"Alright, that was much better than last time" Hiccup said as he dismounted Toothless, going down the line to check the fake tailfin. "Gonna have to work on the weight though-"
"Shouldn't have to, you were pretty fast up there"
The sudden and very unexpected voice made him jump almost a foot in the air, his body spinning around to stare at the brunet sprawled on top of a boulder, shepherd crook dangling from his hand.
Toothless growled at the stranger threateningly, his pupils slitting as he made to launch forward, until Hiccup's hands on his side stopped him from moving. The rider looked positively livid, suddenly pale and practically trying to fight the fright away from his face and voice.
"J-Jack" He stuttered out. "W-what are you doing here?!"
The taller boy shrugged, moving to sit before jumping of the boulder, his bare feet landing soundlessly on the fresh grass. "Went looking for you, didn't find you in the village, tracked you down" He offered simply, walking leisurely towards the teen and the dragon, eyeing warily the latter but not showing any concern otherwise. "I'll admit, I didn't exactly imagine you'd be doing this"
As he was about 3 yards away, Toothless started growling again, this time taking a step forward regardless of what Hiccup did. Jack stopped and stayed there, even taking a step back to keep a respectful distance with the dragon.
Hiccup stroked the dragon's head a couple of times, trying to calm him down before sliding to sit on the ground. He didn't feel like his legs could hold him right now. "Guess this is it then, huh?" He asked, looking at the shepherd warily. Jack had lowered to sit as well, cross-legged in front of him. "What, you're going to go back and tell my father what I've been doing? Get him to think even lower of me than what he does now?"
Jack snorted. "As if" He leaned back, and Hiccup had to kick himself when his eyes strayed for a moment to those bare arms as the thin leather straps over his biceps tightened with the slight coiling of muscle. "I'm not a tattle-tale. Besides, what you're doing looks pretty cool" He smirked, nodding his head towards the dragon, who only huffed and rested his head on his paws, already done with this human in particular.
Hiccup frowned and tilted his head. "Wait…you're not mad?"
"Why should I be? I've never liked the whole 'kill dragons' part of the normal Viking life" The taller brunet shrugged, letting his staff drop to the ground. He moved a bit forward. "Can I…can I touch him?"
Toothless raised his head at the question, somehow giving the perfect impression of raising an inexistent eyebrow at the boy.
Hiccup allowed himself to relax a little as a breathy chuckle left his mouth. "I'm not the one you should be asking that, you know"
"Isn't he your pet?"
A small plasma ball exploding in front of his feet answered his question. Jack jumped back and ended on his back on the ground, blue tunic covered in soot from the fire. Hiccup let himself look smug.
"I wouldn't be calling him that if I were you" He then turned to look at the dragon, nodding his head in the other teen's direction with a smile, letting the Night Fury know there was nothing wrong in trusting him in particular.
Toothless huffed, but stood nonetheless, butting his rider's forehead with his own in reprimand before slowly wobbling towards the brunet who was now recovered from the impact, moving to crouch in his place, keeping still as a wild animal in presence of a predator. The dragon circled him a few times, sniffing the air around him and even daring to flick his tongue over his arms when he got close enough. He seemed to deem the boy good enough, and after that moved back to sit beside his now standing rider.
Jack released the breath he was holding and stood as well, making his way forward to try and place his hand on the beast's head, like Hiccup had done before, succeeding after a couple of growls from the reptile. He laughed giddily and ran his hand around the scaly head, down the spikes of his neck and along the muscles of his wing, moving it this way and that to see how the light filtered through it. His hand brushed the leather saddle and he stopped, turning his eyes to the boy smiling softly at him. "Hic this…this is great" He breathed. "You have to tell your father about this"
"No"
"But Hiccup he—"
"I said no, Jack" He sighed. "If I even suggested that I'm riding a dragon instead of, you know, killing one, let's say I wouldn't be on the good side of his axe"
"Oh, come on, you're his son! What's the worst he could do?" Jack said, a bit exasperated.
