Strangled

By the time Delvin had gone and brought Gothi back to the arena Astrid had already left and he found a now awake Snap-pine having a stare-off with heather who was trying to approach him

"I wouldn't do that if i were you" Delvin pitched in as he walked over, causing the girl to flinch and look at him sharply "he's not very friendly with strangers," Delvin remarked as he pointed towards the slowly rising scales on Snap-pines neck and wings.

Heather looked like she was about to speak but she was stopped by a roar as Snap-pine spotted Delvin and ran over to him, crashing into him with the force of a small battleship, knocking him to the ground with a series of purrs and coos

"Haha" Delvin couldnt help but laugh as the giant lizard puppy laid its head in his lap, wrapping around him with its wings and tail "Feeling all better now huh?" he joked playfully as he scratched snap-pine under the chin

"You really did a number on him," Gothi wrote on the floor, appearing behind him like a wraith. The old woman gently stroked at the cracked and damaged scales on the dragons head, applying a salve as Snap-pine ignored her, focusing on Delvin as he purred and wined "how did you cure him?" she signed

"In the same cave that we got in trouble, there was some native flora that placated dragons" Delvin said, giving a half-truth as he spoke to the small elder, he had decided it would be best not to tell her about the dragon he had found, lest she tell stoick and create another nest battle

"You seem really attached to each other" Heather said as she walked over, squatting down and patting the wing of snap-pine who no longer seemed to care about her presence. She gave a strange smile as she looked over to Snap-pines head in his lap as if envious "everyone tells me that you were the first person to have a dragon on berk, even if Hiccup was the person to ride one first?" she said, phrasing her words like a question as if asking for confirmation

"Yeah" Delvin nodded, not seeing the harm in telling her, even if she was the saboteur. Even if she did tell Alvin or whoever she was working for, it would be kind of useless information unless they were willing to wait literal years for fruition "I found his egg when I was ten, kept him hidden in the woods, and raised him"

"Why?" heather asked, sounding genuinely curious

"Because I planned on weaponizing him" Delvin replied with a shrug, not bothering to hide it despite the look of shock that appeared on Heather's face, poor girl was probably used to hiccups good nature, and pure love for dragons "As you can see I'm not exactly a perfect specimen" He joked as he tapped his bad leg "so i needed an edge, something that could kill anything that stood against me or berk"

"So you raised a weapon" Heather nodded, still looking slightly shocked, even with a tint of fear in her eyes "you decided to fight dragons with dragons"

"I'm not Hiccup, I don't have his whole shtick of Caring for dragon life more than that of my clan" Delvin shook his head before staring into her eyes as he spoke directly to her "when I find an enemy I kill them, the method doesn't matter all that much"

"Threats should either be denounced or acted upon, never left unanswered" Heather agreed, a glint showing in her eyes as she nodded, returning his gaze. although, She broke the stare as she looked towards the nearby weapon rack.

"Please stop flirting," Gothi wrote, her words and expression showing her irritation "I'm trying to administer care here"

That caused them to both give her a glare, slight red patches appearing on both Delvin and Heather's cheeks, tinting them pink

"Ahem" Delvin cleared his throat, pulling the head of Snap-pine off his now numb legs and stumbling to his feet before walking over to his halberd, pointedly ignoring the look on Gothis smug face as he stretched and checked his bags "well then, I'd best be going. Got to make sure Astrid hasn't fallen behind on her training and all that" He excused himself, trying not to think about how awkward he sounded

Was Heather not that bad? That would be kind of weird considering that the first time they met, they both tried to kill each other… right?

Shaking away the thoughts anyway, Delvin marched over to his house where the second he stepped in the door he was immediately assaulted by his mother as she tackled him in a hug

"Oh thank god you're alright" She yelled as she practically suffocated him in a hug/chokehold, her arms draped around his neck and pulling his face into her shoulder, nearly breaking his nose on embrace, "we thought we lost you"

"Don't strangle the poor boy!" Asa appeared, prying them apart, much to the dismay of his mother who literally whimpered at her actions, "we talked about this!"

"No, you talked and I agreed to nothing!" His mother replied, crossing her arms like a stubborn child as she glared at her sister. Although she did step back, giving Delvin some literal breathing room "He's my son and if he can't deal with a few hugs, then he won't survive in this life"

"I've literally seen you snap a dragon's spine with a bear hug, so please don't do the same to me" Delvin panted as he rubbed his sore throat. He could hardly protect berk from Alvin if he ended up in an early grave

"How am i going to get grandkids if you can't even stand being hugged by your own mother" Hilde complained, giving a dramatic pose as she sat down at the table, gesturing for him to sit

"So I heard that you met Heather, what do you think of her"

Oh god just kill him here

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