Of course, it couldn't last forever. When Gothi finally came out of hiding and Hiccup was able to smuggle Toothless up to her hut when no one was looking, Hiccup didn't allow himself to harbor any particular hopes. A lifetime as Hiccup the Useless had conditioned in him a resolute strand of pessimism. Toothless did not have the same problem, so when they reached Gothi's house and Hiccup explained the situation, Toothless remained hopeful despite the air of anxiety. He watched the elder's face with attentiveness and an underlying will to please, even as she took in Hiccup's tale with a puzzled, intense expression. When Gothi looked Toothless over and motioned him into an inner room, barring Hiccup from following, Toothless remained resiliently optimistic, even shooting Hiccup a smile over his shoulder as Gothi ushered him away.

Hiccup wasn't exactly sure how long he waited, but eventually, Toothless re-emerged from the meeting, Gothi following closely. He looked solemn, and the silent ancient woman behind him reached up to pat him comfortingly. Hiccup smiled and stood, preparing to ask questions, but before he could manage a single syllable, Toothless had brushed past him and through the doors. Now frowning, Hiccup tossed a last look at Gothi, who looked sad, and rushed after Toothless.

"Hey, bud, wait up!" Hiccup was having trouble with his leg on the rocky path down from the cliff-top hut. Toothless continued a ways before stopping, his back still turned to Hiccup. "Toothless?" The Viking asked, coming up carefully. The other man's shoulders gave a jerk, and then another, and when he started making strange gasping noises, Hiccup realized that he was crying. Toothless was sobbing, even though he was trying very, very hard not to. "Hey, hey," Hiccup said soothingly as he came up to him, touching his arm. "Woah there, bud, what on earth did she say to you?"

"Wh-why," Toothless' voice was deep from the tears, "why does hurt?" He was bent over slightly, and was touching his eyes and rubbing his own tears between finger and thumb. "Why… hurts," he moaned, confused and unable to stop the erratic sobs.

"Just… tears," Hiccup muttered, wanting to explain but needing to know, "Toothless, what did Gothi say to you?" He'd never had to comfort a grown man who was crying, especially one who'd never had the experience of crying before. He did reach up and brush Toothless' hair away from his face, because it was blocking out his eyes.

"S-s-stuck," Toothless sucked in a shuddering breath, "doesn't know what happens. Doesn't know whaaaaa-how to f-fix. S-s-s-s-stuck, Toothless is s-s-stuck!" He wailed harder.

Hiccup didn't know what to do. Part of him, that immovable pessimism, had anticipated the outcome so that he wasn't entirely shaken by the news. But seeing Toothless so distraught made Hiccup feel terrible for being unsurprised. He sighed and rubbed Toothless' back, knowing it probably didn't help much. They needed to get Toothless back to the house, so no one could find him out here – let alone in tears.

Thankfully, the road to Gothi's house was a secluded one, and the sprint from the edge of the cliffs to the back door of the Haddock house was short enough for no one to notice. When Hiccup burst through the door directing a teary-eyed Toothless toward the stairs, he'd had to pause and give a quick explanation to Stoick. The chief might've shared some pessimism with his son, because he didn't say anything when he heard. He only sighed, and looked at Toothless somewhat apologetically, and rubbed at his temples. Hiccup got Toothless up into his room and sat him down on the edge of his bed.

"Toothless," he said, but got no response. "Toothless, look at me." The former dragon did, through red-rimmed eyes. He allowed his expression to turn slightly perplexed, because looking up at Hiccup was an entirely new experience. "Toothless, do you remember…" Hiccup stopped and looked sheepish, like it was hard for him to talk about. "You remember when you and I first met? How you couldn't fly?" Toothless did remember. He loved Hiccup too much now to remember that his misfortune had been completely Hiccup's fault. He sniffled.

"Yes," He said.

"Did you ever think you'd fly again?" Hiccup asked, very kindly. Toothless blinked up at him.

"…No," He confessed. Hiccup would never learn that Toothless had never told anyone that before, not even the closest dragons. Hiccup smiled, very slightly, and nodded at his friend, strong and steady.

