Dragon Treasure

by Raberba girl

Modern AU. Hiccup & Toothless have spent eight years in a cage, having nothing to live for but each other. Stoick has devoted his career to rescuing children from abusive environments, but Night Furies are a little outside his expertise. The last thing Valka expected to see in her estranged husband's house was an orphaned twelve-year-old boy and one of the rarest dragons on earth.

6. Chapter 6 - Tutor

Dragon Treasure, a DreamWorks' How to Train Your Dragon fanfic by Raberba girl

Chapter 6 - Tutor (rough draft)

A/N: Valka's a little OOC. Sorry to everyone who's been looking forward to her! D:

o.o.o

Stoick heard the sound of a car pulling up outside. Frowning, he got up and looked out the front windows, watching until he realized who the driver was. His eyes widened. "I told him not to come until I gave him a date...!" He went to open the door as the visitor approached the house.

The man stopped dead, staring guiltily at Stoick's displeased expression for a moment. Then he plastered a smile on his face and called out, "Hello, Stoick!"

"I haven't given you a date yet," Stoick growled.

"Ah, yes, for sure, for sure; but I figured-! Well, I half-expected to be turned away, but I thought it couldn't hurt- Uh...is the dragon here?" the man asked eagerly.

Stoick sighed. He had been grateful to find a tutor who actually sounded eager to work in close proximity to a potentially dangerous animal, but he hadn't realized until this moment that William Hennessey was apparently a dragon fanatic. "Hiccup," Stoick called, "this is your tutor. He wasn't supposed to come today, and you don't have to work with him right now if you don't want to. We can wait until later this week. But he's here now, so what do you think, lad? Should I let him inside, or should I send him away?"

Hiccup slowly raised his head. "What does he want? What's he here for?"

"He's a tutor- A teacher. You can't go to school with a dragon, so for now, you'll just be working one-on-one with a teacher. He'll be teaching you math and science, and he'll give you books to read, that sort of thing."

Hennessey had been edging into the house as Stoick spoke, ducking under Stoick's arm like a child trying to get an early glimpse of his Christmas gifts. As soon as Hennessey laid eyes on Toothless, he sucked in a delighted breath. "Dragooooonnn!" he sang very softly. "Ohhhh, Stoick, ohhhh, I am so happy I took this job, ohhhhh, look at him! There is a dragon in your living room, Stoick, look at him!"

"You sound like my wife," Stoick grumbled. "Hiccup, he's not supposed to be here today, so I can send him away if you want. He just wanted to see the dragon."

Hiccup watched them warily, not answering, but Toothless hauled himself to his feet and came over to the men to investigate. Hennessey stood very still, staring down at Toothless with a huge silly grin on his face, as the dragon sniffed at him for a solid minute. Then Toothless made a satisfied sort of chuffing sound and ambled back to Hiccup, dropping down into a sprawl with his body curled around the boy.

"Oh, goodness, look at him," Hennessey breathed. "A real live dragon, right here..." He was edging toward the boys as he spoke, eyes riveted by Toothless, who fixed him with an unwavering, narrow-eyed gaze. When the man started to slowly reach out his hand, Toothless growled. Hennessey instantly snatched his hand back. "He doesn't like me, huh," he chuckled nervously.

"Why do you want to touch him?" Hiccup asked.

"Why-?! Because he's cool! He's amazing! Hiccup, your dragon is A-MA-ZING."

"Then why are you so nervous?"

"Uh...because- Well, because he's a dragon," Hennessey said, looking sheepish. "They're beautiful, but they're...wild animals, you know... Will he bite me if I touch him?"

"You're making him nervous. You being nervous makes him think maybe there's something he needs to worry about. And he doesn't like when people stare at him like that." Hennessey instantly averted his eyes. Hiccup reached out and grasped the man's wrist, drawing it close. At the same time, Hiccup put his other arm around the dragon's neck and laid his cheek against Toothless's head. "It's okay, bud," he murmured. "Sshh, it's okay, he won't hurt us." His eyes flicked to Hennessey. "Right?"

"Oh, no, of course not! I love him! And, er, I'm here to help you, of course; but yes, I have only the highest regard for you both!" The delight in his eyes was so sincere that Hiccup gave a very brief smile and resumed pulling Hennessey's hand close. Toothless gave a high whine, breathing a little more heavily as he tried to trust Hiccup.

Skin touched scales. Hennessey looked breathless with awe, Toothless looked a little longsuffering. The dragon briefly closed his eyes, then tugged away and buried his face in Hiccup's chest. Hiccup murmured to him affectionately and petted him.

