This is beyond fluff, okay? Look, if you have an ounce of discernment, just stay away from this. I have no dignity: I wrote it. What can I say? I suppose we all sometimes need raw sugar straight from the bowl.

…can you tell I'm embarrassed?

"He's fine!" Gobber repeats for the hundredth time. "He'll be fine." Gothi smiles up at the skinny Viking cradling his baby Night Fury. The small creature is breathing hard, eyes closed, head draped limply over Hiccup's arm. More scratching in the dirt. "Babies get stomach-aches all the time. By tomorrow he'll be good as new."

"Is she sure?" Hiccup nudges away a couple of Gothi's Terrors that have come too close, sniffing at what smells like a Night Fury but is as small as they are. His pleading eyes fix anxiously on the healer. "Are you sure? Dragon babies too? Is it normal for dragon-babies to get sick? I thought dragons were strong and—"

The healer's staff whacks Hiccup in the head – gently, though, in deference both to his wispy stature and to the little one in his arms. She hands him a packet of herbs wrapped in parchment. "Give him these to drink, get some rest, he'll be good as new by morning."

"Okay, thank you…" Hiccup looks like he wants to stay and bombard the healer with more questions, but Gobber takes his arm and leads him down the mountainside.

It takes him longer than usual to get home: he's treading carefully so as not to jostle his precious little charge. He still recalls his shock and panic when he woke up to find Toothless lethargic instead of bouncing with energy, big eyes fixed on him imploringly, grimacing and whimpering when Hiccup tried to move him. As he bundled him into his arms and rushed up to Gothi's, he was convinced that the de-aging had somehow damaged Toothless, and that he was dying.

It's not that he doesn't believe the village elder's reassurances. But residual fear still lingers in his bones. At last he gets home; thankful for the fire they keep always lit, he shifts Toothless so he's cradled in his left arm, and awkwardly uses his right hand to hoist a kettle of water onto the flames one-handed and drop the herbs into it.

He throws a pot onto the fire and fills it with water. "It's okay," he murmurs to little Toothless, "it's okay, it's okay." His friend makes a thin sound. Hiccup can see the adult Toothless in his baby friend's eyes. "I know." It's never easy to see Toothless hurting, never, but his friend so small and vulnerable and in pain is a special kind of Hel. "Hey…" He remembers that when he was little and had a stomach-ache, it eased his pain when he was warm. He lowers a brick into the fire.

"Let me try something, bud, okay?" he says softly to the little bundle in his arm, and waits till Toothless pushes through his misery enough to nod. "Okay, I'm gonna see if it helps to keep you warm." It's hard to see Toothless as his big, powerful adult friend when he's like this, but he tries to ask permission for things, not to treat him like a child, to show him the same respect he would if he was in his regular form. "Although you know, when you're sick you're a big whiny baby anyway," he grins, trying to lighten the mood.

Toothless whimpers, then burrows his baby snout into the space under Hiccup's arm as though trying to hide from the pain. As though Hiccup's body can somehow shield him from his suffering.

"Oh, Toothless…" Hiccup has never felt this way before, as though his heart is being torn out of his chest, as though every particle of his body would happily come apart and reform around his friend in a shield. "Oh, buddy, I'm here, I gotcha, bud, I'm here…" He sinks into a chair by the fire, pulling up as close as he dares, settling Toothless into his lap by the heat of the flames. He splays both his hands over the curve of the little dragon's stomach, rubbing and stroking gently. The velvety texture of his friend's underbelly is even softer as a baby; Hiccup gentles his touch for fear of hurting him, only to find Toothless pressing harder into his palms. He bends closer, lifting his knees so he can nuzzle the fledgling's aching tummy. "I'm here," he whispers, face buried in soft, warm dragon skin. "You're okay, you're going to be okay, you're going to be fine…"

Toothless makes a little sound and arches his back to give Hiccup better access to his front. Hiccup's overwhelmed by the memory of the time Toothless was hit by a dragon-root arrow, how he felt so helpless to ease his friend's suffering. It's still just as hard to watch Toothless in any kind of pain, but at least Hiccup can help him now. His human hands, so tiny compared to adult Toothless, are big enough to cover his friend's tummy completely. He massages where he knows it hurts in slow, soothing circles, knowing it helps Toothless sometimes when he's not feeling too well and hoping it'll be the same now he's smaller.

