One morning Hiccup managed to create a saddle so he can ride on Toothless without getting chaffed on his behind. He thought it didn't look too bad.
Bing Bong greeted Hiccup, wagging his tail like a dog, sniffing the saddle Hiccup brought.
"Yeah, you like it, bud? Just need to get this on you…" Hiccup said, smiling. But Bing Bong decided to have fun, smirking, as he dashed away around the cove.
"Hey! No fair!" Hiccup shouted, running after the mischievous dragon who kept it up for a few minutes before eventually called it off, allowing Hiccup to place the saddle on his back. It felt strange to have one, but it wasn't strapped on so tightly, which the former Imaginary Friend appreciated.
The first thing Hiccup tried to control the tail was attatch a string to it, and pulling it with his hand, but it didn't exactly work, leaving them crashing into the water. Bing Bong burst through the surface, glaring, and spitting water into Hiccup's face in annoyance. "Ack!" He shouted, shaking his head. "Okay, I'll try something else!"
The something else wasn't any better, it was attatched to Hiccup's foot this time around, and it only sent the duo into a field of soft grass.
When Bing Bong came to his senses in the grass, a wonderful smell hit his nose, making the Imaginary Friend purr in excitement, beginning to roll around in it. Hiccup ended up calling the grass Dragon Nip, which seemed the perfect name, for Bing Bong wouldn't let Hiccup pull him away from the wonderful smells that relaxed his thoughts.
He crooned in sadness since he wasn't talking to the boy yet as Hiccup pulled him out. "That's enough, Toothless, we gotta keep working on your flying," he grunted, though Hiccup had stowed a bunch of it in his pocket for a future Dragon Training lesson.
The next day Hiccup returned but instead of flying lessons, he only wanted to hang out.
Bing Bong sniffed for fish but Hiccup didn't have any, he instead began to scratch his scales vigorously. It felt so good! Bing Bong purred loudly from the caresses, leaning into it, Hiccup smiling. He then scratched a tender spot under Bing Bong's chin.
Bing Bong's eyes rounded at that touch, then colllapsed to the ground, letting out a small moan of content and falling asleep. That too felt as good as the Dragon Nip itself! Hiccup smiled at his friend's reaction, petting his head then headed back out quietly, letting the Fury sleep.
Hiccup on another day had brought tools to work on the contraption he had in mind to control Bing Bong's tail fin better. But then the sun shone on one, making a shiny dot on the ground. Bing Bong felt himself get attracted to it, then jumping and pouncing on the light like a cat.
Hiccup laughed as he began to tease him with the light, and Bing Bong ran about in his now cat like behavior trying to catch it.
The misfit Viking then realized that dragons loved shiny objects, and wrote that one down to use for later, after playing with Bing Bing some more.
Bing Bong jumped, pouncing again, but then the light disappeared. He tilted his head, where did it go? He just had it! He could hear Hiccup laughing, then knew he had something to do with that light. Grumbling, he swatted Hiccup with his tail.
"Ow!"
….
Eventually, Hiccup designed something more interesting to control the tail fin, a tail rod that connected with the stirrup that allowed him to just use his feet to press down on the stirrup pedal.
This felt a lot better for Bing Bong as they practiced by being tied to a peg in the ground. Bing Bong was a little nervous if this would work, but Hiccup assured him he made adjustments.
The duo practiced a few times, and making three successful landings. Bing Bong smiled up at his friend after their recent landing. Hiccup even wrote down some of the flight moves on a cheat sheet.
But then the wind got strong on their next try, snapping the rope, and sending the duo flying and crashing to the ground.
Bing Bong grunted painfully as he tried getting up, shaking his head, and hearing Hiccup grunt beside him. Turning, he mentally groaned when the Imaginary Friend noted that Hiccup was stuck to the saddle, meaning he can't unclip from it.
"Oh great…" he grumbled. "Looks like I gotta sneak you in and get this fixed up. Lucky me!" Hiccup exclaimed sarcastically. Bing Bong just gave out a huff of annoyance, and prayed they wouldn't get caught.
Later that night Hiccup actually did it: he brought a Night Fury into the village to fix up his saddle. The two peeked around a corner to make sure nobody was around first, then Hiccup led Bing Bong to the blacksmith.
There were so many smells here that interested Bing Bong, as he kept smelling around the place, even sticking his nose into a bucket to see if there was fish. Disappointed he threw it away, wincing as it suddenly hit the ground hard.
Astrid had heard, going over to investigate. "Hiccup? You in here?" She called. Hiccup moaned after managing to fix the saddle. "Just perfect!" He mumbled, before pushing Bing Bong back inside to hide him before quickly going out to see her.
"Astrid! Hey! Hi, Astrid, hi Astrid!" Hiccup greeted awkwardly. Bing Bong shook his head at his friend's awkwardness around girls, wanting to see what this Astrid looked like, when a sheep spotted him.
The sheep bleated nervously, stepping back. Knowing it was a matter of time before it woke the whole village, Bing Bong began to sneak his way out, trying to pull Hiccup in.
Astrid frowned at Hiccup. "I don't know what's up with you but you're acting weird," she snapped, pointing accusingly. Hiccup grunted from the force of Bing Bong pulling him inside, chuckling nervously. She folded her arms. "Well, weirder."
In desperation, Bing Bong did one final tug, yanking his human back into the forge. Hiccup jumped onto his back, and the duo flew into the night, Astrid not even knowing there was a Night Fury right behind the door.
