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[alchemistake]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, VARIAN. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 018.07.154.55 *** CHARACTER NAME/ALIAS has joined 018.07.154.55 <thealchemist>This thing is SO COOL okay- hey, hi, Varian here! If you're seeing this then you've reached my channel for messages. Leave me one if you need something!

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[defyingfrigidity]

[It's a similar conundrum for Elsa as well. She takes comfort in being outside, surrounded by her plants and the secure knowledge that she'll be able to sense any strange figures that come close to Solsikke. But at the same time, being outside makes her feel exposed, she can feel eyes on her even though she knows that nobody's around, and it isn't too long before she retreats back into the relative safety of the castle.

But now she has something to distract herself from that anxious feeling - helping a friend! She'd been brainstorming for a while now to figure out something to make this sleepy little castle feel more like a home to Varian, and it was only when she woke up to a new handful of the strange coins from Mana that it finally clicked.

As he opens the door, she flashes him a smile. She doesn't say anything - her tongue has yet to grow back - but instead she holds up the notebook she's been using lately to communicate. On the current page, there's something already written:]

I have a surprise for you. Would you like to see it now?

[alchemistake]

[It's sad, knowing that Elsa hasn't fully recovered yet from the abuse of the poachers. On the flip side, though...Varian can't help but feel a tiny bit of relief, knowing he's not the only one still dealing with the effects, both physical and non. Physically he's mostly healed save for scars left behind, save for his right arm, the sleeve of which is tied off at the end.

He tilts his head a little, eyes scanning the words before he looks back up at Elsa.]

Wait...for me?

[A surprise? Okay, he's...at a complete loss, but he'll bite.]

I- sure, yeah! Of course.

[defyingfrigidity]

[She nods, that smile still clear on her face as she turns on her heel and heads down the hall and to the stairs leading down to the floor level of the castle. As she walks, she writes; it's... a little difficult, doing both with just one eye, but her steps aren't hurried. She's also making sure he doesn't peek at what she's writing, and if he tries to, she'll quickly press the notepad to her chest.

Eventually, they come to a door, close to the front entrance, that certainly wasn't there yesterday. A plain brown door, no decorations at all, that when opened, leads to a set of stairs going down, down... to a basement, a wide opened area with plenty of light, which glints off of several things that would be very familiar to Varian.

Tables filled with beakers and test tubes. Shelves lined with different herbs and minerals and chemicals. Gadgets of all kinds strewn across a few workbenches, and fresh, empty notebooks stacked neatly, waiting to be filled. It's not like his workplace at home, or even Demanitus's setup, but it's unmistakably a fully furnished alchemist's lab.

When he's done taking everything in, Elsa holds up the pad again, revealing what she'd been writing on the way down.]

You told me you were an alchemist, and an inventor. Since you're part of our little family here, I thought it might be nice to have a space of your own to do whatever you wished with your experiments.

[alchemistake]

[VERY SUSPICIOUS...he may try to peek only once before giving up, but that doesn't mean Ruddiger won't be trying to look in his place. Though it's questionable whether he could read it anyway, really. The appearance of the brand new door that Barian is positive wasn't there before, though...that takes precident over what Elsa might be writing, his attention thoroughly distracted.

For good reason too, given what he walks down those stairs to find. His jaw drops at what he sees.

He probably won't ever be fully done taking it in, but he's...he sure is trying. Varian ends up taking a few steps further in as he scans the room, trying to make sense of everything he's looking at. The setup isn't familiar as his own or even one he's seen before, no...but it's still more than he ever even dared to dream he could figure out for this place. He'd been trying to brainstorm the last while, thinking about old abandoned buildings he could maybe take up residence in...then trying to suss out how he'd get his equipment, and where from.

This takes care of so much of that.

He turns finally to look at the notepad so he can read what Elsa wrote, but in doing so it's difficult for him to hide the look on his face. Varian has been prone to emotional outbursts before, for better or worse, but right now he seems too shocked to do anything. Still, the glassy quality in his eyes is clear enough even as Ruddiger chitters excitedly, jumping from Varian's shoulders so he can explore in his stead.

Despite everything though, the lab itself isn't what Varian comments on first.]

You did this...for me? You really consider me...family?

[The way he questions her- that "me"- is almost like he doesn't feel deserving of it, for some reason.]

[defyingfrigidity]

Of course.

[It's almost a break from her usual neat handwriting, because of how fast she writes that out.]

Those of us from Corona, and those of us from Arendelle... we need to stick together. We share the same bond that our kingdoms do, and in a way, that makes us family.

[They've been through hell together. They've suffered together. Elsa wants to protect this boy as much as she wants to protect her sister, Rapunzel, even Cassandra and Eugene who don't need protecting. If that's not a sense of family... she's not sure what is.]

I just thought it might be nice to have something to help take your mind off things when things start getting a little tough.

[alchemistake]

[In truth, it's only been a relatively short time that Varian truly felt part of his kingdom, let alone part of more than one. Corona had welcomed him into it's doors with open arms, despite the things he'd done...so maybe he shouldn't be too terribly surprised by this show of kindness, either. That's just how people tended to be in their neck of the woods, in spite of everything.

Varian shakes his head, though it's not in reference to what Elsa said. It's more to try to pull himself together before he does something embarrassing, even as he's having to lift his arm to quickly scrub over his eyes.]

I don't...I don't even know what to say. All of this, just...it's incredible. It's more than I could have ever hoped to have.

[He looks back at the equipment again, as if half expecting it to disappear. Like it's some sort of dream, really.]

How can I possibly repay you?