Toothless fumed all throughout the second meeting, feeling especially peeved at the whole 'mating' incident. He was thankful that Valka managed to create a cover-story for him on the spot but of all the things she had to say! He groaned silently for the umpteenth time and covered his eyes with his palm.
He was so embarrassed.
Hiccup wasn't about to let him live this down either, occasionally shooting him exaggerated winks which Toothless growled at.
He wished Valka could've just told them he was on some grand adventure or something. It would've sounded cooler and a lot less of a joke.
'Where the Thor did she even get that idea from?!' he questioned in bewilderment, wanting to die the second the word 'mate' crossed his mind.
Toothless shuddered.
He noticed that there were a lot of vikings in the Great Hall who were there for supper and for Hiccup's big announcement.
The Alpha leaned against a pillar, metal leg clicking against the ground in boredom. He'd been waiting for Sirena for ages. He hadn't seen her since she'd been hauled off by Tuff to the twins' hut, which was hours ago.
A sigh left his lips.
One of the Zippleback heads rested on his shoulder, letting out a hiss.
"I'm fine, Belch."
The other head appeared on his other shoulder, growling in annoyance.
"U-uh, I meant Barf... Sorry Belch."
They screeched at him in unison, and he could only imagine that they were reprimanding him for mixing them up again. It was just something that happened whenever his mind was cluttered.
"Hey, don't get that attitude up with me," he sassed and playfully pushed them away.
They roared dramatically and sauntered away to annoy a sleeping Hookfang.
Toothless shook his head at them before someone came bounding up towards him.
"Stormfly!"
She bobbed her head at him and squawked loudly, which he didn't understand.
She looked a lot larger, since he was no longer a dragon. The Nadder loomed over him, as she cocked her head at him. She flung something in his direction.
He caught the slimy object an inch before it hit his face and eyed it. It was an Icelandic Cod, his favourite. Toothless held it in his hand awhile and looked back up at her large anticipative eyes. He shook his head at her.
"I can't eat fish anymore. You know that," he muttered quietly and chucked it back to her.
She caught it in her mouth and reluctantly gulped it down.
He smiled at her sadly. He missed eating fish but he couldn't stand it as a human. It made him too nauseous. There were so many little things he missed doing, that he'd taken for granted. Little moments he would get joy out of simply being a dragon.
She saw how crestfallen he looked and did the first thing that popped into her mind.
Stormfly swiped at his metal leg with her tail, sending him crashing to the ground.
"Hey!" he cried and sat up, rubbing his head in pain, "What was that for?!"
She screeched and flared her wings, looking as if she were about to attack.
Toothless narrowed his eyes at her mischievously while she snickered at him arrogantly.
"Alright," he said and dusted himself off, "Just make sure Astrid doesn't see this."
The Alpha sprung up, pinning her down to the ground but she swiped him up, flinging him off. He landed on all fours and barrelled into her side, knocking her down. She recovered quickly. After all, they'd been sparring like this for years.!
They brawled on the ground, earning odd stares from passers-by. Then again, they'd seen weirder acts coming from him. Most were simply taken aback by his strength.
Toothless instinctively growled when she swung her tail at him and used his strength to easily subdue her, pinning her to the floor by the snout.
"You should be ashamed of yourself, Stormfly! 'changed into a viking and I can still beat ya'!"
The Nadder sat up straight once he released her and let out a dramatic squawk. She left, still flapping her wings in defeat.
He burst out laughing at how silly she looked.
A soft warble caught his attention as he wiped a tear of joy from his face.
"Oh c'mon, Meatlug. She'll get over it."
Stormfly squawked loudly from faraway.
"Eventually."
The Gronckle shook her head at him.
Toothless only snickered at this as Meatlug rolled her eyes at him. She sniffed him tentatively and pressed her snout against his palm, which was freezing. She roared in disbelief.
"What's wrong-- Hey! Meatlug!"
She yanked him down by the sleeve and curled herself around him, warming him up almost instantly. He hadn't realised just how cold he was until she pointed it out. He took comfort in his close friend's motherly nature.
