"Things seem like a ghost town... all over," William Tarr commented as he managed to shuffle about in Candace's kitchen as the two set about making a dinner, "and it ain't just here... it's the whole state..."
"More like the whole country," Candace said slowly as her Human date climbed up a step stool to check on a pot that was simmering on the stove for a moment. While many of the Animalians that were converted into modern megafauna had greater issues than smaller Animalians, they'd still often been able to manage with things designed for those than smaller than them, often because the size differences between the smallest and largest Animalians, prior to the Dinotopians, wasn't that terribly great. After the first Dinotopians came about, that size difference began to become bigger as Horizon was working with species that could be several times the size of an elephant, and thus why things were scaled up in the homes in Dino City were for Dinotopians. And while Parasaurolophus wasn't largest species of Dinosaur, it wasn't even the largest Hadrosaur, it wasn't small and the scaling things up was something that gave Candace some elbow room.
But for the moment, William Tarr was still Human, and as such he was a bit small to safely work with some of the things that were higher up in her home, just as she had be careful whenever they ate together at his trailer. For the things he had were built for normal humans, and her muscular weight would strain his furniture and things like her tail might knock things over if she wasn't careful. But the two had managed a system in which they could alternate out some dates and make things work, which Cadence liked. There were times where William Tarr often came off as distant almost anti-social in a way, but he was a good man and from what Cadence had found, a lot of it had more to do with elements of his family moving away and with the world changing around him. William simply wasn't sure on how to change with the world, and Cadence was more than happy to help with that, and it did grow into real romance between the two, much to William's surprise. Though it did mean some precautions when the pair dined at each other's homes.
"People are scared by this disease," Cadence finished.
"They're scared about their future too," William answered, "people will still have rent and bills to pay, regardless of this disease. And as such, the economy HAS to reopen. Otherwise, you'll have a bunch of poor people that won't afford the vaccine or treatment... all things people need."
Cadence watched as William paused and sighed and then looked down before he continued.
"But... I've been a Republican all my life," William spoke, "always felt the best government is one that is small and only legislates to protect who we are... not on what we do. But this whole thing has left me worried... I voted for the present administration because I felt they would dismantle the power that the previous centralized for itself... and to hear him claim total authority..."
"Not to mention that the amount of available testing is very low," Cadence warned, "everyone wants to go back to work... sure... but if we don't know WHO is infected and WHO is carrying it, all opening would do is cause a second wave that could be worse than the first."
William nodded in agreement, "that's another thing that's been chewing at me. Before Dino City... I tried to stay out of politics. I'd give my two cents, but I didn't necessarily want to be in government. Not even in Glen Rose. I suppose that left me a bit ignorant as to the responsibilities any official, regardless of his party, would have. Filling in as Dino City's Mayor... it's been quite an education. Though... I don't think this would be the time to be discussin' politics."
William then turned to check on the stew that was on the stove. Things looked good and the meat in it smelled good, to him. He also had a separate pot for dumplings and vegetable gravy that would do well to Cadence's diet. A part of him knew that if things between him and Cadence continued to progress, he'd need to be prepared to adapt to an all vegetarian diet. As Cadence had supported the idea of having a family, and in a way, the closer William got to Cadence, the more the idea of having a family seemed to grow on him. With that would come the knowledge that Animalia's Edicts required that in order to breed, both Animalians would have to be at least genetically compatible, if not the same species. Though some of the alterations to Animalia's Edicts wouldn't apply to Dino City.
Jeremy and Rex had explained some of that to him when he'd heard about it and talked with the male Syntixisaurus and Tyrannosaurus Dinotopian about how any and all conversions would work. The answer was that much of the alterations came as a result of various modern animals being closely enough related to each other that they could produce viable offspring, as seen in wolves and dogs. It was something that made some scientists think that the Domestic Dog were simply a different subspecies of Grey Wolf and that was why a hybrid "Wolf-Dog" could successfully have pups of its own. Though some scientists countered that and argued that they were different species, but the separation was so close that the specific chromosome difference in other hybrid animals that often left them sterile wasn't an issue between wolves and dogs. Some of that same issue was also being found with regard to Mules, as that they weren't necessarily as infertile as one would think.
However, dinosaurs would be an entirely different matter. For with what they had found with living animals, they could do direct genetic testing to see how closely related certain animals were. That was something that couldn't be done with dinosaurs and their evolution, as much of it was made entirely by the analysis of their fossils. Paleontologists could hypothesize on the relationships between various species based on how their skeletons compared with one another, but because actual DNA evidence was very limited, if not non-existent, in fossils, how closely related even similar dinosaurs could be was going to be a guess. The tests that showed that Syntixisaurus qualified as a sub-species of Tyrannosaurus was largely based around tissue analysis between the living Dinotopians from those two species. Beyond that, there wasn't enough that they could say as to what dinosaurs would be closely related enough for some "natural hybridization" to be possible. Which meant that if William were to become a Dinotopian to be with Cadence, he'd have to become a Parasaurolophus in order to have a family... Until then, though, William would enjoy beef stew when he could get it.
"Love, might be a better subject," William managed.
"Yes, it is," Cadence nodded with a small smile, "are things ready?"
"I believe so," William answered.
