TITLE: Counting Stars

SUMMARY: Toothless' point of view for when he and Hiccup were at the restaurant together. Inspired by Warrior Nun

CORRESPONDING CHAPTER FROM MAIN STORY: 9/10


"Great, it's a date!" Toothless said with a smile.

Hiccup immediately turned around, walking the other way, and called, "Well, I better get to the subway if I'm going to class!" And with a wave over his shoulder, he was gone.

As soon as he was out of sight, Toothless mentally smacked himself.

'Seriously? It's a date? Way to probably scare him off," Toothless thought to himself. Sure, he had decided after their last meeting that he wanted their relationship to go that direction eventually, but he needed to take it slowly. As much as Hiccup may try to seem comfortable around him, and perhaps to a certain degree he was, Toothless could still sense a mild bit of reservation when they were together. He needed to break through that first before he could make any type of move.

The first thing that Toothless did after that was call the restaurant to make the reservation. It really was the best restaurant that Toothless could think of and he wanted to make sure their meal was a good one.

He had one more item of business to attend to that day, and he started walking that way as he punched the number for the restaurant into his phone. It rang three times before a female voice on the other end answered.

"Redeye Grill, how may I help you?"

"I'd like to make a reservation for two tonight at six."

"Alright, can I get a name please?"

Toothless paused momentarily. He didn't want to give his name because who knows how much suspicion that might arise. But he didn't want to use Hiccup's name either because he had a last name that might be recognized as well. Pausing for a moment, it dawned on Toothless what name he could leave without raising too many eyebrows.

"Hiccup Night."

"Alright Hiccup, two for dinner tonight at 6pm. We look forward to seeing you," the voice said on the other end before hanging up. With that taken care of, Toothless could focus on his other matter of business for the day before the…outing.


Toothless walked into the convenience store and noticed he was the only one there, other than the owner of course. That just made his job even easier. The light above him flickered as he walked up to the counter.

The store owner looked up from the register and immediately had a look of distaste on his face.

"What do you want?" The store owner asked with a snarl.

"Just the usual."

The owner opened up the cash register and took out a stack of bills. Reluctantly giving it to Toothless, he added, "One day you're going to regret this."

Ignoring him, Toothless took the money and walked out. He walked back to his condo and headed upstairs, placing the money carefully in his front drawer to give to RD later.

Glancing at the clock he realized he had several hours to fill before he went to go get Hiccup for dinner. Instead of just wasting his time though, he decided to start getting ready. He took a long shower, after which he shaved and fussed over his shoulder length hair in the mirror. He took a while picking out which suit to wear, then went back to the mirror to make sure his hair was still perfect. In reality he knew that he shouldn't be fussing this much because in the end it wasn't technically a date, but he still wanted to look his best for Hiccup.

When Toothless looked at the clock, it was only 4pm. Wondering what to do, he realized that he only had the Lincoln at the condo. Surely he could use a nicer car than that for the night. It would be tight, but Toothless figured he could make it to the warehouse, pick out a nice car, and make it back in time. Grabbing the keys, Toothless headed down to the parking garage, got into the Lincoln, and drove to the warehouse.

When he arrived, he immediately made his way back to the lock box of keys. He glanced at his watch, realizing that he only had thirty more minutes to make a drive that would probably take about fourty-five with the traffic he had seen heading here. Thinking that anything would be nicer than the Lincoln, he grabbed the first set of keys, not wanting to delay himself with fussing over which car to take. Pushing the lock button on the keys, he discovered he had randomly selected the Pagani Zonda. Not a bad result for a random selection. He headed over to the car, turned the key, and as the engine roared to life, he gunned it back to Manhattan.

As luck would have it, traffic was lighter than Toothless had thought it would be and he pulled up to Hiccup's condo at exactly 5:29. He and his car got a few passing glances from pedestrians walking past, but he ignored them and called Hiccup to let him know he was here. It took two rings before there was an answer.

"Hello?"

"Hey Hiccup, it's me. I'm downstairs in the car. You almost ready?"

"Uh, yeah, I'll be down in a minute. What type of car is it?"

