Fire and the Thud [Hiccup x Reader]

My Propeller

"Not all of us are born to train Night Furies, your highness, so yeah, lessons," I countered, hoping the sarcasm would mask the awkward blush threatening to cover my cheeks.

"And what exactly would these lessons entitle me to teach you?" he asked, turning to face me as he crossed his arms, leaning against the doorframe. I huffed a bit, shrugging sharply.

"I don't know, useful things. Maybe you could start off with how you manage to get Frostbite to always cuddle up with you," I added, unable to contain the bitterness that seeped in at the last couple words. He noticed it with a tilt his head.

"Okay, well, for starters, she does not always 'cuddle up with me'," he began to argue, but I shook my head insistently.

"And more importantly, I don't know because it's not like I specifically do anything," he continued. I only sighed, turning my gaze to Frostbite, who was watching us with curiously-gleamed eyes. I pursed my lips, running through a mental list of possible reasons why she wasn't as comfortable with me as she was with Hiccup.

"Why don't we do flying lessons instead?" I heard his question come from behind, sounding almost apologetic. I turned my head back, eyes landing on Hiccup pushing himself away from the doorframe and starting over towards me.

"I know how to fly a dragon, Hiccup. We've done this before," I scoffed, but his eyes lit up, halting my certainty.

"No, no, see, you just know how to ride a dragon. Flying a Night Fury is a whole different story," he insisted. I bit my lip, considering his words. It was true; flying with a Night Fury seemed as if it was entirely its own universe, with their unmatched speeds and wholehearted intent to race through the clouds, no matter their flight purpose.

"You've got a saddle now. It won't be as easy to fall off, either," Hiccup continued, punctuating his sentence with a raise of an eyebrow.

I held my breath, eyes slowly moving from Hiccup to Frostbite, observing her quietness, before they returned to Hiccup.

"When do we start?" I finally exhaled, and an elated grin appeared on his lips in response.

---

"Relax, (Y/N)! Just hold on, you'll be perfectly fine," Hiccup called out. I glanced towards him, anxious and quickly deciding this was not as good of an idea as I had first thought.

We were unbelievably high up in the morning sky, thick clouds surrounding us. Hiccup had managed to convince me that waking up at sunrise to begin the flying lessons would be an excellent choice, but I was growing more and more certain that he was an absolute liar.

"I can't even see below me! How is this fine?" I shouted back, finally tearing my eyes away from the endless white beneath Frostbite to look up at Hiccup. Except when I turned up my gaze, he and his dragon were nowhere to be found.

"For Odin's sake, not again," I muttered under my breath, squinting in an attempt to see below the clouds. Frostbite's constant beating of her wings when she slowed to a stationary glide sort of helped, just barely clearing the clouds directly around us.

"You don't always need to see, you know."

Hiccup's sudden appearance beside me pulled a startled noise from my lips, and I felt my grip slip from the saddle's handle with my involuntary jump.

"Whoa, hey, do not do that," he said quickly, hands shooting out as if he was going to attempt to catch me from his several feet away.

"How about you don't do that! What is with you and your fascination in scaring the hell out of me?" I complained, steadying myself on Frostbite and wrapping my hands around the handle.