Honestly these four get cuter all the time and I love them.

The song is a translation of an old Norse song I found on the interwebs.

-HTTYD-

As I was able to sleep just as well,
I thought that would be best —
to rest myself here on fine fur,
and forget everyone else.

Peace, if it is to be found, is where
one is furthest from the human noise —
and walling oneself around, can have a dream
of silk and fine furs.

Eret tried not to make a sound, wary of disturbing her as he listened to Valka sing. He hadn't heard her sing before, not really, just melodic sounds she made to the dragons sometimes. But the way the other dragons reacted, it seemed she did it often.

Her voice was nice.

She turned holding a basket of clothes, which told Eret it was a wash day, and seemed surprised to find Eret there.

"How long were you there?"

"Long enough. You can sing around me you know, I promise not to cover my ears and tell you its terrible."

Valka looked to be contemplating throwing something at him, but she restrained. Cloudjumper looked much closer to swatting him with his tail.

"Charming."

"I'm kidding. Need some help?"

"Not with this, but you could finish tearing up that cloth over there, we're low on bandages. So many injured lately."

He heard the sad note in her voice, debated if it was inappropriate to offer a physical comfort like a touch to the shoulder, but Valka was gone before he could decide. Shrugging to himself, Eret headed through with Tripfire trotting behind him. Six days now, she'd been there with them, and she'd barely left Eret's side for a minute. He had to ask her twice to let him use the bathroom in peace. Still, Eret couldn't really complain too much; it was far better than her hating him.

If she would just stop licking him, it would be easier. Almost seeming to read his mind, Tripfire laved a slobbery, wet tongue over his face before perching smugly next to him to watch Eret take his small knife, shredding up several reams of otherwise useless material; it was mostly clothes taken from a destroyed trapper ship that were too small for either of the very tall people in the nest, and largely in too poor a condition to use for much other than rags or bandages.

Hunting around, he found the crate of bundles of yak jerky, offering one to a confused Tripfire and grinning as she sniffed it haughtily.

"If it's good enough for me, it's good enough for you."

"Rrroww."

After watching Eret chew his happily, she picked it up and gnawed at it warily before brightening, eating it rather quickly after that.

"Good, right? How are your wings doing, can I check them?"

Tripfire rolled her eyes, but after another lick for Eret she extended her wings one by one, let him check under the bandages to investigate how she was healing. He could see promising signs of the delicate membrane of her wing coming back together, and hoped once she was cleared to fly again he'd be able to pee in peace.

"How is she doing?"

"Looking good, yeah."

With a basket of now-wet things - how long had he spent cutting up that fabric? Granted, he spent extra time trying to make them a variety of sizes for different needs... - Valka returned to find him checking each of Tripfire's injuries.

"That's very good news. Is there more firewood?"

"Yep, I'll grab it."

He jokingly flexed as he carted the bucket back to let Valka build up the fire, which earned him an eyeroll from both Valka and Cloudjumper. Tough crowd.

"I hope you don't think you can charm me like some tavern girl who is just dying for a moment of adventure."

"I bet I could, but no. It's just how I am. Does it make you uncomfortable? Cus I can do it more."

Valka threw her soap at him. Eret tried to catch it, but it was wet and slippery still and so he dropped it, then tried to pick it up and dropped it again.

"You're getting it dirty!"

"It's soap! It'll clean. And you threw it at me!"

Tsking, Valka went back to tending the fire so it would burn nicely, before hanging her clothes up on a line near it to dry. It was still a little funny to see that feral vigilante who'd faced off against trapper after trapper, who tamed dragons seemingly with magic, in such a domestic setting. Managing to get a grip on the soap, Eret dropped it in the bucket with the wash cloths in, figuring he could clean it when he next went for a bath.

"Hey, didn't you get a box of spices from that last raid you went on?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes" Valka looked around, eventually bending over into a trunk before rising with a smaller box "here you go."

Eret took them with thanks, glad he'd be able to perk up dinner more often now - Valka only really had salt in the flavour department, and even then she only used it to preserve excess food sometimes.

"Awesome. Flatbread and stew good with you for tonight?"

"So long as you don't poison it."

"If you really thought I would, you wouldn't let me cook. Unless my cooking is just that good you don't care and will risk your untimely demise?"

Valka ignored him. Eret shrugged it off, glad that Valka had seen fit to keep several cooking things she'd looted, even if she scarcely used them. It made it much easier for him to take over cooking. He would credit Valka's skill where it counted - the woman could combine plants and herbs for medicine and tea brilliantly. Eret just wasn't prepared to live off her terrible cooking indefinitely.