"You will be a dragon again. I promise." He gave the bigger man's arm a squeeze. Toothless let himself look directly into Hiccup's eyes, and they stayed there for a while, trying to understand why Hiccup's face seemed so much… more now that he was human, too. "Alright?" Hiccup asked him. Toothless sniffled again and looked down at Hiccup's hand on his arm, where calluses and freckles looked clearer, up close. This was the one who'd saved him, who'd fixed him. Together, they'd always done the impossible. He nodded his head.

"Yes," he said, because he couldn't recall the words for 'thank you'.

After that, Toothless found himself drained, and couldn't help it when he fell asleep on Hiccup's bed. He woke up sometime later, and it was dark outside. He was covered in furs and hogging the whole bed – Hiccup was nowhere in sight. He could hear him, though, breathing steadily, not really snoring, somewhere nearby. Toothless carefully pulled himself upright and looked around. Human eyesight was nearly useless at night, he'd learned, but in the moonlight he could just make out the sleeping form on the floor. Hiccup, sans his fake leg, was lying on top of an impromptu bed of furs, but had only his vest to keep him warm. Toothless looked down at his own bedding guiltily, fingering the multiple furs that, by all rights, belonged to Hiccup. Quietly, the dragon tiptoed over with an armful of fur, still warm from his own body, and draped it carefully over his master.

After it became clear that Toothless would be staying in Berk as a human indefinitely, new measures were taken. Stoick gave Hiccup permission to construct a more permanent cot for Toothless, and while Stoick put together the finer points of how he was going to explain this whole fiasco to the village, Toothless dedicated himself with renewed vigor to perfect his grammar.

It was an odd experience for Hiccup, watching as Toothless grew more and more proficient with language. From their first interaction onward, something about Toothless' near unintelligible syntax and bad grammar had planted a seed of presumption in Hiccup's mind that he didn't really notice until now. He'd somehow allowed his mind to equate Toothless' poor speaking skills with low intelligence. Of course, he'd never believed that Toothless was stupid. As a night fury, Toothless had always demonstrated an extraordinary sense of perception and intelligence, but something about the lack of human communication had always allowed Hiccup to put Toothless on the same level as one would a dog, or an especially clever horse. But now, as Toothless was finally mastering language and expanding his vocabulary every day, it was becoming clear that Toothless was not merely intelligent on the level of understand things and making logical connections. He was just as mentally engaged as any human, and now that he finally had the right words to express it in ways that humans could understand, Hiccup had discovered something else.

Toothless was sassy. And pretty damn witty, too.

Granted, a great deal of Toothless' humor was utterly wasted on Hiccup, because it depended on jokes made in dragon culture, and puns made on common phrases in the language of the dragons. But most wit (and most sass) Toothless was able to translate without too much trouble. Perhaps the sharpest beginning of his wit appeared one night around the dinner table as Hiccup was dishing out portions of trout for their dinner. As he tried to move some from platter to plate for his father, the fish went flying off and onto the floor. Hiccup apologized profusely, and from across the table, Toothless could see Stoick roll his eyes in a way that told him this was at least somewhat typical.

"Sorry, it, uh, flew away from me there," Hiccup was saying. Toothless almost laughed.

"I would tell you to fly after it, but you humans are rather clumsy on your own," he smirked.

Father and son both stopped what they were doing and turned to stare. Toothless said nothing, and the silence went on for bit until finally, Toothless put out his hands. "what?" He begged. Hiccup burst out laughing.

Toothless did understand why Hiccup was so amused. A basic understanding of the Norse language had been passed down for generations among dragon societies, and after years living with Vikings, Toothless had come to understand enough about Norse to follow everyday conversation and yes, humor. But for Hiccup, who to a week and a half ago didn't know dragons could talk at all, let alone in a language Hiccup could understand, the whole idea of dragons making jokes was novel and entertaining. In fact, it became a bit of a game for the young Viking, of watching Toothless closely enough that he wouldn't ever miss any witty comeback that came out of his mouth.

He'd learn quickly enough that there was enough sarcasm, wit, and sass hidden beneath that unassuming, loyal exterior to last Berk a lifetime. Or more.

"I didn't know that eating was a competition," he'd say, watching Stoick eat his dinner. (Hiccup would have to keep his father from punching him)

"If you earned a scale for every time you tripped, Hiccup, you'd be a dragon by now. Only I wouldn't let you fly. You'd only fall again."

"Do all Vikingr keep pet whales," he'd ask Hiccup one night when Stoick's snoring grew particularly loud, "or just you?"

