To say that Felicia was quickly coming to appreciate Horus's presence on the farm was an understatement. Just a day before, he'd fixed up her ailing tractor to better-than-new, done loads of heavy lifting for her, and he was already offering her companionship beyond what she'd had for years.

The occasional trip into one of the distant towns didn't really count, even if she was well known for bringing all kinds of delicious goodies. The local department stores would often pay top dollar to buy the dozens of pies, jams, and other assorted products she brought with her.

Speaking of trips into town, her storehouse was getting a bit full, and her bank account was looking a bit empty. She'd checked them both at the end of the day, and had realized it'd been almost a month since her last trip.

Little wonder.

But could she just leave Horus here for a day? Sure, he'd be safe, but he also looked like he was on the verge of imploding from sheer misery at basically any time of day.

He'd probably go insane and build her a spaceship from scrap metal if she left. Or make her some kind of futuristic blender or something. He certainly came across as the kind of person with the technical know-how for that.

Even if he wasn't one of his brothers.

Ferrus and Vulkan were the only names she had so far, but when she'd first heard them she'd assumed they were friends. Perhaps they were part of what had gone 'not well' in his words?

But she couldn't take him into town, either. He was thirteen feet tall and wearing jet black armor for crying out loud! The height alone would put him on the news, world news. The armor?

He'd never have a moment's peace. She hadn't been kidding about the Area 51 bit.

All of which put her in her current conundrum. She needed money, and to get it she needed to go into town. But she also couldn't leave him here because he'd have nothing to do.

She could give him more books, but he'd read through most of the books she owned within a morning.

Should she give him her laptop? No, his fingers would be too big for the keyboard. He'd probably get upset and build something. Or break something. She had her doubts about the second one, because as of yet he hadn't even harmed a fly.

Literally.

In the evening of the day before, there'd been a fly buzzing around his head and being generally annoying. He'd looked like he was about to snap and kill it (a mood that had taken the better part of an hour for him to develop), but then he got a faraway look in his eyes and let it keep annoying him.

What happened to him in the future? Did it really suck that much?

Well, if his armor and capabilities were anything to judge by, probably.

And so she continued to stare at a piece of paper with an empty list of chores for him.

She could have him fix basically every problem on the ranch. Given how fast he could read, she had no doubts about his ability to learn. He'd likely outstrip her for chore-doing in a matter of days.

But…would she? Probably not. She crumpled up the paper and tossed it over her shoulder into a growing pile of scrunched paper.

"Ugh." She slammed her head against the table beneath her, the hardwood not giving so much as an inch. "Ow." She rubbed her forehead to soothe the pain.

She'd scooted the table over and next to one of her larger windows, as Horus was too large to fit in her house or through her doors. The man in question was sitting down with his eyes closed, right on the other side of the window.

Well, his eyes had been closed.

"What troubles you, Felicia?" He asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked in the window. "Does your writing project fare poorly?"

She rolled her eyes at how gullible he'd been. She had asked him, in no uncertain terms, to be on-hand while she wrote. Yet he seemed to have bought it wholeheartedly that she really was just writing.

It was adorable. Leave it to the future space demigod to somehow not be able to see through that.

"Sort of," she replied. "I just don't know what to do about something." Horus hummed and closed his eyes again.

"If I may, I've solved a fair few problems." Of that she had no doubt. Someone didn't just look as powerful as he did without knowing how to get around issues. Though, she could imagine this particular problem didn't come up very much.

"Nah, don't worry about it." She joked, grabbing a new piece of paper from the shrinking pile of blanks. "I'll figure this out somehow."

"As you say." Horus went quiet again. She stared through the window at him, squinting in both disbelief and confusion. The idea that he wouldn't push it confounded her.

He didn't exactly seem the type to take 'I can't tell you' for an answer.

Shrugging, she went back to her empty paper.

Maybe…maybe she could have him let the animals out to pasture? Normally she didn't do that without someone present to protect them.

Nah. She could…

Wait, why couldn't she talk to him about it?! He was probably capable of taking care of himself!

"Grargh!" She yelled and threw her pen at the wall, sweeping the stack of junk papers off of the table. Horus peered through the window once more. "I'm so dumb!"

"You are many things, Felicia, but I have my doubts about stupidity being one of them."

"You don't get it!" She yelled, standing up violently from her chair. It was thrown to the floor, and Bacon startled awake from the sudden commotion. "I was so worried about what you'd do while I was gone I forgot you can take care of yourself!"

Horus's expression remained completely placid when she made eye contact. He blinked at her and remained completely silent.

She felt heat rising into her cheeks as she realized she'd just said all of that out loud. Horus did, however, eventually smile. It was only the slightest upturn of his lips

"Your concern is appreciated, Felicia. It is more…than I am used to."

She felt there was a name, maybe a relative, that he'd wanted to say. He didn't, though, so she didn't push it. That was his business, and it would be shared when he was ready.

"I mean, yeah. It's kind of common courtesy to care about your guests." Guests?! Come on, girl!

"Perhaps so." Closing his eyes once more, Horus returned to his meditation/napping.

"Are you napping?" She couldn't help herself. She knew next to nothing about him besides where (or rather, when) he came from.

"I am not. It is difficult to describe to someone who is not used to it, but I am relaxing my mind beyond simple meditation." Felicia thought about it for a second, but realized it made her head hurt too much and stopped.

"Oh. Cool." What? You were just thinking about how you want to know more about him!

"Before we delve further into that veritable singularity of a topic, may I ask where it is you need to go?"

Huh. Yeah, she had brought it up then said nothing. Oops.

"Oh, just into town. Remember all those pies n' stuff I showed you yesterday?" Horus nodded, tilting his head as he listened.

It was kind of…cute. Well, as cute as a no-longer-bald godling could be.

Shaking her head of the thought, she continued. "I just need to go into town and sell all of that. I'm kinda running out of money." She looked at his armor for a moment and whispered under her breath. "And I need to find some cloth to make you some clothes."

Horus's eyes widened, and his unnatural hearing came back to her.

"I'm sorry!" She cried immediately. "Maybe your armor is comfortable! I shouldn't assume!"

The giant remained mute, a storm of thought and incomprehensible emotion swirling behind his eyes.

"You continue to surprise me, Felicia." He replied in a measured tone. "I appreciate the gesture, but it is not necessary. My armor is, as you say, quite comfortable. It is designed for me to go years, even decades at a time without ever leaving it. Heavens know I have spent at least a mortal lifespan within it."

That thought was a slap to the face. A…mortal lifetime? Like, eighty to a hundred years?

In a stuffy suit of armor?

"Uhh," she started dumbly. "How…old are you?" She'd expected him to sneer or put her at arms' length. Instead he looked up at the sky and thought for a moment.

"Truth be told, I stopped keeping track around a hundred and fifty." He replied as he looked back at her. She restrained a choked laugh, instead going for a different approach.

"Well, uh, you look great for your age." And he really did. His jaw was sharp enough to cut stone, deep red eyes that glowed with power. His previously bald head had already started to grow small flecks of onyx black hair.

"Thank you. But again, do not worry for my clothes, I will happily spend the rest of my days within this armor. And I will be fine while you are gone."

Right. Well, that answered that then, didn't it? At least for now, he was happy with his armor and she couldn't change his mind. Even if she was really curious about what was under all of that plate.

"Well, I guess I'll make my arrangements to go into town tomorrow."

"Indeed. I shall assist if you require any."

"You know? That'd be awesome, Horus."