Snotlout scuttled off to the Berk library, eager to find the way to sideline Hiccup. It galled him, that even the library was there because of Hiccup, as his eyes scanned over the spines of the two dozen books, he thought of abandoning his plan. But it was too good a plan, so he decided to talk to Fishlegs. As a viking he was a good librarian, (a terrible viking insult). Hell, he'd even authored some of those books himself.
After a few false starts he found Fishlegs and Meatlug on the beach on the far side of the island. Meatlug looked to be randomly blasting and eating rocks while his rider took notes. He waved at him, as he circled Hookfang around, looking for somewhere to land.
Snotlout and Fishlegs had never been the best of friends, but Fishlegs had bottomless reserves of goodwill. Snotlout hated that about him, such weakness. But he put a smile on and waved to him as he walked over.
"Working on a new book..." his voice trailed off, as he struggled to find the subject of any interest.
"Yes... I thought you might like this. We're testing the rocks to see what effects they have on Boulder class dragons." he rubbed Meatlug's stubby little ears affectionately.
Snotlout just pretended to listen, adding the occasional grunt and general agreement to keep him talking. Snotlout was happy for the chance to talk about dragons, and Meatlug in particular. After fifteen minutes or so, he almost snapped.
But with a snarl tried to change the subject instead.
"Yeah... yeah... Boulder class are really interesting. But... er... what about Stormfly... I mean what about ... Sharp class dragons."
He hadn't meant to mention Stormfly, but Astrid was a girl he found very interesting. An interest that went entirely unreturned. As a dragon rider he wasn't short of attention.
"I didn't know you were ... oh, Astrid's dragon ... " he gave Snotlout a sly wink.
"Have you tried Chicken... as an alternative to fish... If you want to win her favour, you will need to get on better with Stormfly. But...." he fell silent, and turned his gaze to the sky. It wasn't really a secret, that Astrid craved the eye of Hiccup, even if she were unwilling to admit it most days.
Perhaps the only vikings unaware of the simmering chemistry were Hiccup and Snotlout themselves.
With a sigh, he started talking about the poisonous spines of the Sharp-class dragons.
"Most immobilise their prey, allowing the dragon time to swoop down and capture their prey, or if necessary slow down an enemy and make their escape."
Snotlout grunted, settling on top of a rock in preparation for a long and boring discussion.
"Some spines are even deadly." he added, as if the name Deadly Nadder were unearned.
Fishlegs then started on about how long it took a dragon to replace a thrown spine.
Snotlout's chin slid off his fist as he listened distractedly. With a snort he distracted Fishlegs.
".... you know that Stormfly is a female." he finished saying, looking over to the bored viking, as if explaining a great secret.
"Yes, and Hookfang is male." he bit back his anger. This wasn't working, and it was frustrating. He was just about to insult the heavy viking and leave, when Fishlegs beckoned him closer with a wave of his chunky hand.
"I've not checked recently... but... she might not be female any longer..."
His ears pricked up at this. He didn't really care about dragon sex, but this sounded promising. He'd certainly never looked that closely.
"How would you find out... and why would she not be female any more..." his confusion written on his face.
The look made Fishlegs smile, even if he hid it from Snotlout.
He waved him closer. "Well, a nadder has a gland that can give it's spines the ability to change sex."
Snotlout lifted his head, barely able to contain his excitement, as Fishlegs chattered on about the advantages for breeding cycles and so forth.
"Will this work on other dragons?" Snotlout asked, genuine fascination clear in his voice.
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