[Trade] Riviera x Pretzel

The warm rays of the sun reflected off the lazily rolling waves, creating shifting glints on their surface. The water near the shore was astonishingly clear, with a light, delicate blue colour – transparent enough to see the stone-strewn bottom without obstruction. Beneath the surface, numerous schools of small, silvery fish swam chaotically, changing direction with surprising speed whenever something disturbed them. Among them, much larger and more colourful fish appeared from time to time, almost scraping their bellies against the yellowish sand at the bottom. They were rarely found in such shallow waters.

Suddenly, the surface of the water was violently disturbed, causing widespread panic. Droplets splashed everywhere, and every fish in the reservoir began to flee chaotically in random directions. An unidentified brown shape, which had been standing almost motionless in the water for several minutes, finally struck.

Pretzel quickly plunged his narrow jaws into the water, brutally tearing through the surface. He succeeded - his sharp, dagger-like teeth sank into the shiny scales of one of the larger fish, staining the water red. The male raised his head violently, pulling the confused animal out of its environment. His grip was sure and strong - the suchomimus had a lot of experience in hunting.

This time, however, he was not hunting for himself. The prevailing courtship season had also taken hold of him. Every year, in the nearby area, on one of the exceptionally sunny beaches, whole herds of usually solitary suchomimus gathered to find a suitable mate. Over the course of a few days, dozens of dinosaurs passed through this place, showing off all their assets.

This was not Pretzel's first courtship season – he knew exactly what to expect. That is why he spent quite a bit of time choosing the most attractive, impressive prey, which would certainly add to his charm. After all, such great hunting skills are an undeniable advantage when it comes to raising offspring later on.

~*~

Riviera ruffled her white feathers, which were tinged with grey in places. She was cleaning them thoroughly for the umpteenth time, trying her best to take care of her appearance. She was still quite young and inexperienced, but she knew that good looks were essential. She stood in a group of a dozen females, chatting cheerfully with each other, immersed in a joyful atmosphere. Each of them, although they came from different areas and looked completely different from the others, was extremely excited about what was about to happen.

Their group was not the only one - the beach was teeming with such small, improvised herds, and the number of suchomimus of both sexes was growing by the hour. Riviera subconsciously observed her companions, assessing her chances. Unfortunately, she did not particularly stand out from the crowd. A quick reconnaissance was enough to realise that there were many more intriguing candidates in the area. Fortunately, the most attractive females would probably choose the highest-class males, leaving the rest of the admirers for their slightly less charismatic rivals.

Riviera paced nervously, staring intently ahead. That was where the groups of males would soon arrive from. The first silhouettes had already appeared on the horizon, barely visible shapes against the cloudless, sunny sky. All she had to do was wait a little longer.

~*~

Pretzel walked shoulder to shoulder with the other males, occasionally glancing at them with some distrust. He was not used to such commotion - members of his species almost never formed large groups, so what was happening today seemed quite unnatural.

The distance between him and the females was decreasing with every step. When he strained his eyes, he could already distinguish certain individual characteristics of some of the candidates. This courtship season, the group was exceptionally large.

The brown banded suchomimus still clutched his prey tightly in his mouth, which had since stopped dripping blood and staining his feathers with red liquid. Thanks to this, he looked much better than he had half an hour ago.

Finally, the two groups came close enough to each other to interact. A veritable barrage of roars, growls, sighs and grunts began - a ceremonial greeting that echoed throughout the surrounding area every year. The two separate flanks stared each other down, and everyone present tried to quickly assess the strengths and weaknesses of those around them.

The greeting lasted about a minute, then suddenly fell silent. It was time for the next part of the show – the males' display. Soon, each of them would do everything they could to draw attention solely to themselves in this chaotic, colourful gathering.

Pretzel was not in the best position – he happened to be stuck between two much larger, older males. Using his greater agility, he tried to slip out of this uncomfortable situation, but the sweeping movements of his rivals prevented him from doing so. Pretzel had high hopes that the two larger males would decide to charm their potential mates with dancing and other displays of their assets rather than fighting. If Pretzel were attacked by either of them, it would not end well.

The brown male cautiously tried to fight for some space. He danced around with slow movements, proudly raising his head and displaying his prey - it was truly impressive in size. The male moved his tail rhythmically, turning around his own axis. Every time he turned his muzzle towards the females standing opposite to him, he tried hard to make eye contact with one of them. For the most part, however, he was unsuccessful - they were all fascinated by his more eye-catching rivals. Except for one.

Riviera, despite the chaos around her, had been looking at him from the beginning. Something about him attracted her – those brown, tousled feathers, blue eyes and confidence that remained despite the unfavourable circumstances.

Pretzel was also impressed, and not just because he noticed that Riviera was clearly interested in him. Filled with new energy, the male continued his display, this time directed at only one specific person.

The other dinosaurs, having found their new partners, slowly dispersed, reducing the group of suchomimus on the beach until finally only the two self-absorbed individuals remained.

Pretzel and Riviera approached each other cautiously, as if still unsure of the other's opinion, but all their fears vanished as soon as their snouts touched. They were a perfect match.