Hiccup heard the charcoal scraping the paper and moved towards her to read it. “Yeah, they aren’t so bad once you get to know them.” Now that their childhood was behind them and he had several years to see them as friends rather than the bullies that at the time- he had only hoped to be some part of. To be honest he’d always thought they were good people (being Vikings just made them a little rougher), they just weren’t all that nice to him… and with the way the adults in the village had treated him like some sort of burden it was understandable.

Things had gotten better and looking at Castiel now- he knew the same could be possible for her. She was such a good person and one without anywhere to go or any family she could still call her own. The people of Berk had treated him like ‘Hiccup the Useless‘. They had looked down at him, ridiculed his ideas, told him to be someone else… but through all his failure to be one of them they had still cared. Every villager would have stepped up and protected him in a dragon attack. They would have never turned their backs if he was in peril and he had known that. It was why he KEPT trying.

What did Castiel have? She acted like there was no hope to ever be accepted by those she had once knew. That the cruelty was honest and true. Aurora was here- there was nothing else to it- “Castiel.” He was about to ask her to stay, to join their tribe but at that moment his mother slipped into the room, chuckling as Cloudjumper poked his head in after her.

“Now, now yeh silly beast. You know you are simply too big to fit.” The dragon didn’t listen, turning his head impossible sideways (like an owl) and squeezing into the room. She laughed all the harder before smiling at Castiel. “What do we have here?” She walked further in, pushing the door shut behind her. “It’s wonderful to see you awake dear. Hiccup has been so downhearted. Sitting by your bedside-”

“Mom, please…” Hiccup stressed, pinching the brim of his nose.

“I know what you need.” Valka started instead, “a little fresh air. A nice long flight. Nothing makes one feel better than some time up there. Especially after you’ve been asleep for so long,”

“Mom. She just woke up.”

Valka turned her gaze towards him, her smile sly. “I heard you were up and on your dragon’s back but a few minutes after waking. Short a quarter of your leg at that.”

Hiccup flushed with embarrassment. It wasn’t his best decision back then but with all the changes he’d needed the air. He rubbed at the back of his neck as Valka faced Castiel once more. “What do you say?” She suddenly swept towards Aurora, creeping closer as she offered her hand. Obviously she hadn’t wanted to bother the dragon when she’d been worried about her rider. Valka breathed with awe once she was allowed close enough. “She’s beautiful, a dragon of legend. I had thought them even rarer than the night fury. To think there might still be colonies of them somewhere.”

“Yeah about that mom, there wasn’t anymore of them on their island.” Hiccup couldn’t help but think he knew one thing about dragons that his mother didn’t. They could change to resemble humans.

“Oh the things we could learn from you.” Valka said as she ran her hand across Aurora’s scales. “If only we could hold a conversation. You must know so much.”