Chapter 18: Unexpected Circumstances

I woke up the next morning before Hiccup or Toothless did, and took the opportunity to sneak past and make breakfast undisturbed. About 5 minutes later, sizzling hash-browns and scrambled eggs aroused at least one of the living room occupants.

"What time is it?" I heard from Hiccup. "About 9:30 or so," I said. I walked out to see Hiccup stretching his arms, then look down toward the end of his sleeping bag. There, lying right across the bag, and effectively pinning down Hiccup's legs, was Toothless. Hiccup groaned as I stifled a laugh, though rather unsuccessfully. "Toothless, get off! I can't move!" Hiccup griped. I walked over and tapped on the lazy reptile's head. "Come on, get up ya lazy bum!" He didn't move. However, I could see a smile forming on his lips."You think you're funny?" I asked, winking at Hiccup. "Well, then, I guess you don't get any breakfast if you can't move."

Toothless' eyes snapped open, and he groaned, but got up and stretched. ::I was comfy! You have to use that on me?:: I laughed. "You were flattening your rider there. You alright Hiccup?" He stood up slowly and shakily. "Eh, just some numb legs. What's burning?" I sniffed the air. "The eggs!"

Breakfast turned out okay (even if a bit overcooked), and once again I was amazed by the amount of food Hiccup could pack away. Toothless hung outside munching on a pile of fish I had secretly gathered in Berk the night before. As we finished up, I remembered there was one last thing I had yet to show Hiccup. Plus, it was a chance to do one thing I always loved: scaring the living daylights out of someone.

"Hey Hiccup?" "Hmm?" he mumbled, looking up from the last of his toast. "Could you wait here for a minute? There's something I have to get real quick." He nodded, and I went to my room. When I came back out, I was adorned with a very special scaly pet around my neck. I snuck up behind Hiccup, unlooped Candice from my neck, and placed her head on his shoulder.

That was all it took. Hiccup glanced over at the snake on his arm, a moment of wide eyes, then he freaked. "AAAAAAAHHHHH! It's going to bite me!" He leaped backward, falling into Toothless, and then scrambled up and looked at me as I practically fell on the floor laughing. "You should have seen-gasp-the look on your face!" I laughed. Hiccup blinked, and then looked like I had been hit over the head. "Oookay, care to explain why you're carrying a very dangerous looking reptile on your arm like it's a rope?" I smirked, then took a deep breath. "Okay, don't tell me you completely forgot. Remember how I told you about me having pet snakes?"

Hiccup sighed as my reminder clicked. "Right. So you decided to quietly let me forget about that detail, then scare me when you decide to give the reminder." "Come on, she's not so bad. This is Candice, she's a corn snake," I said, holding her out toward Hiccup. "She won't hurt you, believe me." He looked at me apprehensively, but then sighed. "I'm not going to get out of this without holding her, am I?" I smiled. "Nope!"

Eventually, Hiccup got used to the idea of a whole different reptilian pet. After he calmed down, and I put Candice away, I decided to teach Hiccup another exciting aspect of our entertainment here: board games!

Okay, fine, so board games aren't really exciting, but it kept us busy while keeping even Toothless out of trouble. Halfway through our game of Blokus, he came up tapping his nose on the glass door. I opened it and poked my head out. "Problem?" He shook his head. ::No, it's just getting boring out here. Can I come in and see what you two are doing?:: I shrugged and moved out of the way. "I doubt it will excite you much more than sunbathing for an hour." He snorted and squeezed in, then looked down at the game on the table. ::Exactly what is this?:: Hiccup looked at me. "Is he playing too?" I laughed and shook my head. "Toothless, it's a board game, one of thousands." ::Rather colorful for a game.::

For the next half hour, Toothless sat next to the table and watched the game progress. In the end, Hiccup won. I smiled "I take it you're pretty good at strategy," I said. Hiccup nodded. "Kind of have to be when you ride a dragon." He smiled and looked at Toothless. "Especially one as troublesome as he is." Toothless jerked his head up and glared at us. ::Oh, very funny.:: Hiccup and I smiled. "You know it's true!" ::No it's no-::

DING DONG!