"T-thanks, Meatlug. I guess I'm cold so often I don't really realise it," he told her sheepishly.
She warbled at him in a scolding manner, before saying something else.
"I c-can't understand you."
The Gronckle looked up at him with sad puppy-like eyes.
"I'm really sorry..."
She stayed curled around him until she deemed him okay enough to let go. Then, she slowly unfurled herself and allowed him to stand up but he didn't. Instead, he lay against her warm skin, leaning his head on her abdomen.
He absent-mindedly played with his new fingers.
A snort caught his attention.
He looked up and saw the bright yellow eyes of the red Nightmare staring straight at him. Hookfang picked himself up and crawled towards him. Toothless held out his hand towards him but for a moment visualised his old paw.
He was brought back to reality when he felt Hookfang's scales on his skin.
"I really miss you guys," he mumbled.
The Alpha was taken aback when Hookfang brushed past his fingers and nuzzled him with a simple purr. It was rare for him to show any sort of affection, even to his rider.
Toothless sighed for what must've been the thousandth time.
"I'll be fine. I'm still adjusting I guess."
Hookfang snorted and looked away, however his eyes landed on someone he couldn't help but smirk at. The Alpha tried to crane his neck to see who he was staring at, but the big dragon obstructed his view.
"What is it, Hookfang?"
The Monstrous Nightmare smirked at him gleefully and 'casually' sauntered away. Meatlug rolled her eyes at him but was quick to follow behind him, after shooting her Alpha an excited look.
Toothless had no idea what they were doing.
He stood up and when he saw what they were looking at, he froze.
Sirena had just walked into the hall, accompanied by the twins who were on either side of her. Tuffnut looked exceptionally proud as his chest was puffed out and he had an arm around his newest customer's shoulders. Ruffnut looked like she was having a pleasant conversation with the young mermaid.
But it was Sirena alone that made the Alpha go completely numb.
Her hair was left long as he'd requested and from where he stood, it looked like it was sparkling. He could see three braids instead of two tied across her hair like a crown and when she was faced away from him, he saw that a slim but extravagant braid slid down her back.
Oh god, but it wasn't her hair that made him melt.
It was the way she smiled. She just looked so comfortable in her skin. He didn't know if it was attributed with her new hairstyle but all he knew was that when she smiled like that, the rest of the world seemed dull.
He found that wherever she moved, his eyes would never trail far from her. He felt that she was almost attracting him with just the curve on her lips.
Sirena had been dragged over to the gang and was now chatting lightly amongst them. She laughed brightly, filling the hall with her musical laughter.
Toothless found that he was smiling as well and he just couldn't help it.
Hookfang took one look at the dopey grin on his face and shook his head. He smacked his tail against his leader's back, propelling him forward.
The young man turned around to glower at him, only to receive an encouraging grin.
•
"Nice job, Tuffnut!"
"Seashells look really good on you, babe."
"I've never seen this kind of braiding before," Astrid said in wonder and gently held the only strand of tied hair, "It kind of looks like a mermaid's tail."
Sirena chuckled shyly.
"I know! I call it..." Tuff paused for dramatic effect, "Fishtails!"
Everyone rolled their eyes, which contrasted their smiles.
As everyone began to fall back into their usual banter, Sirena stood on her tip-toes, trying to catch a glimpse of Toothless in the crowd.
"Hey, who're ya looking for?" Ruffnut asked as she eyed her strange behaviour.
"Toothless. I haven't seen him in ages!"
"Oh, I saw him standing there awhile ago," she said and pointed to the other side of the hall.
"R-really? Oh, thank you!"
She darted off to find him.
She barely took ten steps before she felt someone graze her shoulder. She jumped a little in surprise and turned around.
"Toothless!" she whispered as loudly as she dared.
She didn't know why but she thought he looked a little flustered. He ran a hand through his dark hair and scratched the back of his ear with a toothy grin.
"H-hey! Sirena y-you look uh... You look b-beautiful!"
Her lips curved into a smile and her heart began beating faster. It only quickened when Toothless grinned and held a thin strand of her hair.
