#awkward!Hiccup

[serenefreakgeekao3]

Fear of Falling

CHAPTER TWO [Masterlist]

Pairing: Hiccup x ftm!reader

Summary: You and Hiccup have begun to get closer- to something even resembling friendship. What happens, then, when complications get thrown into the mix? Complications namely being Hiccup’s close acquaintances, who seem a little too invested in getting to know you.

Tags: carpenter!reader, awkward!Hiccup, meeting friends, mutual pining

Warnings: slight bullying, mention of transphobia at the end of the chapter, tales of a bad family life (for reader)

Author’s Note: This is when the whole ftm thing comes into play! At the end of the chapter, reader tells Hiccup his life story, essentially, where reader was disowned by his family. If this will hurt you in any way, feel free to not read, or skip the final part after Hiccup receives his gift! Sorry for the sad backstory, but it’s only for a small section! (Also, sorry it took so long for me to post this part, but if you notice its literally like twice as long as my first part. Unintentional, but it felt weird to try to split it up into two chapters. It flows easier this way!)

Words: 12552

“So where’s your dragon?”

The question catches you off guard, startling and turning to look at Hiccup’s curious face. It’s been a month since you claimed this land, and with the help of Hiccup and Skullgar your home is finally standing and all in one piece. You were settling in, moving furniture around until you felt comfortable with the positions and placing your few belongings in their proper places. It was a small hut, one story and one bedroom. A fireplace crackled on one side of the room, half of the building made into a nice living area while the other half almost resembled a shop. You had a long bar with stools, shelves for your tools, and currently sitting on the edge of the bar was the first piece you finished whittling. It wasn’t bad, actually. A little rough around the edges, but a small dragon- not based on any that you’ve seen for yourself, just carved from your imagination- that is big enough to fit in your hand sat there and watched over the whole proceeding.

“What?” You took too long to answer, but you didn’t know exactly what to say. You avoided the topic of the dragons for a long while- impressively, might you add, since dragons are apparently Hiccup’s lifeblood. You didn’t mind talking about them in a general sense, or hearing whatever happened in town. But if he was to ask about you flying, or where your dragon was, you were able to deftly change the subject. Maybe that’s why he decided to catch you off guard. He almost had a smug look about him, the kind of face that made you want to smush his cheeks together until he laughed.

“Your dragon. I sort of assumed that once your home was finished and the rest of the builders moved on- I don’t know, that maybe they’d be willing to settle down? I tried to make a nice nest outside for them, but I wasn’t sure about their size. I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen them before.” Hiccup continued as if it’s the most obvious thing ever, to claim a dragon. To have a lifelong companion such as that. As if the thought of not having one was unimaginable.

“I don’t have one,” You mumbled, turning back toward the shelf to unnecessarily fidget with a vase you were given by Gobber. You spun it a few times, then realizing that did nothing you began to push it a tad to the left, then back to the right.

“What?” You have a talent for confusing Hiccup, that tone in his voice is practically familiar to you now. “What do you mean you don’t have one?”

“I mean that I don’t have one.” You nod, turning to look at him, eyebrows raised. “It’s not that uncommon you know.”

“No, but-” Hiccup breaks off, holding out a hand toward you. His confusion began to mix with worry. “What do you mean- but you live all the way out here?” You hadn’t heard anything more about this location being unsafe from Hiccup since that first day, and you had figured he’d just drop it. It’s not like it should matter much to him anyway.

“Yes, I know. I chose the spot.” You tried to laugh, but it came out more as an awkward chuckle. “You were there, y’know.”

“No- I mean, yes I know I was there but-” Hiccup turns frustrated, looking away from you and scanning the air as if it held an answer for him. He runs a hand through his hair, flopping it around on his head before he throws his hand back outward. “You live all the way on the outskirts! If something happened to you, no one in town would be able to know. No one would hear, there wouldn’t be anyone to- to come and-” He huffed again, grabbing his hair roughly. The entire time he speaks he seems almost to be arguing with himself in his head. “I know you can take care of yourself, but against a dragon?” He finally turns his face to you, with almost a look of desperation. “What if they tame a dragon and attack from above? Pick off the people on the outside first, you can’t fight a dragon and their rider by yourself! You can’t outrun a dragon! What would-”

“Hiccup,” You try to interrupt, having moved close enough to reach a hand out to press lightly against his arm. It still, miraculously, works somehow. “I’ll be okay.”

