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The air was a chill as it lapped at his skin, a cool breeze that mixed well with the hot sun shining on the two of them. It was an extremely nice day and 4c and Mae were trying to use it wisely.
It had been gloomy the past few days, with most of the waking hours having rain pour down on them. 4c hadn't been able to get basically any building done, it saddened him and made him antsy, he'd deal with it tho. But today was different, there were few clouds in the sky and the ones that were there were white as snow.
Mae had woken him up early, sun only just appearing in the sky, and had pointed out the clearness excitedly. She had been fidgety all yesterday, not being able to do much outside, or able to work on any projects at all for what felt like too long of a time.
She lead him outside and showed him the sun and the clear sky, and had said that they must do something today. Tho when 4c asked what she wanted to do she clammed up, got nervous and said she didn't actually know.
They couldn't build, most of the area was still damp with rain water, and they would need to wait until it'd all be gone before they started up again, 4c could risk slipping, he'd just bounce, but Mae had a harder time catching herself, tho 4c thought she was getting much better recently.
So 4c suggested something else, asked her if she wanted to go out adventuring, Mae quickly agreed, and they started preparing for being out in the wilderness once again.
And now they were in the middle of a field. He could smell fresh grass and dirt, and he couldn't feel it through his shoes and pants, but the grass in this particular field was up to his knees. 4c couldn't help but try to soak up as much sun as possible, pulling down his hood and shaking his head slightly to let it feel natural again. The warmth felt comforting.
He turned slightly to see where Mae had been standing, to see her crouched down, looking into the grass, with the most fascinated look in her eye. He slowly walked over, going beside her and crouching down right next to her.
"What-cha lookin at" he said and Mae whipped her head in his direction, wide eyed, blinking twice. He giggled at her face of slight shock before her face transferred into an excited smile.
"4c, 4c, 4c, Look" She said, giddy as she took her hand to point down at where she was originally looking. He couldn't have seen it before but as he leaned slightly and squinted, getting a better look, He could see, a absolutely massive beetle, it was a dark pretty blue and had a slight shimmer to it. It was probably bigger then his hand, tho he seemed to have small ones compared to humans so maybe that wasn't saying much,, It was probably bigger then Mae's hand.
It was mostly hidden by the grass surrounding it, and it seemed mostly still, save for a few motions that looked to be it cleaning itself. It was an admittedly very beautiful bug.
"oh my gods, big beetle!" He smiled and she looked back at him again, she looked extremely happy and it made his own smile widen.
"It's so big, i," she stopped before leaning back slightly in her crouch and then leaning forward again, seemingly trying to quiet her own excitement slightly, "I hadn't realized they could be that big"
"really? I guess the animals around here are smaller then the ones in the swamps" putting emphasis on the 'are', he pondered slightly and Mae looked at him slightly confused.
"Does that imply you've seen bigger beetles?" She said, leaning towards him, eyes wide, she seemed genuine in her want for knowledge.
"Not really but we have some pretty big bugs, One time i saw a dragonfly the size of a baby.." He said the last half slightly quieter like it was a secret, tho he made sure she could still hear it. Mae laughed out loud at that, giggling slightly before putting a hand over her mouth, quelling her voice slightly.
A Muffled, "That's way to big" came from her before she uncovered her mouth when she heard herself, "that's way to big" she said again, less muffled but quieter. He nodded at her and slightly rolled his eyes.
"I know, I was,," he paused to think, "I was, i think 9," another slight pause before he fully continued, "when I saw it, It freaked me out, hadn't seen anything that big other then people" He giggled. There weren't many big animals in the swamps, not near where he grew up anyways, and not ones he'd have seen that young, so it was truly a shock at the time, little kid him thought it was gonna eat him somehow.
"Gods, that's crazy, I think i would've freaked aswell" She looked back at the Beetle, it was still in the same spot, "I probably would've freaked at this guy aswell tho, i was a scared kid." She frowned before shaking her head slightly and a soft smile appeared on her face once again.
4c hummed as he went from a crouch into sitting on his knees, leaning down to get closer to the beetle. He had always loved bugs, He couldn't exactly be to scared of them, considering where he used to live, He'd been quite sad when he realized how little he saw around Blue and the area surrounding it. When he told Nom about it, He grimaced before saying that 4c was peculiar and a critter, but Nom had started pointing out any bug he did see to 4c afterwards, it was very nice of him.
He cupped one of his hands and put it to the beetle, being still next to it. Seeing the Beetle not react to him, he slowly pushed it onto his hand. This beetle was honestly very strange for not immediately scuttering off when they had even just crouched next to it, but 4c guessed that it just decided they weren't a threat to it.
And they weren't, to be fair to the beetle, as he leaned back, beetle cupped in his two hands. He turned to Mae to see her, having gone on her knees to sit aswell, but having basically completely leaned back from 4c and the beetle, eyes wide once again and with a scrunched up expression on her face. Her hands had at some point both on into her lap and they were curled slightly into each other.
