Sleep. Something almost all beings can relate to each other in having. Mortals use it to relieve the growing strains of their thoughts and gods use it to relay messages to mortals as well as a means to regenerate. Often times when a god or goddess uses up too much of their power or is damaged bad enough they need to rest until they have rejuvenated themselves.
Creep just used it to occasionally feel human.
He laid in the dusty old bedroom of a long abandoned inn. The threads that the sheets were woven from had frayed apart at the ends and for the most part had fallen to pieces from the damages the insects have inflicted over the years. Sixty long years he's spent sleeping in this room. It was a surprise the floor hadn't collapsed into the level below given how many termites now inhabited the walls of this old building.
The dim dismal sunlight crept along his oddly clean shaven face just as it had for numerous days before, only changing with the rotations of the sun. This was an auspicious day however. After sixty years who could tell just how long he planned on staying asleep. As the rays of light met his shut eyelids however he started to stir, much to his occupants surprise.
After what must of felt like hours he finally yawned, reaching a hand up to rub the tiredness from his eyes. Pulling his hat down to block out the light he rolled away from the window and shut his eyes again. He was a determined sleeper, that much was certain.
"Masteerr... You've received a zsummoning." The insectoid voice informed him inside his head. There was a slight grumble deep down in his throat. I wanna sleep... He complained in thought, a slight pang of annoying registering due to the mild disturbance. "Undeerrzstood. Our zsinceerrezst apologieezs masteerr."
Brain symbiote were annoying like that. Always hearing everything he thinks and knowing everything he feels. They've always been careful enough to give the illusion of privacy to his thoughts so as to not raise his ire which was already pretty high as they were privy to something he had previously considered personal. He's never raised enough of a fuss to get rid of them, he's never truly understood the extent to which they know him. All he knows is that they are loyal beyond what most humans understand of loyalty. The queens would tolerate no less from company in this body they call their temple.
It was too late for him. Now that he heard of the news his mind was active, busy with thought. There was no way he was going to squeeze in some more sleep while he was distracted like this. Frustrated with himself more than anyone for this he slowly sat up, groaning before stretching his arms wide out. His back made a loud series of pops as he worked out the kinks. The bugs inside had long ago come to understand that their god occasionally does stuff like that, it's not something to be worried about.
But the motion and the results of said motion caused a stir within him. The entire population was active now that he was up. Before they were quite careful not to wake him but now that he was up they were free to wiggle about wherever they went. He could feel them inside him, always.
How long have I been asleep for? This place looks way older than it looked when I came in. He pondered in thought, knowing his thoughts were heard and a reply was in the making from his excessively close advisers. "Ourr anceezstorrzs have grrown up, grrown old and dieed many timeezs beeforre uzs" The head advisors answered back. So... Longer than a couple weeks then.
He couldn't expect them to keep a very precise track of the time. It was quite exemplary that they were as knowledgeable as they were, speaking to him as another human would though with a heavy accent as they struggled to duplicate all the same sounds. Vocal communication was not a large component of how insects communicated with each other. They had to learn how speaking actually conveyed information before they could even understand how to learn how to speak their god's language. Luckily for insects once a few insects learned the secrets of mammalian communication the queens only needed to eat their brains to receive the knowledge so they could pass it onto their offspring.
Not that Creep knew how they went about their business. He didn't really care to learn about it either. He wasn't much concerned with the affairs of insects unless it was a big problem. All he wanted to worry about was himself. He picked up each of his boots and tipped them upside-down, shaking out some stray bugs which were loitering inside before putting the boots on. Finally he stood up from the bed he had slept on for all these years. Miraculously it had never collapsed despite it's age, though it wasn't all that miraculous when taking into consideration the fact that the insects were more than a little encouraged to make sure their god was not roused from his sleep too early.
Out through the window he stared, gazing out into the rolling fields of golden wild grass littered with yellow and red leaves dropped from the nearby forest. Autumn, the transitory season marking the end of summer and the beginning of winter. To be put in more flowery terms, the end of life and the beginning of death. It boded ill to be called to the summit at this time as a distant feeling nagged within, worrying him. A sense that much like the season the purpose the gods gather will mark the end of peace and the beginning of tumultuous times. Ah heck, who was he kidding. The gods always wanted to stir chaos and strife whenever they could. Like big children with little to no restraint save for the threat of each other. He just knew they were going to just make life harder for everyone down on Armoth.
