Looking Out for One Another [Fern] [FINISHED]

[Jokul & Starkad]

Time and Date: Midday, A few days after the other dragons have left
Weather: Cloudy, Light snowfall
Previous Threads: None

---

Snoggletog was always a time of festivities for Berk. Families and friends gifted each other with presents, and eagerly awaited the arrival of Odin to fill their helmets. Everyone, young and old celebrated the annual holiday.

That is, unless you're a certain flightless hobblegrunt. This was the dragon's first Snoggletog on the island, but she wasn't at all excited. Without the ability to follow her mother, who'd left a few days prior, Starkad was left sulking with all the vikings who'd watched their reptilian companions fly off as well.

Usually, she was up to no good with the livestock, but without her mother, she felt like she'd been abandoned, which in reality, wasn't really a lie. The amount of cold-blooded creatures was at a minimum during this time of the year, and the migration made those who remained leave as well.

Instead of moping about in the main square, she stuck to Jokul like she was his shadow, as if she were afraid he'd leave too. Normally, the two didn't show a lot of affection to each other in public, but Starkad refused to stop nuzzling his side every few minutes. It wasn't exactly something her rider was unhappy about, but considering it's ten times more difficult to get things ready for Snoggletog when you have a dragon who likes getting in the way, he couldn't fully appreciate it.

At one point, Jokul was nailing in decorations to the roof when the dragon tried to jump up and help. Her claws pulled out a good couple of shingles in the process, and with her mind set solely on getting to the top, she hadn't realized that her tail had dislodged the ladder.

Jokul, on the other hand, had noticed it coming from a mile away. Sometimes his dragon's clumsiness was predictable, but in this case, he couldn't stop her, and he couldn't get out of the way in time. So he ended up hitting the snow-covered ground, and having the air knocked out of his lungs. Once the hobblegrunt realized what she'd done, she guiltily avoided looking at him, knowing he'd be upset from the fall.

"Starkad." He hissed through clenched teeth. "Why don't you go and see if mom needs help inside?" Fortunately enough for the teenager, he wasn't hurt in the fall, unless you counted the fact he couldn't take in a full breath yet.

"No." The dragon quipped. 

Groaning painfully, the young viking got into a sitting position. "Then what about dad? I think he's in the hall." To Jokul's surprise, Starkad jumped from the highest point on the roof, frantically flapping her wings to prevent herself from getting hurt on impact. With a damaged left wing though, her body barely stopped its momentum as she neared the ground below her.

The dragon disappeared into a pile of the snow, sending the white stuff in all directions, including on top of her rider. "Ack!!" He managed to get out before he was coated from head to toe in snow.

"What in Odin's name were you-!" He cut himself off when he heard a low, crying moan coming from her. "What's wrong?" Instead of answering, she only curled her tail around her legs and faced away from him.

"Are you all miserable because you couldn't go with them?" He asked bluntly, earning another sad whine from the reptile. "Hey..." He put a hand on her side, caresses the dark scales beneath his fingers. "Look at me, Starkad." He commanded.

For once, the hobblegrunt listened.

"Everyone feels like they're alone sometimes." Starkad's frill extended in surprise at his voice. He's actually trying to cheer me up? Out in the open? "But you're not, alright?" The viking patted her nose softly. "You've got me, and mom, and even dad. So stop looking pathetic and get up."

The hobblegrunt's tongue clicked happily at her rider. To anyone else, that conversation might've seemed blunt and short, but to the boy and dragon, it was they called comforting.

"You can either help me, or stay out of the way. So which'll it be?"

And that's how Starkad ended up circling the house. In Jokul's mind, that was better than being on the roof where she might undo all the work he'd put into the decorations.

---

(Anyone's free to join! You can push the plot here as far as you'd like. You can help Jokul, play with Starkad, or even 'accidentally' kick the ladder out of place. I'll just go along with it... probably)

[Fern & Nima]

A few days prior...

Fern rested sleepily in her bed, yawning as she one eye opened before drooping back shut. Hearing her dragons grumble, she opened one eye, yawning once more, "Morning, Nima..." In her sleep ridden state she reached out to pet her nadder, who nuzzled against her. However, just as she was getting up, she heard a screech from outside. It sounded like a tornado was hitting, which made her rush to the window; there before her hundreds of dragons were taking to the skies. Her own dragons head shot up, her round pupils retracting to mere slits as her head tilted. Giving a roar, she darted towards the window, nearly toppling over Fern in the process. Jumping on the window sill, which was large enough for her to go out of, she jumped out and flew towards the skies. Fern took off running down the stairs, crying, "Nima! Wait! Where are you going!" She sadly looked to the skies as the last of the dragons disappeared. "Nima..."

