entranceway | [accidental video / action]

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[accidental video / action]

[Toothless has a certain fascination with art. First it was sticks in the mud, then outside chalk, and then paint on the other side of the mirrors. Today he's found more paint, except in bigger containers. With lots of colors. And bigger brushes! He likes them — he can do more with them, and not worry about them breaking in his mouth.

Paint doesn't taste good. He's finding out again today.

Because today, one of the hallways has been sacrificed to his artistic efforts. Though, to be fair, it was an accident that the first paint container broke in his mouth. And then the others followed, because Toothless has discovered finger painting.

Or, more accurately, paw painting. And tail painting. It's a mess.

His communicator is jostled on as he paws patterns of yellow, blue, green, red, and white all over the floor and some of the walls. Toothless has lost his natural black camouflage. He's just a tangle of bright colors, splattered messily, as he also uses his chin and belly to get the colors in the right patterns.]

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[Stay? Stay...

Well, he was already planning on staying, anyway. That's all right. Toothless goes back to painting when Adam leaves, making some more interesting and abstract shapes. He half wonders if it was just a ruse so that the Viking could make a proper break for it, and he's certainly surprised to see Adam come back.

And delighted, because he has a fish. Two fishes. He officially likes this Viking.

Toothless nods energetically in response to the question and walks closer, over his painting, still absolutely coated in those bright colors. He opens his very pink mouth, teeth retracted into his gums, and holds deathly still, waiting for Adam to toss him a fish.

Hoping he will.]

_{[If there's one person more confused to find Adam back, it's Adam himself. He's not even sure why he feels the need to test the limits of his luck and sanity, other than that his dad's half of his genetic code probably makes him a masochist in untold ways. Neither is he sure what's stranger: the dragon being able to draw, and nod, and understand basic questions, or it waiting for him to put a fish in its mouth just like Free Willy.

As long as it doesn't take an arm with it, what's the harm at this point...

Adam heaves the largest one up by the tail and drops it in with the odd image of sliding a torpedo into a tube.]}

You really are like a cat. People must not look as good as tuna.

_{[He's not complaining. A wild animal finding other food sources more attractive than people is a step up. That doesn't mean he has any more of a clue what he's dealing with, but...]}

[Delighted with the large fish, the Night Fury swallows it right down in one big and impressive gulp. Despite his appreciation and enthusiasm, he does wait to pop his teeth out when his mouth is closed — and then retract them again when his mouth opens, empty. Skittish Vikings always seem to be unnerved by them, and well, having them retracted is just one more perk of being a Night Fury as opposed to other dragons.

He's very proud of it, even if it's tough to learn how to do when you're a baby dragon.

Toothless trills his pleasure in the back of his throat, a high noise.]

_{[It should be a crime for something that looks like Toothless to sound so happy. The noises it makes are quite unlike anything he's ever heard from an animal, but that goes without saying when it's not actually an animal. Not one that should exist, anyway.

The really weird thing is, it has all the ferocity of a baby bird with its beak held wide open. The lack of teeth does a lot to make Adam curious, if not set him entirely at ease--though that's more to do with Wonderland in general than the dragon.]}

All right, tell you what...

_{[He glances down at the other fish before lifting his eyebrows and the fish along with them.]}

If you can draw me a house, I'll give you this. _{[He jiggles the fish for emphasis.]} Can you understand that? A house.

[Toothless blinks several times as he processes Adam's request. A house... a house...

Oh! A building! Like the lodges back in Berk! He sits up straighter, very alert, and then looks down at his paint and tries to think about how to depict a lodge. They have angled roofs and four sides, and great big doors with a lot of torches around.

The seriousness of his expression is almost comical as he begins his work, making blue lines in yellow paint on the wall. He first creates a square, and then attaches a sloped square to the top. While he's frustrated by it, it will have to do. Then, with his claws, he draws a long double rectangle on the side for the enormous doors of the lodge, and makes little blobs on the walls where torches would normally sit.]

