Don't get too used to the really frequent updates. I already have a lot of the story written down, but eventually I'll catch up to myself. There should be one tomorrow, but after that I can't be certain.

It was obvious from the air where the gas was. Huge clouds of billowing green gas surrounded several large houses. Hiccup landed on the edge of the cloud and examined his old device. He pressed the largest button, which was of course painted bright red, and it sucked in the gas nearest to it. After a little while, it lost suction. "Full," he muttered. Toothless knelt down for Hiccup to jump up on him back, and they headed back to Gobber's forge.

It didn't take too long to hammer out the crude shape of one of the parts, the gas cartridge. He replaced it, made several extras, and headed back to the gas leak. He had only gotten rid of half of the gas by the time Stoick made his way to him. "Whatever that's supposed to be, it's working," Stoick noticed. "You need any help?"

"I'll need more of these soon," Hiccup said, handing a full container of gas to his father as an example. "It's full, so don't open it. Can you ask Gobber to make some more?" Several men with buckets dashed through the cloud with buckets of water, making sure all the houses were wet so as to avoid complete disaster if there was a spark.

"I'm on it. Please try and hurry," Stoick said, running back to where he came from. At that moment, his device became full again. He fished in one of his large pockets for an empty cartridge, but there wasn't one, so he headed back to Gobber's forge.

"Easiest thing I've made all day!" Gobber said, handing Hiccup a few more. "I'll keep them coming."

It seemed like a very long time before Hiccup finished. The twins, without their dragon, as they had been temporarily grounded, and Fishlegs were there to pat him on the back. "What are you goin to do with all that gas?" Fishlegs asked.

"I'll figure something out," Hiccup said. "Hold on... where's Snotlout?"

"No idea," Ruffnut said with a grin. "No idea."

"Ruffnut, what did you do?" Hiccup said with an exasperated sigh.

"She buried Snotlout! Oh, it was awesome! You should have seen his face. All that gas was just a diversion for the real action, going on down there," Tuffnut said, pointing stoically.

"Great job. Where'd you bury him?" Hiccup said, following Tuffnut's finger.

Tuffnut snatched his finger back. 'I bet you can't fine him!" Tuffnut said, his helmet askew.

Hiccup growled under his breath. Toothless nudged him, then led the way down the slope towards a clearing. Toothless began to dig with his large paws, spraying dirt behind him. Finally Snotlout burst up from the dirt, gasping for breath, his eyes wild. He had covered his face with his shirt to avoid suffocating.

"You okay?" Hiccup said, helping him to his feet. He thought it odd that Snotlout would even accept help from anyone.

"What did I do wrong?" Snotlout wailed, clutching at Hiccup's good foot. "It was a confession! Oh, I confessed! She... she didn't agree..."

"What are you saying?" Hiccup said, shaking his boot and attempting to hop backwards on his prosthetic leg. He ended up on the ground.

"A confession of love," Snotlout said. "Oh, I can't take it anymore!"

Hiccup groaned, lying on his back. He kicked Snotlout's arm gently with his metal foot, causing him to let go. "I never thought I'd hear you say that. Come on."

Later...

"So Snotlout was buried alive, hm?" Gobber said. "Must be insanity due to lack of oxygen. Nothing else can explain it."

Hiccup looked a Gobber, then at Snotlout very closely. "I didn't think Snotlout could have a thing for Ruffnut, but hey, their personalities match! Destructive and a bit egotistical..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Snotlout complained, not knowing what egotistical meant but knowing it wasn't a shining personality trait.

Hiccup ignored him. "Snotlout, she buried you alive. Forget her!" Hiccup said.

"How can I forget my princess?" Snotlout begged.

Hiccup looked at him for a few moments, slightly creeped out. "Just- stay away from Ruffnut!" Hiccup then added under his breath, "I really don't want to have to wipe your blood off the floor." Ruffnut could be scary.

"What was that?" Snotlout said suspiciously.

"Nothing!" Hiccup said, laughing nervously. Snotlout growled and walked out. "What is going on with him," he said, picking up the gas-inator (as Gobber had affectionately called it) and twirling it in his fingers. "And what am I going to do with all this gas?"

"Let it all out, Hiccup!" Gobber said, shaking his hook. "Better out than in! That's my policy. Always works, too!" he hummed happily, polishing his hook with his shirt.

"I don't really want to think about what you just said," Hiccup said, shuddering. "And I don't think we should unleash all this zippleback gas on the world." he gestured to the large piles of cartridges.

"You'll think of something, Hiccup! You always do," Gobber said affectionately, ruffling Hiccup's hair with his shining hook.

"Ow," Hiccup muttered, rubbing his head and flattening his hair, again. He grabbed his sketchbook from a convenient pocket and began to sketch a design. He became lost in thought very quickly, so Gobber sneaked away as sneakily as he could with a wooden foot.

After a while, Toothless came over from outside and rested his head on Hiccup's shoulder. "Hey bud," Hiccup said, scratching Toothless' head where he liked it. Toothless purred, rubbing against Hiccup's shoulder in bliss.

"It would just need a spark," Hiccup mused, Toothless' head resting on his lap. He drew in a few more circles and squiggly lines to the drawing and Toothless, watching uninterestedly, nudged Hiccup's side for more scratching. Hiccup obliges, absentmindedly flipping to the next page in the journal and making a much neater sketch.

"What do you think, bud?" Hiccup said finally, showing him the finished drawing. Toothless yawned. "You're right. I'll start on it tomorrow." then he looked outside and saw that it was pitch black. "Whoa! Sorry, bud!"

He hurried home, leaving his sketched in the smithie. Stoick, up late, told him that Gothi had 'said' not to move Astrid. When he reached the upstairs of his house, and his bedroom, Toothless went to his bed at the foot of Hiccup's bed, and Hiccup stood there awkwardly. "That's alright," he said, looking at Astrid curled up in his bed. "You shouldn't be moved. I'll just... sleep with Toothless."

"Nonsense," Astrid mumbled, grabbing his wrist gently but firmly and pulling him closer.

"I can't argue with that," Hiccup said, crawling into bed behind her. She shifted, letting him put his arm around her, and they slept like that until daybreak.