"Marvelous," Hennessey whispered. He glanced down the dragon's body, eyes finally coming to rest on the tail. He frowned and reached out to touch the scar from Toothless's missing fin, but Hiccup stopped him before he could.

"What happened to him?" Hennessey said in dismay. "Can he fly?!"

"No."

Hennessey looked and sounded as if he had just learned that a neighbor's child had died. "Ohh, that's terrible! Who would do such a thing?! Oh, well, I suppose..." He looked embarrassed again, and seemed to truly notice Hiccup for the first time. "So...Hiccup, eh? My name is Will. Hello! It's good to meet you!"

"Hello," Hiccup said guardedly.

"I'm so sorry if we got off on the wrong foot! Please do forgive me, I've- Well," he stammered with a little laugh, "I've been quite captivated by dragons ever since I was a little boy. Even considered working with them in a zoo or on a reserve or some such, but honestly, I'm not cut out for fieldwork." With a tender look on his face, he stroked the dragon's tail, higher up and away from the missing fin. Toothless, without taking his face out of Hiccup's chest, twitched his tail and curled it more tightly around the boy.

"Well! So, I suppose I am to be your tutor for-! Well, indefinitely."

"A tutor is a teacher?"

"Why, yes, Hiccup! Tell me, have you ever been to school?"

"No."

"Oh, I see! Well, do you know how to read?"

"...A little."

"Marvelous! What about mathematics?"

"Mathe...? What?"

"I see, I see! Well, don't you worry, Hiccup. For our first session, I'll give you an exam- No worries, it's not one you have to study for! I simply need to determine exactly what educational level you're at, and then we'll take it from there!"

Hiccup had started staring at the man as if he was speaking a foreign language.

"Let's see, I brought my things just in case, but we don't have to... Well! I suppose it's up to you, Hiccup! Would you like to start our lessons now, or wait until tomorrow?"

"I want to eat. I'm hungry." Hiccup reached out for the plate Stoick had given him earlier, tugging it close enough for him to more easily reach the sandwich that had been placed on it. He bit into the food, still watching Will warily.

"Ah, I see! No problem, no problem at all, I could do with a bit of a snack myself! Stoick, do you-?"

Stoick sighed. "Go talk to Marta."

After Hiccup had eaten, he looked at the placement test Will showed him, but declined to work on it. Will spent a while longer admiring and gushing about Toothless, and rambling at Hiccup and Stoick, then finally gathered his things together. "I'll see you tomorrow, Hiccup!" he called cheerfully on his way out.

"Not so fast," Stoick ordered. "Dr. Ikeda is supposed to arrive tomorrow for a psychological evaluation. I don't know if Hiccup will even be up for tutoring afterward, so wait until I call you to make arrangements."

"Certainly! Can do! I'll see you soon, Hiccup!" Will gave a last wave and then, reluctantly, turned away and ambled toward his car. Stoick shut the door very firmly after him.

That evening after Marta had left, while Stoick was in the shower, Hiccup found a canister of flour. He experimented with it for a while, then started using the white powder to 'paint' designs on Toothless. The dragon grumbled, but let himself get distracted when Hiccup gave him a treat from the bag of dog chews Marta had brought earlier.

Toothless was gnawing on his treat, and Hiccup was happily tracing white spirals and squiggles over the dragon's scales, then there was a sudden commotion at the front door.

Hiccup leaped to his feet and Toothless responded to his alarm instantly, the flour canister and the dog chew forgotten on the floor. Hiccup stared at the front door with his hand pressed against Toothless, his body hunched and tense, and Toothless growled softly.

The door finally burst open, bouncing against the wall as a woman struggled inside with a lot of luggage. "Are you home, Stoick?" she called, then made an exasperated exclamation and dropped her armfuls of stuff, swinging the door shut again rather harder than was necessary. She exhaled and leaned against the wall for a minute with her eyes closed.

Then she straightened up, opened her eyes, caught sight of the Night Fury standing in the entrance to the kitchen, and made a noise that was somewhere between a gasp and a shriek. Toothless curled himself closer around Hiccup.

"Who are you?" Hiccup demanded.

"Th-That's- a dragon?!" Her mouth dropped open. "Is that the Night Fury?!" The shock on her face was starting to give way to delight as she slipped to the ground and lay flat on her stomach, staring at Toothless as much as one could using only peripheral vision. "Hello, sweetheart!" she crooned. "Ohhh, you, oh, look at you!"

She sounded so much like Will that it reminded Hiccup of a remark Stoick had made earlier. "Are you Stoick's wife?" he asked.

She blinked at him, momentarily distracted from the dragon. "Hello!" she exclaimed. "You-? Ah! You're the boy? The one Stoick couldn't place in a foster home because of-" She indicated Toothless, grinning.