Toothless smiled at this as he looked around at the car's interior. Deciding he wanted to see the look on Hiccup's face when he saw the car, all he replied with was a, "Don't worry, you'll know." Not wanting to allow any more questions, Toothless hung up and waited.

It took a couple of minutes, but eventually Toothless saw Hiccup come out of the front doors of the building. Toothless had to admit, Hiccup looked pretty good in that suit jacket and dress pants. And the green shirt was a colour that would complement his eyes quite well.

It took Toothless a second to stop admiring Hiccup's choice of clothing and realize he was looking in the wrong direction. To get his attention, Toothless put the car in neutral and tapped on the accelerator, letting the engine rev.

It seemed to do the trick as Hiccup looked over and, after a momentary pause, started walking up to the car. As he arrived at the passenger side window, he looked in but didn't get in. Wondering why he wasn't getting in, Toothless rolled the window down.

"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to get in?" Toothless asked with a smile. Hiccup's expression of pure disbelief finally broke and Hiccup jumped in and fastened his seatbelt. Toothless shifted back into first gear and drove off, letting the engine rev a little more just for fun.

"So I'm guessing you weren't going for inconspicuous then…." Hiccup said after a momentary silence.

"What? This is a nice car and I wanted to get it out of the garage."

"And if my father had been in the lobby and noticed that car? Don't you think that that would have attracted his attention?"

"Accounted for. Your father left the station heading in the opposite direction about fifteen minutes ago. Where to though I'm not sure." This was actually the truth. On his drive to Manhattan Toothless had checked the app on his phone that let him track other people through their cell phone signals. It wasn't exactly legal, but it got the job done.

Hiccup's expression visibly saddened. "Oh, he's probably just working late again, if you know what I mean."

Toothless didn't know what he meant, but clearly this was a topic that upset Hiccup so he didn't want to stay on it. Taking in a deep breath Toothless smelled the strawberry shampoo that he had smelled on Hiccup before, but he also smelled something different. It gave Toothless another topic to bring up.

"Uh, Hiccup, are you wearing cologne?" Toothless asked. Hiccup may not have said anything, but he caught the light blush on his cheeks and that was enough of an answer for him. "Wow, didn't know that this was such a big night for you that you decided to wear cologne."

"Well, maybe I wear it every day."

"No, you don't. You've never had it on at any of our other meetings. Normally all I can smell is your strawberry shampoo," Toothless said matter-of-factly. He was glad that Hiccup no longer looked sad at this point.

"Touché," was all Hiccup said in response.

Not wanting the conversation to die, Toothless asked, "So, Hiccup, you ever been to this place before?" Right after he asked it, however, he mentally smacked himself. Hiccup had said he had never heard of this place before so obviously he had never been there before. He figured his mild nervousness must be affecting his brain. Toothless told himself he didn't need to be nervous, this was just dinner between friends. For now.

"No. My mother always cooked when she was alive, and my dad isn't a fan of taking me out for dinner."

Great, the conversation had taken a turn for the depressing again. Toothless really needed to stop letting that happen.

"Oh, I see. Well then you're in for a treat. This place is amazing."

"I'll take your word for it."

As much as he wanted to change the subject, Toothless didn't want to seem heartless, so he added an, "And Hiccup, I really am sorry about your mother."

Hiccup gave a quiet, "thanks", and Toothless was glad they were arriving at the restaurant. The car ride had definitely not provided the best atmosphere for conversation, and Toothless hoped that the conversation in the restaurant would be better.

"We're here," Toothless said as he pulled up to the curb. They got out and Toothless handed the keys to the valet, telling him to take extra care of the car. This was a car that was hard to come by and Toothless did not want it dented. They then proceeded up to the restaurant door and Toothless held it open for Hiccup. When they were inside, the hostess asked if they had a reservation.

"Yes, it's under the name Hiccup Night," Toothless responded.

After a quick glance down, the hostess nodded and said, "Ah, yes, here we go, table for two. Right this way please."

They were seated at a table facing 7th Avenue and Toothless thought it was interesting to watch the traffic on the street drive past. He couldn't help but notice the way Hiccup's eyes reflected the car lights, but he quickly looked back down, not wanting to make Hiccup uncomfortable by staring. After they received their menus and the hostess left, Hiccup spoke up once again.

