Tea Leaves and Opal Necklaces

Great Beast

Match Twelve: Great Beast:

Feliciano walked up Heracles' door. He was dropped into a world of shock when the centaur greeted him with a mug of beer in his hand. The two men stared at each other up and down for five seconds.

"Yo!" the horse man said, waving. The Italian man blinked.

"Uh... Is Heracles in?" he asked.

"Hang on," the centaur said. He turned and walked into the house.

"Heracles!" he yelled. "You have a visitor!"

"I'll be down in a second," Heracles said. Feliciano blinked and tilted his head.

"Uh... who are you?" he asked. "My name's Feliciano. I'm Italy." The centaur narrowed his eyes, looking him up and down again.

"Which one are you again?" he asked.

"Northern," Feliciano said.

"I see," the centaur said. He stuck out his huge hand.

"I'm Dionysus," he said. "But you can call me Dio." The Italian man slowly shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you, I guess," he said.

"Oh, hello there, Feliciano," Heracles said when he reached the front door. "I see you've met Dio." The centaur turned and looked at the Greek man's hand.

"More beer, nice!" he said.

"So he's the Great Beast from the stories?" Feliciano asked in the living room. Dio sat on the other side of the room finishing off his beer. He set aside his mug and looked around for an unopened can of beer he missed on the floor.

"That's correct," Heracles said. Dio perked up when he found another can of beer and opened it. The Italian man tilted his head.

"Dio sure drinks a lot, no?" he asked. The centaur downed his beer.

"I'm going down stairs to get more wine," Dio said. Heracles and Feliciano watched as he got up and stumbled down the hall.

"Is he going to be okay?" the Italian man asked.

"Of course!" Dio shouted. "I can drink barrels of vine and be fine the next day!" He threw back his head, laughing as he disappeared down the hall.

"I've seen him do it," Heracles said. Feliciano opened his mouth, but the doorbell rang.

"Excuse me," the Greek man said. He got up and walked to the door. Dio walked back into the room with a keg in his arms. Feliciano stared at him with his confused, narrowed eyes.

"What?" Dio asked.

"How do you wear pants?" the Italian man asked.

"I don't want any. I don't believe in them."

"How do you go to the bathroom?"

"I just go."

"You just go?"

"That is what I said."

"Wow."

"And what about you?"

The Italian man gave him a strange look. "Me?"

"How do you use the bathroom?" Dio asked. Feliciano gave him a blank stare. The centaur had such a serious look on his face too. The Italian man's eyes shifted back and forth.

"Uh..." he began to say. Dio covered his mouth as he tried not to laugh. Feliciano looked at him in a strange way.

"Are you okay?" he asked. The centaur broke down into a hearty laugh for about ten minutes. Dio struggled to calm himself down as the Italian man looked even more confused.