Who: Tas and Alyssa What: First meetings over drinks. When: End of November. Where: A bar. Warnings/Ratings: Low/none Status: Complete when posted
Tas had spent a lot of time thinking of a few ways to sneak Alyssa into the pub, and thought he had come up with a few good ones. His favourite was climbing onto the roof and having them sneak through the air vents like in the movies, but he wasn’t entirely sure if that was a viable plan. For one, a big chunk of it depended on Alyssa being able to climb up onto a roof. And for another, he wasn’t actually sure if the bar had air vents that people could access from the roof.
The slightly more boring but far more practical idea involved Tas distracting the bouncer while Alyssa snuck in behind him (which was definitely not how he’d tell the story in the future. The roof thing would make a way better story). Of course, all of Tas’ careful planning was foiled when, as it turned out, Alyssa had a fake ID. He tried not to pout too much, and by the time he had ordered himself a pint of brown ale, he was all smiles again. “So, how long have you lived here? Do you like it? Have you met any wizards yet?”
If he’d asked, she’d have simply smiled that yes, she could climb onto a roof, she could probably fit into air vents, but would rather not given she was wearing a dress with a somewhat short hem. Crawling on one’s belly would be immodest.
She’d ordered herself a gin neat and sat down across from him, smiling just as sunnily at him in return. “Three years cumulatively as I had to go back to London for a few months. I love it here. And I’ve met mages, but nobody that calls themselves a wizard. I have magic myself?” Giggling, she leaned over to beep him on the nose, albeit with a finger that glowed brightly. His nose would tingle, and if he had any minor injuries to said nose, they’d heal.
Tas’ jaw dropped when Alyssa said she had magic and then touched him with a glowing finger. Ever since Anna had told him that someone magical had brought the Halloween Decorations to life, all Tas wanted was to meet someone with magic. And maybe learn some magic himself. And here was Alyssa with her glowing finger and he had just met her completely by accident. He took in a very, very deep breath. “How did you do that? Or rather, what did you do? Does your finger just glow? What kind of magic do you have? I bet it’s really useful! How long have you been able to do magic? Is it very hard? Do you think I could learn it sometime? Did you make the Halloween decorations come to life? Did someone teach you, or did you just learn on your own?” He paused to take a breath.
Tas seemed to be the sort of person who spoke in runon sentences, so Alyssa took a deep breath and responded in kind. “In my dreams I’m called a Rooder. It’s a thing passed down through the women in my family, so my mum was one, and so was hers, and so on and so on. It’s heavenly light, we’re something like a quarter angel or something. It heals people, and it’d hurt you if you were a demon. I can shoot arrows made of it, and there’s a holy fire sword in m’chest if I need it. It’s not hard since it’s something that’s passed through blood, so I don’t think you could do it unfortunately. I didn’t make the Halloween decorations come to life, nol And I just sort of woke up one day and knew, the powers start to manifest when the girl turns fifteen.” She took a deep breath, then laughed. “I don’t think I’ve ever spoken so much all in one go before, that was fun!”
Tas kind of knew that people had really interesting dreams that they always talked about, and that sometimes people could feel actual pain from them, but he hadn’t quite put together the idea that the dreams were the reason that there was real life magic here. “In your dreams? Are you magical in your dreams too?” That was kind of cool. “I mean, I guess when I dream about myself I’m always kind of myself. I think. Sometimes I’m not though, so that’s kind of interesting. Your chest? Like, a chest at home, or…” he patted his own chest, and tried to picture a sword in there. It didn’t seem terribly comfortable. How would she grab it? “I like it too,” Tas said. “Talking all at once, I mean. If you get everything out at once, you won’t forget the things you want to say!”
Nodding, Alyssa pulled her hair back with an elastic so she wouldn’t get it in her eyes as she spoke. Speaking with Tas was a bit of a workout all on its own. “I’m magic in my dreams, yeah.” She chuckled and tapped her chest, nodding. “Yeah, it just ... comes out when I need it to. It doesn’t hurt, though, so that’s a plus. I know I learned how to do magic from my dreams, but also fighting and backflips and stuff. I’ve always taken dance classes, but I wasn’t the sort to hit people with confidence before I had my dreams. Now I can.” She leaned forward, her eyes darkening for a moment. “I won’t lie, though, many people have dreams that are more like nightmares. I hope yours will be lovely because you’re absolutely distilled sunshine, but I thought it fair play to warn you that they might get dark. Mine were awful. I tried to stay awake for a whole week once, and that didn’t turn out well at all.”
