Archive of Our Own ^beta

Telamon was tired.

Most days, them being nothing short of a deity never really made an impact on them, it was just a side business, answer some prayers, fight the other admins for fun, and honestly it seemed more like chores than anything.

But today was different. They felt more irritable, something was just bugging them for some reason and he couldn’t find out what.

They were at the height, floating above the arena like every other day. Normally there were people lining up and watching them fight whoever challenged them that day. Today, however, there was no one. It was unexpected but oddly welcome to them, it was calming.

“TELAMON COME ‘ERE!”

They recognized that voice as their colleague- builderman. They noticed their friend standing in the ring, waiting. Telamon caught flight and flew down to him.

“We got a problem, some hackers messed with the pizzeria again.”

“Hello to you too, Mr. Builderman, but why call Telamon? You don’t usually call them for these kinds of inconveniences.”  

“Yea, well doom is on vacation n’ I need someone to help ‘clean’ the place quickly,” Telamon nodded and agreed to help. Builderman opened up his command panel and held Telamon’s hand. In a matter of seconds they were at the pizzeria.

Before Telamon even opened their eyes, the smell of ash made them nauseous. When the bird did open their eyes, they saw the charred remains of the builder-brothers' pizzeria.

“Friend, why must we-“ the ash had invaded their lungs, causing them to go into a coughing fit. “Sorry–but why are we needed again?”

Builderman’s expression turned sad, he looked down and sighed. 

“Well, er- not everyone was…able to make it out of the fire, Telamon.”

“Oh…so, that's what you meant by ‘clean’.”

“Yep, now come on we need to get them ‘fore they start rottin’,” he said still keeping his head low. 

Reluctantly, Telamon followed builderman inside, their lungs getting weaker from the more ash they inhaled.

The place was a disaster, ash was everywhere. There were pieces of roof tile still on fire, and there were bodies dropped on the floor. Most of them were charred beyond recognition.

“Dear Builderman, how long may this take?” Telamon asked, desperate to get out as quickly as possible so as to not hurt their lungs. The ash had already begun to burn their throat, not even breathing through their nose was helping.

“It won't take long, bird lungs. You can take a breather if you need.”

It took 4 long hours, full of ash, recoding done by builderman, and a ton of coughing. By the end they had both managed to make the pizzeria look brand new.

“Thanks for helpin’ Telamon, appreciate it.”

“No problem, dear friend, though Telamon must be going now, they have to continue their daily tasks.”

They said their goodbyes and Telamon went back to the heights.

The next thing they had to do was answer prayers. While they never did have a ton of control over outcomes, they could always play with them.

Sometimes messing with these outcomes came with unforeseen consequences–like another time Telamon shifted the timeline, they had changed the death of an elderly robloxian per a prayer, when they were done, Roblox HQ was gone. Thankfully, they were able to fix it, though it took a while.

Telamon looked at all the prayers, there were so many about the pizzeria.

‘Please let my son be alive and well, dear Telamon!’

‘Oh Telamon, bless those poor souls!’

‘Such travesty. May Tela-‘

They couldn't take it. 

They felt so much guilt, they never felt this before, they never cared this much before. Cleaning up the pizzeria had made them realize just how fragile everything was, how fast life could be stripped from your very hands.

Everything they had worked for, everyone they tolerated, it would all vanish.

Nothing was set in stone, they would be alone in a short time, even builderman, one of their first ‘friends’. The one who had discovered them. They were alone before him, now they’ll be alone after him.

Maybe they can spend more time with him as a thank you before he goes away.

Telamon went to Builderman's house. It was a small house off the corner of Robloxia. They stood on the porch of the house, waiting to be let in. Suddenly, the porch lights came on and the door opened, showing builderman in hello kitty pajamas, a stark contrast to his normal outfit

Telamon noticed the weird change in style and questioned him. “Friend, what are you wearing?” 

“Sleeping clothes. Now what are you doin’ ‘ere, don’t you have your own place?”

“Well Telamon just wanted to spend time with you before you ended up like the people in the pizzeria.” Builderman looked confused at that,

“Tela, you do know I won't die for a long while, right? I was the first robloxian and I plan on bein’ the last.”

“May Telamon still stay?”

“Sure bud, now come inside.”

Telamon stepped inside the house, the interior matched builderman perfectly. The walls were light gray with orange borders, it matched his usual outfit. They were brought out of their observations by the familiar voice of Builderman. “Telamon, you wanna sleep on the floor or the bed?” 

“Well Telamon has no problem sharing a bed with you if you don't.” Builderman seemed surprised but led them both to his bedroom.

“You wanna take a shower before you go to bed or you just wanna go to sleep?” Builderman asked, sitting on the bed. 

“Telamon is already clean, they are also tired.”

“Bed it is, come ‘ere” Telamon walked over and laid down next to builderman, pulling him closer and wrapping their wings around him. 

“What are you doin' Tela?” 

“Telamon is protecting you, friend.” Telamon answered. “Tela, I already told you, I ain' t dyin’ for a long while.” Telamon didn't answer that, instead burrowing their head in his chest. Builderman held them closer as they both fell asleep