"Have you ever tried giving him Ritalin or something?"

"Yeah, like that'd help matters any"

"Woof!"

It was a nice, sunny summer day, the slightest of breezes running around, chilling everything to just the right temperature. The park was rather crowded, kids in swimsuits playing in the big mermaid-themed fountain and some families enjoying a picnic under the blue sky. Two boys were walking down the stone path, one with his hands in the pockets of his blue hoodie, the other changing the leash in his hands from one to the other, trying to run along with the need his big black dog had to spin around him every time they'd go out for a walk.

After their first encounter in the vet clinic, Hiccup had decided to make the call and invite Jack out to just talk and get to know each other better, thing that turned into a weekly thing, and then into a twice-a-week kind of ritual; it'd been almost three months since that, and now they were just out, talking about anything and nothing, with a steady friendship that none of them expected.

"At the speed he's going you could put a kid on him and use him as a carrousel" Jack smirked at the way Toothless jogged around his owner, looking at every person that walked past or was sitting in the grass near them.

"Or I could make him jump into you so you'd carry him, that'd keep him quiet for a while" Hiccup had to spin around himself when the round the dog made was too fast for him to catch on "Damn, bud, can you walk straight for once? I need my wrist you know?"

"Oh? And exactly for what do you need your wrist for, Hic?"

Hiccup stared deadpan at Jack "Work. And don't get started with the dirty jokes again, you damn pervert"

"You love it" Jack grinned and moved his hand to put them behind his head, looking down to see Toothless walking behind Hiccup; apparently Jack had gotten closer and closed the space he used to turn around, and was staring back at him with a distressed look. Jack moved a bit to the left, letting the dog pass through to the front, but as soon as he did, his hand darted out to grab the piece of leash right below the handle Hiccup was holding, moving back to the right and closing the spot again, finally forcing the Shepherd to stay in the front and walk forward. This earned him a venomous glare from Toothless, and a chuckle from the redhead.

"Well, what do you know" Hiccup crouched a little and patted the whining dog in the head, which managed to calm him a little.

Jack stared at the exchange with a small smile, accommodating his hand and accidentally bringing it up until it covered the handle and, by extension, Hiccup's own hand. They both stopped and stared down at their hands for a minute, until finally Jack moved his arm so it passed over Hiccup's getting his fingers into the plastic handle, still over the freckled hand holding it originally. He just smiled at the redhead and started walking again, pulling a dumbfounded—and beet red—Hiccup along,

Toothless turned his head at them and wagged his fluffy tail, walking a bit slower and giving the leash a bit of looseness, giving the boys the chance to accommodate better and, at the end, swing their intertwined hands between their bodies, a smile in both their faces this time.

Jack had to remember buying that dog a bag of treats later.