Hiccup finished his breakfast in record time and sat down in the doorway, fixing Elsa with a very meaningful stare. As if knowing that Hiccup wanted her to eat quickly, Elsa took her time, visibly savoring each bite. When a full hour had gone by and Elsa still wasn't finished with her meal, Hiccup gave up staring and simply plopped down on the floor, giving her a look that clearly asked why she hated him so much. Well, that's what he got for scaring her.
The fact that he looked adorable with his eyes closed shut and ears drooping had nothing to do with it.
Finally the girl took pity on her friend and finished the last bite of the bowl without undue lingering and got up to clean the dishes. Once the kitchen was in order, Hiccup picked her up by the ice cape, careful to keep the hotter parts of his mouth away from it, and carried her up the stairs and onto her bedroom's balcony. She crossed her arms and glared up at the dragon, but he just let his eyes crinkle in a smile.
Once they were both standing on the balcony, Hiccup lowered himself so Elsa could get on. She was about to conjure her usual saddle, which was a lot like a chair, when Hiccup motioned towards the sky with his nose. Oh. OH! She immediately shifted the design so it was flatter and more aerodynamic, with handles on the front and stirrups on the sides. "Should I make ties or something?" In response, Hiccup scratched out a design on the icy floor, a vest with ropes that tied onto loops on the sides of a saddle that was almost like a second skin on his upper back. The blonde adjusted the saddle to match Hiccup's design and quickly rehashed her clothing into the riding vest, along with pants so she'd stay decent during the flight. With a hood up around her face to help keep her hair out of her eyes and bindings around her ankles to keep the pants in place, she was ready to take to the sky. Hiccup nodded approvingly.
He offered her his foreleg and she used it to get high enough to sling her other leg over his body, just in front of those magnificent wings. With ropes tied tightly and feet firmly hooked into the stirrups, she scratched behind his ear and whispered, "Let's go, friend." Hiccup stepped off the platform and back into the sky.
It was a gentle takeoff, gliding from the height of one of the highest rooms in the palace. After a few jolting flaps to gain more altitude, Hiccup leveled off, occasionally flapping to keep balance and stay aloft. It was harder to fly this far up, with the thinner air, but he was a night fury. He could deal with it. Besides, from the awed gasps coming from his rider, he could tell Elsa was enjoying her first time in his domain.
Elsa looked in so many directions, she almost gave herself whiplash. First, it was just the thrill of flying, feeling the powerful strokes of the wings beneath her and enjoying the wind. Then it was the view. Her ice palace shone like an enormous diamond, and she could even see Arendelle from here. The summer of the town was a far cry from her eternal winter up here, but somehow that just made the city all the more beautiful. Perhaps someday she would show Hiccup all of the kingdom, not just the little corner the two of them presently occupied.
A moment later, she laughed at the thought. Hiccup could fly! He'd probably seen all of Arendelle and more, places she'd only heard of and some that she hadn't, probably. What a gift he'd given her, letting her share this gift.
Then, to Hiccup's slight surprise, she put one of her hands in the air and let loose a stream of snowflakes. The conjured ice trailed behind them like the tail of a comet, and Hiccup decided to have a little fun. Slowly, he changed his trajectory so that they headed down in a gentle spiral. Elsa kept the stream of ice going, and a moment later the duo turned back to look at where they'd flown. A spiral of ice hung in the air, fine enough for the wind to keep it aloft. But it was only there for a moment before the wind from Hiccup's wings disturbed the shape. Still, it had been beautiful. They glided over the mountain, passed the areas where they'd explored. Suddenly, Elsa saw something and asked Hiccup to land. He complied without too much harrumphing, although he didn't seem to want to leave the sky. But when he saw what had caught her attention, his complaints silenced.
It was a cave, just like the one where they'd found the beautiful black rock that was currently embedded in every inch of the ice palace.
With Elsa still sitting atop Hiccup, the pair entered the tunnel, using Hiccup's plasma blasts when it got too dark. It was an unremarkable trek though drab grey stone for a long time, about half an hour, but then Hiccups light reflected off of something. The pair looked at each other for a moment before Elsa urged him to blast the ceiling. The cavern lit up and showed off its wall of deep red stone.
There was no glitter to it, not even a gleam, but the color was so beautiful that Elsa couldn't resist dismounting and picking up a fragment. "What do you think? Would this look good in some of the flowers in the conservatory?" Hiccup warbled a yes. But when she went to pick up another rock, he gently knocked it out of her hands. "What?"
In response, Hiccup spread his newly healed wing. Oh. Too much weight was sure to strain it. So the princess contented herself with a single stone and walked with Hiccup back to the entrance of the cave. It made her wonder if there were more such caves, and if they also bore stone that could decorate her palace. Still, the ice was beautiful by itself, and too much would ruin the effect. Balance was necessary.
They flew back to the palace, more quickly this time with their load, to make plans for the new discovery and to eat lunch. In the middle of the meal, when Hiccup had his mouth full of fish, Elsa asked, "Hiccup, can I make a statue of you?"
I can't make Hiccup a dragon and not let him fly for at least one chapter. The second cave is another thing I added for fun that exploded and was suddenly very important to the story. I think I see what authors mean when they just watch the story unravel.