"I never expected him to put seashells. Quite fitting, eh fishsticks?"
She groaned and rolled her eyes.
"He was so excited when he thought of it," she chuckled, "He even added a starfish! Look!"
Sirena turned around to show him the tiny dried starfish he clipped to the top of the braid.
"It's actually a little disturbing," she continued saying, "He put a dead creature in my hair."
He choked on his words.
"It's creepy when you put it like that."
She shrugged.
"Hey, Sirena? T-there's something I've been meaning to tell y--"
"May I have everyone's attention!"
"Oh for the love of--"
•
Hiccup stood on the circular stage around the pit of fire as everyone turned their attention towards him. There was a stir through the crowd before everything began to quiet down.
"I have an announcement to make!"
"Obviously," Toothless snorted, earning a joking whack from the mermaid.
"For years, we have lived in peace with the dragons. They have helped us grow into what we are today and now, we will help them as well."
He paused and smiled at the murmuring audience.
"We're building a dragon utopia, here on Berk. A safe place for dragons everywhere, so they may coexists with us! Because without dragons, there is no Berk!"
Everyone cheered wildly, toasting each other with bright chortles, and Toothless only smiled as a warm feeling fluttered inside him.
"We'll travel to as many islands as we can, and rescue any wounded dragon we see! And you can probably guess who's coming with me!"
The crowd laughed.
"Your general, Astrid Hofferson!"
Astrid flicked her blonde hair out of her eyes and grinned at her betrothed in admiration. The crowd clapped for her proudly.
"Snotlout Jorgenson!"
His fans cheered.
"Fishlegs Ingerman!" he continued listing, "Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston!"
•
"Eret, Son of Eret!"
The mentioned waved at Sirena from where he stood against a pillar, who waved back with a smile.
Suddenly, Toothless felt extremely uneasy and dejected.
"Antonio!"
Sirena chuckled at his annoyed look. He couldn't help but loosen up as well, smiling as she giggled but then...
She looked up at him sadly, and suddenly it felt like they were the only ones in the hall.
"I'm really going to miss--"
"Sirena!"
She whipped around so fast she heard her neck crack.
"H-huh?!"
Toothless burst out laughing at her expression and how quickly the atmosphere changed.
•
"My mother, Valka! And myself!"
The chief paused long enough for the applause to commence, and it was loud enough that no one heard the creak of the giant doors opening. Hiccup was the only one who caught a glimpse of Toothless and Sirena slipping out of the hall together.
He frowned, deciding that he would ask his best friend about it later.
"Together, we will change the world for dragons and vikings!"
'And I wouldn't have it any other way,' he thought to himself.
•
It was nearing midnight, yet the hall was still decently packed with vikings having a few drinks and chatting. Hiccup walked around the tables, occasionally sharing a drink with some of the men.
He sat down at a lone table and sighed.
It felt oddly nostalgic. Sitting alone reminded him of the times he used to be known as a loner or as Stoick's havoc-wreaking runt.
"Tired?" someone said, startling him.
"Yeah... Thanks for takin up the post of acting chief, Gobber."
His old mentor laughed and smacked him on the back fatherly.
"I'm old but I can handle Berk for a week or two, 'iccup! It's better than camping in the woods. I've done too much of that when I was a teen! Now you young ones can handle that."
In the background, Valka and Snotlout were having an arm wrestling competition (which Valka was winning, mind you).
"We might be gone longer than that."
Gobber sighed.
"Time to cancel that vacation then," he muttered to himself.
"Gobber..."
"Only joking, Hiccup!"
His face was a little pink from the alcohol but his expression was completely sober. In fact, he looked a little more serious than usual.
"Hiccup. I wanna talk to ya' about your dragon."
"Toothless?" he whispered softly, "I mean, he's not exactly a dragon anymore."
"It's not just 'im."
"It's about Sirena, isn't it?"
The blacksmith sighed miserably and put his head in his hands.
"Don't ya' find it odd, Hiccup? How she spends all her time with the Alpha of Berk?"