Present Day

Waking up from her slumber, Fern yawned, "Morning Ni-" She stopped herself short, looking to her dragons empty bed with a sigh. "Right.. Still not here." She got out of bed and moved towards the door, going out. She grabbed a bag, which had shields and lights to decorate her house. Looking at her dragon head on her house, it was indeed a nadder. "To think my ancestors killed a nadder once." She said quietly, shaking her head. "What would they think of Berk now.." A noise suddenly made her alert to attention; there before her was a.. a.. dragon..

She recognized it as a hobblegrunt, and the rider in the snow as.. oh what was his name.. Trying to act casual, she walked over to him, "Oh, umm.. hey.. " She tried to think of his name. "... Jokul.. Right?" She  moved over to the dragon. "She's pretty." She turned to the dragon, moving to cup her head in her hands, "What do you think? Are you a pretty girl? Hmm.." She looked at the dragon further, "Too young to go on the migration, eh girl?" She cooed to the little dragon. She couldn't speak dragonese, but at least she could baby talk some dragon, even if it wasn't her own. Realizing she was still next to Jokul she cleared her throat. "Right, um.. sorry. Old habit. I usually baby talk my dragon.. but.. she's left for the holidays."

[Jokul & Starkad]

Jokul watched as snow fell around him, letting his body rest from the fall. He was just starting to regain his normal, unlabored breathing pattern when a girl's voice sounded from nearby.

"Oh, umm... hey."

The teenager had barely managed to sit up without groaning at the dull sting in his chest. He did manage to wheeze out a lame, "Hey..."

The only thing he could see from this distance was her red hair and somewhat thin frame. He squinted his eyes to focus his vision, but only ended up making it worse. Thankfully he easily connected her voice and red hair to Fern. Having spent most of his life in a blurry world, this is pretty much how he identifies people anyway.

"...Jokul...right?"

He rubbed the back of his neck when his nod caused it to feel strained. "Yeah... That's me. And I'm sure you've seen the village menace before." The boy gestured to his dragon's bright colors out of the corner of his eye.

Starkad's frill popped open when she spotted the newcomer. She always liked meeting new people, considering Jokul doesn't tend to hang around anybody often. Her yellow and green colors shifted to their curious purple and blue as she approached.

"She's pretty."

The hobblegrunt stretched her neck out to lick Fern's face, but came up short an inch or two. From here, Starkad's nostrils flared as they took in this new friend's scent. It didn't take much to smell the female nadder on the girl, but the more she sniffed, the more she could pick out one other distinct scent.

Fish. And a lot of it.

"What do you think? Are you a pretty girl? Hmm...?"

The hobblegrunt made a small gurgle in happiness in response. "Yes!" she yipped. "I'm just as pretty as momma was!" The purples and blues faded from her scales, being replaced by the previous bright yellow.

"Too young to go on the migration, eh girl?"

Though the comment would have normally been an innocent question, it sent a pang of sadness through the young dragon. She was able to keep her scales from changing color only because she distracted herself to find out how much fish the girl was hiding from her. She began circling the young viking to determine where they were being kept, not caring about personal boundaries whatsoever.

"Right, um... sorry. Old habit. I usually baby talk my dragon... but... she's left for the holidays." Jokul had watched the exchange between the two. It was a common occurrence for Starkad to suck up to anybody that said she looked beautiful. By the time his dragon began sniffing Fern from head to toe Jokul had managed to get to his feet. He could've sworn he heard the hobblegrunt muttering something about fish, but passed it off as he listened to Fern's apology.

"No need to feel bad about good habits. Besides, Starkad's just happy someone takes the time to say hello. Usually people just yell at her for breaking things."
The dragon managed to narrow down the scent of fish to the pouch around the girl's shoulder. "Fishies!"

Again, Jokul ignored her as he listened to Fern. "Sorry about um... Nima? But she'll come back. They always do, not to mention the extra additions that follow them." He smirked imagining baby dragons of every size and shape. "I think Berk is filled with baby-talking vikings when they finally come back anyways. You're just getting a head start." He gave her another smirk before picking up the ladder on the ground.

"FISHIES!"

"The trouble-maker here is going crazy. You wouldn't happen to have any fish on you, would you? Because she won't shut up." He muttered the last part, hoping not to give off a bad impression.