“But you need a dragon,” Hiccup whines out, practically pouting at you. “They- they mean so much-”

“I know you love all of the dragons here, Hiccup,” You begin, your voice quieting, “But not everyone feels so intrinsically tied to dragons like you. Not everyone can bond with them as easily as you.” You shrug, trying for a smile but probably missing the mark, “There hasn’t been one to find me yet.”

“Well, if they can’t find you then we can find them, come on!” He takes your hand and immediately tries to pull you to the door. In the few times he’s taken your hand, you’ve always followed. This is the first time that you hold your ground, unmoving. Hiccup doesn’t pull, or tug. He turns, confused at your reluctance.

“I don’t-” You take a breath, shaking your head, “If I go out looking for one and can’t find one I’ll just be disappointed and heartbroken. I’ve met every single dragon on this island at least once, whether they had a rider or not. None of them have taken to me, Hiccup.” You turn bashful, pulling your hand away and crossing your arms, pulling them close to you. “If there’s a dragon out there for me, they’ll find me.”

“That seems like a fantasy, [y/n]” Hiccup begins, shaking his head and closing the gap once more. “We can try.”

“It’s fine, Hiccup.” You repeat, looking up at him with a sad smile. “I’m used to being alone.”

You turn away after this, missing the complete devastation that crosses Hiccup’s face. He shakes his head, mouth working with nothing to come out. He doesn’t know what to say to that, unable to voice how he feels. He’s never been the best with words, always sketching or trying to express his feelings through flying. At that thought he calms, brain working a mile a minute as his eyes flicker back and forth, unseeing.

“Come flying with me.”

You turn, confused at the sudden outburst. By the time you see his face again, his attention is still focused entirely on you, a wide smile stretching across his face. He bounds the few feet toward you that you had moved away, taking both of your hands with glee. “Hiccup, I-” You begin, shaking your head, but he just interrupts.

“Come flying with me, [y/n]! It’ll be great! I know you don’t have a dragon to fly on, but we can both be on Toothless. It’s so amazing, please, you have to experience it!” You laugh at his enthusiasm, almost blown away by the force of it. With your laugh coloured in disbelief, you begin to shake your head.

“Hiccup, I just said I don’t want to go looking for a dragon-”

“This isn’t about that!” Hiccup tries to convince you, shaking your hands slightly. “Flying is-” His mouth works as he tries to find the words, shaking his head, “You just have to try it, at least once!” You laugh again, shaking your head.

“I did try it once.”

“What?” Hiccup ducks closer, and you feel your brain malfunction for a split second. Why does he have to be so close? Was he always this physical?

“I’ve flown once.” Hiccup looks adorably confused, so you continue your point. “During the move. I told you, I’m not new here, but I was new to the old Berk. I lived there a month before suddenly everyone was packing house and moving on their dragons. I was apprenticing under Skullgar and, once he found out I had no dragon and was planning to just sail away to find somewhere else to live, offered up Grimrar as a ride. His family planned to ride his wife’s dragon and use Grimrar to transport their possessions. There was a bit of room for me to squeeze in.”

Hiccup’s confused face was adorably scrunchy, you decided. “But, wait,” He leans back slightly, shaking his head. “Transporting things and transporting people require completely different saddles. That would’ve been extremely dangerous…” Hiccup trailed off, refusing to believe your story.

“No, that’s true. Grimrar had the transport saddle on his back, I was squeezed between a couple of boxes and kind of held on for dear life. It was the longest day of my life, actually. Felt like it, anyway.” You smile, able to laugh about it now that the soul-crushing fear is no longer gripping your heart.

“That-” Hiccup scoffs, shaking his head. “No, that’s not true flying.”

“Well, I was technically on a dragon, and that dragon was in the air. Very, very high in the air-”

“No, that’s just dangerous- anyone would be scared of that!” Hiccup pulled on your still-connected hands, looking into your eyes earnestly. “Let me take you flying. Toothless will be so gentle-”

“Hiccup,”

“No, listen! It’s fantastic, [y/n]! It’s- it’s indescribable!”

“Hiccup, I’m afraid of it!” You sigh, shaking your head and pulling your hands back.

“Afraid of heights? But-”

“Afraid of falling, mind you.”

“You won’t fall!”

“You can’t promise that.” You turn once again, taking a new block of wood and the whittling knife that Hiccup gave you two months ago. Was it really only two months? You sat down on a stool in a huff, striking the first notch into the wood. Hiccup was quiet again, which honestly rarely happened now. You glance back up to see disappointment across his face, feeling a pang of guilt in your chest at the sight. “I’m sorry, Hiccup.”

