InsaneJournal

Who: Tas and Luisa
When: Mid April
Where: Luisa's place
What: A meeting of minds
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Complete



Tas occasionally drew town maps, though normally he’d draw maps of entire countries, or continents, or worlds. But he’d discovered he’d had a lot of town drawing the maps. He’d looked up landmarks in the towns and sketched them in; he’d even done a map of London that had a teeny tiny Big Ben at the end of a teeny tiny Westminster Bridge. The important street names were labeled, and the secret passages were illustrated by pale, dotted line and labeled with a fancy, swirling script. All in all, he was pretty pleased with the maps he’d made.

He was excited to show Luisa the drafts he’d made, and he was excited to get to teach her some languages. He’d never taught anyone anything before, and even he’d never actually been taught the languages that he’d picked up, but he was still pretty confident that he could do it. He’d made sure that the long, chestnut hair he’d received from his dreams was tied into a respectable topknot before he’d slung his map case over his shoulders, and was all but beaming when he finally made it to her house. He knocked on the door at precisely the same time he attempted to twist the handle to let himself into the house.

Luisa was excited to see what Tas had come up with, he was obviously talented and had gotten exactly what it was she was after right from their first meeting. She had finished the second revisions on the book so it was all falling into place well, in her eyes anyway.

When the knock came she came out of her study and moved to open the door, while they didn’t keep it locked there was magic around the house which would stop anybody from entering until Luisa let them in. “Hello” she greeted, “Please come on in” she stepped back to let him come by.

Having a house that was magically warded when there were kender afoot was likely a good idea. Magical locks remained the only locks on Krynn that could keep a kender out of somewhere where they were determined to go.

“Hi!” Tas greeted Luisa, walking into the room and looking around. “What a nice house you have! It doesn’t smell like wet dog at all!”

Luisa laughed, “Why would it smell like wet dog?” she asked curiously, “And thank you. I’m rather fond of it myself” she grinned, leading him to the living room.

“Oh, my apartment smells like wet dog,” Tas said. “We don’t really know why, but it’s smelled like that for months. You get used to it after a while though. Which just means that I really notice when people’s houses don’t smell like wet dog. It’s kind of funny how that works out, isn’t it?” Tas rambled as he headed into the living room. He took a seat on the floor next to the coffee table, and pulled his map case off from around his shoulders. “I think we can probably look at the maps first, don’t you think?” He said, pulling a few different drafts out from his bag. “And then you can tell me what you think, and anything I ought to change!”

“Perhaps the previous occupants had dogs?” Luisa suggested, “It must get annoying though, I assume you’ve tried all kinds of room sprays and things?” she asked as she joined him on the floor. Tea and cake was already sitting on another small table but it was under a tea cosy so would stay hot for a little while. “Wonderful, I’m sure you’ve done an incredible job” she had faith in his ability.

“You get used to it!” Tas said cheerfully. “I think it bothers Raistlin - he’s my roommate - more than it bothers me. But we have tried all sorts of things! Even told our landlord, but I don’t think he’s too worried about that sort of thing.”

Tas spread the maps he’d drawn for Luisa out on the table, making sure they’d lay flat before he removed his hands from them. There was four of them, all slightly different but all incredibly detailed with tiny landmarks drawn in. He beamed cheerfully once he had them all laid out. “What do you think?” he asked. “I think my favourite is this one of London. It’s was such a fun city to draw!”

“Some landlords aren’t the kind to be worried about that kind of thing” Luisa said a little sadly, it seemed a shame Tas and his roommate had to put up with that. It couldn’t be pleasant.

“Oh my god, these are beyond amazing” Luisa said, looking at each in turn and being so very impressed with the detail. “They’re all brilliant” she told him with a bright smile, “Absolutely perfect. I’m glad you had fun on them too. I would have hated for it to be boring work for you”

“It’s not so bad,” Tas said, picking up on the sad tone. “I think it gives it character. I’m not sure if Raistlin agrees, but he doesn’t seem to mind the place so much anymore. Besides, Raistlin set our living room on fire one time - it was really cool, actually. It was the first time he’d ever used magic in this world, even though he’s a really powerful mage in our dreams, so I was very shocked when he blew up that gremlin! Just ka-blooey. Anyway, the landlord didn’t even notice when he stopped by, so maybe it’s really the best place for us if Raistlin is going to keep blowing things up. Which seems likely, don’t you think?”

