Sig was sitting down on the grass, smiling down at the little grasshopper he had just caught.
"Hey, little guy...~" He cooed. "You're not going to try and jump out of my hands, are you?"
The grasshopper crawled around a bit, climbing onto Sig's thumb. Sig moved his hands to make sure the little bug wouldn't fall off.
"Well, I don't really mind if you do." He continued. "You do whatever you want, okay? Though I'd prefer if you stayed..."
At that moment, he heard a voice calling out to him. "Hey, Sig!"
Sig gently cupped the grasshopper with both hands, looking over at the person who had called him.
"Oh, hi there, Klug..." He would have waved, but... You know. Bug hands.
Klug went over, standing in front of Sig. "I was just walking by and thought I'd stop for a bit of a chat. Have you started reading books like I suggested...?"
"Actually, I have." Sig nodded. "I've been reading books on bugs."
"Well, that's a start, I guess." Klug sighed a bit, adjusting his glasses. "Maybe if you start with one of your interests, you'll get a love for books and start reading some proper, significant material..."
"Bugs are significant." Sig insisted, though his voice didn't really make it sound like he was insisting. "They're a vital part of the ecosystem. And they're pretty cool."
"Is that so?" Klug raised an eyebrow a bit, though seemingly uninterested.
"Yeah." Sig nodded, standing up, though not taking his hands away from the grasshopper he was holding. "Bookworms are cool, for example."
Klug frowned, watching the other stand. "You do realise that bookworms aren't real worms, don't you, Sig?"
"I know." Sig said with a slight nod. "I was just joking."
"Ah..." Klug couldn't help but feel a little bit warm. He knew that Sig often called him a bookworm, so... Perhaps he was saying that he thought he was cool?
...Of course he was. Why wouldn't he? He was the coolest person around, after all, and the smartest!
...There was a small pause.
"...You wanna see the grasshopper I have?" Sig offered, putting his hands out, while still cupping said bug. "It's really cool."
"-Uh, thanks, but... I think I'll pass." Klug shrugged. "If you've seen one grasshopper, you've seen them all..."
"No, no, this one is a painted grasshopper." Sig opened his hands, letting Klug see the bug. "It's different."
Consumed by his own curiosity, Klug leaned forwards to get a better look. Indeed, this grasshopper looked different than usual; it was striped blue and yellow, with little bits of red, too.
"-oh, wow..." He blinked a bit. "I've never seen a bug like this before...!"
Sig smiled a bit. "Pretty cool, huh? You wanna hold him?"
Klug looked hesitant. "Uh..."
"It doesn't bite, Klug. You're not scared of a cute little bug, are you...?" Sig tilted his head a little bit.
Though it was actually an honest question, Klug took it as a challenge... As he did with everything. "-O-of course I'm not scared! Hand it over!"
"Alright, stick your hand out, then." Sig instructed. "Or hands, whatever..."
Klug did as he was told, tucking his book under his arm before holding both his hands out. Sig gently transferred the grasshopper to him.
"Whatever you do, don't get scared and crush it." He warned.
"W-why not?" Klug stammered.
Sig blinked. "...Because you'll make me sad?"
"-Oh." Klug nodded a bit. "Of course. I'll do my best."
He wasn't scared...! It was just a little bug, after all. It didn't even bite! He totally wasn't trembling. No, he was... Shivering. It was cold, so he was shivering. Yeah...
...Sig went and stood beside Klug, gently putting a hand on the other's shoulder. "...Hey, Klug?"
"Yes, Sig?"
"You don't have to hold it so far away, you know."
Klug suddenly realised that it probably did look like he was scared; he was holding the bug at arm's length, like he was too afraid to let it get too close to him. So, he slowly pulled his arms closer to himself, taking a closer look at the bug.
...It was rather pretty, but...
"...O-okay, Sig, I think you'd better take it back, before it jumps-eek!"
The grasshopper had jumped out of his hands, and landed on the little clock he had around his neck.
"-Hey..." Sig gently tried to reach for the bug. "Stay still, Klug; I'll get him..."
