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Despite how it seemed, Telamon was not normal.
For being practically a giant bird God, he was the furthest from normal, actually.
From the fact that he spoke in third person, to the fact he was so self-centered.
But these things were actually rather normal for the bird.
There were somethings that Builderman noticed though that weren't normal.
Like how he wore the same outfit every day or very similar outfits.
Or how despite the fact he didn't need to eat, they did. But only around a few things. Now he wasn't the smartest- but Builderman knew these were basically Telamons safe foods. For a God Telamon really was picky...
Not only that but he either needed an exact schedule or he was so burnt out by said schedule that they barely did anything, ghosting everyone and 'recharging' at SFOTH.
Now, not to say anything about the bird, but Builderman 100% knew that Telamon had to be autistic or something. Despite how much they denied it, they fit the word exactly.
Maybe Builderman should've brought it up to the others to get their opinion, because he knew they'd agree with him. But he didn't. He should've at least warned them, because maybe it would've avoided what happened today...
...
Telamon was going to have a good day today!
At least, that was what their first thoughts of the morning were.
They woke up sweaty, with sheets sticking to them and Builderman wasn't home. He must've gone to work early. Their wings bent uncomfortably against the mattress and their hair was sticking to their head persistently. It was sickening but it could be fixed with a bath and a good preen of their wings. They could ask Builderman for help later, he was always willing to help. But at the same time, the feeling of anyone's hands on them made Telamon curl into a ball on the bed. It sucked honestly- sometimes whenever he was touched, it felt like it physically hurt.
Telamon eventually got out of their bed, whining as they made their way to the bathroom. Some old scars were acting up it felt. Like they were actively hurt. This happened sometimes when he got stressed, but it was rare. It was still annoying, nonetheless. Once in the bathroom, Telamon relieved himself of his robes- Spawn, were the lights always this bright? He brushed it off, splashing their face with water before drying it off. Reaching for their toothbrush and toothpaste-
And he was out of his favorite toothpaste. Wonderful. They just grabbed Builderman's, because he surely wouldn't mind if they borrowed some. He put an appropriate amount onto his brush before watering it, brushing their teeth as carefully as they could. Trying his best to ignore how spicy and minty it was- how did Builderman use this stuff??? Gross... Telamon spit the toothpaste out of his mouth before rinsing it out and putting his toothbrush away. Finally undressing and getting into the shower.
...
He was finally out of the shower, leaving himself uncomfortably damp. He shook his hair out to try and get the water out, but it didn't work very well. He just ended up towel drying it before going back to their bedroom, digging into his closet to try and find a clean set of his robes. He had so many of them- all the exact same, so thankfully they were able to find a set. They put it on, tying their belt around and getting ready. Once dressed and ready to leave their home, his head wings happily wiggled and flapped. Somehow, Telamon always forgot he had them. They only did anything when he was experiencing 'big emotions' or whatever. So at least they weren't being annoying right now.
Just as Telamon was going to leave, their stomach growled. So, they made their way to the kitchen in search of something. They really didn't need to eat but they did it so often that their body sort of got used to it. Telamon found their way to the fridge, opening it and looking inside of it. He wanted something he always ate, chicken obviously. I was one of the few foods he ate. But much to their dismay, it seemed they were out. Right, Builderman was going to go to the grocery store with them after work.
Telamon just closed the fridge, heading out of the house. He would've flown to HQ, but just as they were going to stretch their wings- they remembered that they were still a little messed up and felt sore still. They still needed to preen them. Great. What a great start to the morning. It was just a... few mile walk. Telamon could walk.
...
Finally, after probably a little under an hour, they finally made it to HQ. Late and with their robes sticking to them with sweat. It was so God damn hot out today... Hopefully Telamon wouldn't be scolded or anything. Builderman wasn't usually one to scold him. Despite how bossy he could be, Telamon was at work on time most days besides a few slip ups, and he always got all their paperwork done on time. The person they had to worry about was DoomBringer. He was so painfully strict about rules, Telamon knew he'd yell at him for it. Even if they were technically his higher-up, DoomBringer was never afraid to lose his temper around people.
They knew DoomBringers whole thing was 'I hate rule breakers!! I'm always angry!' but it got annoying after a while. He was fun and all, Telamon loved him, but he really needed to get his anger issues under control.
Whatever. Better to get it done sooner or later, right? It would just be another thing that added on to his morning, they would be fine.
Telamon entered HQ, ignoring how many people there were. There had to have been some sort of huge hacking to have happened, because there were news reporters too. Maybe this was why Builderman went into work early. Telamon hated news reporters honestly. Their overlapping voices echoed in their head, asking him so many questions he didn't know the answers to, and tugging onto him. Telamon was too big to sneak past them either, so the second he entered they all practically swarmed him- immediately bombarding them with so many questions.