"Tripfire, don't stick your nose in the flour! Then you'll sneeze and Valka will yell at me for getting flour everywhere."

Huffing, Tripfire twisted her head in time to see Cloudjumper approaching tentatively; he was quite clearly keen to be noticed by the female, but Tripfire wasn't interested in anyone but Eret. Even Valka was more tolerated than actively liked for the moment. She'd had a rough time, she would come around.

Oh gods, he was starting to sound like Valka.

"I'm just going for a firewood run, try not to blow anything up."

"No promises!"

Bread ready to heat when the stew was closer to being done, Eret dug into the fish barrel and tossed a few up to Tripfire, who was most enthused to be getting her food. She bumped her head against his shoulder, blinking rapidly until Eret lifted his hands and scratched at her chin the way he'd seen Valka do to Cloudjumper. Different dragon species were fussy about where they were petted - another thing he never expected to learn, let alone need to know.

"I know you're bored, girl, but it's worth a few more days grounded to be all better right?"

Tripfire warbled, butting her head gently against his chest with worried eyes.

"Don't worry, I'm healing up too."

And he was, though before Eret had simply seen the brand as punishment. Now it felt like a challenge, a constant reminder of what he had to aim to be better than. Valka had shown him the truth, and given him a second chance. He needed to keep trying to be worthy of it.

"You are impossible! Why did I ever believe you could change?"

She shoved him aside, stormed past him. Eret whipped around, scowling.

"That's not fair! I'm really trying here!"

"So you say. And yet violence against dragons is your immediate go to solution!"

Eret rolled his eyes, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

"That isn't what I meant! I just pointed out that with Drago building a dragon army, it makes sense to challenge him, to take him down before he's done!"

"With these dragons. Putting them in the very same danger I fight to free them from. No. We protect. We don't go to war with a madman. Here is safe."

"And what if one day its not? What if he found you some day?"

"The Alpha is here. The dragons are safe here."

The ex trapper could be so damned aggravating, and she wanted to shake him until sense finally rattled around in his brain. Cloudjumper growled, warning Eret not to upset his human. Of course, that set off Tripfire, who let out a screech and positioned herself between Eret and Cloudjumper in a visibly protective stance.

"Hey, it's alright girl. Nobody is fighting anyone here."

Eret managed to soothe his companion, Tripfire turning toward him and cooing. Valka supposed there was some change - he'd been effectively mocking her for caring for dragons when he first crashed into her life and ended up her temporary ward, and there he was, calming and stroking the female Stormcutter like he'd been at it for years. It softened her irritation enough that she stopped entertaining visions of dumping him back on a trapper island again. She doubted she could seperate those two even if she wanted to. When dragons chose someone, they tended to do so whole-heartedly, and Tripfire was no exception.

"Ugh, I don't need a bath Tripfire!"

He failed completely in dissuading his dragon from insistently licking him, and Valka couldn't suppress laughter any longer as he spluttered and tried in vain to fend off the incredibly affectionate reptile. Tripfire ended up completely laying him out on the ground, giving Eret no chance of running away as she continued to give him 'dragon kisses' despite pleas for her to stop. Only when satisfied Eret was sufficiently aware how much she liked him did Tripfire let up, and Eret's tunic was completely soaked in Stormcutter-spit. It was sensible he take it off, really, else he was practically waiting to be set on fire.

"I'm gonna go clean the slobber out of my hair. Though I don't know why I bother, she's just gonna do it again."

"She likes you!"

Eret rolled his eyes and went off, Tripfire in tow, in search of a bucket of water to rinse his hair and face off. And probably a clean tunic. Valka caught view of his bare back as he went, seeing several scars in different stages of aging, some clearly years old while others still had that pink-ish colour to them that said they were quite new.

She did not notice how muscular his back was.

Much.

Valka slumped back in her seat, groaning. The occasional wayward thought about the fact Eret was nicely built was harmless, but she would rather not have any such thoughts at all. Her life out there was about dragons, not people. She rubbed at her face, shooing away those thoughts and spotting Cloudjumper edging toward Eret's discarded tunic. Valka watched him sniff at it, casting glimpses around before picking it up and taking off with it up to one of the higher cave tunnels.

He was smitten with Tripfire, plain as day and Valka thought it sweet enough that she covered for her dragon, let him keep the Tripfire-scented fabric if it made him happy.

"DIdn't I... did I take the slobber thing with me?"

Eret reappeared, hair damp and the new vest he'd made himself - his sewing skills were perfectly passable, it turned out - on his torso, looking for the one he'd taken off.

"You must have done, I can't see it."

Cloudjumper would give it back. Probably.

-HTTYD-

THESE FOUR DUMB IDIOTS

I LOVE THEM