Precious Few at Ease With Moral Ambiguities

Upon finally turning to see the speaker, Varian was momentarily startled to see a lion standing there. Then he quickly reminded himself that the army wasn't just humans. It was animals and humans working together. Scar's dry observation was rewarded with a sort of nervous laugh on Varian's end. What a great first impression to make with this particular member of the council. Varian was guessing this was the 'Scar' he'd heard mentioned once or twice. He did have a rather prominent scar on his face, after all.

"Right. Sorry, I just sort of... slipped," Varian said. He cleared his throat and decided to put his goggles back where they once were atop his head. Just as he was about to offer his hand in a handshake, he realized how silly that would be and withdrew his gloved hand a moment later. Great start, he kept telling himself.

"I didn't see you come in," he said. "Thought I closed the door, but... ah well. I'm Varian, by the way. Alchemist and engineer." Scar might already have known that, but it didn't hurt to give himself a proper introduction. Ruddiger padded up to him and, when Varian noticed that, the boy scooped him up into his arms. His smile clung to his face still and retained a tiny bit of nerves. First introductions seemed to be awkward lately.

"This is Ruddiger. And uh... you kind of caught me in the middle of working on something. You wanna see? I mean, it's not finished yet, but I can explain what it's supposed to be."

Although slightly bothered that Scar didn't seem that impressed, Varian brushed it off. He was used to people not being impressed just from looking at him. He set Ruddiger aside again, rescued the controller he'd been working on from the floor, and set it on top of his table along with the device in question. At first glance, it looked like a sort of rectangular device with a simple hole in it. Nothing too spectacular at first glance. That was why Varian was getting himself ready to explain it. He was glad that Scar had confirmed his identity, too.

"I'd heard quite a bit about you, Scar," Varian told him. "Mostly that you were on the Council and that you lived up to your name. Haven't gotten a lot of chances to talk to a lot of people here. Probably because I've been busy. Anyway! This." He gestured toward what he had been working on. There was a flash of passion in his eyes. He clearly had a lot to say.

"I know at first glance it doesn't look like anything special. Especially because it's not finished yet. But!" Varian pointed upward as enthusiasm mounted within him. Quickly, he scrambled around to the other side of the table while continuing to explain just what he had in mind. "I noticed something when I first got here. Notre Dame is huge, and with enough guards we could protect it, but I thought 'What would happen if the enemy got past those guards?' Well, that's where this little beauty comes in. When it's finished, it's going to be something that'll stop our enemies in their tracks. Literally." Of course Varian knew that might not make sense. Nearby, he had a set of his alchemy supplies and certain chemicals at the ready. He moved to them, a bit of a spring in his step, and began to mix what he needed together.

"I've devised a special blend of chemicals which, when combined, create a chemical compound that's near impossible to get unstuck from. The only way I know to get unstuck is by using another compound I've made and applying it directly to the substance. This." He finished up with his alchemy ball and held it up for Scar to see. Again, it didn't look particularly impressive. Just a pink ball of chemicals. To demonstrate further, Varian tossed it off to the side. The ball broke apart upon impact with the floor and, just as Varian had said, the chemicals inside combined and created a bright pink sticky substance on the floor. Ruddiger saw it, and he scampered well out of the way of it. Varian just laughed a little at that and let Ruddiger climb back up on to his shoulders.

"It's fine, Ruddiger," he told him. "I'm not trying to trap you." That momentary reassurance finished, he cleared his throat and looked back to Scar. His hands found their way to being cupped together in front of Varian and a little smile still clung to his youthful face.

"Once the device is finished, I plan to affix it to a wall on the outside of the cathedral and camouflage it so it looks like part of the structure. The part you saw me working on was the remote that will control it. With that, I'll be able to active the device from anywhere within or around Notre Dame. No one will see it coming until they're already stuck!" Varian hadn't forgotten Scar's question. The lion had asked what had drawn him there. Now that Varian was done explaining, he had a moment to think of how he wanted to answer. There was only really one simple word for it.

"As for why I was drawn here? Revenge." He clenched a fist and lowered his head. It was a sudden shift from enthusiastic fourteen year old to vengeful one, but Varian couldn't help it. He gave his head a light shake before reaching a hand up to stroke Ruddiger. The raccoon leaned willingly into the touch and brushed his tail against Varian's neck a moment later.

"The princess of Corona, her family... everyone turned their backs on me when I and my father needed help the most. And I figured... if I couldn't get revenge on my own without Princess Rapunzel stopping me, I'd stand a better chance with you all. I mean, I also thought you all could use an alchemical mind who also knew things about engineering, but... there you go." Perhaps Varian's reasoning would sound strange to Scar. It might have sounded strange to literally any of the other Cursed Thorns. Maleficent didn't seem to mind him being there, though, and she hadn't balked at his need for revenge as far as Varian knew. That was good enough for him.

"Oh?" Varian watched Scar carefully. Like Ruddiger before him, Scar had moved around the pile of sticky ooze. He did make a good point, too. Thinking defensively was good for a start, but offensively? They needed to be bigger. Better, even. They needed a better way to be bad, for lack of a better terminology, and Varian was liking how Scar was thinking. The balls of chemicals already were pretty easy to transport. It would take time to make more of them, but he had plenty of resources. Blue eyes flashed with eager anticipation, and before long Varian was nodding in agreement.

"They definitely can," Varian said. "Just give me time to mix up more of the chemicals. I don't think I could outfit the whole of the army with them, at least not right away, but oh just you wait. It's gonna be a bad time to be on the Enchanted Suns' side! Oh... wait!" Hastily, Varian scrambled back to his work table and grabbed some parchment and a pen. Just as rapidly, he began to sketch out plans. His mind was already abuzz with ideas. Wicked ideas.

