Ant Guy

“Hmmm, I’ve been thinking about this…are you also my bird keeper because you’re married to The Manager?”

“They’re so confusing!” She huffed. “They’re obviously my bird keeper because I’m in here and all of that but they seem to be hesitant to be that. It’s not that big of a deal. Besides, they’re a really good one! Never clipped my wings or nothin”

She whined and shook her head like denying a trivial matter rather than her literal identity, “No, I go flap flap. Birds do that. I get treated like a bird so I am one.”

“Hmmm…what if I just start cawing super loud and only stay in my bird form,” she tapped her chin dramatically. “And I’ll make a ton of messes and shit on your head.”

"You'd still be a person. Nothing you can do will ever change that."

“Hmmm, I’ve been thinking about this…are you also my bird keeper because you’re married to The Manager?”

“They’re so confusing!” She huffed. “They’re obviously my bird keeper because I’m in here and all of that but they seem to be hesitant to be that. It’s not that big of a deal. Besides, they’re a really good one! Never clipped my wings or nothin”

She whined and shook her head like denying a trivial matter rather than her literal identity, “No, I go flap flap. Birds do that. I get treated like a bird so I am one.”

“Hmmm…what if I just start cawing super loud and only stay in my bird form,” she tapped her chin dramatically. “And I’ll make a ton of messes and shit on your head.”

“I figure if I’m restrained in some way that could make you feel safer.”

“Okay. But you’re still hurt. And I want to make things right.”

“I mean so you can trust me. I want to make it so you can trust me to help you.”

“You can. But you don’t. And I want to make that better.”

“Let’s not make it smaller either.”

“… please. Just tell me how I can fix it. I know you don’t trust me. I know you’re scared. That’s okay. I just want to fix it.”

“Seriously, I promise you’ve done enough,” she breathily chuckled but it was too forced, too unnatural. “It’s up to me to fix this now. You don’t need to worry about it. I don’t want to cause any more fighting.”

“This won’t cause more fighting, I swear.”

“Okay. How would you deal with it yourself?”

“Just…get over it?” She shrugged as if that was obvious.

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t really know how to describe it other than that. Stop thinking about it, ignore it, distract myself. It’ll fade eventually.”

“… that isn’t how that works.”

“Hey in my…” yeah, she didn’t track of her age. “In my many years of living, it has worked for most cases.”

“And if even one thing managed to trigger that old, forgotten terror? Would it go away?”

“No…but then I just repeat the same process. I don’t get the point of this. I just need to know how we get through this together.”

“We get through it by me doing whatever is needed for you to feel safe.”

“I don’t really know what that entails…”

“… mostly me doing literally whatever you want me to do.”

“I don’t really need a lot…I don’t know,” she thought for a moment. “Could I request some changes to my room?”

“Absolutely.”

“Oh, that was…way easier for you than I thought…wow,” she laughed. “Is there the other stuff up there too? Thank you so much.”

“Of course! There’s just a few perches, like in my Lili’s play room, but I can add some platforms and hammocks as well if you’d like.”

“Yes, please,” her shoulders softened, the first good sign. “That would be amazing. Why does your daughter have perches in her playroom though?”

“Ah— right. You haven’t met Lili. She’s an owl. At least kind of. She has wings and big eyes and talons, but of course, she can change her form at will. Right now only a tad, but she’ll get better at it.”

“You’d love each other.”

“Really?” She smiled. “Why do you say that?”

“Because the kid loves everyone who isn’t actively hateful towards her, and her smile is so infectious that by the end of an interaction everyone else ends up like that too.”

“I can tell you really love her. I’m glad,” She relaxed slightly. “A lot of parents don’t.”

“Oh trust me. I know. There’s a reason I have nearly twenty children when only two are biological.”

“Twenty?” She laughed. “How in the world do you take care of all of them properly? And I thought Evelyn’s situation would get overwhelming.”

“Well, I’m a god for a reason. Replicas of myself are easy in case two have a crisis at once.”

“Well… it’s not a replica. It’s not a clone. I split my soul up into two places. Iris is having a panic attack, okay, I help him. Doesn’t mean I can disregard that Cleo is crying. So I make myself able to be in both places at once.”

“Huh…that makes sense. The entity tends to do it differently,” she hummed. “I never even considered that an option. You’re doing a great thing. I was never raised with parents, it’s just not part of the phoenix’s life, but I can understand how important they are.”