Cadence nodded and then moved to a set of cabinets that were on the other end of kitchen and began collecting the plates and glasses that would be needed. She'd long felt that William to be a good man, if a bit lonely, and her interactions with him confirmed that he was a good man at heart and made for good company. That then let her share things about her that she was sure William found amusing. On some of the date's they'd been on had also been outdoors and seen by a few of Dino City's human residents and from what Cadence noticed, they often seemed to approve. That made her happy and helped with the idea that when he heard of a day in which women typically proposed, she made that proposal, much to William's surprise and a few cheers.
Of course, Cadence had given William the "wiggle room" to think things over, as her proposal was a surprise to him, given that he'd practically fallen out of his chair when she did it. The tease about it being an election year really wasn't that much of a threat, for so far as Cadence knew, there weren't many real contenders for the post. Officer Slash was content to get Dino City's police Department up and running and wasn't interested in added responsibilities. Rex, who probably could beat William if he really wanted to run, was more interested in his paleontological work, that when things opened for travel, that could potentially involve leaving Dino City for a time to attend to those dig sites. In this, it was highly unlikely that Rex would even run. And most of the rest of the Dinotopians fit into a similar category in being either too busy or not wanting to run.
The only races that were really up for grabs at the moment were some of the open city council positions that were open. However, given Dino City's lower population when compared to other Animalian colony cities, this would mean that there wouldn't be many city council seats to fill. From what Cadence had seen printed with regard to the ballot for Dino City, it was those city council seats that was where the real contested races were at the moment. Which only highlighted the joke over how Dino City's voters would react if William said no to her marriage proposal. There might be some individual things that some were a bit disappointed over, but from what Cadence had managed to figure out, no one had any real quarrel with William Tarr as a whole. That also made Cadence smile.
"Ya must not have had much to eat today if you're smiling at seeing me server dinner," William commented as he arranged and served their respective dinners, "and we will definitely need forks... maybe a knife... Things should be pretty soft, but one can never know."
Cadence nodded and moved around to set of drawers and collected some silverware. They were a bit bigger than what William normally used, but she hoped that he would eventually convert and then they'd be the perfect size. She made it back around to where William had been serving the stew to see that the plates were pretty much ready and with the meal not only prepared but reasonably presented. It wasn't fancy, like in a restaurant, but Cadence actually liked the at home aspects of things. It was something that brought them more together, and the food smelled good. The beef in William's didn't smell "right" to Cadence, but then she'd long adapted to being a herbivorous Dinotopian.
With their dinners ready, they collected their plates and made their way dinning room. It wasn't much and was directly connected to the kitchen, but in a way it was home and Cadence was happy with the company. Being somewhere fancy didn't matter. William felt the same way as he managed to climb up into the chair and looked out over to Cadence as she sat down, with considerably more ease than he had, but even there he couldn't help but smile. In some ways she touched him in a manner in which he'd never expected. He'd had some girlfriends in the past, and he'd made friends that happened to be female, but many had their own lives to live that took them elsewhere, or the connection was never enough to be anything more than a platonic friendship. Cadence was more that that.
"I've been doing a lot of thinking," William said slowly, "about the best I can do these days with so much shut down..."
"About what?" Cadence wondered, though she had some thoughts on where William was going based on things said earlier.
William finished chewing on a dumpling and swallowed it before he answered, "You... and I. Before Dino City and everything that came with it... I was often alone. My surviving family doesn't live close by, and while I've often been able to drive to see them, given how big Texas is... it can be quite a drive and a lot of time on the road."
Cadence nodded as she chewed on a small forkful of carrots while William continued.
"But Dino City has changed things... I'm probably a bit more involved in the community than I ever was when my trailer was just attached to Glen Rose because of it being the closest town to me," William commented, "and some of that was actually fairly fun... something that made last Halloween enjoyable for the kids that came over from Glen Rose. And over the past few months... meeting with you and being able to talk about more than just business... or anything related to running the city... it's actually given me some hope for things that I've found myself missin' out on."
"Thank you..." Cadence managed, a little bit unsure as to what to say at the moment.
"No, it is I who must thank you," William said back to her, "for the offer of marriage." He paused as he watched Cadence smile. "You've given me friendship and companionship in a way that I'd thought I'd burned through long ago... and open... It's... well... there are I times when I'm not sure I deserve everything you've given me."
"You're a good man, Will," Cadence said him, "busy with work and other things... but a good man. And just about everyone I've talked to agrees. And being willing to talk with me and open up... that's only confirmed to me that you're a good man. Something everyone should hope to be... and I've been quite happy to find that... and find you. Especially when it will come to dealing with bugs..."
"You still don't like them, I take it?" William asked.
Cadence only answered was to cringe. There was no reason for animals to have more than four legs. Insects and arachnids always creeped her out, and becoming a Dinotopian didn't change that. William only chuckled at that.
"Then I would gladly defend you from them... for as long as I can," William spoke, "we may still have to wait and see how the governor's reopen plan goes... because I don't think Texas law would allow me to conduct our wedding... but you did propose, and gave me time to think. I've thought... my answer is yes."
What happened next was rather fast. Cadence gave a sort of bellow that resonated heavily through the crest on her head that the Parasaurolophus was known for, and then hopped up. Before William could fully blink, he found himself being picked up into a very happy hug. His feet dangled a little as Cadence was easily taller than him at present. He was also pressed into her chest at the moment and didn't want to do anything that would come off as irritating.
"I love you," Cadence said to him with a bright smile and nuzzled her duck-billed-like muzzle to William's cheek.
"And I you..." William managed to kiss her cheek as she lowered her head so that he could reach, "but we should eat... we can discuss the plans, how or if we can have invitations... and any conversion plans as we go..."