[Varian's largely kept in the middle for this entire mess. After all, he knows he's capable of being pretty damn dangerous too- take down a kingdom dangerous. But he's also kind of a weedy little nerd and so long as people get his alchemy away from him, he can't theoretically do that much damage.

...Fire powers notwithstanding.

But that comment from Reaper does bring a genuine expression of worry to his face, raising his hands and waving them in a quick, panicked gesture. ]

Whoah whoah whoah whoah, not that! Not- uh...not the killing thing or driving away thing. Bad idea! Really bad idea.

[Varian's privy to a lot of things about Fern's life back home that others are not- and while he knows Fern would agree to such a thing, he also knows that's a slippery slope into a pretty damn bad cesspit Varian's been trying to help him move away from. He doesn't want to spill all of Fern's...everything in front of the house though, so he's trying to be diplomatic, not really his strong suit but here he goes. ]

It's...uh. It's a whole thing. Putting that sort of responsibility on him? Us...I guess. [He casts Fern a worried glance.] That's what he's trying to explain. Because if things go wrong...they'll go really wrong.