[Fern & Nima]

Fern fiddled with the fish in her pouch, which was resting on her waist, absentmindedly as she struggled to think of his name. Peering down at him as he lay seemingly with labored breathing in the snow. Without a second thought, she moved her pouch up to her shoulder. As he managed a meek greeting, she gave a look of concern, offering a hand to help him up. "Are you alright?" She asked softly, her eyes showing her worry; when she greeted him she was uncertain if she had gotten his name right, but to her relief, she had. Disaster averted. She thought, before going up to the dragon, who seemed to perk up as she approached. Her colors changed from green to purple, mesmerizing the girl for a moment.

"Village menace? Aww, no she's just a sweet lil thing." She cooed softly, before baby talking the dragon further. The dragon nearly licked her, and she laughed, instinctively taking a step back to avoid the saliva. It was then that the dragon seemed to go into predatory mode and circled her, sniffing every inch of her. "What is she... doing..." Fern started as she circled her, before Jokul's words caught her attention. "Good habit? Well I... I suppose its not a bad habit." She said more to herself then to him. Then she heard the bit about people yelling at his dragon and frowned, "Some people can be so.. cruel..."
Her attention was diverted back to the dragon as she nosily stuck her snout towards her pouch. before the dragon started intently sniffing her pouch, making a fuss of dragon sounds as she seemed to be going wild staring at it.

Hearing Jokul's comforting words about Nima, she frowned a little. "Can't come soon enough, if you ask me." She said quietly, letting out a soft sigh. Looking at her feet for a moment, she shuffled her boots, sticking her hands in her pockets. However his next comment made her look abrutly up, to see a smirk on his face as he mentioned... extra additions... What did he mean by that? Realizing what he meant, she meekly managed, "B-Babies?" Oh thor! She felt like smacking herself with a fishbone in that moment; of course! Nima was going to come back with babies. In all the worrying she'd been doing she had completely forgotten that the dragons left to have babies this time of year. Feeling foolish, she let out a sheepish smile before replying softly, "Nima will have such cute hatchlings." Her attention went back to the hobblegrunt, who seemed to becoming increasingly anxious; she seemed to want something in her... in her pouch?

Just then Jokul mentioned the subject and asked if she had any fish. "Oh, yeah; I always carry some for Nima but why would she- Oh; Fish! Of course!" She took out a fish, offering it to the dragon. "Is this why you're going so crazy?" She smiled a little, "It's your lucky day, girl!" She said with excitement, dumping out a small pile of fish on the ground before her. "Eat up!" Looking back to Jokul she smiled, before looking down at her feet. "Hey umm... since I don't really have anyone to celebrate with besides my family... I was wondering if you wanted to come over for a bit of yak nogg later?"

[Jokul & Starkad]

"Village menace? Aww, no she's just a sweet lil thing."

Jokul rolled his eyes and placed the ladder against the side of the building. "Oh yeah? Then you've never seen her chasing people's livestock through the main square." He crossed his arms when she started showing sympathy to the dragon.

"Cruel? Honestly, I think she kind of deserves it. Not that she listens to anyone anyways." The boy rested a hand on the hobblegrunt's shoulder, hoping that it'd calm her down. "But... I guess I'm stuck with her, right Starkad?"

The dragon barely even registered his words, having been solely focused on the fish in Fern's pouch. "What?" She asked without turning around. "And she's got the attention span of a terrible terror... lucky me."

"B-Babies?"

"Well...yeah. Isn't that basically why they leave in the first place?" He asked sarcastically with a smirk. He kept the smile as a façade when he listened to her fantasize on what her dragon's hatchlings would look like. He might not have shown it, but he was actually a tad jealous. He'd never see Starkad's hatchlings because she'd never be able to leave Berk to breed. However, though it was a little selfish, he was glad to have the dragon in the village for the holidays.

"Eat up!"

Once the pile of fish hit the ground, the hobblegrunt gleefully started gulping them down. Jokul couldn't help but give a short laugh at how frantic she was to get the most in her mouth in one bite. In the short few seconds it took her, Starkad had finished the pile of fish, and started sniffing Fern again, looking for more. "Starkad." Jokul warned sternly. She made a few low clicks with her tongue and continued checking the girl over.

His dragon's disobedience only made him shake his head in defeat. "And this is what I have to deal with at home..." He grumbled to himself.

"Hey umm... since I don't really have anyone to celebrate with besides my family... I was wondering if you wanted to come over for a bit of yak nogg later?"

The invitation itself caught Jokul offguard. He wasn't usually one people wanted around for too long, mostly because of the mischievous dragon that tails behind him everywhere he goes. Plus, Jokul himself wasn't a very talkative person, at least, not to other humans. Give him a dragon and a quiet spot, and they'd never shut up.