“I’m glad it doesn’t hurt!” Tas said. “That sounds like it would be really uncomfortable, but I guess magic can do all sorts of things that I hadn’t thought of before.” He tried to picture pulling a sword out from his chest. If it didn’t hurt, it would probably be okay. He could cut down all sorts of bad guys. “My friend Caramon taught me to fight. He’s a lot bigger than me, but he was a pretty good teacher. He’s really big. He’s over six feet tall and built like a house!” Tas, on the other hand, was small and lithe, only 5’4” and with an acrobat's body. “And I can do backflips too! They’re so much fun! That’s funny that you learned it all from you dreams though!
“Do you really think I’ll get the dreams? I’d love to get some! You know, I’ve always hated sleeping because it’s such a waste of time. Like, I could be doing anything else but instead I have to lie down with my eyes closed for hours at a time missing out on all sorts of things. But I guess if I start dreaming I won’t have to worry about that anymore. I can do stuff when I’m asleep and when I’m awake!” The warning that the dreams could get dark didn’t worry Tas at all. He wasn’t the sort of person who’d let that sort of thing bother him. “I’m sorry yours are so bad though.”
“If it weren’t magic, I’m sure it’d hurt pretty awfully.” Alyssa smiled at him. She’d noticed that Tas was slender, but she liked the idea of him having large friends that could defend him. “You’ll probably get the dreams. I don’t know anybody here who’s on the forums who hasn’t.” She took a sip of her drink and swung her legs; she was petite herself at 5’3”, but she wore four inch heels most of the time to make up for it.
Tas lit up, his mind was immediately alight with hundreds of possibilities. He could be an explorer, the first person ever to see a particular piece of land. Or, he could be a pirate, swashbuckling out in the open seas, rolling in treasure. Or he could be a magnificent wizard who rode dragons. Really, he’d be happy with anything, so long as it was exciting and new.
But what if he was stuck with boring dreams. His face fell a little, and he looked at Alyssa, almost panicked. “Do people have boring dreams here?” he asked, a touch of dread in his voice. “Like, what if I just dream that I’m some stuffy old accountant and I don’t get to ride dragons into battle or sail the high seas? That would be horrible!”
“Sometimes? There’s a few people who’ve been here who had boring dreams, but this place has a way of making extraordinary things happen anyway. We get snow here every winter. There was a huge spider that attacked. Stuff like that will seem normal to you eventually, even if you get boring dreams.” She leaned forward and grinned at him impishly. “But I don’t think you’ll have normal dreams, you’re too extraordinary as you are now!”
“Snow doesn't seem that extraordinary,” Tas said. Maybe Southern California was supposed to be hot, but Tas had spent a lot of time in snowy regions and he once got to see slush in Texas. The spider was interesting though. “How big of a spider? That sounds like it could be kind of fun.” He gave a pleased smile when she said he was extraordinary though. “Aw, thanks,” he said. “You're pretty extraordinary yourself. I hope you’re right though. I just don’t know what I’d do if I had boring dreams. I guess I’d just have to find a way to stop sleeping.” Being bored was a fate worse than death, for Tas and for everyone who happened to be around him.
“It was a couple of storeys high, if I recall.” She smiled and nodded at the idea of it being fun. “It was someone a lot of people knew, so I didn’t fight it, but if it had been evil, I would have.” She sort of missed fighting at times, and wish there were more demons about. “If you have boring dreams, you’ll just have to find a way to make being awake more exciting, yeah?”
