Hey guys! :) I hoped you liked the last chapter! This chapter should be pretty fun, too, y'know...I don't know, I wanted some fluffiness in this chapter, but there isn't a lot of it.
Oh, and just so you know, I am officially opening -
SUGGESTIONS! :D
Not requests, suggestions; you can suggest ideas for chapters, you know, let me know what you'd like to see more of, less of, etc., etc., so, yeah, LET ME KNOW. :D LOVE YOU GUYS! ENJOY CHAPTER 7! :D
CHAPTER 7: VIDEO CALL
DAY: FEBRUARY 26
TIME: 2:19 PM
YEAR: 2015
"Are you sure you'll be alright on your own?"
"Dad, I'll be fine-"
"Because I can call the office and tell them I won't be coming."
"Dad, I'm-"
"Second thought, maybe that's what I'll do anyways-"
"Dad!" Hiccup finally interjected. "I'll be alright! And besides, I won't be alone. I'll have Toothless." For emphasis, Toothless, who was sitting beside Hiccup on the couch (something the dog wouldn't have been doing under different circumstances), nodded eagerly.
Stoick sighed and paced for a moment or two, clad in police uniform, car keys already in his hand. "I'm still not-"
"I'll call you if something happens, alright?" said Hiccup reassuringly. "I've got my phone." He held it up for extra emphasis. "I'll be okay, Dad. Toothless can get me anything I need, watch. Toothless, painkillers."
Toothless leapt off the couch and raced off, disappearing into their kitchen. When Toothless reappeared, he was carefully carrying Hiccup's bottle of painkillers between his teeth.
"Thanks, Toothless," said Hiccup. "See, Dad? We've got it covered."
Stoick hesitated.
"Dad, it's okay," said Hiccup. "If it makes you feel better, I'll call you every hour and let you know how we're doing, alright? I'll set an alarm so I don't forget."
This seemed to make Stoick feel at least a little better. "Only if you're sure…?" said Stoick, still hesitant.
"I'm sure," said Hiccup.
Stoick finally conceded. "Alright," he said. "I'll come home early. What do you want for dinner?"
"Eh, whatever," said Hiccup, shrugging.
"Does Chinese work?"
"Chinese is great."
"Alright," said Stoick, heading for the door. "I love you, Hiccup."
"Love you too, Dad," said Hiccup. "See you later."
Stoick nodded and stepped outside, shutting and locking the door behind him. Hiccup sighed, leaning back against the couch. Toothless, still holding Hiccup's bottle of painkillers between his teeth, woofed pathetically.
Hiccup opened his eyes. "What?" he said.
"Boof," said Toothless.
Hiccup held out his hand, and Toothless dropped the bottle into his palm. Hiccup set it on the coffee table, and Toothless leapt onto the couch beside him again.
"Alright, bud," Hiccup said, taking his laptop, "let's see…" Toothless watched him, ever so interested. Hiccup typed in his laptop's password and opened his web browser. "Okay...so...what now? Cat videos?"
Toothless woofed.
"Meh, you're right. I don't like cats much either."
Toothless nodded and laid his head down, just to shoot up again when Hiccup's phone rang. Hiccup picked it up, groaned when he recognized the number, and answered it.
"Dad, you haven't been gone thirty seconds."
"I know. Just making sure you're okay."
"Dad, I told you, I'll call you every hour, alright?"
"I haven't gotten in the car yet. If you changed your mind-"
"I'm fine, Dad, honestly. I'll call you later."
Click.
Hiccup sighed and set down his phone. "He's overprotective," said Hiccup. Toothless laid his head down. "And honestly, bud, you're no different, either." Toothless grunted, clearly uninterested, and went back to sleeping.
Hiccup did a quick routine check of his social medias, and was just about to shut his computer, when something blooped, and a message popped up on the screen.
Incoming call from FISHLEGS INGERMAN. Answer with video?
Hiccup paused, only briefly, and then, he moused over and clicked Accept. The bubble opened into his Skype; Hiccup turned on his webcam, and once it was working, looked back at the screen.
