Grimlock didn't want to get up in the morning. He would rather lay over Susanne's grave, licking the dirt and laying around like a log. So Optimus walked to Raptor Valley, eager to see these breeding raptors. The last clutch that hatched had been born in test tubes. There were a lot, which meant the raptor packs would grow and expand until more packs of the same species would have to form.
Owen refused to give up the Alpha male slot. He played with the babies, who saw them as his sire, but he really collected the coding of the males when they were in heat to inject into the females. It was a messy job only Owen and Ryan could do, but they never had any results, so they stopped eight months ago. Now, Razorclaw and Trailmaker were carrying.
"Optimus, look!" He waved the Prime over, touching Razorclaw's head and moving her around so that Optimus could see that Razorclaw was carrying. Then he pointed to the nest Trailmaker was building out of mud, leaves, and whatever she could find.
"That is fantastic..." Optimus knelt and laughed, feeling better than he had in days with this news. Razorclaw snapped at his digits playfully, then she nuzzled against Owen.
"I can't believe..." He swept his hair back, laughing. "This is amazing..."
Ryan was helping herd the raptors together. Some of the babies would stray, and since some of the raptors in this portion of the island tended towards cannibalism among their own kind and eggeaters among the others, Ryan was charged with keeping the Velociraptor young together. His mount was normally his bike that Owen helped him fix.
Optimus left them, wanting to tell Grimlock the good news. He found his mount exactly where he left him. "Come on, Grimlock..."
The mech whined up at Optimus as if he was in pain. Though he lacked a physical wound, he knew his mount would not appreciate a lack of sensitivity.
He walked to Mikki's baby-pen, smiling when she saw her bathing Mudd. "Hello."
He remembered that he had previously ordered the humans to keep their distance, but Owen convinced him otherwise. The reason Sue went bonkers was because of not being touched in a loving way, so that rule was quickly thrown out the window. The human children had been with them for years, and they had raised more than a few dinosaurs in their portions of the island.
Optimus may have let the humans touch the dinosaurs, but he wouldn't let visitors come to the island. So far, the only ones that could come and go were temporary workers, friends of the teenagers already working here.
When he grew anxious to see the other Tyrannosaurs, he left Mikki to her babies. Then he walked deep into The Forest. There were other Tyrannosaurs than Susanne, and they had two "veterans" that had survived all four park-flops.
King and Tyrant were nuzzling each other. They were repeat-mates, who had gotten together each and every mating season. King had sired much of the Tyrannosaur population and Tyrant carried half of those beasts.
They ran from Optimus, King roaring his anger, but they left their clutch of eggs behind. They weren't going to be able to carry them due to their little arms. Speaking of little arms, he still had to find Angel.
Angel had fallen down. She was a small one, so she did not know how to get up right away, but because she fell, her little arms shattered and were now in casts.
Optimus finally found her, eating a deer carcass Optimus hung up from a tree. She slowly walked to Optimus and she let him rub her head, sides, and chest. Her arms twitched once, but they were limp and she bit at Optimus' shoulder. He wondered if he could possibly pair Angel with Grimlock to help them both.
Mating season was nearing the end, and Angel was just old enough to feel its pull. He took her jaw, pulling her towards Grimlock. When she saw the larger male, she hurried to him, but remained on her feet. She nuzzled him once.
Grimlock lifted his helm and slowly heaved himself to his feet, sighing and grunting as he did. He blinked at Angel, then at Optimus. Then he shook his head and opened his mouth expectantly.
Optimus pushed the bit into his mount's mouth, then he saddled him. He mounted him and waved at Angel, giving her the only cue he desired to teach her: Go.
They ran together, Grimlock slowly coming back to life under Optimus. Angel gave him several loving nips, a few licks under the chin.
He spent hours chasing her and grooming her scaly skin. Optimus let them run together, taking the saddle off him, but Grimlock ran off before he could get the rest of the tack off.
Optimus walked back to Grimlock's cave, hesitating when he saw the lonely egg laying in its nest. Susanne had cared for it without cease when she was alive, but Grimlock had abandoned it after her death. Optimus pulled the egg into a pouch and tied it around his waist next to the bag of Energon treats he always carried.
Grimlock and Susanne were standing over a new nest, waiting patiently for eggs. They were licking each other before they went out to hunt.
Optimus walked to Owen's raptors and watched them socialize. Then he gave Owen the egg. The human tucked it into Razorclaw's clutch of eggs, starting to laugh.
Susanne's egg was massive, and Razorclaw's eggs were small, small compared to every other carnivore egg Optimus had ever viewed.
He could only imagine how that relationship would work out.