Sea Food Is Food Too

The styracosaurus with the cloudy hide looked over the carefully assembled produce, eyes narrowed in thought.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" she asked, nodding her horn at a particularly wet-looking pile of bulbous green strands that shone in the sunlight. The stout, sandy styracosaurus who'd just finished adding to the pile looked up in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Doog cocked his head in a puzzled expression. "These are the best and tastiest I could find in the bay!"

Cama snorted, clearly still doubtful, and nudged some of the small, glistening green orbs with a claw. "It just doesn't seem natural," she said. "Would they really want to eat it?"

"You should try it," came a third voice, as a sooty gray styracosaurus came into view, a collection of ripe bananas draped across her head behind her horn. Carefully, Haize set her bounty down, making an effort not to bruise any of the yellow fruits. "I don't know if it's worth going to the effort of swimming to get, but the saltiness should be a good contrast to all this sweet stuff we have.

"Now help me get all this ready. You too, Doog, since this was your idea."

That earned a grunt from Cama that, while mostly assent, was still a little bit annoyance, but she didn't argue. Haize was in the right, after all, and they all had agreed to this possibly crazy idea to begin with. So she buckled down to work, first carefully separating the greens she brought with toe, beak, and horn, then gently picking them up to place into a neat arrangement. Maybe it made no difference to others, but she felt there was no reason why food couldn't look as good as it tasted.

Haize meanwhile was doing the same with her fruits, with the added step of dusting them off with a light sweep of feathers that tipped her tail first. A little dirt didn't necessarily hurt anyone, and certainly Haize had known plenty of times when there was simply no option to be picky, but it wouldn't do to serve dirty food to guests. Especially not when there'd been time to prepare.

As for Doog, well, it was probably a good thing Haize was there. She knew the stout and sandy-feathered styracosaurus's habits well, and kept one eye out for when he'd inevitably try to sneak a little snack. Or not even sneak, but simply go to take a bite without thinking. And there certainly was no shortage of delicious-looking food present to act as temptation!

Eventually, after some work, the feast was fully assembled. The fare was as varied as the three styracosaurs who had put it together.

Laid out on a large, flat stone that had been carefully brushed clean for the purpose, were a variety of greens harvested by Cama. Long grasses, fresh shoots, even some of the tastier varieties of tuber. Truly enough to delight any grazer, though whether the guests would feel the same, well, that would remain to be seen.

Cushioned neatly on a soft bed of moss and leaves were the fruits Haize had brought. Some citrus, the tangy scent of which filled the nearby air. A small, disordered pile of assorted berries, only a few of which were crushed. And, naturally, the golden stack of bananas. The meal certainly wouldn't be lacking for sweet offerings, to say the least.

Finally, there was Doog's contribution. A large chunk of driftwood served as a makeshift bowl, arranged in which was a great heap of vividly green seaweed. Each strand was full of small spheres, like miniature, translucent grapes of some sort. If grapes were small and rather salty in flavor, that was. Somehow, this managed to be the largest pile of the three, despite the fact that without question no small amount of the seaweed had already disappeared down Doog's gullet in the process of harvesting and transporting here. That any remained at all, let alone so much, was something of a mystery for the ages.

The preparations were completed none too soon, as the sound of someone approaching reached the three styracosaurs' ears. The trio paused, looking over to see who it was. Around the corner of the path leading to the small hill they'd chosen as a meeting place came a pair of oviraptors. One splotches of white and pale gray, the other black with gold stripes. Both of them with leaf-like patterns painted in violet on their feathers or hide.

"... Welcome!" Haize said after a brief, awkward pause, and the realization that Doog's mouth had mysteriously become quite full within the last few seconds. "Glad you could make it, we hope the food is to your liking."

Cama nodded her head in greeting as well, and Doog hastily swallowed before offering a brief but cheerful hello himself. The oviraptor pair merely gave a slight nod of acknowledgment, then walked over to try the food. The fresh greens were first, making a good salad and vegetable course of sorts. Then there were the fruits, which the oviraptors clearly approved of the quality of the selection. They even started to chat a little as they ate, giving their names as Maol for the white and gray one, and Supernova for the black and gold. Perhaps Doog really had known what he was doing in his notion that inviting them over for a meal was a good way to make friends.

Eventually, though, the pair came to the seaweed, which they looked at in slight slight puzzlement.

"Is that--?" Maol asked, gesturing.

"Sea grapes!" Doog chirped helpfully. Cama winced, but neither she nor Haize were quick enough to warn the oviraptors before each had grabbed a large bite out of a strand of the seaweed. All they could do was look on while their guests' eyes went wide with surprise.

Though, to their credit, both of them managed to swallow rather than be as crass as to simply spit out the food in front of their hosts.

"That, was most certainly not grapes!"