Story time with Varian [Private, Emily]

Another day of nearly empty streets just like the last, although today wasn't because of the weather but more of the time. The sun would be shining upon the plaza if it wasn't still partially hidden behind the buildings of Bellmuse, showing just how early it still was right now. Despite the current time, some people were walking around while other were peacefully enjoying a seat at a small coffee shop down the street from a particular restaurant. Varian was one of them, sitting outside at one of the tables while smoking and reading a newspaper with his sword leaned against the edge of the table. He wanted to be sure that he had taken his medicine before Emily would join him as he didn't want to bother her with the smoke.

The two of them had agreed to meet up today in order for him to tell her stories about his job as a Huntsman. Of course, it wasn't a way to impress her or to convince her to become a Huntress herself. What Varian wanted to do, knowing that she dreams of going on adventures like he does, was to shed some light on the matter, tell her the reality of how dangerous and hard this kind of life really is in order to avoid anything she'd regret, or worse, for any fantasies she could have. It wasn't a world for everyone, but it was a world in need of anybody willing to jump in.

After he was done reading the news, he began to think about what stories could interest the girl. He wouldn't want to blank out the moment she would ask something so he had to at least be prepared. He thought about the time when he was in Mystral and learned the way of the blade under one great Master, or that time he hunted with two mysterious Huntsmen in the mountain range of Vale. Or maybe something smoother to begin, like the day he stumbled on two kids playing "The Huntsman and the Beowulf" and decided to play with them for a while. He had many more memories but those were the one that came to mind for now.

Emily awoke to the sound of a blaring alarm, it’s loud and obnoxious ringing was stopped by an extremely cliche hand movement from underneath the covers and hitting the off button. Two long, slender legs slid out from underneath the blankets and onto the floor. The rest of the girl’s body turned the covers off and her completely screwed up black hair was in her face and stuck up from the sides. The girl huffed in annoyance as she threw a shirt on from the ground and checked her scroll for the time. 8:03. Emily headed towards her bathroom and decided to take her morning shower. She stripped, jumped in and quickly washed in under 15 minutes before slowly getting out with a two towels on her, one wrapped around her head and the other around her body. Her feet were wet so she carefully watched her step so she wouldn’t slip on the floor. Emily looked at herself in the mirror and got ready, she applied a light bit of makeup as she wasn’t the biggest fan of any product. She dried her hair and straightened it. With her physical appearance done she moved back into her room and threw on her clothes, the weather was probably a little chilly this October morning so she put on a dark green sweatshirt, faded blue jeans, and black tennis shoes. She grabbed her scroll and a shoulder-slung bag and closed her door. She popped open her scroll as she walked down the stairs towards Callaway’s kitchen and opened Danny’s contact and typed a message out rapidly.


Either scenario was awful, if she got a response now then her little outing with Varian might be ruined but at work, she’d have to talk face to face...but maybe it wasn’t bad? She tried to shrug the thought off and instead of taking the front doors toward the restaurant she turned out a back door and into the restaurant's alley. She briskly walked through it and out the street and down 6th. She was right, it was slightly chilly and the sun wasn’t quite up yet, however, Emily did enjoy the slight cold breeze that would occasionally blow up against her smooth skin. Several others were enjoying the morning as they walked around alone or in pairs. She waved at some customers she had served before as the cafe came into sight. Emily saw Varian sitting outside, he was smoking and reading a newspaper. Emily wasn’t the biggest fan of the smoking but he said it was a medical thing so she wouldn’t judge.

“Hi!!!” she waved at him as she approached, she typically wasn’t a morning person but for some reason, she put in the extra effort for him as she pulled out a chair next to him. She felt her scroll buzz but she just ignored it, for now, she was eager and ready to listen.

At the sound of a cheerful voice greeting him, Varian raised his head to see Emily approaching while waving. He smiled to her before taking one last puff from his pipe before putting it away and trying to force the smoke away by waving his hand. The girl quickly pulled a chair right next to him and sat down. He could feel her current energy and eagerness and it made him chuckle a bit. "Well, seems like someone was looking forward to this morning. I hope you were able to sleep and not spend the night awake wondering about today. I hope you're doing well in general too" He teased her lightly while giving her a closed-eyes smile before handing her the menu with the selection of drinks and snacks. It was the time for breakfast, so maybe she'd be hungry he thought. He waved at a waitress that was inside and she came to see them, clearly wondering why the two of them were sitting outside while they could be inside where it was warmer. Varian ordered a simple cappuccino and let Emily order before the waitress left the two alone for now.

The guy reclined in his chair and stretched a little. He wasn't used to be up this early but he didn't do it for himself after all so it was motivation enough to get out of bed sooner than usual. Surprisingly enough he had been there before Emily did, which was something new considering he was generally the one to be there late at appointments, meetings and dates. He wasn't the punctual type normally, seems like she was special enough for him to put an extra effort. He looked at her with a smile before talking. "So... what kind of story do you want? Be warned, all of them are real events that happened and I won't romanticize it to you. You get the real stories without useless fluff so you'll know what being a Huntsman, or a Huntress in your case, is really like. You're not a little girl from the looks of it, so you don't need fairy tales." He had a calm yet firm tone, it just showed that he was serious about this whole "teaching her the truth" about what being a Hunter is.