To Guest- Toothless did spit in the bowl that Valka used to mix up that mushy antidote stuff. I did originally plan for him to just drool on Hiccup's injury in the first place though :P
Over the next few days, Valka applied various remedies for whatever poison she thought could be infecting her son's wound. Although it sometimes settled his temperature and made him feel a little better, the venom remained.
Stoick worried that the toxin would infect Hiccup entirely, but whatever his wife was doing seemed to quarantine it. He, alongside Valka and Astrid, prayed to ever mentionable god that the young chief would heal and prosper. So far, their prayers stayed unanswered.
"Dad?"
"I'm here, son." Stoick leant forward in his seat, resting his elbows on his knees and taking his son's cold hand in both his large, meaty ones. Hiccup smiled weakly at him, his eyes holding a faint glimmer of their usual humour.
"You'll… like… this one…"
"What is it, m'boy?"
"I… wanted… wanted… to… ask you… if… you… could…" Hiccup's seemed to be struggling with something, much more than this enforced illness.
"Take it easy." Stoick ordered gently.
"That'll… be… the day… huh, Dad?"
"What did you want to ask me?" His son watched him through glassy eyes, that feeble smile still in place.
"Could you… ask the… Hoffersons…" He hadn't managed three syllables in his condition and it had clearly taken a bit more breath and effort than necessary, unsettling his ragged breathing more. "If they…" He continued, squinting at his father as though he couldn't work out who he was talking to. "Would let me…"
Stoick knew what it was.
"Marry Astrid?" He concluded for his son. Hiccup stared at him and, for just a moment, Stoick was worried that he had said the wrong thing. Had he been jumping to conclusions?
But Hiccup nodded- a weak nod, but a coherent one.
Beaming from ear to ear, Stoick promised he wouldn't rest until they agreed.
"No… need for… that… Dad…"
"Oh yes there is! It's about time, Hiccup, about bloomin' time!" The young chief smiled again.
"Now… seemed… like… a… good time…" He agreed.
"Toothless!" Stoick called. The dragon raised his head instantly, blinking away sleepiness. "Watch." He instructed firmly, pointing at Hiccup. Toothless uncoiled himself from his rock, stretching and yawning, before dutifully padding over and sitting like an ever loyal guard dog beside his master's bed.
Stoick patted the Night Fury's head for extra measure and then left, still grinning like a fool.
"What in Thor's name are you so happy about?" Valka laughed softly, studying her husband in amused bewilderment. "Is Hiccup alright?"
"Better than alright!" Stoick beamed. "My boy's getting married!"
Upstairs, Hiccup rolled his eyes. Yes, his father had lightened up considerably over the past few years, but his enthusiasm was endless.
Toothless mewled and sniffed at Hiccup's bandages again, growling as he always did.
"I'm… OK…" Hiccup comforted, scratching Toothless behind the ear. The dragon's eyes turned to satisfied slits and he purred affectionately. "Stupid… reptile…" Hiccup smiled.
The next thing Hiccup knew was that Fishlegs was barging into his bedroom, looking very excited.
"Fishlegs?" Toothless snarled. "Easy, boy." Hiccup waved him down insipidly. "What's… the matter?" He asked his fellow dragon trainer.
"We know what it is!" The Night Fury looked as confused as Hiccup felt, tilting his head to the side and emitting a low, accompanying growl.
"Fishlegs!" That was Astrid. Hiccup heard her clambering the stairs two at a time and she burst into the room, all aglow and beautiful while annoyed and quite possibly plotting to kill Fishlegs.
"Milady." Hiccup smiled. Astrid glanced at him, her expression softening. "What did… he do… now?" Instead of answering him, she rounded on her latest victim.
"I told you not to stress him out!"
"But-"
"We're not sure we know what it is; it's just a hunch!" With a wave to Toothless, Hiccup had the dragon split these two up. His Night Fury marched over, self-important all of a sudden, and swatting the two aside with his tail. Fishlegs landed on his behind, while Astrid fell haphazardly into a nearby chair.
"Explain." Hiccup told them. His voice carried neither the strong authority his father's did nor the steady sarcasm. He just sounded exhausted and… un-Hiccup-like.
"Your-" Fishlegs gestured at Hiccup, indicating his wound, as he got up and dusted himself down with his free hand. "We know why it's green."
"We think we know why it's green." Astrid corrected. "Nothing has been said for certain and we don't want to try anything that could put you," She looked at Hiccup then, "more at risk."
"I'm… always… at risk…" She rolled her eyes at that, shifting in her seat so she faced neither of them directly. Such a stubborn young woman, Hiccup thought, no wonder Dad's so happy about me and her.
Fishlegs voiced his idea, still applying his confidence that they had solved this toxic riddle. Astrid tried to protest that, if Fishlegs' idea was right, Hiccup could get hurt trying to reverse its effects.
"How… did you… figure… this out?"
"Well, you know how we made those Zippleback gas bombs?" Hiccup inclined his head. "I accidently dropped one. But it's OK!" Fishlegs added hastily at Hiccup's frown. "No-one was hurt and it didn't, like, explode or anything." The chief relaxed slightly, waving Toothless over. The dragon obeyed, curling back into his previous guard position. "Gobber had a large block of ice on the worktable- I think he's taking up ice sculpting. Some of his work is-"
"Fishlegs…" Astrid warned.