"I don't know, disown me? Banish me? Kill Toothless?" Hiccup half-shouted back, arms moving wildly around as he gestured with each word. "He doesn't care enough about me to listen" His face fell with the last words, entire body sagging with the admission. Feeling his distress, the dragon got closer to him, nudging his hand with his head, purring when the boy started scratching behind his ears.
Jack sighed, retrieving his staff to go and stand next to the heir, placing his cold hand on his shoulder. "Hic, hey, that's not true" When Hiccup didn't answer, he moved his arm to envelope the shorter boy's arms in a one-armed hug. "Come on, why does this even matter so much to you? It's not weird to see you going the opposite way the rest goes. It's not bad"
"It is for me" Hiccup mumbled, letting his head drop to lie on Jack's shoulder. It was cold, just like the rest of his body always was, but it was comforting nonetheless. "I'm the future chief, and gods now how long it'll be until they chase me out of town if I don't, I don't know, settle down and…fit in"
The shepherd laughed, a short, derisive sound that expressed is disbelief in the statement. "Hic, the day you 'fit in', I will eat my cape" That had the grace of making Hiccup laugh and relax enough for the rider to wrap his own arm around Jack's waist, which was the only thing in reach from his height. "There it is~"
"Oh shut up" Hiccup laughed, patting the other teen's stomach, trying not to let his hand linger too long. "You'd be spitting fur balls for a full moon"
"It'd be worth it" He shrugged. He felt something warm nearby and turned his head to the side, coming face to face with the dragon, standing on his hind legs to be at eye level. He could only open his mouth when a big, slippery tongue dragged all along his face."Ewwwww!" He shivered in disgust at the thick saliva drenching his clothes and skin, releasing Hiccup to swat at the reptile, who was most definitely laughing at him. "I'm never getting this out of my clothes, I just know it"
Hiccup laughed so loud he doubled over, the sound echoing around the cove. Toothless bounded over to his rider and nuzzled his chest, happy to see him happy again. When Jack stopped shaking the spit off, Hiccup had stopped and was trying to catch his breath, his face completely red.
Jack smiled and hugged him, not letting go even when the brunet started squirming and complaining about the dragon saliva passing to his own clothes, finally giving up and letting himself be embraced.
"See, this here is what I'm talking about" Jack murmured into his ear, running a hand up and down his back, feeling Hiccup shiver and press closer. "You're not like the rest, and you will never be, and that's great"
Hiccup hummed, moving away a bit to properly look at Jack. "Yeah? How so?" He seemed calmer now, or at least until one of the hands wrapped around his waist moved to cup a freckled cheek, the cold of his skin contrasting with the steadily increasing heat on his face.
"The brightest star is always apart, but in the end, is the one everyone follows back home" Jack's voice was soft, too soft, and Hiccup unconsciously brought his face a bit closer. "If you standing out means no one will follow, then by all means count me banished as well"
He was not unprepared when the smaller boy jumped the rest of the distance to press his mouths together, eyes closed in the moment, and easily caught him when his feet stopped touching the ground. Hiccup was too light, really. He'd have to work some food into that boy when they were back.
Toothless looked at the couple curiously, tilting his head in wonder at what touching faces like that meant, choosing to shrug it off for now to get some well-deserved fish after the long flight he'd just taken.
When Hiccup opened his eyes again he startled and pushed himself away, coughing after being back on his feet. "Uh, I-That was, how do I-"
Jack chuckled and grabbed his hand, pulling him along to the passage to get up and out to the forest and back to Berk. "Come on, we can work that out back home" He turned to the dragon and waved at him. "Bye lizard, I'll bring him back tomorrow!"
The Night Fury mocked the boy and nodded his head forward, telling him to hurry up and take his human to get something to fill those bones. He didn't appreciate the saddle, but neither did he like a bony butt on his back.
Hiccup rolled his eyes and let himself be led by Jack, thinking that maybe, just maybe, being different wasn't all that bad, if you weren't alone at the end of it.