Tas’ mouth dropped open at hearing about a spider as big as a building. That was so much better than the dog-sized spider he’d been picturing. “That’s amazing!” he exclaimed. “I’m sure Caramon would have hated that. He’s afraid of spiders. How do you get to know a spider? I mean, I don’t think spiders are really evil in general, because they eat things like mosquitoes. I hate them. Mosquitoes, I mean. But I’ve never even seen a spider as big as a building before, let alone become friends with one. I’d love to become friends with one though! They’d be the best friend ever! Do people ride it? I bet it would be fun to ride a spider. I wonder if you’d need a saddle or something or if you could just plunk right down and let it take you wherever you wanted to go.”
“I think it was a girl who turned into spiders. Did you know it’s only female mosquitoes that bite you? They do it to lay eggs, if I recall. Spiders are hairy, so you probably wouldn’t need a saddle, you could just hang on.” Being friends with Tas was going to be a mental exercise, Alyssa figured; she’d have to be lucid and sober to keep up.
“I wonder what that would be like,” Tas asked wistfully. “I’ve never been a spider before. I bet it would be kind of fun, being able to climb up walls and make spider webs and stuff. Sometimes spiderwebs can be so pretty. But then I guess a bunch of people would be scared of me. I don’t think I’d like that very much.” Tas’ eyes widened a little when Alyssa mentioned only female mosquitoes bit people. “I wonder what male mosquitoes eat then! I don’t think I’ve ever seen any mosquitoes eating flowers or anything. I guess I haven’t really paid that much attention though. Do you want another drink? I think I could use another drink.” Tas had no such reservations about staying sober, and finished off the last of his pint.
“I loved spiders when I was a little girl. I thought they were all like Charlotte and worried about me very much. Did you ever read that book? I still prefer to think of all spiders that way, so I won’t be scared of them. They’re useful to humans, I don’t know why we’re so scared of them. Cockroaches, on the other hand. Those are wretched. I don’t know what male mosquitoes eat, I should look it up. I’d love another, thank you. Though I might not be as clever afterward,” she teased.
Tas was a little confused on just who Charlotte was, until Alyssa mentioned it was a book. “I haven’t,” he said. “Is it a good book?” He really wasn’t much for reading, but sometimes if a book was especially exciting he’d sit down and read a couple of chapters. “Cockroaches aren’t so bad. I mean, it’s not like they can hurt you or anything. They’re just a little gross looking is all. I’ll be right back!”
He slipped away from the table and through the crowd. Once he got to the bar, he glanced around for something that looked like gin, but didn’t see anything, so he just grabbed two freshly poured pints of beer that were sitting behind the counter before someone spilled them or they went flat or they got warm or something equally as terrible (people were just so careless sometimes!). “I hope you don’t hate beer,” he said when he came back to the table. He never really understood people who didn’t like beer, but he knew a lot of girls didn’t have a taste for it.
“Charlotte’s Web? It’s one of the best books. It’s about a little girl who saves a pig from being killed by her father - he’s a farmer - and she raises it. But he can talk, and she can understand him. But one day the pig is going to be killed by a different farmer, so he cries and cries, and Charlotte the spider hears him. So she weaves words into his web so the farmer will save him.” Alyssa was terribly fond of animals since she’d never been allowed any growing up, so she’d read every book about them she could. But once she was done talking he moved away like a thief in the night and Alyssa couldn’t help but smiling.
He returned with two pints and she thanked him. “I quite like beer, thank you.” She was pretty sure if she didn’t, her boyfriend would tease her within an inch of his last breath. He might love her, but she knew he loved beer most.
“That book sounds really nice,” Tas said, almost wistfully. Tas loved sweet stories about friends, and that story in particular sounded especially sweet.
He was pleased to hear that she liked beer though. “Oh, that’s good! There’s so many people who don’t like beer. Especially young people like you!” Tas was only a few years older than her, but that was nearly five whole years of extra beer drinking goodness.
“You should read it. I’ll lend you my copy, if you like,” Alyssa beamed. But then she giggled. “How old are you? You look younger than I do, I’ll have you know!”
“I’m twenty-four,” Tas said, puffing his chest a little. He’d been told a few times that he looked younger than his years, but he would always take it as a compliment. It was a little inconvenient always getting IDed, but he’d be thankful for it when he was fifty he was sure. “I’ll be twenty-five at the beginning of December.”