It doesn't help that a lot of people he knows haven't learnt Dragonese either, making any conversations between species long and difficult. At least at home he could switch from Dragonese to Norse without anyone misunderstanding.

"Um... I don't know..."

Just imagining the scene of him meeting Fern's family made him nervous. With a hyper dragon, blurry eyesight, and an unfamilar house, it pretty much guarenteed something was bound to be broken. Jokul could see her father, or mother scolding him for being clumsy, or having no control over the young hobblegrunt.

It was just an innocent invite, right? Why am I over-thinking it?

But on the other hand, being one of the very few dragons left on Berk, maybe Starkad's presence would be welcomed? And maybe if he could manage to have someone in front of him whenever he walked-

"He wants to go!" Apparently Starkad got tired of waiting for him to answer and took it upon herself to do it for him. "He never gets invited over to girls' houses!" He felt his cheeks burn red, but then he remembered only he could actually understand the dragon. Thank Odin Fern doesn't know Dragonese... He sighed after shaking off the embarressment.

"I guess I can. I'll just have to tell my mom where I'll be."

The teenage boy could only hope nothing went wrong while he was there...

[Fern & Nima]

Fern smiled as she listened to his words, "Oh I'm sure its not that bad." She said softly, before she reverted to her crooning, petting the dragon as she tried to get at her fish. After settling a pile of fish at her claws, the dragon seemed more then ready to gobble them up in one bite. "Slow down there, you'll choke on a scale!" She said, laughing despite herself. As she heard Jokul's words she peered over at him, "Really, I'd give anything for Nima to be here right now... so in a way... you're actually kinda lucky in that aspect." She looked down before inviting him to her place, and at this she saw him turn a shade of pink and she smiled a little, looking down at her feet. At his acceptance, she turned a shade of pink. She walked forward, briskly kissing his cheek, before jogging off, "See you tonight!" She called back over her shoulder.

That Night

That night she made up the cavern as best she could. She took an old yak fur and draped it over the chairs, and took an some torches and lit them, providing a dimly lit area near the table. She also took a shaved yak skin and put it over the table in the form of a table cloth, taking some flowers and putting them in a jar on the center. Just as she was finishing cooking her yak steak, she sighed, looking out the window. "I wonder where he is..." She looked down at her feet, "Nonsense; he'll show up. Right Ni-" She looked over to where her dragon usually was, and sighed. "Oh right." She muttered beneath her breathe. The steak being done, she took it and laid it on a wooden plate, as well as a cup of yaknog for herself and him. Two steaks, two yaknogs, dimly lit area. It was shaping up to be a pretty good night. Or so she hoped.

[Jokul & Starkad]

"Slow down there, you'll choke on a scale!"

"Wouldn't be the first time." Jokul admitted quietly. He'd lost count of the number of times she coughed up a bit of fish after scarfing down her meal too fast. Luckily, this time, it seemed like the dragon had no problems in swallowing her food.

"Really, I'd give anything for Nima to be here right now... so in a way... you're actually kinda lucky in that aspect."

He stroked the dragon's damaged wing almost subconsciously, reminding himself that both he and his dragon were only lucky in a few ways. He might be one of the very few to still have his dragon for the holidays, but it was bittersweet. She should be with the other dragons; with Shade. He thought back to when the older hobblegrunt left with the others. He'd never heard Starkad sound so heartbroken before. Even though mother and daughter had never been separated before, Jokul was still surprised at how bad she'd been effected.

Thankfully, Fern was the perfect distraction for her.

When the girl began walking in his direction, Jokul assumed it was to go past him, so he sidestepped to allow her to do so. It didn't even occur to him that she'd want to at least shake hands as a goodbye, but by the time he thought of this, she'd already pecked his cheek with her lips. At the contact, he froze up. He barely even registered Fern's parting words afterwards.

Starkad had watched the interaction with curiosity. Did humans normally do things like that? She wondered, but when she looked at her rider, something told her otherwise. The typically bored, stoic boy was standing there with red cheeks, and wide eyes, as if staring off into the distance. His hand seemed to move mechnically to his face, brushing against where Fern's lips had been. The ghost of a smile twitched at the corners of his mouth.

Starkad worried there was actually something wrong with him now. His emotions were blissful enough to be a gronkle on dragon-nip. She tugged his shirt in hopes of getting his attention. Jokul snapped out of his dazed state and looked down at the dragon. "What do you want?"

The hobblegrunt purred, happy that her rider was back to way she liked him. "Are you really gonna go?" She questioned. The viking shrugged. "Come on. Let's get back to setting these decorations up before it gets too dark."

