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glutengoblin · 14 days ago

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The Anatomy of Trust (Part 3)

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III x Reader

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Summary: Training under Gothi to become the village healer, Y/N often found herself alone on Berk. It didn't help that her icy personality (and dragon to match) seemed to chase everyone away. But, when a plea to a childhood friend is finally accepted, Y/N finds herself in for the ride of her life.

A/N: The support on this story has meant the world to me! Sorry about the delay again. I've had a nasty sinus infection that hopefully antibiotics will clear up soon... but needless to say, I've been out of commission.

Word Count: 2.6k

Warnings: Aged Up Characters, Canon Divergence, Gore, Blood, Mentions of Death

The pounding in her ears had ceased to die down for minutes now, while the puddle of blood at her feet had only continued to grow.

Thank the gods it wasn't her blood, she supposed. She didn't have the confidence that anyone else at this outpost would actually be able to solve this issue. Time would only tell if she could.

It seemed as if the twins, armed with the knowledge that they now had a healer at Dragon's Edge, had somehow decided it was reasonable to be more reckless. Y/N supposed that some logical part of her understood. If you had someone to patch up your wounds, why be careful to avoid them? What the twins had failed to do was take that idea to its logical end—what happens when the wound is too big for even a healer to do something about?

The scratch was massive, extending across almost the entirety of Ruffnut's upper arm. Y/N swore that she could even see bone as she continued to apply an ointment to try and dull the pain. Ruffnut fought against it, making precision difficult. While Y/N knew the movement wasn't malicious, simply a reflex from the excruciating burning, she was thankful that Hiccup was there to hold Ruffnut's shoulders down.

Hiccup also looked rather upset for being put in this position. Despite growing up a Viking, and becoming a dragon rider that most adored (and feared), Hiccup had never been good with blood.

When they were 10, Hiccup and Y/N had spent one afternoon playing in a meadow just on the outskirts of town. Y/N was chasing Hiccup, the wind pushing her hair back and her smile so carefree that it simply begged him to look at her. The world chose the wrong moment, though, as Hiccup found himself tumbling straight over his own feet and into a rock, his elbow making the impact first. When he finally dusted himself off and got up to inspect, the sight of red blooming beneath his shirt had his stomach churning. Y/N, on the other hand, simply stopped and stared for a second before rushing to his side. She tore off the sleeve of her own shirt—an action her father would certainly berate her for later, until she explained what it had been used for. Just as he had taught her, she checked the wound for any debris before wrapping the sleeve around it tightly, constricting it enough to stop the blood flow. Hiccup realized then that he'd always need her around. To deal with when he was bleeding, of course.

Hiccup now stared up at the ceiling, trying to focus on anything but the metallic stench and moaning that filled the room. Y/N knew what she was doing; Hiccup simply needed to hold Ruffnut down and prevent himself from puking for long enough to finish.

It took around 20 more minutes.

When Y/N finally tossed the last bloody rag in the bucket, she whirled, taking long strides over to the table where Ruffnut lay, arm stitched and bandaged precisely.

“DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA—” Y/N began, before seemingly realizing that she should probably lessen her volume a bit, “how much worse that could have been? If the slash wasn't so narrow, I never would have been able to stitch it!”

Ruffnut, in typical Ruffnut fashion, sat up with a huff and a smile. “But you did, doc, so why does it matter?” She swung her legs off the table, moving to stand as her new sling swung at her side.

“Because, it could cause serious injury or you could even lose your—” Ruffnut had made it to and through the door before Y/N could finish her lecture.

In response, Y/N simply put her still-bloody hands into her hair and screamed.

The sound startled Hiccup more than he liked to admit. Y/N could be icy. She could be blunt. She could be quiet. She could sometimes even be nice. But she never—as in ever—lost her cool. But here Hiccup was, watching his childhood friend scream at a door. Just when he thought he had seen it all.

When she finally stopped screaming, she simply muttered a quick “Thanks for your help,” before departing out the same door into the blinding sun. Hiccup stood stunned for only a second more before figuring he probably should follow.

