With the stark lack of adventure and danger in Somarium, and stark lack of other dragons period, Toothless had found himself with a lot of free time on his hands. ...Claws. With this free time of his, the Night Fury had taken to trying to fly on his own again-- he knew the attempts were largely futile, he wasn't a stupid beast by any stretch of the imagination, but when flight once came naturally to you, it's to be expected that you would continue to try until you can try no more.
And so, with a great number of flailing leaps and irritated yowls as he plummeted back toward the earth, Toothless had begun to regularly make quite a show of hurling himself into the air only to skid into the dirt again some scant seconds later. Quite a few times, he would get so frustrated with his own inability (even if he had figured out that the loss of his tailfin was Hiccup's fault, he could never blame the boy) that he would spat fire at the earth, as though condemning it for rising to meet him so prematurely. He was a dragon, he was meant to fly
( ... )
Hiccup came into view, rounding the corner of one of the cottages. He was looking the opposite direction first, taking a deep breath to call again
"Toothl----" Just as he was yelling, he turned his head, and suddenly his eyes widened up, getting a good look at the dragon now bounding towards him, getting ready to... OH GODS.
"AHH, wait, wait!" The boy quickly slipped the basket of fish off of his shoulders, dropping it, and dodging out of the collision course, hoping that would distract his overexcited buddy.
Merlin caught the look, and just stood there looking like the confused derp that he was while the dragon bounded off and headed for his friend. He could see the whole thing from there, and winced when they nearly collided. Wow, he was like a really big scaly dog at dinnertime. He found it hilarious, honestly.
Instead of waiting for Toothless to drag Hiccup over to him, he opted to head over that way, making himself known to the boy instead of just surprising him. "You must be--" He caught himself before he threw out information he clearly shouldn't know. He didn't want to blurt out anything about magic, or talking to dragons, that would seem odd. Even given Amalthea's word that magic wasn't forbidden or all too strange here, "--another person that got dragged here, huh?" Nice save, Merlin.
Really big scaly dog at dinnertime, indeed. Toothless did manage to skid to an excitable halt before he actually collided with Hiccup, but he promptly bounded around in circles and chittered at the boy. Hiccup, Hiccup there's a guy and he can talk to me come see-- by the way are those fish for me? He paused at Merlin's approach, and for a moment just balked at the wizard.
Seriously, Merlin? Did you actually just-- yes, yes you did. Thor, you and Hiccup will get along splendidly.
More importantly though, Hiccup! Toothless nudged the boy gently, still chattering in his odd sort of clicking speech. Merlin may have recognized that he was nattering on about the strange boy that he could talk to, and Hiccup maybe he could teach you, and--
...Yeah, scaly dog at dinnertime. Excitable, overly friendly and quite affectionate, scaly puppy at dinnertime.
Hiccup let out a relieved breath that he didn't realize he was holding. He raised an eyebrow in amusement as his big scaly hyperactive dragon practically pranced around him. He just followed him around with his gaze, not understanding anything more then he was a big, happy, excited dragon. The most obvious message was 'yaaaayyyy, fish!'
"Yeah, I hear ya." Hiccup reached over to untie the lid on Toothless's meal. "Here you, go!" The last word was more of a grunt as Hiccup was pushing over the heavy basket with his boot at the same time, spilling fish out so Toothless could get them.
As soon as he was done with that though, he realized that someone else was there, talking to him. He blinked, looking up at Merlin... Huh.
"Yeah, I am." Hiccup said as he wiped his palms on his shirt, since they were still a little covered in fishy slime. "You too, huh?"
He smiled. "We haven't met before, right? My name's Hiccup."
Merlin couldn't help but laugh both mentally and outwardly when Toothless got so excited. He tried to imagine the great dragon from home acting like that. Which only resulting in him laughing more. Hi, I'm Merlin and I must look insane. He made sure to compose himself by the time Hiccup noticed him though.
He offered a friendly smile, and he would have offered to shake the boy's hand but the last thing he needed was fish guts all over him. "I just arrived actually."
