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[stoickthevast.livejournal.com]

Stoick blinked and then muttered an oath. "Odin, that's a big dragon." The massive wooden dragon above the Drunken Dragon Tavern was eye-catching and more than a little impressive to him.

It spoke well for the tavern at least, to boast something so grand. So with another glance at the wooden statue, he entered and was immediately confronted by familiar-looking scenery. Painted walls depicting a story, or series of stories, stretched as far as he could see into the tavern. The tavern itself wasn't very large, by viking standards, but it was close enough.

He took his time ambling forward, his eyes absorbing the story the mural told.

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[governorkang]

It'd been a slow day in the tavern so far. Things typically didn't pick up until the 'evening' hours anyways, but Kang could count on one hand how many people had shown up. Hisk was due in about an hour to take over for him, and until then, he was keeping himself occupied by going over a few books he'd borrowed from the media library.

Heavy steps alerted him to someone entering, and when he saw who it was, he quietly set the book down and watched the man curiously. He wanted to see his reaction to the massive gold dragon.

[stoickthevast.livejournal.com]

Stoick paused for a moment and then looked up a bit higher on the wall. "Thor..." He couldn't help but take a step back, not in fear or surprise, but to get a better look at the massive dragon depicted there. He studied it intently for a moment, as though memorizing it's anatomy for possible weak spots in the event he might have to fight it.

At last he moved on, but only to pause again as the next painting was of a vaguely familiar looking draconian. He glanced back at the gold dragon and at the draconian, trying to put two-and-two together and coming up with nil.

[governorkang]

"That's a gold," Kang spoke up.

[stoickthevast.livejournal.com]

Stoick turned quickly, and then blinked. It was the draconian he had spoken with earlier.

"A gold?" He glanced back at the dragon on the wall, and then at the other silhouette of the draconian on the wall. "Is that, is that you?"

[governorkang]

...that was the one thing Kang didn't like about the tavern being on Stacy. Most of the crew hadn't really noticed the resemblance, thankfully, but a few had, and he didn't like to brag about that battle.

Wings rustling, Kang shrugged as if it were no big deal, "It is me."

[stoickthevast.livejournal.com]

Stoick was impressed. "Thor, must have been an amazing battle." The awe was clear in his voice. To take on a dragon of that size was well worth bragging about. Heck, he was a viking, and he lived for stories.

"I'm sure there's a good story to go with it. Maybe over a drink?" Or three; that was why he had come to the tavern in the first place.

[governorkang]

"Considering we were outnumbered eight to one? Yeah," Kang shook his head and stood up, disappearing into the back room and returning a few moments later with two mugs of ale. "It's a long one."

And it was neutral territory. He still wasn't quite sure how to handle the Hiccup situation, and it didn't help that he hadn't talked to the boy at all since his father had woken up.

[stoickthevast.livejournal.com]

Stoick leaned eagerly forward, anxious to hear the story and hoping he wouldn't be disappointed. So far, it seemed unlikely he would be. But first things first, he recalled not mentioning his name since the last time they had met--circumstances being what they were then. " Ah, thanks for the ale. My name's Stoick."

And then: "Eight to one?"

[governorkang]

Relaxing in his chair, Kang let his tail wrap around his feet. "That's right, we never did give each other our names. I'm Kang." For all he knew, Hiccup had mentioned him to Stoick already.

"Goblins. Hobs, too. They'd been hired by former 'allies' of ours to wipe us out."

[galacticfairy.livejournal.com]

"What? It's tiny..."

[stoickthevast.livejournal.com]

"Not to me."

He glanced over his shoulder to see who was speaking and didn't recognize...her? "You've seen bigger?"

[galacticfairy.livejournal.com]

"There's one on Frontier's stadium," Sheryl offered primly.

[stoickthevast.livejournal.com]

He grunted. He hadn't been there yet. "Perhaps I'll find it after I get a drink. Would you like to join me?" Somewhat belatedly he added, "I'm Stoick."

[galacticfairy.livejournal.com]

"I think I can spare an hour," she smiled. "Sheryl. Sheryl Nome."

