Lugging Lumber

Heavy footsteps thudded into the soft earth, followed by a pair of smaller, skittering ones- gangly, feathered forms following behind a bulkier, more cumbersome dinosaur, using his crest to push the undergrowth aside as he continued along. Marsh wasn’t a native of Atlantis- far from it, in fact. The green-scaled Styracosaurus stood out like a sore thumb amongst the typical inhabitants of the dome, unable to avoid the suspicious, passing glances of any crowds as he tried to shuffle by without much of a fuss. Though he’d been nothing but friendly, tensions were still a bit high, which… he could understand, he supposed. Marsh was, in fact, a stranger, and even now, as he lugged along lumber and supplies to help fix the dome- rather helpfully fastened to his back by some of the primates that seemed to be just about everywhere, here- he couldn’t help but feel like he was somewhat unwelcome.

His current pair of companions helped to lessen that feeling just a tad, though. One darted ahead, past him- green and black feathers ruffling as she skidded to an abrupt stop, raising her head and glancing around in a quick, almost birdlike fashion. Vee- the first Oviraptor that Marsh ever had the pleasure of meeting. They were kindred spirits, in a sense- as he glanced up with a huff, Marsh’s gaze lingered on the bright green splashes of color adorning Vee’s crest. He’d been born without the bright colors that marked him as male- and she had instead been born with such. Similar predicaments- and perhaps it was that similarity that made the normally vain and standoffish dinosaur warm up to Marsh so quickly.

The other Oviraptor in the pair- a drabber, sandy brown one, plumage mottled with darker barring- hung back instead, ducked down nervously as she trailed along behind the group. Shelly, a friend of Vee’s- perhaps more than such? The two always seemed joined at the hip, Shelly sticking close to her more confident companion. Marsh wouldn’t be surprised if the two ended up nesting at some point, to be completely honest. Marsh gave her a nod of acknowledgement, before turning his head, picking up the pace and strolling over to where Vee had halted.

“Everything looking good? Why’d you stop?” He questioned as he made his way over, head tilting to the side. Vee’s head snapped to look at him, the feathers on the back of her head raising slightly as she met the ceratopsian’s gaze. Then, she huffed- looking away, stamping her talons against the dirt.

“It’s nothing. Just…” She sucked in a breath, and then sighed heavily, ruffling her feathers as she did so. “Could’ve sworn I heard more cracking up ahead. Probably just a tree, but-“

“…Worried about the state of the dome?” Marsh interjected, absentmindedly pawing at the soil as he stood nearby.

“…Yeah. Yeah.” Vee confirmed with a bit of a frustrated groan, raking her foot across the ground. Marsh took a few more steps forwards, lowering his head to give the Oviraptor a nudge with his beak.

“Well, hey- try… try not to get too worked up about it, yeah? You’ve got folks like me helping out to repair it!” He hummed, shifting his weight on his feet just a tad- the supplies strapped to his back jostling at the movement. “I might not be able to do a lot, but- hauling materials is better than just sitting around doing nothing about it!”

“…I do think Marsh is right about that,” Shelly added, the drab Oviraptor padding over and raising her head. “What good would wallowing about the state of things do-? Except ensure that nothing got done, haha…!”

“…Can’t really argue with that.” Vee sighed, turning around to face the other two. “How about we pick up the pace, then, slowpokes! That lumber you’re lugging won’t be of much use still strapped to your back!”

Marsh let out a bit of a chuckle, shaking his head. “Right, right- lead the way, then. Once I’ve got these dropped off I can head back and pick up another load, m’kay?”

An affirmative nod from Vee, the green Oviraptor darting ahead to map out the path to the dropoff site. Shelly continued to hang back, sticking close to the protection of the Styracosarus as the trio trudged through the jungle towards their destination- the location of which was easy to discern, based off of the chattering of primates up ahead.

When Marsh finally broke through the undergrowth, he was met with the sight of a small clearing, one of the walls of the dome stretching as far as the eye could see- a mixed group of Atlantean dinosaurs milling about to prepare supplies for the repair. Lemurs and other primates darted amongst the crowd- thanks to their dextrous hands, they were the ones doing most of the actual repairing, while the dinosaurs moved earth or lugged around supplies.

Vee was waiting up ahead, glancing around the crowd, though she soon turned around to face her two companions as they too walked out into the construction site.

“There you are! We’re here!” She hummed, shaking herself off a bit with a ruffle of her feathers. “The dropoff site shouuuld be just about… that-a-way.” A tilt of her head to gesture off to the left- to a small, sandy little area where some of the heftier, larger dinosaurs were having supplies either unloaded from their backs, or loaded onto them.

“Me and Shells here-“ Shells. Cute little nickname Vee had for Shelly… were they really just friends? “-Are probably going to head off for now, if that’s alright. Think a friend of ours might be around here…”

“…Blot?” Shelly questioned, taking a few steps forwards. Vee nodded, shifting her weight on her feet.

“Yup! Could’ve sworn I saw that big lug around here. Weird for him in particular to be around a construction site, but… ehh! Guess he likes to feel helpful!” Vee chuckled, before shifting her gaze back to Marsh.

“You… gonna be alright on your own?” She asked, tilting her head. “If you want, me an’ Shells can like, lead you over to the dropoff site. Nobody will stare on my watch!”

Marsh shook his head a bit, tail swaying behind him. “Nah, I… I think I’ll be fine! Can’t do everything with you two tagging along, can I? Go find your buddy! I don’t mind.”

“If you say so,” Vee replied, turning around with a flick of her tail. “C’mon, Shells! Let’s go find that Iguanodon!”

Shelly nodded a bit and quickly skittered forwards, following close behind Vee as the pair of Oviraptor soon disappeared into the crowd of the construction site. Marsh watched as the two left, standing around for a moment- before letting out a bit of a sigh, lowering his head. He really ought to head to the dropoff site- all this lumber was getting awfully heavy.

Marsh turned and began to plod through the crowd, trying to ignore any odd glances he might’ve gotten as he made his way over to the dropoff. When he arrived, the poor guy practically collapsed into the soft sand- resting his head on his front feet as he laid down with a heavy thud, tail lightly thumping against the earth. It didn’t take long for the local lemurs to bounce on over- clambering all over the ceratopsian as they worked to unfasten the lumber strapped to his back, finally removing all that weight. Marsh let out a little sigh as the mammals worked, closing his eyes.

It… it was nice, to be of help like this. It was something to do, a sense of purpose. Honestly… Marsh might feel more at home down here, than he ever did aboveground- despite the fact that he still didn’t quite fit in yet. To be fair, he’d never quite fit in anywhere, not with… the way he was- but… he had friends, down here. Dinosaurs like him, who understood him.

And as long as that was the case… he’d try to help out, wherever he could. He’d try his best, at least!