Hiccup found himself grinning back, and Toothless relaxed a little as his human's fear faded. "This is Toothless. I'm Hiccup."

"Toothless~" she crooned, wriggling forward. Toothless came to meet her, sniffing at her hair and back for a minute. The dragon licked her neck a couple of times and then returned to Hiccup, nuzzling him.

The woman sat up and scooted backward, fumbling enthusiastically through one of her suitcases before she finally extracted something with a triumphant little cry. It looked like some sort of scanner, which she ran over the part of her skin that Toothless had licked. She then looked eagerly at the little screen. Hiccup edged closer until he could see a spectrum of mostly-orange color and the number '33%.'

"What is that?" he asked.

"A DO-graph," she answered distractedly, then said what was probably the thing's full name, but it was long and complicated and Hiccup couldn't remember how to pronounce it. "33% certainty that I'm not a threat- Oooohhh!" She suddenly fixed her eyes on Hiccup. "May I please scan you?! Please? I promise, it doesn't hurt at all!"

Hiccup only agreed because she had already scanned herself without so much as a wince. He gripped Toothless for reassurance, but kept still as she held the 'DO-graph' close to him and pressed a button. She gasped at whatever she saw on the screen. Then, looking almost maniacally happy, she scanned him again, this time from head to foot. Hiccup didn't feel a thing, but was warily curious about whatever readings she was getting from him.

"100%!" she practically yelled in delight. "Treasure, these are treasure marks, 100% treasure, on a human! This is incredible! Oooh, and look at all these, look at ALL THESE-" She broke off and stared joyfully at Hiccup. "You are caked with dragon marks. Caked. What did you do to get him to adore you so very much?!"

"He's Toothless," Hiccup mumbled, leaning on the dragon and not sure how to answer the question. "He's my-" He had never really had a label for Toothless that fit. "He's mine. I'm his, too. We're always together."

Tenderly, the woman reached out to stroke Hiccup's cheek, then scratched Toothless's head in exactly the right spots. Toothless warbled in pleasure and butted her side to prompt more caresses. The woman happily obliged, her hands moving over the dragon with such expertise that she soon had him sprawled on the floor, gurgling and wriggling in bliss. Hiccup was starting to get a little jealous.

Then the woman froze. She gently lifted the end of Toothless's tail in her hands, looking horrified. "What happened here?!"

"They cut it off so he couldn't fly away and escape."

She actually cried. She cradled the single fin to her chest as if it was a hurt child, then she set it down and nuzzled Toothless. He licked her tears away and crooned at her. "How could they?! How could they?! A grounded dragon is a dead dragon, they've taken away his flight, oh, Toothless, you poor sweet thing...!"

"It's okay, he's not sad. And he's not dead, either!"

"I meant-"

"It was before I met him, so he must have been real little, he doesn't even remember. He's never flown, so he doesn't miss it because he doesn't know what it's like. He's happy because we're together, that's all that matters."

The woman smiled sadly and reached out to stroke Hiccup's cheek.

"Val." The three of them looked up to see Stoick in the doorway, his shirt half unbuttoned and his hair still damp from the shower. He had a soft look on his face as he watched his wife, who immediately went over to wrap her arms around him.

"Oh, Stoick," she whispered, "ohh, Stoick, he's beautiful..." She leaned back and smiled, her excitement starting to creep back. "Of all things, Stoick Vast! I only meant to stay the night here before figuring out where to find Toothless tomorrow - I never expected that he'd be here! A dragon in your house, Stoick!"

"I'm just glad he's behaved himself so far, for the most part." Stoick's gaze moved to Hiccup. "Hiccup, this is my wife, Valka."

"Yeah." Hiccup wasn't sure what else to say. Stoick looked happier than Hiccup had yet seen him.

The couple were back to gazing at each other, Stoick's hands gradually stroking down her sides as Valka absently played with his collar. "I didn't know you were coming," he murmured. "It was supposed to be someone named Ogechi Johnson, wasn't it?"

"I had to come when I heard it was a Night Fury! Ogechi let me take her place, she preferred to keep working with the new Monstrous Nightmare hatchling instead." Valka beamed at him. "He's a Night Fury, Stoick! With a HUMAN TREASURE! Do you know what this means?! Do you know how incredible this is?! Please, Stoick, please let me take Hiccup back to the-!"

"Out of the question," Stoick said firmly. "He's a foster child, Val, he can't leave the country, and we don't want to uproot him again unnecessarily - not to mention the fact that we need his help for the investigations and the trials! No one's going to be using him for zoological research anytime soon."

