Do You Mind? Chapter 10

As they flew home, they updated each other on what they'd been doing. (Hiccup and Ruff left a few of the more interesting details out of their narrative.) They all agreed that this valley might be fun to explore, but it wasn't really a dragons' nest, so they probably would not return.

"What do you think, bud? Would you ever want to come back and say 'hello' to your distant relatives?"

He got no answer.

"Bud? Can you hear me?"

"Guys?" Fishlegs called. "Meatlug isn't talking to me in my head anymore! Was it something I said?"

"Everybody, try thinking to your dragons," Hiccup called. They all tried it. Nothing happened.

"Whatever it was, I guess it finally wore off," he said, a bit sadly.

"I'm kind of glad, and also sad at the same time," Astrid admitted. "Stormfly wasn't the most interesting person to talk to, but it was nice for each of us to know what the other one was thinking. And she told me some rather interesting secrets."

"Good riddance to it!" Snotlout blustered. "I don't think Hookfang ever told me anything I didn't already know." Hookfang shook his head and neck, giving Lout a bone-rattling ride for a few seconds.

"It got confusing, with all four of us thinking at once," Tuff said, "but it came in handy sometimes. I guess I'll miss it."

"I'll write this up in the 'history' section of the Book of Dragons," Fishlegs decided. "It was one of those things that just happened, and we'll never know the reason why."

Hiccup rested a hand on Toothless' head; the dragon turned to look at him curiously. "Bud, it was neat to hear what you're thinking. I know you didn't like it so much, but… I'll miss being able to have a conversation with you." Toothless snorted and shook his head quickly, and returned to the business of flying.

When they landed, it was nearly suppertime. They checked in with the chief, enjoyed a good meal in a comfortable place, went to bed early, and slept late the next morning.

In the afternoon, Hiccup passed Ruffnut as they made their way around the town. "Hiccup, have you got a second?"

"Sure," he nodded. They stepped aside between two tradesmen's buildings.

"All those things you said to me," she began. "All the nice things. Did you really mean them?"

"Every word," he nodded. "Especially the parts about how you've got more going for you than I ever realized. I think maybe we can be friends now. Real friends."

"But that's all?" she asked.

"That's all," he nodded. "We will never breathe a word about… that other stuff… to anybody. It happened, and it had its moments, and maybe we can learn something from it, but… it's done. Deal?"

"Deal," she nodded. He spat in his hand and held it out. She grinned and shook it firmly, then let go without being prompted.

Later that evening, Ruff caught up with Fishlegs. "Do you mind if I ask you something?" she said.

"I guess not," he answered, puzzled.

"Are you scared of me?"

"N-no," he answered hesitantly. "Some of the things you do, those scare me, but you? No."

"Good," she said, grabbing his hand. "Let's go down to the cliffs, you and me, and look at the stars."

He froze, almost in a panic. "B-b-but… it's too cloudy! Yeah, too cloudy! We can't see any stars!"

"Fishlegs, it's not about the stars! It's about you and me." She gave his hand a tug.

"I thought your brother said I wasn't good enough for you!"

"Just for once, my brother isn't here," she growled. "You are, and I am. Are you coming or not?" She pulled his hand again, and he followed. He wasn't sure if this was the start of something good, or if he was being led like a lamb to the slaughter, but it might be worth finding out.

At around the same time, Astrid found Hiccup as he was putting Toothless' flying gear away for the night. "Do you mind if I ask you something?" she said.

"I guess not," he answered nervously.

"When you were in that valley, did you ever take your vest off?"

"Uhh… where are we going with this?" he stammered.

"I just need to know – did you take your vest off?"

"No, I didn't," he said slowly. "I almost did, because it was so warm there, but… I got distracted by something and I never took it off."

"That makes me feel better," she said with a smile that might have been dangerous. "I'm glad it, and everything else underneath it, stayed on. You see, I happened to notice some very long blonde hairs on that vest."

"Oh, those!" he said, forcing an innocent-sounding chuckle. "That must have happened while I was braiding Ruff's hair for her." I'm going to get hit, he thought.

"That could be," she nodded, "except her hair wasn't braided when we found you."

"Oh… well, then… in that case… it must have happened when, ummm... ummm..." I'm really going to get hit.

She leaned toward him, looking very serious. "Being lost in that valley with a hurt dragon was intense, wasn't it? Nerve-wracking, scary, stressful?" He nodded. "Sometimes people do things when they're stressed that they wouldn't do normally. Right?"

Oh, gods! She knows! "Yeah. Sometimes," he quavered. Toothless watched them curiously.

She grabbed his shirt and glared at him. "Do you ever want to go back there?"

Sometimes she told him things with messages hidden behind the words, and he didn't understand what she was trying to tell him. This time, he actually understood the hidden message. "No!" he exclaimed, vigorously shaking his head. "I don't ever want to go there again!"

"Good," she smiled, and relaxed. Then she belted him in the arm, hard. "That's for what you've been thinking when you watch me from behind!" Then she hit him again, but this one was only a half-hearted backhand swat. "And that's for everything else that may or may not have happened back in the valley," she said. "On second thought, maybe that last one wasn't all your fault, so I guess I should make it up to you." She grabbed his shirt again, more gently this time, and pulled him close.

He didn't even try to resist her kiss. Far from it! But just before she pulled away, he could have sworn he heard a distant thought, like an echo tickling the edges of his mind.

"Well, it's about time, you two. Now get a room."

THE END