They could barely understand what they were saying, as all their voices clammed together into a nauseating mush of words and blabber. Telamon just nervously gave vague words of 'Telamon can't answer anything' or something like that, backing their way out of the situation and into the actual office hallway where the reporters didn't dare to enter, just finding their ways to other admins that were in the lobby.
Finally, peace and quiet. Now if only Telamon could get to his office, or maybe Buildermans-
"TELAMON!!"
"Oh... DoomBringer! Telamon was just-"
"I KNOW WHAT YOU WERE DOING, TELAMON! YOU WERE TRYING TO HIDE THE FACT YOU'RE LATE BY ALMOST AN HOUR!"
"Telamon had found difficulties with their way of traveling, thus having to find a different source of transportation-"
"NONSENSE! BUILDERMAN CAME IN AT 6AM! IF HE CAN FIND A WAY TO COME IN EARLY YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO COME IN ON TIME!"
"Telamon believes DoomBringer is overreacting. Telamon simply had an issue that stopped themselves from coming in at the appropriate time."
"WELL, YOU SHOULD'VE THOUGHT ABOUT THAT BEFORE COMING IN AN HOUR LATE! I WILL HAVE TO BE REPORTING THIS TO BUILDERMAN!"
"...Understood, DoomBringer."
"GOOD! LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES, TELAMON! AND GET TO YOUR PAPERWORK! WE ALL CERTAINLY HAVE MUCH FROM THE RECENT HACKING!"
Telamon nodded, uncomfortably shuffling away from DoomBringer and down the hallway to their own office. He understood that him saying that there would be 'much paperwork' meant that Telamon had piles already waiting for him at his desk. He didn't even want to imagine how much Builderman had...
Once in the office, Telamon shut the door behind them. Slamming their back against the door without paying much attention to their painfully sore wings.
This was fine. This was absolutely fine. Just an off morning, Telamon had those sometimes! But they could feel how their heart started to pound in their chest and their breathing felt obnoxiously quick but so painfully slow at the same time- he needed to find Builderman, he was always good at calming him down-
So, Telamon opened the door to his office again. Stepping out of it awkwardly, and making his way to the elevator, careful not to get their robes stuck in the door as it closed.
Everything was so damn overwhelming- he could feel their paws and talons against the tiles of the elevator, every little bump and crack and speck of dirt that was on the floor. Their hands were sweaty against the railings, and it felt like fire and they dug their nails into the metal. Telamon could feel their breath brush against themselves, and they could feel how their body was starting to shake. It felt like their eyes were going to pop out of their head and their brain was splitting into two.
But the elevator finally let out a beep to signal they were at the top floor, Buildermans office. The doors opened slower than usual it felt, but Telamon finally staggered out of the elevator. Trying to even their breath desperately but it wasn't working too well.
"Hold it fer a second, 'm almost done wit' this paper-"
"Builderman, T-Telamon seems to have found themselves in a predicament..."
"Tela?"
Builderman looked up from his papers just as quickly as he heard Telamon's shaky tone. Noticing right as he saw them just how bad they looked. Telamons wings were off appearing, their hair was sticking to their head with sweat, and it was unbrushed. They were shaking and one of their hands were tugging against one of their head wings as well. Their robes weren't even tied on right it looked.
All the clear signs for Builderman to see that Telamon was about to have some sort of panic attack, or they were at the start of one.
"Woah woah- calm down there, Darlin', I'm comin-"
Builderman practically jumped out of his seat, walking around his desk to Telamon. Gently going to grab the giant birds hand and drag him to one of the sofas that were in his office for some reason. Telamon sat down onto the cushions, with Builderman following after and sitting right beside him. Quietly pulling them into a hug. Telamon near instantly held onto him, their talons poking into his back but nothing too bad. He could feel their breath racing against his shoulder.
Telamon never usually had these moments often, but life could always overwhelm someone, even a literal God. Builderman had noticed them acting weird recently, so he knew one of these moments would happen sooner or later. So Builderman was prepared for if this happened. Telamon was always a little prone to these meltdowns when he was extra stressed. Builderman could be too- but Telamon did have more duties as a God and all.
"Just deep breaths, hun... Ain't nuthin' gunna bother ya here..."
"Pinky promise...?"
"..."
"Pinky promise Telamon."
"Yes, I pinky promise ya. We can go get you somethin' to eat after this, alrighty?"
"Uhuh... thank you..."
Builderman's hand rubbed Telamon's back soothingly, earning a purr from the other. They always were calmed so easily by him, something Builderman was proud of honestly. And it was sweet how they always relaxed so quickly with him. Even when Telamon was practically melting down in front of him, they were soothed by Builderman almost immediately. He could never get over how cute they looked when relaxing and not flapping around like a bird stuck in a trap.
With only a few minutes, Telamon was calmed already. Breathing relaxed and they were latched onto Builderman- but not out of stress anymore.
"You alright now, Bird boy?"
"Do not call Telamon that..."
"Whatever ya say. Wanna get yer food now?"
"Yes, please."
"Alrighty, c'mon, hun."