Iguanodon Courtship Rituals

The sun dappled through the trees, covering the clearing in the illusion of gold coins littered over the lush green grass. While the scene should have been quiet and serene, it was quite the opposite. Many bodies crowded the clearing, and voices crooned over the soft rustling of leaves. Cows. All of them from the different courts which were ruled over by The Queen, so every court aside from… The Exiled.
Her eyes flicked to gaze into the dense shrubbery and squinted, if she focused she could almost see small eyes peering through gaps between leaves…

The whispers from a nearby cow caught her attention, Datura, a dark colored cow dashed with colorful highlights over her hide. “There are some… Less colorful bulls this time.”

Orchid entertained the speculation with a flick of her eyes over the roster of bulls gathered on the other side of the clearing, stretching their necks to show the colors decorating their throats, or shaking their bodies to display their other flashes of color. However, dappled between the colorful bulls were what she initially assumed to be mingling cows but now knew to be less colorful bulls. Mainly of them were… Unimpressive. Unscarred. Meek.

She paused.
Among them was one she recognized, a bull roughly her age. Likely his first courting season, as it was hers. He stood awkwardly among the other males, away from their shoving shoulders and sharp thumbclaws. Reserved. Meek. But not deterred. She had not seen him since they were both smaller…
Now that was interesting. He stood where the sun spotted his dappled coat in disks of gold, like finery had been draped over his feathers. And goodness did he look handsome like that…

Green eyes lifted, meeting hers even despite the crowd of cows which surrounded her on all sides. He found her, and if that didn’t make her heart flutter… She had no idea what had.

She smiled at him, all mischief and sharpness. Regardless of how charming he seemed, if he wanted her favor.
He must earn it, just as any other bull here and unfortunately he would be starting at the bottom. Little color leaves him at a disadvantage compared to the colorful and muscular bulls who surrounded him.
But if he could work his way through them, then he would prove to have the one trait which she valued most. Resilience and stubbornness.

Colors and form surely made a bull more appealing, however these traits were nothing without the drive to continue on even when the odds were against them.

Orchid moved back into the messy ranks of whispering cows, giving one last look over her shoulder at the bull who had caught her eye. He had much to prove.

She lowered her body next to a spot of sunwarmed grass where her view of the bulls was undisturbed, and far enough away that their bellows would not bother her ears. She had never known why others seemed so interested in the loud ones… They just seemed obnoxious. Her bull was not loud. In fact, he was rather timid and quiet. Picking his way through the ranks with careful precision rather than through brute force. Orchid watched as he whispered into the ears of other outliers, and while she had no idea of the words he had spoken, they seemed to be enough to send his competition backing down with friendly smiles and gentle nods of their heads. What on earth was he saying to them?... How was he convincing them to back down without brute force or threats? It was interesting… Orchid’s head lulled against her forelegs as she observed her chosen bull as he moved along the edges of crowds, through bull fights and show offs. He was plucking his way through the weakest links…
Smart.
Much smarter than many of the brutes who sought her favor, she flicked her gaze to a red throated bull attempting to show off his colors to her. Orchid rose from her resting place and- snorted at him, eyes venomous and tossing her head.
A rejection and a warning.
Wisely, he fled. Leaving Orchid to observe, however when she went to look back… Her eyes met the green eyes of her chosen bull once more. Oh. He had found her again….

The bull moved through the crowd carefully, shyly shining away from the particularly loud or rambunctious bulls. Yet, his approach never stopped no matter who got in his way. He moved steadily through a gaggle of cows, sifting through the tall grass as fluid as water. Until finally, he stopped in front of her.

He held still, allowing her to examine his dark coat dappled with light and the blaze that adorned his snout. 

Orchid moved around him, studying the way his head lifted and his muscles tensed. Not too bad on the form…

Despite the lack of flashes of color, he was rather striking. In a softer way. He was not loud, nor particularly confident… And yet his determination to reach her, to impress her among the sea of cows was on its own impressive.

He was beautiful and above all else, he was intelligent. A wise mind was much more attractive than the raw strength many of these other bulls may possess. Perhaps this bull, her bull, would be the one who could match her in wit.
Oh what a delight that would be-

Orchid lowered her head to rest upon his back, and beneath the weight of her skull, she could feel him relax. He had been chosen.

“You are lucky that I do not care for flare.” She rumbled from deep within her chest as she moved to stand before him. His eyes were painfully soft as he pushed his head against her cheek, nuzzling her.“I suppose I am.” His voice was as gentle as his frame, merely a whisper among the roars and bellows. It was soothing.
Orchid inhaled his scent as she tucked her head into his feathers, basking in his warmth. In his softness.