Toothless Goes Courting: Chapter 4 Preview (Patreon)

There are days I would do anything, anything to understand my humans when they talk. 

Even though Glimmer had officially mated herself to Fishbone and I, for the first few moons she maintained some bizarre habits. She was occasionally skittish about showing affection during the day, especially if there were other humans around. And she insisted on keeping her old nest apart from us, with her sire and dam. Most nights she would slip in through the window to come to bed with us, but she would always sneak away to her own nest before dawn, no matter how Fishbone and I wheedled. I tried to come with her, once, thinking she might be lonely, only to get yelled at by Glimmer and her sire and dam and even Quillflower when I tried to follow my mate in through the window.

I thought this was strange, of course, but no stranger than all the other things humans did. It was enough to know that Glimmer loved us, that she wanted to be with us, even if she thought she wasn't always allowed to be for some reason. Fishbone and I did what we could to make sure she got attention when she was around.

But then things changed. 

It was late in the year, with true winter beginning to creep into the air, when Glimmer suddenly cut off all contact with us. She didn't come to our bed at night. She didn't find us in our free time to cuddle. She did her duties as Fishbone's beta, then went home and stayed there and refused to come out, no matter how much I jumped on the roof and called to her. Obviously Fishbone noticed, but he didn't seem to care. He just spent more and more time with his leaf scratchings, and talking with his dam and some of the other older humans. He started sending lots of little dragons toward nearby islands, where I knew other humans had their colonies, and stockpiling great reserves of fish and meat in a special nest that no one —not even me!-- was allowed to touch.

It only got more confusing from there. Glimmer came to see us in our night-nest one day, accompanying her sire and dam. She gave me a friendly pat on the head when I went over to greet her, but mostly she was doing her best to mimic the odd, stiff posture of her parents as they spoke with Fishbone. They presented Fishbone with a wooden box, which Fishbone opened to reveal bundled furs and trinkets made of glimmering mountain-bone. Fishbone was amused by the whole production, but he did his best his best to hide it.

I looked from Glimmer to her parents and the box, baffled. These were courtship presents; I was certain of it. But Glimmer had no need of giving gifts, as though Fishbone or I would ever refuse her at this point. We had already been through all this!

This nonsense went on for days and days, as the nights grew slowly longer and colder. 

I could tell that Fishbone missed her as much as I did. He followed her with his eyes when he spotted her going about her business. When she spoke to him, I could feel the need coming off both of them, a sharp spike of longing in their scents. I wracked my brain for an answer, but it didn't make any sense! Why wouldn't they talk, if they weren't angry with each other? Why was Glimmer staying away, when she clearly wanted to be close?

At night, Fishbone would stand by the window, staring out through the gloom toward the big cave, which the humans had slowly been transforming with hanging plants and bizarre structures of carved wood. He would crawl to bed, reeking of ever-increasing anxiety and frustrated mating urges. I would nuzzle him to ease his nerves, but I refused to let him coax me into bedding him, no matter how he begged and stroked me. I had worked hard to woo Glimmer, and whatever had driven her off had been his fault. He could mate with me when he'd fixed it. 

Just a short chunk of the next (and likely final) chapter of my HTTYD fan fiction, before the next movie comes out and ruins it all :P