Starkad's frill popped open farther when she felt that blissful feeling eminating from him again. His face might not have betrayed him, but you couldn't fool a hobblegrunt. Luckily for him though, Starkad's short attention span made her care less about the strange emotion.

---

It was easy enough to get ready to go over to Fern's house. All he did was take his helmet off and put on a cleaner set of fur boots. His mother didn't question him going out, that is, until Starkad blabbed about it being a girl inviting him over. It took at least a full half-hour before anyone could get a word in edge wise through his mother's cooing.

"Kari! Leave the boy be! He'll be late if you fawn over him any longer." Jokul's father interupted. The boy gave a mock salute to him and dashed out the door.

His trip through the village was slow, not only as a precaution to keep from bumping into something, but because of his nerves as well. Jokul's breathing was faster, as if his lungs had shrunk and were unable to hold more, and his heart rate was through the roof.

"Get it together. I-It's not like this'll be the first time I'll ever go into a girl's house, right?" He whispered to himself. "Besides, at least Starkad stayed at-"

He cut the sentence off when he heard low purring behind him. "...home." He growled loud enough for her to hear. "Not tonight, Stark. Go back."

The dragon caught up to him and nudged his arm. "It's boring there. I wanna come with you." She whimpered to plead further, "I'll be good. Promise!" Knowing she'd come anyway, he nodded. "Absolutely NO touching anything. Got it?" The young dragon bounced happily ahead and to Fern's front door when it was in sight. 

He raised his hand a knocked a good three times before standing there awkwardly while Starkad's frill kept twitching, picking up on Jokul's nervousness. She would've commented on it, but the door had already opened before she could open her mouth.

"H-hey..." Jokul said lamely with a hesitant wave of his hand.

[Fern & Nima]

That night as Fern made ready the romantic setting for the evening, she made sure everything was just so; and for a viking, it was pretty romantic indeed. What with the dimly lit torch light, the jar holding some fresh flowers- freshly plucked from the garden- and some petals scattered over the table it looked fairly nice indeed. As she peered out the window she took the steaks and poked them onto a stick, holding them back over the fire. As she heard a rapping on the door, she nearly dropped the stick but recovered it before it was completely charred. "Hope he likes his steak extra crispy." She muttered nervously, before looking over herself with a shard of glass. She ran her fingers through her hair, giving it a quick tussle and brushing some spare dirt off her clothes; which regarding what she was wearing she had changed into a yak skin skirt and a white tunic, which was tucked neatly into her skirt.

The outfit wasn't much, but it was enough to show off her figure a little, and it was the best outfit she could come up with in her mad dash to get home; after having left him there, she had thought back to the kiss again and  again, her cheeks fiery hot, and  for once she was relieved Nima wasn't around... that way she didn't have to see her getting all flushed and embarrassed over all this. All these actions took mere seconds, but it felt like much longer. Finally she came to the door and opened it, seeing Jokul standing there, meekly waving at her. Behind him was his dragon. "H-Hey." She said softly, opening the door further and gesturing to the table, which was in the center of the rather cozy viking living room. "Come on in." Pulled up were two chairs, each with their own yak fur on them.

"D-Do you like it?" She asked softly, backing up into the dining area. She realized she still had the stick with the steaks on it and quickly placed them on the plates, bumping into the table as she did so. Luckily nothing was disrupted much, and she looked over at his dragon. "Hmm... You mentioned she tends to misbehave... No matter..." She quickly turned and went through the drawers one by one, until she found a pouch and said brightly, "Aha!" As she pulled it out and unwrapped it. Inside was a good sized wad of dragon nip. "One sniff of this and she should be out for the next hour or so, maybe longer. More or less a happy stupor." She then took out a spare piece of meat and stuck the grass inside the meat, wrapping the entire bunch in meat. "Now if she eats it.. She'll be out for at least two or three hours." She moved to the dragon and attempted to feed her the meat, blushing a little, "Old trick I learned with Nima. Helps when you need them to relax."

[Jokul & Starkad]

"H-hey."

The greeting was identical to Jokul's own, he noted. Wait... why do I care about that? He bit his lip and tried to focus on something else, but that only ended up with him straining his eyes to see her better. As unsuccessful as that was, he did manage to see she'd worn something to fit her figure better. His teeth dug farther into his bottom lip when he though about it. 

"Come on in."

At her voice he not only felt, but heard his heart race faster. The whole situation confused the teenager to no end. She was just like any other girl his age, right? He imagined having been invited by others, but none of them made him overthink it like he was doing now.