As he pushed through the door into the wider world, his eyes stung from the sun. He raised an arm to cover them until they adjusted, as he closed the door behind him, muttering to himself.

For her, a reaction that extreme was worrying. And they had only been at Dragon's Edge for three weeks now. Three weeks in which he would have thought that she could have adjusted.

She had disappeared from view by the time Hiccup had walked into the center of the outpost—something he was concerned about. Thankfully, Astrid was standing over by the training ring, looking down at Snotlout as he and Hookfang were pretend dueling, a wooden sword in Snotlout's hand. A wooden sword that had just caught on fire from his dragon as Hiccup approached. Despite what would normally be a humorous sight, Astrid didn't seem too amused.

“Have you seen her?” Hiccup asked, not realizing that he didn't specify which her. Not that it mattered, as Astrid already knew. They all seemed to know.

“I… She looked pretty upset, Hiccup. Maybe give her some time to cool off?” Astrid suggested. The pity in her eyes wasn't lost on Hiccup.

“But if she seemed really upset I want to—” Astrid cut him off with a raise of her hand. This was one thing Hiccup greatly appreciated about her—the fact that she always told it to him like it is.

“I know, Hiccup. But you have to admit that this may be hard for her. The twins,” Astrid looked back down into the ring, shaking her head as she noticed the burns now covering Snotlout's hand, “and some others aren't exactly making her job easy. She also doesn't really seem to have any friends here. Other than you, of course.”

Hiccup hung his head and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I know, you're probably right. But it's not like she really had friends on Berk either—”

“That's different.” Astrid cut him off again. “Yes, she did want to come to Dragon’s Edge. Yes, she has Snowmist. But maybe, just maybe, she's homesick. I would suggest you try to talk to her about it.” Astrid thought for only a moment before quickly adding, “tonight.”

‘Tonight’ couldn’t have come slower. Hiccup had succeeded in letting Y/N be for the rest of the day. He didn’t even freak out when she didn’t come to dinner. Although, his fingers still drummed on the table nervously.

“Is it just me, or does he look like a mess?” Snotlout whispered a bit too loudly to Astrid. Astrid’s mouth simply formed a tight line as she shook her head. Snotlout took another spoonful of stew before speaking louder. “Hiccup, you good?”

Hiccup startled, his head whipping up so fast his braid practically hit him in the face. “I—I’m fine. What would give you the idea that I’m not?” He did his best to try and act natural, taking another bite of the stew he had hardly touched up to this point.

Tuffnut chose to interject now, tilting his head to the side. “Oh, I don’t know. The fact that you seem so torn up over your girlfriend not being here.” Hiccup looked like he had been slapped.

Fishlegs muttered under his breath, closing his book with a sigh, “Here we go…”

“First off, I’m not torn up over her not being here! She’s an adult, she can do whatever she wants.” Hiccup reddened slightly, before declaring his second point. “And s-she’s not my girlfriend.”

“Uh huh, sure,” Tuffnut shook his head in mock agreement. “That’s why she sleeps in your hut and you follow her around like a lost puppy whenever you’re not busy.”

Hiccup simply sighed and stood up from the table, tossing the rest of his stew in the trash. “Whatever, I’m not going to entertain this conversation.” He headed out the door, letting it close behind him in a slam.

“Oh ho, he is definitely in love!” Snotlout declared loudly, slamming his fist on the table. “I called it from the moment he let her join!”

Astrid sighed, rolling her eyes so hard they nearly passed into the back of her head. “I think he is, but he just doesn’t realize it yet. Be nice to him, this stuff can be… difficult for him.”

Snotlout scoffed, shaking his head. “And you would know how?”

“I dated him for three months, you idiot.” Her stare of disbelief was palpable. Snotlout was stunned for only a second.

“Right, I forgot about that.”

“How could you?” Tuffnut chimed back in. “It was so awkward. Astrid couldn’t even hold his hand in public.” Now it was his turn to receive a glare.

“We realized we were better as friends, as you’ve all seemed to have forgotten. And the hand-holding thing—that was Hiccup. He was nervous.”