But perhaps even odder than Toothless' witticisms was the juxtaposition between his newfound eloquence and his relative ignorance. It was the smallest, simplest things that got his mind in a knot, and more and more, Hiccup kept forgetting that he simply didn't know these things.

Case in point, Toothless had once asked, in all seriousness, if Viking children hatched from eggs and, if they did, why no dragon had ever laid eyes on one. In retrospect, Hiccup supposed it could've been a whole lot worse, but at the time, giving an explanation was awkward because it was just one of those things that humans didn't need to ask about when they were adults.

There was also the matter that Toothless was still more or less hopeless at dressing himself. Hiccup had the daily challenge of locating that one thing that Toothless had forgotten about in his morning dressing routine. His tunic was on inside out, or backwards, or both, or he'd suddenly forgotten how to work his fingers correctly to tie up his trousers, and, oh, was he always supposed to wear undergarments? It was a never ending battle, and somehow, now that Toothless spoke like a man and not a child, it was even more maddening.

He still liked studying himself. Hiccup didn't ask too many questions anymore, because he'd learned that Toothless was merely curious about how the human body worked. He'd wiggle his toes and watched how they moved, examine his own teeth in a polished shield, play with his eyebrows and run his fingers through his hair. Whenever Toothless grew bored, he was prone to jumping, stretching, and seeing exactly how flexible various bits of the human body were by bending in strange ways that left Hiccup wondering for his friend's sanity.

Finally, the day came when Stoick allowed Toothless outside in the open, and the plan was simple: if anyone asks, tell them the truth. If they don't ask, say nothing. It sounded simple enough, Hiccup hoped it wouldn't spark pandemonium. 'Hoped' being a key word in his thought process.

Toothless practically skipped from the door when he was finally released, and Hiccup followed nervously behind. Astrid was the first person they saw (mercifully) and she seemed rather shocked to see Toothless out and about. The dragon-human charged her with a massive smile in place and held out his hand, but had to pause and glance back at Hiccup for confirmation. Hiccup nodded and waved his hand demonstratively, and so Toothless turned back around and waved his hand enthusiastically at Astrid, even though she was only a few feet away.

"Hi, Toothless," She gave a tiny wave back, "you're… out," She seemed uncertain, glancing from side to side, fearing that someone would see him.

"Yes," Toothless confirmed, now bouncing up and down in his excitement. Between the movement and the breeze, his black head of hair was working itself up into a puffball. "Stoick said I may come outside with the Vikings," he was smiling, "is so exciting!"

Astrid had to smile at him. She'd been visiting periodically to check up on the Viking-dragon duo since 'the change' as they'd dubbed it, somewhat dubiously. "That's great… um… Hiccup," She turned a concerned look at her boyfriend, who still stood behind Toothless, "Is this a good idea?" she pointed at Toothless.

Hiccup shrugged, like he wasn't entirely sure, himself. "Uhh, well, dad seemed alright with it."

"What are you going to tell people?"

"…The truth?"

Astrid stared, and shook her head, and eventually shrugged. "Well, alright."

Naturally, it just had to be the twins who found out first. Hiccup had taken Toothless for a tour of the docks (they were largely abandoned this time of day, in this season) and had fun explaining the various bits and bobs of sailing mechanics to someone who didn't already know. It was one of those things that everyone on Berk just knew, and although Hiccup had always found some of the mechanical physics an interesting study, since most Vikings were already experts, Hiccup had never had someone to talk with it about.

He'd been so caught up in explaining ropes and pulleys and masts and sails to Toothless (who did actually seem genuinely interested, if not a bit overwhelmed,) Hiccup failed to notice that the Thorston twins were working maintenance on their father's boat not too far away. It was actually Toothless who looked up first, ears drawn by their bickering. Before Hiccup could turn and see them, Ruffnut punched her brother in the face so that he pitched to one side. When he looked up, it was right at Toothless. He rubbed his face and righted his helmet.

"Who is that?"

"What?" Ruffnut came over to the rail, shading her eyes. "It's Hiccup, you idiot,"

"Not him, the tall one."

"I've never seen him before."

"Hiccup's found a stray Viking!"

"And he's hot," Ruffnut added. Tuffnut sent her a disgusted look and shoved his hand in her face.

