Bolide x Hati

Bolide shuffled into the clearing, feeling exposed. It was her first time attempting to court anyone besides Palindrome, she had never properly courted a male before. Palindrome had gently urged her into the arrangement so they would have some eggs to hatch together. She wasn’t uncertain about that part, they had talked about it for a while now and agreed on this plan. It was the idea of courting a male that puffed her feathers.

There were many acros in the clearing, some male some female. Some had already paired up and were making their ways into the woods side by side. Bolide dipped her head and rumbled, signaling to the gathered animals that she was open to being courted.

A male approached her, his featherless hide was a little off putting at first but she allowed herself to be sniffed. Once sniffing, he backed up and bobbed his head, swinging it low to the forest floor then up to eye level. She mimicked him, low to the ground then up. They fell into a slow rhythm, mirroring their movements with one another. Bolide began to speed up, and the male did his best but it was becoming clear he wasn’t at his peak at the moment. He huffed and puffed from the exertion. Politely, Bolide stepped back and raised her head to a neutral position. The male did the same and walked away, downcast but not giving up. She followed him with her eyes as he approached another acro a little ways away and began again.

One bust. That wasn’t a great start but it got her warmed up. The memory of the dance was coming back to her. She really should have practiced. Palindrome and her didn’t dance quite enough, she thought, and tucked the idea in the back of her mind for later.

First a bob, back and forth between neutral and the floor. Once you get a good rhythm you start speeding up until either someone can’t keep up, or the leading partner chooses to move on. The leading partner was usually male, but Bolide didn’t really care either way. She was so focused on rehearsing in her head that she almost missed the male walking up to her.

Bolide blinked quickly, pulling herself back just in time to see him dip his head down and sniff. She dipped her head in turn and they began bobbing gently at one another. This one had feathers, oh good. His coat was scruffy, but looked healthy. He was also leading, beginning to speeding up slowly, watching her closely with his bright blue eyes. He was quite handsome. Bolide was fit enough that she could easily look him over as they continued to speed up. He had a soft countershading fade from his back to his belly, with a lighter band across his shoulders. His limbs faded from the lighter color above his belly to a rich black that matched his back. He let out a soft rumble and pulled himself up to his full height, swishing his tail across the clearing floor and turning his head to the side. Bolide mimicked in turn, pulling herself up to his height and dragging her tail. This was a good time to get a size estimate too. They were about even. It made sense, she was a young female and he an older male. Not old-old, but he for sure had a couple seasons on her. Typically females grew to be slightly larger than males from what Bolide had seen of the other pairs breaking off. He looked her up and down, swinging his head to the other side. She did the same, wondering what he was thinking about. Would her shorter stature make her a no-go? Or would he consider her green-ness?

He didn’t seem too concerned, and continued swiping his tail across the ground. He was keeping up a steady pace, and Bolide was certainly impressed. She matched him as he twisted his head left and right, both now holding eye contact and studying the other’s face for any signs of exhaustion. Bolide decided it was enough for her, and took a step forward, still matching his movements. He reciprocated and they began inching closer until they had to dip their heads and move in perfect unison to not smack the other in the face. Both dinosaurs stopped swinging their tails, focusing entirely on making sure they matched the other perfectly so as not to ruin the dance. Bolide began slowing the movement down, and the male followed. Winding down, she let out a low rumble on every other pass. If he was open to the pairing, he would fill in the gaps. The first two gaps went unfilled, but Bolide continued swinging her head back and forth carefully. The male wasn’t expressing that last bit of interest, but you don’t get this far in a courting dance without at least considering the match. Finally, on the third gap, he rumbled back. They continued this, making mirrored passes and rumbling in alternation, for a minute or two more. Finally, the male stepped forward and placed his head across her shoulders. Bolide did the same, feeling his soft feathers against her chin. Her heart was pounding in her ears now that she wasn’t so focused on the dance, and she began to feel the ache in her neck she knew would be worse tomorrow. It was fine though, at the very least the courtship was a success.

Sliding out from under his chin, Bolide rubbed her side against the male as she walked towards the trees. The latter turned and pressed his body up against her and matched her stride, both somewhat relieved they had found a partner without too much struggle. For some acros, they work at it for days and still turn up with no luck by the end of courting season. It was rough, but it happened often enough that Bolide had even considered that it might happen to her this season.

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