Dinosaur Train; Crooked Frame
#7 of Dinosaur Train: Catastrophe
As the Pteranodon family settles into their new home, not all is well as a discovery threatens to tear the family apart.
Part of the Catastrophe timeline of stories.
It was the day after Sonny, formally known as Mister Conductor of the famous Dinosaur Train, had turned in his employment at Dinosaur Train Industries. He had done this to seek the love and family of Misses Pteranodon; widowed after the death of her husband. In the ensuing month after the Pteranodon family were displaced, due to their time period being locked off from the time tunnels collapsing due to the shockwave of the asteroid, and the only train to witness what happened out of commission for quite some time, Sonny had taken it upon himself to provide emotional and family support of the Pteranodon family, especially for Mrs. P.
Sadly, upon the tunnel being re-opened, while her adopted son Buddy was able to be rescued, Mister Pteranodon had already passed away, yet his care had ensured Buddy would survive. In the ensuing void and stress, the widowed Pteranodon continued to seek the comfort of the Troodon who was always there for her. Eventually this came to a point that both of them felt compelled to reach; to become mates.
After a brief honeymoon in the Jurassic, Sonny and Mrs. P took the Rocket train to Troodon town, where they were congratulated by friends, family, and the youngsters; Shiny, Don, Tiny, and Buddy.
While the greeting was enjoyable, nothing made the new couple happier than when Tiny spoke up, referring to Sonny as "Dad", helping establish him into the family as the new father figure.
"Now just stay there a bit longer." Mrs. C said as Laura continued to sketch feverishly, the new family standing on the platform; Mrs. P with Shiny and Don standing on either side of her, hugging her while Sonny was holding Buddy and Tiny, one in each arm as they all smiled and looked up at Laura. However, Sonny and Mrs. P had to break pose a few times to wipe their eyes, the admission that Tiny had made earlier still having a profound effect on them. Eventually, Laura spoke.
"Okay everyone. I can finish the rest later." she said, offering everyone a kind smile, the eye patch she now wore not taking away from her lovely disposition. Despite the fact that they were free to move, Sonny found himself reluctant to let Tiny and Buddy out of his arms, giving them a tight hug before he knelt and let them go onto the platform.
"Can we see the picture?" Shiny spoke up, but Laura only chuckled.
"Not yet. I need to make sure it's perfect before I show it to you. I'll be bringing it to your home tomorrow." she said, which made Don perk up.
"Oh yeah, where IS our new home?" the young male Pteranodon asked, looking up at his mother. She, in return, blinked a time or two, then looked over at Mrs. C, who was smiling and still dabbing a cloth at her teary cheeks.
"It's right here in Troodon Town. I'll escort you there, but first, you all MUST simply let me take you to breakfast. I have a special meal all prepared for you." she said.
The congratulatory crowd around the station had somewhat dispersed, only the more closely involved dinosaurs and non-dinosaurs were waiting, Gilbert and Lily among them. Shiny had noticed that Gilbert and Lily were not part of the family image, and she could understand that for the sake of the image, but with him not being right near her, it began to worry her.
"Is... Is Gilbert allowed to come along?" she asked Mrs. C, who chuckled.
"Of course!" she said. Gilbert had been clinging to Mrs. C's leg the whole while, ensuring he didn't fall over due to the lack of balance of his missing tail, yet at her announcement, he let go of her and ran rather easily over to Shiny, nearly bowling her over. Mrs. C could see Don looking at Shiny and Gilbert snuggling and looked over at Lily. She smiled and trotted up to Don, the two of them also embracing, but Lily broke the hug first and looked a little somber.
"What's wrong?" Don asked her, holding her small hands in his own.
"Well, my family was displaced like yours. I kinda need to go with them and see about finding a new home... And also let them know I came back from my trip to see you." she said.
"Sorry Don." Mrs. C said, overhearing the conversation. "Lots of things have happened, and even though your family is coming together, not everyone else has had such luck." She said, giving the little Pteranodon a rub on the head. "Lily and her family have to do what they have to do." she said, before she smiled. "Don't worry. I'm sure they won't be too far from where you will be living. You'll get to see each other really soon." she said, a simple statement that made Don and Lily smile at each other before they shared a brief kiss, Lily then turning and trotting her way into the station as she waved over her back to Don, who waved her off, though he still sniffled as he rubbed his eye. He found a gentle touch on his side, seeing Buddy standing next to him with a soft smile on his face.
"Come on. We have a nice meal to get to and then we get to go home. How great will that be?" Buddy said, saying one of the few optimistic things he'd said since his rescue. This had the desired effect as Don smiled.
"Yeah, lets go eat!" Don exclaimed, making the youngsters cheer. Mrs. P and Sonny leaned against each other, smiling at the brighter moods of the youngsters and the optimistic view of their future
Mrs. C had lead the family into the station and into the back office room that Buddy and the youngsters had spent the night prior, but she then lead them through another door, one the youngsters had seen her go into, but none of them had actually seen into the room. Upon entering it everyone, sans Mrs. C, let out a low, awed expression as their jaws went slack.
The room was a dining hall, reserved for only the top of the line employees of Dinosaur Train Industries, a position only Mrs. C and a few others had. Not even Sonny had reached that position, not caring to be promoted past conductor and thus, be in a position where he'd no longer actually be ON a train. Yet, as fate would have it, here he was, and only after he had abandoned his entire career.
The room was adorned with a fancy, soft, rusty red carpet that was not trod on much, leaving it soft and fluffy. The walls were mostly white with intricate vine patterns, mostly white and gold in color, and the ceiling was made of glass, allowing a wonderful dispersal of sunlight in, but keeping out bugs and bad weather. However, what had their attention was the centerpiece of the room; A large rectangular table adorned with many plates of many kinds of foods, all of them exotic with only a few of them being familiar to the family, and even those looked to be of much higher quality than they had ever had. Mrs. C stepped through the room, a proud grin on her face as she stepped up to the head of the table.
"Take a seat and get ready for a lovely breakfast." she said as she pulled out her chair and sat down. She watched as Don hopped into a chair by himself, standing on the seat and nearly drooling on the table. Looking to her immediate left, she saw her Sonny Boy pulling out the chair and offering it to his wife, who smiled as she took her seat before Sonny sat as well. She noted out of the corner of her eye that Gilbert had done the same for Shiny. Glancing over at Buddy, she caught him staring at Sonny before he too pulled a chair out for Tiny. The whole display was incredibly cute.
Sonny was seated directly to Mrs. C's left, his wife right next to him while Buddy was next to Mrs. P and Tiny was on his other side. Gilbert was on Mrs. C's right side, Shiny next to him, and Don next to her. There were some eating utensils on the table, but Mrs. C realized that only the troodon really used them, or rather, had any use for them. Surprisingly, none of the youngsters were grabbing at the food, a simple fact that made Mrs. C smile as she grabbed her teacup and lifted it up.
"Before we eat, I propose a toast." Mrs. C stated. Her Son smiled and grasped his cup as well, giving Mrs. P a sideways glance before she did the same.
"A toast?" Tiny asked, echoing what most of the youngsters were wondering as they too picked up their cups.
"A toast," Sonny started. "is basically a little wish you make before a big meal, or about hoping for good luck for something." he said. "Then you take a drink."
"Yes indeed." Mrs. C said, smiling. "A toast, to a happy future." she said, lifting her cup higher. Sonny mimicked her action.
"To a happy future!" he said, before Mrs. P and all the youngsters did the same.
"To a happy future!" they chimed at once before they all took a drink.
"Now lets eat!" Mrs. C exclaimed.
Despite having had quite the nice dinner, the youngsters ate as if they were starving, though who could blame them with how good the food was tasting. Sonny and Mrs. P were also eating feverishly, but Mrs. C had the feeling it was due to more... "personal" activities. Still unable to really believe that her son had given up his life long passion for someone he loved, she couldn't help but gently pat his leg under the table, smiling with pride but also intending to startle him a bit. He jumped clearly out of his seat at the touch, but the reaction was worse than she was expecting.
"YOW!" he yelped. Everyone at the table stopped and looked at him, Mrs. P putting her hand on his back.
"Are you all right?" she asked. Meanwhile, Mrs. C had withdrawn her hand and was a bit concerned as she looked at it.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine I just... uh... bit my tongue. Was eating a bit too fast." he said. The youngsters made various sympathetic sounds while Mrs. P gave him a kiss on the cheek before she whispered into his earhole.
"Don't worry, I'll be sure to kiss it and make it better VERY soon." she said, making him flush as she smiled at him with half lidded eyes before she returned to her eating. Sonny smiled at her but also swallowed. Their night together was incredible, intense, unforgettable, but he was technically still processing it and the idea of a lover who wanted him physically was still rather intimidating. He managed to pull his bashfully blushing face from those enthralling eyes, giving a quick glance over the eating youngsters before his eyes fell on his mother, who had more of a concerned expression on her face. She leaned in and whispered to him.
"Are you REALLY all right?" she asked. Sonny was perplexed but nodded. His mother then grasped his wrist with one hand, turning his attention to her other hand which she held open under the table for him to see, showing a couple of small bloodspots on it. "You don't yelp in pain and leave blood on your mothers hand by biting your tongue." she said, her tone still hushed.
Mrs. P looked over at Sonny and his mother talking. She seemed rather serious about whatever she was talking about, but that didn't bother her. Sonny hadn't had a partner before her, so his mother was probably giving him some important advice. Mrs. P resumed eating the delicious food.
"Well..." Sonny felt that his mother had put him on-the-spot and decided to come clean. He leaned to the side and exposed a thigh of his to mother, showing the mostly scabbed over three gashes in his thigh. She covered her mouth to hide a gasp at seeing such a wound on her son. When she looked at his face, however, she saw him blushing brightly. It took her a few moments before she put the clues together and then gave a point with a single finger at Mrs. P. Sonny nodded his head rather quickly as his flushing continued to grow. His mother, however, could sense he was vulnerable and did what any parent would do; embarrass the hell out of their child. Pretending she still didn't know, she made the obscene gesture of a circle of her thumb and forefinger on one hand before she started to place the extended index finger of her other hand in it, prompting Sonny to blush to the point that it looked like he'd have a nosebleed. "Mother!" he hissed out. She laughed softly, snorting as she covered her mouth. Their little conversation was interrupted by Buddy.
"Grandma Conductor?" he said, something that made Sonny and Mrs. P drop what they were doing and stare at him, first in awe, then in teary eyed happiness as the little rex seemed to be growing accustomed to his new family members.
"Yes, dear?" she said, smiling.
"I know you and a bunch of the troodon took a few days to rescue others trapped in the ruined time... but it couldn't have only taken four days to save everyone. There has got to be more who survive that." he said, a bit worried.
"It's all right. We actually have several teams who are going into that timeline every day. The Big Pond was a popular place to visit, and even after the catastrophe, a lot of dinosaurs and non-dinosaurs are going there to try and find others." she said. "They also are showing up at the station and we're bringing trains constantly to ensure we get as many of them out as quickly as possible."
"Even Grandma and Grandpa Pteranodon?" he asked, which made everyone at the table sputter a moment.
"It's all right. We worked our way to the interior sea and yes, we rescued a lot of Pteranodon. They were not that close to the shockwave and had an easier time surviving." Mrs. C stated. Mrs. P, however, grew teary eyed.
"But they don't know..." she started. When the youngsters looked at her, and especially Sonny, they all knew what she was going to say next, even as Sonny wrapped an arm around her as her eyes glazed. "They don't know their son is dead... That he DIDN'T survive." she said, restating, painfully, what everyone already knew. Mrs. C reached across the table and grabbed Mrs. P's hand.
"I'm sorry... The best I can do is be the one to inform them." she offered. Mrs. P looked back at the older female, giving her hand a squeeze. Sonny also kept a firm grip on her, an arm around her back, and while he didn't like the idea of his mother telling them by proxy, he knew it was a terrible idea for Mrs. P to fully re-open that wound.
"No." came a flat reply from across the table. Everyone turned to look at Buddy, his eyes narrowed as he looked down. "I'll tell them... Mom has been hurting too much... I'm tired of seeing Mom cry... I want to see Mom smile." he said. Mrs. P's eyes widened and she sucked in a breath at her son's words, a very brief smile crossing her features before she collapsed into Sonny's arms and began sobbing into his vest. Mrs. C looked over at Buddy and nodded.
"All right. I'll arrange a meeting between just you and them, but... if you need my help, just say so." Mrs. C offered. Buddy smiled at her.
"Thank you, Grandma Conductor." he said as he resumed eating while his mother tried to curb her tears, though Sonny was giving a strained smile at Buddy as the youngster willingly set up what would no doubt be a very difficult encounter.
Despite the tears at breakfast, no one there could say it was an unpleasant experience and everyone was full and happy, though Buddy occasionally got lost in his thoughts, prompting Tiny to gently touch him and wake him out of his daydreaming. Mrs. P had dried her tears on her husband's vest, though both she and Sonny were also coming to terms with Buddy finally accepting his new family relations, a relief that was worthy of shedding tears.
As the meal was finished up and everyone was ready to move, Mrs. C called for a few waiters to clean up the table and walked everyone into the employee resting area. She picked up the trinkets of the youngsters and placed them in a satchel before handing it to Sonny.
"Here, Sonny Boy, hang onto the kid's things and just rest in here for a while." she said, prompting Sonny, Mrs. P, and the youngsters to climb onto beds and just take a rest, though Mrs. C stopped Buddy. As soon as he turned and looked back at her face; wearing an expression of concern, his own expression narrowed and he steeled himself. "Buddy, you have a rough job ahead of you. Do you really want to do this yourself?" she asked in front of the others. Buddy looked back at his family; seeing his siblings, mother, new cousin, and new father, all wearing an expression that said they would jump to help him if he asked for it. He looked at them all, meeting everyone's eyes, before he looked at his mother and saw her eyes welling up. No. Even just looking at her, seeing her think about it, was making her sad and her smile was gone. He needed that smile back, he needed to see her happy. Buddy turned away from all of them and he could hear a few small breaths of shock and disappointment that he had not picked anyone. However, as he looked up at Mrs. C, he saw the same concern in her face. Somehow, when he willingly called her Grandma, he felt secure with her. Was it because she was a theropod? Was it because she was an older female and not an older male that he gave his trust to her? He didn't know, but he now had a choice.
"Grandma Conductor... Could you come with me?" he asked. He could hear his mother sniffling behind him, along with a rather cute sound from Sonny. Mrs. C slowly smiled and nodded.
"I'd be glad to be with you." she said as she gently rubbed the top of his head. "All right, everyone. Just relax here, we'll be back soon." she said as Buddy turned to look and saw Sonny comforting his mother again, but she was wearing a smile now as she looked at Buddy through bleary eyes. It wasn't a perfect smile, but Buddy still smiled back at her as he left the room with Mrs. C.
Mrs. C walked with Buddy in tow as they went through the lobby of the station. She made a whistling sound by putting two fingers in her mouth before a bird flew over to her and she held out an arm to let them rest on it.
"Tell the rehab area to send Grandma and Grandpa Pteranodon to the station here. The message is that their Grandson has important news for them." she said in a rather business oriented manner before the bird gave a salute and squawked before flying off. Mrs. C turned her attention to Buddy and walked him over to a set of chairs up against a wall, sitting with him. "Now we wait for them to arrive. Are you really sure you want to do this like this?" she asked. Buddy frowned as he looked into his lap.
"No... I don't know if this is right or wrong... I'm not the only grand-kid and they are going to want to see everyone else but..." he clenched his small hands into fists. "But when I tell them what happened... they will cry. When they cry, so will Mom..." he said as tears started to run down his face but he didn't break his focus. "Mom has cried too much... She's been sad too long... She needs to be happy, to smile again..." he said as he trembled. Mrs. C wrapped an arm around his back and Buddy took a deep, slow breath. "I want to protect everyone from the sadness I saw in Dad's eyes the day he... stopped..." his voice hitched in his throat and he paused, but Mrs. C placed a hand gently over his mouth, silencing him, before slowly wiping his cheeks with her thumbs. She slowly turned his face to look into her own, her eyes glazed with tears that had not yet spilled.
"Little Buddy... You are so brave and so strong..." she said, making the little rex tremble.
"Dad told me I was brave too... it's why I have to do this." he said, starting to sniffle.
"But you need to know that your father told you that you were brave because you were scared and had helped him anyway. That you were doing something you were not ready for." she said, slowly stroking his head. "You survived and are here now, but it doesn't mean it falls to you to solve all the problems of the world." Buddy was about to contest her, but she silenced him again with a gentle hand. "Your mother is sad and will cry. She lost her best friend ever, the closest friend she's ever know, someone she knew longer than you have been alive. It will always hurt her when he is brought up." Buddy tensed again, looking guilty before Mrs. C caught what was now troubling him and addressed it. "It's not a bad hurt though. It's a hurt because she remembers those good memories she had with him. That she can't have them again or make new ones with him. You would be just as sad if Tiny was gone." she said, making Buddy both give her a look of shock and blush as she called out his affection for his sibling, but had no jesting behind her statement or expression. He let out a soft little noise as he looked down, a lot of his determination taken out of him. He felt her hand slowly stroke his head and looked back up at her, her face now sporting a smile. "I'm here to help you. Just tell them what you need to tell them." she said. Buddy took a breath and nodded, wiping the tears from his cheeks.
"Okay, Grandma Conductor." he said, smiling a bit. Her gentle touch and kind tone of voice were soothing. However, the most soothing thing was that she had said that this didn't fall to him to correct. In fact, nothing had fallen to him other than to survive. He was with his family and he just needed to live and be who he was. However, even as he thought that, he still felt driven. He wanted to protect Tiny, that desire wasn't fading, and he felt he needed to do this; that he needed to tell his grandparents the fate of their son. Buddy sniffled as he thought on it.
He knew this would not go well.
It was a tense thirty minutes since the messenger bird had flown off before Grandma and Grandpa Pteranodon came walking in the doors of the station. Buddy had slightly dozed off, sleeping off his meal, but a touch from Mrs. C woke him up before she pointed at the elderly couple that was walking closer.
"Grandma, Grandpa!" he yelled as he hopped off the chair and ran over towards them. Mrs. C watched as the elderly couple, initially wearing a bit of a forlorn expression, suddenly brightened up, crouching down to hug the happy, excited youngster.
"Oh Buddy! We're so glad you're safe!" His grandmother said as she hugged him with one arm, her other arm carrying a satchel, before she let go and the youngster hugged his grandfather.
"Ooch! It's good to see you too, but be careful!" His grandfather said. At first, Buddy thought he might have just been a bit too rough, but when he stopped hugging them and stepped back, he saw that both Grandparents had little scars along their wings, grandpa having patches of completely different colors in his, as if he had a spotted pattern while grandma had one or two, but far fewer. Buddy grew concerned and silent. "So where is the rest of the family?" grandpa continued. Buddy hesitated, long enough for Mrs. C to step up behind him and gently place a hand on Buddy's back.
"Before we meet them, please come with me. I think you need a good recap on what has transpired, and I'm sure Buddy would like to know what happened to you." she said, gently stroking his head. The elderly couple looked at each other for a moment before agreeing and deciding to follow what Mrs. C had suggested.
Mrs. C in turn lead them through the station to another employee only room and guided them inside. This seemed to be about a three person office strictly for troodon; sporting a single desk and a single window, along with a few files and cabinets. It only sported three chairs, but Mrs. C was happy to stand as Buddy took her seat. Once the elderly couple sat down, there was a bit of an awkward silence as they waited on Buddy to speak. He fidgeted in his seat for a while, unsure how to start, before he felt a hand on his back from Mrs. C.
"I think it would help Buddy if you started by telling him what happened to you two." She said. Buddy looked up and smiled at her as she broke the ice. The Pteranodon grandparents shrugged a moment before his Grandfather started.
"Well it started over a month ago. Your Grandmother and I had just done some nice fishing. I'd gone out to go get some more food when we could see this big flash of light. The wind got terrible after that. I tried to fight it, and I was winning too! But then the hot rocks started coming down." He lifted up his wings, showing off all the discolored patches. "Those rocks tore nasty holes in my wings and I crashed right into the ocean." Buddy swallowed, riveted to the story. "I flopped and splashed in the water as it got rougher, but I couldn't fly. Thankfully your Grandmother here spotted me and yanked me out of the water. Sad to say she didn't get away from the rocks either, but not as many hit her." he said, smiling at his wife and stroking her back. "Those rocks knew better than to do that, otherwise I'd have to show them who was the boss!" he said, with plenty of bravado, enough to make Buddy and Mrs. C chuckle, though Grandma P simply gave him a soft smile. "She was able to fly me back up to the nest area. Goodness me was I hurt; sore all over and the holes in my wings made it so I couldn't fly." he said. Grandma P then picked up the story.
