Do You Mind? Chapter 7
When Hiccup finally awakened the next morning, he almost didn't recognize Ruffnut. He had never seen her with her hair unbound and unbraided before; she'd also taken off her helmet. She had a lot of hair, thick and full-bodied. It fell in glorious flax-colored waves down past her waist, and rippled and flowed as she moved. He couldn't help wondering what it would look like in bright sunlight. He caught himself wondering what it would feel like to run his fingers through it.
She saw him staring, and fiddled nervously with a few strands. "You like it?"
"The word 'awesome' is overused, but I think it applies here," he nodded. At her confused expression, he added, "It means 'yes, I like it'."
She shook her head and flipped the hair back over her shoulders with both hands. "It's not very practical to fight dragons this way, or spar with my brother. I almost never wear it loose. You might never see it like this again."
"I'll treasure the memory," he nodded.
"So... what do we do now?" she asked.
"We try to find something to eat, and also find something for Toothless to eat. That reminds me."
"Toothless, how's the wing?"
"It's mending slowly. I think I'm going to stay grounded for the day. How was the mating?"
"There was none, thanks to you. I owe you one."
"I still don't understand. She's changed her appearance just for you, so she's clearly drawn to you. You said she was willing; you make it sound like that's uncommon. This could be your chance of a lifetime."
"Bud... like you said, we humans have made this stuff very complicated. All I can tell you is, there are certain times and certain places and certain people it's right with, and it's wrong any other way. I think she's still trying to pull me in. I'm asking you please, don't you push me that way, too."
"I'd like to see you happy, and I'd like to see an end to the frustrated images you keep lobbing into my brain. Mating would make you happy and end the frustration. What's the worst that could happen?"
"She could get pregnant and her father would kill me, or Astrid could find out and she'd beat me senseless, or her brother could find out and he'd beat me senseless, or my dad could find out and I'd be disgraced before the whole village, or I could just feel guilty about it for the rest of my life because I'm supposed to save it for the girl I marry. Or all of the above."
"Huh... I guess that could pour cold water on your passions. I'll keep my common sense to myself, and let you play this strange game your way."
"Thanks. I appreciate it. We're going to try and find you some fish; want to come along?"
"Freshwater fish would be a nice change. Lead the way, O frustrated non-mating human!"
"Toothless, please don't take that tone with me! We're stranded in a strange place, we don't have any food, I've got a predatory female after me... I don't need this!"
"You just gestured to all of me."
"Did Toothless have anything interesting to say?" Ruff wondered.
"His wing is feeling a little better, but he doesn't want to try flying today," Hiccup answered, trying to hide his startled look. "Let's walk downstream. Maybe we'll find a pool with some fish in it." She nodded and they followed the brook.
"Man, it's warm and humid in this place!" he exclaimed after a few minutes. "I might take my fur vest off."
"I was thinking of taking off a lot more than that," she purred. He stared at her in shock. "Well, why not? It's too hot for all these clothes, there's nobody here to see me but you, and... it might be fun."
"Uhh, uhh, that 'nobody else here' part might not be true!" he stammered, beginning to go red in the face. "I mean, the others are bound to come looking for us, and if they find you, without your... uhh... what would they think?"
"The guys would think you're a real man at last," she grinned, "and Astrid will get over it."
"Get over it?!" he burst out. "You make it sound like... eating with the wrong fork or something! She'd skin us alive!"
She chuckled lightly. "Hiccup, for a smart boy, you just don't get it! We Vikings have rules about these things, but nobody follows them, except you and maybe Astrid. Every Viking man has his girlfriends, and most Viking women have their boyfriends, whether they're married or not. Everybody knows it happens, and as long as you don't get too obvious about it, nobody says anything, because everybody else is doing it too."
"Everybody except me. Ruff, I want to say this once," he exclaimed. "Maybe I'm the last Viking in the Nine Worlds who really follows the rules, but they're important to me. I'm asking you nicely – please don't push me to break those rules. It isn't anything personal; I'd push Astrid away too, if she was saying what you're saying."
"Nothing personal?" She looked doubtful. "You really don't think I'm ugly?"
"Well... if I thought that, then the idea of you taking stuff off wouldn't bother me so much."
"Huh. I guess that's true." She thought about that for a while as they walked.
They didn't find any pools, but they found a fat lungfish, over four feet long, that was also looking for deeper water. It took both of them to wrestle it out of the stream. The lungfish was too big for Toothless to swallow whole, so they cut it up with a sharp stone that Hiccup found, cooked a few of the less fatty pieces on a fire that Ruff made and Toothless lit, and ate them. They weren't very tasty; Ruffnut decided she liked the fish-wrestling better than the lunch. The rest of the pieces went down the dragon's gullet, one at a time.