You're pretty smart for a thing on four legs...

_{[Adam's not sure what he's witnessing anymore. Did he just feed a dragon its favorite food and ask it to paint a picture for him? He lifts his gaze to the ceiling, almost hoping for an answer. Instead he sees more paint and has to resist the urge to snort.

This place is beyond anything he could have imagined, just as Hell had been once upon a time.

Spell broken, he drops his attention back to the dragon, more baffled than anything else that it'd actually listened to his challenge and proved it could not only understand what he was saying, but it could mix colors, and draw, and make shapes like any human kid. In what fucking world did that happen? Adam knows from experience that he shouldn't, but he takes a step closer to watch, glancing back and forth between Toothless' determined expression and his...

... his "house," apparently.

It's accurate enough to impress Adam. The thing's no artist, but the gist of it's there. Walls, roof, doors... He turns to Toothless, still trying to compartmentalize the last fifteen minutes in a way that makes some sort of sense.]}

Ever heard of National Geographic? You should get a feature.

_{[For now, keeping his promise will do. He holds the fish out at arm's length for Toothless to take. It's earned it, and more than that, chased thoughts of Hell out of his mind for a few minutes, which is more than anyone else has succeeded in doing.]}

[He removes the fish gingerly from Adam's hand, not the voracious way that he wants to. Clearly they're making progress, but the Viking still seems skittish and the Night Fury can respect that. Actually, it's a touch flattering. He's glad to know that he's still somewhat ferocious even when he's covered in paint.

Once the fish is down his throat and he's purred his contentment out, he cocks his head at Adam's question. It sounds like he's not expecting an answer, but still. He's curious. What's the National Geographic?]

_{[Although the dragon doesn't seem interested in him in the same way he is the chicken and fish, Adam's still glad he gets to keep all of his body parts the second time around. It doesn't seem normal that something like Toothless can be so tame.

Adam interprets the head tilt in the most straightforward way he can.]}

I don't have any more.

_{[How much could this thing eat?]}

[That's a shame. It is. Toothless nods in understanding. He doesn't smell any more on him, either, so it's not one of the games of keep-away that Hiccup likes to do every so often. The Night Fury trills quietly at him, before coming closer — slowly, to sniff at his pants and get the scent of him down to memory.]

_{[Okay. Okay! So the dragon knows what he's saying! Why did it have to start sniffing him, then!?

Adam tries not to react, a part of him afraid of giving too strong a response, but he's hard put to stand still when something of Toothless' make and model comes closer for a good whiff. He gets the tingle of nervousness prey gets in the face of a predator, and he hates that he knows that feeling, that he'll never be able to completely forget it so long as he still has his memories.]}

I'm not--food. Really... not.

_{[It's not like trying to talk it down would do any good, but he says it, anyway.]}

[He looks up at Adam with wide, pleased eyes, and nods. Of course he isn't. Vikings aren't good for food — even the dragons who hunt them more specifically only do so to protect themselves or their eggs. Because Vikings can be just as dangerous as dragons. Dragons know it.

Toothless can sense that spark, that nervousness, within Adam and so he backs up a few steps again, not wanting to alarm him any further.

He has the Viking's scent. That's enough, for now.]

_{[He'd heard those urban legends about toddlers falling into enclosures at the zoo and coming face-to-face with wild animals, who hadn't? But he'd never thought he'd be that person. The dragon is intimidating just on the basis of being a fictional idea alone, but it backs off like it's nothing.

With more space between them, he can breathe again, but not entirely because of fear. There's something incredible at work here, something he'd never thought he'd be a part of in a million years.

Kind of like meeting angels. Go figure.]}

You know something, you're the first people-friendly monster I've ever met. I thought you were all dicks.

_{[People probably talk to their pets so much because they're safe in the knowledge that the pet can't talk back, like Toothless. He's more honest than he would be otherwise, not bothering to hide his surprise.]}

You're like a puppy.