"It was up to me to go fishing for both of us, and it wasn't too easy. The holes in my wings hurt a lot, and I'm not as young as I used to be, so it was a real trial at times." she said as Grandpa nodded. "After a couple days, we suddenly realized that your family was closer to the asteroid impact and I took a day to go investigate. I had to fly over the whole sea, but when I got there, there was just a big mess and the nest was broken." At this point, Buddy's mouth was agape.
"W-wait..." he said. "You... you flew to our nest? To our home?" he asked, completely stuck in a state of disbelief. His grandparents blinked but his grandmother nodded.
"Yes, I flew around for a few hours, but I didn't see... well, I didn't see anyone around... alive or... not... and then I checked the time tunnels and train station and found everything broken, so I flew back home." she said. Buddy sniffled and his grandparents wondered what was wrong.
"You just... went back home?" he echoed.
"Well yes... No one was at the nest so I figured that everyone was on the train and in a different time zone." she said. Buddy lowered his head and sniffled.
"Why didn't you check the sea cave?" he said. His grandparents were perplexed for a moment.
"Sea cave? What sea cave?" his Grandfather asked.
"The one I was in with Dad..." he said in a cold tone. Mrs. C touched Buddy's back and brought him back from his growing anger, making him breathe softly. As it was, his Grandparents exchanged worried looks, then looked at Buddy. He looked up at them, then swallowed. "The day the asteroid hit, my mom, brother, and sisters went to the Jurassic on the train in the morning. I stayed at home with Dad... When the rocks started to fall, Dad took me to the sea cave to hide from the falling rocks... but his wing was torn by a big rock and he could not fly at all... I had to pull him into the cave... I had to fish for us... and I'm just a little T rex! I'm not built to fish!" he said, sniffling. Mrs. C pulled him into a hug, gently shushing him before she looked at Grandma and Grandpa P, both wearing expressions of guilt.
"We... we didn't KNOW you were in a sea cave... We didn't even know there was one there." his Grandmother said, an expression of guilt written across her face. "Otherwise we would have gone there to help you." Mrs. C had let Buddy go as he rubbed his eyes, a bit calmer. Buddy was quiet and watching them, a few moments of silence going by, so Grandma P decided to continue. "I went back and just kept making sure your Grandfather was well fed. Eventually, after around a month, we got news that a time tunnel had been re-opened and the troodon were picking up survivors. We went along as soon as we could and got our injuries nice and patched up." she said as both she and Grandpa P flared out their wings to show off the skin graphing that had repaired them and made up the discolored spots. "Then we just waited in the rehab area and here we are." she said. Buddy looked up at her and there was a long silence in the room until Grandpa P broke it.
"So, uh... when can we see the others? I'm sure they would all like to know we're okay." he said, trying to be cheerful. Buddy frowned in concentration, still silent for a bit. Eventually, Mrs. C placed her hand on Buddy's back, giving him something to focus on before she spoke.
"Buddy has his own story to tell. After he's told you, you can see your family." she said. Grandma and Grandpa P looked at each other a moment, a small look of confusion on their faces before they simply looked at Buddy. Mrs. C looked down at him. "Just start from the beginning. It's all right." she said. Buddy looked up at her, his eyes already watering, yet he nodded.
"Okay..." he started, taking a breath. "My Mom, Don, Shiny, and Tiny had gone to the Jurassic in the morning of that day... I wanted to be home with Dad so I could ask him some... questions. But... then the asteroid came... Dad saved me by flying me close to the sea cave but he was hit with a rock. His wing was ruined, so I dragged him into the cave. We stayed there for a few days, eating the food we had, but then we needed new food. He couldn't fly at all and would only crash... it made him so sad, I could see him cry and not want to try to get up..." he said, wiping his eyes. "But I didn't let him lay down... I wouldn't let him give up. So I... I started fishing... it was a lot slower than Pteranodon fishing... I didn't catch many fish... Every day, I caught less and less fish... my stomach hurt so badly... So did Dad's, but he wouldn't eat the fish anymore... He kept telling me to eat them... He got thinner... more tired... but he still smiled at me and held me close..." he said, swallowing. Grandpa and Grandma P had their hands over their chests, their eyes wide as their hearts were pounding, waiting to hear more on what happened. "Then... Then I could only catch one fish... and then I couldn't catch any... Then... then Dad told me that one day, he'd stop moving... stop talking... and that I... I should eat him to stay alive..." he said, shuddering as his grandparents swallowed. Mrs. C gently rubbed Buddy's back as he continued, his voice now squeaking in strain. "Th-then... it happened... he stopped moving... stopped talking... even his heart was quiet... b-but I couldn't eat him!" he said, suddenly shouting. "He's my Dad! I could never eat my Dad!" he said before he reached his limit and broke down into tears. Mrs. C scooped him up and hugged him close as he cried into her chest. She took the seat as she looked back at the tear filled eyes of the elderly couple.
"That.... That can't be right. Our boy is-" Grandpa P started before Mrs. C slowly shook her head.
"No... I'm sorry. It took a long while to get the time tunnel open again. Misses Pteranodon and my own Sonny Boy finally got through though, but they found that Buddy here was badly starved." she said, stroking his back as he still sobbed. "And that your son..." Mrs. C's eyes were already overflowing, but her composure was held as she spoke. "He ensured Buddy would survive... by giving up his own life." Grandma P had her hands folded over her chest and was just slowly shaking her head back and forth as tears ran down her face. Grandpa P wasn't much better as he kept looking along the floor, tears rolling down his face.
"No, that... No that's not right... he was strong, an awesome flyer. Our son can't be-" Mrs. C raised her hand and it silenced him.
"You know yourself that you couldn't fly after the rocks hit you. He didn't just have a hole, but most of his wing was torn." she said, silencing him with her facts. He was quiet a moment before he looked to his wife, who looked back before they embraced and shook with their sobs.
Buddy couldn't see them, but hearing them cry was enough to usher him into another wave of sadness. If his new Grandmother wasn't holding him close and stroking his back, he didn't know what he'd do. As it was, feeling her press her face to him and feeling her warm tears running made his young heart fracture even more.
No one was keeping track of how much time passed as the four shed tears over the loss of one so dear to them. For two of them, it had just happened, and for Buddy, it had hardly gotten any easier to bring it up. Eventually, the elderly couple slowly broke their embrace and held each others hands before looking at Mrs. C.
"Please, can we see our family now?" Grandpa P asked as he used the back of one hand to wipe a cheek clear, though it was quickly moist again. Mrs. C gently nodded, wiping her own cheek before she pulled Buddy away from her chest, who sniffled and looked up at her face before speaking.
"Thank you, Grandma Conductor." he said with no hesitation. Grandma P blinked through her tears.
"Grandma Conductor? Why would he call you that?" she asked, utterly perplexed. Mrs. C sighed and closed her eyes.
"A lot has happened in the last month..." she said as she stood up, still carrying Buddy in her arms as she walked to the door. "Come with me, I'll explain when we get there." she said. Buddy looked into her face.
"Shouldn't I do that?" he asked, his voice warbling.
"No, Buddy. You have done your job, now it's my turn." she said, smiling at the brave little Rex as she stepped out of the room, the elderly couple close behind.
The door to the employee back room opened and Mrs. C, carrying Buddy, stepped through, followed shortly by the elderly couple.
"Grandma! Grandpa!" came the shouts of Shiny, Tiny, and Don as they leapt off the beds and ran up to them, the elderly couple finally smiling again as they knelt down and hugged the youngsters.
"Kids!" Grandpa P said in return, hugging them all in his wings before they ran over to Grandma P.
"Goodness you've all grown so much!" she said, though everyone could tell the couple had been sad, if not for the tear stains, then the shakiness in their voices. Buddy, still in Mrs. C's arms, looked across the room at his mother and saw her eyes watering. Sonny had a hand on her back, ready to pull her close. He started to feel sad, but tried to focus on the fact that his new dad would comfort her. That is why he was there; to support her.
After the kids backed up from the elderly couple, and a couple questions about their patterned wings were asked and answered with as much bravado as was shown to Buddy (though Buddy noted that Grandma P didn't share her part of the story, which was probably for the better), the youngsters returned to the beds as the elderly couple approached Sonny and Mrs. P. No words needed to be said as Mrs. P shuddered, trying to hold her sadness in. Before she could cry outright, Sonny pulled her close, pressing her face to his vest covered chest, stroking her back as he dotted little kisses along her cheek and softly whispered to her before a hand of hers wrapped around his neck and pulled his face close. Grandma and Grandma P watched the display, a little perplexed before Mrs. C spoke up.
"My Sonny Boy was on the last train out of your time period when the asteroid hit, and he barely made it out. Had he not been in the engine, he wouldn't have, and my Sonny Boy and Gilbert here wouldn't be where they are." she said, taking a slow breath. "And my Sonny Boy's first order of business was to comfort Misses Pteranodon and help her kids. For the full month, he kept them safe, kept them close, saw to their every need. When we finally got the tunnel open, they were the ones who rescued Buddy, but also found your son." she said softly. "My Sonny Boy kept the family together after that, ensuring that they remained stable, in body and mind..." she said, shuddering. "It's only natural that... after all of that... they are now what you see before you." she said, gesturing with her hand at the couple embracing, Sonny gently stroking her and calming her sobbing. The elderly couple looked at each other, then at Mrs. C.
"Together... you mean like-" Mrs. C nodded, silencing Grandpa P as she answered the obvious. Sonny and Mrs. P gently parted their embrace before the male turned to face the elderly couple and stood up.
"Grandma and Grandpa P, I'm incredibly sorry..." he said, trying to retain his professional tone, but lacking the composure as his voice warbled. "Your son was a very close friend of mine..." he looked over to the youngsters and his wife, smiling softly before he looked back at the elderly couple. "And a remarkable father... I only hope that I can prove to be half as good a caretaker of your grandchildren as he was." he said, his hands folded over his chest and his whole body slightly trembling with sadness, but also nerves. He did not know if they would be aggressive towards him or show a prejudice over the mixed coupling, but as he looked at the two mournful faces looking back at him, Grandma P stepped forward and abruptly hugged him.
"Thank you..." were the soft words that slipped from her beak. Sonny was taken back by her gesture before she continued. "For keeping this family together... for keeping them safe..." she said as Sonny slowly returned the hug, feeling the old female shudder slightly, holding in a sob before she released her grip, stepping back from him. Grandpa P was slowly wiping his eyes before he nodded at Sonny, too proud at the moment to speak and let his own warbling voice be heard. There was a soft sob across the room as Buddy sniffled, still in Mrs. C's arms. Grandma P turned around to face him and stroked his head. "Buddy... There is something I want to give you..." she said, swallowing as she opened the satchel she was carrying, reaching in it and pulling out a small object that she handed to the little Rex. Buddy gently gripped it in his hands and looked at it a moment before his eyes grew wide. Sonny tilted his head and saw that he was holding a small fish skeleton. He didn't know the significance of it until Grandma P continued. "Yes, Buddy. It's the bones of the first fish your father ever caught... You were with him when he died... but you also kept him alive all that time when he would have given up. I couldn't ask for more of you... so please, keep this little memory of him alive." she said as she turned and looked to the family on the beds. "I can see him living on through all of you... Please... keep his memories alive." she said, her hands folded in front of her as tears rolled down her face. Mrs. P took this moment to jump up and quickly hug Grandma P, her own face tear stained.
"Of course! I could NEVER forget him!" she said, shuddering as she couldn't help but sob in the older female's embrace. Buddy looked at the small skeleton a moment longer before he slowly hugged it close, taking a deep, shaky breath before he squeezed his eyes shut and whimpered, coaxing Mrs. C to hug him close.
It was some time as tears were shed between the relations before a calmness set in and the group could more properly communicate about current events and the potential future. Mrs. C informed them that Mrs. P and her family had a home area set aside, but there was a massive waiting list for many other families and where they could be relocated to, therefore it was best for Grandma and Grandpa P to return to the rehab center and wait for them to be re-assigned a living area.
A few moments were taken for Sonny to grab the satchel containing the precious trinkets of the youngsters before the entire group walked out onto the deck of the station, the warm day sun greeting them. The elderly couple gave one more farewell before they departed, flying off back to the rehabilitation center. Mrs. C finally set Buddy down now that his sobbing had stopped, the little skeleton still in his hands. Tiny instantly greeted him with a hug which he returned as Mrs. C watched them a moment, smiling, before she addressed the family.
"All right. It's a new day with a promising future ahead of us. While we won't forget yesterday, we won't see tomorrow if all we do is wish yesterday was still here." she said, her philosophical statement, not being completely understood by everyone, though Don was the one who spoke up.
"Wait, yesterday is good, except when it's today and we're thinking of tomorrow?" he asked, gaining several puzzled looks before Mrs. C laughed.
"I just mean that we should be happy and look forward to tomorrow." she said before she waved her hand. "Now come on, it's time to head to your new home!" she said. Sonny kept his arm around his wife's back, giving her a squeeze as she smiled back at him, a moment of eye contact sparking their adoration for each other before they gripped their hands. Tiny gave Buddy a soft kiss on the cheek, making him giggle and flush. Shiny and Gilbert gently leaned their heads together, Shiny still supporting Gilbert's left side as she held his hand, even if his balance had gotten quite a bit better. Don had taken to running up next to Mrs. C as she turned and waved her hand and began walking to lead the family to their new home.
It didn't take too long into the walk before Mrs. P had begun to look around properly. She had never really spent much time in Troodon Town and the more she looked at it, the more alien it appeared to be; there were buildings like the station and the school all over the place for various things, dinosaurs and non dinosaurs of all types doing various things, and occasional gizmos and gadgets that she couldn't begin to describe. She recalled a couple of times that the family had visited and for the most part, only recalled visiting the spa area. The other areas she could think of were the train station, the roundhouse, and the school. She was disrupted from her thoughts as she overheard Gilbert talking to Shiny, pointing out various buildings as if he was a tour guide. Eventually she herself managed to see a building and something about it caught her eye. She wasn't sure if it was the color or if it was something else, but she stopped walking for a moment as she stared at it. She was broken from her thoughts as she felt something stroking her hand and looked to see her husband, still holding her hand, brushing the back of it with his other hand. He gave her a small smile.
"That's a Library. We troodon have learned a lot, so we write it down to remember it all and share with others." he said. She smiled as she looked at the building, then back at him.
"Do you think I could take a quick look?" she asked, almost a bit giddy. While this was certainly strange, she was often excited by new and interesting things. Sonny looked back at his mother who had stopped walking, all the youngsters talking as they stood around her and occasionally asked about what was around. She made eye contact with her son before she gave him a thumbs up. Still holding onto his wife's hand and the satchel in his other, he lead her up the few steps and held open the door for her, of which she walked through and into the building.
As the door shut behind them, the white noise of the outside was almost instantly silenced thus shifting the tone of the atmosphere. There were not many dinosaurs in the library, mostly just troodon behind a circular counter in the center of the floor while rows of shelves made up the majority of the place. It wasn't too accommodating to larger species. She was about to speak before Sonny placed a finger on her beak.
"Keep your voice down, some folks like to read in the library and talking loudly can be rude." he said. She smiled in return before he removed his finger. "So, anything specific you're looking for? Fact? Fiction?" he asked.
"Oh... Fact." she said in a hushed tone after briefly thinking. He pointed to a section before the both of them walked over to it. Mrs. P couldn't remember if she ever actually handled a book; most of her reading being done in the small pamphlets available outside of a train station. In fact, she couldn't recall how she learned to read... or even how her kids could read. It was just some sort of accepted fact that they could. She snapped out of her thoughts as she read the spine of the various books, seeing names of species. Upon spying one labeled "Pteranodon", she grasped it off the shelf, opening it and turning to the table of contents. She saw the listing of various aspects, from biology structure, diet, habitat, even courting and mating habits. She blinked as she recalled that Sonny said that the Troodon had come up with some... "interesting" ways of making mating more fun. Still holding the book in her hand, she stepped down the aisle and found a book labeled "Troodon". It was a bit bigger than the Pteranodon book. Taking it off the shelf as well and taking a look at the table of contents, she found it had the same contents as the Pteranodon book, but also a few other sections, such as technology and writing. She felt a hand on her back and turned to look at Sonny, seeing his big brown eyes and smiling face.
"You know, you could just ask me if you happen to have any questions about troodon." he said. She smiled back at him, grasping the back of his head and pulling his face close to her own as she whispered into his ear.
"That would spoil the fun. Besides..." Sonny shuddered as he felt her narrow tongue gently slide up the side of his head. "You give the best reactions when you're surprised." she said as she let go of him and he pulled his head back, his flushed face growing more flush as he looked into her half lidded eyes, those blue pools shimmering back at him. He swallowed hard as she just smiled at him. Despite being a mated pair, he still wasn't used to this type of affection, but he loved every minute of it. A great deal of his nervousness went away when he placed a hand on the back of her head and she leaned closer to him in response, parting her beak. It was easy and so natural to do this now as he leaned in, opening his mouth and locking it with her beak. The silence and solitude they were experiencing in the library quickly rekindled their primal passion and he found himself hugging her close, an oddly mindful hand taking and holding the books under the same arm carrying the satchel as he felt her wrap her arms around him and her tongue twirling with his own. That is, until there was the sound of a cough near them. Their eyes opened and they quickly parted their kiss to see a velociraptor lady next to them.
"Sorry to interrupt this honeymoon but I kinda need this section." she said, being publicly polite, but there was some snark to her words. Still, Sonny and Mrs. P quickly broke the hug.
"Oh, Sorry!" Sonny said, grasping Mrs. P's hand and leading her to the counter, where he handed the working troodon the two books. The troodon looked at the books for a moment and scribbled something on some pamphlet before they punched a card with their claw and placed it in each book.
"Okay, bring these back after two weeks." he said in a bit of a mundane tone. Sonny nodded and picked up the books, placing them in the satchel with the trinkets as the two walked out of the building, the chattering of the world coming back. The youngsters were still preoccupied as Gilbert continued his tour guide-ing while Mrs. C mostly kept an eye on them. She was the first to see the couple walking back up to the group, holding hands and Sonny still carrying the satchel, albeit heavier than it was before. Mrs. C also could see the remains of a blush on his face, but also an... "eager" glint in Mrs. P's eyes. She chuckled under her breath as she knew what that meant.
"All right, everyone! It's not much farther now, lets head to your new home!" she exclaimed, followed by a cheer from the youngsters.
The walk took them past more buildings, but eventually lead them away from the built up areas and into more natural growing wilderness. The trees grew a bit thick as they continued on before they parted to reveal a lake, and a fairly large one at that.
"THIS is your new home!" Mrs. C exclaimed, though there was a distinct lack of cheering as everyone overlooked the large body of water. They were at a rather steep embankment that had a full six foot drop into the water.
"Our home is a lake?" Shiny asked, deadpan and rather upset.
"Shiny!" her mother corrected her, before Mrs. C spoke up.
"Yes, but this is PART of your home. Come, you'll see..." she said, evidently with some sort of surprise waiting. They circled around the body of water before they crossed a very narrow walkway, large rocks forcing them to walk single file, lest they fall into the water. Eventually. they came to a small clearing that was shaded by the tops of the trees. "HERE we are!" she said. Again, she was met with silence and mumbles from the group. She could tell the group didn't quite get it, so she started to explain. "This lake has lots of fresh fish in it, but has no large predators in it. The banks of it are steep, unlike the big pond, and therefore it means a dinosaur or critter who falls in would have a hard time getting out... unless they could fly." she said as she walked to some bushes, parting them and exposing a small obscured beach that lead to shallow water. "Except here, where you can just walk out into the shallows." she said, smiling as the group started to understand. Mrs. P still wore a concerned expression, but Mrs. C caught that. "As for protection, while you're not up high..." she walked the perimeter, showing that there were large rock walls hidden behind the vines and foliage. "The only way anyone could walk into here is along that narrow pathway, so anything larger than a troodon would fall right into the lake and alert everyone." she said. Ooh's came from the group as they walked fully into the clearing, looking around.