“I’m twenty, you are older than me.” Alyssa smiled and leaned back, sipping her beer as she did. “It just means that you can date a wider variety of people.” She was sure he was older woman bait with his pretty eyes.
“Well of course,” Tas said. “I didn't need a fake ID to get in here.” Noticing what he said he quickly glanced around them to make sure no bar staff was in the immediate vicinity. He frowned thoughtfully at Alyssa’s next comment. “I’ve never thought about it like that before. That's not really something I'm all that interested in though. Oh! But you mentioned a boyfriend before, didn’t you? What's he like?”
She laughed a little bit at his paranoia, and shook her head. “Don’t worry, anyone who cares is behind the bar, you’re all right.” And even if she got a ticket or something, she’d just pay it. The idea of someone who wasn’t interested in dating made her smile; she didn’t know enough people like that. “I did, he’s lovely. A bit older than me, grumpy, funny. I’ve loved him for years, but the dating part’s a bit newish.”
It wouldn’t be the first time Tas had blurted something out at the wrong time and gotten someone in trouble, but he was glad to see that this wasn’t one of those times. “Oh, so you pined after him for a while? Or he pined after you. That’s awfully romantic.” Tas really wasn’t interested in romance for himself, but he did love hearing about his friends happy in love.
“I think we probably pined after each other a bit,” Alyssa chuckled. “I tried to move on, to see other people, but ... I don’t know. Forcing things isn’t fair to anyone.” She still felt guilty, and wished she had a time machine, but that was a bit heavy to lay upon a new friend.
Tas was generally pretty perceptive, and he knew people well. He had travelled all over North America, spending time with people of all different stripes, and he picked up a little bit of the guilt. “Maybe it’s not fair, but all the interesting love stories have their ups and downs,” he said cheerfully, and took a sip of his beer. “And people who don’t make mistakes are really boring. That’s what being young’s all about, you know! Making mistakes and learning from them!”
“That’s true, I suppose. And you are the grizzled old man at this table,” Alyssa teased. She liked that Tas was perceptive, that she didn’t have to go into everything. It was always nice to have friends who were as quick witted as herself.
Tas couldn’t help but giggle at being described as a ‘grizzled old man,’ but he stifled the laughter and donned an overly-serious look. “But of course, my dear,” he said, forcing his normally high voice to become much lower. “I am old and wise, so of course I’m always right.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Ugh, I’ll bet that’s how your grumpy friend sounds, yeah? That’s what m’boyfriend sounds like sometimes.” She couldn’t help but mimic Logan. “Darlin’, sometimes you just don’t know what you’re up against, eh, blah blah old man nonsense.”
“Oh no, not at all. Raistlin’s my age so he can’t pull off the grumpy old man act. He’s more like…” Tas scowled, and, in his best Raistlin impression, said “Ugh. Why am I surrounded by idiots. I’m so smart and good at sciency stuff. Stop borrowing my things, Tas.” And then Tas broke out into a grin. As much as Raistlin was a grump, Tas still considered him one of his best friends.
Alyssa giggled. “Have you tried moving all of his things to one side a tiny bit every day so he thinks he’s going mad?” She wasn’t often a prankster, but when she was, she liked the insidious ones best.
It proved to be in inopportune time for Tas to be drinking his beer, for when he burst out laughing it shot out his nose. “That's the greatest idea I've ever heard! It would drive him crazy. I know exactly what I'll be doing when he leaves for work tomorrow!”
“Do it for as long as you can get away with. He shouldn’t notice it right away,” Alyssa beamed. “Then it’ll hit him eventually, and bam. Rage.” She giggled when he laughed, liking very much the feeling of hanging out with him. She was an only child, so it was a bit like having a sibling.
Tas himself had a little sister, but she was several years younger than him. He loved her dearly, but he’d never been especially close to her like he'd seen other siblings be. “You’ve got such great ideas!” Tas said. “You must have all sorts of interesting stories!”
“Oh, not really, I just went to boarding school. I don’t have any siblings, and I was a pretty good child, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t watching.” Just because she was a good girl didn’t mean that she wasn’t taking mental notes about how to be evil.
