He smiled, and then looked at her for a few moments.
"You want to go shopping?" he asked, out of the blue.
She pictured her wallet and mentally counted the bills inside. "Shopping for what?"
"For you," he said, with a smile. "A nice dinner calls for a nice dress. I've spent so much time dressing up this lucky lady," he said, gesturing to Bianca, "that I wouldn't mind letting you get dressed up, too. That is, if you want to," he said. He could always reserve a place with a more casual dress code. He wouldn't mind. He was mostly in it for the food, relaxation, and company.
Now she was double-counting. "I...I don't know if I can afford that," she admitted sadly.
"You don't need to worry about that, Rosie. I spend money on Bianca, I spend money on you. And don't you so much as glance at price-tags. C'mon. Plenty of hours left in the day, and New York's the place for fashion on this side of the globe. Let's take a drive and see what we can find," he suggested.
"Well..." She glanced at the crossbow. The way he talked, she had this crazy feeling like it was watching and judging her. "Alright. You always talk me into things, anyway."
"Great," he said, walking up beside her and offering his arm in a gentlemanly fashion. "Shall we, then?" he asked, ready to head out and lock up his workshop. Didn't want anyone getting their paws on Bianca, after all. She was his.
Rahne grinned, and slipped her arm through his. It felt nice to be escorted by a nice boy. Maybe she could talk herself into feeling comfortable wearing glamorous clothes and walking around New York like a celebrity.
Varric had sent Rahne a text just a few minutes ago. He had a look that showed just how pleased he was with himself, looking at the finished product on his workbench. He'd told Rahne which workshop to go to; Varric called them workshops, rather than labs, because Varric used his as more of a workshop. The word 'laboratory' evoked images of chemicals, safety goggles, and lab coats. There was a decided lack of lab coats in his workshop. It did have lumber of varying cuts and sizes, various power tools, clamps and vices mounted to tables and walls, and of course the stone-topped workstation he was sitting at now, with the veiled mound atop it.
All he was waiting for was Rahne to show up. Hopefully she wouldn't mind the smell of sawdust. Varric found the cedar and pine to keep the place smelling nice enough that he wasn't bothered.
Rahne was at a loss as to why she had been called upon, but for Varric she was happy to drop what she was doing and head down to the labs. And, in fact, she put a bit of a hurry on it in case he needed help with something. Like a trash can fire. In the empty hallways between her room and his lab, she got on at an easy jog, and it was not long before she was letting herself in. No smoke. Good sign.
"Rosie! Glad you could make it," he said with a smile, turning around on his work stool. He stood up and pushed the stool aside, revealing his work table with the veiled mound atop it. "I wanted to show you something. Might not exactly be your kind of thing, but I made it for myself. I wanted you to be the first one to see her."
She was looking around as she came in, but nothing seemed out of place other than the veiled mound. She came up and rested her forearms lightly on the table. "This is what you've been down here working on?" Many a time had she texted him, only to hear that he was in his workshop. But he had kept the nature of the project to himself.
"Yeah. Something of a little secret. After hearing about some of the nasty things that happen sometimes to kids around this school, I figured that a guy like me could use some protection. Decided to make my own." He smiled at the veiled object on his table, and rested his fingers lightly atop it, grasping the fabric. "You want to see?" he asked.
"Of course I do!" Though she had hoped it would be something a little more cheerful. But she supposed that he was right--his mutation didn't equip him with the same kind of protection that hers did.
"Well, then, Rosie..." He pulled the veil off with a showman's flourish, revealing a rifle-like crossbow with its four arms, rather than just two, folded against the sides of the body. It had brass embellishments up the side, a brass plate bolted onto the rear of the stock, where it would meet his shoulder. It was contoured to fit his shoulder and his specifically, and the trigger grouping (which featured, oddly, two triggers, side-by-side) was all brass as well. The arms of the crossbow were riveted and reinforced with brass, and beautifully made, stained a lighter shade than the darker body, The end of the crossbow's barrel was fitted with brass as well. It was clearly intended to load internally, but Varric had concealed the breach opening and hinge so well that was near-invisible to the untrained eye.
