Keep Warm

Hiccup could not sleep. He had been turning over in his bed for almost two hours. The more he tossed and turned, the more frustrated he became, making it even more difficult to relax. Finally he resolved to get out of bed and find something to occupy his mind until he got tiered enough to possibly at least rest for the night.

He paced quietly thru his bedroom, stepping carefully so as not to awaken the sleeping dragon next to him or his father down stairs. Eventually he decided to sit down at his desk and sketch out some of his saddle adjustment ideas. Once he was seated with charcoal in hand, however, he could not make his mind focus on anything remotely technical.

Hiccup groaned and rubbed his face with both hands. “What’s wrong with me tonight?” he grumbled under his breath. He sighed and picked up his charcoal again and just let his hand move and his mind wander. He thought of nothing in particular as his hand moved across the paper creating an image of what he thought was nothing in particular. His thoughts roamed thru the events of the past few days. Hookfang setting Snotlout on fire (again). Ruffnut hitting Tuffnut in the face with her shield so hard he actually fell unconscious. Astrid dumping water on Tuffnut shortly thereafter. Astrid asking him to sharpen her ax in the forge after hours. Astrid…

Then Astrid was all he thought of. Her strong tone, her rare but heartwarming smile, her hair like the sun and eyes like the sea. Astrid herself was like the sea. She was just as calm as she could be ferocious; just as open as mysterious.

Hiccup acknowledged the paper in front of him, curious as to just what his subconscious had told his hand to draw. He was astonished.

It was Astrid. Her face was calm and her thin lips wore one of those rare, heartwarming smiles that Hiccup loved so much. Hiccup yawned, now feeling tiered enough to finally sleep. But now he wanted to stay awake. He felt the need to finish the portrait and make it just as perfect as the object of the image. He was sure he could finish it. Just a few tweaks here and there. A bit more shading under the chin, a little less in the eyes…

Eventually, though, sleep got the best of the young artist. Without even realizing he was doing so, he laid his head down on the hard wood of his desk and fell asleep.

Toothless was not sure what it was, but something felt…off. He slowly opened his cat-like green eyes and stretched his tail, feeling that something in the room was not as it should be. The first thing he saw once he as fully awake was his rider’s empty bed. A feeling of alarm care over the dragon. Where was his Hiccup? Toothless jumped to his feet and spun around, desperately searching for the presumably missing boy. He was relieved to see him at his desk, hunched over and snoring loudly.

It occurred to Toothless then that humans get cold at night. Being a dragon, Toothless’ armor-like scales and thick skin kept him fairly warm even in the bitterest of winters. But humans did not have a natural shield to protect them from cold winds, like the one that now blew thru the bedroom window directly at Hiccup. Toothless was sure that his boy was cold. Silently, he went to the boy’s bed to retrieve the blanket that lay balled up on the edge and dragged it the desk where Hiccup sat asleep. He draped it over the human’s shoulders and tucked it around him until it covered most of his upper body.

Toothless was curious as to what had made his boy fall asleep at the desk instead of his bed like normal. The dragon looked down at the paper an recognized the ax-wielding girl of Hiccups age who rode the Nadder. He wondered if Hiccup wanted the girl as a mate. She would make a good one for him, the dragon thought as he returned to his rock. He flamed out a circle to sleep in and wrapped his wings around himself. Soon the boy and the dragon were both sound asleep.