Hiccup was also nervous now as he made his way back up to his hut, the climb up each rung of the ladder feeling longer than the last. He wasn’t sure what he would find as he stood in front of the door, his hand outstretched to open it. He wasn’t sure he wanted to find out.

When he finally mustered the courage to (after repeating to himself that he was literally the future chief of Berk and this whole thing was silly multiple times), he was surprised to see her sitting on her bed, reading, as if nothing had even happened. His eyes swept over her form, subconsciously checking for any injuries. She didn’t appear to have any and had clearly freshly washed her hair, likely trying to get the blood out of it from earlier. She was wearing a clean shirt—a green shirt—his shirt, he realized as his heart stuttered.

Y/N quickly noticed him, slipping her bookmark into her book before looking up, surprised to see him still standing in the doorway. “Uh—Hi?”

He quickly snapped out of it and shut the door behind him, leaning his weight back against it. He was nervous to get any closer. It was possible he was mistaken. Maybe she just happened to have a shirt that was the same exact color green as his. Maybe he had just never noticed her wearing her green shirt before. It’s not like he paid that much attention to what she wore.

She smiled nervously, and Hiccup swore he may melt right on the spot. “Sorry about earlier. I was just… frustrated.” She paused, then looked down, as if remembering. “Also, I stole one of your shirts. I hope that’s okay… I just mis planned and didn’t have anything else clean.” Hiccup nodded, his throat bobbing a bit as he dared to walk toward her.

“It’s alright. I’m happy to let you borrow it,” he offered with a soft smile as he moved to sit down on the foot of her bed, it dipping slightly beneath his weight. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, giving him room. “Do you wanna talk about what happened?”

She grimaced a bit and looked away, clearly not comfortable. He quickly added, “only if you want to, of course.” She froze for a moment and bit her lip in consideration before finally speaking.

“I just… I just lost my cool. I’ve heard it happens to all healers at some point. Gothi has always said that it would happen to me at some point. My dad always said—” She cut off quickly, swallowing her words before continuing, “I just didn’t expect it to happen to me. It was unprofessional, I’m sorry.”

Hiccup looked at her, truly studied her, with concern in his gaze. She hadn’t talked about her father in a long time, especially to him. He remembered when he died—back when they were 12 and still trying to find their place in the world. It was some mysterious ailment, one with no cure, that took away his strength day by day, month by month, year by year. Y/N knew it was coming. Everyone knew it was. It didn’t make it any easier on the little girl that was left behind. Thankfully, she had been taken in by Gothi, but it was still a sore point in her life. One they had hardly discussed since.

When he noticed a stray tear rolling down her cheek, he acted on instinct, swiping it away with his thumb. The contact between their skin burned—but in a pleasant way, the sort of way that makes you think being engulfed by dragon fire might not actually be such a horrendous way to go. When her eyes shot up to meet his, he froze. He hadn’t thought; he had just done what he wanted to.

Still frozen in place, cupping her cheek lightly, he said, “It’s okay to feel emotions, Y/N. You’re human.”

“But you wanted me to be your healer here. I should be able to handle it. I should be able to handle the stress.”

“I don’t want you to be anything other than yourself,” he said softly, staring at her as if begging her to take the words to heart. “Can you try to be honest with me and just tell me what’s going on, and how you’re feeling?”

She squirmed and Hiccup finally pulled back his hand but maintained his nearness.

“I’ve just been stressed because… Well, I didn’t think it would be easy coming to Dragon’s Edge. Gods no, I’m not that naive. I just thought it would be different. I thought I would have to help with typically minor injuries, ensure that we always had a full stock of supplies, and help out with any other chores… but I also thought I would have time to explore. Maybe try to find some new cures?” Her shoulders sank slightly in defeat. “I just thought it would be different. I didn’t think I’d be patching up the twins from near life-threatening injuries only a few weeks in.”

Hiccup sighed, scrubbing his hand over his face. “Well, I’m sorry about the twins. They really should learn to not be so,” he grimaced, considering his word choice, “stupid. But I think that exploring the other islands is dangerous. And I’m really not sure you should go. I’ve talked about this before.” The truth was, they had. She had tried to bring it up last week, but he hadn’t let the conversation go anywhere. It was dangerous and deep down Hiccup didn’t quite know what he would do with himself if she got hurt.