“You’re like octopuses.”

“Really?” She smiled, eyes sparkling with interest. “How so?”

“Both parents die after reproduction, leaving the children solitary to fend for themselves.”

“… I could make a replica.”

“I want to make you as comfortable as possible. Especially because of everything.”

“Absolutely.”

She smiled and formed a portal, testing her abilities to. Glory gestured for them to go in first.

*they did so.*

She perked up, “Would you let me? It’s not like you have control over what I take and I don’t know if you think it might be dangerous.”

“Well I’d prefer if you didn’t take a knife, but everyone deserves pocket trinkets. Besides, that room seriously cannot be broken out of. Daisy gave Penelope a little metal brain to play with while she was still mostly insane, I can’t imagine this would cause issues.”

She nodded meekly and scanned her room. Glory flew over to where a dried blue hydrangea flower was hung then back to the platform. She was hesitant to get too close but she swallowed her anxiety before tucking it into their hair.

“… I’m treating you as a person. That is normal. You are a person.”

“You’re in a cage because you specifically asked to be in a cage. I would not have put you in one if you hadn’t asked.”

“Yeah, I know, but still. You’re a bird keeper,” she shrugged. “I just volunteered myself this time so I don’t end up killing people.”

“… hun. I’m going to show you victor when we get back, okay?”

“A raven. A regular fucking raven. I’m going to show you how I treat him so you will see that even if I were treating you as a pet, this would be the bare fucking minimum.”

She rocked side to side, wings still twitching but now from discomfort, “I met plenty of smart ravens and at my home, I provided a space for them to have human-like intelligence. Some ravens are better at me at countless things. I am on par with one. It’s not that serious.”

“Don’t be. I’m not mad. It’s not your fault.”

*they nodded and opened the portal again.*

“The entity tried to kill my son recently. I wanted to stop that from ever happening again so I made a point to cast a spell over everyone here. It is not on you specifically, but rather, over this room. It cannot enter here. Do you understand?”

“Spell…? What do you mean?” Her preening turned to plucking.

“I mean I’m magic and I spent an entire three quarters of my existence running from someone so I know how to make sheiks against one specific person.”

“It has puppets,” she was shaking, ripping out a clump of feathers. “Too many puppets. Too many people. Too many workers…”

“I know. But puppets sure as hell can’t get in here either.”

“What if the puppets are just people? You realize how many there are? How many worlds it’s in? What if it’s a person with an inkling of its energy? Can it not come in here at all? Too many possibilities.”

“If a person comes in here without an inkling of its energy, it can’t follow them to use them as a puppet.”

“There’s still plenty of workers who don’t need that! There’s too many ways. I’m safest here but I’m never gonna be safe,” she wiped her tears. “It always follows me.”

“I will put your dead body in a place with no oxygen so you may never burn.”

“Thank you,” she relaxed. “Just…no matter how much I beg, don’t let me out. I don’t care how many times I ask. Dont let the volcano thing happen again.”

“Okay.”

*they took the fist bump like she was asking them to be a bridesmaid.*

“It’s alright. I did something to be scared of.”

Hug. Push through it. She tried to open her arms to offer but it was like she had no control over her limbs anymore. It was an awkward hovering pose and she just sorta…shuffled in closer. Yeah, that’s totally how you hug someone. It was a bit funny to be honest.

“… well you’re just kinda moving until our shoulders touch and I’m not entirely sure if there’s a social cue I’m not picking up on.”

*they smiled and toon her hand. Again, gentle as ever. They seemed to understand that this was for a purpose and though she was scared, she was in fact wanting contact.*

*they didn’t fight, going limp in her hold. The lines weren’t right. Regular palm lines, and then lines that didn’t make sense at all, and indents that weren’t supposed to be there.*

She nodded, feeling a pang of sympathy for them, “Do the gloves help?…if I’m allowed to ask…”

“No. Not really. Not when it happens. But my hands look normal in them. I can forget for a minute. Forget everything bad. Cover up the reminders.”

“No.”

“… I’m not sure. I just want you to be someone that isn’t scared of me. I didn’t think further than that.”

She grinned slightly, “What’s your favorite flowers and birds?”

“Lillies and owls.”

“Give me those items and I’ll get started on my idea,” she needed something to pass the time with anyways. “You can stay here with me while I do it too.”