"Look! The ground is soft, so I can make a hole and start a collection!" Don exclaimed as he found his own little corner already.
"There is a lot of room here, even Gilbert and I could make our own little nest!" Shiny said, coaxing Gilbert to laugh but then shyly look away.
"We could even make our own little nest, Buddy." Tiny said, though Buddy was a little quiet, still holding the skeleton. Tiny stepped over and hugged him. "I mean... if you wanted to." he looked up at her and gave her a smile before he hugged her with one arm.
"Thank you, Tiny. Maybe we will." he said, giving her a smile. Mrs. P had leaned against Sonny, both of them chuckling at what the youngsters were doing.
"Well, I think first order of business is making a family sized nest." Mrs. P said. There were a few groans of disappointment before she spoke up. "And if any of you get lonely or scared at night, then we have room for you to join your father and I." she said, lifting a finger to make a point, which silenced the youngsters and gained some giggles as they understood that they were probably getting ahead of themselves. At this point, Sonny set the satchel down and pulled out the trinkets, handing the shell over to Shiny, the Amber to Gilbert, and producing the dolls to Tiny. Each of them brought the trinkets back to their area they had "claimed" in the clearing before they returned to the adults. "All right, ready to make a new nest?" Mrs. P asked with a smile on her face. She was met with a cheer from everyone except Mrs. C, who instead cleared her throat.
"Actually..." she said, trailing off and getting everyone's attention. "I was thinking of taking these youngsters on a nature walk around the lake. I think it'd be a good way of getting them familiar with the area and a way to let you two get started on the nest." she said, though both Sonny and Mrs. P caught her wink. Almost too quickly, Mrs. P spoke up.
"Yes, I think that would be an excellent idea!" she said, turning to the youngsters. "How about it? A bit of action for the nature trackers and a chance to find new things for your collections?" she suggested to them before they all cheered, ready for the adventure. That is, all but Buddy, who fidgeted. Sonny caught this, as did Tiny, and the troodon knelt down.
"Buddy? Could you come here a moment?" he asked, his voice coming out soft. Buddy was visibly nervous, but Tiny quelled his nerves with a hug to his side before she whispered something to him. He still seemed unsure, until she pushed him, making him stumble before he stood in front of Sonny. The older male gently stroked the head of the little rex before he spoke. "I know you want to keep that keepsake of your father's safe, but perhaps you should leave it here so that you don't drop it or something happens to it." he said, holding out an open palm. He wasn't sure Buddy would trust him with such a trinket, and he was right as Buddy was obviously fighting with himself over what he should do. Sonny took a breath before he spoke again. "I know you're used to me just being a friend... so, as a friend, can you trust me to keep it safe?" he asked. The little rex still was nervous, but he stepped closer, giving the skeleton a look before he gently set it in Sonny's hand.
"Thank you, D-" Buddy cut himself off and went quiet as the word caught in his throat, but the starting of him saying it had everyone watching him in silence. He fidgeted a little more before he looked up at Sonny and took a breath. "Thank you." Despite this, Sonny smiled and stroked Buddy's head with his other hand before Mrs. C spoke up.
"We should be gone until sundown. You two make sure you get this place just how you want it." she said, smiling that mischievous smile she had. Her words coaxed Buddy to rejoin Tiny before Mrs. C began marching off, the youngsters chanting a nature tracker cheer as they walked single file out of the clearing.
As their voices faded, Sonny, closed his hand around the fish skeleton and stood up, looking at it in his hand and feeling his own grief at the loss of his friend hitting him, causing him to hold the skeleton close to his heart. He was broken out of his thoughts by his wife stroking her hand along his back. He looked over at her own somber expression and instantly regretted expressing his sadness around her. He closed his eyes for a moment and tucked the fish bones into a vest pocket and forced a smile onto his face.
"Well, ready to get started?" he said, but his wife's face didn't soften.
"Don't do that." she said, a somber tone in her voice. He blinked once before he watched as she stroked a hand up along his neck and stroked his cheek, cupping it. "Don't hide your feelings, especially in front of me." Sonny looked back into her eyes and let out a small breath as his expression dropped and a more somber face replaced it.
"I'm sorry. I'm so used to constantly wearing a brave face for everyone else..." His wife's other hand grasped his other cheek and gently pulled his face close to her own.
"You don't need to... not around me... not anymore..." she said softly as she pressed their foreheads together. Sonny shuddered softly before wrapping his arms around her, silent tears starting to slip from his face as she hugged him in return, providing a strong, warm comfort in his heart.
There were a few moments of silence between them before Sonny could feel her claws gently pricking his skin through his vest, causing him to look at her and see her face graced with an extremely mischievous expression.
"I don't want you hiding any of your emotions around me... happiness, sadness, love..." she slid her beak along his cheek and licked the side of his face before she hissed out one more word. "Lust..." Sonny shuddered and pulled her back from his body, holding her shoulders. At first, she was worried something was wrong, but she saw his face darkened with a deep blush and she smiled to herself at how "innocent" he still was. She let him step back and chuckled as he tugged at the collar of his vest.
"Ah, AHEM, I believe we should get to work on building that nest, Hon." he said, prompting her to giggle into her hand before she nodded.
"All right, but remember what I said." she said, giving him a wink, making him flush again but manage a smile before they turned and walked the narrow pathway and into the woods.
Sonny's mind was a buzz as he did the simple task of grabbing suitable branches and sticks for weaving into a nest; he never anticipated that Mrs. P had such a sexual appetite. He wasn't turned off by it, but it was surprising and he needed some time to adjust to the idea that the kind, sweet, energetic mother to the youngsters he had been teaching was a ravenous... hot... seductive beast. Still, at the moment, he tried to focus on the fact that the nest needed to be built, but the work of gathering branches was extremely simple, and thus, his mind continued to wander. One movement bumped his vest pocket and his mind instantly shifted to Buddy and his reluctance to fully accept the change to his family, but moreso, he remembered something else.
"Hey Hon?" he called out. There was a moment before his wife breeched through the canopy with her feet carrying a satchel full of soft leaves. He admired how her legs flexed as she did so, but never lost track of what he had to say as she landed.
"Yes, Dear?" she asked, simply.
"I just remembered something about Buddy." he said, which quickly got her full attention as he turned to face her. "You recall how you told me how he was scared about the idea of an Asteroid hitting the planet?" he said, hating to bring up an old wound, but his wife nodded. "But, I could swear that the one who was scared was Don, not Buddy. Buddy just seemed to shrug off the chances of an asteroid hit being too remote to even happen." he said, a bit puzzled. This lead Mrs. P to sigh and look downcast.
"That was at the crater, not back at home that night." she said, rubbing an arm. "Don accepted Buddy's and my own explanation. He always had a bit of a... simple... view of things at times..." she said. "But not Buddy, you know how he always is searching for new information... It... also made him prone to over thinking it. That night, he asked me if what I said was true. I told him I'd watch him and if anything would happen, we'd take the train out of the time or hide from it or something to that effect." she swallowed. "Didn't stop him from having a horrible dream about it... rather... gruesome... said he saw all of our broken bodies and no one would respond... alone in the world..." she shuddered. "Almost just like the last few days he was in that horrific time.." her dreadful thoughts were broken as Sonny hugged her close, having set the collected branches down for the moment
"Shhhh... I won't lie... it did happen and... it's horrifying to think of, but it's important that every tomorrow is better for him." she gently embraced him in return as he slowly stroked the back of her head. "I just wish..." he was quiet a moment, prompting his wife to look up at him. He met her eyes, sadness on his face. "I know that Buddy has spent a lifetime seeing me as his friend and teacher but... in joining your family... I just wish that... Buddy could see me as his father." he said, taking a slow breath. "I want to protect this family... I gave up everything to be part of this family... maybe I'm rushing things... or Tiny got my hopes up, or-" he was silenced when his wife yanked him into a kiss, pressing herself tightly to him before she slowly parted, a rather happy expression on her face.
"You have shown you have what it takes to be a father by putting family before your own desires..." she said, stroking a hand along his cheek. "We may not have any biological children between us but..." she was quiet a moment, but soon smiled. "I'm certain he'll warm up to you some day soon." she said, her optimistic outlook making him smile at her and stroke her head before he suddenly jumped a moment as one of her hands pinched his rump. "Come on, we have a nest to build." she said, giving him a wink as she flew back up into the canopy.
Sonny just stood there a moment as he watched her leave, admiring her form. A ravenous, hot, seductive beast, indeed.
It wasn't too terribly long after their conversation that the two of them returned to the clearing; Sonny bringing arms full of branches while Mrs. P brought many soft leaves. He dumped the branches onto the ground, giving his forehead a brief wipe as he looked over the clearing, mentally envisioning how big the nest would need to be. He also was thinking how it would need to be built as his only real experience with nest building was the pseudo nests on the train that were basically beds outlined with sticks to make them "seem" like nests. It also didn't help that Troodon nests were made in the dirt and not out of branches. As he thought, he was brought back to reality by Mrs. P as she grabbed branches and soon outlined a ring on the ground. He had known she was the primary one who made the nests wherever the family went but he'd never actually seen her do any work on it. He was impressed to say the least as her hands, beak, and even feet worked in tandem; grabbing branches and placing them on the ring and weaving them together. Did she always build the nests this quickly? He recalled that Tiny had said the ground nest that was built for him took "all day" to build, and that was with help from the youngsters, but at this rate, it looked like Mrs. P was going to finish a nest the same size as that ground nest in just a few minutes. She didn't ask for any help and he didn't see any room for himself to help. Her attention was strictly on the work, so Sonny just stood there, feeling a bit awkward before he just decided to watch her work.
Her movements were somewhat hypnotic; working like a smoothly oiled steam engine as she grabbed, placed, twisted, then grabbed again, weaving the branches together in an expert manner. He watched her leg flexing every time she grabbed more branches; those feet, seeming to be simple three toed platforms for her to walk on, flexing as smoothly as a hand before she passed the branch up to her hands. Hands, that he recalled, were both strong enough to kill, yet soft enough to do the most delicate work. Then he saw how she used her beak as a third hand; pulling and twisting branches with firm tugs and flips of her neck as she worked them into a sturdy knotted braiding. Her body was a marvel of evolution. As she continued to work and turn in place, her back had soon been presented to him and he found himself staring at her underside; her legs, flexing and strong, her tail waiving in the air, the glimpse of her rounded belly visible from between her thighs, as well as the seeping moisture escaping her vent. It was about the time he noticed that moisture on her that he also realized that he could, and had been, smelling an aroma in the air. Correction, her aroma. She was very aroused and she had saturated the area in her scent. When he realized this, he flushed and cleared his throat.
"Um... AHEM... Hon?" he asked, but she didn't seem to respond, she was dead set on working on the nest. He fidgeted as she did so, completely lost as to what he should do, so, he sat down and continued to watch her work.
Mrs. P, meanwhile, had been in the groove. She knew how to make a nest since the day she hatched and her time repairing the nest at her home since the youngsters hatched had given her apt experience in crafting them at great speed. She noticed that her husband wasn't really helping, but that suited her just fine. She often enjoyed the act of building a nest; it gave her a sense of organizing and accomplishment, but today, she felt a bit more full of zeal. She felt excited and as she continued to turn in place, she could see Sonny looking over every inch of her body, his wide eyes hardly blinking and never meeting her own as he drank up the image of her forging the nest. How long had it been since someone did that to her? Looked her over with an appreciative eye when she wasn't even trying to get noticed? It lit a fire in her belly as excitement ran down her spine, but she didn't change the pace at which she worked. She was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of Sonny saying something, but she didn't catch what it was. Still, she was almost done, surely whatever he had to say could wait a little bit longer. When she spotted him sitting down and still eyeing her up and down, she almost felt like she was some sort of dancer, putting on a show. The idea made her smile inwardly, the fire in her gut starting to spread to her legs and wings, and soon enough, she'd finished the wall and basic flooring of the nest. Once she did, Sonny made a move to get up, but she quickly turned and placed her hand on his nose.
"Not yet... the dance isn't over." she said, giving him a smile with half lidded eyes. His eyes somehow got wider and his face darkened with the intensity of the blush she elicited. She really couldn't get enough of that bashful yet eager blush he had. He quickly seated himself back down as she grabbed the satchel of soft leaves she had gathered. She reached a hand into it and tossed it out onto the floor of the nest before she spun, and then tossed out another handful with flair. Again and again, she tossed out handfuls of the leaves, letting them flutter to the ground of the nest before she tossed the satchel over her head and out of the nest, letting the remaining leaves in it flutter to the ground as she began to turn. Her feet moved in a motion that was not unlike a dance as she turned and spread the leaves out along the bottom of the nest before stepping on them, pressing them into place before turning and doing it again. Her wings flared out as she continued to turn, sliding her feet, crossing her arms in front of her, then opening them again as that fire in her gut burned more every time she laid eyes on Sonny ogling her. "Yes, watch me..." she muttered softly as she soon was no longer smoothing out the bottom of the nest, but outright dancing as she spun and turned in place, working herself into a fever pitch, flapping her wings as she continued to dance in place before she suddenly stopped, facing her husband before she flared out her wings and leaned her head back, letting out a loud, triumphant squawk. She kept her eyes closed and breathed heavily, standing still as she felt her body burning. She was so full of energy and it felt so good to do that that her body tingled. She just hoped Sonny was still watching.
To say that Sonny was stunned was the understatement to end them all. The scent she had been spreading with the dance was potent enough, but the dance in and of it's self showed a power, grace, and elegance he'd never seen displayed by anyone, much less Mrs. P. He found himself standing and closing his gaping mouth as he stepped forward. Her affection made him blush, and he doubted that would ever pass, but he was never in doubt that he loved this ravenous, hot, seductive, beautiful beast. He slowly unbuttoned his vest, removing it and dropping it carelessly to the ground as he stepped into the nest and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, her pose not having wavered. She shivered slightly as her eyes cracked open to see him smiling that kind smile of his at her, feeling one hand gently rake his claws along her back as the other grasped her head behind her crest. Her beak parted as he pressed his head in, firmly locking his lips with her mouth, which spurred her arms to grab him tightly, her own hand claws raking along his skin and making him shiver as their tongues wrestled together before they soon parted, their breathing already heavy, but Sonny just smiled at her.
Mrs. P's mind was on fire as she wanted, no, needed him right this moment. Couldn't he tell that? She chalked it up to him still being bashful about being intimate with her and smiled back at him before she grabbed his shoulders, then lifted her legs up, wrapping them around his hips. He staggered a moment as she shifted her weight onto him, his hands shifting to hold her hips as she hung off of him, though his eyes widened as she started rolling her hips on his belly, spreading her moisture along him and letting him feel the soft folds of her vent against his skin. Surely this would get her message across. She instead found Sonny giving her a bit of a concerned look as he held onto her before he turned and stepped out of the nest, carrying her. Her enthusiasm started dropping fast as she assumed he was now upset at her. Was she too forward? Was now a bad time? The fact that he hadn't said anything made her feel less at ease and her earlier bravado faded. She soon felt her back press to one of the smooth, stone walls and she was snapped out of her thoughts as she felt his hands let go of her hips, the wall now supporting her instead of him. She pulled her head back far enough to look into his face, his eyes still expressing concern and a blush as he used the back of one hand to slowly stroke her cheek.
"You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen..." he said softly, bringing that faded warmth back into her chest. "But... I've never seen you like this before and it... kinda took me by surprise. Do you really want this? Like this?" he asked her, still slowly stroking her cheek and finally cupping it. She replied by first leaning her head into his palm, then letting out a soft squawk.
"Hon... I'm sorry for worrying you..." she said as she used a hand to stroke his own worried face. "But, yes. I want this. I want you. Right now." she said, her tone almost turning pitiful. Sonny gave her a gentle smile as his face continued to flush before his hands returned to her hips, giving her rump a squeeze and the base of her tail a bit of a pinch. She let out a breath as her tail practically glued it's self to her lower back and she felt that fire stoking up inside of her again. She had enough time to wrap her arms around his shoulders before she felt a warm, hard prodding against her loins, her eyes widening a moment at that hot piece of flesh touching her once more. She couldn't help but roll her hips in response, a movement which smoothly slipped the tip of his shaft past her drenched folds and into her body, making Sonny flinch and let out a soft groan as he held onto her, keeping her braced to the wall as he rolled his hips slowly forward, gently sinking himself deeper into her twitching embrace. She couldn't help but roll her head back as she felt that firm warmth fitting back into her and let out a rather low, unladylike groan. "Ooooh yes! More!" she groaned out as Sonny sunk deeper into her before pausing and drawing back, stopping just short of hitting her back wall before pulling back to the tip of his shaft, then sliding back into her again, smoothly working up into a slick thrusting motion as he groaned and looked down at her, soon huffing out of excitement and pleasure.
He thought their honeymoon was magical and the sensation of making love to someone who he loved and who loved him was unmatched. This, right now, was different, but not at all bad. This was rough, spontaneous. This was a burning need that could pop up and they were there to quell it for each other. Part of his mind found a bit of humor as this seemed no different in terms of emotional and physical support they had been providing for each other all this time. However, most of his mind was on the simple, primal act of mating with the female in his grasp. His hands slid up to her lower back and his face pressed into the crook of her neck, giving her slow little licks and kisses between his heated breaths. Her initial moans may have been deep, but she was now squawking and moaning loudly in her more normal pitch, his kisses only serving to make her louder as he felt her soft belly tense up, her legs wrapped around his hips, shivering and squeezing tighter as her whole body quaked. Then he felt a shift in her loins as they clamped down, holding him still a moment and making him grunt as she suddenly shrieked loudly, her loins spilling more fluids around his embedded length as her insides squeezed, and pulsed in a slow, stroking motion. He groaned and clenched his eyes shut as he felt her climax around his sensitive length, his own arousal having been on edge, but her body's response and the incredibly erotic thought that she had just climaxed from what he was doing prevented him from being able to hold back as he too soon shuddered, his shaft soon kicking and pulsing inside of her, spilling out thick shots of his hot seed with every pulse. Her hands, in a small flurry, clumsily grabbed his face before pulling him into a deep kiss as she continued to moan and shriek into his mouth as she felt his generous offering fill her insides up with warmth before there was a soft patter of fluid on the ground as it leaked out. Sonny wasn't silent, but he was equally as muffled as he moaned into her beak and squeezed her tightly to himself before they parted, a brief string of saliva shared between them before it snapped as they took a moment to just look at each other and catch their breaths. He took a moment to stroke the back of his hand across her flushed cheek and smiled.
"You really are the most beautiful creature I've ever laid my eyes on." he said, feeling his heart fluttering softly. Despite the rush of lust fading, his emotions for her never wavered. She let out a pleasing, soft squawk in return as her hands gripped his shoulders. However, as he started to pull his hips back, her legs tightened around his hips.
"No, not yet..." she said, making him look her in the eyes, which showed a level of bashfulness. "It feels so good..." she said, but she also felt his legs trembling. She could tell they were under something of a strain not only from their activities, but the fact that he had been holding her up the whole time. She finally took a breath and met his eyes. "Carry me to the nest?" she suggested. Sonny just smiled as he gripped her hips in his hands and pulled her away from the wall and slowly walked to the nest, though each step was shaky, not only from minor exhaustion, but from the soft, subtle sensations of his still rather firm length shifting in her sensitive insides. Soon enough, perhaps too soon for Mrs. P, they reached the nest and he gently lay her on her back. He looked down at her and smiled before he gave her neck a soft suckling kiss before he pulled back, shifting slightly and accidentally slipping his length out of her with a wet sound, making him jump slightly and her shudder. "OH!" Mrs. P exclaimed as she quivered, droplets of their mixed fluids having been flung onto her loins. Sonny let out a breath and lay on his side, facing her with his head propped on a hand, his other hand rubbing her rounded belly.
"You all right?" he asked, but his reply was her face looking back at him with a nearly mournful expression.
"You always make sure I'm all right... and I can tell you that I am, save for one thing..." she said as she raised a hand to stroke his cheek. "I want to hear how you are, if YOU are all right." she said softly. "I don't even know if you really even wanted to mate just a moment ago or if you did it to make sure I was happy." Her statement made Sonny's expression drop, but he slid his hand up from her belly to her face to make her look him in his eyes.