“Watching is how you learn all the best tricks,” Tas said, grinning. Particularly if you were watching when people didn’t think you were. People who usually kept all their tricks close to the breast didn’t so much when they thought they were alone. “I’ve got a little sister, but I haven’t seen her in a really long time.” About the time when he last saw his parent’s, which was close to ten years ago. Maybe it was time Tas started thinking about going home for an actual visit instead of just the letters he sometimes wrote them.
“Are you close, then?” Alyssa knew it was possible to love someone without being particularly close; she’d been that way with her absentee mother. Just because she didn’t see her much before she died (and it was usually in a wholly inappropriate capacity) didn’t mean she didn’t love her.
“Not really,” Tas said. “She’s a lot younger than me, and was still pretty young when I left. She’s pretty funny though, and sometimes we talk on the phone.” Usually on holidays. There really wasn’t any reason why Tas didn’t talk with his family more often, aside from the fact that all of them were easily distracted and calling each other wasn’t something that often crossed their minds.
“It’s nice to have family to be close to, I think. Or at least I think it would be? I don’t know, I’m an only child, and my mum and I were never close.” She tried to think of things to change the subject to, as having to say ‘yes, my mother left me at school so she could focus on career and her many boyfriends’ and then talk about how her mom had really, really, really, wanted Alyssa to have kids - it was an exhausting conversation to have even in hypotheticals.
“I think family are just supposed to be the people who help you get out the door so you can live your own life,” Tas said thoughtfully. “I really, really love my mom, and my dad, and my little sister, but I haven’t seen then in probably about ten years and we don’t talk all that often anymore. But my friend Caramon from back home? I talk to him almost every day on the phone!” That was mostly Caramon, trying to subtly check up on his twin brother without annoying Raistlin. Tas didn’t mind, though if it was up to him he wouldn’t spend nearly as much time on the phone. “So instead of worrying about your family who started your life, you should worry about finding the family who’ll be there at the end!”
“Oh, that’s what I did. And bless you for understanding. I’ve got the boyfriend and lots of friends, and a cat. That’s a family in my book. And you’ve got me now, so I’ll be your elder sister.” Alyssa winked cheekily. She was twenty going on sixty, so even though Tas was technically older, she was the elder sister. “I’ll knit you something, that’s how you know you’re family.”
“I’ve never had a younger older sister before!” Tas said. He’d never had an older older sister either, but having a younger older sister was even more astounding and Tas was elated. “I’d be happy to be your older little brother! What will you knit me? I’ve always really liked those toques with the ear-flappies!” He held his hands to his ears as if that would somehow demonstrate what he meant more than the words he had just said. “Oh, or a nice scarf! Maybe some mittens? Are mits hard to knit? I bet they would be. I can’t knit, so I guess I can’t return the favour.” But maybe he could draw her a map!
“I can make you a toque with the ear flappies,” Alyssa giggled. “What’s your favourite colour?” She pulled out her phone and tapped notes into an app she used for random reminders. Tas - Toque w/earflappies, scarf/ mittens. “Mittens are actually pretty simple. And scarves are the easiest of easy, I can do that in a weekend if I’m bored. I knit while I watch telly, you see.” Garbage telly, knitting, and tea - that was Alyssa’s favourite way to spend an evening.
“Blue,” Tas said easily. “Though I like all colours so long as they’re bright!” The more blinding his clothes, the better, Tas always thought. He had to laugh when she mentioned knitting while watching TV though. “You really are like an old lady!” he said, not with an malice. “You definitely make a better older sister than you do a younger one!” “You seem like a blue person.” She smiled at him, making a note that he liked vibrant blue. “It’s pretty and calming, but can be really bright in the right shades.” But his good natured teasing made her laugh outright. “I used to hate when people called me that, but I learned to accept my fate a long time ago. Though the telly I watch tends to be really crap, so that keeps me from actually being a gran.”
