The feeling of her weight against him made him strangely more comfortable, at ease. She carried an almost carefree and weightless kind of attitude. One that made him trust her at least a little bit more. Dark ears perked up as she spoke, talking of her own monsters, how they weren't that interesting. But how could it not be when her monsters were something like gods?

As in actual gods? Of what kind? Gekirin doubted they were of the gods of his own culture, though not taken literally and not completely worshiped. Mother never cared for such things, but did have respect for her ancestors. Such an odd pack and family, they were. Where did you come from? Another question that he felt was applicable to this peculiar conversation. Silently he wondered what more she was hiding behind those pretty eyes.

"As in actual gods? Of what kind?" the question seemed to amuse her, an in turn a soft quiet smile played on her lips, something almost nostalgic as if he had brushed against a memory. Mm… yes, she would say at last, voice easy, like it wasn’t nearly as strange as it should have been. Actual gods.

Her head tipped slightly, resting just enough that her temple brushed faintly against his shoulder now the contact was casual and unguarded. The old ones, who argued like lovers. They were beautiful, and petty; impossible to ignore she went on, her eyes drifting somewhere distant for a moment before a faint breath of laughter followed. "Where did you come from?"

You'd know some of their names, I think. Zeus, Aphrodite, Dionysus... she let them fall from her tongue like old friends, lived with rather than worshipped. I didn't pray to them, not the way the others did. I lived...near them, around what they left behind. The stories, rituals, indulgences. She shifted slightly then, settling more comfortably against him as though the telling itself was something she intended to linger in. There’s a place in those stories, she continued, where travelers are offered rest and food, a forgetting of everything that came before.

Her eyes; half lidded as her voice dipped lower.

Λωτοφάγοι she murmured, before giving him the translation. Lotus Eaters, I was one of them. Most people might think it a curse, to forget...to let the world go on without you

A small smile tugged at her mouth.

But, I never minded.

—

At first he believed her story to be completely farfetched. That she had lost her mind due to something unseen. But he slowly changed his tune for he too believed in his own gods to a certain extent. The possibility that she might be something of divinity wasn't entirely impossible. I have heard a little bit of such gods, though I do not follow them, nor worship them. I have my own pantheon that I follow. Those of the eastern world of ancient times. But I have never known any to be in the living mortal realm. You are the first that I have met, if you wish to be called such a thing.

Gekirin took in her words deeply, committing them to memory in case he should ever meet with her again. Forgetting everything and moving on, is something that I had once considered if I had the chance There are things in my life better left forgotten. But then I had come to a conclusion despite it all. For who would I be without those memories? Those trials and tribulations? Certainly not the man before you. So I will keep my memories for as long as I can.

For a long time she listened, the warmth between them unchanged. There was something beautiful in the way he spoke about his memories, where most spoke of painful things as burdens to be discarded Gekirin spoke of them as pieces of himself. They were wounds, but wounds that had shaped him. When she was younger, she would have thought him foolish. Back then she had seen suffering as unnecessary, a fire one could simply step away from. The lotus had offered simple answers to difficult questions, rest, comfort and oblivion wrapped in sweetness. She, like many had accepted those gifts eagerly and for a long time never regretted it.

You know, she murmured at last, there was a time when I would have argued with you a faint smile touched her maw. I would have told you memories are overrated, that grief serves no purpose and keeping it when you have the chance to let it go is little more than stubbornness her amusement deepened at this, I was very convincing too, entire islands agreed with me the joke was aimed more at herself than anything else.

But the older I become, the more I realize forgetting takes things you never intended to lose. her eyes drifted downward for a moment. It never stops at the pain, it takes the joy too, the people, and the lessons, there are faces I can no longer remember for the first time since they'd met, there was a trace of melancholy beneath her words.

As for the gods... she began, tilting her head. I wouldn't call myself divine. I simply happened to live in a world where the line between mortal and divine was thinner than most people would like. she mused, but curiosity drew her away from them.

But what of your pantheon, Gekirin? Were they apart of your upbringing, stories your mother told you?

—

Memories were a funny thing. One second they could bring about so much hurt, you could barely stand it. The next, you hold them close as if they were a precious gem.

Gekirin smiled at Lull as she spoke, fully understanding where she was coming from. When I was younger, I think that I would have agreed with you too. A soft chuckle escaped him, a plush tail wagging back and forth slowly.

Her talk of the gods sprang more interest from him. Lull explained that she wasn't quite a god, but something more in between. It was a concept that fascinated him, filled him with a childlike wonder.

God or not, you are certainly not what I would have expected from a deity. For one thing, you are much more kind and full of life. Though you have one thing I would expect from a god. You are quiet beautiful.

It was a simple compliment, nothing more and nothing less. But it was something that he thought she should know. Lull asked Gekirin next of his own gods, the ones from his past.

My mother, Toorima, had taught us just a little bit about them. But they weren't taken literally. Just as stories and the like. So they were not a huge part of our lives. Over time, they left our culture entirely. Our dynasty slowly faded after she died, taken over by her right hand though it was meant to be passed down to a chosen child. I'm not sure if the disbelief in the gods created such a fate. But it happened all the same. So I left.

A little more of his past that she would get to see, though the rest was still locked away for the moment.

"When I was younger, I think that I would have agreed with you too" she smiled at this, the idea of him agreeing, but silently let it pass. It was the compliment that caught her off guard. "You are quiet beautiful." she was not embarrassed by such things, the opposite in fact she had always accepted admiration with the same ease she would sunlight, good food, or company. But there was something about the way he said it which made her pause, an observation more than flattery.

A warm laugh escaped her, soft and genuine. Well, that's certainly the nicest thing anyone has said to me today. the smile on her face lingered, softening as she looked up at him.

I suspect you've made the mistake of comparing me to gods you've never actually met, she said then thoughtfully, nudging her shoulder lightly against his side before her attention moved as he shared a snippet of his past with her.

And over time, the warmth in her expression faded, as she took his story very seriously and after he was finished, and after a moment of silence she would mutter, That sounds lonely

What was she like? she asked then, ears flicking forward. I know she taught you stories, Lull would continue. I know she raised children she believed worthy of inheriting what she'd built, but that's not the same thing curiosity touched her eyes.

What about the real things? she asked, her smile widening My mother had a terrible singing voice, absolutely terrible. But she sang anyway all the time; loudly and with confidence her eyes gleamed with amusement as she laughed.

—