"They're friends, Gobber."
"How do we know she's the last one alive, Hiccup? We have no proof they're really gone! Maybe this is some scheme they have to wipe us all out!" he ranted all his doubts and worries out.
After all, it was like trying to relax beside his worst nightmare. He just couldn't.
"Gobber! She saved my father, remember? Toothless trusts her--"
"Of course, he does! She's probably seduced the dragon!"
Hiccup choked and started to cough wildly. Okay, so 'seduce' and 'dragon' were two words he'd never thought he'd hear in one sentence...
"It's just she seems really genuine, especially around Toothless."
"That's what 'acting's called, boy," he snorted.
"Gobber, I think you're overthinking it. The Mermaid's Circle is gone. That's probably the biggest sign that they're gone for good. And... Sirena's not bad at all. Toothless really likes her."
The older viking shook his head and swirled his drink in his cup.
"Sorry, Hiccup. 'just been on edge."
"I won't blame you, especially after what you told us."
He chuckled weakly.
"I'm not asking you to be best friends with her, but at least give her a chance. She doesn't seem evil like the mermaids you told us about."
"I'll think about it," he said unconvincingly and left.
Hiccup only watched his retreating figure sadly.
Lately, things had been happening, and he felt like he hadn't fully reacted to it yet. He was sort of expecting to wake up and see Toothless as a dragon again. It felt so weird talking to his best friend. It was like getting to know someone all over again.
"Hah! You lost to Hiccup's Mom, Snotlout!"
"Shut up, Tuffnut!"
He glanced to his side and saw that his mother had won the arm wrestling match.
Quite a large number of spectators had gathered around their table, and most of them were currently jeering at the loser. Eret accidentally let slip something which made Valka raise an eyebrow at him.
"Who're you calling old, son?"
"How about you beat me then I'll take back what I said, dragon vigilante?" he taunted and took Snotlout's place.
Valka smirked.
Hiccup shook his head at them, but ultimately decided to head over and watch.
Eret was a lot stronger than his mother, and it showed clearly.
•
Just then, the raven-haired pair strolled in through the doors which were opened wide. They both looked a little flushed, smiling as if they were still in a daze.
It was Sirena's musical laughter that caught Eret's attention.
He looked up distractedly and saw her walking in.
Valka took the opportunity and slammed his arm down to the table in victory. Eret swung his head towards her in surprise.
"What was that again, lad?" she smirked with her arms crossed.
He put his hands up in defeat while his friends groaned at him.
"Alright! I'm sorry for calling you old!"
"That's what I thought."
"Hey! Sirena!" Fishlegs waved excitedly, "Over here!"
"Oh, hey guys!" Toothless grinned.
"Hey, babe," Snotlout crooned with a wink that disgusted even his dragon and Ruffnut.
"H-hi!"
"What were you guys doing?" he asked curiously, wondering why there was small crowd surrounding the table.
"Arm wrestling. Wanna have a go, lad?" Eret challenged arrogantly.
Toothless cocked his head to the side.
He'd seen the twins and Snotlout playing before but he'd never really bothered spectating. It used to bore him most of the time.
Valka got out of her seat, and he sat down warily.
Eret placed an elbow on the table, which Toothless mirrored. He was awfully unsure about the whole thing.
"Opposite arm, lad."
"O-oh..."
He swapped arms as Sirena sat on the same seat as him. The two friends looked at each other and shrugged.
"Have ya' never arm wrestled before?" one of the vikings asked in bewilderment.
"U-uh-- Y-yeah! I have," he lied.
Sirena smiled convincingly at the man who asked, looking on in interest.
"Don't want to embarrass yourself in front of the lady now, do ya'?"
Toothless barred his teeth, not liking the tone Eret was using.
"Three," Valka began.
"Wait, why's she counting?" he whispered into Sirena's ear.
"Two."
She shrugged.
"One!"
He jolted in surprise when Eret tried to slam his fist down while letting out an arrogant grunt. Instinctively, he pulled it back up, not wanting his arm to break.
They were evenly tied.
