"Been a pretty crazy few days huh?" Toothless yawned.
"Yeah I can't believe it. I'm glad we were able to help those guys." Hiccup leaned forward checking his food.
"I'm very proud of you Hiccup." He pressed his snout into Hiccup's back.
"Oh yeah. You did say something about what is it?" Hiccup pulled one of his fish off the fire and moved the other to the side.
"It was what Dusty said to you." He let Hiccup lean back again and watched him think while carefully peeling the skin from the fish.
"Oh, that." It was no big deal.
"I think it was a little bigger than you think. Before, you'd get bent out of shape about something like that. But instead you told him that you didn't care what he called you. You told him that you know that you're not like everyone else. Whether you meant it or not is another thing but you allowed yourself to say that you didn't care. That's what's important, that's why i'm proud. I don't think you've completely accepted that you're something in between. But I do think that you're on the end of it being a problem. You won't get hung up on someone calling you human or dragon. Whether you notice or not it's gotten much better and I won't be surprised if sooner rather than later it won't be an issue at all anymore.
You're accepting who you are, what you are. I guess it just took more than one loyal Night Fury to convince you of that." He laughed deep in his throat. "I think as long as you keep interacting with everyone, slowly coming out of your shell more and more. I think everyone will get to see the version of you that's been totally reserved for me, until now. The side that isn't all business and worried about the freeze. The one that smiles for no reason other than he's happy. The side that I don't have to try to force out of you by saying something embarrassing.
I just want you to smile all the time. You have a beautiful smile and more people deserve to see it."
"I already told you we'd have a private day when my dad leaves. So don't push your luck."
"Hiccup if I really wanted it that bad, I know how to press all your buttons. A nip here, a lick there, blow a little hot air on your back, and tell you how much you mean to me. Because while you put up a nice wall, you always leave a little opening for me." Hiccup could hear the dragon's smile as he spoke.
"It's not like you're any better." Hiccup swallowed his late bite and looked up at Toothless, who was smiling wildly.
"I'm not saying I am any harder. Just hold my head, play with my ears and kiss my snout and you could get me to do whatever you want." Toothless smiled softly. "Maybe that's just what it's like to have someone so important to you. I guess we just know each other so well."
"Like we used to be two souls circling around each other in a little glass." He smiled up to his mate.
"Hmm. It's like we were meant to be huh?"
"You know, every once in a while I wonder what our previous lives were like. Like who were we, what were we. Were we important? Or just two somethings quietly living our lives out together. Maybe after we die we can ask Ms. Freya about it. I wonder if she'd even be allowed to tell us." Hiccup took another bite of his food, and looking out over the fire, thinking on it more.
"Well some of those things can be sorta answered right now."
"Hmm." Hiccup swallowed. "What do you mean?"
"She told us that they had set a rule that souls couldn't inhabit any form they wanted. And she told us that we're both dragon souls. So we both would have had to be dragons last time. If there was a time before that maybe we were different species again. But at least once you had to be a dragon." He paused for a second. "And I'm sure you were the most beautiful creature on the planet. Just as you are now." He smiled down at Hiccup again. Hiccup looked over his shoulder and rolled his eyes. "What? It's true."
"Toothless you're basically forced to say that because I'm your mate."
"That doesn't make it any less true."
"Don't you ever worry about how claustrophobic you are? Like if I like you being like this all the time? Always right next to me, always telling me how much you love me and how great I look?"
"I used to a lot more. But we've been mates for a while now and friends longer than that. When we first began to be friends I tried to give you your space but you were the one trying to always close the distance. So I let it happen. Then we go and live in a tiny house that basically only had enough room for a small food stock, a small fire pit and us. So small that I couldn't stretch my wings across it or even lay flat out and would have to curl my tail so that I wasn't laying wall to wall. You realize that if I layed with my snout against the wall I had to turn my tail or have it up and in an awkward position because it was so small. And then you also had to live in that tiny place. Whether or not I'd like to give you your space it was impossible. As a result we learned how to live within a few inches of each other.
So now I think it's just how we are. If we're going to be within the same general area we're going to be right next to each other. And if we're going to be right next to each other than we're never going to be outside touching distance. Most times we're not even that far away from each other. A lot of the time some part of us it touching. Whether it be my paw against your foot, you leaning on me, or on my back. Some part of us is in contact. Plus you respond well to it. While I obviously can't speak for when I'm not there but when I am, you're confident. You puff out your chest and speak what's on your mind. That's what I like to see.
So unless you say something I bet we'll just get worse and worse. Potentially to the point where we can no longer be apart at all. Which personally I'm fine with but if you don't want it to be like that then you need to say something and fast."
"I don't know what to say. On one hand I like the sound of that. You're my other half and I can't think of what my life would be like without you now. But on the other, I wonder if I should say something for your sake. You always seem so bored when I'm working on making something. That I wonder if I told you to leave me be more often you'd have more close friends." Hiccup reached up and scratched under Toothless' chin.
"I appreciate you thinking about me but that's isn't necessary. The reason I don't have that many close friends is because of what was happening before you came into my life. Dragons tend to hold grudges for a very long time. The ones who can see passed what I was and who I am now are those close to me. And those who don't still respect me because of the way we lead them. They may not hate me anymore but many still don't like me, but like that way they live and how we treat them. Your coming into my life has opened a lot of doors for me and without you here, I probably would have been forced out or killed."
"I didn't know it was that bad." Hiccup whispered.
"I did a lot of bad things to a lot of the dragons here. And while I don't blame myself for my actions, they do and I have to deal with that."