"Hon, there is no force on this planet that could MAKE me do something like that to you without me wanting to do it in the first place." Mrs. P's heart fluttered softly as he spoke. "You are, without a doubt, the most lovely, beautiful... sexy being I've seen in all my years conducting, and to be intimate with you... it's so wonderful, it makes me doubt it's even real." he said, giving her a slight smirk. "I often worry that I'm going to wake up and that this will have been some sort of dream..." he said, trailing off until a squeezing sensation on the tip of his still exposed penis made him jump as he looked to see one of his wife's feet pinching the tip between her toes.
"Oh, it's no dream... And I'll be here to remind you any time you feel you're too far gone." she said as she freed his phallus from her grip and cupped his cheek with a hand. "So long as you let me know you're feeling yourself drifting away." He gave her a soft smile in return before he gently kissed her cheek and his hand resumed slowly rubbing her belly. They had fallen asleep on their honeymoon shortly after their bout of mating, so he didn't get to see her in post coitus for long, but as he gently stroked her belly and felt how soft and relaxed she was, he regretted not seeing it. He watched as she lay on her back, her eyes now closed though she wasn't asleep. Her chest rising and falling with her breaths, her stomach giving an occasional twitch; twitches, he noted, that were in time with the now swollen lips of her vulva as she slowly leaked out some of his overflow. His hand slid lower on her belly, feeling how it got softer the lower he went, and she soon spread her legs out farther in response. He looked back up at her face to find her smiling at him, though he chuckled before he spoke.
"You're.. heh, kinda leaking down here. Think we should wash up before you dirty our nest?" he suggested, fighting through his bashfulness rather smoothly. Mrs. P seemed like she was about to agree, but then smiled.
"Mmm, not just yet. We have more time and your soft hands are keeping me QUITE interested." she said before she made Sonny jump again as she gave his re-firmed length another squeeze with her toes. "And it looks like you're ready for more." she said, smirking a moment before she looked to his flushing face. "You do want to do more, don't you?" she asked in a less playful manner. The response she received was for his hand to slide lower on her belly to between her legs and spread her lips.
"I'd have you any time I could... as long as you want it." he said, giving her a toothy grin. Her worries were eased as a hand of her own rested on top of his, assisting it in rubbing her lips gently before her eyes widened and she remembered something.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, startling Sonny to the point that he'd let go of her as she rolled over and reached her hand over the edge of the nest, finding the satchel that had carried the trinkets and pulled it into the nest before she emptied the contents; the two books and Sonny's conducting hat. Sonny took a moment to grab the hat, wondering how it got there when he recalled dropping it at the Jurassic station when he proposed, but he decided he'd think on it later as he neatly placed it by his discarded vest. He instead turned his attention to his wife, who had the book about Troodon in her hands and had opened it and was flipping through the pages.
"Looking up something specific?" he asked, rather certain he knew what she was looking for as he smirked at her. She gave him a smirk in return before she began reading from the book.
"Troodon are the smartest dinosaurs, and as a result, have encountered numerous ways to make the pleasurable act of mating even more pleasurable." she started. "Many methods have included oral and manual foreplay on both partners or even mating while facing each other." she said before she looked back at him over the book and still smirked. She trailed a finger along the pages, skimming through some of the text before she came to another part. "Despite all the advancements Troodon have made, there are still more feral cousins who prefer the more traditional mating style. Traditional mating involves a lengthy courtship that- blah blah blah..." she muttered to herself, skipping over the words until it started talking about positioning. "- the receptive female will then crouch down low to the ground and flag up her tail in the Brooding posture. The male will then approach her, pressing his body down on top of her, gripping her shoulders in his forelimbs as he steps a leg over her tail, aligning his vent with her own to insert his phallus. Penetration can sometimes spook the female, therefore the male will often give a bite to her neck to help hold her in place, though the bite will also serve to encourage her body to become more receptive during the mating." She saw the document showing a moderately detailed image of two troodon in said mating posture before she looked up at Sonny, who was downright red. "So, that bite on our honeymoon wasn't just you "seeing if I liked it.", you were honestly just really into it." she said, though her face wore a smile, which finally encouraged Sonny to nod.
"Yeah... heh, you got me there." he said, rubbing the back of his head. His attention was caught as she shut the book and set it outside the nest with the other book before she rolled onto her stomach. She couldn't replicate the brooding posture perfectly, being a Pteranodon, but she would get as close as she could as she got on her hands and knees, her legs spread apart and her small tail arched up over her back. There was a wet sound in the nest as Sonny's eyes went wide, his attention on her form and his shaft having responded by spurting a stream of prefluid in his unsaid excitement. Mrs. P didn't miss this.
"Come... Mate me like a Troodon would." she said in a soft tone as her hips gently waved side to side. Sonny's mouth was agape for a few moment before his body began to move without really trying, soon finding himself standing behind her. He ran his hands along her rump, watching how she kept her tail pressed to her lower back, presenting everything she had to him. He swallowed as he ran his hands up along her back before he gripped her shoulders and lowered his stomach and chest onto her back, the sensation in that being enough to make her shiver under him.
"Hon, I have to tell you something." Sonny said, dropping what he could of his innate lust spurred on by her presentation and scent. She let out a slightly irritated sound, but looked over her shoulder at him. "Troodon... feral mating can get... rather rough. I might hurt you." he warned. She actually smiled at him.
"Sweetheart, I want you to treat me as rough as you're going to get. I want to see the real you; the part of you that wants me more than anything else." Sonny lowered his face down by her cheek as he nuzzled the side of her face, urging her to let out a soft squawk before she continued. "You withstood my claws digging into you and scarring you on our honeymoon and you forgave me... I can forgive you for doing the same to me if it means I get to see and feel you give into your passion for me." she said, raising a hand to hold his cheek. Sonny took in a shaky breath before he let it out slowly and gave her cheek a slow, warm lick.
"All right... Just know that I'll always love you..." He said softly before she let out another soft sound.
"I already do, Sweetheart." She could feel his heartbeat through his chest as he pressed against her back and soon she could feel that warm rod of flesh pressing along her thighs as he felt around blindly, the tip drooling fluid the whole while before he finally reached her lips and, to her shock, instantly thrust as deep as he could into her, firmly mashing the head of his shaft against her back wall and causing a dull ache that nearly knocked the wind out of her. She didn't make a sound at first, she was too shocked, that is until he pulled nearly all the way back out and slammed in again, this time making her screech and try to pull away from the sensation out of reflex. Instead, she felt her shoulders get yanked back and his chest press firmly against her back as that hot, hard length slammed back into her. This time she fought and pulled much harder, then she felt teeth. She felt her husband pause his movements long enough to feel his hot breath on her neck before he bit into the side of her neck, near her left collar, and her entire body froze. The "bite" he had given her before on the honeymoon was more of a love nip and a gentle pinch. This was more clearly a bite in the earnest sense, even if it did mostly just have skin. He gave a tug on her with his mouth and she felt a sharp pain, but also, the sensation of her fighting just seeming to fade away as her arms grew weak and her chest fell to the floor of the nest with Sonny following her. This shifted her hips and soon, he was back to thrusting into her again, still mashing the tip of his shaft to that back wall with each deep thrust. It hurt, it ached, and yet... There was something else there. Another hard thrust and suddenly there was a sparking sensation up her spine that made her try to lift her hips up, then there was another thrust, this one feeling VERY pleasurable and finally making her legs stretch out fully as she stood with her legs splayed, yet her chest was still pressed to the ground. She could feel the warm legs of her husband pressing down along her own legs, his body pressing over her own as he held onto her possessively. Then there was another harsh thrust, but there was no longer any pain. In fact, was there any pain in the first place? Instead of a dull ache, she was feeling a tight pressure that felt incredible. Every time he drove his length in, he ground against something pleasurable along the front side of her insides. She suddenly felt him tugging on her with his mouth more firmly, bringing a pinching sting, but bringing a pleasure she couldn't describe as his pace changed as he thrust in deep, then suddenly made swift, short, rapid thrusts into her, hardly pulling any of his length out of her. The sounds of their loins pressing together as his furious pace made sticky strings of their fluids between them would have embarrassed even her for how loud it was as her whole world rocked in time with his hard thrusting. She suddenly heard him growl and was startled at first as she felt him cram into her one more time before he shuddered and let out a strained groan, biting her neck a bit harder as he pressed down on her before she felt his shaft swell up, then start kicking at a pace she'd never felt before as he spurted out thick, sticky ropes against her deepest recesses. The full sensation made her legs quiver and before she even knew it, she was screaming, but not in pain as she felt a deep, needy desire she wasn't aware of finally being sated. Her body violently twitched and shook, her husband being the only thing keeping her still as the fire she felt in her body earlier rushed to her gut, then suddenly raced through her loins as a very loud splurting and splashing sound was heard behind them as her vision became a blur of tiny yellow sparkles and fog as a deep seated pleasure ran through her, prompting her to slowly close her eyes as all the sounds in the world slowly faded away.
Mrs. P could hear a loud ringing in her ears and shifted, feeling warm and comfortable for the most part as she lay on her back, but there was some sort of muffled sound that was getting louder as the ringing faded. The gentle tingle running along her body slowly faded as well and she could feel someone stroking her face, the voice becoming clearer to the point that she recognized it as Sonny. She slowly cracked her eyes open and saw the face of the handsome Troodon looking back at her, but his face was marred with tears and panic, a bit of relief seeming to grace his expression as Mrs. P's hearing came back in full as she blinked a few times to see him properly.
"Oh thank goodness!" he said, mid sob as he leaned in and hugged her tightly, prompting her to give a slightly confused squawk before she gently hugged him back, only to find that her body was rather sore all over once the tingling numbness from earlier passed. "You passed out on me and I didn't know what to do..." he said as he pulled back from the hug and wiped his cheek with the back of his hand.
"Hon... Passed out? What happened?" she asked, rubbing her head, which was one of the only things that didn't have any soreness in it. Sonny gave her a rather ashamed look before averting his eyes from her for a moment, but a glance back at her soulful blue eyes reminded him that she wouldn't likely let the topic drop. He sighed as he remained kneeling next to her.
"Well... we, uh... mated like you wanted to... You tried to pull away but I grabbed you and even bit you... You screamed a lot and you fought for a bit, but then you... well... I THINK you started to like it..." he said, rubbing the back of his head before he pointed at the floor of the nest, which aside from having some new leaves in the bottom that had been changed out due to their over spilling, also had a line of dried moisture that went over the edge of the nest and several feet along the ground. "You... uh... clenched really hard and made this... huge mess and got louder than I'd ever heard you before." he said as he gently touched her belly. "But after that, you went totally limp and... you wouldn't respond..." His expression showed a degree of more shame, but she could also see something on his face that worried her. She gently reached a hand up, cupping his chin and turning his head to see dried blood along his lips.
"... Blood?" she echoed her thoughts. Sonny instantly clenched his eyes shut.
"When I was biting you, I bit too hard..." he said as he opened his eyes and gently slid his hand from her belly up to her neck where he had torn part of his conductor vest off and used it as a bandage and wrapped it around. "No real damage, I don't think, but... I put holes in your skin." he said, trying to stop himself from sobbing. Mrs. P reached her own hand to touch her bandaged neck, feeling the sting of puncture marks under the bandage and wincing slightly as it felt like he had probably also bruised her skin that he didn't bite into. She blinked a few times before she looked back at him.
"Then what happened?" she asked, surprising him by not talking further about the wound on her neck. He hesitated for a moment before he organized his thoughts and sighed before he continued.
"After I bandaged you and lay you down, you weren't responding... You were breathing but I thought I'd done some terrible damage to you, either outside or..." he placed his hand on her rounded stomach again. "... inside..." he said.
"Inside?" she echoed, noting that she did ache there, but it didn't seem to be worse than anywhere else. Sonny just swallowed and continued
"Since you weren't waking up and I'm not sure how I'd even find out if you were hurt that way, there wasn't anything I could do... So I took you to the water and washed you up... That's when I saw some blood coming from you down there... it was on "me" as well..." he sounded even more remorseful and was trying not to cry. However, a hand from his wife on his cheek turned him to look back at her face, a wordless signal to finish his story. "I brought you back to the nest and lay you down and bandaged you up. I thought maybe you just needed rest, so I took a little time to clean the nest from our mess, but even after that, you were still out and so I sat here, begging and hoping you'd wake back up..." at this point, Mrs. P ignored any pain she had and sat up to pull him into a firm kiss, which caught him off guard, but he returned it in full as he hugged her tightly, feeling her own hands digging their claws into his skin before they slowly parted. He tried to look away before she encouraged him to look her in the eyes.
"Sweetheart... Perhaps now you know how bad I felt when I tore you up on our honeymoon." she softly stroked his cheek before she ran a hand over one of his thighs, which had scabbed up mostly and still made him flinch when she put pressure on them. "The mating was rough and harsh, like you said... and it hurt... for a little while... but then we changed the angle a bit, you started hitting some really good spots, and I forgot all about it." she said, smiling a little. "It felt so good feeling you press down on me... even your biting felt so good that when you finished, I... goodness..." she was now flushing and feeling a deep heat return to her loins. "I, uh... passed out because it felt so good... not because it hurt..." she admitted, though her admission didn't make Sonny smile, just give a very questioning look that she read very clearly; he wasn't thinking that she was lying, he was more confused as to how it could be possible. He was about to speak, but then she placed a finger on his lips. "Shh... just lay with me. Please?" she asked as she slowly lay back down on her back. Sonny looked at her a moment before he finally gave her a soft smile and lay down next to her, placing a hand on her belly before he placed a leg over her own legs, giving an unharmed portion of her neck a gentle kiss, coaxing her to softly squawk and lean her head against his.
"Are you really okay?" he suddenly said, prompting her to sigh slightly in disappointment as he refused to rest, but his kind nature was why she picked him as a mate in the first place.
"Hon, feeling you go all out, giving into your raw, true desires..." she trailed off a moment. "Just last night, you remember how I tore into your legs, not because I was angry, but because you made me feel so good, I even forgot where I was." She felt Sonny slowly rubbing her belly in circles, providing a soothing sensation as he listened. "I would gladly wear a hundred bites from you if it meant that you were enjoying yourself to the fullest. Besides," she nuzzled her cheek against his. "I never told you to stop." she said, letting out a small chirping giggle. Sonny finally let out a little chuckle.
"Yeah, I heard everything you said... well, all the noise you made, anyway. It did feel good to just put my all into it but..." his slowly stroking hand on her belly came to a stop. "Your screeching of pain bothered me deeply... And... all the physical pleasure in the world isn't going to make me forget those screeches, much less the taste of blood in my mouth or the sight of the wound on your neck that I caused... especially not after I might have wounded you inside..." he trailed off, coaxing another sigh from his wife.
"Sonny." she said, rather flatly before she firmly grabbed the wrist of the hand rubbing her belly, making him look at it before he looked at her face, which was wearing a stern expression. "I am fine." she said as she guided his hand lower to between her legs, making him press along her vent, which seeped slick fluids. "In fact, I'm so fine, I'm ready for us to do more." Sonny looked back at her with a slight flush, along with some confusion, but she soon figured out what the problem was and changed her tone to become softer. "I understand that mating that roughly bothered you and that... when I struggled and screeched, it was unnerving for someone as sweet as you. We don't have to do that again... But I don't want you to think that I'm in any way afraid of you hurting me seriously while we're being intimate." Sonny had a quick wash of emotions over his face; running from confused, to sympathetic, to finally understanding.
"Well... I do recall how ashamed you were earlier this morning... And that I never held anything against you, much less let it be something I'm worried about happening again." he said, finally letting a smile on his face as his words prompted Mrs. P to smile as well. His smile widened a bit as he stroked her vent with a single finger and made her jump as she let out a rather cute squawk, her hand just squeezing his wrist tighter to ensure he didn't pull it away, further supporting her statements. "And you want more?" he asked, though the answer was obvious, and he had to admit, with his mind open to the experience of mating with her, it was downright addictive to oblige. None of the times he'd imagined partners or otherwise handled his own "stress" compared to mating with this partner whom he loved and loved him in return so dearly.
"Goodness yes..." she all but hissed out as he removed his leg from over her own, allowing her to spread her legs and give his fingers more room to move. She soon felt him delicately rubbing the inflamed lips in slow circles as he gave her jaw line a gentle kiss.
"I did kinda beat this pretty girl up..." he said as he slowly trailed a finger up along her opening before slowly and smoothly sliding it up into her, feeling her clench down firmly on his digit as she groaned and chuckled at the same time. He moved his finger slowly, gently rolling it in circles before pulling it to the opening, then free of her as he slid down her body, trailing kisses along her chest, then belly before he stopped above her loins. "I better kiss her to make her all better." he said, chuckling and blushing at his corny line, but Mrs. P's eyes widened at what he was offering and wasted no time in lifting and splaying her legs out as far as she could.
"Ohh, please do!" she said, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically, making Sonny nearly laugh his head off, but settling on snorting into his hand a moment before he gripped her rump, sliding his hand up her legs until he gripped the backs of her knees, keeping her legs comfortably apart and lifting her hips up slightly as he nuzzled her moist vent. He let her feel his warm breath against her before he gave the lips a gentle kiss, making her sigh out rather firmly before she felt and watched Sonny stick out his thick tongue and draw it up along her sensitive opening, her hands shooting to her face as she bit one of her fingers as he slowly licked up her lips again, then again. She closed her eyes at how intense it felt, her stomach trembling firmly with every pass of his tongue before she felt him press the warm wet muscle into her, making her body tense before she sighed out into a long, low groan as she looked down her body at him, smiling. "More... oh please more..." she said as he looked up at her, slowly twisting his tongue inside of her before pulling back and giving her another intimate kiss that made a deep squeak escape her throat. He may have been joking, but any aching she had was being drastically eroded away by his "kissing". He pulled his head back for a moment, a long string of thick juices still on his tongue for a moment before it broke.
"Mmm... I could eat you alllll day..." he said, smirking down at her, making her quiver and smile back, but a sudden voice from behind Sonny made them both freeze.
"Did someone say "eat"?! Because I'm hungry!" came the voice of Don.
Wordlessly, Sonny and Mrs, P parted, Sonny choosing to sit in the nest next to her as she moved to a more upright position. Her loins downright ached from the denial of climax, and judging from the expression on Sonny's face, she guessed he felt the same. The brush that helped obscure the pathway into the nest area parted and in came Mrs. C with all the youngsters in tow. All of them were carrying various trinkets, but they paused a moment as they came into the clearing.
"Woah!" exclaimed Tiny. "You two made the nest already?" she said in a happy tone. Sonny sputtered a brief moment, but then Mrs. P spoke up with a practiced ease.
"Yes we did. We worked very hard to make sure it was all built before you returned." she said in a very calm tone that made Sonny look at her. She had a sweet motherly smile on her face, though when her eyes glanced at him, she gave him a wink, letting him see that she had quite the poker face, evidently from years of practice. He gave her a small smile in return and stood up as he grabbed his vest, slipping it on, though the bottom edge of it was frayed from the strip he ripped off for a bandage. The hat he nearly placed on his head, but he instead slipped it into a pocket. When he looked up, he saw Tiny and Buddy were in a corner discussing things as they organized the trinkets they obtained; a few modest things such as a stick that Buddy liked chewing on. Don had found a couple teeth while Gilbert and Shiny were handling various shells and shiny stones. However, his eyes eventually panned to his mother, who was looking dead straight at him and was not smiling. She gave a brief look around before she coughed into her hand and then spoke.
"Hey, Sonny Boy, lemme tell you what we did while we were out." she said in her normal bravado, the youngsters suddenly quipping up and talking over each other as they wanted to tell him themselves, but Mrs. C spoke up. "Now now, why don't you tell your Mom about what you were doing?" she said. Sonny could see her giving Mrs. P a rather concerned glance before she looked back at her son with a rather commanding glare. He swallowed a moment, feeling a bubbling sense of dread as he nodded.
"Okay Mom. Why don't you tell me." he said as he stepped out of the nest, giving a glance back at his wife as she shared the worried glance before she was swarmed by the youngsters.
Sonny followed his mother a fair ways away from the nest. She only occasionally glanced back at him to ensure he was following her. The dread continued to gurgle in his gut to the point that he was feeling ill. What could possibly be on her mind that she needed to talk to him alone? He nearly ran into her when she stopped and turned around, looking him in the face with a focused glare.
"Is she all right?" she asked. Sonny was caught off guard and blinked.