She nodded, swaying side to side. She didn’t dare move an inch.

*they came back with their other glances and a sewing kit.*

*they sat next to her, watching.*

“Can I teach you?” She tilted her head, hesitant to ask.

“Hmmm, I’ve been thinking about this…are you also my bird keeper because you’re married to The Manager?”

“They’re so confusing!” She huffed. “They’re obviously my bird keeper because I’m in here and all of that but they seem to be hesitant to be that. It’s not that big of a deal. Besides, they’re a really good one! Never clipped my wings or nothin”

She whined and shook her head like denying a trivial matter rather than her literal identity, “No, I go flap flap. Birds do that. I get treated like a bird so I am one.”

“Hmmm, I’ve been thinking about this…are you also my bird keeper because you’re married to The Manager?”

“They’re so confusing!” She huffed. “They’re obviously my bird keeper because I’m in here and all of that but they seem to be hesitant to be that. It’s not that big of a deal. Besides, they’re a really good one! Never clipped my wings or nothin”

“I figure if I’m restrained in some way that could make you feel safer.”

“Okay. But you’re still hurt. And I want to make things right.”

“I mean so you can trust me. I want to make it so you can trust me to help you.”

“You can. But you don’t. And I want to make that better.”

“Let’s not make it smaller either.”

“… please. Just tell me how I can fix it. I know you don’t trust me. I know you’re scared. That’s okay. I just want to fix it.”

“Seriously, I promise you’ve done enough,” she breathily chuckled but it was too forced, too unnatural. “It’s up to me to fix this now. You don’t need to worry about it. I don’t want to cause any more fighting.”

“This won’t cause more fighting, I swear.”

“Okay. How would you deal with it yourself?”

“Just…get over it?” She shrugged as if that was obvious.

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t really know how to describe it other than that. Stop thinking about it, ignore it, distract myself. It’ll fade eventually.”

“… that isn’t how that works.”

“Hey in my…” yeah, she didn’t track of her age. “In my many years of living, it has worked for most cases.”

“And if even one thing managed to trigger that old, forgotten terror? Would it go away?”

“No…but then I just repeat the same process. I don’t get the point of this. I just need to know how we get through this together.”

“We get through it by me doing whatever is needed for you to feel safe.”

“I don’t really know what that entails…”

“… mostly me doing literally whatever you want me to do.”

“I don’t really need a lot…I don’t know,” she thought for a moment. “Could I request some changes to my room?”

“Absolutely.”

“Oh, that was…way easier for you than I thought…wow,” she laughed. “Is there the other stuff up there too? Thank you so much.”

“Of course! There’s just a few perches, like in my Lili’s play room, but I can add some platforms and hammocks as well if you’d like.”

“Yes, please,” her shoulders softened, the first good sign. “That would be amazing. Why does your daughter have perches in her playroom though?”

“Ah— right. You haven’t met Lili. She’s an owl. At least kind of. She has wings and big eyes and talons, but of course, she can change her form at will. Right now only a tad, but she’ll get better at it.”

“You’d love each other.”

“Really?” She smiled. “Why do you say that?”

“Because the kid loves everyone who isn’t actively hateful towards her, and her smile is so infectious that by the end of an interaction everyone else ends up like that too.”

“I can tell you really love her. I’m glad,” She relaxed slightly. “A lot of parents don’t.”

“Oh trust me. I know. There’s a reason I have nearly twenty children when only two are biological.”

“Twenty?” She laughed. “How in the world do you take care of all of them properly? And I thought Evelyn’s situation would get overwhelming.”

“Well, I’m a god for a reason. Replicas of myself are easy in case two have a crisis at once.”

“Well… it’s not a replica. It’s not a clone. I split my soul up into two places. Iris is having a panic attack, okay, I help him. Doesn’t mean I can disregard that Cleo is crying. So I make myself able to be in both places at once.”

“Huh…that makes sense. The entity tends to do it differently,” she hummed. “I never even considered that an option. You’re doing a great thing. I was never raised with parents, it’s just not part of the phoenix’s life, but I can understand how important they are.”

“You’re like octopuses.”

“Really?” She smiled, eyes sparkling with interest. “How so?”

“Both parents die after reproduction, leaving the children solitary to fend for themselves.”

“… I could make a replica.”

