driftfleet | +1.5: Free Time Event

Of course. I'm the ship's security officer, and a handsome rogue. It would be absolutely criminal if I didn't know where to hide things.

[He pauses at the question, though. It's not that he's offended, but... He looks at Komaeda, and then he looks at himself.]

You're three feet taller than me and you're still asking that?

[The corner of his lip rises.]

I'm a dwarf. Varric Tethras is the name.

So then, if you were going to say that places on this ship are more prone to having hidden compartments than others, you might suggest.... where? [It's less an information probe and more a feel about how Varric reacts to people asking after that information. Of course if he has experience in hiding things, he won't just give up his hiding spots.]

...Haha, well, to be fair- [Komaeda shrugs and has the grace to look a little sheepish, a uniquely teen-boy sort of expression.] I'm used to being much taller than most people. Also, I've never met somebody who wasn't human before.

[bow bow polite Japanese bowing] Nagito Komaeda. I'm the ship's new pilot, I suppose.

[Varric chuckles.] Nice try, kid. I'm not that easy. [At least he's not mad? It takes a lot to get on his bad side.]

That doesn't surprise me. There's already been a couple people who thought dwarves weren't real. [A shrug.]

Pilot, huh? I take it you can't just drive us home.

Haha, well, it was worth an ask, wasn't it? [You're probably going to find that limit tested before you'd expect, Varric...

Komaeda takes mental notes down as Varric talks: easy-going, but a strong backbone. misdirects via joking.]

How could I pretend you aren't real if you're right in front of me? [But at the question, he shakes his head and smiles a little.] Even if I could, you would be landing on my home, wouldn't you? Since I'd be the driver.

[Varric doesn't like being psychoanalyzed!!! RUDE.]

You'd be surprised at the lengths people go to deny what's in front of them.

[His expression is fairly neutral, his lips tight in a smirk or a smile.]

So you're not the giving type, are you?

[But how else will he have the appropriate personality analysis ready in case a brutal murder with bizarrely inscrutable circumstances crops up!? HOW!?]

I suppose that's true. I myself am really having a hard time accepting this entire "space" thing as legitimate. [Partially because he was rather under the impression that he'd died, but...]

Well.... Maybe it would be better if we landed where you're from anyway. [His gaze snaps into a hundred-yard-stare as he thinks about what he's learned, what he knows, of the world outside Jabberwocky Island.] What is it like? [Komaeda clarifies, looking a little thoughtful:] Your world, I mean.

[Varric doesn't need to cover his tracks. But that is a good point. THAT KIND OF SHIT KEEPS HAPPENING AROUND HERE.]

I was, too. But then again, light switches are a crazy advancement in technology for me.

[He rolls his shoulders.]

I actually don't think you want to go there right now. I have it on good authority that Thedas is trying to rip itself apart. The last thing people need is a giant metal boat appearing from the sky. Some dumb bastards will think it's a sign from the Maker and try to burn us at the stake.

Really!? [He's honestly surprised by that. Everybody else he's run into seems modern enough, though in all reality he doesn't know why that would have to be.] Um, well, if you need any guidance, please don't hesitate to let me know, please. I may be worthless vermin, but I can at least offer some pointers on technology!

... [Headtip.] Is everybody in the midst of moments of strife in their world? [And maybe he's giving too much away with that question, but sometimes you have to give a little to get a little, right?]

[Varric holds his hands up.] No need to prostrate yourself or whatever, kid. The augment taught me the basics. I'm not going to start screaming about miracles every time you use the stove.

[He notes how Komaeda included himself...]

What can I say? Humans love killing each other.

Hm? [Komaeda shrugs, spreading his right arm out in a casual palm-up gesture to Varric.] Even so, I'm sort of handy with technology, so please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions.

Just humans? I'm sort of surprised.

Right, sure. [He won't take him up on that just yet.]

Well, dwarves try to kill each other all the time. That's nothing new. It's called business.

Um... Do you mean, metaphorically? As in, in business deals? Or... Actual murder?

Both.

[He adjusts his cuffs.]

Wow. I guess it's good I never did want to be a businessman. [Komaeda scratches his head.] Is there any particular reason it's so... cutthroat?

[He shrugs.]

I don't know. Because it's profitable?

Right, but... [Komaeda shifts stances subtly, moving into one that's marginally more confident.] Is there something specific about your culture that makes it more profitable than it normally would be? Normally things only get really, um, hazardous when something major is on the line, right?

Nope.

[He looks bored now.]

.... Um, if you don't mind me asking, what on earth is motivating these people then? [He's having a hard time understanding why people would just randomly decide to kill each other. Either Varric is leaving things out, here, or he really doesn't see anything wrong with the whole thing.] Taking a life isn't something that's taken that lightly, is it?

[LMAO POOR KOMAEDA. Of course, Varric is being a bit obtuse just to piss him off.]

Money is important to people, kid. And dwarves love money. Humans love money too-- why do you think people get their coins snatched, or end up clubbed in the back of the head and held for ransom?

Money.

I don't know what goes through people's heads when they order a hit on someone. All I know is this: you screw someone bad enough on a trade deal, they probably want to get even.

[He's less pissed off and more completely terrified of the person that's supposedly their security officer, not that it shows. Everybody keeps telling him no more mutual killings are going to happen, that it's safe here, that people need to work together... but he knows how fragile that kind of peace is from intimate experience. He smiles. It's a little wild-edged.]

Ransom? I mean, I was held for ransom once, but I was let go. [Be... cause nobody was alive in his family to... pay the ransom for him....] I guess people do get a bit strange about money, but it's never been much of a... [It's always been sort of a consolation prize, if he's honest, for all the other bitter draughts his luck has forced down his throat.] I mean, I guess I can't say that, can I? I've always had enough of that stuff. [He folds his arm over his waist and wonders, a little distantly, if people can truly be thrown into despair because of money.] I suppose it's not my place to say.

[Komaeda wonders to himself what Naegi would say. He wonders what any of his classmates would say.]

[You should be terrified, Komaeda. He'll talk you out of your pants.]

That's... uh, good? Most people don't make it out alive.

[Komaeda's showing a little bit of his weird side here, and Varric just sorta mentally backs up. He's bitter about something. The last thing Varric wants to do is trigger a rant.]

I think what it comes down to is that your world is just too different. That's fine.

[Komaeda would probably win them back in a freak wind storm.]

I think the main challenge was that nobody was really around to pay the ransom except I myself, so... quite a logical puzzle, isn't it?!

[Here, Varric, have a little spurt of some more crazy before he reins himself in and goes back to the main point in discussion.]

I think it's different, but maybe I'm just looking at things the wrong way. Maybe it's been like that the whole time and I just never noticed. [He looks at Varric like he's a million miles away, standing on a very cold planet indeed.]

[Varric blinks. That's... yes, this kid is definitely a little crazy. Great. A crazy kid on a ship full of other kids who are slightly less crazy. This should be fun.

He looks vaguely concerned.]

That's... something. Getting kidnapped sucks, so I feel you there.

Anyway, let me know if you see something dangerous around the ship. I'll take care of it. [He hopes he doesn't regret that offer.] I've got things to do.

[Komaeda gives a quiet little smile. It's not a particularly sad expression, but it's also not quite happy either.] Right. If I discover a weapons cache, I'll let you know.

It was nice to meet you. Thank you for allowing me to spend time on your ship. [He nods and starts to sliiiide away. The way he moves is at definite odds with how tall he is, but he makes it look less awkward than it could, at least.]

+1.5: Free Time Event

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