She looked up at him then, a bit of her normal fire returning to her eyes. “I can handle dangerous, Hiccup. It’s not like I’d be alone. I’d have Snowmist with me.”

He let out a big sigh and shook his head. “We can talk about it more. But I have some concerns.” He stood then, moving over towards his side of the hut, towards his bed, although everything in his bones pulled him towards just staying there, near her.

He set his boots at the foot of his bed, pulling off his armor before muttering, “Good night, Y/N.”

“Good night, Hiccup,” she returned softly, before he heard the telltale sound of her opening her book again.

Taglist:

@xx-all-purpose-nerd-xx @animegamerfox @echoheartza @imagines--galore @purplefluffycows @capcryooo @cupcakesnviolets @suspcious-stain-in-spain @sargentsillymittens @artfulthoughtsblog @cultish-corner @idk1027 @chaosinciter @sassy-persona

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glutengoblin · 29 days ago

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The Anatomy of Trust (Part 2)

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III x Reader

Previous Part, Next Part

A/N: Thank you so much for all of the love for the first part of "The Anatomy of Trust". It means the world to me!! <3

I'm so sorry for the delay! I was moving this past week and had a ton going on. Hopefully updates will be a bit more frequent. I hope you enjoy!

Word Count: 2.5k

Warnings: Aged Up Characters, Canon Divergence

The next week, Y/N found herself and Snowmist standing on the very edge of Berk. They were early, but that was on purpose. Although she’d never admit it to his face, part of her didn’t trust Hiccup to actually take her. Although this was much more important, she was concerned that this would be like all of the social events he had blown off when he first started hanging out with the other Dragon Riders.

Though Y/N did complete the Trial by Fire, she had never really meshed well with the others. Though she didn’t want to admit it, part of it was likely because she didn’t really make an effort to get to know them. She viewed Gothi’s encouragement to at least try to complete the Trial by Fire as a necessary evil of residing on Berk as a teenager. As soon as she survived said trial, she was free to go back to her work.

The truth was, Y/N wasn’t a horrible warrior. She was decently quick on her feet and sharp, which gave her an advantage. But she was never the best either, and thus felt like an outsider. Especially when Hiccup made his switch.

She was certainly proud of him and the fact that one of them had managed to make it out of what was practically social exile—it just sucked that she essentially got left behind. After everything they had gone through as children, after all of the rare free time that she had spent with him in the shop, literally helping him build the apparatus that first caught Toothless, she would have thought that he’d at least have the decency to spend some time with her. But no, he left her… just like everyone else had.

The dull green grass of the Isle ruffled in the wind as Y/N and Snowmist stood making final adjustments. As she adjusted her armor, Y/N took note that the waves below them looked calm—a sign that their flight would hopefully be the same.

She had taken a page out of Hiccup’s book while making her own set of armor. For months she had been collecting the few white scales that Snowmist had shed, partly to see if there were any interesting medical properties she could discern. While that had proved a failed venture, she felt lucky she had kept them when Hiccup told her last week that she was going to Dragon’s Edge with him. She quickly got to making herself a set of armor.

It was decently simple—just an iridescent white corset and a set of shoulder pads. The sleeves of her preferred periwinkle tunic still showed, along with her typically black pants and boots. But it still provided more protection than just normal clothes. If she was going to convince Hiccup that she would be fine on her own, she needed every advantage she could get. Hopefully, making her own set of armor would nudge him towards agreeing to her goal.

Y/N had moved to adjusting the harness and packs full of supplies that Snowmist was wearing when Astrid and Stormfly appeared, closing in on their location. She was surprised when Astrid offered her a smile, before beginning to adjust her own armor.

“Hi Y/N.” She paused in a way that seemed a bit strange, hesitant in a way that wasn’t typical for her. “Hiccup told me last week you’d be joining us. I’m happy to have you on the team.”

Y/N offered her a nod, replying, “I’m happy to be joining you.” Without adding much else, Y/N turned back to her preparations.

They both worked in silence, doing any final checks as the others began to arrive. Surprisingly, Snotlout and Hookfang were next, closely followed by Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Barf, and Belch.

