[Courtship] Sea of Stars

There was never a better day than when the sun was shining and the breeze was blowing sea-cooled air off the waves towards the shore. Seagulls calling as they took wing and soared through the air, disappearing from view. Except when the seasons turned and the days shortened, this was every day on the stretch of coast that Fable and Salmon called home. The sun reflected dazzlingly off the water, making the waves shimmer and glitter like countless tiny emerald and sapphire jewels. The illusion was only disturbed when the pair splashed through the water, at first fishing for the small to medium-sized fish that sometimes ventured into the shallow water. When the fish were sufficiently disturbed and hunting them was less of an option, they continued to splash through the water - but for play, enjoying the coolness of the waves in contrast to the rich warmth of the sun shining down upon them.

It was moments like this that filled Fable with joy. How different her life had been without Salmon in it. She had never thought herself lonely, but...these precious moments with Salmon, she couldn't imagine life without them anymore. She never wanted to imagine a time that Salmon wasn't with her.

She gave a churr of amusement in response to Salmon's outright laugh when the waves came in a little stronger, threatening to knock the smaller cryo off her feet. With the tide coming in, it was time to head back to shore. They'd pulled enough fish from the water today anyway. The rest was just fun.

Salmon stretched out on the shore with a huff, basking on the sun-warmed sand. It clung to her hide, making it look as though her starry hide was even more speckled than she really was. It warmed Fable's heart and brought light to her eyes as she stretched out on the sand beside her.

Salmon quickly took the opportunity to roll over and nestle up against Fable. Once upon a time, Fable would have curled her lip and snapped at the invasion of space. Now, she welcomed it - but only from Salmon. Anyone else that got that close was asking for a snap from her jaws or a quick clawing.

Fable turned her gaze towards the horizon. They'd come in at just the right time to watch the sun begin to dip towards the horizon, slowly colouring the sky with a stunning display of yellows, reds, oranges, purples, and pinks, reflected on the surface of the water. Just as it did every evening. It was perfect. More perfect with Salmon beside her to share it. Living alone on her stretch of the coast had been good...but this was better.

They shared a comfortable moment of quiet, watching the surface of the water simultaneously darken and turn more and more vibrant shades of the sky's colours as the sun sank closer to the horizon line. It wouldn't be long before the stars came out, glittering in the sky just as the water glittered below.

"Do you remember when we first met?" Salmon asked absently. She adjusted her position on the sand, resting her head against Fable's neck.

Fable inhaled, drawn from the beauty of their surroundings to the time that Salmon mentioned. The air smelled of salt and sea spray, but then it had smelled like the first falling of snow that she'd seen since she was a hatchling. The world had been very different then. Cold and alone, and the falling snow told of more time that she'd spend cold and alone. She'd found a long burrow that stretched all the way through the base of a cliff to shelter in, not far from the river and some distance into the jungle.

"You weren't very far off from getting your snout swiped," Fable replied. She tilted her head to bump the tip of her chin against Salmon's head.

Salmon rolled her eyes playfully. "I knew you weren't going to attack me, even if you didn't."

"Oh? How did you know that?" Fable asked, glancing down with a quiet laugh.

Salmon bumped the tip of her muzzle against the side of Fable's snout, murring softly. "Because you were staring," she laughed.

Fable felt her hide heat up. It wasn't due to the warmth of the sun this time, but rather a light flush of embarrassment. "Only because I couldn't believe that you'd just wandered into my territory."

"It didn't smell like your territory." Salmon leaned against Fable again, looking back out across the water.

"The cold just made it harder to smell."

Salmon countered that as well. "And you invited me to share the cave with you. I'm pretty sure that you don't invite someone into your den if you intend on clawing them."