The young warlock nodded his greeting instead, "No, we haven't. My name is Merlin. It's nice to meet you, Hiccup." and I'm sorry you were given that name.
He turned toward Toothless now, "A good friend of yours from home?" as if he didn't know already. But he wanted to hear how Hiccup would say it.
Toothless gleed in place when Hiccup knocked the basket of fish over, diving at them and swallowing a few of the vertebrates whole before remembering he had other things to be excited over. (He and Hiccup both shared having the attention span of a sparrow, it seemed.) He paused over his fish, swallowing another before sitting back on his haunches and considering the wizard and the viking.
He let the two of them talk, bemused, slowly going back to paying attention to his fish. He could natter more at Hiccup over the fact that Merlin could talk to him when he was done eating. For now, the boys could talk amongst themselves while Toothless chowed the hell down.
Hiccup nodded back. He was sorry for it too, sometimes.
... And then Merlin wasn't addressing him anymore. He was looking at Toothless and talking. Hiccup quickly looked between the two in slight confusion.
"You've already met Toothless?" He said, definitely sounding perplexed. Ever since he arrived here, he had been struggling to keep the dragon a secret to most people, and yet, every time Toothless met someone, he was making way more friends then he was making enemies. When your dragon beats you in friend count.... No, he aactually wasn't going to entertain that thought.
Merlin snapped his head back toward the boy. "Uh...yes! Just a few minutes ago, actually. It's not hard to tell you're friends with the way you're acting." Easy, Merlin. Why do you have to be so bad at lying? He totally wasn't talking to a hyperactive dragon and he totally couldn't understand what he was saying. What are you talking about that's madness.
"It's nice to meet you both, you don't often see dragons ever interacting with humans like they're friends. Not where I come from anyway."
Oh, Hiccup, if only Toothless could understand your thought processes, he may have cuffed you for that one. You silly adorable social derp, you.
In the meantime, Merlin he is giving you what is quite possibly the most comically are you kidding me look one has ever seen on the face of a dragon. Or any reptile, truth be told. Because, honestly. Are you kidding me. I was excited that you could talk to me, and now you're passing it off with silly, easily-seen-through lies! What in the name of Thor's beard is wrong with you, boy.
With a grunt, pointed directly at Merlin in the form of "Tell him", Toothless bumped the flat part of his head against Hiccup's back once he had finished wolfing down his basket of fish. Thank you, as always, for the delicious fish that you so graciously provide me with, dear Viking, by the way this guy can talk to me and it's really cool. Also feel free to pet me, I haven't seen you all morning and that is terrible.
Well, he was feeding him. The friendship was kind of obvious.
"Huh. For a guy who's not used to dragons getting along with humans, you seem pretty calm about this." Hiccup was accustomed to people being afraid of Toothless first, and then realizing he wasn't going to hurt them, rather than anyone being comfortable with him right off the bat. "... Then again, I shouldn't be talking."
He jerked forward slightly as he was nudged. He looked back at the dragon pushing him, and he put a hand on the dragon's snout. "What? You're not still hungry, are you?"
Okay...he caught that hint even without Toothless speaking to him. Now he was torn. On the one hand, Toothless really wanted him to tell Hiccup that they could communicate and that kind of WAS exciting news, since Merlin might be some kind of translator or whatever for them in the future but...
On the other hand he might just sound crazy and possibly be called out on being a sorcerer, and/or a Dragonlord, even if Hiccup likely had no idea what the hell that was.
He didn't want the dragon to be mad at him though, he could use his help in the future if need be. So he didn't want to end up on bad terms.
"Well..." he started, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, "I guess you could say I had a feeling about him." that was stupid, let's try that again, "I can understand him, you know?" Please catch that hint, Hiccup.
Toothless made a distinctive purring sound from behind Hiccup, keeping his face pressed against the boy's side. Nope, quite sated with those fish, we're just enjoying your company. He peered around the boy to look at Merlin, letting the wizard take his time. He supposed it was kind of a strange thing, to be able to speak to dragons. Without actually speaking, even.