“Ah, Y/N!” Snotlout smirked at Y/N, leaning his elbow on Hookfang, who let out an indignant sigh. “Glad to see we’ll have some other pretty views this trip.”

Y/N nearly threw up in her mouth a bit. Clearly Astrid did too, but she beat Y/N to the punches.

“Would you give it a rest, Snotlout? You don’t need to flirt with every woman you see.” Astrid crossed her arms with a huff.

“But see, that’s where you’re wrong, Astrid. I don’t flirt with every woman I see… only the prettiest ones on the Isle… and you, my dear,” he took too many steps close to her, “are certainly deserving of that title.” He grabbed her hand, clearly leaning in to kiss it, but didn’t make it too close.

“Do that, Snotlout, and I guarantee you’ll have one less limb. And live to see tomorrow, since I’d at least have the decency to sew you up enough that I’d be able to remind you to never mess with me again,” she said with a snarl.

Snotlout quickly dropped her hand, as if it was on fire, and took a couple steps back as another voice entered.

“And I’d believe her too,” Hiccup said as he and Toothless finally closed in on the group. With a surprisingly graceful swoop, he hopped off and walked the rest of the way over. “She’s scary good with a knife—and a needle.” His helmet rested in one hand against his hip, while the other gripped onto Toothless’s saddle. “So, are we ready to go?”

“We’re still missing Fishlegs,” Astrid said after scanning the group. “Anyone know where he could be?”

The rest of them sort of shrugged, until their attention was turned back toward town, where two shapes were barreling in their direction. By the time Fishlegs and Meatlug arrived, both were out of breath.

“I—I’m so sorry we’re late,” he said in between wheezes, “I got a bit caught up reviewing the properties of Snow Wraiths.”

Snowmist and Y/N shared a look, before turning back to Fishlegs, who now had a sheepish smile on his face.

“I like to know everything I possibly can about all the dragons we have in our group… you know… in case something goes wrong.”

“Well, I appreciate your preparedness,” Y/N said with a curt nod, before turning to Hiccup for directions.

Hiccup froze for a moment, as if he forgot that he was the leader of the group. Eventually, with all eyes on him, his mind caught on to what was happening.

“Well… I guess we should head out then.”

With that, they all climbed on their dragons and took off into the indigo skies of an early morning.

The journey proved to be peaceful, and Y/N found herself enjoying the ride. She and Snowmist sometimes found themselves on islands off the coast of Berk, but rarely too far away. Thus, getting to float through the clouds like this was a rare treat.

Y/N reached her hand up to touch one and smiled at the feeling of condensation collecting on her fingertips. “It really is beautiful, isn’t it, Snowmist?” she asked, with a small happy chuckle that she typically only gave when they were alone.

But they weren’t alone, and that became very evident when Y/N felt a set of eyes on her. She turned to the left to find Hiccup grinning back at her. His expression was more carefree than she had seen in a long time.

“It’s quite something to fly, isn’t it?” he asked, motioning to the sky around them. Y/N simply nodded and offered him a smile, before turning forward again.

Hiccup had been watching her—and she couldn’t help but wonder why.

—

The trip took the better part of two days.

Night had begun to fall by the time they made it to Dragon’s Edge, but Y/N was still surprised at the sight. She knew that the riders used the location as their jumping-off point for most of their adventures, but she was still shocked at the level of development they had achieved.

Vikings and the ability to make even the most inhospitable of places feel somewhat homey, she supposed.

The staggered outcroppings of rock provided a variety of stages on which huts stood. There was a collection of them, all varying in color and shape, with a large dome in the center. Based on the conversations she had heard about this place on the ride over, it was easy to deduce that each hut belonged to a different person; the only question was, where would she be staying?

As they all set down near the stables, Y/N began to unload the bags off of Snowmist’s back. She had brought a variety with her, figuring that the generally somewhat reckless attitude of the riders likely extended toward their approach to medicine on Dragon’s Edge. If she was going to be here as long as she hoped, she figured she might as well bring a selection. Her general attitude was that it was better to be prepared than caught off guard. Being surprised never seemed to lead to great things in life.