"What if," Varian said, "I made a second one of these. But outfitted it with a way to make it able to traverse the skies! Something like... this!" The sketch was very loose and sloppy, but it got the basic idea across. He held it up and offered it for Scar to look. All the while, he was taking in what else the lion had to ask. What other ideas did he have? That was the million dollar question, and Varian had an answer. He wasn't a young master in his fields for no good reason, after all. It just would take time to get things started.

"I do have other ideas," he told him. "When I was attacking the royals of Corona, before I got locked away, I was using these automatons. Giant mechanical devices capable of withstanding a lot of hits and equally capable of taking out things in their paths. The downside is I'd need a lot of time to work on them. And chemicals... well. I've got no shortage of them." Varian's sly grin shifted back to being a bit giddy. So many options! So little time, it seemed, and he wanted to have all the different chances to impress his older superiors. It seemed he'd have more than enough chances. All thanks to Scar and Maleficent, that is.

"I still need to run some different tests on which chemicals react to what and what their reactions are, but don't you worry. Varian's got you covered." He honestly felt like a child at Christmas. Scar really was giving him a good chance to let his mind wander. What more could a boy with his skills have really wanted? Other than freeing his father, he couldn't think of much. That was something he'd have to approach once he'd gained some better standings in the army. Once he'd gained respect.

That was what made his mind wander a bit. Scar understood what it was like to be ignored and unheard. Varian wondered if he'd be able to inquire further.

"You said you know what it's like. Being in my position," he said. "Were you ever to make people hear you?"

That was all Varian needed to hear, honestly. He was beaming with sheer joy. Not only would Scar ensure that he had the time he needed, but he also sounded interested in what the automatons could do. Once the first one was finished, he'd have to show the rest of the Cursed Thorns what they were capable of. For the time being, though, Varian went quiet and listened to Scar answer his question. Ruddiger shifted a bit on his shoulders, but otherwise the boy was still as he took in what the lion had to say. It sounded like his circumstances hadn't been that much better than his own, really, and for that? Varian empathized greatly. He wasn't quite sure how to put it into words, though.

"Yes, sir," Varian finally said. If he could do good for this army, then he and Scar both would have their needs met. From there? Well, many doors would surely open. People probably wouldn't like him much for helping this army, but Varian had thrown in his lot. He wasn't about to take it back... especially not after Scar already was willing to let him have the time he needed.

"For what it's worth?" Varian offered a faint smile. "I don't think you're anyone that deserves being in someone else's shadow. And I'll do whatever it takes to help make that clear." A moment more passed before Varian bowed his head slightly. Then, he motioned for Ruddiger to do the same. The raccoon mimicked his action well enough, but... Varian didn't take into account the fact that maybe the extra weight leaning forward slightly would cause anything to happen. The moment Varian realized they were off balance, there was little more he could do than try to stick his arms out to regain balance. Thankfully this time the most that happened was him merely wobbling a bit before stabilizing again.

Feeling his goggles were a bit askew from that much, Varian took a moment to right them and straightened himself out. Then, he glanced back to the sticky substance. If anyone else was going to come into his sort of impromptu lab, then he'd probably need to clean that up. No doubt about that.

"Just... let me get that little demonstration cleaned up really quick," Varian said. He took a moment to mix up the compounds he needed for what was essentially the reversing substance, then when he had it he carefully poured a bit of the chemicals onto the pink goop. Right before their eyes, the pink substance essentially vanished. There were still little bits of it left, but Varian would do a more thorough cleaning later.

"How many birds do we have in our ranks, sir?" Varian wanted to make use of the suggestion to outfit the birds with the sticking chemical balls. "I might need to make adjustments to the carrying situation, but if they're our best chance at going airborne at first? We should be prepared. Right?"

Somehow? It felt good to have the reassurance that someone believed in him. Someone was there to assure him that he would be heard and thus, wouldn't be ignored. Hope flickered anew in bright blue eyes as Varian's smile broadened a bit. Of course, he still had a lot to work on. The flying contraptions for the sticking chemical balls, more of the sticky chemical balls in general, modifying carrying cases for the birds to hold... he'd need to write down all of this at some point. Plus, he needed to start work on the automatons. Maybe, Varian thought, he could even improve upon the design there. Just in case they came across those unbreakable rocks, he thought.

Okay, so there weren't that many birds to worry about. As Scar said, though, this stage would merely be something to keep their foes distracted while their own soldiers could potentially go in for the kill. That part was something Varian hopefully wouldn't be present for. He still had issues with seeing blood drawn. Nonetheless, he smiled and nodded his head in understanding. As for how long it would take to prepare about a few dozen of the balls and chemicals to go with them?

"Provided I have enough chemicals, which I should," Varian said, "it should take about... a week. Maybe a little more than a week at most, maybe a few days less than a week at least. I'll need to play around with the designs for the carrying spheres. Just to see what would work best for birds to grip their claws on without damaging the carrying case. Wouldn't want our own allies to get themselves stuck on accident." He wasn't sure if that was possible, but it was best to prepare for any eventuality. As clumsy as he was, he knew that it was something to be wary of.

"I'll try to have the prototype spheres for testing done as soon as possible," Varian told him. "And in between that? I'll work on the rest of the things I want to get done." Would that leave much time for say... sleep or eating? Maybe not. Varian was no stranger to lacking in those departments, though. He'd pulled a few all nighters while working on the attempted hot water system for Old Corona, after all.