Unfortunately, the grasshopper seemed rather keen not to get caught. It jumped away as Sig tried to grab it, ending up on Klug's neck.
Klug was frozen in place, as stiff as a board... Though his hands were both trembling badly, and he was whining a bit in discomfort.
...And then he felt it go down his shirt.
"-U-uh, Sig...!" He whimpered, having to almost physically hold himself back from trying to crush the bug there and then. Not only would he get bug gunk all over him, after all, but he would make Sig sad if he killed the little guy... and he promised that he wouldn't do that!
"Oh boy..." Sig frowned a bit, wondering what to do...
And then, with no warning, he took the zipper of Klug's vest, and unzipped it.
"-Sig?!" Klug squeaked, trying his best to look down at what the other boy was doing without tilting his head too much. "What are you doing?"
"Getting the bug." Sig replied, gently pulling the vest off one of Klug's shoulder. "...Uh... I think it went down your shirt..."
"That much is obvious, Sig, but- h-hey!"
Sig had (again without warning) pulled Klug's shirt up a bit... And then he put his hand up it, gently patting the other's chest in an attempt to find the bug.
Klug felt himself go very warm in the face, and he was probably blushing up a storm as well.
He was quite aware of and used to the fact that Sig didn't have much of a concept of personal space. He would consistently put his hand on his shoulder whenever he wanted, which Klug was used to and sort of embraced... But Sig would also do things like grab something that had fallen between somebody's legs, or pull things out of people's hair without warning.
However, this was the first time he had put his hand up somebody's shirt, and Klug was definitely not prepared for that.
"-S-Sig-Siggory!" He stammered. "T-that's very inappropriate! And y-you didn't even ask me if you could-aaaah, Sig, it's on my neck!"
"-huh?" Sig looked up at him, spotting the grasshopper on the other's neck... But before he could grab it, it went and jumped onto Klug's hair, and slipped under the boy's hat.
Sig automatically went and took Klug's hat off, before trying to get on his toes so he could find the bug. However, he quickly lost balance, almost falling onto Klug. "-Woah..."
Klug caught the other by the waist, feeling rather awkward to have the other so close to him... nearly pressing up against him...
...Damn it, why was it so warm outside today?!-
"Good idea, Klug." Sig praised. "Hold me steady. I'll have Hopper off your head in no time."
"T-thanks..." He would only have to experience this for a little while longer, then...
After a few misses, in which he ended up messing up Klug's hair quite a bit, Sig managed to catch the grasshopper, and so pulled away from Klug, cupping the bug securely in both hands.
"Sorry about that." He apologized. "Hopper's going to go in a jar now, as his punishment... Naughty little guy..."
"I-it's perfectly fine, Siggory..." Klug gently rubbed the back of his neck, praying that his face wasn't too red after all that. "Just... please understand that I don't want to hold a bug ever again."
"Fair enough." Sig nodded. "Could you get a jar from my satchel, please? My hands are kinda full..."
"-R-right..." And so, Klug looked through the other's bag, soon finding a jar and opening it, holding it up to the other. Sig gently put the bug in, and then closed the jar.
"Thanks...~" He put the jar back into his bag, before smiling up at Klug, putting a hand on the other boy's shoulder. "Well, I think I'd better be going. If Hopper stays in that jar for too long, he's gonna suffocate..."
Then he leaned down, picking Klug' hat up from the ground, and dusting it off before giving it back to him. "Your hat, sir."
"-Oh, thank you...!" Klug took the hat back, and then Sig waved goodbye, and walked off.
Klug waved back, watching the other as he went off into the distance...
...And once the other was far away enough, he took a deep breath, rubbing his neck again. "My goodness, Siggory... I swear, you're going to be the death of me..."
But, despite that, he still loved the guy... Loved him a lot...
...He put his hat back on his head and continued on his way, still thinking about everything that had just happened. Of course, being so deep in thought, he didn't register how his shirt was still untucked, his hair was still messed up, and his vest was unzipped and hanging off of one shoulder... buuut that's a story for another time.
oOoOoOoOo
Author's note: My first ever story I wrote for the Puyo Puyo fandom. Hope you enjoyed it~