Lightning and death (open)

[no_eels]

Who: Toothless, and you
When: Day 147
Where: The corridors. Or realistically, anywhere.
What: A Nightfury has arrived in the Science Center!


He goes to sleep next to Hiccup's bed, but that's not where he awakens.

The bed is empty, for one thing, and an unnatural shade of white that reminds him of sheep wool cleaned by rain. So does the rest of the room, for that matter. He stares at it for only a moment before scouring the room for scents. Toothless finds none, aside from his, and starts to paw at the tiny little door. Everything about this room bothers him. It's not right. And why are the ceilings so tiny?

It takes some doing to get past the door. Mostly, to open it, as the door seems to be wider than other doors he encounters. His folded wingspan fits easily enough. This he finds out shortly after escaping, rushing out into the space beyond and taking a sharp look up and down the corridor.

All of this sheep-white is going to make him hungry, soon. But the Nightfury's usual appetite is cut by confusion. Where's Hiccup? Where's anyone? How did they move him while he was unaware? Why does the little black box tucked into his saddle sometimes chirp at him?

Green eyes wide, Toothless begins to move cautiously through the Science Center. Maybe there are answers elsewhere. Maybe Hiccup is wandering. Luckily, the corridors are wide enough that his twenty-foot length can navigate them a fair amount of ease. The leather saddle on his back, connected to a leather artificial fin on his tail, is the only immediate indication that Toothless is no wholly wild dragon.

Comments

[no_eels]

Unfortunately, there isn't much viciousness to Toothless unless one of his friends is threatened. But becoming his friend is fairly simple, and they're already well on their way. Toothless trots next to her like the world's biggest dog, wings tightly furled as he sniffs the air. Scents disappear, change, appear; navigating this place is proving a headache.

But even the Night Fury can smell when they get close to the cafeteria. Eyes widening, he picks up the pace to sprint ahead.

[foundacause]

He's a giant lizard, dragon, thing. That's pretty vicious looking enough all on its own. Although he does look more like he would roll over for belly rubs than eat somebody. They could work on it.

"Slow down, big guy. Food will still be there if you walk." Meg prefers not to run unless she's running for her life. Still, she picks up the pace a little; not a sprint, but a brisk walk.

"So, this is it. Food central."

[no_eels]

Toothless wanders around the room, poking his nose into corners and, once, licking the floor. There are all sorts of smells in here, to contrast with the fairly uninteresting trifecta of dust and mold and neglect in the corridors.

He doesn't wait for Meg to show him where the food is. His nose finds the kitchen, and he pokes his snout into a cupboard. Oooh, more smells.

[foundacause]

Meg goes straight for the liquor. She has her priorities straight. "So," she starts, eyeing the oversized creature snuffling in the cupboards like a pig searching for truffles.

"What kind of food do oversized lizards go for?"

[no_eels]

Plenty of interesting smells, but nothing he feels is edible. By dragons, at least. Toothless backs up and looks at Meg, not sure exactly how to ask for fish. Where would fish even be kept in a place like this? It's one of the strangest rooms he's ever seen. Hiccup would likely be fascinated, though.

After thinking a moment, he begins to swish around the room, trying to evoke the image of a fish. It might just look silly. He's not all that good at charades. Yet.

[foundacause]

Oh crap. Her new pet lizard is having a seizure. Worst pet owner ever, Meg! What does she do? Should she throw water water on him? Slap him? Stab him? Oh... wait! Wait. It's not a seizure. He's trying to tell her something.

Charades isn't exactly Meg's strong point either.

"What is that? What are you doing? What are you flapping about for?" Hang on? "Fish?"

[no_eels]

Pleased, the Night Fury stops and nods. Fish are what Night Furies live on, darting cleverly and invisibly over the water at night to snatch deep-water fish when they come up to feed. Toothless will eat just about anything, but still, it's fish that he was raised on and fish that makes his scales glossy and sleek.

[foundacause]

Fish. Okay. Meg can do this. She can find fish for the oversized beast that doesn't look almost as fierce as he had at first. Maybe it was his impression of a fish that dented the deadly image?

She checked one of the freezers and pulled out some kind of dead, frozen fish - which kind she didn't know. She wasn't much of a fish eater.

"You need it cooking?"

[no_eels]

Toothless' antics do tend to puncture his image as a deadly predator, though it should never quite be forgotten by most beings. Meg, though, he could only light on fire and poke holes into, if he were inclined.

And he very much isn't inclined, because he can already smell the fish. His eyes widen, and he shakes his head.

