vatheon | I see a business opportunity

Entry tags:

I see a business opportunity

Who: Lloyd Irving and Varric Tethras
Where: The Winespring Inn
When: July 11th daytime
Style: Either prose or action
Status: Closed

The answers to his network question a while ago left Varric disappointed. As far as he could tell, there was no real pub in the city. No gathering place where people can get drunk and play cards.

Tragedy.

So he's decided to take on the task himself. Call it a public service to the good citizens of Vatheon.

Step one was to find a good location. Varric needed a standalone building. None of those attached to other places properties. It needed to be big enough to house drinkers and diners and possible lodgers.

He had walked right past the ideal place at first, but then he stopped and turned his head quickly.

Now this is a place. What's a fine looking establishment like this doing apparently not in operation? He simply must investigate.

Varric had two options: he could knock or he could burst in uninvited. Pick the lock, as rogues are wont to do.

He decided to go with the first option, just for a change of pace.

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Varric could have tried to pick the locks, but he would have failed for one simple reason: the door wasn't locked in the first place. There was no snick of a bolt being pulled back, no quiet click of a lock being turned. Just a few thumps of a pair of boots hitting solid wood floor before the door swung open, revealing a young man in a red jacket and black pants blinking in surprise at his visitor.

And he was surprised. He didn't get too many visitors here, and since Mat left the place has been even quieter. Well, except for the noise he made himself when he used the forge off to the side of the inn, but that didn't really count. It was completely different from opening the door to the building and finding...

Lloyd blinked, startled.

A dwarf? He hadn't seen a dwarf since he'd come from his world, but there wasn't any mistaking Varric when he saw him. Nobody but a dwarf had that short, stocky build, with the kind of muscles it took to beat iron for a living.

But Lloyd didn't know him. What was he doing here?

"Uh, hi," he said. "Can I help you?"

When Varric imagined what the owner of this place would look like, he thought of some middle aged burly guy. With big muscles and a fantastic mustache. Instead, he got a kid. It was both a bit of a relief and kind of a letdown. Varric may not have either a mustache or a beard himself, but he knows how to appreciate fine facial hair.

"Greetings," he said, putting on his best merchant voice and giving a small bow. "The name's Varric Tethras. I was just passing by when I couldn't help but notice this fine establishment you have here and my curiosity got the better of me."

A little bit of flattery goes a long way and he is, for once, telling the absolute whole truth. About fifty percent of Kirkwall would pass out in disbelief if they discovered that fact. The other half wouldn't believe it.

"I've been looking all over this city to find a place like this. It doesn't happen to have any hours of operation, does it?"

If Lloyd had been privy to Varric's thoughts, he would have protested loudly being called a kid. He'd turned eighteen, so that made him an adult.

...never mind if he was still a kid compared to Varric.

As it is, though, the flattery didn't quite hit the mark. Lloyd shifted on his feet, looking vaguely embarrassed. "Thanks, but I can't really take any credit for it. I live here, and I guess it belongs to me now, but the people who built it left." Thinking about it still brought a brief pang. He didn't like losing friends, even knowing they'd just gone back to their world.

Confusion flickered across his face, briefly furrowing his brows. "Hours of operation?" he echoed. Then, a moment later, it clicked. "Oh! Uh, it doesn't really have any. Nobody really uses this place but me. Why? Were you looking for something to drink?"

"Kind of," Varric answered. So this guy was the only one in the place? Once again, tragic. "It's true I was looking for a place to drink alcohol, even crappy ones that taste like wyvern piss. But it's not just the drink, it's also the atmosphere I'm after. That feeling you get when you walk into a tavern and you feel like you're equally surrounded by friends and by enemies. Sometimes the two are not mutually exclusive."

He gestures to Vatheon's...skyline (oceanline?) behind him.

"This city is new and fascinating to me and all, but I was looking for something that could remind me of my home."

Varric likes Vatheon, he really does. But at the same time, he misses the shady and dingy feel of Kirkwall. He lived in the tavern there, so it was only natural that he would seek out a place like it. It's a matter of feeling comfortable, especially when you're a dwarf who does not like the ocean.

