I just felt like writing something cute, innocent and sweet. And here it is!
Status will be put as completed for now, unless I think of more scenes relating to this theme! Then I will probably update this one.
I can also be found on tumblr at aleteia-ff.
How To Take A Dragon's Dating Advice
"That's for kidnapping me."
Hiccup winced, rubbing his upper arm and turning to look at Astrid. Why did she always have to punch everything?
He heard Toothless lift his head out of the water behind him and caught him looking at him, seemingly asking with his eyes whether he needed to interject. Guessing that Astrid had probably had enough of Toothless "interjecting" after the way they'd just involuntarily taken her for a flight, he simply shrugged and made a what can you do-gesture. Toothless scoffed in response.
Turning back to Astrid, he found her looking slightly insecure. He watched as she swept aside her bangs. Gods, even that little gesture made his heart flutter. Before he could say anything, Astrid reached out to him. He expected her to hit him again and winced, but instead she grabbed the collar of his shirt. Completely clueless, he watched as she reeled him in. He saw her lips come closer, and then they were pressed against his cheek. It was quick and soft. But it was amazing. Because it was Astrid.
She didn't look at him afterwards, clutching the hand she'd just grabbed him with to her chest. "That's for… everything else," she mumbled.
Hiccup couldn't bring himself to do anything else than simply gape, still rubbing the spot that would certainly turn into a bruise the next day. But by Thor, it was worth it. As he watched Astrid scuttle off and run back to Berk, he swore to himself that he'd let her punch him anytime she wanted to. As long as this was what he got in return. He could feel a gigantic, goofy smile appear on his face.
He almost didn't notice the instigator of the events of tonight coming up next to him, the dragon's big eyes studying his face.
"What are you looking at?" he stammered, feeling guilty but not sure what for.
Toothless warbled in response, looking at Astrid leaving the cove. Then his eyes were on Hiccup again.
"What is it?" Hiccup stuttered, still trying to calm down his beating heart.
Toothless gestured with his head towards the exit of the cove.
He shook his head. "I'm not going after her!"
Toothless slightly wagged his tail in response. Hiccup knew that move. "And you're not going after her either!"
The look in Toothless' eyes turned questioning.
He shrugged. "I don't think she wants me to, bud."
But Toothless' gaze didn't falter.
"What? She's totally out of my league!" Why was he trying to justify himself? To a dragon, nonetheless.
Toothless frowned, bobbing his head between Hiccup's face and the space in front of them.
"What are you getting at?" He pulled up an eyebrow.
Toothless moved in front of him, standing in the same spot as Astrid had before. Then, the Night Fury licked his cheek.
"Ew, Toothless!" He wiped his cheek with his sleeve, completely drenching his clothes in the process. "You know that doesn't wash out!" He threw some of the dragon's saliva back at him. Toothless gave him a stern gaze nevertheless, only wiping it off a few seconds later.
"Yeah, okay, she kissed me," Hiccup conceded, feeling a blush rise to his cheeks just thinking about it.
An enormous smile appeared on his face right after. He was so lucky. "She kissed me!"
He walked around the cove a bit before spreading his arms and landing in its soft grass, looking at the dark skies above him. "Astrid Hofferson kissed me."
Soon, Toothless' head floated above him, wondering what was going on. Hiccup assumed he might be wondering if his human had finally stopped working.
He took the Night Fury's head in his hands, absent-mindedly petting it while studying the stars. "I can't believe it," he mumbled. "I mean, she's Astrid. Strong, independent, beautiful. And out of all people on Berk she could kiss, she kissed me. Not Snotlout, me."
As he laid there in the grass, revelling in the feeling and telling himself that he would never wash that cheek again, he suddenly realised something. He sat up straight instantly, startling Toothless.
"She kissed me. What does that mean? Does she like me? Are we together now? Am I her boyfriend?"
He got up to his feet, starting to pace along the lake's shore, gesturing wildly as he spoke. Toothless' eyes followed, moving back and forth as Hiccup did. "I mean, I can't possibly be her boyfriend. I don't know how to be a boyfriend! What does she expect me to do? Should I have gone after her? Should I have kissed her too? What do I do when I see her tomorrow? Maybe she doesn't even like me, maybe she just kissed me because we got back on the ground safely, or because she pities me, or –"
Right then, a Night Fury tail hit him in the head, soft enough not to harm him but hard enough to snap him out of it.
"What was that for!?" he asked the culprit.
Toothless gave him a look which Hiccup had come to recognize as scepticism.
"Okay, yeah, so maybe I am overthinking things. But this isn't easy you know! Girls are… complicated."
Toothless scoffed, wet dragon breath landing on Hiccup's face.
Hiccup pointed a finger between Toothless' eyes, making the dragon look cross-eyed. "Alright, mister, then you tell me what to do."
The Night Fury gave him a puzzled look.
