"I feel ridiculous, jealous towards a teenager," Atta finished, arms folded tightly.

"There there, Your Majesty," Dr. Flora soothed and patted her shoulder. "It's not just in your head, we all see it too."

"Somebody needs to sit that whippersnapper down and have a talk with her," Cornelius said.

"If you don't mind," Manny and his wife stepped forward. "Gypsy and I have always had a way with words. Not to mention the life experience."

Kiara and Flik appeared at the top of the hill, her still pulling him along by the arm.

"Here he is!" Kiara announced, stepping back as her arms gestured with flourish towards Flik.

"Fine fine," Thorny said. "Now get back to work already with all the others." Kiara groaned a little as she turned and walked away, and the short ant followed after her.

Flik looked once at all the others, and took in their expressions. He sighed and let his face fall into his hand. "You all saw that?"

"A bit lax with her, don't you think?" Slim said, peering down at the ant.

"Sorry." He rubbed at the back of his neck. "I did try talking to her, but I don't think I really came across, she sort of sidestepped me."

"Maybe if you'd used a rock to help explain it to her," Queen Atta said dryly.

#

Kiara had moved on from transporting wheelbarrows of dirt and was now tapping a heavy mallet against a support beam, edging it into place. Other ants continued to dig and work all around her, as if there had been no interruption. Kiara paused for breath, and surreptitiously tried to wipe away some sweat. None of the other ants sweated, or had body odor, or any other human inconvenience. Kiara froze in horror for a moment at the thought of her period coming while she was still miniaturized.

"Hello Kiara," came the sweeping voice of Manny, and Kiara jumped a little.

"Oh, hello Manny, Gypsy," she turned to the mantis and moth, relaxing. "Sorry, but my days of playing the freak in a show are behind me."

"Not that, we just thought we'd have a word with you." They gestured to her, and she moved closer, stepping away from her work.

"Okay, about what?"

"Now Kiara, while it's true we've only just met you, already we have a great deal of sympathy for you and your plight," Manny said, his voice lowered to a normal tone.

"And that's why we wanted to caution you, as friends, about your recent behavior towards Flik," Gypsy added.

"My what?"

"He is a married man, Kiara, and expecting a child soon," Manny went on. "Not to mention how much older he is than you. Frankly my dear, your flirtations with him aren't appropriate at all, and you had better cease."

It took Kiara a moment, and then her vision sparked with red.