Starkad wished she could understand why humans' emotions are so strange. Why are they both so anxious? She snorted softly to divert attention from the silence that hung in the air. Her rider gave her nose a few hard pats before stepping into the threshold. She, by instinct, flinched away at it and continuously rubbed her tiny arms against her nostrils.

"D-Do you like it?"

Jokul wanted to answer he couldn't really tell her truthfully, but he stopped himself, and instead blurted out, "Yeah..." All he really saw was the general set-up, but the table, soft light, and whole atmosphere was more than enough for him to at least to imagine what it really looked like.

His gaze shifted back to her when she hit the side of the table. For a split second, he panicked. Dare he say, he was actually worried she'd hurt herself, but the feeling was gone faster than it'd appeared.

"Hmm... You mentioned she tends to misbehave... No matter..." He glanced back to find that Starkad was already sniffing about at anything on the walls she could reach. "Aha!" The shout jumped Jokul, and in turn, scared the dragon as well.

"One sniff of this and she should be out for the next hour or so, maybe longer. More or less a happy stupor."

He squinted his eyes to see what she was talking about, but in the dimly lit area, he stood no chance at getting a good look, so he took a few steps closer. However, by doing so, he'd only made it worse by blocking more light. "Um... what is it?" Right as the words left his lips he'd remembered what it was. After all, how many things can knock a dragon out by one sniff?

"Now if she eats it.. She'll be out for at least two or three hours."

Starkad's colors shifted happily as Fern approached her. The dragon's pupils grew when she smelt the hidden nip and immediately went on a search to find the source. Once the meat was put down, she didn't give any hesitation in putting it in her mouth.

"Old trick I learned with Nima. Helps when you need them to relax."

As if on cue, the young hobblegrunt's eyelids drooped as her whole body swayed side to side. Thankfully, being only a year old, meant she wasn't that large, so she caused minimal damage when she finally lost her footing.

"No kidding..." Jokul murmured, geniously surprised. He'd never fed his dragon the stuff before, and maybe only a few rare times has he ever let her get close to the hidden stash under the floorboards. 

"So... with her out of the way... I think this could actually turn out to be a peaceful Snoggletog night for the two of us." He smiled until he noticed how embarrassing it sounded for the current situation. "Uh-... I-I mean. You know... she won't break anything." He swallowed heavily and felt his hands clam up at his sides.

Jokul couldn't decide whether or not the racing in his chest was a good or bad thing at the moment. On one hand, his blabber-talk didn't seem to be getting him anywhere. But then there was also that tiny part of him that wanted to know more about this new development; about her, and that scared him. 

For now though, he'll let Fern do most of the talking until he figured this out.

[Fern & Nima]

As he came inside she smiled broadly, and as he blurted out that he did like it her smile only broadened. "Good, good.. Umm.. I made yak steak. It's a little crispy, but what viking doesn't like their meat a little burnt." She said with nervous laughter. Her stomach was in knots, her eyes wide as she turned to find the dragon nip. Upon showing it to him she blinked, it was unfurled and she was certain he knew what dragon nip was, but she brushed it off with a joke, "Only the most powerful weapon against dragons." She teased softly, laughing a little, but her laughter ebbed and she became a tad more serious, "Y'know; dragon nip!" As she hit the table and stumbled she grunted at the pain that came to her side from the chair jabbing into her gut; yet nothing was seriously hurt.. If not for her ego. At the stumble she turned a shade of pink, looking back to him as the steaks were on the plates. Next up was the dragon meat, which she placed before the dragon; who happily ate it. Next thing Fern knew she fell into a stupor. At Jokul's next words she felt her cheeks flush and nervously ran a finger through her hair, smiling like a goof.

"Yeah! It'll be great!" She said softly, obviously referring to the night they would spend together, but then as his mood switched to nervous hers did as well and she quickly added, "Ahem; y'know.. Breaking stuff. Great she won't.. erm.. break stuff..." She said nervously, and took a seat at the table. The sizzling steak on her plate met her hungry eyes and she said softly, "We got plenty of time before my parents are home.. So we can stay up as long as we want to. Who knows! Maybe I can convince them to let you stay the night." Her words slipped out before she had time to rethink them.

Her cheeks turned a deep shade of scarlet as she realized how her comment must have sounded, and she quickly added, "In separate rooms, of course. I mean; you on the floor.. or.. chair.. erm.. me.. upstairs..." She mentally scolded herself and gulped a drink from her yaknog. It actually didn't taste half bad, and as she sat there she got an idea, "I know what will brighten the mood!" She turned to the cabinets and took out an old bottle. "Meade!" Fern had already turned around and uncorked the bottle. "Mom always drinks this stuff to relax her. She always says 'This! This is the good stuff, Fern! This is the good stuff!' So.. maybe we should put some in our yaknog, eh? What do ya say?"