Tas wasn’t capable of being worried, but he was still pleased when Luisa said that she liked them. “I thought they would be,” Tas said honestly. “I usually like designing big countries or continents and things like that. And I thought just copying someone else’s map would be really, really boring. But it ended up being lots of fun!”

Luisa thought Tas was so endearing when he spoke, she loved listening to him. He had a very sweet way about him when he recited tales. “It sounds like you will never have to worry about being bored” she commented with a smile, “And it does sound like having a disinterested landlord will work out for the best for you. Especially while your friend is working out his magic”

She appreciated honesty, and was very glad it had turned out to not be as boring as expected, “You’ve done far more than copy anything, you’ve recreated it exactly as I saw it in my head and made it even better. The dotted lines work wonderfully”

“Not here!” Tas said cheerfully. “I’ve never gone so long not travelling somewhere ! But I’d be afraid I’d miss something extra exciting if I ever left here, and that would be the worst.”

He flushed with pleasure again, the warmth from the praise starting in his stomach and filling him from the top of his topknot to the ends of his toes. “You really think so?” he asked. “You’re too nice! But I’m glad that they’re what you wanted!”

Luisa chuckled, “Interesting things do tend to happen here a lot” she smiled, it was definitely never dull.

“Of course. You’re very talented you know? My publisher is going to adore them and I’ll make sure you go on their list of recommendations” Because he definitely deserved it as far as Luisa was concerned.

“It’s definitely the most interesting place I’ve ever lived, and I’ve lived all over!” As far as stopping in a place for a few months could be considered ‘living.’ Tas spent a lot of time on the road, but the only three places he had ever settled was the hippie commune where he grew up, the city where he’d met Caramon and Raistlin and decided to stay with his new friends, and now the Orange County.

“Aw shucks,” Tas said, both pleased and humbled by the praise. He really hadn’t thought he’d done anything really special, but he was happy that Luisa had liked it as much as she had. “Thank you, Luisa! I’m really glad you like them! And I’d be more than happy to make even more for you whenever you want me to!” He settled down comfortably on the floor now that he’d shown his maps, crossing his legs. “Did you still want to learn languages too? I don’t think if you ever mentioned if you wanted to learn French or Spanish!”

“Interesting enough to keep you here obviously, I have to say I am glad of that” Luisa told him with a smile. Luisa hadn’t lived in a lot of places but even with the strange occurrences here she loved the sense of community and stuck around for that.

“I love them. And believe me if I need anything else doing you will always be the one I call” It made her want to expand on her book series just to get more incredible maps. She gave him a brief happy hug before nodding, “I would love to learn. Oh, well which do you think would be easiest? Do you have a preference?” French may be slightly more useful but she’d learn either one.

Tas very happily hugged Luisa back. Not enough people hugged these days, he thought to himself. Or maybe that was just Raistlin. Tas thought about it. “Well, French Canadian uses a lot of English stuff in it, so it’s a little easier!” he said thoughtfully. He’d picked up Canadian French with ease, though at the time he’d already been mostly fluent in Spanish which he thought might have helped a little. “But Spanish is always helpful when you’re living in Southern California! I think French is a bit more fun though!”

Luisa thought the same, nothing made most people feel better than a nice hug. And she liked hugging her friends, new and old. “French then” she said, “I know some of my books have been translated for French readers so it would be nice to speak a little of the language”

“Oh good!” Tas said, though he would have said the same no matter what language she chose. “I like french too! J’aime francais aussi!” And then, because how Tas learned French was by listening to other people speak it, he to jump right in feet first. Speaking in rapid french, he asked Luisa her favourite animal, colour, plant, and then went on to provide his own answers to his questions.

Luisa sat there looking a little like a deer in headlights, “Uh I think I recognised animal and maybe blue?” she said hesitantly. Otherwise she had no idea what he was saying or even that he’d asked a question. It had been just a little bit too quick.