"Did you like the lungfish, bud?"
"Yes, it was savory and provocative, with a slightly smoky bouquet, layers of cherry and seasoned mutton, and an aftertaste reminiscent of avocado with a touch of oregano."
"Seriously, bud?"
"Actually, it was a bad version of a normal fish, but I don't want to say what kind."
"Why not? Just say it."
"All right. It tasted like... a horrendous haddock."
"Ouch. Well, you did warn me."
That was all the food they found all day. They were hungry again when they retraced their steps back to their cave. But Toothless thought he might be able to fly the next day, so they endured their discomfort and settled down for the night.
"You're going to behave tonight, right, Ruff?"
"If I have to," she sighed.
"Clothes on, hands off?"
"You're no fun at all!"
"You seemed to think wrestling a fish with me was fun, didn't you?" he asked.
"Yeah, but that's not much. Do we have anything in common? Anything that matters?"
"A lot," he answered. "People think you're one of the idiot twins, and they don't expect much from you. They called me Hiccup the Useless, and they didn't expect much from me, either. I've been walking in your shoes for years, and you've been walking in mine, and we never knew it."
"How come?"
"Because we never had the chance to talk. That's the down side of you always having your twin brother around. It's hard to get to know you, because nobody can have a one-on-one conversation with you."
"So if I train my own Night Fury, things will get better for me?"
"Maybe not a Night Fury," Hiccup said, "but you need to find somebody who believes in you. Somebody who lets you be yourself, and accepts you for who you are, but who nudges you to try and become something better."
After a long pause, Ruff asked, "You mean, someone like you?"
"Ruff... I'm Hiccup! I'm not tall or handsome or muscular, I'm not crazy or adventurous or any of the things you like! What did I do to get you so obsessed with me?"
"You were nice to me. I'm not used to that. It kind of... touched me somehow."
"Nobody else has ever been nice to you before?"
"My brother is, sometimes, as long as nobody else is looking. Snotlout is really nice, whenever he wants a date or something. Fishlegs is nice because he's scared of me, I think. Astrid's a friend, but I feel like she's losing patience with me, now that she's chasing you instead. My parents... I don't want to talk about them."
After a few minutes, she said, "Hiccup... I'm cold again."
He sighed. "Fine. Same rules as last night." She cuddled up against him immediately.
"Hiccup, when we get back home... are you still going to be this nice to me?"
"We aren't going to sleep together, but I'm definitely going to treat you better than I used to."
"I'm glad," she sighed. She was soon asleep, judging by her breathing. He lay awake, thinking about a lot of things.
She was cuter than he'd realized, or maybe she was just growing on him, and she was very determined. If Toothless couldn't get them out of this valley soon, it was just a matter of time before she wore him down and they did something he'd regret. His only alternative was to drive her away by being cruel, and he just couldn't do that.
What if she did wear him down, and they did something they shouldn't? Astrid would dump him for sure. Could he find happiness in Ruff's arms instead? She wasn't his type, but then, Astrid wasn't perfect either, aside from her beauty. Astrid liked to hit him, to let him know who was in control. Ruff might hit him just for the fun of it, and she might want him to hit her back. He was sure he could never do that. He wasn't at all sure they could get along, long-term.
Ruff seemed to like him a lot, all of a sudden. How could he get her affections off of him without being cruel or hurting her emotionally? He had certainly misjudged her, and he hadn't lied when he said he'd treat her better once they got home. But if she was still putting moves on him when they got home, somebody was going to feel the weight of Astrid's temper. He didn't want that for himself, and he honestly didn't want it for Ruff, either.
When those terror-soars dove on him and his friends, had they hurt any of the others? He expected that they'd be searching for him by now. But if they or their dragons were downed and hurt, they might not be able to look for him. If he got above the fog and found no one, he might have to go hunting for them. He hoped they'd stuck together, one way or another. This was a big valley to have to search at low altitude.
Once he found Astrid again, and she asked him what he'd been doing while he was separated from the group, what would he tell her? If he tried to be evasive, she'd know in a heartbeat. If he outright lied, and she learned the truth, she'd be furious. If he told her the truth... he really didn't know what she'd do, but he doubted that he'd like her response. If he told her one thing and Ruff told her something different, who would she believe, and what would she do to the one she thought was lying? Oh, Astrid, sometimes you make things so difficult!
Ruff's hair really was awesome.
This mission to find a dragon's nest had become horribly complicated, for reasons that had little or nothing to do with dragons.