"Uhh, yeah, she's fine." he said, but his mother grabbed his wrist, a rather strong grasp that commanded him to look in her large, stern eyes.
"Is. She. All. Right?" she punctuated. Sonny's mouth stopped working for a moment before his mother went in for the kill. "You mated her like a feral would." she delivered bluntly. Sonny's mouth was still agape for a moment before he spoke.
"Mother, I... no we-" she scowled at him.
"Don't you lie to me, young boy." Sonny felt his insides run cold as his mother flexed her embedded authority over him. "We could hear her screaming clear on the other side of the lake. I had to convince the youngsters that you two were playing while making the nest, but I know screams of pain when I hear them." she said before she tugged at his vest. "And this; torn off in a strip to cover the wound, or did you think I'd believe that Mrs. P SUDDENLY took to wearing scarves?" she said, her tone starting stern but was growing angry at Sonny's attempt to fib to her.
"Mother, she..." he trailed off and looked away from her, and when he did, she squeezed his wrist tighter, making him look back at her.
"Now I'll ask you one more time; Is she all right?" she asked in a low, calm tone as she stared holes into her son's eyes. There was a painful degree of silence between them as Sonny faced the most intimidating thing he could imagine; a judgmental mother, and not just any, but his own. He took a slow breath before he spoke in a soft tone.
"When I bit her, I broke the skin..." he said, shame in his voice as he wanted to look away but her eyes were like sandpits and he was unable to crawl out.
"Anything else?" his mother asked. Sonny swallowed hard as he wanted badly to just say no, but he soon found that he couldn't.
"Y-yes... There was... more..." he said, still trying to avoid the subject, but another squeeze to his wrist, followed by a low growl from her, made him speak again. "I'm... I'm longer than she is deep and... and when we did it that way I kept hitting her deep and it hurt and she started screaming but I didn't stop and I just grabbed onto her tighter and... and..." He had tears in his eyes and his voice cracked as his mother continued to stare at him, her glare making him still continue. "A-and I kept going and she kept screaming but she seemed to like it until she climaxed and then she passed out and then I saw and tasted the blood and I panicked and-" his panicked rambling was silenced by a swift slap across his face. His head remained turned away from her, his cheek stinging, but no anger or fear came out of him. Instead, he was just humbled as his eyes continued to well with tears, the slap serving to discipline him for a wrongdoing, but also to snap him out of a rambling panic.
"You know that mating like a wild dinosaur is risky for same species. Those wild drives are just as strong in you or me as they are in the ones who refuse to learn and remain in the wilds." she said in a cool, calm manner. "To do it with another species is just foolish." Sonny finally lifted his head up and looked back at his mother, but instead of a stern expression, her face wore a saddened expression. "You could have severely hurt her or even killed her if you weren't careful. I thought I taught you better than that." Dread and shame ran through his body before several questions buzzed through his head, one escaping his lips before he had a chance to think on it.
"But... why didn't you worry when you saw my leg wounds?" he asked, but then his mother echoed what he already knew.
"She clawed your legs and all it did was break the skin. She is a light boned Pteranodon and you're a sturdy Troodon." she said, before she added more. "You also come from a long line of hunters. I know you try to ignore it with our omnivorous habits, but you forget that at any moment, you could go on the hunt again..." she said, though this time it was her turn for her voice to crackle. She lifted the same hand that had slapped him and gently trailed a single finger along his lips, tracing the blood stains. "When you got a mouth full of her blood, you could have gone on the hunt right there, with Mrs. P as your prey... How could you ever live with yourself if you actually did something like that?" she asked, her tone becoming downright mournful. Sonny closed his eyes, cringing as his tears escaped, but then they sprung back open and he grabbed her own wrist, pulling her hand from his face as he wore a focused, nearly angry expression, surprising his mother.
"Never. I never could." he said in a sharp tone before he continued. "But I also know that I'd never bend to my instincts so easily. She insisted that we mate that way, it wasn't my suggestion or choice." he said, his mother now watching him intensely. "She even performed a dance to seduce me before we did anything... She soaked the whole nest in her scent and wouldn't take no for an answer..." he hung his head a moment. "Yes, I bit her and it broke the skin..." his head snapped back up. "But the taste of her blood only served to snap me out of any "fun" I was having and worry for her safety!" he said in a near bellow. "She collapsed after we climaxed... and I actually thought I had done the very thing you're scolding me about... I panicked and washed up her neck... even washed the blood from our loins..." His mother's eyes widened.
"Loins?!" she gasped.
"Yes!" he shouted back. "And it only served to make me worry more for her health! It's why I shredded this vest to bandage her neck." he said as he closed his eyes and sighed softly, his tone shifting down. "I talked with her about it after she woke up... She said she enjoyed it and I could tell she wasn't lying. In fact, she... uh... wanted to do some more." he said, his bashfulness now starting to return, but he could see the expression on her face still showing deep worry. "It... it wasn't a lot of blood on our loins... like... just a drop..." he said as he swallowed. "Regardless, I've sworn off doing that... I didn't enjoy it because for a while there, she really was in pain... And..." he sniffed and closed his eyes. "I was the one who was causing it..." He finally felt his mother let go of his wrist before he felt her soft hands gently wrap around his head and pull him close until she was hugging him. Sonny quickly wrapped his arms around her.
"I'm so sorry..." Mrs. C said softly, sniffling as she held her son. "I keep forgetting that you're not a little hatchling anymore... No... those days are long behind us..." she said as Sonny could feel her gently tremble and warm droplets of her tears spilling onto his neck. "You're not even the Conductor anymore..." she said as she gently pulled back from the hug, Sonny getting a view of his mother smiling as she wiped her cheek with the back of her hand. "Well, maybe that's not completely true. You now have a family to keep in order and Conduct." she said as she grasped her son's hands in her own and spoke softly. "Please, just be careful." she said, lowering her eyes. "I'll keep my nose out of your business." She turned to leave but Sonny didn't let go of her hands, making her pause and look back at him to see his smiling face.
"Mother... It means the world to me that you want to be so involved in my business." he said as he looked down. "You're still teaching me things that I need to know... And if I have to be... umm... open to my mother about what I'm doing with my wife... I might have to start taking notes so you can read the whole thing." He said, giving a cheeky grin. His mother finally laughed.
"I don't think THAT will be necessary!" she said amidst her chuckling. The mood had shifted, a more lighthearted feel being shared among them. "Still, if something DOES happen, don't try to hide it... If you tell me or someone else, we can help." Sonny nodded slowly.
"I hope it'll never come to that." He said, followed by a sigh. There was a few moments of silence between them, though they could hear laughter and talking coming from the nest area.
"You have a family to attend to. I should get going since those other conductors are probably slacking off." she said, chuckling, her son joining in before he spoke.
"Hey, since you'll be heading that way, could you bring me some of my supplies from home? I mean, since I'll be living here." he asked. His mother smiled and nodded.
"Of course. I'll bring them around tomorrow. Laura should also be done with the family portrait at that time as well." she said as they finally released each other's hands, though Mrs. C grasped the cheeks of her son's face and pulled him close, placing a kiss on his forehead. "You be a good boy for me, understand, Sonny Boy?" she said, regaining her boisterous tone. Sonny smiled an bowed professionally.
"You can count on it, Mother." Another brief chuckle was shared between them before she turned and walked away, a brief wave at each other before Sonny turned and headed back to the nest.
Upon coming back through the brush, he saw all the youngsters taking turns yammering rather quickly about the various things they had seen and gathered to his wife, who, while keeping the happy expression, seemed rather overwhelmed. Sonny coughed into his hand and caught their attention.
"So, who's ready to go catch some dinner?" he asked, which quickly silenced the group, making them all look at him before they ran over to him in excitement. All except Mrs. P who just let out a sigh of relief. He could tell she needed to rest. "All right, with three spotters and three fishers, we should have lots of fish for dinner!" he said as he placed his hands on Gilbert and Buddy, coaxing them to smile before Tiny looked back at their mother, then back at him.
"Wait, isn't Mom coming with us?" she asked. Sonny made another glance at his wife before he looked at Tiny.
"She's a bit tired from putting the nest together so fast and she is probably a little sore." he said, though Don quipped up.
"Sore? You mean that's why she's wearing the bandage?" he asked, innocently enough. Sonny and Mrs. P exchanged worried glances for a moment before Sonny suddenly quickly spoke.
"Yes, actually. She got a bit hurt when we were putting the nest together so we should just let her get a bit of rest." he said. Don tapped his beak and nodded.
"Okay, then we'll get extra fish for mom!" he said, making the other youngsters cheer while Sonny spotted his wife giving a rather relieved smile, followed by a smirk and a wink that stoked a deep fire in Sonny's chest. Even now she had him roped by her charm and he loved every second of it. He gave her a brief smile before he turned and started marching, the youngsters following him as they left, chanting a made-up-on-the-spot tune.
Mrs. P sighed as they all left and lay back into the nest, her head propped up by the side of the nest. She really did need the rest, though she was also irritated by the denial of her climax from Sonny using that lovely hot tongue on her. She lay quietly for a moment, though the longer she did, the more intense the burning in her loins got as her thoughts just kept returning to that severe desire. She slowly rubbed her hands along her body, feeling how her arousal made everything feel more intense as she started at her face, running down over her chest where she could feel her quickening pulse before she stroked her own belly. She sucked in a breath and before she knew it, her legs were lifted up and her fingers were tracing delicate circles along her soft lips as they drooled slick liquid. She kept her touch gentle, teasing her outer lips before she gently dabbled a single finger between her lips, pulling away a string of her fluids before she pressed back, starting to slowly spread it between her lips before her desires demanded she press a digit into herself as she groaned. She shuddered as her body soon commanded her to begin thrusting her digit in and out of her sorely denied loins, soon building up a firm rhythm that made slick squishing sounds. She could feel that warmth in her core start to get more focused on her loins, that pressure starting to build up as a few pleasing shivers passed through her as she could feel herself getting closer and closer until...
Nothing.
A disappointed sigh slipped from her beak as she drew her hands from her loins and lowered her legs. She looked at the fluid on her fingers, growing more disappointed as the sensation had started to build, but it just wasn't enough. Her hands were not hot like her husband's and she also knew everything she was doing. Had her body already become so spoiled by his touch that her own wasn't good enough anymore? She continued to rub her fluids between her fingers until they had dried and she made a fist as those desires sparked anew. Now she was growing frustrated, until an idea sparked in her head; perhaps the books could provide a few bits of info that she could enjoy for such a recreational purpose? She quickly reached over the edge of the nest and pulled the books into it. She started with the Troodon book and flipped it open, more carefully going through the opening pages, especially when it came to the mating section. This time, she decided to read through the full courting description.
"Despite all the advancements Troodon have made, there are still more feral cousins who prefer the more traditional mating style. Traditional mating involves a lengthy courtship that generally is shared by the civilized members, even if they don't realize it. The first step when a male courts a female is for him to generally start guarding the female from dangers. This can be done by suddenly becoming aggressive towards other males and/or ensuring she is generally not far from him. Even the civilized Troodon will be extremely reluctant to part from their potential mates, which can cause trouble when they are employed in the various jobs they work, which may call for them to be away for extended periods of time." Mrs. P blinked several times as she read that part, remembering how Sonny had indeed become aggressive, such as when he attacked Thurston, but she had chalked it up to simply being stress. The part that bothered her was that he was extremely reluctant to part from her for too long. She didn't want to believe it, but the thought that he only refused to leave her side being just based in instinct worried her. Despite this, she continued to read.
"The male will often become exceedingly kind to youngsters, even outside of his species, as he will be preparing for parenthood. This often serves to make the females more likely to consider them for a partner based on their ability to successfully rear young. This can be confusing for the civilized cousins as some females may interpret the male caring for another female's young as a sign of affection for the other female, though this is generally not the case." Sonny had gone above and beyond to ensure Gilbert was healthy and he fought tooth and claw to get Buddy back with the best of his abilities. Even earlier that day, Sonny had told her that he was worried Buddy wouldn't see him as a father. Was Sonny running strictly on instinct? Was Mrs. P's entire relationship with him based on a genetic railroad? She had to continue reading.
"After a while of the prior actions, generally about a month, the male will finally perform the final step of courting by providing his potential partner a gift. The gift is often food, though it can also be something that is simply visually appealing. Gifts have been large kills, shiny rocks, or even flowers. Should the female take the item, this generally concludes the courtship, though Civilized Troodon generally request a formal official pairing declaration." Mrs. P was starting to feel cold. The book was describing Sonny action for action over the prior month. Was their entire pairing a lie forced by instinct? Was his kindness really a result of an instinctual drive and not actually who he was?
She suddenly violently shook her head. No, no that was not true. She knew she loved him and that he loved her in return. She frowned as she browsed forward to the actual mating section; the part she had actually sought out. Surely she was just over thinking everything and after getting a bit of relief she was denied earlier, she'd calm down. She browsed past the mating habits of the typical feral Troodon and started to get into the more "kinky" aspects, the fire in her gut starting to become more well known and her worries being drowned out by it. As she turned the page, she came to a section that was showing closeups of male and female troodon loins. She found a hand of hers had run down to her own loins and was already rubbing at her lips as she looked at the diagram that depicted the biological tool that her husband sported. She was still soaked, exactly what she was hoping for. She then picked a segment almost at random and began reading.
"In some cases, Troodon may prefer partners who are their own gender; males courting male and females courting females happens both in the wild and to the civilized cousins." She blinked as she read that section over a few times. Males with other males? Females with other females? The concept was so strange to her. Interspecies couplings were an oddity, but that was still males with females. How would same gender couplings even work?
"While not common, the courting follows similar a similar route as normal courting, though in the case of female pairs, one will take the role of a male and become more aggressive. Mating in this case often will only take place in basic action for feral cousins with one female mounting the other, but no true mating taking place. For civilized cousins, the partners will frequently use oral and manual stimulation to please each other. Often they will use tools in the place of a phallus for internal stimulation. Thanks to Troodon technology, there are phallus shaped tools that can be placed inside the "male" partner and then used like a real phallus on the female, bringing pleasure to both partners, though no reproduction from this act can take place." The few documented images in the book coupled with what it said were so new... So taboo to her. She shuddered before she looked down at her loins to see that her hand was downright coated in her fluids. Was she really getting off to such unusual content? She wasn't sure and continued reading as her hand remained at her loins.
"Male pairs follow a similar dynamic to female pairs, with one taking the role of a male, but the other taking the role of the more submissive female. Mating between two males will generally result in one male submitting as a female would before the other male mounts him. Due to the lack of a vaginal opening, penetration generally is performed anally, though the dominant male may simply rub against his partner and achieve climax, or in rare cases, penetrate the phallic orifice behind the erected phallus of the submissive male." Right next to that paragraph was a very detailed image of two male Troodon mating, with a closeup of that thick tool being crammed up the rump of the submissive male. The sight made her shiver as she felt a fresh batch of fluids soak her hand. How was that even possible? That wasn't what that hole was for. Wasn't that dirty? How could it feel good?
"In civilized male pairings, the relationships are much the same, though technical advances have made anal penetration less an act of domination and more pleasurable. These advancements include alternate mating positions as well as special stretches the submissive partner can perform to reduce reflexive clenching, though most of all, the foresight of cleaning the area before the act of mating. The application of a lubricant is also seen as a major advantage to the civilized cousins as the anal passage lacks sufficient lubrication to make anal mating similar to vaginal mating." Mrs. P huffed as she read and soon turned the page again, needing to know more about this taboo.
"Anal mating isn't restricted to male pairs; males may occasionally miss their mark when mating females and perform anal penetration, though obviously no offspring can come of this. This fact has been used as a form of birth control in civilized circles between males and females; with couples who are not quite prepared to take care of offspring venting their sexual needs without the possibility of reproducing. The preparations are much the same as male pairings, though lubrication may be in the form of brief vaginal intercourse before withdrawing and then penetrating the female anally. Under no circumstances should the phallus be removed from the anus and placed inside the vagina without a thorough washing as fecal matter can cause a massive infection." While she took note of that final part, her attention was grabbed by a detailed image of the described situation; a male Troodon mating a female as she lay on her side, her rump stretched around his rock hard shaft that was slick, a string of her juices from her swollen, drooling vaginal opening still attached to his shaft while her face was open in some sort of smiling orgasmic yell. Mrs. P bit her finger while her other hand was furiously thrusting two fingers in and out of her body. Did it really feel that good? Could she really be pleased that way? The fire in her gut removed most of her sane thoughts as she lay on her back and lift up her legs. She slowly pulled her fingers from her soaked lips and trailed them lower, out of her sight as she slid the slick digits over her perineum before brushing her tight anus. Despite the fact that she washed it frequently in the water, she wasn't in water at the moment and touching herself there was more taboo without her body being submerged. She slowly stroked the tight ring of muscle, rubbing a single finger along it in slow circles. She could feel the flesh grow a bit softer when she would breathe out and recalled that the book had said something about "reflexive clenching". Taking another breath, she started to will herself to relax, though it was hard with the excitement coming from the taboo she was performing. The touch itself was not exactly spectacular, but still fairly sensitive. She slowly trailed the ring of muscle a few more times before she prodded the center of it with the tip of her digit, easing the lubricated conical claw into it and stretching it open.
"Goodness..." she muttered to herself as she felt the naughty sensation of her anus stretching open, and from an outside source, no less. She slowly drew her digit back before sliding it back in, gently pumping it through her ring. It felt funny, not especially good, but it certainly wasn't bad. It felt somewhat like she was pleasing herself, but the sensation was less intense than normal. Still, she was only using a claw, and she used more than that on herself normally. Perhaps she needed to reach deeper? Testing this theory, she pressed her digit in until the skin of her digit pressed against her ring and continued pressing. As she did so, the ring seemed to get tighter and even push her digit back out. It made sense; since this was technically not for inwards traveling materials, but her curiosity and burning gut drove her to press back in, and again she tensed up. She started to grow a little frustrated and pressed harder, but this time her lubricated digit forced past her ring and sunk into her. The sensation made her squawk briefly and the muscle ring burn slightly, her digit feeling a softness around the end of it while the base was being strangled by that muscle ring. She kept it in her, just getting used to the feeling for a moment before she started to turn and wiggle her finger. Again, it felt funny, but not bad. She could feel her finger touch some deeper parts of herself and she felt quite soft in those deeper parts, but the ring was incredibly snug. She wanted to start pulling and pushing her finger in and out of herself, but every time she went to pull or move her finger, she clenched up and she remembered the reflex again. Swallowing, she took another soft breath and felt the ring relax. She started tugging her finger out, the sensation making her tense, before she would stop and make herself relax again, until she'd removed her finger completely. Her rump felt a little funny, but again, it didn't feel bad, and judging by how much fluid was seeping out of her, she actually enjoyed it. Smirking to herself, she slowly pressed the digit back into her rump, starting to get used to the sensation and soon finding that the ring had a fair amount of sensitivity to it, moreso than the deeper parts, but sliding her digit deep did offer another kind of pleasure she couldn't identify. It felt much like she was masturbating like normal, but it was more muted in the sensation, thus she felt she could do this indefinitely. She looked down to see her hand between her legs, her lips swollen and drooling onto her hand as she continued to finger that naughty place. The sheer taboo of it was becoming thrilling. Her free hand was soon sliding down her body as she enjoyed the sensations. Would Sonny ever be interested in something like this? She quivered at the thought of that fantastic tool sliding up into her "wrong hole" as he held onto her. Maybe she'd try to convince him of it one of these days they were alone. The free hand traveling lower eventually came to her loins and, on reflex, she sunk her digit into her drooling lips. Her eyes bugged as she choked on a squawk as copious fluids flowed out around her finger and her insides clamped down before pulsing in strong clenches. How did she become so sensitive? All she did was slide a finger into herself after playing with her hole for a while. Did it really feel that good? She didn't think too hard on it as she lay there, her hands clasped to her loins as she quaked and writhed on the floor of the nest, riding out the sensations before she felt them slowly trail off. She relaxed for a moment, breathing hard and sighing as she caught her breath before she slowly got up, removing her hands from her loins, and walked out of the nest to the water to wash herself off.