“I can promise that if you fall we’ll catch you.” Hiccup’s voice was so serious, meaning every word he said. He took a step closer to you on your stool but maintained a proper distance still. The open window behind him framed him in an almost ethereal sunset-orange light. “Either Toothless, or me. We’ll catch you.” You felt hard-pressed not to believe him.

“That’d still require me to fall. Which is the part I’m scared of.” His shoulders fell at your insistence, glancing away from you and staring off into space. The room is filled with the sounds of your whittling and the fire crackling to the side, a comfortable silence only bellied by the discomfort of having to disappoint the guy you’re falling for. Hiccup turns and leans against the bar next to you, tapping his hands along it. The taps stop and you look up to see him fiddling with something in his hands just out of sight.

“Well,” He begins quietly, and you quickly lower your gaze back to your project. “If you ever change your mind, I’m always here.”

“You really are,” You begin to joke, smirking down at the slowly dwindling wood block in your hand. “Almost like I can’t get rid of you.” Hiccup laughs, thankfully, at your joke, not taking it too seriously.

“Well, just trying to shirk my chiefly duties, as you always say. Hide away from the clamouring.”

“Well, keep it up and they’ll know exactly where to find you. Then your point would be moot.”

“Not if we went flying together. Then they’d never be able to find us.” You feel your smile slipping, lifting your eyes once more to him. He was already staring back at you, determination set in his eyes. You’d only seen that once before, two months ago, and now you have a proper house to thank him for.

“They have tracking dragons,” You try to counter, smirking at him gently, “You trained them yourself, you know.” Hiccup lets the moment settle, half a minute of comforting silence between the two of you before turning away and sighing dramatically, throwing his arms out to the side.

“Woe be me! Forever and always, stuck as Chief and-”

“Hiccup!”

The feminine yell startles you, jumping hard and turning to face your front door. You try to calm your racing heart, turning and placing the sharp knife down before you accidentally hurt yourself. Your door flies open with a slam, Astrid striding into your home with an air of determination and aggravation. She glares at you before stalking around your home, in search of the man who has suddenly and mysteriously disappeared from your side. “Where is he?”

“Who?” You play dumb, visibly roaming your eyes around the room. “I assume you’re not asking after me?”

“You know who I’m talking about,” Astrid grumbles, lifting a couch cushion and looking under it as if Hiccup could’ve possibly hidden there. She places it back down, pressing it back into place before moving on. Just as forcefully she yells his name again, causing you to jump once more before sighing loudly.

“Look, I can honestly say I have no clue where Hiccup is.” You raise your hands in defence, raising your eyebrows and shrugging toward her. She turns to you with the full force of her glare, one hand on her cocked hip.

“Uh-huh. And can you ‘honestly say’ you didn’t know where he was ten seconds before I marched into your house?” You hesitate, then shrug at this. “Yeah, thought so.” She starts looking up at the rafters, twisting around in search of him. “Where’s your stairs? Or ladder?”

“It’s one story, Astrid. You see everything-” You are cut off by her throwing open your bedroom door, sighing loudly. You place your elbows against the bar behind you, leaning back and waiting. By the time she comes back, closing the door behind her, she marches directly up to you.

“Where is he?”

“I don’t know, Astrid.” You repeat, sighing. “What’s wrong anyway?”

“Where could he have gone, if he was just here a second ago, hm? He has to be hiding somewhere.” She doesn’t bother to answer your question, looking around once more as if he’d suddenly spring into existence behind the potted plant you were given by Skullgar’s wife.

“I honestly don’t know Astrid, alright? We were talking one second, then you screamed louder than a Thunderdrum and by the time I turned around he was gone.” You huff, motioning toward the window, “If anything he could’ve just dove through the window and been halfway back to New Berk by now.” At this Astrid turns, inspecting the window as if it offended her before she sighs, turning to you with her hands on her hips.

“What do you want with Hiccup?” You raise your eyebrows, glancing around the room in confusion.

“I’m sorry?”

“Why do you keep hanging around Hiccup all the time? I’ve had to come pull him away from you fifty times in the last month! I don’t even think I’ve seen you before in my entire life until I found you with him.” She walks closer, narrowing her eyes. “I swear to Thor if you’re a spy for those damn hunters, I’ll rip your throat out myself.” Your eyebrows continue to raise as she speaks, finally raising your hands up in defence.