Her eyes widened. "Stoick!" She couldn't seem to articulate the rest of her dismayed protests.

Stoick looked at Hiccup again. "My wife is a dracologist who works at a reserve called the Sanctuary, or at least that's what its name translates to in English. She doesn't come home often, usually only once or twice a year... We called the Sanctuary when we raided the circus and knew we'd have to find a place to send the dragon."

"She's here for Toothless?"

Stoick recognized the look on Hiccup's face. "I'll try my hardest to make sure you're not separated, Hiccup. I'm hoping that Dr. Ikeda can help with that. But even if we can keep you together, Toothless is an extremely rare animal, and the dracologists will certainly want to study him."

"And you, too, Hiccup!" Valka added. "You are the first known human treasure in history! We can't pass up an opportunity like this!"

"A treasure is...something that's important to you?"

"I meant in the zoological sense - a 'treasure' is whomever a dragon loves and protects most. We originally thought they were mates, until someone finally figured out that not all dragons even interact with their mates much outside of reproduction and raising their young, and that a dragon's most beloved companion will often be someone other than his or her mate. So the term had to be changed, and the story is that 'treasure' started out as a joke - referencing mythical dragon hoards, you know - but it's a term that's now accepted by professionals and used universally."

She beamed at Hiccup, who looked a little lost at her attempted explanation. "But it's always been another dragon, Hiccup! There have been occasional humans who've managed to befriend dragons - for example, there are dragons at the Sanctuary who regularly leave 'friend' marks on me - but until now, no human has ever, ever been loved enough by a dragon to be considered its treasure!"

Hiccup, looking more uncomfortable than anything, silently laid his head against the dragon's and stroked his shoulder. Toothless gently butted his head against him, then nudged and nuzzled him. Hiccup growled playfully and hoisted himself across the dragon's back, trying to force him down. Toothless gave an amused cackle and craned his head, trying to catch hold of Hiccup with toothless jaws.

Valka was digging through her luggage again. "Where, where is my camera...?!"

"I'm filming it," Stoick assured her. She smiled and returned to his side.

Hiccup relaxed as they wrestled. No longer caring about the slightly overwhelming newcomer, he pounced on and bit and wrapped his arms around Toothless, laughing as the dragon bumped and shoved him back. The tussle finally ended with Hiccup lying on his stomach, contently resting his head on his arms. Toothless held him in place with a foreleg slung across his back, leisurely bathing the back of Hiccup's neck and the roots of his hair.

"You know," Stoick remarked, sounding a little pained, "you wouldn't have to bathe more than once a day if you stopped letting him make a mess of you like that."

"We don't like baths," Hiccup mumbled.

"Please make him stop licking you so much, it's disturbing..."

"It's important, Stoick," Valka said. "He's marking him. Look." She approached close enough to capture another scan. "100% treasure, incredibly fresh," she interpreted happily. Toothless, who had paused to give her a wary look, resumed his work. "I've got to send these to Africa tonight, the others will love this!"

"Hiccup needs to start getting ready for bed," Stoick said.

Valka asked curiously where the boys slept, and Stoick showed her. "Does Marta wash their sheets every day?" Valka asked.

"Of course."

"Well, tell her to stop. Dragons don't like synthetic scents; Toothless probably hates the smell of laundry detergent. He'll be more comfortable if you let him and Hiccup nest in dirty sheets."

"What?! Valka, I can't do that!"

"Why not?!"

"It might be considered neglect! I can't do that to a foster child in my care!"

Hiccup and Toothless settled down and fell asleep long before the adults finished arguing.

To be continued...

Author's Notes: I've known for ages that bones are dangerous for dogs to chew on, but I always wondered why there's a simultaneous cliché about dogs chewing on bones. I finally learned that it's COOKED bones that are dangerous for dogs! (When bones are cooked/steamed/boiled/etc., they get brittle and tend to splinter.) Raw, uncooked bones are safer, though there are still a few risks, so please educate yourself beforehand if you're intending to try it. Also, apparently the less expensive dog chew brands include just as much cancer-causing crap in their products as processed human food does, so please stick to high-quality, all-natural dog chews for your pet.

My strongest impression of Valka is "dragon fangirl." XD I feel like she should have been more dignified in this fic... Also, she and Cloudjumper aren't two halves in this fic because living in modern times kind of has its restrictions. :/ They are still really close, though.

"DO-graph" does stand for something, but I wanted to keep it secret for now because I might need it for a different story.

"Treasure" in this fanfic is the equivalent term for "two halves"/"other half" in my other fics. It's the same basic concept, but I figured humans would use a different term for it.