Fishy Love

The beach was a lovely place this time of year, the warm sand a pleasant contrast to the cool water. Fish frolicked in the waves, coconuts rolled down the dunes, and birds screeched angrily at each other over scraps of food. Titania rolled around in the sand on her back, letting out a low sigh of relief as the warmth washed over her. She let all her worries and stress fade away, eyes closing as she huffed out a low breath. Her fanned tail stirred up the sand as it thumped around, causing small grains to land on her belly. 

The sound of nearby footsteps caused the suchomimus to lazily crack open her eyes, just as something wet and flappy hit her long muzzle. Titania yowled, thrashing around in the sand as the dead fish covered her face and low snickering came from the sky. She finally managed to sit up, glaring at the other carnivore who was snickering above her. “Not funny.” Titania hissed lowly, before grumpily grabbing the fish in her snout and throwing it down.

Kinich grinned down at her, leaning down to nudge at her with his long snout. “Come on!” He teased. “You’r so covered in sand you look like a dead whale! It’s getting hotter, lets go swim.” The grey and black male swished his tail over her side, before turning around and taking off for the waves. “I’ll get there first!”

“Don’t count on it!” Titania laughed, following after him and managing to dart ahead with her lankier build. She hit the water hard, foam and salt bubbling up around her as she dived down deeper. The two had been lounging near an underwater incline, allowing them access to deeper bits of the ocean without having to wade through shallows. Kinich was right behind her, but was left to sputter in shock and mock offense as the female used her tail to whack him in the face. He let out a playful grow, before diving further underwater and lunging.

The two suchomimus chased each other around for a few moments, trading gentle blows and blasts of bubbles, before something caught Titanias attention. She paused, looking into the deeper waters ahead. Even being good swimmers, her species was not made to go deep into the water; all suchomimus were taught to never go past the reef at the edge of the shallower parts of the water. Many warnings have been given of fools who got in over their head, only to be swept away and never recovered. Still. Titania mused to herself. There was another island not too far away, one where other dinosaurs also thrived- there were tunnels below the ocean that allowed creatures to travel to and from it, but she wondered if she could ever make the swim…

“ABHDsjhd!” A blast of bubbles from Kinichs mouth as he tried to talk underwater caught her attention- the silver suchomimus looked… not panicked, but a bit worried. She turned, eyes widening as a large, scaly fish darted past them. Instincts ignited, as she and Kinich traded a look- it was on!

The two suchomimus darted after the first, spreading out to fan on either side of it. The two were nowhere as near as fast as whatever fish species they were chasing, but they had something it didn’t; teamwork. Kinich took the lead as the admittedly faster swimmer, sticking along the far side to keep the fish from fleeing back to open waters. The two occasionally broke the surface to take quick breaths, ducking back down to continue the chase. Slowly they wore the first down, corralling it closer and closer to the shore- until a lunge from Kinich finally put him within reach to swipe at it, a trail of blood streaming from where he made contact with the fins. The fish stalled, allowing Titania to finally get within reach- and clamp her jaws around it. Hooked teeth dug in, but the suchomimus almost lost her grip as the fish began to thrash frantically. But Kinich was there- he was quick to join in, grabbing hold of the lashing tail and taking half of the weight. By the time the two reached the shallows, it had stilled, and the pair threw it onto the shore with groans of effort.

Kinich collapsed onto the sand beside the fish, tired but pleased. He turned his gaze to Titania, eyes widening as he noticed the hint of blood on her face. “Let me see that.” He crowded closer, the pink suchomimus hissing lowly but not moving away. Kinich gently ran his claws along the feathers, revealing a small wound made from the fishes thrashing tail. “It’s not deep… it will heal with time.” The male pulled away, shaking his claws off as he did. Titania was looking at him with an unreadable expression. “What?”

“Nothing… nothing…” Titania looked away, claws going to the fish. It was huge, even for them- big enough she had to wrap all of her claws around to pull it. “It was already hurt.” She pointed at a ripped front fin, an older injury. “Must be why it came here- this has to be some kind of open ocean fish. A rare treat.” The suchomimus turned to Kinich with a grin. “Well, you were the one who caught it- how would you like the first taste?” She passed it over to the silver male.

Kinich observed the fish, thinking. Their species rarely shared their fish outside of the hardest times, especially something as rare as this. But this was both of theirs. Using his claws, he tore it neatly in half, passing it back to Titania. “Here. Same time?” She smiled at him, then nodded, and they both scarfed it down. A quiet moment passed. One. Then two. Then-

The two suchomimus spat and coughed, hacking up the fish. “What was that?” Titania hissed lowly, feathers flaring up in agitation. “It tasted like pure saltwater!” 

Kinich gagged in agreement, letting out a disgusted sound. “At least the chase was fun.” And Titania had to agree with that- it had been. Any time with Kinich was, after all.