video, @hiccup

[thisisamazing]

[The camera clicks on at an awkward angle at first, but soon the young man in a tunic and leather armor manages to right his device and set it on a table. He takes a few steps back to address it with a sheepish smile.] So, uh. Hello, everyone. Wow, this place is something else. A box that allows for instant communication... It's faster than terror-mail! I could really use some of these back home. Uh, anyway.

I've heard a lot about the Perimeter Guard, namely that you guys, uh. Kill monsters. [There's a slight, involuntary cringe at that, as if his soft heart can't quite take the thought. It's startled off him and back into a smile, though, when a large black creature stalks into the room, wide green eyes fixed curiously on him, and then the device.] This is just a little, you know, public service announcement. [Suddenly, the screen blacks out - or, more accurately, becomes filled with the shiny black scales of a Night Fury as Toothless leans in to sniff at the camera.]

C'mon, bud, I think you're- Toothless, don't-! [Toothless makes a sound almost like barks of rumbly laughter, and- then a pink tongue fills the screen. Hiccup wrestles the device back, and now the video is... a little bit watery. The dragon is back on his haunches, 'smiling' a big, gummy smile. Hiccup's voice is dry as he continues.] This is Toothless. He's my dragon, and my best friend, and he's not dangerous unless you threaten him, so if you see him around the city, you know, he's... he's not a monster. [As he fumbles with it, trying to wipe off dragon drool, Hiccup mutters just before it cuts out,] You know this doesn't wash out.

Comments

[deathkid]

[ he can tell by the way the other guy tenses that he's hit a sore spot. nico doesn't blame him. he remembers mrs. o'leary and thinks about how if anyone tried to kill her, he'd be angry too. so he just blows out a breath of air that ruffles his long bangs and shrugs. ]

If you say so. I mean, obviously not all monsters are evil. It's just that a lot have tried to eat me in the past, so I'm wary. I'll keep in mind that he's safe, if I ever encounter him.

[thisisamazing]

[A definite sore spot. He's had to deal with hunters and trappers and crazy psychos who want his dragon's head in the past years, and when it comes to Toothless' safety from humans, he can get defensive.]

Violence is a cycle. [It's an argument he'd had with his father a long time ago. They've killed hundreds of us, said Stoick, but we've killed thousands of them, said Hiccup.] I can't speak for anything else, but dragons, at least ones from the Barbaric Archipelago like Toothless, are just like any other wild animal. They defend themselves when threatened.

[deathkid]

[ it must be a strange world this guy comes from where monsters ( or a least dragons because it doesn't sound like there are monsters there ) live side by side with humans. nico wishes that were the case back home. less of his friends would've died that way. ]

They sound very different from what I'm used to where I'm from. You see, where I'm from, they're monsters that attack without provocation, often working for or with evil people. Mortals don't see them, don't know about them, but for people like me, it's usually kill or be killed.

But I get it. Not all monsters are evil and I'm sure your dragon is nice. I won't try to hurt him. That I can promise.

[thisisamazing]

[He could say the same thing. Hiccup doesn't want to imagine a world where the only option is killing.]

I think we can agree we come from very different places. [That's about all he has to say to that. Hiccup is the idealistic sort, a peacekeeper. But it isn't worth the argument right now.]

If he makes you so nervous, then just don't come around us. It's a big city.

[deathkid]

Trust me, he doesn't make me nervous. It'll take some getting used to, but I can deal. Like I said, I promise I won't hurt him. Besides, he might not like me anyway. Animals tend to think I smell gross.

[ notice he said "animal" instead of "monster"? already nico is adapting to the idea of a dragon being friendly. ]

Except Underworld creatures, most animals don't like me in general.