She parted the bushed and gently waded into the water and looked out over the rather expansive lake, catching glimpses of her three biological children flying over the water and diving as Buddy, Gilbert, and her husband would point at things, most likely fish, before the trio would dive. She smiled to herself as she was starting to feel rather hungry after all her "exercise' that day. She started by rubbing her submerged rump, feeling how it still felt a bit funny, but the ring was back to being quite snug again. She chuckled at her newly learned taboo before she sought to clean her near hyperactively drooling lips, leaning back as she sat in the now neck deep water and started gently rubbing her lips, feeling the slick liquids slowly rub off, but she couldn't stop thinking about what she'd just done. It was crude, nasty, but fun at the same time. Before she knew it, she had slipped her fingers back into her loins, feeling that welcome stretching. She slowly pressed them in, then drew them back, her half lidded eyes looking at the blurry, small figure of Sonny and wanting him so badly again. She looked down at herself to watch her fingers before she suddenly paused as she could see dark colored trails in the water. She blinked a few times and scooted back, unsure what she was seeing before she pulled her fingers free of her body and out of the water, only to see more of the same. It almost looked like... She looked at her exposed fingers and saw a murky rusty color on them. Her eyes widened as she stood up and looked down at her loins, She carefully reached a finger down and slid it between her lips and into herself before she drew it back and looked at it before she swallowed hard.
Blood.
She was bleeding. It didn't seem to be pouring, a few drops, enough to smear when wet, but a single drop was more than enough to worry her. Was this from when Sonny had roughly mated her? She looked down at herself and frowned as she didn't feel in pain. In fact, she was feeling pretty good, save for the occasional sting in her neck when she'd turn her head. She sat back in the water and continued to wash herself off, her mind ignoring any pang of pleasure she was seeking and instead, trying to reason out what was wrong. She motored through her cleaning and shook herself dry before she smacked herself on the forehead.
"The book!" she exclaimed to herself as she ran back to the nest. She quickly hopped into it and closed the Troodon book before she opened up the Pteranodon book. This book was a fair bit smaller than the other. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, but since this was with her loins, she assumed it had something to do with mating, so she started there.
"Pteranodon generally have a fairly brief courting period before being established as mates. Often the males can woo the females within a single day, usually through flying performances, fishing, and/or grooming, all showcasing how strong he is and how much of a providing caretaker he is." Mrs. P didn't try to, but she recalled her previous husband and how he had basically done just that. He was the "Wing King" after all. Still, what really got her attention was how good he was with kids. She shook her head and continued reading.
"In more rare cases, females will be the ones to initiate courting, however this generally never takes place unless her previous mate has died. Records have shown that Pteranodon mate for life and the death of a partner, for feral or civilized, will cause the surviving partner to emit what is known as a "death scream". The death scream is a shrill, horrific sound that is believed to originate from the need to scare away a predator from their partner or offspring, though the true reason isn't fully known." Mrs. P had a hand on her chest as she closed her eyes, trying to fight back a combination of anger and sadness. She couldn't ever describe the emotions that ran through her in that moment when she shoved Sonny aside and looked down to see the sunken features of her unresponsive partner in life. She only knew that pain was one of the things she felt. The more she thought on it, the more she began to agree on the name the Troodon gave it. Wiping her cheek with the back of her hand, she continued.
"Generally, Pteranodon who lose their partner will go through a grieving period before they seek to find a new partner. In the vein of losing their mate, Pteranodon seem to have an internal timer, possibly associated with their tendency to foresee weather patterns, that will cause them to subliminally seek a new partner, should their partner be missing for an extended period of time, ranging from two weeks to three months, varying on the individual. This is not as blatant as courting and is more of the remaining Pteranodon "sizing up" potential partners, should their previous partner no longer be present." She blinked at that bit of information. Sizing up potential partners if their current partner is missing? She suddenly wondered if she had been doing so before she even knew her husband was dead. She was quiet and thinking strongly. The first thing she thought of was when Sonny had touched her to "relieve her stress", but she felt quite bad about it. She remembered that she offered to "return the favor", but he declined and, in her heart, she was relieved that he did. No, she didn't size up Sonny around that time. However, she did start to recall how she was starting to open up to Sonny more frequently, relying on his support, especially through her nightmares, and defending him when she could, then... She recalled the dream she had where her husband said good bye. She felt so empty, but she also recalled that she nearly kissed Sonny... and remembering that brought to mind how she nearly got into a fight with Erma because she was... She clenched her eyes shut before she just admitted it; she was jealous and wanted Sonny to herself by that point. She wasn't even sure her husband was really gone, but her instinctive drive was having her try and claim Sonny as her own and not out of love? She sneered at the book as it had to be wrong. She wanted to slam it shut and throw it into the lake, but the thought of the lake brought back to her mind the memory of the blood and the whole reason she was reading this. She sighed and begrudgingly continued reading.
"Males attempting to re-court after a lost mate generally will follow the same patterns as normal to find a new mate. Females, however, will generally find a male who is skilled at rearing young, and rather aggressively attempt to woo him. This often consists of actions such as building a nest for the male and herself, insisting on being close to him at all times, soliciting sexual contact, attacking other females (including his possible current mate), and, in more intense cases, performing a rarely seen Pteranodon mating dance." Mrs. P was looking at the book with a cold sensation brewing in her chest. The more she wanted to believe the book was incorrect, the more it seemed to shove in her face a well documented example of her actions over the past month. She somehow found herself continuing to read.
"This courting behavior can cause quite a bit of trouble for civilized Pteranodon as females may court other species that fit the earmarks of a potentially adequate mate. Should a female be courting to the point that she would perform a mating dance, she generally will notice a growing warmth inside of her body, generally located in her gut, and a heavily spiked sexual hunger. This is the onset of the female beginning to ovulate. Normal ovulation occurs only after mating, at which point the female will produce an egg over the next several days. However, the hormonal saturation the female is experiencing will cause her to ovulate prematurely. This is generally accompanied by blood discharge, which will last two to three days, before she will lay an unfertile egg. At this point, her hormonal levels will generally level out and she will usually lose interest in her current target, though there is a high chance she may start the mate seeking process anew." Mrs. P read that last sentence over and over again, her heart racing faster before she slammed the book shut. She grabbed both books and placed them into the satchel before she set it outside the nest, soon realizing that she was in a near panic at what she read. Her breathing was fast and raspy as her eyes were wide and she soon found herself curling her knees to her chest and hugging her legs. She shivered out of fear before she clenched her eyes shut as burning tears escaped them and rolled down her beak as she began rocking back and forth, feeling the crushing prospect of all her hopes for a positive future being a lie of hormones and potentially falling apart a few days from now.
Sonny smiled as he and the two other theropods took their places on the shoreline of the lake while the trio of Pteranodon youngsters flew out over the lake and began circling. He hadn't actually watched how the Pteranodon family normally did this, but he quickly learned after Buddy pointed out fish to Tiny, who then dove into the water and came back up with a fish, which she tossed on the shore. Soon after, Gilbert did the same, calling out to Shiny who dove and came back up with a fish of her own, though she tossed it rather close to Gilbert. Sonny had to smile at how much she was focused on making Gilbert happy, something that Gilbert would no doubt need in his life should he come to being depressed about his tail. As this was going on, he looked back out over the lake and found Don as he was making slow circles but not diving. Sonny soon found the reason was because Buddy was only calling out marked fish to Tiny while Gilbert was doing the same for Shiny. Rolling his eyes at that fact, he focused on the water for a moment before he could see the shimmer of a fish and pointed at it.
"Right there, Don, all yours!" he called out. Don's expression lit up for a moment before he dove right for the fish, coming back up with quite the catch, which he tossed up on the shoreline. "Atta boy, Don, I knew you could do it." he said in praise to him, which encouraged him to beam before going back over the water. Sonny, however, caught a glimpse of Buddy looking at him; that expression of wanting to say something on his face once more before he looked away. Sonny really wanted to have a one on one talk with Buddy, but it would have to wait.
The fishing continued for a while until a nicely sized pile of fish had been gathered. The group looked upon it and smiled before Gilbert pointed out a problem.
"This is great, but, how are we going to get all this fish back to the nest?" he asked, making Sonny slap his forehead.
"Goodness me, I totally forgot that part. I'll just have to make a leaf satchel so we can take it back to the nest." he said, rubbing the back of his neck, looking around for a moment before he noticed that a lot of the materials he'd need were not present and would need to be gathered from the thicker foliage. An idea suddenly crossed his mind. "Hey, Buddy?" he asked in that friendly tone, kneeling down to his level. Buddy was rather attentive, stopping his conversation with Tiny to look at Sonny.
"Yes?" he said before Sonny continued.
"I'm going to need to get some more materials so we can bring these fish back for your mom. Would you please come with me to get them?" he asked. Gilbert and Don suddenly stepped forward with Don speaking.
"Ooh! I wanna help!" he said. Sonny smiled at him but then looked at Gilbert, making a little hand gesture. Gilbert looked at it a second before he got the message.
"Actually, Don, we should stay here so we don't lose the fish." he said, giving a glance over to Shiny, who caught what was going on. Tiny and Buddy also got wind of what was going on, but Buddy seemed to hesitate in walking over to Sonny. At least, until Tiny gave him a little shove.
"Buddy, you don't have to if you don't want to. It's your choice." Sonny said, looking a bit somber, yet honest. Buddy knew that this shouldn't be hard, that he should just spend time with his friend. But then, why was he having such a hard time saying yes? Why did Tiny need to push him into it? He didn't have the answer, but after a few moments, he finally nodded, making Sonny smile and stand. "Okay, come with me." he said before addressing the others. "We'll be right back. And Don, don't eat all the fish." he said, making Don drop the fish he was about to shove in his beak and making the other youngsters laugh.
Buddy and Sonny made their way fairly deep into the foliage, well out of normal earshot of the others. Sonny went about the task of gathering vines and leaves that were proper for the satchel while Buddy did the same, but there was a long, tense silence between them. Eventually they set the gathered items down in a small clearing before Sonny sat down and started to weave them together, Buddy watching and eventually sitting down next to him. More silence continued between them before Sonny stopped his work, an unfinished satchel before him as he sighed.
"It's all right, you can say it." Buddy looked up at Sonny, a bit confused as he watched Sonny grow a somber expression. "Look, I can't ever replace the great Pteranodon that your father was, and I don't intend to try. You can just say that I'll never be a father to you." he blurted out. Buddy gave him a rather incredulous look, not quite believing what Sonny was saying before he saw Sonny give himself a small, painful smirk. "It might do us both some good." he said, but Buddy was quiet for a while, looking into his lap as his fingers fidgeted.
"But... I don't want to." he finally said. Sonny looked at him properly as Buddy strained his brain. "I still like you and think you're wonderful but... you're my friend and now... you're supposed to be my new..." he trailed off a moment. "It's such a big change and... I know it's okay but I... I just don't know..." he said, really not knowing how to express his feelings on the subject and growing frustrated. Sonny placed a hand gently on his back.
"It's all right... I didn't expect to be a Dad so soon either, and certainly not this way." he slowly rubbed Buddy's back in circles. "And I could never try to really replace your father; you know I'm not like him and I never could be like him." Buddy looked up at Sonny, seeing the Troodon's eyes glistening with tears he was trying to hold back. "But I still want you to know that I'm still your friend; that I'm still here for you, to help you if you ever need it. For anything." he said. Buddy started to tear up as he could read Sonny like an open book. "Even if you just wanted to say that you hate me and don't want to be my friend anymore, I would be okay with that." That statement made Buddy's eyes widen as Sonny started to hang his head, honestly believing his own words.
"No! No I don't want that!" he said as he jumped to his feet. "I just... I still like you as a friend and I want to be like you..." Sonny was a little startled at Buddy's actions and words. There was a moment of silence before Sonny began smiling a little before he reached into his vest pocket and pulled out his conducting hat.
"I guess you were the one who found this at the train station and took it with?" he asked, handing it to Buddy who took it into his hands, staring at the badge. Buddy slowly brushed a hand over the badge, tracing the engravings with a single claw as he sniffed.
"It always made me so sad... I was happy to be with my family, but I knew I could never grow up to be a great flier or great fisher like my dad..." he said, sniffling again. "And I didn't want to just be a migrating T Rex, I wanted to help others, especially on the train. Being a Conductor was my dream." he slowly placed his hand over his heart as Sonny watched him closer, seeing the little Rex close his eyes. "Dad didn't know that much about the trains or dinosaurs..." he opened them and looked at Sonny. "But you did." There was another pause as Buddy just looked at Sonny, a steely resolve slowly forming on his face as he continued to hold his hand over his heart. "I grew up wanting to impress you, wanting to be just like you."
"Buddy... what are you saying?" Sonny asked, wondering what the point of this declaration was, even as it was touching him and threatening to bring his tears spilling from his eyes.
"I guess... I'm saying..." he closed his eyes for a moment before he let out a shaky breath. "You weren't the Dad who raised me, but you were the Dad I was trying to grow up and be like..." Buddy soon felt Sonny's hands slowly sliding under his arms and picking him up, a teary eyed smile on his face.
"If I ever had a son, I wanted him to be as sharp, kind, and thoughtful as you, Buddy. I always looked forward to being a father, hoping one day to have my own little ones to look over and watch grow..." he stroked Buddy's head as tears freely spilled over his cheeks. "But I guess I already did, all this time..." Buddy finally looked back up at Sonny's face, tears streaming down his cheeks before he lunged forward and hugged him tightly as Sonny's arms wrapped around him, holding him close.
"Dad!" he screeched out as he started to cry out his pent up frustrations and feelings into the collar of Sonny's vest as the Troodon gently stroked the back of the little Rex's head.
"I'm here, Son... I'll always be here for you..." Sonny said, trying not to choke on his own tears as he wept as the young Rex finally accepted him as his new father.
It was some time later when Sonny returned to the group of youngsters and had them assist him in placing the fish into the satchel. Buddy's raised attitude was more than obvious as he kept ahold of the hat when they came back, keeping it tightly pressed to his chest. He didn't need to say anything as Tiny spilled several tears from her eyes before she hugged him, knowing what had to have transpired.
Once the fish were in the satchel, Sonny began the march back to the nest with the youngsters in tow, a strong cheerful energy around all of them as the sky grew orange and nightfall began to set in.
Sonny stepped through the foliage guarding the nest before the youngsters, making as little noise as possible as he expected his wife to be sleeping or otherwise resting. Instead, the cheerfulness drained from his face as he saw her sitting in the nest with her wings wrapped around her legs, rocking slowly as she softly cried, muttering to herself. She looked up from her legs and looked Sonny right in the eyes, her expression only growing more mournful; as if the sight of him was breaking her heart.
Something was very wrong.
Sonny didn't have time to ask her as the chattering of the youngsters got closer. Mrs. P sniffed and wiped her face to hide her tears as the youngsters came into the clearing, giving a happy greeting to their mother, who, with all the skill of a world class actor, greeted them with a smile and a happy hello. Don, being the nosy one, spoke up.
"Are you okay? You're rubbing your face a lot and your eyes are all red." he said, making Buddy and Tiny look at her before she quickly replied.
"Oh, I was just napping and I have a bit of gunk in my eyes." she said as she wiped her face again. This satisfied the youngsters, but Sonny didn't believe a word of it. Regardless, he continued into the clearing and opened up the satchel as the family prepared for dinner.
The kids ate happily, but Sonny's appetite had waned as he kept looking at his wife; she too eating very little and constantly on the verge of breaking down. He could also tell that she wasn't listening to any of the things anyone was saying; Don telling of catching big fish and Gilbert talking of spotting fish and how well Shiny was flying were met with the same replies of "Good for you." and "That's nice.", inbetween bouts of looking at the children, trying not to cry, then looking at Sonny for comfort, before also looking away and holding back her tears.
Sonny couldn't stand it, he had to figure out what was wrong.
Thankfully, dinner was over fairly quickly and the kids were tired from the very unique day as they paired off (except Don) to their own corners, but Mrs. P was still quiet and fidgeting, still on edge about something.
Sonny had enough and cleared his throat.
"Hey kids, your mother and I need to talk about a few things, but we'll be right back." he said, the youngsters looking up at him for a moment before acknowledging him and laying back down. Mrs. P seemed to be waiting for that as she quickly grabbed the satchel containing the books and stood up, waiting for him to lead the way, an act that startled Sonny, but whatever was going on, Mrs. P apparently wanted to tell him.
The two had walked a fair way away from the nest and made it to a small clearing that gave a perfect view of the still slightly orange sky overlooking the lake. When Sonny stopped and turned to face Mrs. P, she suddenly dropped the satchel she was carrying and lunged at him. He yelped as she knocked him onto his back, sitting on his belly. His world swirled for a moment before he blinked his eyes open and looked to see his wife caressing her hands along his chest, unbuttoning his vest and sliding them up his neck in a manner that made his body quake, yet he was completely baffled by her actions in comparison to her earlier emotions. When her hands reached his head, she grabbed him and parted her beak, pulling him into a kiss that he returned, her tongue hungrily lashing inside of his mouth. However, when he opened his eyes, he found her eyes clenched shut and tears streaming down her face. She pulled her head back from the kiss with a suckling pop as she let him go and quickly slid down his body as she sat on the base of his tail, her hands quickly groping his loins and stroking the near invisible opening of his genital slit.
"Come on, let it out..." she said, but as opposed to the lusty voice she had earlier in the day, this was a panicked, somber tone. As he looked at her face, he could see the tears still freely running down her beak, even as her loins left warm, wet traces along the base of his tail as she slowly scooted herself back and forth, trying to bring about his arousal.
"Hon, stop, what's going on?" he asked her outright. She glanced up at his face, more tears streaming down it before she returned to his loins, redoubling her efforts as she stroked and groped the insides of his thighs and rubbed the edge of his slit before she even brashly ran her tongue up it, making Sonny shiver.
"C-come on, just let it out..." she said, but her tone was downright pity invoking as she choked back sobs in her throat as more tears ran off her beak.
"Hon, stop this!" Sonny said, raising his voice as he reached a hand down to her, of which she pushed away.
"N-no! We have to or... or..." she couldn't hold back a sob as she still continued to grope him. Sonny finally had enough and growled as he grabbed her shoulders, suddenly flipping the two of them over and slamming Mrs. P's back onto the ground as he looked down over her. She almost had the wind knocked out of her, but she just remained still, staring up at him in shock as she had a moment of looking up into his big bright eyes backed by the lovely dimming sky.
"Stop it!" he yelled at her, stunning her further. "Now I don't know what is going on, but I think you better start explaining it right now!" he said, the lead up of events causing a tornado of emotions to race through his mind, culminating in frustration at the lack of answers he had. She continued to stare up at him, the shock of the moment having rattled her, but soon her expression softened as the tears returned to flowing as she averted her eyes from him and began to speak softly.
"We... we have to mate... before I stop loving you..." her tone was strained, but Sonny just grew more confused as he gently pulled back, releasing her shoulders and sitting on the ground at her feet.
"Stop loving me?" he said, completely lost. "Hon, what are you even talking about? What is this all about?" he asked, his tone more sympathetic as he pulled her hands into his own, gently squeezing them as he pulled her to sit up. She squeezed his hands in return, looking into his large eyes and trying not to break out into a full on bawling as she swallowed.
"Wh-when you and the kids went fishing, I... well... your tongue felt really good and I really couldn't stop thinking about it so I... was taking care of that." she said, some bashfulness and even a bit of a flirty tone coming back, but that quickly dropped. "I grabbed the books and decided to learn about some sexual things we could do as I pleased myself, but... when I went to wash myself off... There was blood, coming out of me." she said as Sonny squeezed her hands.
"Oh I knew it... I hurt you, didn't I?" he said, swallowing as he hoped he was wrong.
"No, no it's not something you did." she said, prompting him to look at her own eyes. "It's because I'm getting ready to lay an egg..." she said, which made Sonny blush darkly.
"Wait... You're gonna... and I... but we're not even the same-" his expression was starting at unbelieving and was starting to roll towards happy excitement before she pulled one of her hands away from his and placed a finger on his mouth to silence him from jumping to conclusions.
"The book said that when a Pteranodon loses her mate, she will look for a new one and court him very aggressively... Fighting with other females... Like Erma... Building nests for a potential mate... Soliciting physical contact and even performing a dance for his attentions..." he continued to watch her, unsure what she was getting at. "The book then said that, if a female Pteranodon is to the point she's dancing, she will lay an egg that is unfertile..." she swallowed as the tears came back. "And then... She... she..." she started to cry again and Sonny feared the worst, pulling her into a hug.
"No, no you won't die!" he shouted out as he grit his teeth. "We're in Troodon town, I can get you help!" he said. She pulled back and looked up at him in slight shock before she swallowed and shook her head.