"Shut up, you sister. Hey, Hiccup!" Tuffnut saluted, just before Ruff rebounded from his shove and punched his shoulder so his hand had to retract.

"Uh, heeey, guys…" Hiccup waved awkwardly.

"Who's your friend?" Tuff asked. Hiccup winced visibly.

"Well, aahhhh…" He cast a look back at Toothless, apologizing silently, but Toothless didn't look fazed. "It's… well, Tuff, Ruff, this is… Toothless."

Their faces were blank for a split second.

"Well that's stupid," Said Tuff, "Who gets named after a dragon?" Ruff seemed to be working through a different line of thought, but paused to smack her brother.

Hiccup sighed. "No, it's not… he's not named after Toothless, he… is Toothless."

The blank faces returned, this time with a glaze of slow processing, and then, eventually, of revelation. Hiccup was scrambling to come up with some explanation – any explanation, really – for whatever questions came spewing out of their mouths, because there were so many obvious problems with Toothless being human, he wasn't sure where they'd want to begin.

In the end, he needed have worried at all, because of all people on Berk, the Thorston twins were notoriously short-sighed when it came to radically awesome things like dragons showing up one day as humans. (And incredibly hot dragons, as far as Ruff was concerned). So when the revelation finally dawned and they both drew breath, it wasn't really for questions.

"Wow!" Tuffnut screamed, launching himself over the railing of the ship and bounding over to them. "How did you manage that?!"

"Does he talk?" Ruffnut appeared beside them.

"How long have you been keeping this from us?"

"That is so cool,"

They crowded in on Toothless, and the poor man looked rather overwhelmed, if only because the two trouble makers had seemed so much smaller and less imposing when he was a dragon. Hiccup came to his rescue and shoed the two away.

"Stop, stop, give him some room. We're not really sure what happened, it just… he's been like this for two weeks, or so,"

"One week and one half, actually," Toothless corrected helpfully. Hiccup winced, because he could've predicted what came next.

"OH MY GODS!" Ruffnut exclaimed, coming closer.

"He does talk!"

"That is… Hiccup, you have the coolest dragon ever."

"Do it again, do it again," Tuffnut begged, looking up to Toothless with expectation. Toothless stared him down for a moment, confused.

"Um," He said, "…hello?"

"Yeaah!" The twins turned, high-fived, and headbutted each other, knocking helmets out of place. "That is so wicked,"

"They will never believe this,"

"I have to go tell Fishlegs about this," Ruffnut said excitedly.

"Not if I get there first."

"What?!" Hiccup's eyes flew wide. "No, nononono, guys, don't-" but the twins were beyond hearing, already bounding up the ramp to the village.

"Hey! Get out of my way!"

"I was here first, go find your own ramp,"

"You don't own the ramp, idiot."

"I can still push you off,"

"Oh, man…" Hiccup ran a hand down his face. He turned to Toothless. "Bud, I'm so sorry, I didn't know they were here, or that they'd… do…" he looked back over at the Thorstons. "…that."

Toothless was silent, and watching the retreating siblings with a thoughtful expression on his face. At length, he said,

"It is well known among my people that Zippelbacks possess a great deal of intelligence due to the fact that they have two brains to sharpen each other's ideas." He watched the twins for a moment more, wincing slightly when Ruffnut punched her brother hard enough to send him off the edge of the ramp, where he caught himself and swung, cursing and yelling before righting himself. Toothless shook his head and looked back down at Hiccup. "I do not believe it works the same for those two."

Hiccup stared for a moment, and then snorted into a laugh. "No," He rubbed his eyes, "no, not really." He brought his head back up and sighed. "Come on, we might as well stop them sooner rather than later. By the time they make it to Snotlout, you'll be seven feet tall with black skin and six ears."

Toothless was frowning as Hiccup led him back along the docks. "Can humans have six ears?"

Hiccup had hoped that this wouldn't lead to pandemonium, but then, what else would sum up his life at the moment?

A/N: I feel like I've advanced Toothless' learning (in terms of language) a bit fast, but I have a bunch of ideas for this fic that more or less rely on the fact that Toothless can carry an intelligent conversation without so many mistakes. Don't worry, I'm planning on keeping his language distinct from the others, with some mistakes and overall awkwardness with some phrases and such.

And he's out in the real world! This should go over well. Hope you enjoyed it!