Lloyd thought he knew what Varric was talking about. Traveling across the land in two worlds, he'd been in his fair share of inns and taverns. He could remember that feeling whenever he walked into one after walking on dusty, boring roads for days. Everything was new and the people were different. Sometimes the whole room felt charged with excitement. It hadn't ever occurred to him to connect it with danger, though. Uncertain skepticism crossed his face. "Why would someone want to have enemies in an inn?" That didn't make sense to him.

Shaking his head, he smiled and gestured for Varric to come in if he wanted. There wasn't any reason to keep the dwarf standing in the door, and Lloyd couldn't help but admit to curiosity. "I'm Lloyd, by the way. Where are you from? You're the first dwarf I've seen since I got here."

It's not that Varric wants to have enemies drinking in the same pub as him, it's just a simple unavoidable fact of life. Even someone as charming and charismatic as him has enemies.

Lloyd's words interest him, because the guy was the first person to recognize him as a dwarf. (Anders doesn't count. He already knew.) Varric had suspected he was the only dwarf currently residing in the bubble, as he's actually had to explain to people that he was just really short and that was normal. Could it be that this kid was from Thedas as well? But what he's wearing didn't look like any style of clothing that Varric recognized.

"Kirkwall, city of imposing structures and oppression," he answered with a smirk. Although he seems to speak ill of his home, he really is affectionate towards it. He takes an opportunity to step inside and take a quick look across the area, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. It was like stepping into a portal back to familiar territory, that was sure. The bar looked like it was begging to be used, and a good cook could work miracles in that kitchen. "Damn, this place looks even better on the inside."

"I'm from Iselia," Lloyd answered in kind, figuring it was only fair to share that since he'd asked about the dwarf's home first. "I've never heard of Kirkwall." Which... actually, when he thought about it, there could be more than one reason for. He wasn't really the greatest at geography even in his own world of Sylvarant, let alone the geography of Tethe'alla, the world connected to his. Maybe Kirkwall was in Tethe'alla. Or maybe it was someplace deep underground where only dwarves ever went. "What's the name of your world? Mine's Sylvarant."

As Varric took the opportunity to examine the common room of the inn, Lloyd moved around back behind the bar. Just because the place wasn't in use didn't mean there weren't things to drink. Either Mat, Rand, or Perrin had stocked the bar with a few various things - nothing Lloyd wanted to risk drinking himself, not after the last experience he'd had with alcohol, but if Varric was anything like his adoptive father, Dirk, he'd probably appreciate it far more than Lloyd.

Pulling out a bottle, he held it up. "You want anything to drink... uh...?" He blinked, realizing something. "I don't think I caught your name."

"Varric Tethras," the dwarf answered. "From the city of Kirkwall in the Free Marches in Thedas." He's said that so many times in the past month it became second nature. "And absolutely I would like a drink."

He takes a peek at the bottle in Lloyd's hand. It's not any maker he recognizes, which was to be expected. It just makes him all the more curious about it.

"Is that something from your world?"

"Varric, huh?" Lloyd felt a brief flash of disappointment as Varric's following answer. None of those names sounded familiar. "It looks like we're not from the same world, then." And if Thedas was the name of his world, then he wasn't from Tethe'alla either. "I guess it makes sense that dwarves would be in more than one world, if humans and elves are, too." Humans, elves, dwarves, and who knew how many other races.

It only took him a moment of rummaging around under the counter to find a glass to pour some of the amber liquid into. He passed the glass and the bottle over to the dwarf. He shook his head. "I don't think so. I mean, there's beer in my world, but I've never heard of this kind." Not that he knew every kind of beer people made, but he figured it was a pretty safe bet. Most of the beer he'd seen didn't even come in bottles like this. "Mat probably got it from one of the shops where they sell it for free, or maybe Nostalgia Nook. You can get things from people's worlds there." You just had to give the shopkeepers there starfish tokens first.