"No, I'm not going to die, I..." she trailed off as a bit of relief crossed Sonny's face. Still, she was only delivering parts of what she wanted to tell him. He gently stroked her head and gave her a brief kiss on her cheek.
"Then I think you should hand me the book." he said. "Let me read the bad news it gave you." he said, taking a moment to rub a cheek of his with the back of his hand to clear a few tears from it. She nodded and pulled from him to grab the satchel, pulling out the book on Pteranodon before flipping through the pages; the image of the needed page burned into her mind as she handed it to Sonny and pointed at the section. He gently took the book from her and began reading, his eyes dancing over the words and his expression growing more concerned as he did so. He was muttering what he was reading and her eyes filled with tears as he got to what she was so worried about.
"At this point, her hormonal levels will generally level out and she will usually lose interest in her current target, though there is a high chance she may start the mate seeking process anew." He looked up from the book to see her crying hard. Sonny chewed his lip for a moment before he looked back into the book and turned the page. He blinked several times as he read what was on it before he looked up at his wife.
"Hon, did you stop at that point?" he asked. She wiped a few tears away and nodded.
"Yes, I was so disgusted and shocked I just closed the book and didn't want to look at it again." Sonny smiled and began reading from the book.
"While the mate seeking process being restarted can cause a troubling cycle for feral Pteranodon, civil Pteranodon generally find that if the male they were with was indeed supportive of her desires and truly caring, the romantic attachment they develop does not actually ebb and frequently results in extremely close life long pairings." Sonny looked up from the book with a bit of a smirk on his face and turned it around, showing her the passage on the next page as his wife's eyes grew wide as she read it, her beak dropping into a gape. "Sweetheart, if the day ever came where you stopped loving me, I would stop at nothing to win your affection back." he said, closing the book and tossing it aside. "I gave up everything I worked for to be with you and I'd not let anything stand in my way to re-win your heart back." he said as he grasped her hands in his own. Mrs. P's beak trembled before she once again lunged at him, though this time he caught her in his arms and hugged her tightly as she sobbed over his shoulder, venting out her earlier frustrations at the relief that she had worked herself up over nothing.
The two remained embracing as the sun continued to set; the orange glow changing into the dark, glittering sky of true night. Mrs. P normally would feel outright exhausted, even to the point of being grumpy, but in the warm arms of her husband, nothing could sour her mood. She cooed gently as he spent most of dusk gently giving her bandaged neck kisses and running his hands along her back. The peace was only disrupted as Sonny gently pulled her back.
"Hon, let me remove this bandage on your neck. I need to see how you're doing." he suggested. She looked up at his shining eyes, alight in the dimness of the night before she nodded and pulled away to turn her back to him. His hands worked very gently, undoing the shred of red cloth before he very slowly pulled it away from her neck. Mrs. P winced slightly but otherwise didn't move. As the cloth was pulled away, there were scabby stains of blood attached to it, and several scabbed and open holes on Mrs. P's neck, though none of them were flowing blood at the moment. The skin was moist and there were about five holes in total with a bruise in the middle. He rolled the cloth up and shoved it into a pocket in his vest before he removed the vest entirely, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her backwards into his lap. He didn't need to say anything; she could tell he was mournful. She didn't need to say anything; he knew she forgave him. She cooed again and gently leaned her head to the side, exposing her wounded neck to him, offering it once more. He gave her cheek a gentle kiss, then moved down, kissing her jaw before he moved to her neck and slowly stuck out his tongue before he gently ran it across several of the holes. She sucked in a brief breath, but she didn't pull away, and Sonny continued; lapping slowly at the holes and cleaning away the dried scabs and crusted blood before blowing on her skin to get it to dry. She squirmed at his attentions, but never pulled away as any wincing soon turned to cooing. When Sonny finished his grooming of her, he gave her a gentle kiss, prompting her to speak.
"That was wonderful..." she said softly as she looked back at him. He smiled and chuckled a little.
"Just an old troodon remedy; before we had the medicine we normally use now, this was the only thing we could do to clean wounds." he said as he gave her another brief peck of a kiss. "I'll get you some real medicine tomorrow." She cooed and leaned her back into his chest as his hands roamed over her chest and slowly moved down to her rounded tummy, gently stroking it in circles before he finally spoke. "So you're really going to lay an egg?" Mrs. P blinked a moment before she covered her beak, stifling a chuckle.
"Yes. I've only really experienced it a handful of times, but I'm fairly familiar with the signs, I just wasn't thinking about it, and bloodshed normally doesn't precede it. It was pretty weird the first time when Mr. P and I decided to make a family. We mated, then I grew hungry for fish and things I couldn't imagine eating otherwise while my belly grew out, then I laid the first egg." she said, giggling a little. "Did it twice more to have our sweet three kids, not counting when I found Buddy's egg and adopted him." she said as her hands rested over his own on her belly. "There were at least two other times I laid an infertile egg, namely where my husband and I had..." she looked up at Sonny, who was watching her but wore a face of a more somber tone, however she could also see a small twinkle in his eye of... Jealousy? A small smile crossed her beak as she wasn't sure why that made her feel happy, but she continued, albeit softening the words a bit. "... intimate encounters without trying to have more kids. Apparently my body liked it enough that I produced an egg and I suppose I thought that's all that was going on here until I read the book." she said as she followed the hands that were slowly stroking her belly.
"I'll be honest, I did get a little disappointed when you told me it wasn't because of me." he said, clearing his throat in embarrassment. "I mean, I know it's impossible for us to breed, but I was kinda hoping..." he said, trailing off, a touch of sadness in his voice. Mrs. P started to feel that sadness as well, knowing that, as perfect as he was, they would never create offspring between them. "Still, I have you, we still have the kids, and a family that I'd never part with." he said, giving her a small kiss, to which she smiled back at him, but as he looked into those blue eyes, he saw a familiar twinkle.
"Well, nothing saying we can't at least pretend we're making offspring." she said as her smile turned mischievous. Sonny swallowed a little as she turned in his grasp to face him, sliding her hands along his shoulders. "You still owe me that make up kiss." she said as she looked him in the eyes, making his form shudder with the sultry expression she had as she leaned in and whispered into his ear. "Fertilize my egg." she said in such a way that Sonny could feel the lust dripping off her words like a thick honey. She soon giggled in a playful manner as he flushed brightly before he gave her a playful shove as she collapsed onto her back, and just as soon as she did, he was on her.
Mrs. P moaned aloud as Sonny hungrily suckled at her neck, trailing long warm licks down across her chest and over her rounded belly. She never tired of how those warm lips and that tongue of his just set her insides on fire, no matter where they made contact. He lingered on her belly, his hands gently gripping the sides of it as he placed several kisses upon it before she shifted and lifted her legs up, grabbing her ankles.
"Come on... Kiss it and make it better..." she huffed, her mind hazy as she slingshot from sorrow to lust so quickly, making him chuckle a little.
"Hon, I thought I was the conductor here." he said, meeting her half lidded eyes. She looked back at him with an initial bit of a frown and caught him smiling a mischievous smile. "But if you need some work done on your tunnels, I think I can do that." he said as he placed a kiss below her belly, just above her inflamed loins. She groaned, though most of it was from his puns.
"Sonny, stop that..." she said in a soft tone. He responded by sliding his hand between her legs, using two fingers to part her folds.
"What's the matter, Hon? I though you were always fond of me being the one to punch your ticket." he said as he slipped the tip of a clawed finger gently into her moist insides. She grunted a moment as she clenched down on it before she groaned again, turning her head away.
"Now I'll never be able to think about riding the train the same way again..." she said in a lamenting tone as she released one leg so she could place her hand over her face.
"You say that, but you seemed more than willing to ride MY train." Mrs. P physically winced at that one, peeking from behind her hand to see him grinning earhole to earhole.
"Sonny!" she shouted, turning her face away from him in a blushing huff, yet she re-gripped her ankles as Sonny chuckled.
"Sorry Hon, I couldn't resist." he said as he pulled his finger out of her, a string of juices clinging to it a moment. "Lemme make it up to you." he said as he roamed his hands along her exposed loins. Her position lifted her rump off the ground and let him see her tail, of which he ran a hand along before he gently gripped it and gave the base a squeeze. Mrs. P shivered and her inflamed lips clenched at the sensation as the lewd memories of earlier ran through her mind, especially with his thumb so close to her anus. Her focus was shifted as she felt him outright kiss her lips and setting directly to work as he slowly lapped at the moist flesh, parting her lips with that warm tongue and instantly bringing a cascade of moans from her throat. She needed this, oh how badly she needed this. Every stroke of that warm tongue helped put out that blazing fire in her gut, but she nearly lost her vision again as she felt that warm tongue of his start pressing into her, twisting around before tugging back out. Her insides tried to squeeze onto his hot tongue, to keep it inside before it withdrew, only to press in again and twist around. Her toes clenched and her tail curled in his hand as she started to fold in on herself before she let out a deep, throaty groan of relief as she let out the breath she had been holding as her body vibrated in place as she felt a quick yet much needed climax race through her form as warm fluids washed from her insides and onto her husband's tongue. Her body tingled for a while and as she regained her senses, she could feel him still lapping at her lips, though more slowly than before. She looked down at him and he paused, lifting his head up as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. She was about to say something, but he spoke first.
"I could taste a fair bit of blood..." he said, rubbing the back of his head in an unsure manner. "Are you sure you want me to mate with you right now?" he asked, obviously unsure.
"Of course, Hon. I wouldn't have suggested it if I didn't want it." she said as Sonny took a moment to rub her belly.
"Well... all right, I trust you, but..." he smirked a little. "What did you read from the books that gave you the naughty ideas that you enjoyed when I wasn't there?" he asked, his hand still gripping the base of her tail. She blinked at him and flushed rather darkly before she swallowed; an expression Sonny found cute, even as she continued to hold her ankles.
"Ah, well... It was still mating, just..." she looked at him and rolled her hips. Sonny couldn't quite tell what she was saying until he found that her movements were pressing his thumb claw slightly in and out of her rump, the sensation coaxing her to quiver. "In a different hole..." Sonny blinked as he watched that snug hole nestled under the base of her tail gently part around his thumb claw as she continued to roll her hips. Mrs. P could have sworn that he blushed so hard that a drop of blood escaped his nose before he placed his free hand over his snout, seemingly in a shocked expression.
"A-anal mating?" he stammered out, swallowing. She nodded in return, bashful as well, but seeing him being just as, if not moreso, flustered by the suggestion calmed her down. He made no attempt to pull his hand away from her tail and actually grew a small smile. "It, uh... well... I know of it and, umm..." he coughed. "I'm not opposed to it, but we don't have any real lubricant... I'd have to, uhh, get some..." he said, though Mrs. P smiled.
"Well, the book said you could mate me normally to... get wet, then switch where you stick it." she said, swallowing herself, though she wasn't sure if she was nervous or excited at the prospect. Sonny chewed his lip a moment before he grew a smirk, still blushing as he leaned in and gave her neck a small kiss.
"Oh how could I resist? I have always admired this cute butt of yours..." he said, prompting her to laugh as he chuckled. She let go of her ankles and was about to sit forward, but Sonny kept a grip of her tail. She looked at him for a moment before he smiled and dove his head back down between her legs. Her eyes shot wide as she suddenly felt that warm tongue run from the base of her tail to right along that tight naughty place. This was so wrong, but perhaps that was what made her love it as she felt her husband beginning to lap slowly at that muscular ring, feeling his tongue gently move in circles.
Sonny had once again been stunned by what his wife wanted to do, but he was far from opposing this. He'd seen his fair share of butts working the train, something most folks weren't bashful about being seen, though there was something special about the rump of Mrs. P, possibly due to how her tail normally kept hers hidden. He wasn't leery about licking her here, as he could smell that she'd cleaned herself off, but also the thrill of the moment coaxed him onwards without much hesitation. His nose was brushing against her lips, filling his head with the spice of her arousal as he licked slowly at her, feeling how she'd clench and then relax, the ring going from super tight to incredibly soft. He heard her let out soft groans, but only when she sucked in a deep breath and released it into a sigh did he let up, a string of her juices attached to his snout for a moment before it broke and he smiled at her.
"A little bit of... lubrication and a soft massage there can't go wrong, right?" he suggested. Mrs. P smiled at him, licking the edges of her beak as she ran a hand down her body before using two fingers to pull her drenched, swollen folds apart.
"Now your turn..." she said in a breathy, needy tone as her eyes fluttered. Sonny swallowed, his shaft having erected long before this moment, but he didn't approach her, instead looking away. "Sonny? What's wrong?" she asked, the longing in her voice turning to concern.
"It's just... I don't want to hurt you again..." he said as he closed his eyes. He felt Mrs. P's hands on either side of his face and cracked them open to see her deep blue eyes looking right back into his own eyes.
"You won't. I'll make sure of it." she said before she suddenly shoved Sonny back, making him lose his balance and fall on his back. He rotated his hips so his tail was laying between his legs while his shaft was pointing proudly over his stomach. Mrs. P was soon standing over him, a leg on either side of his torso. She smiled down at him before she reached down and grasped his shaft in one hand. "You just lay there... I'll show you what I can take." she said, her tone low and commanding, though neither one of them was completely sure how much of that was her lust talking. Sonny looked up at her, then down to her hand that was gently squeezing his length just behind the head, prompting it to ooze clear fluid before he watched her aim it between her sexy legs and rub the head between those soft lips, smearing her fluids onto it before she started to sit down, popping the head into her and wasting little time easing more and more of his length into her body. She placed her hands on his chest as she cooed out softly as her lips spread along his length, her soft insides giving away, yet hugging him firmly all the same. They soon felt her bottom out with a couple inches left to go, a soft squawk leaving her beak as she winced. She then pulled back up, releasing half of what she had in her, before pressing down again and slowly starting to mate him properly as she rolled her hips in a hypnotic fashion, her voice soon becoming raspy squawking as she arched her back at the filling sensation as every movement stopped short of that thumping threshold. She might have kept going if Sonny didn't outright moan up at her as she worked wonders on his sensitive, hot length. She took a moment to look at his face in the dim light, showing an incredibly vulnerable expression as he held his hands at his chest before he finally reached over to her, gently feeling her legs up to her hips, taking a brief pathway to stroke her wings before she moved her hands and gently stopped him by grabbing his wrists. He looked somewhat disappointed as she quit her rhythmic movements and instead, slowly stood up, freeing his length that was now drenched in a slick, shining coat of juices. She looked down at it, a tremble running through her at how outright delicious he looked with that pitiful wanting expression and that throbbing, moist length. Still, she had needs and after freeing his hands, she turned around, lifting up her tail to expose that snug pucker to him that still glistened with his saliva and her own overflowing fluids. "You ready to give this a try?" she asked.
"Only if you are..." Sonny replied as his hands went to her hips, squeezing them and rubbing his thumbs along her buns before he saw her hand reach down, grabbing his shaft and bringing the tip to press against that snug opening.
"In me... I need it in me..." she breathed out. Sonny couldn't see her head, but she sounded incredibly embarrassed. He smiled and kept a hand on her hip as she pressed back down, but the slick head of his shaft slipped off of her pucker. She stood up and tried again to squat down onto it, but it slipped once more before Sonny spoke.
"I'll hold it, you just try to relax." he said, clearly feeling how tense that ring was. He saw her head shake with a nod before he grasped the base of his length, holding it up for her as she pressed back against the tip. They continued to put pressure on each other, only little movements between them. It wasn't until Mrs. P took a deep breath and sighed did a change occur as that ring let up on it's tension and before either one of them were quite aware of it, the head of his shaft slipped into her with a moist squish. Mrs. P didn't notice it quite at first, just that slight burning warmth sensation. Sonny on the other hand, felt a snugness on the end of his shaft that cried out for him to get deeper into and, on reflex, he tugged on her hip. She didn't resist, but at that point, she certainly felt it as several hot, throbbing inches drove up into her bowels. It felt so weird! So different from mating. This strange, dull sensation of fullness, yet she enjoyed it outside the initial burning. She looked back over her shoulder as she saw Sonny staring at the sight with wide eyes.
"You did say you liked my cute butt." she said, making Sonny look up at her face and give a sheepish smile.
"Y-yeah I did... and boy do I... So snug but... so soft..." he said as his wife gently moved her hips side to side and continued to press down, slowly taking more and more of that throbbing length into her before they felt something they didn't expect; her rump sitting flush in Sonny's lap.
She'd taken all of him.
She had to take a moment to look down under her, still feeling that full, dull, nice feeling inside of her, but she had no idea that she would fit all of him in her, much less so easily. Sonny's hands went to her hips, keeping her still for the moment as his shaft gave a firm throb inside of her and a spurt of warm fluids.
"Oh w-wow... Are you all right, Hon?" he asked her as he squeezed and rubbed her hips, as if she needed to be calmed down, but a glance over her shoulder showed him a smile that was anything but uncomfortable.
"Oh I'm wonderful... More... lets do it..." she coaxed, still a bit bashful about something so naughty. Sonny started by guiding her gently off of his length, watching as he slipped free of her grasp before she slowly sat back down, only to raise up then slide back down again, only sliding about half of his length in and out of her, but that was more than enough for both of them to start to groan. Soon enough, her tight ring had softened and the two had raised the pace, firmly pumping against each other and making firm slaps of her rump into his lap. Sonny could feel his climax fast approaching and wanted to stave it off as he sat up, hugging her from behind. She leaned back against his chest as he took over, slowly rolling up into her as he looked down over her shoulder at her body, seeing her twitching frame and her sopping lips, drooling a river down her loins and even across his own.
"I'm so close..." he warned her as he gave the non injured side of her neck a kiss. She responded by wrapping a hand around his head, holding him there before she gave him a single command.
"Harder..." she said. He decided to follow her command and started to give her short, punching thrusts that slapped up into her, bouncing her frame. "Harder." she groaned out, her body quivering as he continued to obey her requests, now starting to thrust up into her with quicker thrusts, hardly removing any of his length as the sounds between them grew louder. "Harder!" she half snarled. Sonny put his all into his movements, thrusting up into her as hard as he could as he grit his teeth, focusing on staving off his climax and the effort of his movements. Every thrust removed little more than a single inch of his length before it slapped back into her, her plump, sopping lips drooling onto his tail base and making strings that never got the chance to break as he kept pressing right back into her.
Mrs. P squawked as he pounded her rump relentlessly. She was so close to such a delicious climax, his moving through her bowels warming her up in an intense way, but it wasn't tipping her over the edge. She glanced to the side to see his eyes shut and his teeth clenched as he kept his hands around her belly. She knew what would send her over and grabbed one of his wrists, sliding his hand down to her sopping lips and without any instruction, he firmly slipped two digits into her. Her breath caught in her throat at how sensitive that felt, but also now, she could feel every thrust vibrate through her loins as his shaft brushed against his fingers between her walls. Her mouth opened in a silent shriek and her voice caught in her throat as instead, her loins made all the noise as there was a sudden loud splattering splashing as her lips began to fountain out a large flow of her juices around his delightfully intruding fingers as she trembled in his grasp. Her feet lifted off the ground as her legs curled and toes clenched, and for a few moments, he was holding her off the ground with just the force of his thrusts and the hand half buried in her lips. Not long after her splattering flow and deep internal clenching did Sonny finally cave, letting out a rather innocent warbling moan as his hips soon gave several irregular thrusts before he stopped moving, just panting as he shivered and that wonderful length gave pleasing, deep throbs inside of her. The sensation of his warm goo splurting out into her bowels was incredibly odd, but it only added to the pleasure of the moment as he held tightly onto her, not letting go as the stunned silent wife in his hands continued to cup his face, both unable to talk for the moment but not regretting what they did.
Night had fully set in, the sky outright alight with the stars. Sonny stood hip deep in the water of the lake next to the embankment as the events that happened just a few minutes ago ran through his mind; His wife thinking she'd try to leave him, then suddenly turning around and having taboo mating. It was another sudden, spur of the moment encounter, but he couldn't deny that it was quite the enjoyable way to end a problem. He recalled how after they had caught their breaths and shared several kisses, he started to soften up and both of them wanted to wash up right away; the act and "place he had been" was not meant for that, as fun as it was. He was also familiar with why the washing needed to be done. He looked up and since Mrs. P's lust was sated for the moment, she was out farther in the lake as she cleaned herself, possibly a bit embarrassed from how part of her cleanup involved a rather embarrassing leaking. Sonny watched her, nearly up to her shoulders in the water, rubbing her body down and slowly slipping her hands back under that water. She looked so elegant as the moonlight reflected off of her wet body and he was thankful to have such a beautiful wife. He watched as she cupped water in her hands and poured it over her neck and his mind went to how he wanted to get some medicine to help that wound heal up properly, a hand of his own rubbing one of his thigh wounds that could technically use some of the same medicine, though he had just put up with the aching the wounds gave him. His mind was snapped out of his daze as Mrs. P suddenly flapped her wings and took off from the lake, flying herself over to the embankment and landing atop it, looking down at Sonny.