As she finished, the sun was finally dipping down toward the ocean, as if leaning in to take one last sip of water before nodding off to bed. Hiccup approached her from the right, offering one of the small smiles that he had still retained after all these years.

“Need a hand?” he asked, moving to pick up one of the bags before she even had the opportunity to answer.

“Well, I suppose if you’re demanding, not offering… sure.” She let out a soft chuckle and grabbed on too, before looking up at Snowmist. “Good work today… I don’t envy you. Why don’t you ask Toothless where you can get some much-deserved rest?” Snowmist simply let out a huff before heading into the stables herself. Like rider, like dragon—a no-nonsense personality.

The rest of the riders were beginning to make their way toward their own huts. Y/N watched, making mental notes in her head of which place belonged to whom as she followed Hiccup.

Eventually, after a bit of a climb, they made it up to the largest building. It featured a white and green roof, topped off by wooden dragon heads.

“We can leave all your supplies in here for now. Tomorrow, we can find you a corner of the clubhouse to use and organize it better.” Hiccup let out a soft grunt as he set the largest of the bags down. Y/N followed suit, then wiped her hands on her trousers, glancing around the space and taking it in for the first time.

“That sounds good? I presume I should find somewhere to sleep in here too?” While there was no obvious place to sleep, at least there was a fireplace she could use to stay warm.

“Actually no, I’d rather you stay at my place—” Hiccup cut off mid-sentence when she spun to stare at him, eyebrows flying up in shock before he quickly added, “N-not in the same bed, of course! Heavens no… I mean like I have an extra bed. In the corner. A very, very, very far corner from mine—I mean not that I think you were assuming that I meant that w-we’d—”

Once she regained her emotional footing, Y/N slowly put a hand up, motioning for him to stop. “It’s alright, Hiccup… I know what you meant.” It was all she could do to prevent herself from laughing. The man in front of her was flushed a deep red, as if he had just gone through the most mortifying experience of his life. Perhaps it had been.

After a few more ladders, much to Y/N’s chagrin after such a long day of flying, they finally made it to Hiccup’s hut. The boy still looked utterly embarrassed as he opened the door and ushered her inside.

In the center was a fireplace. There were a few shelves filled with various tools and a workbench he clearly left messy often. The rug on the floor, though threadbare now, was recognizable to her from his home on Berk. It had been on the floor of his childhood bedroom, where they used to play. And, as Hiccup had correctly pointed out earlier, there were two beds on opposite sides. Y/N looked to him, as if to ask which to take. He motioned to the one on the right, “All yours,” before bending down and starting a fire.

Y/N walked over, taking off her boots and setting them at her bed’s edge. She pulled her sleeping clothes from the bag of personal belongings she had brought with her. She looked around, trying to discern the best place to change.

“I… where should I change, Hiccup?” Hiccup froze in place, abandoning the blanket he had been holding, before snapping out of it and glancing around nervously.

“I guess I didn’t really think that part through… huh… well, uh, it’s cold outside so um. I’d rather you not freeze so I’ll just turn around and stare at this wall. Yeah. Does that work?” He raked his hand along the back of his neck. To this day, she still knew that it was one of his main tells that he was nervous.

Y/N wouldn’t admit it even if a blade was held to her throat, but she could feel a flush crawling up her cheeks as she considered her options. He was right- this seemed to be the best on at the moment. “Uh, yeah, sure,” she replied, her voice much more hesitant than was typical of her.

She quickly turned and begun to undress, doing her best to change quickly. While she didn’t feel the telltale itch of someone’s eyes on her as she did yesterday, part of her wished he had looked.

Taglist:

@xx-all-purpose-nerd-xx @animegamerfox @echoheartza @imagines--galore @purplefluffycows @capcryooo @cupcakesnviolets @suspcious-stain-in-spain @sargentsillymittens

#hiccup haddock x reader #hiccup x reader #hiccup haddock iii #hiccup how to train your dragon #httyd hiccup #hiccup haddock #hiccup horrendous haddock lll #hiccup horrendous haddock iii #httyd x reader

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