Gift Giving

The Christmas season was here, and it was the season of giving- even for dinosaurs. All across the island dinosaurs were surprising their friends and family with heartfelt gifts, ranging from scavenged human resources to their favorite food and even pretty flowers. 

However, Sirius had a bit of a problem. Every year while he was growing up with just his father, Comet had done his best to present his son with a gift around this time of year. From rare snacks to interesting items, Sirius had been spoiled as a child. And now, as an adult with his own children, he understood the pain that Comet had gone through better. Truely, Comet had been a great father. There was just one problem- Sirius had forgotten to get his own father a gift this year. 

“Agh.” Sirius threw himself onto the cave floor with a groan, avoiding the judgemental looks from Nebula and Orion. “How could I forget to get my own father a gift this year?”

Nebula snickered from the side, nudging at Sirius with good cheer that was not appreciated. “I don’t know, dad. It's pretty funny that you didn’t even think of getting your own father a gift while both me and Orion got you one.” Nebula nodded towards the entrance, where a few choice cuts of meat had been dropped off- which was what had sparked this whole conversation in the first place. “What kind of son are you?”

Orion let out a low hiss from the side of the cave, stepping forward and knocking Nebula aside with his muzzle. “Hey, stop that. You know it’s been a hard year.” He scolded, nudging Nebula again until she hissed and nipped his crest. Sirius sighed on the ground, waving his tail around in order to get their attention and stop the bickering.

“Enough. Think you two can help me find a gift for your grand father? Im not going to regift him with what you brought me, so don’t even suggest it.” Sirius huffed, dragging himself off the floor. “I need something good for him.”

“What, is our presence not good enough?” Nebula put on a fax offended face, quickly dropping it when Sirius turned around to snort at her. “Yeah, fine, fine. Lets go.” 

Orion huffed, brushing past Nebula to be the first one out of the den. Sirius sighed. Children.

The first place the trio skulked around was the forest. However, even with the fresh coating of snow covering the ground, it was still just that- the forest. Food was hard to come across especially now, and even after an hour of searching the only luck they had was Orion catching a small rodent half frozen in the dirt. “Maybe we’ll have more luck somewhere else…” Orion grumbled, guiltily looking at the sad excuse for a gift. 

Sirius sighed, shaking himself out before allowing himself a moment to think. “Maybe we can check out the human den…” he mused to himself, eyeing the snowy forest around them. “There’s bound to be more interesting things there, and it's more likely that other creatures are taking shelter there anyways.” 

“That's a much better idea!” Nebula barked. “Who cares about food- we have plenty of it already, we’re great hunters!” The pale female licked her claws to show off, hissing at Orion as he rolled his eyes and snorted loudly. 

Sirius sighed, but allowed his adult children to lead the way to the human den. Out of all of the three Orion had spent the most time among the stone buildings, and likely knew the best places to explore. Personally, the daunting stone walls of the den had always freaked him out, with Sirius only venturing around the outskirts of the “city”, as he had heard others call it. But his children were right at home, slipping between buildings and crawling into dumpsters to root around in them.

It was Orion who found something interesting first. “Hey, check this out!” He huffed, pointing at a tall window of what looked like broken ice. “Some kind of human den! They usually have fun stuff in these places.” His tail swished forward happily as he pushed in, Nebula not far  behind. Sirius sighed and followed them in.

The inside of the den was incredibly creepy, cast in shadow with many dangerously sharp piles of broken wood. Sirius couldn’t help but step carefully through the den, trying to avoid any sharp bits. Already Nebula and Orion were spread out around the store, poking about in slanted holes in the wall that had various items. Sirius had a sneaking suspicion that his children were more here to find their own little trinkets than anything. Sighing, he shoved his own nose into one of the shelves. Better not waste anymore time.

The first shelf he poked his nose into was full of small, soft shapes. Gently grabbing one in his mouth, Sirius flinched as it came apart in his mouth and filled it with something soft and fluffy. Hacking and coughing he spat it up, hissing in disgust.

“Oh yeah, avoid those.” Orion chirped up, suddenly appearing to nudge his father over to another shelf. “Try this one! The things here are less… breakable.”

Sighing again, Sirius observed the items. Most were papery and far too small for him to even consider picking up, however a rolling sound caught his attention. Checking a lower shelf, he quickly spotted the object of his attention- some kind of vaguely spherical object, covered in ropes. It seemed to be in fairly good condition compared to most things in the den, likely because of how far back it was. Carefully, Sirius picked it up in his claws. “Hey kids, what is this?”

Nebula appeared from somewhere, multiple human decorations draped over her back and crest. “Oh! That’s some kind of chew toy. Not sure for what, but they are pretty durable- even for us. Gramps may like it.” 

Orion pushed Nebula out of the way, giving his own nod of approval. “Good choice! I think he will.” Nebula pushed back against him, snarling, and Sirius quickly took the opportunity to sneak out. This was something he would prefer to do alone.

It did not take long to arrive at Comets den- it was a path Sirius had walked a hundred times already, running up it multiple times throughout his childhood. And despite his age, Comet was as sharp as ever- the black cryolophosaurus had already poked his nose out of the den by the time Sirius made it to the entrance, a pleased look on his face. “Sirius! You’ve visited. I’ve been wondering if you were going to drop by.”

Sirius looked away a bit awkwardly before clearing his throat. “Well, yes. Sorry it took so long… here.” He quickly dropped the chew toy on the ground, before backing up. “I know you said I didn’t have to get you anything, but. I wanted you. You've been such a good dad to me, and I just wanted to pay you back, yaknow?” Sirius trailed off, hanging his head a bit.

“Son…” Comet stepped forward, gently grabbing the toy in his own claws. “If you really wanna thank me… come inside. Come spend time with your old father. You know what they say- spending time in the present is the best present.” Comet smiled, nuzzling against Sirius’s nose like he did when he was a hatchling. “Sounds good?”

“Ok.” Sirius smiled softly, stepping after his father into the den. They could get maybe an hour in of peace before Nebula and Orion caught up, and he planned to make the most of it.