The Alpha narrowed his eyes at him.
Lately, Eret had been giving off an off-putting feeling which was strange because Toothless used to find him pleasant.
"You know, I saw him take Stormfly down in one go," someone gossiped.
"He looks strong!"
He got the objective of the game, and swung his opponent's hand down so it collided with the tabletop painfully. Eret pulled him arm back and rubbed his reddened knuckles, looking exceptionally glum.
The crowd cheered for his victory.
He felt a little overwhelmed.
"Not bad!"
"Good game, lad!"
Multiple vikings clapped him on the back, each congratulating him and Sirena swore she heard a meek 'please stop touching me'. She couldn't help the laughter that escaped her lips.
Eagerly, she tried to congratulate him but he was being swarmed by dozens of vikings.
It was beginning to get stuffy so she left, slipping to Eret's side.
"How're you feeling?" she asked him.
"Ego's been bruised, but nothing I can't handle," he sighed good-naturedly, "Today's not my day."
She winced when she saw that the back of his hand was beginning to turn purple.
He caught her looking at it and flipped his hand so only his palm showed.
"I've been through worse, but that's certainly the worse injury I've gotten from an arm-wrestling match."
"H-hey, d'you wanna get that checked?"
"It's okay, lass. The lad's strong, I'll give him that. He could've done it softer, though," he muttered, "Eh, maybe he didn't get the game."
•
Toothless wanted to apologise to Eret. He hadn't meant to hurt him that bad. He tried to pry himself from the swarm of vikings.
But then, he saw that Sirena was with him and they were laughing at something together. He felt... really sad all of a sudden and, oddly insecure.
Why was she always with him? What was it about him that always made her go to him?! He wondered if she was actually spending more time with him than she let on...
He watched Eret swipe a strand of hair out of her face with the tips of his fingers. All of a sudden, an uncomfortable tingle shot up his spine and he felt as if he couldn't breathe. He shook his head and let out a cough, wanting his lungs to work right.
"Bud?"
He felt a little light-headed.
"Antonio!"
Someone placed their hand on his back.
'Oh right! That's my name,' he thought, feeling really stupid.
He turned around and saw that it was his best friend, who looked really concerned.
"Are you feeling alright, bud?" Hiccup asked.
"H-huh? Y-yeah, I um--"
Toothless took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair.
"I'm fine, Hiccup."
"You don't look so good, bud," he said and place a hand on his back, "C'mon, let's head back. It's getting really late."
The brunette looked around until his eyes landed on the mermaid.
"Sirena!"
She looked up when her name was called. She saw Hiccup gesturing that they were heading home. She hastily excused herself from Eret's side.
The dragon looked away, because he really didn't want to look at her at the moment.
Sirena tried peeking at him with a smile to get his attention, but he only looked further away. Her eyes widened and she looked down, feeling a little pathetic when he ignored her.
Hiccup watched them in bewilderment.
He cleared his throat.
'T-this is... Awkward,' the chief thought to himself.
He clapped his hands loudly.
"Okay then! L-let's go--"
Before he could even finish his sentence, Toothless began walking ahead of them with his hands stuffed in his pockets to keep warm.
"O-oh, well l-let's follow him then."
Sirena didn't answer, but she did start walking.
The two jogged slightly to catch up with him, and they exited the giant doors together.
She took careful steps down the stairs, completely submerged in thought. Toothless was acting so different. It was almost as if he were a different person. He seemed so genuine just moments ago as they talked outside and now he was--
She squeaked when someone bumped into her.
Toothless caught her before she fell.
"Hey! Watch it," he growled at the poor man who'd accidentally knocked into her.
"Ooh! Sorry, Sirena!" he apologised curtly before promptly turning back to his conversation, "You know, I can't wait for the races tomorrow!"
"It's not tomorrow, Stoark. It's the day after that!" his friend corrected in annoyance.
The two vikings walked away, deep in discussion about some upcoming 'race', which sparked Sirena's curiosity.
She realised she was still in his hold.
The Alpha released her roughly.