"So, Hiccup Night?"

Toothless chuckled. "Yes, well, I didn't want to use my nickname because I didn't want to raise suspicion, so I used yours. I hope you don't mind."

"No, not at all. But why Night? Why change my last name?"

"It's like I said before. I am willing to bet that there is only one Haddock family in all of New York, and I didn't want to bring any unnecessary attention. And to be honest, Night is actually my real last name, but no one really knows that."

"Oh, ok," Hiccup said.

Toothless was about to say something else before a tall, dark haired man he knew to be André walked up to the table.

"Ah, welcome back Hiccup," the André said, placing extra emphasis on the name. "How are you?"

"Ah, André, how are you?" Toothless asked, shaking his hand. "Actually, this here is Hiccup. I just used his name for the reservation." André nodded and Toothless turned his attention to Hiccup. "Hiccup, this is André, one of the chefs here. He makes the most amazing steak in the city. You like steak, right?"

Hiccup nodded, and that was all Toothless needed to see before he continued.

"Perfect! Then André, we'll take two of the prime bone in New York strips, cooked medium."

"Of course! I'll personally get started right away!" André said.

"Oh, and tell Vincent to put it all on my tab, would you?" André nodded as he started to walk away, and Toothless turned back to Hiccup. This whole dinner had been to get to know each other better, so Toothless figured he might as well get that started. "So, you know all about my past from earlier today, so tell me a little about yours." He figured if Hiccup wasn't comfortable with anything, he just wouldn't mention it.

"What, you mean you haven't already used your sources to find all that out?" Hiccup asked with a smirk. Toothless couldn't help but smile at this.

"I have to leave some things a mystery, otherwise what would we talk about?" Hiccup chuckled at this and Toothless loved the sound of Hiccup's laugh.

"Touché. Well, there's not much to tell," Hiccup said. Even so, he managed to go on for almost twenty minutes, talking about where he was born (Queens, New York), how he was bullied in elementary school and how it just got worse after his mom died (he was nine), how his father had changed after his mom had died, and how he was dealing with his father being absent and always "working late". Toothless was surprised how much detail Hiccup was willing to go into, so he paid full attention to make sure it soaked in the first time. Hiccup was just talking about school when André returned with the steaks.

Hiccup took a couple bites and Toothless could see the look of pure satisfaction on Hiccup's face. Toothless had to snap himself back to reality, almost getting lost in Hiccup's eyes again. The way the car lights from outside reflected in his irises made it seem like they were sparkling.

'Knock it off Toothless,' he thought to himself. 'Remember, not a date.'

The conversation quickly resumed, this time getting into basics such as favourite colours (green for Hiccup and deep blue for Toothless) and favourite spots in Central Park (The Mall for Toothless, Hiccup just said The Pond). Eventually, however, Hiccup asked Toothless how things were going with "work." Toothless knew that Hiccup was interested in that type of thing (he must be if he was taking a university course in it), so he figured he should answer. Especially after how much Hiccup had already told him. Toothless was a little upset he didn't have a positive answer however.

"Oh, well, I don't know. Not too well, really."

"Why, what's up?"

"Well RD has been a little more, how do I put this, violent, lately. More attacks sooner on people not repaying debts, more shootings, telling us to use more vicious methods to get protection money, stuff like that. The other leaders aren't happy either that he is making us put ourselves in so much more danger. He's not going to be happy until someone is dead. Actually, someone is dead. Remember that guy from the night we first met? Earlier today I had to go kill him." In fact, he had gotten the message as soon as he had woken up so it was the first thing that he had done that morning. Not exactly the best way to start a day.

"So, why don't you and the other leaders try to take him out? Overthrow him or something?" Hiccup asked.

"If I spoke out at all against RD, or if anyone did, those loyal to him would inform him and take the individual out. I am friends with the other leaders, but you never know where their true loyalties lie. One of them could pretend to be with me, then go tell RD and get the rest of us killed. I can't be responsible for that."

"Oh, wow," Hiccup said so quietly it could almost be called muttering.

