[DISCONTINUED] Shut-in Astronomer | Varian x Reader (Self-insert)

Chapter 2 - Dangerous

The next morning, I arose and quickly got ready to head off into Old Corona once
more. I rushed to get dressed and had no time to greet my sister.

I headed out the castle gates, and quickly said goodbye to my father, who was still patrolling in front of the castle. He had no time to question anything before I sprinted off to the Corona bridge.

As I speed-walked towards Old Corona, I thought about my plans for today.

Varian.

I spoke to one of the townspeople who knew about him, and I got some information about who he was. From my knowledge, Varian is a 'wizard' who works with potions, and is supposedly extremely dangerous. Why was I going to see him, you may ask? You see, what intrigued me about him was the whole 'potions' thing.

2 years back, there was a library I used to attend all the time in the castle. Unfortunately, this library was taken down and was turned into a memorial room for past kings and queens of Corona. Though, when I did visit its calm and quiet atmosphere, I tended to cling to a few science books, one of them being about "The Wonders of Chemistry".

I assumed that by 'potions', many of these villagers were speaking of chemistry--or alchemy. The reason I was so interested in this, is because many alchemists are engineers aswell! I have always aspired to be an engineer, specifically for astronomy. Then again, this means that I could be seriously let down if this 'Varian' wasn't an engineer, or something of the sort.

But none of this mattered to me at the moment. I was passionate, and ready to meet this mysterious Varian, even if he is--well, really dangerous. I arrived at what I hoped to be Varian's home, and knocked.

....

....

..After a few seconds, I heard some rush to the door, some papers being thrown and household items being tossed to the floor.

'Jeez, this guy must be really cluttered..'

And after a few seconds, I saw the door open.

There stood... Varian?

'He doesn't look too... dangerous.'

"Oh! Uhm....hi..!" the freckled boy looked up.

"Hello, uhm.. are you.. Varian?"

"Oh, uh yes! That would be me! What do you, uh.. need?"

"I heard about you here in Old Corona, how you work with..." I thought about saying potions, but that sounded too.. ridiculous. "...alchemy. So, I thought I'd stop by and see what inventions you have! If you uh.. make any."

For a moment, I thought I could see his eyes glisten, even in his shadowy home. He paused for a few seconds, almost seeming flattered, before he snapped out of it and welcomed me,

"Y-Yes! Of course! Come on in!"

Varian led me through his rustic lab, and I almost could've sworn I saw a raccoon in the corner of my eye--but quickly brushed it off as I walked into--what I'm assuming is--his main experiment room. The tables inside were cluttered with random papers and test tubes, and overdue books. Some chairs were in places that.. should not be where chairs go. But I wasn't focused on that. I was looking around at all of Varian's countless inventions, domino effect chemical materials, and marvelous machinery. I will admit, for a moment I forgot Varian was even in the room with me.

"Feel free to look around and ask about anything! But uh--don't touch anything.. please.."

"What's this do?" I questioned, looking at a strange, mid-sized machine. It had a metal lid and a barometer welded onto the rectangular device. The machine had a tube wire coming out and into a glass test tube.

"Oh! That-That's a small project I'm working on--basically how it works, is that you open that lid, wait a few seconds, and shut it extremely tight. This machine will condense the oxygen and hydrogen, and empty out into this test tube--thus creating water! My uh.. my only disadvantage is that I need a large mass of hydrogen and oxygen to make it able to condense.. I also need hydrogen.. I also need...."

Varian mumbled on for a bit about his invention, while I looked at the machine in awe.

"....and I also.. Well, the point is, if I can maybe super-size this machine and find some way to heat it up, I could provide hot water to my entire village! Aha! But uh.. you know, I don't necessarily have all the needed materials, and.."

I listened to him, but my main focus was the expertly crafted machinery. I struck gold.

"Fascinating..." I whispered under my breath.

Varian's breath hitched, assumingly heard what I muttered and felt flattered.

"O-Oh I am- I am so sorry but I never caught your name-?"

"I never threw it. The name's (Y/N), it's really nice to meet you, Varian.", I grinned.

"Nice to meet you.. too.", Varian smiled back at me.

The rest of the afternoon, me and Varian talked about the rest of his inventions that lied across his lab, talking about anything we could--Our dreams and aspirations... and most importantly, my dream to see stars up close.

Unfortunately, the day had to come to an end eventually. As we bid our farewells, I felt a giddy feeling in my chest.

Because, for the first time ever, I made a real friend.