fandomhighdorms | The roof, Saturday morning earlyish

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The roof, Saturday morning earlyish

It was quiet on the roof this morning. The plants waved gently in the breeze and all was peaceful.

Until it was buzzed by a boy on a dragon.

They circled the dorms once, twice, three times before Toothless backwinged for a landing, dropping neatly onto the roof. Toothless' bright red prosthetic tailfin wasn't responding as well as it should, and this was a handy place to stop and check it out.

Hiccup was grinning, but then he always was after a flight. He unclipped his safety strap, swung his leg over and slid down, then paused, looking out over Fandom. It was both like and unlike Berk: tiny island, lots of buildings, taller in the middle than it was at the edges. Had its share of crazy people.

Toothless nudged him, making an impatient, demanding rumble, then pointed his nose at the harness. "All right, buddy," Hiccup said, turning back to the dragon. "Let's see if we can figure out what's making it stick."

[OOC: Open wheeee!]

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"Leather armour I can do with what I brought with me, no problem, just let me know when and where, but a sword," Hiccup shook his head, "I didn't exactly come equipped for swords. I mean, I can work on it with whatever you've got, Odin knows I've had enough practice, but I don't have any of the tools I'd need to a proper job."

He thought for a moment and then nodded. "Perhaps my daggers first?" It would give him a chance to see Hiccup's craftsmanship before he let him near his sword. "I can see about getting any equipment you might need."

Not what Hiccup had thought he'd be doing in Fandom, and if Gobber could see him now, Hiccup was sure he'd be laughing, but-- "I've got the skills, someone may as well get some use out of them." Plus it would keep him from giving in to the urge to figure out how the lights worked or where all the hot water came from. He was sure that would end in disaster. "Dagger sharpening sounds like a good place to start."

Toothless snorted and danced his front feet in place, impatience growing. Hiccup looked from the dragon to Edmund and back. And he grinned. "So, now that you've helped me fix the harness, do you want to help me test it?"

Edmund raised an eyebrow. "Test it how?"

Before Hiccup could answer, Toothless took a few steps forward, crouched, and unfurled his wings, flapping them several times and whipping up a light breeze.

"Like that," Hiccup said, grinning as he gestured at the dragon who was peering back at him. "Just a quick flight around the building to see if the lever's still sticking." He lived for this; it never occurred to him other people might not be so keen. "Toothless can carry two."

He hesitated. Jump on the back of a dragon with a boy he'd only met and go flying with no guarantee of safety or reassurance that he could trust them? Sensible Edmund said no. He had a duty and couldn't go around risking joy flights on dragons he didn't even know.

Then there was the other part of him, the small but growing part where Fandom had crept into his veins and was getting a hold on his common sense.

"A quick flight," he agreed.

If possible, Hiccup's grin got wider. He headed for his dragon and hopped aboard, clicking his metal foot into the lever, then he leaned forward over Toothless' neck.

"Okay, put your foot on that strap there, pull yourself up behind me," there was plenty of room on the saddle for two, "and clip this to your belt." He held out the safety strap. Hiccup wouldn't risk someone else, and he knew Toothless would catch him if he fell.

Edited 2010-05-15 11:36 (UTC)

With a nod, Edmund approached Toothless like he would an unfamiliar horse. He followed Hiccup's instructions and settled in the saddle with surprising familiarity, though the feeling was off slightly, sort of like being on a gryphon. Then the belt clip went on, because falling was really not desirable. "I'm ready."

"Here we go!" Toothless gathered himself, ready to launch himself straight up until Hiccup hastily said, "Easy does it, buddy, this is just a test," and it turned into a much gentler launch off the roof, straight out into open air. Wings beating strongly, whipping up a wind around them, he banked left as Hiccup flicked the lever.

"You okay?" Hiccup called over his shoulder. "Hang onto me if you need to!"

"All's well!" Edmund reassured him, grabbing on to Hiccup's tunic with one hand and digging in his legs the way Phillip had taught him when he was a boy so as to be stable in the saddle but never hurt the horse he was riding. This was no horse and he was pretty sure the lessons only applied for when you were on the ground and didn't have feathers to hold onto.

Toothless was a clever dragon, and he could fly with his head turned around to look at the person, or people in this case, riding him.

Which he was doing now, wearing what was definitely a dragon smile. "I think it's fixed," Hiccup told him and the dragon faced forward again. "Just going to go higher to make sure," he said over his shoulder, as Toothless began to rise, nose towards the clouds.

Which, if he'd thought about it, was unlikely to sound particularly reassuring to his passenger.

Edmund sucked in a breath and held it as they rose higher and higher. Part of him wanted to squeeze his eyes shut, but he resisted the urge and instead squinted against the wind in his face. From up here, you could see the whole island and those beyond, as well as the mainland, hazy in the distance. He wondered which mainland they would find themselves on if they were to fly out over the causeway all the way.

Instead, they shot through the clouds and Edmund felt very damp for the effort.

Hiccup didn't even notice the damp, he didn't notice the cold or the view. Hands pressed against the dragon's neck, he gave a small laugh, simply enjoying the flying.

"It's still a touch stiff on the incline, but all in all, I think we're good." Whether he was talking to Edmund or Toothless or both wasn't apparent. "Better take us down, buddy." He patted Toothless' neck. "I promised a short flight."

Edited 2010-05-15 12:09 (UTC)

"Can we circle around the Preserve side on the way down?" Edmund called.

"I think we might be able to manage that." Hiccup and Toothless moved as one, the boy controlling direction, the dragon controlling everything else, and they seemed to hang in the air for the briefest of moments before diving back down through the clouds. As they came out the bottom, Toothless slid left, cutting through the air to bring them over the trees.

Edmund looked out over the trees. From up here, it didn't look as big as when he was hiking through it, and this was the first time he'd been able to get a proper look at the coastline on this side of the island, even from a distance. "Good to go!" he called when he'd seen what he wanted to.

Toothless picked up speed, spiralled back along the path they'd taken, and soon enough was flying up the face of the dorms to backwing to a stop right on the edge. With a sigh, he walked a couple of feet forward, so no one would fall off the building when they dismounted.

"Here we are, one rooftop, you returned safe and sound," Hiccup pronounced. "And I know how to adjust the lever to get rid of that last bit of stiffness. All in all a good flight."

An unclip of the safety harness and a dismount later, Edmund was very glad to be back on solid ground. "A very good flight," he agreed. "Do you go often?"

"Every chance I get," he replied, snapping his metal foot out of the lever and sliding down Toothless' side. "Flying," he looked up at his dragon, who was looking down at him, "flying is the best thing in the world."

Edmund knew that feeling, though he didn't associate it with flying, fantastic as it was. "I can see why you like it. Thank you, Toothless," Edmund called to the dragon.

Toothless gave a quick nod and a quiet rumble, making Hiccup grin. "Any time you want to go again, I'm in 203. Or there's a phone, which I'm not allowed to take apart, and a message taker, which I'm also not allowed to take apart," and he sounded slightly aggrieved at those facts, "but you can let me know when you want me to work on your daggers or your armour."

He gave a nod. "I'm in 429. You can't take apart my phone or message taker either," he said apologetically, using Hiccup's own words, "but let me know what you want in exchange for your services and I'll arrange it."

He frowned in sudden thought, then smiled. "How are you at fishing?" He pointed at Toothless, whose ears had popped up at the mention of fish. "I'll fix anything you've got if you help me keep him fed. He likes fish and he has a big appetite."

"I'm handy with a net and a pole," Edmund admitted with another nod. "Fishing sounds like a fair trade."

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The roof, Saturday morning earlyish

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