I probably jumped about 2 feet straight up at that. Hiccup and Toothless both went on edge, Hiccup grabbing the dagger he had in his boot and Toothless growling at the front door. ::What in the world was that?:: He hissed. I blinked. "Calm down, that was just a doorbell. Unfortunately, that means someone else is here!" I glanced at my mom, who was coming up from downstairs. "Mom, who is that?" She grimaced, then said. "Get them somewhere where they won't be found. Holly invited the Ranslows over." I sighed. "Hold them at the door. You two," I said, pointing at Hiccup and Toothless, " get downstairs, quickly!"

I led them down to the basement, and over to a playhouse in the back corner. "Get in there, and stay down. Do not make a sound or-"

Too late, I heard the two younger boys stomping into the house. "Why?" Hiccup asked. I held my finger up to my mouth, and he quieted down. "Why do we have to hide?" he whispered. "Because I am the only person whose family knows about you or the other world here. No one else can know, or else they'd go berserk!" I looked toward the stairs. "If anyone comes down, stay still and don't make a sound!"

I rushed back to the stairs, just in time to keep the boys from rushing down them. "Sorry," I said, closing the door behind me, "but no one can go downstairs today." Just my luck, the older child, Kaia, came around the corner upstairs and looked down. "Why? That's where all the toys are." I grimaced. "We're trying to keep the basement clean today, plus I've got a, uh, very delicate project going on down there, and no one can mess with it." She didn't look convinced, but sighed and walked off anyway. I went upstairs and found Holly and Kaia's sister playing in Holly's room. She winked at me, so I knew at least she had gotten the hint.

As it turned out, not only had Holly invited Arya and Kaia to play, but their mother had come over as well to learn a few recipes from my mom (mothers, what is it with them and cooking?). I was able to make a few quick trips downstairs to check on our other guests, and luckily Hiccup was busying himself with drawing. However, I should have known it wouldn't hold up forever. After over an hour of dodging the kids, I happened to be checking things in my greenhouse, and missed a certain dirty-blonde teenager sneaking past me and down the stairs. Thank goodness for creaky steps, and I turned around to see her disappearing down the steps.

"Kaia!" I yelled, jumping up and racing to the stairway. Where was my mom when I needed her? I looked over to see her already down the second set of steps. I leapt over the wall, not caring if she noticed my sudden increase in agility, and caught her just as she started opening the door. She peaked in before I pulled her back. "I don't see any project," she said, crossing her arms and looking at me. "What are you really trying to keep down here?" I sighed. "Okay, so there's no project. But it's still something I can't show you. It's a personal secret for my family, okay?"

It didn't work. Kaia glared at me, and dashed into the basement. I leapt out and caught her again, starting to appreciate strength as well as speed. "Seriously, stop. There's nothing down here that you can't see right now that I am going to show you, and it's nothing you would really care to see anyway. It's.. sentimental for my family." Kaia crossed her arms again. "Then why are you trying so hard to stop me from see-"

We were interrupted by a very quiet, but extremely noticeable rumbling, vibrating noise emanating from the playhouse, followed by a much quieter, barely noticeable gagging noise. I winced and mentally slapped myself. Of all the things to ruin their hiding place, it has to be a gassy dragon?

Kaia looked past me. "What was that?" I shrugged. "Uh, could have been one of the pipes, I don't know." For the third time, Kaia dashed past me and toward the tent. I stopped her again, but it was too late. She looked at the tent, and gasped. Through the clear window of the tent, in plain sight, was the tip of Toothless' tail, curled up, with gear on, and worst of all, it was twitching.

Kaia's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, and she gasped, while I just shook my head. "Oh, no." She looked at me. "That's….that's….it's impossible… that is…"

There wasn't any point to hiding it any more. Kaia knew, and was sure to tell everyone around her if I didn't convince her in some way, or come right out and say it. "Is that… Toothless?" I nodded, defeated. "Yes, it's Toothless." I looked at the tent. "Guys, the gig is up, she knows. You can come out."

Slowly, the flap of the tent lifted up, and out first came Hiccup, followed by Toothless, who sat down and looked at me guiltily, but with a mix of I-told-you-so on his face as well. I turned to Kaia to start explaining, but she wasn't behind me anymore. Hiccup cleared his throat, and pointed down.

Kaia had fainted dead away on the floor.