Toothless purrs; Hiccup draws back to look in his eyes and finds the pupils wide and round, no longer slit with pain. "Oh, bud," he murmurs, nuzzling Toothless' face with his cheek, never letting up on the massage.

"How's our invalid warrior?" Stoick's voice booms out from behind Hiccup.

"Oh Dad, good thing you're here. Can you get the kettle off the fire, and there's a brick in there that needs wrapping? I'm kinda got my hands full."

"You are spoiling that dragon," Stoick feels obligated to say as he repeats the motions he hasn't had to go through for a long time, not since Hiccup was younger and sick. He tunes out Hiccup's impassioned, protective retort. Stoick has an image to uphold. A strong image. The image of a chief, invulnerable to… to…

There's a thin whimper as the little guy suffers a particularly harsh cramp, and Hiccup pulls him into a tight embrace with one arm, his other hand pressing into Toothless' stomach to help fight the pain. The fledgling's tiny arms and wings wrap around Hiccup's neck, and he croons into the boy's thin shoulder as if to say, it hurts, help me. "It's okay, bud." Hiccup's voice is hoarse. "It's okay, shh-shh," he repeats as he rocks him. "I'm gonna give you your medicine now, it'll help…"

"I'll put the brick and the herbs upstairs," Stoick grunts. "A young 'un that sick should be in bed."

What was he thinking? Oh, yeah. Invulnerable to something. Damned if he can recall what.

First order of business is getting the herbal tea down Toothless. "I know animals don't eat when they're sick, but this is going to make you feel better." Hiccup is sitting on the edge of the bed with a bowl of steaming liquid. If his friend were his normal size, he'd just pour it down his throat, but this smaller version of the Night Fury has a littler snout. "Go on." Toothless sniffs the herbal tea. "Drink it hot. I couldn't drink it this hot, but…" Hiccup hesitates. "You okay with heat? I know you can't make fire yet, is that too hot?" He blows on it. "Taste it and see?"

With a flash of his old spirit, Toothless narrows his eyes. Overprotective human. Then he darts a tentative tongue into the brew. His eyes widen, and he slurps it excitedly, humming with pleasure.

"Glad you like it," Hiccup smiles, steadying the bowl. "But hey, don't drink it too fast!" He's steadying his friend in his lap with one hand, holding the bowl with the other, but he dares to move the hand holding Toothless to rub at the round little belly to settle his stomach as the liquid goes down. "Easy. Easy…" He pulls the bowl away, but Toothless growls and pouts. For the first time since this morning, Hiccup chuckles. "Okay, well, it's good for you, down the hatch." The dragon drinks the bowl down and Hiccup sets it aside. "There's more for later. I'll give you some in a while." Toothless purrs and nuzzles Hiccup's face. "I'm happy you took your medicine too, bud. Now c'mere." Hiccup scoots back against the headboard. The heated brick, wrapped carefully in a blanket, lies in the middle of the bed. Hiccup tests it with his hand. Too hot for a human, but for a dragon…? "How does that feel to you? Think you could lay that against your tummy?" Hiccup lets Toothless climb off his lap and sniff at the brick. He immediately starts nuzzling it, purring like a boiling teakettle. "Looks like you like it. Cool…"

After a moment's thought, Hiccup pushes the brick over to the edge of the bed. "Work with me, bud?" Obediently, Toothless lets Hiccup position him so he's lying on his side, belly pressed against the hot brick. The boiling-teakettle purr starts up again. Warmth spills down Hiccup's limbs at the knowledge that Toothless is feeling better and not hurting. "Okay, time for a nice nap." Hiccup shifts around in the bed, getting comfortable. He lies on his side behind Toothless, his own stomach pressed against Toothless' back, so that the dragon is sandwiched between Hiccup's shamefully meager warmth and the much more substantial temperature of the hot brick. "How're you feeling now, bud?"