When he commented that he could understand Toothless, the Night Fury nuzzled his way up under Hiccup's arm, as though to emphasize the point. He nodded a few times, looking from Merlin to Hiccup. The dragon may have not been the best at playing charades most days, but he was making a valiant effort to get this point across. When Merlin said he could understand him, he meant it.
Italics = magical dragon speakmagicalderpOctober 19 2010, 01:51:05 UTC
Well that didn't work.
Merlin turned to Toothless, and spoke in that telepathic tongue now; " I can't risk Arthur finding out about my magic. Are you...are you sure Hiccup wouldn't tell anyone about this?" He was paranoid. He really didn't want to lose his close friend because of anything related to magic.
He just laughed at Hiccup's herpderp'ing, "Well I guess I'm special then, huh?"
Toothless faltered when Hiccup misunderstood. He supposed that the way Merlin phrased it wasn't at blatant as "I can speak to your dragon", but it still gave the dragon a vague desire to smack his snout against the earth for a few moments. Instead, he whuffed, slightly indignantly, but made certain to love liberally upon his boy. He wasn't replacing you, Hiccup, don't ever think that. You are his best friend, for now and forever, and the first and only human this Night Fury will ever claim as his own. He just thought it was freakin' cool that he could talk to Merlin.
The dragon turned his eyes to Merlin, then, contemplating his hesitance. It made sense, he supposed. Merlin's magic, Toothless figured, was likely somewhat akin to Hiccup's Dragon Training. If Stoick had found out... well, when Stoick found out, even. It hadn't been pretty. But Toothless trusted Hiccup for all that he was. He smiled at the wizard. If you ask him to keep it quiet, he will. He's an amazingly smart boy.
And so, with a great number of flailing leaps and irritated yowls as he plummeted back toward the earth, Toothless had begun to regularly make quite a show of hurling himself into the air only to skid into the dirt again some scant seconds later. Quite a few times, he would get so frustrated with his own inability (even if he had figured out that the loss of his tailfin was Hiccup's fault, he could never blame the boy) that he would spat fire at the earth, as though condemning it for rising to meet him so prematurely. He was a dragon, he was meant to fly ( ... )
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"Toothl----" Just as he was yelling, he turned his head, and suddenly his eyes widened up, getting a good look at the dragon now bounding towards him, getting ready to... OH GODS.
"AHH, wait, wait!" The boy quickly slipped the basket of fish off of his shoulders, dropping it, and dodging out of the collision course, hoping that would distract his overexcited buddy.
Reply
Instead of waiting for Toothless to drag Hiccup over to him, he opted to head over that way, making himself known to the boy instead of just surprising him. "You must be--" He caught himself before he threw out information he clearly shouldn't know. He didn't want to blurt out anything about magic, or talking to dragons, that would seem odd. Even given Amalthea's word that magic wasn't forbidden or all too strange here, "--another person that got dragged here, huh?" Nice save, Merlin.
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Seriously, Merlin? Did you actually just-- yes, yes you did. Thor, you and Hiccup will get along splendidly.
More importantly though, Hiccup! Toothless nudged the boy gently, still chattering in his odd sort of clicking speech. Merlin may have recognized that he was nattering on about the strange boy that he could talk to, and Hiccup maybe he could teach you, and--
...Yeah, scaly dog at dinnertime. Excitable, overly friendly and quite affectionate, scaly puppy at dinnertime.
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"Yeah, I hear ya." Hiccup reached over to untie the lid on Toothless's meal. "Here you, go!" The last word was more of a grunt as Hiccup was pushing over the heavy basket with his boot at the same time, spilling fish out so Toothless could get them.
As soon as he was done with that though, he realized that someone else was there, talking to him. He blinked, looking up at Merlin... Huh.
"Yeah, I am." Hiccup said as he wiped his palms on his shirt, since they were still a little covered in fishy slime. "You too, huh?"
He smiled. "We haven't met before, right? My name's Hiccup."