"That's why I had to call in favours to bring you to the warehouse. I don't want to hire someone to work with me because I know that I would be putting someone in direct danger. I kind of feel bad bringing you this far into it," Toothless said, looking down. And he honestly did feel a little bad dragging Hiccup into it all.

"It's ok, I don't mind, really. I'm sure I'll be fine. Besides, I live with my dad and it's not like I'm doing any work for you so I think I'll be fine," Hiccup said with a smile. The fact Hiccup wasn't concerned cheered Toothless up a little and they both got back to their food.


Dinner concluded well with the rest of the conversation being small talk. When they got up to leave, however, Hiccup looked out the window and his eyes widened. Toothless glanced outside and saw a Lincoln, but didn't understand why Hiccup was so concerned. It was when the colour drained from Hiccup's face that Toothless decided to speak up.

"Hiccup? You don't look very well. Are you ok?" When there was no answer, Toothless walked over to Hiccup and put his hand on his shoulder. Looking out of the window to get a better look at the Lincoln, Toothless realized why Hiccup was having this reaction.

Stoick was climbing out of the back seat, one girl draped on each arm. Toothless realized how hard this must be on Hiccup and that he needed to get him out of there as soon as possible.

"Hiccup, this way," was all he said before he grabbed Hiccup's wrist and started pulling him towards the kitchens. Fortunately Toothless knew the back way out so they wouldn't get spotted. Hiccup followed Toothless with no problem through the kitchens and out the back door. They received a few passing glances from the employees but no one said anything. When they stopped in the back alley, however, Hiccup finally broke down into tears.

Toothless held Hiccup close, whispering sweet nothings into his ear. Toothless decided to forget the boundaries he had set for himself to make sure Hiccup wouldn't think he was coming on to him quite yet. Hiccup just needed someone to comfort him right now, and Toothless was there. After a few moments, Hiccup started to speak again.

"Almost every single night he does this. He goes out to clubs and picks up these women. And then he treats them better than me even though the next time he'll have someone new," Hiccup said between sobs.

Toothless couldn't help but feel bad for him. "It's ok Hiccup. Let it all out. Things will get better, I promise. They always do."

When Hiccup looked up, Toothless tried to put on a smile for him. Hiccup slowly stopped crying and Toothless took that as a good sign. Then, for a split second, Toothless thought he noticed something like a thought or a feeling flash through Hiccup's eyes. It left as quickly as it came, and Toothless couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. Not wanting to stay silent in the back alley too long, Toothless spoke up.

"Come on, I'll take you home." They walked slowly around the building to make sure Stoick would already be inside. Toothless got his car from the valet and he started to drive Hiccup back to his apartment. It was a silent ride, but it wasn't an awkward silence. It was the kind of silence where everyone is lost in their own thoughts and everybody knows that. Toothless was thinking about how bad he felt for Hiccup seeing his father like that, and a little selfishly hoping that his comforting gestures had helped him advance his status with Hiccup. His gestures had been genuine and he hadn't been thinking about their relationship at the time, but now there was no reason not to hope that maybe his actions had helped. They were snapped out of their thoughts when Toothless pulled up to Hiccup's building.

"Thanks for tonight," Hiccup started, "it was actually a lot of fun until, well, yeah."

"Yeah. Sorry about that."

"Why are you apologizing? You did nothing wrong."

"I don't know, just seemed like the right thing to say," Toothless said with a smile. "So, will I get to see you again soon?"

Hiccup smiled and said, "Something tells me that even if I said no I wouldn't have much of a choice when that black Lincoln shows up. But yes, definitely."

"Goodnight Hiccup," Toothless chuckled. He was glad that he managed to keep his sense of humour despite the situation.

"Goodnight," Hiccup responded before closing the door.

Toothless watched Hiccup walk through the main doors before he drove off. Yup, Hiccup was definitely more comfortable around Toothless now, and he took that as a good sign.


The title is inspired by the song by OneRepublic. Thinking about Hiccup and Toothless' current and future relationship in this and the main story makes me think of this song.

You know what made those steaks taste so good? All the reviews you lovely people have given me on both these stories. Toothless, Hiccup, and I thank you :)