[Jokul & Starkad]

"Don't worry. Burnt is fine."

Jokul didn't know how, but Fern had managed to hurt herself again. Ironic it was her who was bumping into more things when he was the one who had vision problems. Jokul couldn't help but be concerned about how often she got hurt when he wasn't around. "Clumsy, I see." He'd never meant to say it aloud, but at least it came out sarcastically.

"Yeah! It'll be great!" Jokul felt himself smiling along with her. "Ahem; y'know.. Breaking stuff. Great she won't.. erm.. break stuff..."

The boy rubbed the back of his neck nervously as he took the seat opposite of hers. And that's when the awkward silence returned. Jokul didn't know what he would've prefered, this silence, or having his dragon's chattering going on in the background.

"We got plenty of time before my parents are home.. So we can stay up as long as we want to. Who knows! Maybe I can convince them to let you stay the night."

Oh Odin... Jokul hadn't even thought of that possibility occurring. After squinting his eyes, he could spot the light tinge on her cheeks. At least I'm not the only one...

"In separate rooms, of course. I mean; you on the floor.. or.. chair.. erm.. me.. upstairs..."

"Y-yeah. Of course..." He murmured in agreement, keeping his eyes down. Picking up the cup of yaknog in front of him, he began rubbing the side of it with his thumb, trying to distract himself.

"I know what will brighten the mood! Meade!"

The poor boy nearly lost his grip on the yaknog he was holding. The telltale sound of a popped meade bottle echoed in his ears. "M-m-meade?" The stutter was uncontrollable.

"Mom always drinks this stuff to relax her. She always says 'This! This is the good stuff, Fern! This is the good stuff!' So.. maybe we should put some in our yaknog, eh? What do ya say?"

He'd never even had a drink in his life, and here stood the perfect opportunity to try it. But the curiosity to taste it was beaten easily by common sense. He's seen his mother drunk on the stuff, and one thing was for sure, you'll never know what might happen if you drink too much.

"I-I don't think that's such a good idea..." He started, "My parents would kill me if they found out." He didn't really lie. They would. But he was far more worried what'd happen if either of Fern's parents came home and found them both too drunk too stand.

[Fern & Nima]

As she sat down at the table, she mentally scolded herself for being so clumsy. She could have messed up the entire night if she had knocked over the table, or knocked the food on the floor; fortunately, the latter hadn't happened. At his comment, she turned a shade of pink, before taking out the meade. As she uncorked the bottle, she heard his uneasy tones reach her. "Hmm, really? Well," She popped the cork back into the bottle forcefully, setting it back in the cabinet. "I suppose you're right. The stuff is kind of weird smelling anyway." She settled back onto the chair and peered at him for a moment, and in the dimly lit room she had to admit; he looked rather handsome. She scooted her chair a bit closer to his, reaching over to his hand to cup it in hers.

As she sat there, she smiled for a moment, "Tell me, Mr. Jokul. Why haven't we crossed paths before?" She said, her attempt at being romantic. Perhaps it was a failing attempt, but perhaps he would catch on that she was trying to loosen him up while at the same time attempting to learn more about him. Her eyes met his, and in the dim torch light she could make out scars.. burns.. around his face.. Funny, she hadn't noticed that before.

For a moment, she peered into his vacant eyes; before one hand tenderly reached up to brush some hair behind his ear. She took a moment to examine his facial features, from the curves of his face to the burns on his skin. Sensing that it might be a sensitive subject, she scooted her chair closer and moved to brush one hand over his. "How'd that happen? Those scars." She asked softly, concern in her voice, as her other hand moved to cup his face, with her thumb brushing over his cheek.

[Jokul & Starkad]

Jokul sighed heavily with relief when the bottle was put away. There was no need of any accidents, especially tonight. He shook his head at the last thought. What makes this visit so special? The longer he puzzled over it, the more it seemed as though the question was being replaced with 'What doesn't make it special?' Either way, he wasn't able to find the answer on his own.

Thor, and I thought Ulrika was an idiot! Fiddling with his yak steak, he mulled further at the conundrum he was trying to figure out. he was only pulled away from the thoughts when he heard he chair across from his moving closer.

His free hand suddenly felt hers on top of it. If there had been any food in his mouth, he was sure he would've begun choking on it, because he felt his throat tighten and relax over and over again.

"Tell me, Mr. Jokul. Why haven't we crossed paths before?"

