Hazelnuts and plaid

[Varric]

Varric braces himself, then has to smother a flinch when there's no snicker or sly comment from his side. "Good enough then I suppose," he manages to say airly. "I'd say it was a pleasure doing business with you but I do have some respect for you," he adds, setting a small pile of gems on the table. "Don't get killed."

[GamesMaster]

"Same to you, friend, same to you."


Scotty lives in a quaint little two-bedroom cottage with an herb garden out front -- and not a few of the plants in it Varric recognizes as alchemical. Several are poisonous, others are medicinal, and still others are primarily culinary, but all have alchemical uses. Scotty is in the garden weeding as Varric walks up, his auburn hair catching the sunlight, and he wears a large-brimmed straw hat to protect his alabaster-white skin from the sun. He blinks yellow eyes up at Varric as the dwarf approaches. "Well, howdy, stranger," he says, cheerfully. "What brings you around?"

[Varric]

"Hoping to get a bit of a consultation," Varric replies cheerfully, gesturing at the garden. "On the next stage of this very thing in fact."

[GamesMaster]

"Ah, a fellow gardener I see! Let me finish this patch and I'll be right up. Or you can grab a trowel and help -- I've got a bad thistle infestation hereabouts, need to rip it out by the roots before it can spread any further."

[Varric]

"Why not just seed the area with cedar sap wet-dust?" Varric asks blankly, mind stalling out on the idea of applying manual labour to a problem before cleverness or brains.

[GamesMaster]

"It's not good for the poppies," he says, shrugging. "Bad interaction, makes the sap useless. Good enough for a beginner I suppose, but I like to get the most out of each square foot by over-seeding and companion planting." 

[Varric]

"I have suppliers for ingredients," Varric says with bemusement, squinting at the tangle of herbs and other plants. "Only grow a few basics and one or two impossible-to-find sorts myself. More interested in what's done with them after."

[GamesMaster]

"Aaaah, like that is it?" He chuckles. "You want my little brother. I'm more of a gardening sort." 

[Varric]

Varric blinks twice, head tilting just a little to the side. "Ah. Are you not Scotty? Sorry."

[GamesMaster]

"No, no, I'm Scotty. But I'm the gardener. You want John for alchemy. Or, I'm sorry, they go by Joni now I think. It's hard to keep track."

[Varric]

Well now (isn't this fucking interesting). Varric makes a 'I'm curious' noise. "Going for a more casual feel?"

[GamesMaster]

"I think they're going through something." Scotty sighs. "University has been really good for them, but I guess eventually all kids grow up and stop needing their parents so much. Not that I'm his dad or anything, just... I raised him since our parents died."

[Varric]

Varric offers a knowing and somewhat weary smile. "Ah; I know how that goes," he replies with a chuckle. "No children of my blood, so to speak, but I have two daughters anyway. Looks like you have a linked, if not shared, hobby. That helps, in my experience anyway."

[GamesMaster]

"Yeah, it's been a real bonding experience." Scotty smiles fondly. "Regardless, I haven't seen Joni in a while. Anything I can do for you or did you just need alchemy help?"

[Varric]

Varric purses his lips, glancing around a bit too casually to be actually casual. "Well... an old friend-- That is, the reason why I was hoping to speak to Joni-- well, I thought you but evidently Joni-- is that an old friend said you were familiar with the particular brew I've been stuck on. It's, uh, well, it's kind of a rare sort of brew, not the kind you find easily in most libraries," he hedges. "But my old friend, a real comrade of mine, pointed me towards here."