“Hey, what? I don’t want anything from him! I just wanted to live my life peacefully, he’s the one who decided to take an interest in me.” She points at your chest, gearing up for another round, but you cut in quickly. “And I’m not a hunter! I swear it, I would never harm a dragon unless it was self-defence. And I never have! Hurt one before, I mean.”

“Then why don’t you have a dragon?”

“Because none of them chose me? I don’t know, ask them!” You huff an angry sigh, crossing your arms. “I’m not trying to go out and force them into liking me! Seems a bit inhumane.” She glares at you for a moment longer before backing up a few steps and crossing her arms in a mimic of you.

“Oh yeah? Then why does no one know who you are? Why hasn’t anyone heard of you before?”

“I don’t know?” You fold in on yourself, shaking your head. “Maybe you’re asking the wrong people? I don’t talk much and I keep to myself, usually. If you asked your little rider buddies, that’d be why none of them know me.” Astrid quietly takes this in, seeming to at least believe your words for the time being. “If you want someone likely to know me then ask any of the other carpenters; Odin willing, even ask Gobber! The man’s known me since my first steps onto the docks of the old Berk.”

“Gobber knows you?”

“Yes, Gobber knows me. He knows my whole story. I tried to apprentice under him, but he said he was full up. Introduced me to Skullgar instead.” Astrid remains quiet, eyeing me up. Eventually, she takes a step forward, threateningly pointing a finger toward you.

“Look, if you hurt him-”

“I’m not gonna’ hurt your boyfriend, Astrid.” You interrupt her, shaking your head as you turn away to grab your knife and whittling project once more, angrily taking a swipe at it. “I’d never do anything against my own Chief.” You miss the look of confusion on Astrid’s face, only hearing it in her reply.

“He’s not my boyfriend.” You glance up toward her with disbelief, taking another angry slice of wood. “Is that what he said?”

“Sorry then, your ‘husband’ I guess. We don’t talk about you. Or any of his Chief stuff. He just comes to me to-” You huff, shaking your head and looking up at her. “I don’t know why he comes here, ok? Ask him. I’m sorry if it pokes a hole in all of your little plans, but-”

“He’s not mine in any way,” Astrid repeats, crossing her arms. “And if he’s given you that impression then that’s another reason to kick his ass.”

“There’s been no impression-giving of any kind, at least not from him.” You look back to your project, swiping again. “I don’t know anything that happens around here, I just hear rumours.”

“Who-” Astrid is interrupted by three sharp knocks on your front door, and you glance up to see Hiccup standing in the still-open doorway, leaning slightly more to one side and giving an awful impression of a smile.

“Wow! Astrid! Didn’t expect to see you here!” He laughs awkwardly, as if forcing the sound out of his mouth is a struggle. “I was just coming to ask [y/n] here a couple of construction questions. For tomorrow’s workload. You know, Chief things.” He does that awkward laugh again, his eyes bouncing to you for a few seconds before forcing himself to look directly at Astrid. She’s now turned toward him with her glare and her crossed arms, unimpressed.

“Uh-huh. And just where were you, then?”

“I was out. Y’know, in Berk. Wandering around. Doing… Chiefly things.” He stumbles over his answer, shifting his weight from foot to foot. You felt your shoulders slowly relaxing with the spotlight no longer being on you.

“Oh, really? So you talked to Gobber then?”

“Oh, yeah! Of course! I totally did that!”

“So what did he need done then, Hiccup?” You look up to see Hiccup’s eyes widen in fright, his mouth working for an answer that his brain wasn’t providing.

“Look,” You call out to them, feeling uneasy with both sets of eyes suddenly turning toward you. “Not that I don’t thoroughly enjoy the company, but if you’re going to argue about things I shouldn’t be privy to know, perhaps you should take this back to Berk?”

“Good idea,” Astrid mumbles, striding forward and roughly taking hold of Hiccup by the bicep, beginning to pull him out. He leaves his attention on you, even as he’s dragged backwards, and he throws a smile your way that shocks the breath out of you. He mouths out the words ‘Thank you’ before bumping his head against the door accidentally. He turns with a yelp of pain, rubbing the back of his head before remembering to grab your door and close it behind the both of them.