He went over to the door, grasping the handle gingerly. Having spent a while around insects he's honed his already gentle approach to a fine art, able to move around without disrupting anything. It helped him get around unseen which was quite valuable given how often trouble sought him. Stepping into the old hallway the first thing he noted was that while old and absolutely covered in dust it was relatively intact. If the dust hadn't built up quite so much he might of believed he had only slept a couple days.
He stepped towards the wall opposite from his room, careful with his feet as to not step on any of his followers. While he was no larger than the common man unlike the other deities he was similarly large to the insects, capable of crushing them if he missteps. He approached the old rusted dark iron torch holder, looking at it with an expression deep in contemplation. He could only wonder, drawing the tip of his right index finger down the side of the torch's metal frame, dust gathering under his finger. I wonder what became of that old innkeeper and that lovely daughter of his...
As he began down the stairs into the main room he could see that no one's been through there in a long time either. This place truly was abandoned, left to the wages of time. It was a strange feeling to Creep, trying to piece together the fate of a building which he had gone to sleep in in what felt like it was just yesterday. He could see the personal items which belonged to the owners were gone. The chairs and tables were all put away too. All signs seemed to point to similar fates. The old man and his daughter had closed the inn, taking everything and moving away. Obviously the young lady had kept her word about not disrupting his slumber.
At this point there was little to no reason for him to stay in this old empty building. He was at a crossroads, figuratively speaking. He knew he had received a summoning to attend a meeting at the summit however he wasn't sure he wanted to go. He leaned back against a wall, looking up as he debated with himself.
I don't want to go. I know they probably expect me to go but who would notice if I was gone? They hardly notice if I show up so I don't see why I should be obligated to appear. Any issues they might be discussing are matters I've little to nothing to say about anyways. Chances are they're just talking internal politics, stuff I couldn't care less about. Unless they're planning to off me I've little care whether they all kill each other or make friends. I don't think I've got anything important to say even it was something that mattered. I'm not qualified to make big world changing decisions, why should they hear from me?... Is it normal to talk to myself if it's just in my thoughts?
Ultimately he decided against going after a long obtuse period of internal dialogue. Instead he settled on going elsewhere in Armoth and just doing what he usually did. With a goal in mind, no real direction but a goal, he stepped through the door out into the great outdoors. In front of him all along the trees he saw thousands of hives along the trees, all brimming with bees and wasps. No doubt the ground was no less populated with insects of every variety. So this's where they all stayed while I was asleep.
With an upward motion of his hand the earth in front of him opened up, revealing a massive hole leading downwards diagonally. Given his affinities to the elements of earth and air he was able to exert some command over both. He stepped in and began his long trek down into the winding tunnels below. He had little trouble finding his way in such darkness, his senses many and quite capable of leading him through most if not all environments day or night. Through these tunnels all sorts of insects traveled. Most of them were small. A number of them were as big as him and there were some that were larger than him by far. The world beneath the surface was an active one, a busy highway for those who dwelt beneath the dirt. A large population of those entities were insects of course.
Some time later...
He eventually emerged from the earthen tunnels, coming out from an old abandoned mine shaft. He squinted and held one hand out to keep the sun from his eyes as he exited the mouth of the mountain. A couple minutes later his eyes were adjusted enough to see just fine.
He continued walking down from the mountain and through the forest below until he came upon a river. He followed the river until he eventually came upon a lovely sight. A tall flowing waterfall, showers of water running down the rocky face into a small pond which emptied into another river. All of this was of course surrounded by an environment of pure natural beauty. He took a deep breath of the fresh air which of course went into his lungs and escaped through the holes out from his body, not leaving the way it came in. It was hard to capture that comforting sensation of being human when he didn't even need to breath as even if he did his body was quite different than it used to be so long ago.
He gave a sigh of disappointment but nonetheless drank in the smooth sensation of the cool wind on his skin. Leaning back in the crook of a tree trunk he rested. He closed his eyes and just listened to the calming sounds of nature. The rushing of the waterfall, the singing of the birds, the buzzing of the bees, the buzzing of the flies, the buzzing of the wasps. It was difficult to listen to anything without the sound of insect wings beating all around. Just another fact of his godhood he had to adapt to. There was no power in this universe so great that it would come without any drawbacks.