Having his hair pushed back didn't help him respond to her question at all. His body refused to let him answer without making him sound like he was a 10-year old either. "I don't know?" His voice grew even higher at the end, making it into a question without meaning to.

He clenched his other hand when she shifted even closer. He couldn't wrap his brain around this. Jokul's heart went into overdrive at her proximity, and he almost feared it might rip itself from his chest.

"How'd that happen? Those scars."

The question snapped him out of his mini-panic attack. "I-It's not something..." He trailed off when he felt her hand land gently on his cheek. The contact made him want to jerk away, but her warm touch prevented him from moving. His scars might not be physically sensitive anymore, but he still refused to let anyone near them, let alone talk to anyone about them.

And the fact he was frozen under this girl's touch scared him. Even more so when he found himself wanting to actually tell her.

"They aren't exactly... easy... to talk about." For the first time, Jokul finally initiated the contact by hesitantly bringing his hand up to remove hers from his face. He debated on the decision to pour out his secret to her; someone he'd only just started talking to properly. It didn't seem logical at all, but he couldn't stop thinking about what'd happen if he kept it from Fern.

As far as he can tell, she'd keep asking until he gave in, and judging by his reaction right now, it wouldn't take much more. He made sure to take a good, deep breath before he started, "It was only a year ago... when me an Starkad decided to go do some adventuring in the forest." He smiled lightly at the memory. "Imagine our luck when we bump into an injured zippleback..." Though he didn't notice it, his hands tightened around Fern's unconsciously.

"I-I... don't remember much of the details, but I think some of the gas got ignited... and, well... I got burnt. Good thing Starkad's skin is fireproof, otherwise she would've been fried to a crisp" He glanced at his dragon. Her injured wing was hidden from view, but Jokul knew it's webbing was shredded beyond repair. "But she didn't exactly come out unscathed..." He left the sentence unfinished, hoping he wouldn't have to say it himself.

He left his partial blindness out of the story. There was no need for her to know that. He managed perectly fine with it anyway. Jokul had a feeling he wouldn't be able to deny it if she asked directly though.

[Fern & Nima]

he flirting seemed to go downhill rather fast, with his meek response reaching her ears and she smiled a little, before noticing his scars. As her hand reached for his, cupping his hand in hers, she felt a rush of emotions. However, upon touching the side of his face, she felt him flinch away. He started to speak, and she said softly, "Don't worry.. You can tell me." Momentarily his hand came on hers, and she drew in a quick breathe, before he moved her hand off his cheek. She had to admit, the action stung a tiny bit, but given the circumstances she was able to overlook it. Her other hand remained on his.

As he began his story, she listened intently, and as the story became more clear, and more frightening, she felt him tighten his grip on her hand. Wordlessly she squeezed his hand, as he continued on with his story. Momentarily he finished his story, but there was a question still lingering in her mind... The matter of how badly he had been wounded in the attack. For surely one can't have dragon fire explode in their face and come away unscathed. She had a feeling he had damage beyond what he was letting on, and a part of her had to know for sure.

"Are you.. blind..?" She asked softly, her grip tightening on his hand. She met his eyes, his vacant, listless eyes, and she knew for certain he might very well be blind. Then another question lingered to her mind, a sort flattering realization that she suddenly voiced, "And you still like me? Even though... Even though you've no idea if I'm pretty or not?"

[Jokul & Starkad]

"Are you.. blind..?"

Fern's pleaded question was laced with concern. It was a tone Jokul wasn't all too familiar with at home. His parents, his father more so, gave him distance when he was feeling down. And usually if he needed to talk to someone, he sought out a group of terrible terrors, knowing they probably wouldn't remember much of what he told them anyway.

Jokul felt his racing heart stop when he finally understood what she'd asked. He could easily choose to brush the question off as a joke, albeit poorly. And then there was the option of telling her the truth, which, in all honesty, he preferred not to do.

His already confused focus got further jumbled when his hand was squeezed back. What it did seem to help him with, was deciding his answer. No. I'm not going to look weak to her.

"And you still like me? Even though... Even though you've no idea if I'm pretty or not?"

And then his confidence vanished in the blink of an eye. "A-are you sure you didn't take a sip of that meade?" Anyone outside the conversation would have seen through his nerves in an instant. "Because that's the craziest thing I've ever heard." Both his voice and hands were shaking, especially the one Fern was holding.

Jokul sat in silence, praying to all the gods he wouldn't have to tell her he was handicapped aloud. Part of him even wanted her to figure it out on her own, so it'd be a secret they could share without words.

Either way, he just hoped Fern wouldn't look at him as fragile because of the injury. He was the man here after all.