Raw fish — his favorite!

[foundacause]

Raw frozen fish. How can that be appealing to anyone or anything? Meg'll stick to the booze. Still, the lizard seems excited at the prospect of getting raw, frozen fish.

"Here you go, big boy." She tosses the frozen, stinking lump of gross to the dragon.

[no_eels]

As she tosses the fish to him, sharp white teeth pop out of his gums and, along with the powerful muscles of his jaw, even the ice isn't enough to spare the fish being devoured. He makes short work of them, breaking them into fishy bits that are quickly swallowed. The whole process takes maybe ten seconds, maybe less, and then he licks his chops, pleased, and rumbles gratefully in Meg's direction.

[foundacause]

She grabs another couple from the freezer for him. Shame they're not back by the beach so he could get his own fresh ones so Meg didn't have to touch the grossness.

There's something seriously wrong with a person when slicing a person open and ripping internal organs out is less gross than handling fish.

"Rather you than me, kid."

[no_eels]

Toothless makes a satisfied noise. He'll eat them if no one else wants to. But that could also be said for the rest of the contents of the room, barring sweets. And alcohol, though he hasn't had an introduction to that just yet.

He cants his head to the side and perks his ears forward. What exactly does this Viking eat, if it isn't fish?

[foundacause]

"You really need to come with a translator, pup. Charades loses its charm pretty quickly. What is it you want now?"

Would it be wrong to offer a lizard liquor? Hang on, she's a demon, she doesn't care if it's wrong.

"What? You want this?"

[no_eels]

The Night Fury looks at Meg's bottle, and shakes his head. He's not sure what exactly is in it, although... if she's offering him water, he is a little thirsty... Wandering around the Center is hard work, when you do it long enough. And the lighting seems to sap all of his energy. He peers curiously at the bottle before taking a few steps closer and sniffing it.

[foundacause]

Giving him water would probably be the sensible pet owner thing to do, but he isn't a pet and she isn't an owner. She grabs a bowl from the counter and pours a little of the liquor into it.

"Here you go."

[no_eels]

Toothless lowers his head to sniff at the bowl, before making a surprised rumble and taking a step back. Good gods, the fumes coming out of his bowl! What has she given him? Is it rank water? Or something that Hiccup would use to clean his inventions? (He has plenty of bad-smelling things for that.)

She seems to think that this is edible, though, and so he puts his head down into the bowl and inhales the liquid in one go. He wouldn't want to turn down a kindness.

Which immediately turns into a slightly fiery cough, and a sputtering Night Fury.

[foundacause]

It's more edible than the disgusting frozen fish, that's for sure. And hey, at least she isn't feeding him vodka...

The cough catches her by surprise though. Maybe giving him liquor instead of water was a bad idea.

"Easy there, sugar."

[no_eels]

He keeps the liquid down, at least, and then marvels at how it seems to race through him and make him tingle. What a strange thing. And she's going to drink more of it?

...well, maybe it wouldn't be too bad. It also makes him feel a bit warm in the paws.

Toothless nods. He's got it under control. He promises.

[foundacause]

The warming feeling is the best. Pity it takes Meg a lot of alcohol to get there these days. On the plus side it means Meg tends to avoid the hangovers too.

"So, aside from eating - what else do oversized lizards do?"

[no_eels]

Toothless considers. There's eating, sleeping, flying — which he can't do, because Hiccup isn't here with him. Drawing things with sticks in the mud. Watching Vikings. Still, there isn't enough room in here to fly anyway. He won't be asked to prove it, will he?

So he extends his wings proudly.

[foundacause]

"Huh. Flying. I guess the saddle isn't just for decoration then. Thought you weren't a pet?"

Sassing a dragon? Why not?

"Maybe one day you'll be able to show me..."

[no_eels]

He sighs quietly in response, but nothing more. Toothless is used to some measure of sassing. Hiccup is full of it, especially when he's frustrated about something. Normally it's not always fun, but Meg's teasing seems to be good-natured. So he'll put up with it.

The Night Fury nods. He'll be a showoff sometime. As soon as he can get outside.

[foundacause]

Hiccup and Meg. A team fated to never be. Which is probably a good thing for Hiccup, because let's be real - Meg could and would eat him for breakfast.

Meg leans over to pet the edge of Toothless' snout.

[no_eels]

Toothless' giant green eyes slide shut. A few pets in, a rumble starts up very quietly in the back of his throat. It grows stronger and stronger, slowly, with more attention. This is one dragon who eats up attention.