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"Can't you just send them home?" Ingrid complained to her father. "Vadik keeps trying to talk to me and he's so boring. Well, I assume he is, I don't listen." Hiccup smiled, scribbling something on his blueprint. "Is that another tail for Toothless?" Ingrid sighed. "You've got, like, a million of them." She walked around the table, tilting her head to examine the new plans. "What is that?"

"Building plans for the Edge. Going to extend on the old huts. Like a home-from-home for the classes. They stay there a while and research the dragons, learn about them firsthand, so on and so forth. Al gave me the idea, said he wished he could spend more time on the Edge. Would you be up for it?"

"Maybe. Depends who I go with. And if you sort out the little Berserker situation."

"Are you trying to blackmail me?" Hiccup asked amusedly.

"Not trying. I am blackmailing you. Get rid of the idiots and I'll spend the rest of my life on the Edge if I have to, I don't care, I just want them gone."

"The rest of your life on the Edge, eh?"

"That was exaggeration, don't- ugh, gods, you're a pain." Ingrid took his pencil and made a few adjustments. Hiccup let her, silently elated whenever she showed interest in his work. "How much longer have they got to be here?"

"However long I want."

"Then, why did you invite them here at all?" Ingrid huffed. Hiccup said nothing, that almost smug, all-knowing look behind the innocent and mock-oblivious smile. "Let me guess, this has something to do with your grand plan." He nodded, smile turning into a triumphant smirk. "Can I know what it is yet?" No. "You're no fun anymore."

"Hey, I resent that comment. Who let you keep the Changewing egg?"

"Some idiot."

"Are you calling your dad an idiot?"

"Yeah. I appreciate the Changewing egg though. Al helped me figure out when it's going to hatch." Hiccup raised a brow, redrawing a few lines. "About two weeks. And Changewings grow really quickly too. Give it about two years and I'll have a dragon big enough to ride. Al said that Changewings keep growing until they're about five and then they're fully-grown. They live for about fifty to seventy years, so that's not so bad." Toothless returned, Aloe in his saddle with her precious dragon toy clutched to her chest. She beamed at them. She was too little to fly Toothless, but the Night Fury was more than willing to walk about with her on his back. "How long do Night Furies live?"

"Mmm..." Hiccup scratched at his chin, wrinkling his nose. "You might have to ask Mum on that one. Problem with Toothless being the only Night Fury, he's our little test subject too." Toothless snorted. "Don't take that tone with me." Hiccup warned playfully. "You love having your picture drawn. Everybody knows that." He shook his head. "So vain." Toothless slapped his ear against his rider's arm. Aloe hopped from his back and unto the table, inspecting the new plans.

"I want my own room." She told her father.

"Aloe Aloe. It's that school I was telling you about."

"Ooh, the one on the Edge?"

"Yes."

"Can I go?"

"When you're old enough."

"I'm never old enough!" Aloe pouted. Hiccup and Ingrid blinked and exchanged confused looks. "When can I get my own dragon, Daddy? And not a Terror, I want a big dragon! Can I have Toothless when you're old?" Toothless huffed.

"He'll probably retire with me."

"I'll find my own Toothless then." Aloe defied, tipping her chin up.

"If you do that, I'll give you a medal."

"A gold one?"

"Yeah." Hiccup shrugged. Aloe grinned, sweet and bubbly once more.

"Hello, Alastor." Alastor looked up from his new cleaning supplies and frowned at Vadik. "I don't want to cause any trouble. I just heard you got yourself a dragon and I wanted to look, if that was alright with you, of course." Alastor shrugged. His mother had helped him buy dragon hygiene equipment that morning and now he had to give Spike his first bath. Spike was being kept in the lean-to for now, something Hiccup had promised to have enlarged so all the dragons could fit comfortably. The young Nadder was chasing Stormfly while the Terrors watched on. Stormfly flapped up onto the roof and squawked at her new housemate.

Spike turned as Alastor approached, chirping in greeting, nuzzling his new friend affectionately. He sniffed at Vadik and pawed the ground. "Is something wrong?" Alastor shook his head, placing the bucket of water on the floor. Spike inspected that, snuffling and taking a drink before he realised it had soap in. Alastor pulled on his crown and the Nadder grumbled at him. "Why do you not talk whenever I'm around?" Alastor didn't answer, soaking the bristle brush. Spike was wary at first, but when the moisture soothed his scales, he sat, blissfully content. Nadders liked to be clean and, while they did their own fair share of grooming, they couldn't always get the dirt and grime from their scales. "Can I ask you something?" Alastor shrugged, not looking round. "I had no idea my father was going to pull a stunt like that. Would Ingrid believe me if I told her so?" Alastor paused, brush hovering over a mudstain on Spike's shoulder. Eventually, he waved his hand unhelpfully, resuming his dragon's bathtime.

