Growing Pains

Chapter Twenty-Six: Zap

Much like the mighty Night Fury, time had a tendency to move at extreme speeds. Finn could have sworn it hadn't been very long since he returned home. And yet the village moved on, many people accepting his heartfelt apologies and almost as many refusing to look in his direction as they walked by. The boy knew it would be a long time before he regained their trust. Before he knew it, a week had passed and things were just beginning to settle. Erick had been fitted with a prosthetic and was learning to walk again. Cale and Frey continued with their community service projects. Finn had returned to work alongside Brandyn, who he was surprised to find was almost as hard a worker as he was. His parents were more affectionate than ever. There was always a hot meal when he got home after a long day of work. Astrid had even drawn him a warm bath after his first day back. Hiccup had tidied up his room. The boy had warm welcome at home, even if a certain blonde still gave him the cold shoulder.

Finn awoke to hear his parents talking in hushed voices as they left the house for separate engagements. His head throbbed, mostly because he still wasn't completely caught up on sleep, but he sat up. His first instinct, as it had been every morning since he returned, was to seek out some fish to feed his hungry dragon. But then the sinking feeling enveloped him as he remembered that his dragon was Thor knew were in the archipelago. Probably much happier now that he was away from his errant owner. The thought made the Haddock boy want to curl into a ball and cry. He had felt much more emotionally vulnerable since returning, heck, since leaving.

Kicking off his blankets, he shivered as he changed into his day clothes. Hiccup was going to have to rig up his heating system soon or the Haddocks would freeze to death overnight. Finn padded down the stairs and was relieved to see a fire already crackling in the fireplace. It gave him the sudden urge to relax on the couch and fall asleep again. Adrianna would surely think he was crazy to crash on the couch until a reasonable hour.

Suddenly, he had an idea. He hurtled over and dug through the pantry as quietly as he could. He certainly didn't have anything more important to do this morning. He could put his excellent cooking skills to use and prepare breakfast for himself and his sister. He pulled out a mixing bowl, where he threw together the ingredients for Adrianna's favorite breakfast, usually reserved for special occasions. The house was filled with the pleasant aroma of frying bacon, scrambled eggs, and chocolate pancakes. If Hiccup had fixed up the heating system, Finn knew the scent would be pumped directly into Adrianna's room, which would definitely wake her up in a hurry.

It seemed like an eternity until she finally descended the staircase in her pink nightgown and fuzzy slippers. Her eyes widened as she watched Finn scoop copious amounts of scrambled eggs mixed with fresh bacon onto a plate already occupied with chocolate pancakes. Finn grinned.

"Morning, sleepyhead." he called, holding out a plate. "I made breakfast."

"I see that." Adrianna said shortly.

Finn almost laughed at the dilemma that must be going on inside her head right now. On the one hand, she loved food almost as much as he did and she almost never had a breakfast this good. On the other hand, she couldn't carry her food away from Finn without it getting cold quickly in the drafty upstairs or blustery day outside. She was going to have to eat in the main room and that meant talking to Finn.

"Come on, sis." Finn smirked and attempted to wave the pleasant aroma in Adrianna's direction. "You know you want it."

Adrianna bit her lip but finally conceded. She sauntered over to her brother and took the plate from his hands.

"There you go. And you're welcome for what may be the best breakfast you've ever had." Finn mock bowed to her.

Her mouth turned up in a half smile. "Don't push it, Finnegan."