It takes a while of sitting on that stool, whittling to your heart's content, before you finally manage to unwind the knot that Astrid had wound up inside of you. You always figured Hiccup’s constant attention on you would lead to some bad news, but you weren’t prepared for his girlfriend- or, rather, his second-in-command to charge into your new home demanding answers you didn’t have. And what was about that? Why was she so adamant that they weren’t together? You thought it was a known thing, something inarguably certain among the Vikings here. Wasn’t Hiccup being pressured to marry before the whole town decided to pack up and move?

You shake your head, trying your best to dispel the thoughts of Astrid and Hiccup from your brain. Surely there’s something here to distract yourself with. You turn toward the bar, reaching to grab your little whittled dragon when you notice instead its disappearance. Checking the floor around the bar, you can't seem to find it. Well, it's gotta be around here somewhere, right?

“You think that’s him?”

You pulled back your hammer, taking in a breath and letting it fly down onto the nail. You were currently helping build the leatherworking shop that Hiccup would most likely take over, nailing boards to the floor. You hadn’t bent a single nail yet this day- a new record! You just hope you can keep it that way.

“Shh, your obnoxious voice is gonna’ give us away!”

“If anyone’s voice is obnoxious it’s yours!”

You could hear some whispered bickering behind you, but you knew it wasn’t aimed toward you. The voices sounded eerily similar, though differing slightly in pitch. You couldn’t quite place them. You pull another nail from the collection hanging between your lips for easy access, holding it in place and taking another swing downward. Another success.

“But how do we know it’s actually him, though?”

“I don’t know, he’s our age and looks handsome enough. That’s what Hiccup said right?”

You almost drop the spare nails, saving yourself from choking on a surprise cough at the mention of Hiccup. Curiosity begins to burn in your stomach, but you can do this. Not everything you do has to be centered around that man. (As if you weren’t currently helping to build his shop- but that didn’t count, you were assigned to be here… Out of the three choices that Skullgar gave you.)

“Is he handsome? I can’t really tell, nothing compares to my beauty.”

“Keep telling yourself that, troll snot.”

“Ow, hey!”

You heard a bit of a scuffle behind you, sucking in a deep breath through your nose and placing the second-to-last nail against the floorboard. Did these people really think they were being quiet? Who were they talking about, saying Hiccup found someone handsome?

“Shhh!” One whisper yelled toward the other, stumbling being heard as one fell to the floor. “You’re going to give away our position!”

“You’re the one who punched me first!”

“We’re on a mission, get it together!”

The last nail is held in place- just hammer this one in and you have the perfect excuse to turn around and peek at whoever is making a ruckus behind you. You lift the hammer, ready to slam it down-

“What was his name again, [y/n]?”

You miss your mark, slamming the hammer down onto the side of your hand instead of the nail, yelping out in pain and dropping the hammer in shock. You shake your hand out, turning immediately to look behind you for the source of your name. Unexpectedly, you spy a couple people around your age that you know to be of the same group of dragon riders that go out on rescue missions with Hiccup sometimes. They look similar- you were mostly sure they were twins- with blonde hair and blue eyes that were set wide and locked directly onto you. The three of you stared at each other for a few beats too long before they both ducked at the same time, trying to hide behind the foundation of the building you were currently kneeling on. You shake your head in confusion, calling out a soft, “Hello? Can I help you?”

“I told you you were too loud-”

“Shut it!”

“Ow-”

“Hey,” You call out again, raising your voice slightly to talk over their bickering, “I can hear you, you know.” You watch as they both slowly raise their heads back up, peaking at you over the floorboards. “You said my name?”

“Well,” The boy began, placing a hand on the floor and hoisting himself up to your level, “We’ve heard a lot about you.” He walks over to where you still knelt down, plopping down next to you and raising an arm to rest against your shoulder. “There’s only so much you can hear about a guy you don’t know before you go mad.”

“Mad with curiosity,” The girl huffed, climbing up onto the floor herself and plopping down in front of you. You lean away from the guy next to you, causing his arm to fall off your shoulder as you look uncertainly between them.

“Someone’s been talking about me?”

“Yeah, Hiccup can’t shut up about you,” The guy insists, and you slowly lower yourself to a sitting position instead of kneeling, getting a bit more comfortable. The girl chimes in, waving her hand around with emphasis.

“Well, technically Astrid brought you up first. She kept asking him about you, then asked us if we knew you-”

“Which we didn’t-”

“But once everyone began to find out that Hiccup’s little hideaway was with you-”

“We thought he kept going out flying with Toothless again-”

“Then he began to get a lot more vocal about you.”

