[Courtship] - Highland Nights

It was a rare day on the Kiama Islands that Buidhe stayed up late, or in this case, woke up in the night. A restlessness the massive dinosaur rarely felt rolling through his bones and flesh like a rumbling vibration. The sauropod usually slow and sluggish due to his size, hauling his massive weight to his feet from his sleeping spot, sheltered by sparse trees on the barren plain of the Kela Highlands. The grass which would be a vibrant green in the daylight less vibrant now in the night. The moon overhead full giving him a clear view of the world around him, even in the dark. The moonlight bathing the landscape in a pale light as he began to walk, moving from his resting place with heavy steps towards a small stream, across the grassy clearing. The shunosaurus, paler even than he looked in the daylight so focused on his short trek in search of a drink he didn’t notice another shape among the grass. It’s colour making it easy to mistake them for a rather large boulder in the dark as Buidhe lumbered forward. One foot bumping against the rock only for the rock to surprise him.

The rock letting out a groan of indignation as it shifted, making him stumble. The sauropod taking a step back as he blinked in surprise. His brown eyes almost black in appearance in the dark finally taking notice of the shape that unfurled before him; another Shunosaurus, dark like the night sky mixed with a deep teal blue, covered in scruffy feathering. She was beautiful really, her bright eyes giving him an annoyed look as she lifted herself to stand with a huff of annoyance. The lovely female clearly looking at him expectantly, waiting for an apology making him snap out of his sheepish stupor as Buidhe bumbled. “S-Sorry! I didn’t see you, you looked like a rock-” He began with a chuckle, quickly cutting himself off when he realized he was in fact at the moment looking somewhat stupid. The Shuno opposite him raising a brow, assumedly thinking he wasn’t a hundred percent all there when it came to intelligence.

The sauropod giving her hide a shake, making her feathers ruffle as she took a few steps, pacing around the male who had interrupted her sleep, almost like a vulture circling. The act having Buidhe struggle to turn, to try and keep her in his line of sight. His anxiety evident as she circled him for a moment longer before chuckling. Her tail swaying, careful not to hit him with the spiked club at it’s end as she smiled apparently… amused? Buidhe paused, blinking as she spoke, surprised by her reaction, her voice calm and laced with warmth. “You are a funny one… What do they call you?”

Buidhe paused, his name? She wanted to know- “B-Buidhe!” He startled, answering quickly as the feathered sauropod stopped circling him to being to head for the stream that Buidhe had originally been heading for. Her long neck bending low to take a drink from the bubbling stream as he responded, following to stand beside her as he also bent to take a drink of his own. “What do they call you?” The female, her blue feathers shining glossy in the dark taking a moment to finish her drink before responding. “They call me, Artorias.” The smile she shot him a secretive thing as Buidhe nodded, taking a quick drink from the stream. “A lovely name.”

He paused, the two drinking in silence for a moment, simply enjoying the silence. The only noise heard in the quiet being the chirp of crickets and the sounds of the stream as it flowed. A firefly buzzing near the larger male’s snout making his give his head a shake, the movement rippling down his long neck as he let out a huff of a snort into the cool night air. The gesture sending the firefly flitting away to instead land on Artorias’ nose instead, her nostrils flaring as she eyed the smal bug that glowed in stops and starts. A downward flick of her head, slow and gentle, sending the bug on its way as it buzzed off into the dark, making her only smile more as she turned her head again to look at the male, who she caught, embarrassingly, mid staring at her in a way that made him quickie turn his head and look away, straight  ahead across the stream and back off across the highlands towards the woodline. A warm smile crossing the scruffy sauropod’s face as she sat silently for a moment before speaking, her voice calm and mellow as she moved to stand.

“Shall we take a walk together?” Her voice, kind and soft, startling Buidhe from his reverie as he watched the landscape, as he craned his long neck to look at her, moving to stand and follow as he stumbled over his words, awkwardly and with a lack of confidence that did not match his size and strength. “O-Of course!” He paused, finally rising proper to his feet with some effort. The two having left two large patches of flattened grass by the bank of the stream now. “Have you seen the chicory that grows near the edge of the meadow? It is delicious but… I think I would be happy to share it with you.” Buidhe hummed, his voice a low drone that could easily be heard in the quiet of the night as Artorias blinked in surprise, she had not noticed the chicory he mentioned, and chicory was in fact a rare treat with the new plants that had been cropping up and strangling the islands local flora lately.

The scruffy feathered shunosaurus giving an eager nod as she bent her head slightly lower, gratefully. “Lead the way. It would be rude for me to turn down such a generous offering.” She hummed, neck craning back up, as she swung slowly to press her nose to that of her companion’s, her head brushing against his long neck like a cat. “I think I like you, Buidhe.”