Taking a sip from the glass, Varric found the taste to be better than he was used to. Of course, what he was used to was stuff that tasted terrible, but did a fine job of getting a person drunk. Most people he knew were in it for that particular effect rather than a tasty beverage. He took note of Lloyd's mention of elves. That's three out of the four races, he was just waiting at that point for a mention of Qunari.

"Not bad. Not bad at all. Have you thought about opening this place to the public?" he asked, setting his glass back down on the table. Lloyd certainly knew how to show good hospitality to guests if the way he was treating Varric was any indication. "Not even for money, just for something to do."

Even if the answer was no, Varric was still glad he dropped by. It was quite heartwarming to see this place and to meet someone who knows how to treat a dwarf well.

That mention of Qunari wasn't going to come. Lloyd knew there were other races, even others in his world, but those three he'd mentioned were the only ones he'd seen in Vatheon too. Besides, with the conversation moving on, that topic was quickly slipping to the back of his mind.

"Opening it up?" he echoed the suggestion, a mixture of surprise and interest on his face. "No, I never thought about it. I mean, when I moved here, it wasn't my place. I guess..." He rolled the thought over in his head, but couldn't find anything wrong with it. "Mat was worried when he was here that one of his enemies would show up, but it never happened and he's not here..." And it had been long enough that it didn't look like he was going to come back soon, either. "You know, I don't think they'd mind if I did do something here. I just-"

Oh. Oh, there was a flaw with his plan. He rubbed his neck, a little embarrassed to admit this. "I, uh, don't exactly know that much about what kinds of things to serve. Like I said, Mat bought that beer. I wouldn't know what to stock the bar with."

"That's no problem," Varric said as he moved to give Lloyd a pat on the back. He had it all planned out in his head, being the genius that he is. He looked a little lost in thought. Yes, yes, this could work. And the best part is, no remodeling would be required. All they needed to do was clean the place up a bit. Only a bit though, some people liked their chosen drinking places to be kind of dingy. "I would be happy to help you with that. In fact, I know a guy who's interested in bartending. Jade Curtiss, looks like he knows his way around a drink or two."

That dais would be a perfect place for him to tell his stories. He could probably reach the whole room from there if he spoke loudly enough.

"I also know someone who might be willing to be a bouncer. Saber. Tough lady, easy on the eyes for a human too. If it's money you're worried about, we can talk about that too. You own this place, so obviously, you deserve a cut of the profits."

Varric would be happy to give Lloyd most of the profits. Money is nice, but the there are other benefits to an operating inn that he was more interested in, and that would be payment enough for it opening up.

Money wasn't really a huge motivating factor for Lloyd in this place, not when so much of what he wanted was free. Still, there were times when he wanted to pick things up from Nostalgia Nook. Besides, what young man doesn't occasionally dream of being rich? Easier still to do so when Lloyd gets caught up in the picture Varric paints.

"If you can find people to help run it, I don't see why we can't do it! We can talk about money after you figure out what you'll charge, and how much you're gonna pay the other people." Hmm, is there anything Varric should know first, though? Actually, come to think of it... "Just so you know, I use the forge out back sometimes. I can try to use it only during the day, but I do make noise when I do. Is that gonna be a problem?"

"That's no problem at all," Varric said. "It's your place, after all. You're free to do whatever you want in it. If people don't like it, they can leave."

Forcibly, if necessary.

"I'm genuinely excited. We'll make this a place that all the other bars and whatnot absolutely green with envy." Varric has to pause for a second. Why is green the color of envy? It doesn't make sense. You would think it would be gold. He held out a hand for Lloyd. "It'll be a pleasure doing buisness with you, Serah."

Grinning, Lloyd reached out for and grabbed Varric's hand, giving it a firm shake without any hesitation to seal the deal between them. "Lloyd," he corrected the other cheerfully, mistaking what he meant by Serah. "And I'm looking forward to it now, too! Feel free to come and go whenever you want. You don't need to knock unless it's my door upstairs." Varric would no doubt need to come and go a lot, both in getting this place ready and in actually running it.

Speaking of getting it ready, though... "Let me know if you need anything!" Together, they could probably get this place ready in no time, and that wasn't even counting who all else Varric brought to help.

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