Fable snorted quietly, conceding defeat. She hadn't thought she'd been that easy to read, but could she really be blamed? Salmon was beautiful. Fable had been wary of all strangers that passed through her territory, of course. It wasn't long before she had settled on the coast that she'd been attacked by a carno that was also seeking claim to new lands, and she couldn't afford to show weakness to other young dinosaurs that might've been looking for a space of their own. But that's what inviting Salmon into the cave was, wasn't it? A bit of weakness.

But not one that she regretted, because it lead to this moment here, sharing the sunset with a cryo that had become her beloved.

She nibbled lightly at the top of Salmon's crest and along her forehead as Salmon continued. "And then when spring came, you still didn't chase me off. In fact, I seem to remember you inviting me to visit the shore when you came back here."

"I didn't want you to start off the year hungry is all," Fable snorted. Her words held no venom though.

Salmon hummed in amusement. That was definitely the case, not that Fable had enjoyed her company through the winter at all. Fable had been so standoffish at first. She still had her moments, mostly when a stranger got too close to the edge of the territory, but they were working past that. Not everyone that came by was a threat. Sometimes, much to Fable's great chagrin, company was a good thing. She'd certainly warmed up to Salmon. But, then again...that was a special case.

The smaller female sighed as she nestled against Fable, content and happy to share her company. Quiet moments like these were far from scarce, but she cherished them all the same.

She would've been content there for the rest of the night, had something not caught her attention when the sky had darkened just enough. She sat up, staring at the edge of the water. "Did you see that?"

"See what?" Fable murmured, opening an eye slowly. She'd almost been asleep.

Salmon stared at the water. Fable could feel Salmon's muscles bunching up where they touched, coiling up like a spring ready to...well, spring.

"There!" Salmon disentangled their tails from one another, all but leaping to her feet and racing to the edge of the water. This time, Fable had seen what had caught Salmon's attention. A flash of blue rolled across the shoreline as a wave gently broke across the sand. Though the sun had gone down and vanished past the edge of the world, there was light.

Fable pushed herself to her feet and rubbed the sleep from her eyes with a claw. "Careful," she warned. They didn't know what it was, and dark water could conceal sharks.

Though Salmon was far from the most careful cryo that Fable had ever met, she did listen this time - until she saw the same flash of blue when the next wave gently broke across the sand. She kicked the air, delighted by the discovery, and leapt into the water. Another flash of brilliant blue lit up the water, this time around her feet. She splashed her feet in the edge of the waves again, delighted when the same blue light reappeared as she disturbed the water.

"Salmon, there could be sharks-"

"No, Fable look!" Salmon didn't even try to conceal the delight in her voice as she ventured slightly further out from the shoreline. Wherever she went, the blue light followed, and only dissipated whenever she stood still. Even then, a smaller amount of the blue light shone around her ankles whenever the next wave washed past her, or when the tip of her tail dipped into the water. Beneath the surface, streaks of blue raced away from where Salmon had splashed in the waves. Fable understood. If there were sharks, they would be able to see them. Whatever the light was reacted to movement.

She relented, joining Salmon in the water and marveling quietly at the strange phenomenon. She'd never seen the starlight below the water before. Then again, she didn't often sleep so close to the water's edge, where they were exposed to anyone who might be passing by. It was beautiful.

Despite the late hour, Salmon seemed tireless. She raced through the water, laughing as the blue light flashed into being and slowly faded out when the water calmed. That was what had really made Fable decide to invite Salmon to stay. She found joy in so many things. She found it so easy to just have fun. It had warmed Fable's heart and softened her core, just a little bit.

There were other things, of course. She was just as stubborn as Fable was, she was just better at making it come off politely rather than Fable's more...brusque manner. And her laugh. Salmon's laughter pealed out into the calm night air now as she reveled at the starlight captured somehow beneath the waves. Fable, herself, laughed when the water left ethereal blue streaks that dripped down Salmon's hide when she'd splashed her. She laughed at the look of shock and then playful vengeance as Salmon prepared to splash Fable back.

There was never a better night than when they could spend time together like this. There was nothing more perfect than spending time with the cryo that they loved.