>>5875 Brilliant idea. I had forgotten about that one until you mentioned it.
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[x] TV is garbage. Get on with the Greek myths you promised. Add in something about Norse ones too, if she seems interested.
“Oh, you don’t want to watch that,” You say, laughing. “TV has really gone downhill in the past few years. How about some stories first? I still owe you some myths.”
She stops messing around with TV and looks at you. “Like, with Heracles?”
“Yeah. I was thinking about throwing some Norse ones in, too. I think you’d like those.”
“Myths, huh?” Nitori asks from behind you. “Are they any good?”
You wish you knew your Hindu myths, now. Nitori would probably find those more interesting because of the devices and weapons the characters used in them.
“I’ll let you decide.” You say, not turning around. “But first, how is Takiko doing?”
You hear some ruffling of fabric. “Still sleeping.”
“Ah, good.” At least she hasn’t been crushed or anything. “Well, I’ll start with the story of Heracles...”
You run through his story, about the twelve labors, telling them to the best of your ability.
“So... was this guy real?” Nitori finally asks.
“Sort of. He’s likely based on a real person who fought at Troy, but I don’t think the story is true.” It’s easier to believe this. It’s likely that if mythical creatures from Japanese lore can exist in a pocket dimension, mythical heroes from Greek lore could likely have done the same... and you’d rather not think about that. Perhaps some day you’ll delve into that, but not now.
“Do you have any more stories?” Suika asks. “These are cool. I wish I could wrestle that Heracles guy.”
Were he Japanese, he probably would have wrestled an Oni. The image is an interesting one.
“Heracles was nothing compared to Thor,” You say, grinning. “Though he was incredibly strong for a half-mortal.”
“Thor?” She tilts her head sideways in a confused manner “Who’s that?”
“A god, and quite the character.” You remember back to a tale you heard once. You don’t know much about Nordic mythology other than the relationships between the gods, Ragnarok, and the worldly structure, but... you do know one or two stories. “I’ll give you a story. It’s about his journey to the land of the giants.”
After explaining some background stuff to the religion, you get on with the story. You end up making up most of the dialogue, since it’s been a while since you’ve heard it. Your audience remains mostly silent during the tale, as you try your best to make it interesting.
“...and that’s that,” You conclude, wrapping up the story. “What do you think?”
“That was... confusing,” Nitori says, sounding a little puzzled. “But interesting. The whole story was leading up to a pun?”
You laugh. “Of course.”
“So,” Suika chimes in, “He drank enough of the ocean to cause it to drop? And it tasted like beer?”
“Thor was quite the drinker,” You say, smiling. “Think you could beat him?”
She actually thinks about it. “I don’t know. It sure would be fun trying, though! Hey, that reminds me,” She adds, looking around, “Where’s that bathroom?”
“Ah...” You look around, too, and find it without much difficulty. “It’s over there. Remember to lock the door, and...” you add, “from what I hear, good sake is best served chilled.”
“I wonder if it’ll be any different than mine?” She asks, before leaving. “I’ll be back.” Saying this, she stands up and heads for the bathroom. You hope she can figure out how to work the door latch. There are usually pictured, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to figure out.
You lean back in your seat. It seems that you’ve finally managed to net some time alone with Nitori. Not wanting to spend the time in silence, you decide to strike up some conversation. There are a few things you’d like to ask, but you’re not sure which one would be best.
[ ] “So, are you enjoying the outside world?”
[ ] “So, are you enjoying the flight?”
[ ] “So, are you enjoying our date?”
[ ] Write-in.