“Oh, well, that’s better than nothing!” Tas said, unphased. “Well, first I asked you what your favourite animal is,” and then he repeated the phrase in French, a little slower and this time with actual breaks between the words. He repeated all his questions again, this time repeating them a little slower so that Luisa could possibly pick them up.

This time Luisa picked up a few more words she got that he was asking her her favourite colour and animal but didn’t quite get plant. “Uh vegetable?” she asked him with a frown already knowing that wasn’t quite right.

“Your favourite plant is vegetables?” Tas asked aghast, though he added “légume” to the end of his sentence to be helpful. “That’s awful. There are so many better plants out there! Like venus fly traps, or the Mexican Pitcher Plant! You know, those are so big that they actually eat people! There was an entire family who went walking through the rainforests one time and just fell right in and all got digested together! Isn’t that interesting?”

Luisa laughed, pushing his shoulder, “Oh plant. I thought it was something like that but couldn’t place the word” she smiled, “An entire family? Really?” Because that sounded strange though not impossible of course.

“A whole family,” Tas said, nodding sagely. “They just fell into a very cleverly disguised trap and then they found their skeletons later, completely stripped of everything else! Now the family’s said to roam the rainforest on the anniversary of their death, luring other unsuspecting tourists and locals - though, most of the locals know how to avoid these things - to their botanical graves.”

“That would make an incredible story” Luisa said, her mind already running through setting and character backgrounds. “Especially if someone wanted to get rid of a family on purpose, set everything up to make it look like a tragic accident”

“You think so? Like maybe one you’d write?” Tas asked excitedly, the fact that they were supposed to be practicing French already long out of his mind. “Oh, if you write it, maybe I can help!”

“It could be, that kind of mystery thriller is definitely my genre” Luisa said, excited by his excitement, “A collaboration? That could be a lot of fun” she nodded.

Tas had never even considered the fact that he might collaborate on a novel before, aside from his map-making contributions. Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t imagine why he’d never thought about it. For one, he loved telling stories, and making up stories, and embellishing stories. It seemed as though writing books was the natural progression for that, and the fact that Tas had probably read maybe three books in his entire life was no reason why he couldn’t make a great best-selling novel, with a little help from Luisa.

“That would be so much fun!” Tas said. “I’ve never written a book before but now I’m not sure why not! I’m can’t wait!”

Luisa hadn’t ever collaborated before but Tas obviously had good ideas and she had the skill to craft the words so she imagined it could be a fun thing to do. It was worth a go anyway, they got along well and they could take their time with it.

“Wonderful, I need to finish my revisions of my current book but we should be able to get started pretty soon” she said with a bright smile, feeling excited about the new endeavour.

“Oh goodie!” Tas said, clapping his hands once in excitement. “This will be so great! Do you think my name will be on the cover? I’ve never had my name on the cover of a book before! I bet it would make Raistlin jealous. I don’t think he’s ever published anything.” Though, Tas supposed it was a possibility. He never did pay much attention when Raistlin was talking about work.

“Of course it will be, it will be our joint work after all” Luisa said, “I bet we can even set up a signing and release event with a local bookstore once we’re finished and it’s all published and everything” Which could take a while, Luisa wasn’t sure how long but she assumed longer than the six months it took her to complete a book. Collaborations were always trickier, or so she had heard.

“Wow,” Tas breathed, picturing the book already, his and Luisa’s names both on the cover, his on top of hers, with the title of the book on top. Of course, he’d have to send a copy to his parents and his sister. And probably one to Caramon too, though Caramon read even less than Tas did. And of course, Tas would have a copy. One lone book in a place of honour on his shelf. He wondered if he shouldn’t send one to all the people in the village where he’d grown up. He hadn’t been home in over a decade, but he was sure they all still remembered and thought about him sometimes.

“I should go home!” Tas gasped. “And get started writing down lots of ideas so that you have plenty to work with once you’re all done with your current novel!”

“It shouldn’t take me too long so make sure you keep all your ideas ready and then we can get started in a few weeks time” Luisa said with a smile, “It’ll be hard work but fun and exciting too” she promised.