Life on Berk

I Love You?

Summary: Hiccup forgets to check his flying gear one morning. Needless to say, a certain blonde Viking was not pleased.

Takes place some time during RTTE.

"Hey, Bud." Hiccup patted Toothless' nose as he walked past him, grabbing a fish from the basket and tossing it to him before picking up some bread for himself. He made his way to the door. "You ready?"

Toothless bounded past him out the door. Hiccup chuckled at the puppy-like energy of his dragon. He still couldn't believe how they had known him as the "unholy offspring of lightning and death itself."

He stood outside the house waiting for Toothless to spend his extra energy. He grinned fondly as Toothless leaped around excitedly, not realizing that his rider was waiting for him. Once he noticed he was not being followed, he paused and turned. His ears drooped almost as if he was embarrassed and he walked over to Hiccup slowly.

"How much energy do you have? That was a record three minutes," Hiccup laughed as he checked the flying gear.

He made sure to check that all the parts of the stirrup and tail fin were working perfectly as always before taking off. Everything seemed to be working perfectly. He didn't hear the loud scrape of metal when he placed his foot in the stirrup.

"Okay, Bud. Everything looks good." Hiccup announced. "Let's go."

With that, Toothless shot into the sky.

They had just gone through a series of maneuvers when Hiccup heard a click coming from the tail. He turned around hesitantly and looked over the device before deciding nothing was amiss, and that it was because of a slight shift in the position. He turned back to the front and patted Toothless' head in a silent gesture to go faster. Hiccup shouted with glee as the wind rushed past, blowing his hair in all directions.

"Let's go higher, Bud!" He shouted. Toothless roared excitedly and complied with his rider's request. Hiccup laughed, feeling every beat of his dragon's mighty wings as they went higher. They leveled off as soon as they broke through the clouds.

"Great job, Bud." Hiccup laughed, running a hand through his hair. "That was fun!" Toothless roared.

Then they heard a snap, and a split second later, both rider and dragon were free-falling. Hiccup managed to clamber back onto the saddle and reposition his leg in the stirrup. No matter how hard he tried to change the position of the tail, it remained closed. He mentally cursed. Toothless' eyes narrowed into slits as they got closer to the ground. When Hiccup finally realized just how close they were to the ground, he screamed and held onto the saddle for dear life. They hit a tree branch and got separated before crashing in the forest.

Hiccup lay flat on his back, groaning in pain from the impact. Toothless padded over and nudged his side, trying to get a response. Hiccup lifted his hand and rubbed Toothless' head.

"I'm okay, Bud," he mumbled. "Just a little shaken up." Toothless warbled and let his head fall on Hiccup's stomach. "Ow... Can I please get up?" Toothless merely huffed.

"Useless reptile," he muttered. "Less fish for you tonight." Toothless' eyes widened and he roared before getting up and nudging Hiccup's hand. Hiccup chuckled. "Always works." He patted the dragon's head.

He stood up shakily and looked over the saddle and tail. He noticed that one of the wires had snapped. That explained why he couldn't control the tail. At least it could easily be fixed.

"Come on, Toothless. Let's go back so I can fix this." He took a few steps before realizing his dragon wasn't following him, but instead sitting defiantly in the same spot. Hiccup sighed. "I'm sorry I didn't do a proper check, okay? It won't happen again." Hearing this, Toothless bounded ahead of his rider, nearly knocking him over in the process, not seeming even slightly apologetic. Hiccup groaned as he moved to catch up to his dragon.