"what?" He tilted his head, confused at the reaction. Confusion clear on his face, he didn't think he had done anything wrong, did he do something wrong?
Mae was quiet for a second, before leaning straight again, curiosity clear in her eyes now. "You can just,, pick them up??" Her voice sounded confused, and for a second, 4c didn't fully comprehend the question, Leaving the two in silence.
One second to long of it as Mae started looking nervous, "stupid question, of course you can pick bugs up" She said quickly and started fidgeting with a hem on her cloak, messing with a loose thread in it.
He frowned for a second, "not stupid." He said leaning towards her to hopefully get what he was saying fully across to her, "It's not stupid to have not realized something, Mae" He said, like it was a fact of the world, and to him it sort of was, one of many.
Mae looked nervously at him, opening her mouth before closing it again. She nodded, and then muttered, "okay,, okay ya" and smiled slightly. He smiled at the words and moved the beetle, Still cupped in his two hands, It truly was the most calm bug he had ever seen, towards her slightly.
Mae leaned closer to it, Getting a good look at the bug, There was a calm silence for a few seconds as Mae examined it closely. "Big mandibles, it's sort of impressive" She tilted her head, pointing a finger at the head of it, "I mean," nervously again, "Of course a massive beetle would have big mandibles, but it's still kinda weird to see them"
"definitely! It's wild, and so cool" He agreed. 4c slowly moved his hands so the beetle only sat on one hand, moving the other away. The beetle's legs were sort of hanging off 4c's hand, but otherwise it seemed just as chill. He was slightly worried about this bug.
He slowly put a finger on the back of the beetle, feeling it's back, which was cold and smooth. "It's kind of like you're petting it" Mae said, and cupped her own hands, "Do you think,, i could hold them?" She looked nervously at him.
"Ya? of course!" He replied and Mae lit up like the sun in the early morning. He held his beetle holden hand out to Mae's cupped hands, and slowly used his other, non beetle holden hand, to push the bug into her hands.
Mae squealed as the Beetle stepped onto her before quieting down and allowing herself to fully look at the beetle in her hands, moving her hands slightly to get better views of it.
"It's kind of cold" She said, amusement in her tone. "i don't know why, but i expected it to be warm." She looks up at him, and he wonders if she thinks he has an answer to it being cold. "Reminds me of you." She says and for a moment, 4c is a confused slime being compared to a beetle.
Silence, before 4c starts giggling, putting his hands in his face, before taking it away, leaning towards the beetle slightly, "I'm a beetle??" He asks while looking at the beetle, and then looking at Mae right after.
"No!!" She exclaims, her movement staying steady cause of the animal in her hands and clearly not wanting to disturb it to much, but clearly antsy to move more, "i mean!" and she looks away before looking back at him, "You're cold. You both don't produce heat!"
4c giggles slightly again, smiling, "Oh that's good! For a moment i thought you were calling me a bug." He says jokingly, He didn't actually but it was funny to joke.
"No no no!!! I didn't mean it like that" Mae said, slightly distressed as 4c starting laughing again, letting himself fall back to lay on the grass. He heard Mae go quiet for a second, then two, and then a huff as she realized his lie.
"You are,, so silly" Mae sighs, but he can hear the smile in her voice. He heard grass shuffling, and moved his head to see what Mae was doing. He saw her slowly lower her hands into the grass, then heard a soft, "okay, time to go, little critter" and then silence as the beetle seemed to not agree with her, staying on her hand.
Mae's face scrunched up slightly, making 4c chuckle, which made Mae look at him, squint her eyes, and then whip her head back to the beetle. She slowly started rotating her hands, letting the beetle slide onto the grassy dirt below them. It stuck on until basically placed onto the ground, then which, it finally seemed to understand and started walking off into the taller grass.
"That beetle is so strange." 4c says as he turns his head to look at the sky, there were a couple fluffy clouds above them. Mae giggled and 4c heard grassy shuffling once again, as Mae seemingly got up, dusted herself off, then went right beside 4c and laid down, her body facing the opposite way, but her head right beside his.
He turned his head to face her, finding her looking at him with a smile. There was grass in their faces, a couple of flowers that poked out around them aswell, mostly little white ones that stood out against the green.
4c smiled at her, "I'm happy you're my friend, Mae" leaning his head to tap Mae's forehead to his, before looking back up at the clouds.
He couldn't see Mae's expression, but something told him it was a good one as she spoke, "I'm happy you're my friend too, 4c" her voice soft, a bit quiet, but not unhearable. He heard the ruffling of grass as she seemed to move her head to look at the clouds as well, She leaned her head to the side so it was touching his, and he leaned into hers.
Silence came, and they were happy. Looking up at the sky together, a peaceful day was passing, and spending it with a friend always had 4c feeling a bit giddy. He was glad he met Mae, very very glad.