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Annoyance filled every heartbeat, ticking up with every breath.

Finally, the woman nodded. “Stay here. I’ll make you a sandwich.”

“You might go out the back and call for help.”

Her lips pressed together into a grim smile. “You may not have noticed that everyone is rather busy dealing with the earthquake.”

“Yet you’re here.”

“We closed because of the earthquake, and I’m prepping food for my husband. He’s a firefighter.”

“Was it an earthquake?”

“I don’t think so.” She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Fine, the news is on out the back. You can sit with me while I finish cleaning up.”

Pan stared at her, distrust growing in his stomach, along with hunger. He didn’t like either sensation. “Why are you suddenly helping me?”

She snorted. “You’re a kid with horns wearing a fur coat. If you wanted to attack me, you would’ve already. Plus, I know where the knives are and how to use them.”

Pan wasn’t sure he could take her on in a fight. She looked like she’d give an ogre a run for their money in an arm wrestle. Which meant he stood no chance.

While each god had different attributes, this was not the first time he wished to be built more like Zeus or Hera. But he was definitely not a kid. He had no idea how old he was. Not as old as magic.

Which made him younger than the stars. As they were already in existence when he first walked the ground. He was old enough to have forgotten his parents, the ones who had created the gods. He had been a child once, not that he remembered much more than a vague sensation of being held. It was as though those memories had been seared away the first time he connected with magic.

“I don’t like attacking people.” He wasn’t an angry, vengeful god; that had never been his thing. He liked parties and music and fucking. He actually enjoyed giving people blessings. After all, a happy worshipper was more likely to continue worshipping him, and he loved a little praise.

Or a lot.

Could he convince this woman to offer him a prayer?

“What do you like?” She said as she walked out the back into a room filled with shiny metal and sharp blades.

“What do you mean?”

“What do you want in your sandwich?”

Oh… “Anything.”

It took him two goes to figure out how to open the drink bottle, and then gulped down half, the icy water hitting his stomach like a punch to the gut.

The woman sliced bread and buttered it. His mouth watered, which was embarrassing for such a simple offering.

In the background, a voice talked. It wasn’t the language they’d been speaking. He tilted his head, trying to listen better. It wouldn’t take much for him to learn it.

“Shall I put on the English news?”

“Where am I?”

She studied him for several seconds. “Why do you speak English?”

Pan gave her the truthful explanation. “It’s not the first time I’ve been in your world.”

“Oh. That’s why you’re in our myths. All that talk of dragons and such on the news… I knew they were real, and they just didn’t live here. So you popped through a portal to visit before?”

That wasn’t how it worked for him, though portals between the world existed. “There are dragons here?”

That was good news. Dragons meant a nearby city-state, and a city-state meant stability, and rulers always had a Strega. And while she wasn’t as powerful as a god, she might have answers and be able to contact others. The downside was there’d be Tarikians who might expect his help, and when they realized he was useless, they’d never pray to him again.