"You ready to come back out, Hon?" she asked, though as Sonny looked up at her, the reflection of her wet body in the moonlight accented her figure and he was rendered speechless. Eventually she giggled, but then she cleared her throat. "Hon?" Sonny blinked and shook his head.
"Oh! Sorry. Just, uh, admiring the view." he said. She still smiled at him before she grabbed the embankment with her hands, reaching down with her feet. Sonny reached up and grabbed her ankles as her feet grabbed his wrists as she assisted in pulling him up the steep embankment.
The two dripped dry as they walked together, simply enjoying their time in silence until they were once again in the clearing. Sonny looked at his vest and the satchel and two books laying on the ground and frowned slightly as he grabbed his vest and put it on without buttoning it before he grabbed the books.
"I don't think the knowledge you learned in these books was worth the heartache you suffered." he said as he placed the books back into the satchel and picked it up, but he soon felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Hon, I'm sorry I worried you." she said, making Sonny look back at her, seeing her looking away from him, quite ashamed. He turned to face her and pulled her into a one armed hug, of which she returned.
"You're not to blame, Sweetheart... You're basically going though an estrus, so it's only natural that you're strung out a bit and... well... emotional." he said, though as he pulled back from the hug, she was looking back up at him with a frown.
"Emotional?" she said, somewhat insulted. Sonny swallowed as a faint memory of someone saying something similar to his mother came up before she began quite the yelling.
"I... er... I mean that you... uh..." he sputtered before he tugged at his collar and smiled sheepishly. She continued to frown at him before her cool hands grabbed his cheeks and pulled his head down to her own, making him look her in the eyes. He swallowed again before she too smiled.
"You're right. I have been strung out and emotional..." she said, softening her expression as she stroked his cheek. "But I've had good reasons outside of my condition; I did just move my family, regain my lost son, and gained a new husband after my previous one died a cruel death. I think I'm allowed a bit of emotional turmoil." she said. Sonny's expression relaxed but grew a bit sorrowful before he placed a kiss on her beak, just under her eyes.
"You're right, it's been no picnic for any of us really... Buddy especially..." he said, trailing off as he thought on how that little rex was forced to go through years of maturity in around a month's time. Mrs. P shared that same expression before she sighed.
"Look... You'll have to give him time. Don is pretty willing to adapt to change while Shiny and Tiny often go looking for it, but Buddy... He seems to accept change at first, but he really spends a long time thinking about it and can be bothered by it more than anyone else." she said softly. Sonny smiled at her explanation and nodded.
"I'd have to agree with you. He doesn't see things the same way as the other youngsters. He explained that to me while we were fishing today." he said, giving his wife a more knowing smile. "He explained why he had such a hard time seeing me as a new father, but... now he's okay with it." Mrs. P blinked as she looked at Sonny.
"You mean he...?" she trailed off before Sonny nodded.
"Yes, he accepted me after he could explain what he was feeling." Her eyes started to glisten with tears before she leaned in and hugged him tightly, a gesture that he returned as he bowed his head.
"Oh I'm so glad..." she said as she tried not to burst into tears for a few moments before she sniffed and chuckled lightly. "Oh, look at me, just an emotional mess..." she said, trying to wipe her eyes clear as they parted from the hug. Sonny just reached an arm behind her and began leading them back to the nest.
"I think that's something worthy of being emotional over." he said as he blinked and a few tears were freed from his eyes.
The nesting ground was met with soft rays of light coming through the canopy, warming the area. Don slept in a hole while Buddy and Tiny were paired off in one corner, as was Shiny and Gilbert, while Mrs. P and Sonny resided in the main nest amidst the center of the whole grounds. Everyone was more than happy to sleep in; Don having inherited his father's tendency to oversleep while the other Pteranodon were content remaining close to their self regulating thermal partners.
No one was in a hurry to wake up.
That is, until a faint shaking of the ground was felt. Sonny was the first to wake up, closely followed by Gilbert, then Buddy, which in turn woke their partners as the theropods looked around as the faint tremors grew stronger. They couldn't hear it but they could feel it. With the unsaid fear of an approaching predator, no one made a sound. After all, they would be forced to fall into the lake if they were too big.
Everyone clung to their partners as the bushes obscuring the walkway suddenly shook and a figure popped out of them with a shrill noise.
"BLUUUUUOOH! Morning everyone!" Mrs. C bellowed, making the entire family shriek and jump up. All except Don, who only sat up and rubbed his eyes before waving at her.
"Good Morning Mirs. Grandma the Conductor!" he said before he yawned and rubbed his eyes again. The rest of the family sighed before Sonny spoke up.
"Mother! We were sleeping!" he said, still clutching Mrs. P to his chest.
"I can't help it, you know Troodon are stealthy." she quipped with a smirk. Sonny rubbed his head while the youngsters laughed, as did Mrs. P. "Laura and I came by to bring you your stuff." she said, prompting Sonny to reply.
"Wait, Laura is here?" he asked before they could all hear the cheerful voice speaking beyond the bushes.
"Hello Sonny. Hello Pteranodon family!" spoke the unseen guest. "I'd come see you but the pathway is too narrow and I'd fall in the lake and I'm sure Sonny wouldn't want his things to get wet." at that, Sonny jumped up, startling Mrs. P for a moment as he rushed past his mother, as if he was worried something was going to indeed spill into the lake. This made everyone else at the nest laugh at his reaction before they all got up and walked past the bush line to see the Giganotosaurus with the eye patch standing in the clearing with several cases of items around her feet and something much smaller in her hands.
"Hello Laura!" the youngsters chimed together. Mrs. P watched Sonny go over to the luggage at her feet and checked it over before he went back to his mother to discuss something. However, Mrs. P's attention was captured by Laura as she spoke.
"Misses Pteranodon, as I promised, I finished the portrait I began yesterday. Because it's so special, I had a bit of help from Sonny's mother and even got it framed." she said as she stepped closer to Mrs. P and handed the framed painting to her. Mrs. P swallowed but smiled as she gently took it from her hands and turned it around to look at it. She was silent as she saw every detail of how the scene was presented; seeing how Shiny and Don were hugging their mother as she had an arm behind each of them, while Sonny stood, tears running down his face while he held Tiny in one arm and Buddy in the other, the image back dropped by the rocket train. Mrs. P smiled as her eyes welled up, carefully rubbing her cheek with the back of her hand.
"It's beautiful..." she said, making Laura smile. Mrs. P soon felt two warm hands on her back as her husband looked over her shoulder before smiling as well, but then he blinked and looked closer at the image.
"Laura? You didn't add anything to this image, did you?" Sonny asked, rather puzzled by something.
"Oh no, of course not. I only drew what was there. Why?" she asked, just as confused as Mrs. P. Sonny gently tilted the image and pointed to the window of the car they had stepped out of.
"Thurston?" Sonny said. Mrs. P saw it and sure enough, it was the face of Thurston in the image. Mrs. P grew worried that Thurston being there would sour an otherwise incredible image, but Sonny wasn't mad and in fact, she could see him tearing up. "Well, I never..." he said, getting choked up as he wiped his cheek and smiled. Mrs. P looked closer and could see that Thurston was smiling, had removed his hat, had teary eyes, and was... giving a thumbs up? Sonny's hands on Mrs. P slid around her and hugged her fully from behind. "That stupid... silly... He really does care..." It was Mrs. P's turn to smile before Sonny jumped briefly as his mother touched his back.
"He would never admit it, of course, but he already is at the point that he has no idea what to do. Since he no longer has you as a work rival, he spent most of that day just doing routine work instead of his usual bragging." she said, smirking. Sonny chuckled and looked up at Laura.
"Thank you, Laura. It's perfect." he said as the large dinosaur gently bowed her head.
"I best get back to the station. I can still do work in the roundhouse." she said as she turned and began walking away. "Good bye, Pteranodon family!" All the youngsters and adults waved at her.
"Bye, Laura!" the family said. Mrs. C was the next to speak.
"I've got plenty of my own work to check up on. I'm sure you can handle things from here, but give me a shout if you need anything." she said. Sonny let go of Mrs. P to give his mother a hug, of which she returned before they parted as they waved at each other and she walked away. "Take care!" she shouted.
"Bye, Misses Conductor!" all the youngsters chimed.
As Mrs. C walked out of sight, Sonny looked at the luggage and thought for a moment as there were at least seven fairly large suitcases. He was about to say something to the youngsters when Mrs. P grabbed his arm and hissed into his earhole.
"We need to go..." Sonny was utterly confused as he turned to look at her, but saw her eyes had dilated and she had a glassy, distant expression.
"Hon... what's wrong? Go where?" he asked softly, keeping his voice low. She shivered in place as a rather intense ripple ran through her body, the framed image slipping from her hand and only being caught by Sonny grabbing for it swiftly. Now Sonny was very worried.
"It's time... I need you with me... but not around the kids." she said, urgency growing in her tone. He looked at the youngsters, who were talking among each other and guessing what was in the cases, then back at his wife. He wanted to know what was going on, but another shudder ran along her form, then there was a wet sound as a sputtering of fluids escaped her loins, dribbling on the ground. Her expression had returned to the glassy state, staring at nothing before she blinked and looked at him, still frozen and looking back at her. She answered him by taking his hand and placing it on her stomach, at which point he could feel it rhythmically flexing; she was going to lay the egg. Sonny's eyes grew wide for a moment, but he knew she wanted it to be kept a secret from the youngsters and thought quickly.
"Hey kids, why don't you take my luggage back to the nest and open it up, but be sure not to break anything." he said, as he handed the framed picture to Buddy as the other youngsters gave an agreeable response, though he didn't fully listen to it as his attention was focused on his wife. "We'll be right back, we are just gonna... uh... discuss how to decorate the nest." he said as he gave her shoulders a push, snapping her out of another glassy eyed state, at which point she turned and began running with him deeper into the forest.
The youngsters watched as the parental figures left them in quite a hurry, though Buddy and Gilbert could smell the faint traces of blood that was mixed with Mrs. P's discharge, and it unnerved them, but they refused to speak about it, only giving each other a brief knowing look before they returned to the luggage. They decided to cart them one by one, several of them were rather light, while only one or two were somewhat heavy, requiring all of them to move it, but eventually they got all of the luggage into the nesting area, albeit scattered. It took them a moment of fumbling with the latches before they managed to open them; Don had opened a case containing a plethora of hats that Sonny wore. Buddy had set the picture he was carrying in the primary nest, taking a moment to admire the family image that he was apart of, but his attention was quickly pulled to look into the suitcase of hats, a little worried that the hat he was given was simply one of many. However, he found that the engravings of the badge were different for each hat, each sporting a different year Sonny was working as conductor. Eventually, as he looked through them, he found a rather ragged hat. Looking at it, he noticed the date was the most recent of the hats and that it had to have been the one Sonny kept with him when the asteroid struck. Now curious, Buddy retrieved the hat his new father had given him and looked at the badge and was stunned at the date.
It was the earliest. His first engraved conducting hat. Buddy gently hugged it as he knew what it really meant when he saw Sonny toss it to the ground; how he was really giving up everything since the day he got that hat, to now, just to be with his family. Moreso, he knew what it meant when he gave it to Buddy; A new beginning, a fresh start. He smiled as a few tears escaped his eyes as he realized how much Sonny really did love him. A touch on his shoulder broke him out of his thoughts as he saw Tiny looking at him, smiling at him.
"He always liked you... but now he can love you." Tiny said, in her own philosophical way. Buddy smiled at her and nodded.
"You're right, Tiny. Thank you." he said as he hugged her before Gilbert made an exclamation.
"Wow, look at all these..." he said as he and Shiny opened another case. Inside were a plethora of vests, though once again, there was a very ragged one from the time he spent stranded. Buddy came over and looked them all over, but under the ragged vest was something hard. Moving the vest aside, he saw it was covering something he didn't quite expect to see.
"Wow... I didn't know Dad had one of these..." Buddy said as he pulled the object out of the case. Everyone watched him as he messed with it, turning a few knobs before plucking a string on it.
"What are you gonna do with it?" Shiny asked. Buddy never looked away from the object.
"... I'm going to remember." he said, before he began playing the guitar.
Mrs. P and Sonny had run through a fair bit of the forest before she suddenly froze in her tracks, picking a small clearing littered with sticks. Sonny stopped, hot on her heels before he spoke.
"What do we do? What do I do?!" he asked in a panicked state. Mrs. P began walking around the clearing, moving the sticks aside with her feet in a practiced manner as she cleared a circle amidst them.
"Keep me safe. Be here for me." she said in a tone that was hardly above a whisper. She continued to walk in circles in the little clearing she had made, then suddenly, she stopped. She immediately squatted down with her hands to the ground and froze in a stance not unlike a frog as her eyes dilated once more and her tail went straight as she grew as stiff as a statue. Sonny slowly walked around her, his nerves of the situation killing him; he'd not been around a female who was laying. Any situation that he had been in where a mother had started to ovulate, he often called for assistance and another female would take over, often his mother, while he would give them privacy, but this was his wife and her request was for him to be here for her. Even if the egg was infertile, her body would still proceed through the requirements of releasing it. It was all perfectly natural.
That fact didn't stop Sonny from being scared out of his mind as she entered the trance-like state. He'd heard something about it; that a female's higher brain functions stop for a moment until she concludes laying the egg, falling back on countless generations of knowledge to make her body do what needed to be done.
He eventually crouched low next to her side. He gently stroked her cheek, but he got no reaction. The cold, sterile stare she was giving brought to mind the worries she had, but now he was sharing them. Even if the book said otherwise, it was no guarantee that things would return to how they were. Would she stop loving him? Was it all just wild reflex and hormones that orchestrated all of this between them? He reached under her and placed his hand on her rounded belly and could feel those rhythmic contractions once more. Her breathing was deep and slow, and with the sound of a wet splatter on the soil, he felt her stomach shift, the bulge starting to move slightly in time with her movements. Even if he hadn't been around an ovulating female, he knew it wouldn't be long now. Still, his fears were getting to him and he grew worried as his hand ran down her right arm and to her wrist.
"I don't know if you can hear me, but... I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the loss of your previous life. I'm sorry for every change that has been forced upon you by the cruel strings of fate." he started softly, though his resolve hardened along with his expression as he started to see the eggshell beginning to emerge from her body. "But I'm not sorry for anything I've done. I don't regret my time with you, my time with your family. I don't regret giving up my job, my life, to make your life a better one." her body shivered and her right hand slightly lifted off the ground. He took that moment to slip his own right hand from her wrist to her palm and grip it tightly. He smiled as a few tears welled up in his eyes. "And most of all, I don't regret telling you that I love you, nor proving to you just how much you mean to me... I'd do it all again if I had to." he said as he let a few stressed out tears leave his eyes. There was a sudden sound in the soil as the egg fully slipped free of her body, followed by a bit more liquid. He then felt her hand tightening around his own and looked into her face; her eyes blinking closed very slowly before opening again as she slowly turned her face to look at him.
"Sonny..." she said in a soft monotone. He swallowed as he continued looking into her big blue eyes, holding her hand. She slowly blinked her eyes closed and opened them again as she lifted her left hand, gently touching his cheek, making him suck in a breath. Her eyes welled with tears the longer she looked at him before she let go of his hand, then lunged at his chest, wrapping her arms around him as she leaned her head over his shoulder as she began to cry. "I could never leave you... I love you too." Sonny gently wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly as he sniffed, smiling back at her, before he actually lifted her up off the ground. She clung to him with her legs, not wanting to let go. He gently stroked her back with his palms as he glanced over at the egg she had laid; discolored and stained with streaks of red, it was very clearly infertile and if anything, borderline rotten. Despite his joy of his wife still caring for him, he had a moment of bitterness held at the egg that nearly drove her mad. He kicked the dirt, watching it hit the egg before he turned around and began walking back home with his wife, leaving it to rot alone.
The egg wasn't worth their time, their family was so much more important.
The walk was mostly quiet, punctuated with the sniffling and weeping of his wife as she clung tightly to him. He smiled as he continued to stroke her back as her tears slowly ebbed, though he soon found that the walk back was going to be a while longer than the frantic run they made to the small clearing. Sonny was okay with that as it gave him a bit more time in seclusion with his wife as he gently stroked the skin of her back. She eventually grew quiet, but her grip didn't let up, at least, not until they grew closer to the nesting grounds. Sonny perked his head up as he could hear something; the strings of a guitar, or rather, the strings of his guitar. The melody was slow and the plucking of the strings wasn't perfect, but still talented. Mrs. P, however, let go of her husband. He gently set her down as she turned to face the sound, clutching her hands at her chest.
"No... No it can't be him..." she said softly as she began walking towards the sound, before her walking grew into a run. She would never forget that melody; the soft plucking of the strings, the tune that was in equal parts beautiful and sad, she only heard the tune once before, but the impact it had upon her changed her life. She could vaguely hear the footfalls of Sonny behind her as she ran towards the sound, pushing past bushes and hopping over sticks and branches before she burst through the brush line into the nesting grounds. She saw the youngsters sitting in a circle, all watching Buddy, all by himself, slowly strumming a guitar. Even through her foggy eyes, she could tell that they were all gently weeping and clinging to each other as the song continued. She could faintly tell that Sonny had joined her, but she didn't react to that at the moment. She, instead, was focused on watching Buddy, eyes gently dripping tears, gradually slowing down as the song slowly concluded before stopping fully with a final strum. He looked up from the guitar slowly and locked his eyes with his own weeping mother, and for a moment, her breath caught in her throat as she could see the same loving expression she saw in her dream. She slowly walked past the other youngsters as Buddy set the guitar down before she gently picked him up and hugged him to her chest. "He does... he DOES live on in you..." she sucked in a shaky breath as she kept Buddy close to her heart, the young Rex hugging her in return, sniffling before he spoke.
"I asked Dad to play that song every night... I guess I was hoping you would hear it some day..." he said, trying to keep his composure but failing miserably. "B-but, instead, he taught it to me a-and now... you did get to hear it." he said as he pulled his head back and smiled at her, even as tears ran down his face. Mrs. P just smiled wider at how proud Buddy was. A hand reached past Mrs. P's shoulder and gently stroked Buddy's head.
"That's a very special song..." Sonny said, smiling back at the youngster. "I'm so glad he taught it to you. Do you think you could play it again for your mother and I?" he asked. Buddy nodded rather eagerly before his mother sat him down and he returned to the guitar, Tiny choosing to move next to him as Sonny and Mrs. P sat in the nest to watch him.
He then began to play.
As the slow, beautiful, and sorrowful tune rang out, Sonny held his wife close, opening one of the cases in the nest and pulling out a salve that he proceeded to start to rub on his wife's neck wounds. She twitched as it tingled before numbing, coaxing her to coo and lean against him. Shiny and Gilbert clung to each other, while Tiny leaned against Buddy's shoulder and Don closed his eyes, bobbing his head to the tune. Sonny spoke softly as the tune played.
"It's a soft tune, one of beauty and sadness. It captures how beautiful friendship and loving can be, yet how frail and broken one can be when it is lost. Yet, it's not a song meant to be sad for the sake of being sad, it's sad because we miss those days and loved ones that have passed and are no longer with us." he said, rubbing a tear from his eye as Buddy beautifully continued strumming. "This song meant to help us remember them." The rest of the performance was uninterrupted, though during the latter half of it, Tiny began whistling in a slow, soft manner along with Buddy's playing, making the youngster smile at her as it turned into a duet before it slowly closed, prompting everyone to begin clapping.
Yes, just as days begin and end, so too does life, songs, and stories. The lives of the Pteranodon family were forever changed, and for a time, darkness had claimed them, but the will to survive was strong and each one of them fought the best way they knew how to see a new day, one that was not covered in the shroud of misery.
What became of the new Pteranodon family?
That is a story for another time.
End.