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He offered a friendly smile, and he would have offered to shake the boy's hand but the last thing he needed was fish guts all over him. "I just arrived actually."
The young warlock nodded his greeting instead, "No, we haven't. My name is Merlin. It's nice to meet you, Hiccup." and I'm sorry you were given that name.
He turned toward Toothless now, "A good friend of yours from home?" as if he didn't know already. But he wanted to hear how Hiccup would say it.
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He let the two of them talk, bemused, slowly going back to paying attention to his fish. He could natter more at Hiccup over the fact that Merlin could talk to him when he was done eating. For now, the boys could talk amongst themselves while Toothless chowed the hell down.
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... And then Merlin wasn't addressing him anymore. He was looking at Toothless and talking. Hiccup quickly looked between the two in slight confusion.
"You've already met Toothless?" He said, definitely sounding perplexed. Ever since he arrived here, he had been struggling to keep the dragon a secret to most people, and yet, every time Toothless met someone, he was making way more friends then he was making enemies. When your dragon beats you in friend count.... No, he aactually wasn't going to entertain that thought.
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"It's nice to meet you both, you don't often see dragons ever interacting with humans like they're friends. Not where I come from anyway."
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In the meantime, Merlin he is giving you what is quite possibly the most comically are you kidding me look one has ever seen on the face of a dragon. Or any reptile, truth be told. Because, honestly. Are you kidding me. I was excited that you could talk to me, and now you're passing it off with silly, easily-seen-through lies! What in the name of Thor's beard is wrong with you, boy.
With a grunt, pointed directly at Merlin in the form of "Tell him", Toothless bumped the flat part of his head against Hiccup's back once he had finished wolfing down his basket of fish. Thank you, as always, for the delicious fish that you so graciously provide me with, dear Viking, by the way this guy can talk to me and it's really cool. Also feel free to pet me, I haven't seen you all morning and that is terrible.
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"Huh. For a guy who's not used to dragons getting along with humans, you seem pretty calm about this." Hiccup was accustomed to people being afraid of Toothless first, and then realizing he wasn't going to hurt them, rather than anyone being comfortable with him right off the bat. "... Then again, I shouldn't be talking."
He jerked forward slightly as he was nudged. He looked back at the dragon pushing him, and he put a hand on the dragon's snout. "What? You're not still hungry, are you?"
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On the other hand he might just sound crazy and possibly be called out on being a sorcerer, and/or a Dragonlord, even if Hiccup likely had no idea what the hell that was.
He didn't want the dragon to be mad at him though, he could use his help in the future if need be. So he didn't want to end up on bad terms.
"Well..." he started, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, "I guess you could say I had a feeling about him." that was stupid, let's try that again, "I can understand him, you know?" Please catch that hint, Hiccup.
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When he commented that he could understand Toothless, the Night Fury nuzzled his way up under Hiccup's arm, as though to emphasize the point. He nodded a few times, looking from Merlin to Hiccup. The dragon may have not been the best at playing charades most days, but he was making a valiant effort to get this point across. When Merlin said he could understand him, he meant it.
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"It usually takes him at least a little while to open up like that to anyone... Or a little fish. He must like you a lot then."
Unfortunately for Merlin, his hint just went straight over Hiccup's head.
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Merlin turned to Toothless, and spoke in that telepathic tongue now; " I can't risk Arthur finding out about my magic. Are you...are you sure Hiccup wouldn't tell anyone about this?" He was paranoid. He really didn't want to lose his close friend because of anything related to magic.
He just laughed at Hiccup's herpderp'ing, "Well I guess I'm special then, huh?"
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The dragon turned his eyes to Merlin, then, contemplating his hesitance. It made sense, he supposed. Merlin's magic, Toothless figured, was likely somewhat akin to Hiccup's Dragon Training. If Stoick had found out... well, when Stoick found out, even. It hadn't been pretty. But Toothless trusted Hiccup for all that he was. He smiled at the wizard. If you ask him to keep it quiet, he will. He's an amazingly smart boy.
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