[stoickthevast.livejournal.com]

"A pleasure to meet you." He grinned and held the door open for her. "After you?"

[galacticfairy.livejournal.com]

"Manners? On this ship?" Sheryl beamed, sweeping into the tavern with a hairtoss.

[stoickthevast.livejournal.com]

Following her inside, Stoick shrugged, surprised by her reaction. "Well, erm, I don't normally make it a habit to be rude to people I've just met." Well, pretty women at least.

[i-saw-myself.livejournal.com]

He caught his father as he was leaving the Drunken Dragon.

The original plan had been to stop in and ask Kang about that whole forge thing, as well as show off what he could now do.

But at the sight of his father leaving the tavern, the plan quickly changed to showing off what he could now do to his dad, and generally following his father around.

"Dad, look! Notice anything different? Eh? Eh?"

No crutches. He did an awkward little dance, and climbed up on the narrow ledge of one of the raised platforms in the city, balancing there as he walked along the edge. Balancing very badly, that is, but balance nonetheless.

"All the practice without the crutches paid off. I just woke up this morning, decided to give it another try without them, and somehow it was just easier..."

[stoickthevast.livejournal.com]

Stoick looked over to see his son teetering precariously on what couldn't possibly be safe for him on two legs, let alone one and a half.

"Hiccup!" He caught his son before he could fall, placing him gently on the ground. And then he realized the crutches were gone. Odin, this was going to be a long day. "You're walking without crutches, I see. But you should still take it easy."

[i-saw-myself.livejournal.com]

There was a dramatic flapping of his arms. "But I'm fine, dad. I'm better than ever. I bet I can run now!" Something he couldn't do with the original prosthetic on a good day, and something he prepared to do.

[stoickthevast.livejournal.com]

"Hiccup, how long did it take you to walk this far?" He was gambling on the fact that his son would realize that running would be harder than walking.

[i-saw-myself.livejournal.com]

But Stoick, the flighty boy would have to have some sense to realize that. And right now he was high on walking under his own power. There was no sense here.

"Pretty long time--and here I go!"

He ran. At first, it went well--excellently even. Not having to expend as much energy to make the one leg move meant he could run faster. But he still hadn't adjusted entirely to the automail, and the metal ankle bent at the wrong time, and the next thing Hiccup knew he was engaging in an absolutely spectacular flip, end over end, that ended in him landed hard on his back and skidding slightly across the ground to a stop.

For a moment, he just lay there.

"Okay," he said in a pained voice. "Maybe I should wait a while before running."

A pause.

"I think I just bruised my everything."

[stoickthevast.livejournal.com]

If he hadn't been so concerned for his son, Stoick might have found it slightly amusing. As it was, four strides later -- Hiccup hadn't been able to cover that much ground, despite his initial enthusiasm -- he was kneeling beside his son.

"Why did you do that?" And then of course concern had to inch its way into his features. "Why can't you do anything slowly, Hiccup? It's all or nothing with you." He sighed. "You didn't break anything, did you? Can you sit up?" Heck, he'd carry his son if it meant Hiccup being alright.

[i-saw-myself.livejournal.com]

"I'm just a little banged up. I swear, I must have been made more for the air than the ground..."

In fact, his main concern seemed to be the automail leg, but he checked that out and it seemed to not be banged up any. Then he looked over at his father, and looked somewhat sheepish.

Sometimes it was good to listen to him--Hiccup's problem was figuring out when to follow his advice and when to do his own thing.

"You've been a little extra protective of me lately, dad," he commented somewhat boldly, as he sat there. They tended not to directly address things like that, but maybe changing times called for a chance in how they spoke to one another.

[stoickthevast.livejournal.com]

Stoick was relieved to hear that much, and chuckled slightly at the comment. "You should've had wings instead of legs."

His son's next comment though sobered him up. Perhaps it was his son's boldness, but he replied: "I just want what's best for you Hiccup. Can you stand?" He offered a hand to help Hiccup back to his feet.