Hiccup sat down in the sand, crossing his legs and waving his arms around. "Go on, Toothless, bestow your dragon dating knowledge upon me."
The dragon pondered for a minute, his eyes seemingly scanning the cove, looking for something. Eventually, Toothless settled on something and he darted over to it excitedly. What he came back with was the basket Hiccup had brought with him earlier – with the stuff in it he'd intended to take with him as he left Berk. Not that that was going to happen anymore. He'd told Astrid he'd figure out something instead. He hoped she hadn't realized that he had been planning to leave. She probably had. It had been pretty obvious.
Toothless dragged the basket along with his teeth, eventually putting it upright in front of Hiccup. He pointed at it with one of his front legs.
"That's Astrid?" Hiccup asked, his voice questioning.
Toothless warbled in agreement and proceeded to stalk the basket, assuming a predatory position; his head held low, wings folded to his sides, the hind part of his body in the air. After circling around the basket a few times, the dragon suddenly pounced it; knocking it over and spilling its contents all over the cove. Hiccup would've been startled by it when they'd just met, but now he just pulled up his eyebrow, figuring that he'd probably be the one to clean that mess up.
Toothless looked at him expectantly, seemingly content with his demonstration.
"I don't think that's going to work, bud," Hiccup told him with a smile. "Viking girls don't really appreciate it if you just jump them out of nowhere. They prefer a little more subtlety."
Toothless seemed to think about that for a second, then got off of the basket. He sat back on his hind legs, his front legs in the air. He positioned his tail so it could be properly seen and pointed his chin slightly upwards. He looked like a show yak, Hiccup realized.
"I probably don't have the looks to pull that off," he chuckled. "Maybe something more active would work better."
With a slightly rejected look on his face, Toothless landed back on his front legs and began to parade around. Occasionally, he hopped into the air, flapped his wings and swung his tail from left to right.
It took a while before Hiccup got it. "Are you… dancing?"
Toothless warbled, confirming his suspicions and showing him a gummy smile.
"Aw, bud, I wish I was at good as that as you are," Hiccup teased. "But I like the way you're thinking. Maybe showing off one of my skills wouldn't be such a bad idea." He raised a hand to his chin, wondering. "But what am I good at that could impress her? She hates every single thing I do in dragon training… She's never been particularly interested in my blacksmithing, although maybe she will like your tail? Or a new axe…"
His rambling was interrupted by a loud blast, caused by Toothless firing one of his plasma bolts against the cove's wall, evident by the smoke coming out of his mouth.
"Yeah, Toothless, that's impressive, but I can't really do that," Hiccup joked, gesturing to his own mouth and showing how little it did when he opened it. "I could try to spit really far though. But Tuffnut is the indisputable king when it comes to that."
Seemingly having another idea, Toothless shot off and grabbed one of the tree branches lying around in the cove – broken off by the dragon himself. He took it in his mouth and started to carve into the soil at his feet. Hiccup had seen him do this before.
"Toothless, you're a genius!" he exclaimed. "I could totally draw her something! I mean, I'm good at making designs and I've drawn you more than I can count… Surely I could do something more creative?" He started to go over the ideas in his head. He could draw her house, or her favourite weapon. Maybe she had a favourite dragon? Or, he could just draw her. "It'll take me some time though," he added. "So I'll need something else to keep her interested in the meantime."
Toothless jumped up and down in excitement, using his tail to point at the saddle on his back, a triumphant look on his face.
"Sure, bud, we could kidnap her again. After you stopped flying like a Monstrous Nightmare who accidentally drank some mead" – he knew what that looked like from experience – "she didn't seem to mind," he teased. He let himself fall back into the sand. "I don't know if flying you is really one of my skills though. You do most of the work, after all. And I want her to like me for me."
Toothless warbled softly, walking up to him and nuzzling his face. Hiccup returned the gesture. "Yeah, bud, Viking girls aren't easy. But I'm sure you'll do just fine charming one of your fellow Night Furies."
His friend made an approving sound.
Hiccup sat up, pinching the Night Fury's cheeks. "Or do you already have a girlfriend, huh? Is that how you know so much?"
The look Toothless gave him was thoroughly unamused and Hiccup stuck out his tongue at him in response, which earnt him a slobby and icky Night Fury counterpart dragging itself all over his face. He gave the dragon an unfazed look in return and Toothless promptly knocked him back, putting down his heavy face on Hiccup's chest so he could no longer get up.
Hiccup took the Night Fury's ears in his hands, moving them around and playing with them. "I guess we'll figure it out eventually. Until that time comes, at least we have each other, don't we, Toothless?"
Toothless warbled happily, his pupils as large as they could get, his gaze friendly and fond. Hiccup couldn't help but smile back in return.
"So… Any suggestions on how to not let myself get killed by a Monstrous Nightmare tomorrow?"