"Be more careful," he grunted moodily and began walking ahead, not giving Hiccup a chance to reprimand him for his manners.
Sirena winced at his harsh tone, feeling completely terrible. In just a matter of minutes, she'd been through quite a ride of emotions. She went from feeling terrible that he was leaving, to ecstatic that he'd asked for her to join them, to euphoric that they'd shared a moment together outside, then back to terrible that Toothless was mad at her.
Safe to say the walk home was extremely awkward.
Hiccup walked with the two of them on either side of him, both looking the opposite direction from each other.
It was completely silent, and he had half the mind to break it as even he was starting to feel the strain of tension in the air.
They entered the silent house (Valka wanted to spend a little more time in the Hall with the dragons) and Toothless practically sprinted up the stairs.
Hiccup frowned at his behaviour.
"I'll talk to him later," he muttered and turned to the sad little girl beside him, "G'night, Sirena."
"Goodnight Hiccup," she mumbled drearily, walking towards her room whilst gripping her arm tightly.
He noticed that she paused and looked up where his best friend disappeared to with a wince before she closed the door to her room firmly.
Hiccup shook his head.
"That useless reptile."
•
Toothless curled himself up in a little ball, tucked underneath his new blanket. He hadn't bothered taking of his clothes for the night even if they were itchy. He felt so worn out and tired. There was a weight of his chest that made him want to smack his face into his stone bed repeatedly because maybe if he hit himself in the head hard enough, he would pass out and forget about the whole awkward experience.
"Toothless?" he heard Hiccup's concerned voice call.
He laid as still as possible. Maybe if he didn't move, Hiccup would think he fell asleep--
"Bud, I know you're not asleep."
He groaned.
"Bud..."
"Leave me alone," he said in a muffled tone.
Toothless could hear the shuffling of his sheets as Hiccup sat down beside him. He wished that he'd just left him alone to mope but he knew deep down that, he was eternally grateful he had his best friend at his side.
He lay completely silent.
"Toothless. Oh, c'mon you big baby."
The man rolled his eyes in defeat and threw the covers off himself with a groan. His hair stood up in weird places from being squashed under the blankets, poking out from both sides of his head but Toothless made no effort to flatten them.
Instead, he sat with his legs outstretched and a tired look.
Hiccup handed him a cup of water which he took with a barely audible 'thank you', gulping the cold liquid down two seconds.
"D'you wanna talk about it?"
He looked at Hiccup warily and squirmed. He wasn't used to talking about his problems with him. Heck, he still wasn't entirely used to talking to him at all.
"I-it's nothing--"
Hiccup raised an eyebrow at him.
"I..."
There was an anger bubbling within him that made him want to tear down buildings and burn down villages. He felt awfully territorial and very annoyed at even the littlest things. He wished he still had his plasma blasts; he would've fired them all over just to unleash his fury.
However as a human, all he could was pace around the room with a glare that unsettled even his best friend. His eyes had grown a shade darker in the shadows of his dark hair. Toothless knew his teeth were barred as his jaw was clenched but he just couldn't help it.
"Hey, hey!" Hiccup said worriedly once he saw the state his best friend was in, "C'mon, let's sit down-- A-and put that cup down!"
He just realised what he was doing to the poor cup. It was beginning to crack from how tightly he'd been holding onto it.
His eyes felt hot and watery.
He stumbled back before collpasing onto Hiccup's bed. The cup was safely removed from his grasp and placed onto the bedside table as Hiccup hopped on and sat beside him.
Toothless couldn't bare to face him in his distraught state. He wished he still had his wings so he could wrap himself away from the world.
"It's just... Just..."
"Just what? Toothless, you know you can talk to me about anything right?"
He looked up at Hiccup, peering at those familiar forest eyes as he tried to swallow the lump in his throat.
"He touched her face a-and I got mad. O-oh... That sounded pathetic, didn't it? Gods, what's happening to me..."
He buried his face in his hands whilst resting his elbows on his knees.
"He touched her face?"
"Like, he brushed her hair out of her face," he growled, "I dunno... And I felt terrible but I d-don't know why. I'm just so confused."
