The chicken wasn't even moving or making to attack, and she was beating Glaive down. "I don't hate anyone! Not her," she tossed her head in the direction of her cub-friend, "not him! Not you!" Words hurt more than any of those claws and spurs could've, and the spinosaurus took a half-step to leave then and there.

But...

Kaimana...

... she was counting on her!

One could practically hear the sound of an anime protagonist powering up and unlocking their deeply sequestered potential as Glaive straightened up and charged for her opponent. Her hind legs ate up the ground in massive strides, arms clutched to her chest.

At the last moment, she dropped down onto all fours, skidding to a halt to smash the side of her snout into Kalama's flank and toss that chicken as hard as she could.

Toughen up... ? No, no, she didn't need to do that! Glaive shook her head, grumbling, "that's Kaimana! She's my best friend! I love her very much." It was that love that gave her strength, and she was going to utilize it. All she had to do was be strategic about it, make sure that the chicken didn't get too riled up so that she could accept her gift...

So, when Kalama got back up, the spinosaurus moved for her again, head kept down low for another sweep. Except, this time, she was just trying to knock the chicken down onto the ground... for a SNUGGLE ATTACK!

But, not yet. One step at a time! Glaive wasn't even sure she'd make contact.

"Gross?" Glaive sounded genuinely dumbstruck by that. Absolutely baffled. What'd happened to Kalama to make her think that? The spinosaurus then sounded purely concerned, almost... sad, when she said, "have you never had one before?" She could try to fix that!

Such was step two.

... once her snout stopped hurting.

The yelp she released on being kicked was surprisingly dog-like, and she immediately tipped her chin down in a failed attempt to rub at it. Spinosaurs might be blessed with longer arms than other famous theropods, but they were not meant for soothing bruises. Neither were they meant for cuddles, but nature was meant to be broken.

Glaive tried her darnedest to gently lay down on the chicken and bring her in for a nice, friendly, wholesome hug. Being an oversized water dachshund, that was no easy feat.

As soon as sickle claws were scraping her chest and Kalama was writhing in her grip, the spinosaurus let go. A miserable little whine escaped her—though it was more like a croaking rumble with her big ol' throat. Shitty lizard... ? Glaive didn't know what that first word meant, but the way she was saying it... it made her heart ache. Her eyes burned. Every word, no matter how hard she tried to shrug them off, stung like salt in a wound. They... hurt, really bad.

When the judges called end and pronounced the chicken a winner, that stung further. Glaive was tempted to roar and cry, "YOU'RE NO WINNER!" But, she didn't. It wasn't in her nature to fight like this. Playing was different. She didn't belong here, if they weren't playing.

Yet, she had to say something when Kaimana (bless her heart, absolutely most treasured friend of hers...) did, "I hope you find a little niceness soon." Turquoise eyes burned as she blinked, though no tears were shed. She wasn't going to let this bully get the best of her! Not when she had her best friend here to cheer her on and up.

Glaive didn't spare the chicken another moment of eye contact; she turned tail and marched right towards the jaguar with an eager squint in her eye and a half-grin. "I tried! Those judges don't know what's up," she cooed teasingly, head tilting slightly to the side, "I'm ready to go home." An arm stretched up real high to offer a scratch, and she whinged, "I bet I love you more."

Her reach came short, but they could fix that in just a moment—on the walk back to Fornax.