"Meet Bianca," he said, fondly. "Bianca, this is Rosie. I hope you two ladies can play nice together," he said, smiling at Rahne.
Rahne's eyes didn't even know where to rest on the elaborate crossbow. "Bianca? You named your crossbow Bianca?"
"Yep," Varric replied, simply. "And she's a beauty, isn't she? Been working on her for weeks. Totally unique design and operation. Did the entire thing from scratch." Fondness for the crossbow, as well as the craft, was evident in his tone. He almost sounded like a proud father, or maybe a proud husband.
"This is...wow." She reached for it, but shied away from touching it at the last moment. "I was expecting a gun."
"I value my hearing a bit too much to be shooting a gun. Besides, guns and bows get plenty of attention in media and movies. Crossbows? Not so much. Besides, building and customizing a bow is fun, but it takes only a couple of days if you have a solid idea and all the things you need available. Building a crossbow from scratch is a bit more rewarding and time-consuming. Besides, I wanted to make something that other people would have trouble using if they got their hands on it. Makes it harder to turn it against me, if I do end up getting snatched." Not impossible, of course. Probably anyone with time, half a brain and desire could figure out which trigger combinations were draw, load, and fire, but it didn't matter.
"I'm working on a launcher for a net or bolas that will fit under the barrel, but that's a bit more tricky." Mostly because he'd have to choose between one or the other, and he'd have to craft either one by hand. He was leaning more toward bolas, anyway; they were a bit more compact, and easier to produce in large quantities.
"I guess I just assumed because you're American..." They sure liked their guns here. "A crossbow named Bianca that fires nets is the last thing I expected."
"Don't get it wrong, Rosie. Bianca here fires custom-made bolts. Shafts are lightweight, aluminum construction. Stabilizers are angled just so to give the bolt a spin as it flies, to help it fly true. I've been experimenting with broad-head bolts, and then some that have a three-point cross-section, and four-point cross-sections," he said. "Boring mechanical stuff," he chuckled. "I just wanted to show her off to you. With how much time you and I spend together, I didn't want Bianca going and getting jealous on me."
She was glad he had excused her from trying to comment on all that technical talk. "Well, she has nothing to worry about," Rahne assured him. A bit nervously.
He chuckled. "Anyway. I was thinking that I've earned a bit of a celebration, maybe heading out for dinner or something like that. You want to come out with me? It'll be my treat. I just like company."
"That sounds very nice, yes." She couldn't keep herself from flushing a bit. "I'd like to."
"Great," he said, pulling out his smartphone and swiping around on a few things. "It's a bit tight to get reservations, but I think dropping the name 'Tethras' will free up some places. I'm not usually one to step on toes, but hey, I just finished up one heck of a project. I think it's time I treated myself to something nice. And you, for that matter." He smiled, and then looked at her for a few moments.
"You want to go shopping?" he asked, out of the blue.
She pictured her wallet and mentally counted the bills inside. "Shopping for what?"
"For you," he said, with a smile. "A nice dinner calls for a nice dress. I've spent so much time dressing up this lucky lady," he said, gesturing to Bianca, "that I wouldn't mind letting you get dressed up, too. That is, if you want to," he said. He could always reserve a place with a more casual dress code. He wouldn't mind. He was mostly in it for the food, relaxation, and company.
Now she was double-counting. "I...I don't know if I can afford that," she admitted sadly.
"You don't need to worry about that, Rosie. I spend money on Bianca, I spend money on you. And don't you so much as glance at price-tags. C'mon. Plenty of hours left in the day, and New York's the place for fashion on this side of the globe. Let's take a drive and see what we can find," he suggested.
"Well..." She glanced at the crossbow. The way he talked, she had this crazy feeling like it was watching and judging her. "Alright. You always talk me into things, anyway."
"Great," he said, walking up beside her and offering his arm in a gentlemanly fashion. "Shall we, then?" he asked, ready to head out and lock up his workshop. Didn't want anyone getting their paws on Bianca, after all. She was his.
Rahne grinned, and slipped her arm through his. It felt nice to be escorted by a nice boy. Maybe she could talk herself into feeling comfortable wearing glamorous clothes and walking around New York like a celebrity.