He couldn't see anything from the opposite side, but he heard fidgeting. "Ouch...hey! I was sitting there!" snapped Ruffnut's voice, followed by a whack! and an "OW!" from Tuffnut.
"Guys, quit pushing!" shouted Astrid's voice.
"Everyone, move over!" said Snotlout's authoritative voice. "Is it working? Um, do you guys know how to work this thing?"
"Hey, guys!" Hiccup said, and instantly, the fidgeting and arguing stopped.
"Hiccup!" said Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut's voices in perfect unison.
"Can you see us?" said Astrid's voice.
"Um, no," said Hiccup. "Do you guys have the webcam plugged in? You're using Fishlegs' computer, aren't you? It doesn't have its own webcam."
"Oh, darn, I knew we were forgetting something," said Snotlout's voice. "Ruffnut! Tuffnut! What did you do with the webcam last time you used it?"
"We gave it to Fishlegs!"
"No you didn't!" said Fishlegs.
"Guys!" said Hiccup, and they stopped arguing instantly. "Look in the crate with the guitar chords. Sometimes it gets thrown in there after rehearsals."
There was a few moments without voices, and after a few minutes of rummaging, Ruffnut's triumphant voice shouted "YES! Found it!" and Hiccup could hear them plugging the webcam the computer.
Within moments, the black screen turned into a screen with Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Snotlout, and Astrid. Astrid was wearing her usual punk outfit, complete with leather fingerless gloves and spikes, and Ruffnut and Tuffnut looked like athletes. Snotlout wore his biker jacket, and Fishlegs wore his brown leather vest over a white shirt.
"There you are!" said Hiccup, smiling. "Now, can you see me, too?"
"Yeah!" said Fishlegs, nodding. "We can see you!"
"How're you doing, dude?" said Tuffnut, leaning closer to the webcam. "Wait, wait, hold on! Virtual fist-bump!" Hiccup and Tuffnut bumped their fists against their webcams. "I've always wanted to do that!" said Tuffnut.
"What's up?" said Snotlout.
"Um, nothing much," said Hiccup, shrugging. "Tired, but I think that's because of the painkillers. They normally knock me out for a few hours after I take them."
"How are you, Hiccup?" Fishlegs asked caringly. "You look pale."
"Yeah, I'm alright," Hiccup said. "Still really sore, but I'm managing, adjusting, you know...what about you guys? What's up?"
"Oooooh!" said Tuffnut excitedly. "Can I tell him the surprise? Oh, please, can I tell him the susprise!?"
"No!" said Ruffnut angrily. "I wanted to tell him the surprise!"
"What surprise?" said Hiccup, smiling. And then he frowned. "Guys, what did you do...?"
"We got a trailer!" blurted Ruffnut and Tuffnut at the same time.
"What? No way!" said Hiccup, grinning. "That's awesome! Where'd you get it? Did you use the funds I left in the jar?"
"We got it from your boss' mechanic shop," said Snotlout, shrugging. "He was selling it. We stopped by on our way to pick up our music sheets and told him what happened, you know, with you and the car. He gave us the trailer half-off!"
"And we decided," said Tuffnut, "not to make you help pay for it!"
"Aw, guys, you shouldn't have," said Hiccup. Unexpectedly, Toothless leapt off the couch and ran into the other room; Hiccup didn't try and stop him. "I told you, I wanted to help you guys pay for it."
"Yeah," said Fishlegs, "but after the whole car incident, we decided to surprise you and get it ourselves!"
"Well, thanks," said Hiccup. "In which case, I'll treat you all to coffee instead as soon as my dad lets me out of the house. He's kind of...overprotective right now, which I guess I can't really blame him for, but you know, it gets a little...tedious, after a while."
"Right," said Astrid, "well, as soon as you can, we'll meet up for lunch or coffee or whatever."
Toothless nudged Hiccup's hand, and Hiccup turned to look at the dog; Toothless, once again, had Hiccup's painkiller bottle in his mouth, sitting on the ground in front of the couch, tailing swishing against the green carpet like a broom. "C'mon, Toothless, put it down," said Hiccup, but Toothless didn't put it down. He leapt onto the couch and dropped the painkillers into Hiccup's lap.