Toothless ran a hand through his hair, something Hiccup rarely saw him do throughout the day.
"It's Sirena... It's like I feel really happy around her and I think her smile is really special."
Hiccup blinked at him, a little shocked at his confession but he wasn't anywhere near finished.
"And I don't get why she's always with him! Whenever I look, he's always near her. I don't get it! I just want-- Just want to-- t-to... I really..." he clenched his jaw and sighed in defeat before murmuring something which made Hiccup's eyes widen to the size of saucers.
The Alpha's bright green eyes flashed up in horror at what he just said.
"You better not tell her any of this! You hear me, fishbones?! She's going to kill me!"
"Nice to know my best friend trusts me," Hiccup snorted sarcastically, but then his expression softened, "Toothless..."
His best friend cocked his head at him, waiting for him to continue.
"I think you're jealous, bud."
"Yeah...--Wait-" his head turned so fast he thought his neck snapped, "WHAT?!"
"Think about it!"
"Uh, no! I am not jealous--"
"Well then, what other explanation do you have?"
"Eret's weird and Sirena should probably stay away from him?!"
"Eret is not weird. You know that, Toothless!"
"It doesn't make any sense! What is there to be jealous of? I look better than him, dragon or not! Plus I have better hair."
He swept a hand through his hair confidently with an exaggerated smug look while Hiccup gagged. The chief grabbed his pillow and swatted him in the face with it.
"Hey!--"
"You're jealous that Sirena's giving him more attention," Hiccup explained slowly.
"She... S-she does not!" he fought back, even though he wasn't entirely sure, "A-and I wouldn't care if she did!"
Suddenly he remembered the way she smiled, the little freckle on her nose and the curve of her lips. He remembered the way he felt around her, like he was more than alive and how his heart would beat faster and faster.
Unbeknownst to him, his cheeks were a bright pink from his involuntary blush.
"Looks like Mr. Alpha here has a crush! Aw, look at you bud," Hiccup taunted and pinched his reddening cheeks, "You're so cute when you're jealous!"
Toothless growled and pushed him away.
"I am not jealous!"
"Oh! Then you're in denial!"
"I am not in denial!"
"So you're jealous?"
"N-no I am not! C'mere you--"
He grabbed Hiccup by the scruff of his sleeves and wrestled him down.
"I am not jealous!"
"Yes you are!"
"There's no way! Why would I even--"
Hiccup shot him a suggestive look and puckered his lips. Toothless cringed at it in disgust and backed away.
"What's with that face? H-hey, cut that out!"
He chucked the pillow at Hiccup who swiftly caught it.
"Someone has a crush," he taunted and waggled his eyebrows.
"You're just as bad as Hookfang!"
"Jealous!"
Toothless growled and plopped himself onto his stone bed, throwing the covers onto himself as he didn't want to continue the conversation anymore, especially since it made his face hot and uncomfortable.
"Goodnight Hiccup!"
He heard his best friend chuckle.
"Goodnight, bud! Dream of Sirena--"
He snarled at Hiccup before ducking under his blankets again.
Just the sound of her name made him feel all sorts of weird.
He shut his eyes but instead of sleeping, he spent the rest of the night reliving moments he had with her, because he just couldn't help himself. Toothless recalled the moment they'd just shared outside the hall. It felt so special whenever they were alone together, like they had a secret no one else knew about. His mind went back to the time they had together, standing in a cove filled with star-like fireflies. He wished he held her hands a little longer and he wished those tiny moments they shared together lasted a little longer.
He'd never felt like this before, but realised that it actually wasn't completely terrible...
Lately, all he'd done was complain about being a human but then he remembered the way he felt when he saw her smile.
'Maybe this isn't so bad,' Toothless told himself, and he was unable to stop the fluttering his chest.
But it came crashing down when the image of her hurt face flashed in his mind, and that it was all because of him being a stupid boob. It felt terrible, like a shard of glass was prodding at his heart.
He sat up, and knew that somehow, he had to make things right.
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