Put on the spot, Camille immediately teared up and shook her head. The guilt was too much for the generally kind hearted doe.
"I'm so so sorry." The doe said with a trembling voice. "You see, I was trying to bring you into the world the same way he did." She pointed to Ty, watching as the birds seemed to soften their expression in understanding if not outright sympathy.
"How did he bring you into the world?" The female asked gently, her voice much less angry. The male seemed to be rethinking his position slightly, almost impatiently annoyed but less hostile.
"I was just a deer." Camille admitted. "I'm no queen. But... see, Ty gave me my mind first. And... we kind of fell for each other."
The mother crow stared at the two and the implication struck home. "Wait... you were... still a deer? Like a normal deer? Just a smart one?"
Ty and Camille exchanged a horrified glance and both turned away blushing.
The crows seemed to be jaw droppingly surprised and almost amused. "Ohhh." The female said simply.
The male chuckled, hiding his beak under his wing. "Well, I think we know too much about each other now."
"It was an in the moment thing." Camille gulped. "But, from then on, Ty kept changing me. And it kept feeling better and better. Until I am what you see now. And... I guess I was trying to make it special for you too. I didn't realize it wasn't the same."
"We talked about it last night." Ty sighed patiently, catching the moment both avians glanced at each other and seemed to soften. "And we had to admit that... we have no fucking idea what we're doing."
The male crow nodded gently, and seemed to finally relax. "Okay. Since we're doing this, let me also apologize."
"Gods, for what?" Camille spat.
"No, no." The male held out a hand. "See, we talked too after antlers there left. And... we did like it. The change was very erotic. And I don't think we can ever go back to being just "birds" again, you know? So that's that."
"You didn't even talk to us." The female said dejectedly. "That's what really hurt. It could have been this amazing experience for all three of us, but you didn't even really get to know us, or find out what we were like, or... what we might like. You know?"
Ty realized exactly what they were saying and nodded in realization. "That's why you wanted names."
"Yeahhh." The male shrugged. "You didn't even take the time to care about us enough to name us."
"For the record..." The female added. "It would have been so much more fun for both of us if you had let us... do it. While we changed."
The male smacked his forehead in his palm and put his other on his mate. "Babe! Noooo! You didn't need to tell them that!"
"What, it's true!" The female said defensively. "You said it yourself! We're being honest, right?"
"Not *THAT* honest!" The male said angrily.
"He just told us he banged her when she was still on all fours!" The female shot back. "Try to have some perspective!"
Ty cleared his throat and the birds paused in their marital spat and looked up in alarm. "Sorry." He smirked.
"Anyway." The female crossed her arms and smirked back slightly. "The point is we're all freaks in some way and from now on you two idiots need to use whatever sorcery or power you have for more than yourselves."
"Especially if you're going to go around making more creatures like us. You can't just make a person and then use them." The male scolded. "All right?"
"All right." Camille said agreeably, almost fainting in relief.
"What I mean is, apology accepted." The male sighed heavily, shedding some emotional weight, and put his arm around his mate. "So, what do you say? Do you want to name us? We already gave the kids names. Just, things that meant something to them, right? Doesn't have to be permanent."
Ty stared at the female crow and blinked slightly in alarm as she stared at him with an increasing look of intrique in her eyes. The way those piercing blue eyes were staring at him, there was something behind them. Something new. She must have caught him checking her out as they had been talking. No, he concluded, he was imagining it. Calm down, hormones. She broke her gaze and looked back to her mate, putting her head against his.
"Okay." Camille said with a smile, shocking Ty back from his thoughts. "That sounds great! So, let's start with this. What do you like?"
The male smiled warmly and genuinely. "Fish."
"So... you can be Fisher!" Camille said excitedly, turning to the female. "And what about you?"
"Hmmm." The female put her finger to her beak and tapped it. "You know what? I like flying. You land mammals will never know how free it is to just leave the world below and soar."
"How about Merla?" Ty said excitedly, making the other three stare at him with confusion.
"It's, uh, female. It means... blackbird." Ty brushed the back of his neck awkwardly and coughed.
"Very creative!" The female said teasingly, prompting her newly christened Fisher to chuckle incredulously.
"How about Raven?" Camille joined in the gentle ribbing.
"Actually!" Raven smiled at the edges of her beak. "That feels really nice. You can call me 'bird' after all." She shot Ty a warm look and laughed.
"All right." Fisher nodded definitively. "All right, so now that we've got names, and we've all made up. Here we are. Now what?"
"Are we still getting a new world?" Raven inquired gently.
"I suppose that light show earlier has something to do with it?" Fisher pointed up to the sky.
"Oh, uh, yeah!" Ty snapped his fingers. "No, that was us. We took your advice and thought about what happens if people see us. It's, uh, not going to be a problem anymore."
"Ha! See?" Raven prodded her mate's chest. "I told you it was something like that."
"Yeah, yeah." The male sighed, turning back to the water and wading in up to his ankles. "Now, are we gonna get food or not?"
"Listen, uh, if you two want to stop by our little house later, we're southwest of here, in the valley." Ty began. "I'd love to talk with you about the future of our little kingdom."
Fisher looked up from the water and offered a smile. "That sounds great, Ty. We'll find you later, yes."
They exchanged waves and turned to leave, Ty wondering why Raven's quick glance had caught him so strangely. He put his arm around Camille and they began walking.