“I want to make you as comfortable as possible. Especially because of everything.”

“Absolutely.”

She smiled and formed a portal, testing her abilities to. Glory gestured for them to go in first.

*they did so.*

She perked up, “Would you let me? It’s not like you have control over what I take and I don’t know if you think it might be dangerous.”

“Well I’d prefer if you didn’t take a knife, but everyone deserves pocket trinkets. Besides, that room seriously cannot be broken out of. Daisy gave Penelope a little metal brain to play with while she was still mostly insane, I can’t imagine this would cause issues.”

She nodded meekly and scanned her room. Glory flew over to where a dried blue hydrangea flower was hung then back to the platform. She was hesitant to get too close but she swallowed her anxiety before tucking it into their hair.

“… I’m treating you as a person. That is normal. You are a person.”

“You’re in a cage because you specifically asked to be in a cage. I would not have put you in one if you hadn’t asked.”

“Yeah, I know, but still. You’re a bird keeper,” she shrugged. “I just volunteered myself this time so I don’t end up killing people.”

“… hun. I’m going to show you victor when we get back, okay?”

“A raven. A regular fucking raven. I’m going to show you how I treat him so you will see that even if I were treating you as a pet, this would be the bare fucking minimum.”

She rocked side to side, wings still twitching but now from discomfort, “I met plenty of smart ravens and at my home, I provided a space for them to have human-like intelligence. Some ravens are better at me at countless things. I am on par with one. It’s not that serious.”

“Don’t be. I’m not mad. It’s not your fault.”

*they nodded and opened the portal again.*

“The entity tried to kill my son recently. I wanted to stop that from ever happening again so I made a point to cast a spell over everyone here. It is not on you specifically, but rather, over this room. It cannot enter here. Do you understand?”

“Spell…? What do you mean?” Her preening turned to plucking.

“I mean I’m magic and I spent an entire three quarters of my existence running from someone so I know how to make sheiks against one specific person.”

“It has puppets,” she was shaking, ripping out a clump of feathers. “Too many puppets. Too many people. Too many workers…”

“I know. But puppets sure as hell can’t get in here either.”

“What if the puppets are just people? You realize how many there are? How many worlds it’s in? What if it’s a person with an inkling of its energy? Can it not come in here at all? Too many possibilities.”

“If a person comes in here without an inkling of its energy, it can’t follow them to use them as a puppet.”

“There’s still plenty of workers who don’t need that! There’s too many ways. I’m safest here but I’m never gonna be safe,” she wiped her tears. “It always follows me.”

“I will put your dead body in a place with no oxygen so you may never burn.”

“Thank you,” she relaxed. “Just…no matter how much I beg, don’t let me out. I don’t care how many times I ask. Dont let the volcano thing happen again.”

“Okay.”

*they took the fist bump like she was asking them to be a bridesmaid.*

“It’s alright. I did something to be scared of.”

Hug. Push through it. She tried to open her arms to offer but it was like she had no control over her limbs anymore. It was an awkward hovering pose and she just sorta…shuffled in closer. Yeah, that’s totally how you hug someone. It was a bit funny to be honest.

“… well you’re just kinda moving until our shoulders touch and I’m not entirely sure if there’s a social cue I’m not picking up on.”

*they smiled and toon her hand. Again, gentle as ever. They seemed to understand that this was for a purpose and though she was scared, she was in fact wanting contact.*

*they didn’t fight, going limp in her hold. The lines weren’t right. Regular palm lines, and then lines that didn’t make sense at all, and indents that weren’t supposed to be there.*

She nodded, feeling a pang of sympathy for them, “Do the gloves help?…if I’m allowed to ask…”

“No. Not really. Not when it happens. But my hands look normal in them. I can forget for a minute. Forget everything bad. Cover up the reminders.”

“No.”

“… I’m not sure. I just want you to be someone that isn’t scared of me. I didn’t think further than that.”

She grinned slightly, “What’s your favorite flowers and birds?”

“Lillies and owls.”

“Give me those items and I’ll get started on my idea,” she needed something to pass the time with anyways. “You can stay here with me while I do it too.”

She nodded, swaying side to side. She didn’t dare move an inch.

*they came back with their other glances and a sewing kit.*

*they sat next to her, watching.*

“Can I teach you?” She tilted her head, hesitant to ask.

“I figure if I’m restrained in some way that could make you feel safer.”

