You're My Ugly Pineapple

Chapter eleven

"So, what're we gonna do when Rudy comes back? It's not like we have an entire herd to help us this time." 

"We prepare while we still can. We sharpen knives, make ropes and dig out spare dens just in case he destroys one," Buck paced back and forth in the den, hands behind his back as he walked. His one eye was focused on the ground beneath him as he frowned, and I leaned back on the wall behind me as I weaved some ropes for us. 

"Or we could, you know, try and control him."

Buck froze and looked towards me, a soft frown still on his face. "What do you mean?"

"Well, during my time on the surface, I managed to tame a couple of animals that tried to kill me. Ones that couldn't talk, like most of the dinosaurs. If we could do the same with Rudy, we could have a mode of transportation around the jungle plus a self defense if anything else tried to eat us," I shrugged, pulling another vine tight as Buck's gaze penetrated the top of my head. 

"You might just be onto something, love," He thought, holding a hand up to his chin.

"Yeah, it happens occasionally," I smiled, moving onto a hammock I had been making for the both of us. It was better than sleeping on a pile of hay, by a mile. Buck sat down next to me and watched me weave, my paws moving strategically and quickly as I put one piece of vine over the other. The vines themselves were woven with a soft down sort of substance that young dino-birds shed as they grew, and could be found along the ground pretty much everywhere. It was clean, of course, to avoid us catching any diseases. It made the vines soft and cotton-like, which would be amazing to sleep on when I was done. 

"But how do we get his trust if I took his tooth?" Buck frowned, leaning against me slightly. 

"I think I'll have to do it, then introduce him to you so that he knows you're no longer a threat. I'm pretty sure the only reason that he attacked you in the first place was because you were in his territory and now he just sees you as a threat to himself and everything else," I shrugged again, humming softly as Buck took in the idea. 

"You might be right with that one," He frowned, placing a paw on my leg and sighing. 

"Again, it happens every so often," I chuckled, turning to face him. I kissed his cheek softly and turned back to weaving, moving the piece along as I worked so it wouldn't bunch up too much. It had been a while since I had worked on something this big, the last time being the first day that Ellie and Manny had actually declared themselves as a couple and found a place to 'live.' Even then, it wasn't that big. The hammock was only for me, and I wasn't the biggest weasel out there. This one was for both Buck and I, and together we were a rather big mass. It had to be strong, soft and durable. It had to last for a long time, as vine's didn't exactly grow too quickly, and we still needed some to fish and tame Rudy with. 

"I'm going out to get some food, love. You stay here and be safe," Buck smiled, getting up and kissing me quickly. 

"Okay, Buckminster. Stay safe," I smiled, waving to him. "I love you," I added, blowing him a kiss. He blew me one back and scattered up the hole that exited the den, leaving me alone. I placed the weaving to the side and waited for a few seconds before scattering up too, walking instead to the lake and finding my old tree. 

To my surprise, it was still standing and it still had the swing that I had hung there all those years ago. I sat down on it and stared out at the water in front of me, pushing myself back and forth slowly on the swing. I sang softly to myself and smiled as I watched the herbivores graze, the water shimmering in the diluted sunlight. 

I spent most of the day swinging back and forth on the swing, my tail wagging slowly in tame happiness. The sun was warm on my fur as the day crept on, the sunset slowly approaching on me. I sighed and stood back up, scurrying off back to the den. I sat down in the spot I was before I had left and continued weaving the vines together, a yawn creeping out of my mouth. Buck scrambled back into the den to see me laying on the ground, and smiled widely. 

"Your idea turned out to watch, I tried it with a smaller dino of course," He grinned, running over to hug me. I smiled and kissed his cheek, hugging him close. "What'd you do today?" He asked, snuggling up beside me. 

"I went up and spent some time by the lake, didn't go anywhere else though. I need to get used to life down here again," I smiled, moving my work along. 

"That's fair, love. How is the hammock going?"

"Pretty well, I reckon I'll be able to finish it by tomorrow if I really belt it out."

"Don't rush yourself, beautiful," Buck smiled, leaning up to kiss me softly. I smiled and set my work aside, snuggling up to his chest as the daylight disappeared at the top of the tunnel leading out of the den. 

"Goodnight, Sky."

"Goodnight, Buck."