Toothless croons.

Hiccup rubs and scratches his friend's smooth head. "How's the pain? Better?"

Toothless turns his head to look at Hiccup, green eyes squinched into happy half-moons, soft and relaxed and smiling. Purring and cooing, he closes his eyes and rubs the back of his head against Hiccup's chest. Hiccup goes limp, suddenly freed from a heartsick pain he didn't even know he was feeling. He feels his face curl into a smile as he lowers his head to his friend's face. "You get some sleep now, bud, hmm? We can take a walk later and then tomorrow, if you're all better, we can get Stormfly to take you out for a fly."

Indignant green eyes snap open and Toothless lets out a grumpy little roar. Take me flying?! Me, a majestic Night Fury?

It's disrespectful to laugh at his friend, but Hiccup laughs at his friend anyway. His heart feels big and soft as he fingers Toothless' itty-bitty fledgling wings. "You're not going anywhere with those," he says, laughing, nuzzling the tiny wing and giving the fragile membrane a kiss. "You'll have to swallow your pride."

"Grr…"

Hiccup wants to tease more, but he's afraid Toothless will overexert himself, and they only just got him feeling better. "I know, I know. You want to fly yourself."

He's not sure where his hand was – probably lying against Toothless' side – but he finds it wrapped up in a fragile little wing and pulled close to the dragon's body. Toothless wraps both his front paws around Hiccup's wrist, brings up his tail to Hiccup's face so he's eye-to-eye with its single tiny tailfin, and looks up at Hiccup with loving green eyes. Want to fly with you.

Hiccup opens his mouth, but nothing comes out. He wonders if it is possible for a heart to literally burst with affection. Toothless croons and tries to flap his fledgling wings. Each wing is maybe half the length of Hiccup's arm.

"Will ya quit being cute?" Hiccup finally manages. His voice is hoarse and it takes him a couple tries to get the words out.

Toothless purrs. Smugly.

"Yeah, yeah." Hiccup skritches the little arm clutching his, rubbing the place where flesh meets claws with the pads of his fingers. "I can't wait either till you're a big annoying cute baby instead of a little annoying cute baby. I want to fly with you, too."

Toothless' suddenly grown-up eyes narrow, then look, resigned, out of the window to where other dragons are flying past. You can fly with someone else.

Hiccup lowers his head and nuzzles the tiny ear-flaps. "I don't want to fly with anyone else," he confesses in a whisper. "Flying isn't flying without you. It's not the same."

And damned if Toothless doesn't touch the tip of his tail to Hiccup's hands, then his cheek, and purr. I feel the same way.

Hiccup has to wait a moment until he can speak without choking. He decides to assert his authority over his friend, who, right now is a Hatchling and that makes Hiccup the Drakaina. "Okay. Right now you gotta take your nap so you can get better. Okay?"

Toothless pouts. I am better.

Hiccup responds by fumbling for a cover and pulling it over them both. Then he scoots down and draws his knees up so he's curled around his partner's little body, one arm draped across him, hand curling around to scratch under his chin in the spot that always makes him relax. "Sleep."

Toothless yawns. The huge green eyes drift shut. Hiccup moves around a bit so his friend's head is tucked under his chin. He knows his silly human body isn't much protection, and he knows that there aren't currently any threats out there, but it just feels safer.

Yeah, yeah, he's a pushover. "Big baby," he mutters. "Little baby. Wrap me round your little finger. It's not fair."

Soft dragon breathing soon lulls him to sleep, too.