“It’s the colour of the sky, too,” Tas said. “Like, no matter where you are.” He frowned thoughtfully. “I guess unless you’re somewhere where it’s all smoggy all the time. Then it’s kind of grey and gross. But most places have a nice blue sky.” Homesick wasn’t a word in Tas’ vocabulary, but it was kind of nice having something that was always consistent around. “Do grannies not watch crappy TV?”
“Or raining,” Alyssa smiled. She sipped her beer again, then shrugged. “I dunno, I’ve not met mine. I watch a lot of that awful reality TV. I love Bridezillas. It makes me really thankful for all of the lovely people I know.”
Tas didn’t watch a lot of television, reality or not. He definitely didn’t pay attention to tabloids, and he tended to turn any conversation about reality television out because it was so boring.
Which meant when she mentioned Bridezilla, he immediately thought of a giant lizard smashing Tokyo, breathing fire, and wearing a huge wedding dress, complete with a veil, and burst into shrill giggles. “That sounds amazing!” Tas said.
“It’s mostly scary,” she laughed right back. Tas’ laughter was infectious, and it made her giggle too. It made her wonder if he was ticklish. “Does your roommate ever tickle you? If we lived together, I’d probably never stop tickling you. Or making you pancakes.” For some reason, he looked like he should eat pancakes.
Tas was ticklish, though not to the extent that he let people believe. He didn’t want to give up a perfectly good opportunity to roll around on the ground giggling after all, though the thought of Raistlin getting into a tickle-fight with Tas was enough to turn the giggles into full-blown laughter. “You sound like much more fun to live with!” Tas said. “Raistlin would never go for a tickle fight. I don’t think it’s dignified enough for him. And I do most of the cooking in the apartment. I’m a pretty good cook, you know. Maybe I should make you pancakes some day!” Which probably would have sounded like a come-on from anyone else, but Tas just genuinely wanted to make pancakes for his new friend.
“I’m a good cook too! We could trade off cooking duties.” She smiled and squeezed Tas’ hand. “You should stealth tickle your mate. Life’s too short to not laugh.”
“That sounds great! Maybe we could even team up and cook a super meal!” It had been a long time since Tas had actually cooked with someone. “Maybe it’ll be good enough to make our grumps smile!” Of course, if Raistlin ever caught wind that Tas had referred to him as his grump, Raistlin probably wouldn’t be smiling for long.
He frowned thoughtfully at Alyssa’s suggestion. “I’m not sure if I’d be laughing for long if I ever stealth tickled Raist,” he said. “He might defenestrate me.” A word Tas had heard a few days ago and had been eager to use in conversation ever since.
“Rude, and silly. He’d be out a sweetheart of a friend, and he’d have to call in a repairman for the window,” Alyssa deadpanned. She wasn’t able to keep up the sober pitch the joke required for too long, and was soon giggling. “Here, do you have a mobile?” He seemed the sort to not like technology. “I want to give you my number. We can plan all sorts of fun tricks on your roommate. But only good ones.”
Tas really wasn’t one for technology, but he always made sure he had a cellphone on him and it was one of the few bills he made sure he paid every month too, even when he didn’t have a home or any other bills to pay. His friends were important to him, and he did like keeping in touch with them (even if he could be a little absent minded and they more often than not had to call him first). “Here!” Tas said, handing over his phone. “I’m so happy I’ve met you! So many people seem to not like playing pranks on people, but I think it’s great, and I can’t wait to have someone to play them with!”
She put her number into his phone, handing it back and then giving him her mobile as well. “Harmless pranks are fun. I think some people do them just to be mean, or they do them at a bad time. Pranks aren’t for when people are sad, but they’re fun to do when people are happy. I don’t know, I like teasing my friends. Of which you are one now, so be ready for anything.” Alyssa waggled her eyebrows teasingly.
Tas had considered Alyssa his very Close Personal Friend the minute she had talked to him on the Network, but it wasn’t very often when someone declared themselves to be his friend before he had the chance. “I’m always ready for anything!” Tas said, a small, devious smile crossing his lips. “But if you think you can out prank me, just you wait.”
“I doubt I can,” she giggled. “Better we team up, don’t you agree?” It wasn’t every day she inherited a younger/older brother. Friends were important, but new family was everything.