Looking over his shoulder, Ares saw Andrea leaning against the counter. "Long time no see I suppose one could say," he said with a shrug. With a few short strides, the war god was at the counter. His eyes scanned the items around the register, but did manage to catch Andrea smiling lightly.

"Yeah, I suppose one could say that," she softly said, though Ares caught the tint of amusement in her voice.

He looked around the shop. "So another glorious job?" Andrea chuckled and shifted her weight as if the question made her a bit uncomfortable. Ares wondered why. Why should she be uncomfortable about the fact she has two jobs?

"Yeah, two jobs to help pay for rent and college. The squirt helps out too, but not as much cause he's in high school still," Andrea said as she looked out the large shop windows. She seemed a bit embarrassed to mention that she had such a busy schedule, and that her brother had to help pay the bills. Where they really that destitute? Ares frowned for a moment. Why was it upsetting him so much that Andrea and her brother had to work to stay alive? It built character in Ares' humble opinion. He was pulled from his thoughts as she continued.

"You just missed him too. He left only a few minutes before you came. He's my obnoxiously adorable little brother." Andrea smiled at him, the smile of a sister who loves her....brother. Suddenly the scene that Ares had viewed earlier wasn't of a boyfriend and girlfriend but just a display of sibling affection. He knew that the boy was too young to be romantically involved with Andrea. Ares just knew it via his wonderful gut instinct.

"He sounds like a good kid," he said, just making some conversation since there wasn't much else to do there. Plus, Luke seemed to respect his sister a lot, or something like that.

Andrea nodded. "Yeah, he can be an idiot sometimes. But he's not a bad kid." She sighed and looked down at her book. "Oh yeah..." she said nervously as she looked back up. "Can I help you find anything?" Ah, trying to do her job. Diligent worker, Ares thought with a smirk.

"Actually," he scratched the back of my head. "That kind elderly lady was going to get me something to drink for helping her with the book order, but I don't know what is taking so long."

Andrea's expression changed to one of utter shock. "She....Jo...is getting you a beverage?" Ares raised an eyebrow, wondering why it was such a shock to her.

"Yeah?" the war god said, obviously very confused. What was so shocking about Jo getting him something for helping her out?

Andrea guffawed, beating her sternum as if it would aid in ridding whatever it was caught in her lungs. "Excuse me. It's just that Jo rarely does things like that. I guess she sees something...special or different about you." Andrea smiled again.

Now it was his turn to have a surprised expression. "Really? Wow...." Ares didn't know if he was suppose to feel honored or horrified. Even as a human, someone could tell he was different? The idea kind of scared him. It wouldn't be good if people found out he was the god of war.

Andrea just nodded slightly. "Jo is a remarkable judge of character and she can be very blunt about what she likes and dislikes, despite the fact she is kind and very grandmotherly. I don't know what you might have told her or did for her, but whatever it was, Jo really liked it." Andrea sighed and walked to the shop proper and began reorganizing things.

"That's kind of how I got this job." she said. Ares was actually confused as to why Andrea was being so open. She struck him as outgoing, but one doesn't have to be open about himself to be outgoing. He knew of many instances where someone was outgoing but not open with personal information. In fact, Ares knew that it was usually the outgoing ones that had trouble opening up about themselves.

Seeming to realize this too, Andrea stopped talking for a while and just worked. It was really annoying that she didn't finish her little tale about how she came to work for Jo. Ares wasn't about to push a matter that might ruin his first potential prospect for a friend on this forsaken land, even if she was a woman.

Clearing her throat, Andrea turned to Ares and smiled. "I doubt we've been properly introduced." She held out her hand. The proper thing to do as a man never extended his hand to a lady. She was the one to initiate the handshake. Ares smirked a little. He liked a straightforward woman like this. "My name is Andrea Connerson. And yours is?"

He panicked for a moment. What on this mortal piece of land was he suppose to tell her? Ares, god of war? It was totally absurd to think that for one moment that Andrea would believe him. But what other choice did he have? Ares inwardly sighed and outwardly smiled, taking Andrea's soft but sturdy hand. "Call me Ares."

Author's note: okay sorry it's short....I think in the past I may have combined this one and the previous two....but oh well....

Hope you liked it! Thanks for reading, please comment! ^_^