"Oh, right! Sorry! He had this ice on the table and some of the gas seemed to collect around it. I didn't see it happen, but once the gas had cleared, we could see it had changed."
"Changed?" Hiccup quizzed. "Changed how?"
"Changed from gas to liquid! The ice must have… I don't know, restructured it or something. It was burning straight through the ice though, like acid. It could explain why none of your mother's regular medicines are working, because-"
"It's… something… new…" Hiccup finished, thoughts whizzing through his mind. It actually did make sense, but judging by the brutal glower on his partner's face, he shouldn't look or say anything that agreed with it. "Astrid? Your ideas?" That was safe. Asking for her opinion before saying something amenable to Fishlegs.
"Fishlegs' oh so amazing idea of getting rid of it is to set it on fire."
"Oh…"
"Yeah." She glared at the other dragon trainer again. "Oh."
"Zippleback gas does clear when ignited!" Fishlegs argued, drawing himself up to his full height to try and look defensive, but Hiccup could tell her was scared of Astrid's reaction.
"It also explodes, Fishlegs!"
"It won't be much!"
"He'll get hurt!"
"Astrid-" Hiccup tried.
"But it'll be better in the long run!" Fishlegs countered.
"Fishlegs-" Hiccup attempted. But they were on a roll now, arguing over something Hiccup thought was a relatively simple thing and drowning each other out. "Toothless!" He hissed. The dragon instantly knew what to do, pouncing and knocking the quarrelling pair flat. He chortled happily and lay down, getting comfortably and ignoring their protests. "Good dragon." Hiccup made himself sit up a little straighter, pain ricocheting up his side. He winced and did his best to ignore it. "Guys… come on… we'll… talk… about this… properly…"
"Hiccup-" Astrid started, no longer angry, but concerned. He had turned a funny grey-green colour, looking on the verge of vomiting. He waved her away nonetheless, his hand gingerly covering his damaged side.
"Calm down…" He demanded, his voice faltering as a wave of dizziness overcame him. Toothless let Astrid go and pawed at Fishlegs curiously. Astrid hurriedly steadied Hiccup; firmly, but gently making him sit back against the pillows and helping him to have a drink of water.
"Don't push it." She told him kindly. "Just stay still."
"Stop… arguing… then…" He tried for a smile again, but he still didn't look well. He looked worse. Toothless freed Fishlegs and, on Astrid's order, the dragon trainer made his way downstairs, coming back with Valka and her box of herbs moments later.
"Hiccup…" She gave a motherly smile, her eyes full of worry. She brushed her son's hair from his forehead, feeling his forehead. "I told you to rest."
"I am."
"You're doing a marvellous job." She agreed sarcastically, rummaging in her herb box.
"Where's Dad?" Hiccup questioned, focusing intently on his mother, despite Astrid sitting beside him and Fishlegs wavering in the corner, Toothless bumping him with his nose for attention.
Valka pursed her lips, her eyes twinkling with a knowing happiness as she crushed the herbs and mixed them with water.
"Where you told him to be."
"Still?" She nodded, tipping the mushy antidote into a clean cloth.
"They're a… stubborn bunch. Now keep still."
"Smells." He wrinkled his nose at his mother's medicine, but remained motionless as she single-handedly removed his current bandages and placed this new healing mixture on the wound. It stung for a brief moment and then soothed the agony to a dull throb.
"Better?"
"Still smells."
"The chief of Berk, ladies and gentlemen." Valka announced, flicking her son playfully.
She made to leave. Fishlegs startled into action and followed, telling her his idea for the poison infecting their chief.
"What's your dad doing?" Astrid asked. Hiccup didn't meet her eyes, clicking his fingers to summon Toothless.
"Running... errand…"
"What errand?"
"Just… an errand." She frowned, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at him. His eyes locked with hers then, innocent.
"What did you do?"
"Nothing!"
"Liar."
"I-" Toothless interrupted, crookedly balancing Hiccup's old helmet- the one from his mother's old armour- and coating him with a fine layer of drool. "Thanks." The Night Fury gave a grin akin to his name.
"You're a pain." Astrid told the dragon, playfully pushing him away. Toothless didn't budge, licking her hand and slobbering along her lower arm. "And disgusting."
"Night Fury salvia has great healing properties."
"As you keep telling me." She flicked drool at him, making him flinch. "So, what is your dad doing?"
"That's… for me… to know… and you…" He yawned. "To find… out…" He finished sleepily. Toothless hummed, nudging Hiccup into lying down. Astrid marvelled at him, but set about removing the helmet and clearing up the slobber before he succumbed to sleep entirely.
"Come on, you." She patted Toothless on the shoulder. "Out." The dragon stubbornly sat down, his ears dropping, unimpressed. "I can play that game too." She dropped into the chair and folded her arms just as defiantly.
My Hiccup, the dragon's eyes seemed to say, MINE.
I hope this alright! I had a few ideas for it, like the whole Zippleback thing and the thing Hiccup asked his dad to do, but I've bought it all forward so you guys can have an update tonight :D
