What if I ain't no violinist?

81. Twoset Manga-ka III

Manga artist and illustrator Brett and his assistant Eddy have been in Brett's studio working through the night to meet a deadline with Brett's editor. They managed to submit the work on time and were having a well-earned break. Eddy was already lying on the couch with his eyes closed, ready to dose off for a nap.

"...Hey Eddy."

"...Yes Brett?"

"Do you ever see things on people that aren't really there?"

Eddy opened his heavy eyes to look at Brett who was still sitting at his desk.

"You've asked me this before Brett... when you drew that aMaZiNg illustration of us with wings."

"Yaaah... The thing is, wings aren't the only thing I see."

"..sounds like you see heaps of things."

"Sure, I see heaps of things.. like I said before.. auras, horns, flowers...tails..."

Eddy raised an eyebrow and lifted his head off the sofa.

"Say what? Did you just say tails ?"

"Yeah... "

"..What kind of tails?"

"All sorts of tails you can think of, Eddy."

"Oh my god... I'm scared to ask... what would my tail be?"

Brett gazed at Eddy with sleepy eyes. They looked so tired, yet Eddy saw that there was still a twinkle or two left in them which was the sign of Brett's endless creativity.

Brett smirked as he tapped his chin with his finger.

"Eddy... Eddy... Eddy... your tail would be... thin, black and pointy at the end.. a devil's tail..!!"

Eddy scoffed.

"Oh what !?!?!? Why do you always do this !?"

Brett burst out laughing.

"Sorry, I just can't help myself."

"Seriously !? A devil's tail !?"

"Oh c'mon, I'm just messin' with ya.... I would not waste your presence with a devil's tail.."

Eddy wasn't sure what Brett meant. He watched as Brett reached over for his sketchbook and pencil.

"Eddy, I'm not actually a fantasy illustrator, y'know..."

"What do you mean by that, Brett?"

"Y'know, all this talk about wings and tails.. I see them, but I've never actually written a story about characters with them... I've only ever done illustrations for fun."

"Hmm, come to think about it, yeah... so you've never drawn a unicorn either?"

"Nah, was never interested in them."

"How strange.. yet you draw them so well...!"

"That's cos I used to kill time with it when I was stuck in meetings..."

"When's this?"

"Before I became a full-time artist when I also worked in an office and had to be in all those meetings..."

"U-huh."

"I'd be sitting there, dreading the meeting even before it would start.. I just couldn't stand the ego-fest that would unravel in front of me.. everyone trying to prove something about them and not about the problem at hand..."

"Sounds like that job wasn't a good fit for you."

"You betcha. I used to doodle to kill time till I drew too much attention to myself. So I stopped drawing and wrote plot notes until someone asked me to submit them thinking I was taking the minutes of the meeting. I had nothing written down about the meeting...!!"