"Aww, hi, Toothless!" squealed Ruffnut, and Toothless looked at her on the screen of the computer, head tilted in curiosity. Ruffnut laughed. "He's so adorable, Hiccup! How old is he again?"
"Almost three," said Hiccup. "Hang on, guys…" He took the painkillers and checked his phone for the time; it had been about five hours since he last took his painkillers, which meant it was nearly time for another dose of them.
"Toothless, can you get me my water bottle?" Hiccup asked. "It's in the kitchen."
Toothless nodded and bounded off.
"Sorry, guys," Hiccup said, "I've got to take my pain drugs in a minute, and they'll knock me out for a few hours, but other than the trailer and the music sheets, how are you guys doing?"
"Great!" they said in unison.
"Yeah, especially me!" said Ruffnut happily. "My boss just fired me! I've never been happier before in my life!"
Hiccup didn't quite know how to respond to that.
"Yeah, I'm going to try and talk to my boss about getting her a job at his music shop," said Tuffnut, shrugging. "We need someone to dust anyways."
Toothless returned with Hiccup's water bottle, and he dropped it on Hiccup's lap with the bottle of painkillers. "Thanks, Toothless," Hiccup said. "Well, guys, thanks for calling. It's good to see you all."
"You too, Hiccup!" said Fishlegs.
"Yeah, no problem, dude," said Tuffnut. "If we were hit by a car, you'd do the same for us."
"Just don't push yourself, alright?" said Astrid. "We're going to go ahead and mail in our entry fee and application for the Battle of the Bands. They need to receive it by the thirty first, so we need to get it in the mail as soon as possible."
"Good idea," said Hiccup. "I think I left a twenty by the drum set to help pay for the entry fee. You guys, seriously, I want you to use it, alright?"
"Alright," said Snotlout, "cool. The rest of us pitched about sixteen some dollars. We'll give you the change next time we see you, 'kay?"
"Okay," Hiccup agreed. "We can plan to do another video call tomorrow. How does seven thirty work for you guys?"
"Yeah, we'll be at Headquarters," said Astrid, "practicing. Snotlout's writing a song to do at the Battle of the Bands. You get extra points from the judges if it's original."
"Sweet," said Hiccup. "I'll talk to you guys later."
"Sounds good," said Ruffnut.
"Bye, Hiccup!" they said, waving.
"Bye," said Hiccup, waving back, and he hit End Call. Skype closed down, and he shut his laptop, set it back on the coffee table, and leaned back, sighing tiredly.
Toothless wasn't having it. He jumped on Hiccup, and Hiccup protested, playfully shoving him away. "Alright, alright, Mr. Bossy!" Hiccup said, shoving the border collie back. "I'll take my medicine! Sheesh!"
Toothless, satisfied, leapt off Hiccup again and ran from the room; Hiccup was taking another medication to prevent infection in his leg. Hiccup took two painkiller pills (the assigned dosage) and swallowed them down with water. When Toothless returned, jaw closed around the other bottle of pills, Hiccup took the assigned dosage of them, too.
Hiccup took up his phone, sent a quick text to his father ("Just took medications, gonna rest for a while. Don't panic if I don't respond for a few hours.") and laid back against the couch. He glanced at the steep staircase. Maybe in a few days he would brave them and sleep in his own room instead of on the couch.
But definitely not today.
He laid on his side on the couch and pulled his blanket over his shoulder; Toothless jumped on him and curled on top of him, much to Hiccup's protest. "You're not a lap dog, Toothless," Hiccup said.
Toothless whined.
"Ugh, fine. You big baby...that's what you are, isn't it?" He reached over, petting the dog's head. "Big, stubborn baby…"
Toothless laid his head down. He seemed pretty okay with being a "big baby" if it meant he got to sleep on the couch with his boy. Hiccup shut his eyes, slowly stroking the dog's head, until finally, the movement of his hand became slower, and slower, until it stopped altogether, and he fell fast asleep.