“Okay. But you’re still hurt. And I want to make things right.”

“I mean so you can trust me. I want to make it so you can trust me to help you.”

“You can. But you don’t. And I want to make that better.”

“Let’s not make it smaller either.”

“… please. Just tell me how I can fix it. I know you don’t trust me. I know you’re scared. That’s okay. I just want to fix it.”

“Seriously, I promise you’ve done enough,” she breathily chuckled but it was too forced, too unnatural. “It’s up to me to fix this now. You don’t need to worry about it. I don’t want to cause any more fighting.”

“This won’t cause more fighting, I swear.”

“Okay. How would you deal with it yourself?”

“Just…get over it?” She shrugged as if that was obvious.

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t really know how to describe it other than that. Stop thinking about it, ignore it, distract myself. It’ll fade eventually.”

“… that isn’t how that works.”

“Hey in my…” yeah, she didn’t track of her age. “In my many years of living, it has worked for most cases.”

“And if even one thing managed to trigger that old, forgotten terror? Would it go away?”

“No…but then I just repeat the same process. I don’t get the point of this. I just need to know how we get through this together.”

“We get through it by me doing whatever is needed for you to feel safe.”

“I don’t really know what that entails…”

“… mostly me doing literally whatever you want me to do.”

“I don’t really need a lot…I don’t know,” she thought for a moment. “Could I request some changes to my room?”

“Absolutely.”

“Oh, that was…way easier for you than I thought…wow,” she laughed. “Is there the other stuff up there too? Thank you so much.”

“Of course! There’s just a few perches, like in my Lili’s play room, but I can add some platforms and hammocks as well if you’d like.”

“Yes, please,” her shoulders softened, the first good sign. “That would be amazing. Why does your daughter have perches in her playroom though?”

“Ah— right. You haven’t met Lili. She’s an owl. At least kind of. She has wings and big eyes and talons, but of course, she can change her form at will. Right now only a tad, but she’ll get better at it.”

“You’d love each other.”

“Really?” She smiled. “Why do you say that?”

“Because the kid loves everyone who isn’t actively hateful towards her, and her smile is so infectious that by the end of an interaction everyone else ends up like that too.”

“I can tell you really love her. I’m glad,” She relaxed slightly. “A lot of parents don’t.”

“Oh trust me. I know. There’s a reason I have nearly twenty children when only two are biological.”

“Twenty?” She laughed. “How in the world do you take care of all of them properly? And I thought Evelyn’s situation would get overwhelming.”

“Well, I’m a god for a reason. Replicas of myself are easy in case two have a crisis at once.”

“Well… it’s not a replica. It’s not a clone. I split my soul up into two places. Iris is having a panic attack, okay, I help him. Doesn’t mean I can disregard that Cleo is crying. So I make myself able to be in both places at once.”

“Huh…that makes sense. The entity tends to do it differently,” she hummed. “I never even considered that an option. You’re doing a great thing. I was never raised with parents, it’s just not part of the phoenix’s life, but I can understand how important they are.”

“You’re like octopuses.”

“Really?” She smiled, eyes sparkling with interest. “How so?”

“Both parents die after reproduction, leaving the children solitary to fend for themselves.”

“… I could make a replica.”

“I want to make you as comfortable as possible. Especially because of everything.”

“Absolutely.”

She smiled and formed a portal, testing her abilities to. Glory gestured for them to go in first.

*they did so.*

She perked up, “Would you let me? It’s not like you have control over what I take and I don’t know if you think it might be dangerous.”

“Well I’d prefer if you didn’t take a knife, but everyone deserves pocket trinkets. Besides, that room seriously cannot be broken out of. Daisy gave Penelope a little metal brain to play with while she was still mostly insane, I can’t imagine this would cause issues.”

She nodded meekly and scanned her room. Glory flew over to where a dried blue hydrangea flower was hung then back to the platform. She was hesitant to get too close but she swallowed her anxiety before tucking it into their hair.

“… I’m treating you as a person. That is normal. You are a person.”

“You’re in a cage because you specifically asked to be in a cage. I would not have put you in one if you hadn’t asked.”

“Yeah, I know, but still. You’re a bird keeper,” she shrugged. “I just volunteered myself this time so I don’t end up killing people.”

“… hun. I’m going to show you victor when we get back, okay?”