[He can't talk, but his face is remarkably expressive. And as Adam compares him to a baby canine — it's taken him a while to learn what that is, but Henry has one — his eyes narrow and he turns his head in a way that just looks offended, pure and simple.

A puppy? He doesn't even have fur.]

_{[The image is in his head and now it won't leave. Maybe not like a puppy, but like a baby. A baby monster who hasn't gotten old enough or bloodthirsty enough to want to attack anyone yet.]}

What? You don't like that?

_{[It looks cheesed, which is an odd expression on anything that's not human, let alone a freakin' dragon with paws like dinner plates.]}

[Toothless makes another face and shakes his head. There's no need to attack his... ahem... dragon-inity, Adam. That's just fighting dirty. Vikings are far more fun to interact with than to hunt.]

_{[How's he supposed to guess what monsters like, aside from revenge-kills or hurting other people? Amazingly enough, this one has the ability to tell him--granted, so far it's been nothing but nods or head shakes, but that's still communication.

Sort of.

Adam takes a long moment to think about his next move. Apologizing seems so wrong.]}

Like a dragon?

_{[He offers an amendment. Does this thing know that word?]}

[The Night Fury nods, the irritation sliding off of his face. That's acceptable. Accurate, anyway. Most dragons don't want to hurt Vikings, Vikings just get in their way. Vikings make a poor meal. It's just pure ego that makes them think dragons actually want to devour them.

With the exception, again, of a few types of dragons who deal with things a bit differently.]

So you are a dragon.

_{[As if the tail, and the fins, and the scales doesn't give that part away. Underneath the psychedelic paint job and the big, cutesy eyes is a mythical creature.

Can it breathe fire? Adam seriously fucking hopes not, or at least that it doesn't while he's standing here, now having finished feeding the thing and being sniffed by it. Why is he still standing here? He should be in a padded room right about now. ]}

Now... what?

_{[There's nothing like talking to a monster to make you second guess your place in life.]}

[Toothless almost seems to frown, for a moment. How should he know what the Viking was doing? Other than getting food, which seems to be a moot point at the present. Or maybe he should go get some more. But whatever the case, Toothless is content enough to offer him a suggestion.

He leans down and nudges at a container of paint with his snout, a closed one, until it rolls to Adam's feet.

The solution is to clearly come paint with him.]

_{[He and Toothless are following two completely different trains of thought, made abundantly clear when the thing uses its snout to push a paint canister at him. He doesn't have the slightest idea what dragons even think about, but this one...]}

What?

_{[It wants to... keep playing...? He brings the container to a stop with the inside of his shoe.]}

[He makes an indistinct rumble — paint! — before dipping his paw in more of his own paint and beginning to make sloppy patterns again. These are more nonsensical than the fish or circles or the letters of his name, more like the squiggly lines of a toddler delighted by artistic endeavours.]

_{[The rumbling answer would be helpful if this understanding thing ran both ways, but it's not like he'd studied dragon speak in school.]}

What is up with you? Someone ask you to redecorate the mansion and you're getting paid with fish?

_{[This time, the squiggles aren't of anything recognizable, they're just mixed-up lines of color. Who the hell knows, maybe that's enough to entertain something like Toothless. Adam thinks about it for a moment before he pries the lid off the can and pushes it back toward the dragon.]}

Knock yourself out.

[He's happy to do so, and makes a sloppy mess of the new paint on the floor before adding a few new squiggles. The Night Fury is thinking of clouds, the kind he sees when someone rides on his back and he takes them high up.]

_{[This kind of feels like a spectator sport in a way.

He stands back, watching the creature go about its business with gusto. Children finger-painting isn't out of the ordinary, but this is a dragon, and watching Toothless draw takes on a whole new meaning. It's like a certain kind of magic.

Adam can even forget, for a little while, who he is and what's happened to him.]}

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