Hey guys! So this is just a cute little idea that popped into my head, and I could picture it so clearly I had to write it. Enjoy!
Hiccup crashed the hammer against the metal, shaping the molten form to a recognizable axe. The forge was sweltering, the fire's warmth pushing past Hiccup's form to the Night Fury curled behind him. Toothless purred deep in his chest and stretched, in the process skittering a table across the smithy. Hiccup turned and cringed. "Ack…it'll be so fun to drag that back into place….be more careful, bud. Gobber'll kill me if he comes back and this place is a mess." Toothless ducked his head and pushed the table back in place with his nose. Hiccup laughed. "Crisis averted."
He turned back to his axe, sharping the edge and whittling the splinters off the handle. He held his work into the light, struggling a bit under the weight of the blade. "Finished," he pronounced. Toothless growled. "Right. Weapons. Sorry." He glanced at the satiny sky, realizing that the day had slipped past, and began to close the forge up. He finally nudged a resentful Toothless out of the warm shack and locked the door. As he turned away he did something Toothless had never seen him do before, something that made him curious.
He began to hum.
Toothless tried to hum in unison with him as they walked, mixing his rumbles with purrs, loudly enough Hiccup could hear. The boy stopped and looked at him. "Do you like me humming?"
Toothless nodded, smiling the best he could. You're happy, I'm happy, he said without words.
Hiccup grinned. "You're trying to hum with me? I'll bet we could get some serious harmony going if we tried, bud." He hooked his arm around Toothless, and limped towards the lights of his home; and to Toothless' elation, began humming again, louder, a brighter tune. Toothless gurgled, pleased.
Hiccup kept it up all the way home.
When they arrived at the house, Hiccup promptly sent Toothless to the stables while he fetched fish. The air seemed too still without Hiccup humming or talking or breathing. He returned quickly, thank goodness, and tossed a barrel of fish into Toothless' trough. "All cod. You're welcome."
Toothless wolfed down his dinner. He chewed and trained his eyes on his boy, sitting quietly on the ground and evidently lost in his own head. Toothless felt a memory come to him—one of the crop festivals—a woman had opened her mouth and pretty noise had streamed out. A tune with words.
Could Hiccup do that?
He nipped Hiccup's arm to reclaim his attention. "Hm?" Hiccup asked. Toothless swallowed and began his humming, then opened his mouth and tried to make that noise. Hiccup stared. "What are you…?" His green eyes widened. "Oh! Singing. You're singing, kind of. I didn't know you really liked to—" Toothless butted his leg. "OW! Okay. That's not right. Okay, try to explain, buddy." Toothless cocked his head, nodded to him. Hiccup raised his eyebrows. "You want me to sing?" Toothless nodded; Hiccup gulped. "But—you realize that—Oh, Thor, there's no good excuse, is there?" He sighed. "And you're not going to let me back out, are you?" Toothless whined, insistent that his boy sing.
Hiccup hesitated. "Here's something. My mom sang it to me when I was little, before I went to sleep. She had a really pretty voice, bud. You'd have preferred her to sing it…"
Toothless narrowed his eyes. No, he would not. He was sure she was a special person and all, but she wasn't the boy sitting next to him and no one's song would be as special.
Hiccup breathed in and began, his voice soft and misty like the clouds at sunrise:
Good night, little soul,
Breathe in, good night,
Dreams come swift, light your night,
I'll see you at morning light,
Good night, little soul, good night.
He draped a hand over Toothless. "Kept away bad dreams most nights."
Toothless knew, just knew, that even among humans that still did not credit his boy enough, Hiccup had a lovely voice. He edged under Hiccup's arm and rumbled his happiness. Hiccup smiled, hints of both shyness and pride in his voice. "Liked it, huh?"
Toothless blinked at him and nodded. Then he rammed his arm again. More, he pled.
Hiccup groaned. "Okay, fine."
Toothless' eyes twinkled at him. He was so easily manuevered.
Reviewing would be lovely :)