Vadik sighed. Alastor glanced over at him. Vadik had sat himself on a nearby rock, leaning forward on the hilt of his sword. "I mean no-one in your family harm, yet... my father does not agree with it. He hates you. And by you, I mean your family, particularly your father." Vadik hesitated. "Dad often says I'm too much like my mother, no matter how hard I try to please him. I've done years of combat training, military training, sailing, weapons, survival skills. I never remember Dad giving me a toy. He's always handed me weapons." Alastor saw the reflection of the older boy in his Nadder's wary eye, still perched on that rock, unmoving. "I guess I'm not the Berserk he wants me to be."

Alastor felt as though he was supposed to say something now. He ran his thumb over the bristles worriedly, wiping the suds on his shirt. He looked back. Vadik had lost some of his armour from when Alastor last saw him. From what he had heard, that was Ingrid's doing. Vadik was of slighter build than Alastor inititally thought, maybe one or two stages up from a hiccup. Alastor knew his sword was not the same, seeing as Ingrid had swiped that also. All the same, despite his posture, Vadik still had the look of a chief's son. Looking down at himself, Alastor didn't. He had none of the fighter's air, none of his father's charm or cheekiness, none of his mother's soldier nature or defiance. Ingrid was the soldier, Aloe was the peace keeper. Alastor was stuck in the middle, only useful for dragon information and even then, he couldn't share that properly either. Not with taking an hour to finish a sentence.

Instead, he pulled Vadik to his feet, taking the sword from his hand. He tossed it to one side and gave him the brush instead. Spike shuffled closer, wanting bath time to continue. Vadik looked from one to the other, eyes alone moving back and forth. "Are you trying to tell me something?" He asked. Alastor picked up the bucket and held it out to him. Something clicked in Vadik's mind. "I don't have to be like my dad. There's always another option." Alastor nodded. Vadik smiled. "You're a good listener. And, for a guy who doesn't talk, very clever."

"Oh, he does talk." Ingrid said. "Hey, bro. I've been looking for you everywhere. Dad was telling me about that Edge thing. Very impressive." Alastor smiled gratefully. Vadik chewed his lip. Ingrid noticed the things he was holding. "Are you giving Spike a bath?"

"Well..." Vadik started. Alastor nodded. "Oh. Are you sure? He's your dragon." Spike nudged Alastor forward. "I think he wants you." Vadik handed the cleaning things back. "Any other things you could give me to tell my dad?"

"Tell your dad what?"

"I'm..." Vadik stopped, voice catching. "I'm not a Berserk."

"Oh?" Ingrid met her brother's gaze. Alastor bowed his head. "Daddy issues?"

"I... I don't know." A horn in the distance blew. Vadik sighed. "I have to go. Thank you." He smiled at Alastor and trotted off down the hill. The siblings watched him go.

"What did he have to say for himself?"

"H-h-he h-ha-had n-n-n-no i-i-id-ide-idea a-a-ab-abo-about th-th-the m-ma-mar-marri-marriage t-th-thi-thing. N-n-no-not u-u-unt-until y-yo-you d-d-d-did."

"Bit strange, don't you think?"

"D-D-Da-Dagur."

"True."

"I-I-I t-th-think h-h-he wa-wan-wants t-t-to b-be y-yo-your f-fr-frie-friend."

"And how do I know this isn't some trick?" Alastor shrugged. "Exactly."

"N-n-ni-nice t-t-to m-m-me."

"Probably because he wants something. All blokes are nice if they want something. Fine, most blokes. You look like Dad pulling that face."

"Told you he got my good looks." The pair looked round to see their father sitting on the doorstep.

"When did you get there?"

"I've been here for ages. Alastor's not wrong, Ingrid. Vadik was being nice to him. And it looked like he wanted a second opinion more than anything else." A sparkle danced in Hiccup's eyes, a little victory. Ingrid was dubious. Either Vadik was a set-up or, by some miracle, he was being genuine and, if that was the case, it was playing right into Hiccup's hands.