“How skilful you are at carving, how you were homeless and that was just ‘unacceptable’!” The girl snorted a laugh at her brother mimicking Hiccup's voice on the last word, nodding along.

“At least he hadn’t lied about your looks though,” The girl continued, wiggling her eyebrows toward you. Unconsciously you began to lean slightly backward, tilting your head at the two. You finally found your voice, talking slowly and trying to understand the constant back-and-forth.

“I think you have me confused with someone else.”

“Oh?” The guy begins with a grin, leaning close into your space, “Is there another carpenter around here that’s our age and goes by the name [y/n]?” You feel your cheeks begin to heat up, looking between the two.

“I feel like I’m at a disadvantage,” You begin, slowly once again. “You both seem to know so much about me and I don’t even know your names.”

“Tuffnut,” The guy blurted out, finally leaning back away from your personal space, placing his hands behind him to prop himself up.

“Ruffnut,” The girl followed up, pointing at herself. She still had a crazy sort of grin on, and you wondered if that was her attempt at being friendly? Or flirting? Either way, she completely missed the mark as you just grew more and more uncomfortable.

“Right,” You begin, looking uneasily between the two of them. “You are the dragon riders that Hiccup goes out with sometimes, right?”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Tuffnut interjects, pointing a finger at you. “We're security here. We take regular patrols, keep an eye out for the baddies.”

“Everyone keeps an eye out for baddies, Tuffnut,” Ruffnut sighs hopelessly at her brother, then turns her attention back to you with a grin, placing her hands in front of her and scooting herself closer. “We don't have big, strong jobs like yours.” She bats her eyelashes at you, and before you know it you feel yourself scrambling to stand, backing away from them both.

“Alright, well it's been great, but-”

“What? Where are you going so fast?” Ruffnut asks, trying to pout at you. You just shake your head, bending over to grab your hammer and place it in the loop on your apron.

“Work- Uh, carpentry things, y'know.” You take a few steps back, watching Tuffnut stroke his braids like a beard, and Ruffnut huff as if irritated. You throw a hand up, your thumb pointing behind you. “Gotta’ get the… The wood-” Unable to find any words to properly explain your exit, you just give up, turning and walking away from the two.

What in Odin’s name just happened…?

It's certainly peaceful here, you think to yourself. You're walking along the cliff's edge, but far enough away that the drop doesn't send you into a panic. You hear birds chirping, the trills of content dragons, and a low murmuring of people going about their daily lives. You aren't too close to the town, but you could still see it where you stood.

You hadn't seen Hiccup for about a week now, which felt a little weird. It had gotten to a point that he came to visit you daily, so now bereft of his company, you felt a pang of loneliness. It was fine though, you were sure he was doing something important.

You are taking one of your small daily breaks, just taking a peaceful stroll and people-watching. You turn to look at the horizon, water as far as the eye could see.

FIRE

You gasp loudly and stumble back as a ball of fire is suddenly hurtling at top speeds, upward from below the cliff. You fall onto your butt, looking up with wide eyes as the fire begins to hover in the air in front of you. Not a ball of fire- a dragon, coated completely in it. The dragon shakes violently and the fire subsides, leaving the bright red scales and long neck of a Monstrous Nightmare.

Then you notice the man sitting on its back, who suddenly calls down to you.

“You think you're tough, huh?”

You press a hand to your chest, trying to calm your racing heart. You suck in a deep breath, shaking your head at him. You push yourself to stand just as the dragon flies over the cliff, landing down and lowering its head for the man to climb down. You look up- no, down, at this man. He was… kinda short?

“I heard you're a tough guy,” The man continues, taking a few steps forward to poke his finger at your chest. “Well, sucks to be you, ‘cause I'm the toughest guy here.”

“O-kay?” You say, or question, drawing out the vowels. You scrunch your eyebrows together, looking the man up and down. “I'm sorry, do I know you?”

“You should!” He calls out, pressing his fists against his sides. “‘Cause if Hiccup ever fails at being Chief, then I'm going to be the one stepping up to the plate!”

“But,” You hesitate, unsure if you want to argue your point.

“But what?” He shoots back immediately, eyes widened at you. “You think I can't do it?”

“It's not that,” You trail off, tilting your head curiously. “But, wouldn't Astrid step up to be Chief then? Or even Hiccup's mother? I've heard she's around here somewhere.”

“I'll let you know, Valka is actually one hundred percent on board with me being Chief! She loves me!” You purse your lips at this, feeling like it's inaccurate but unable to argue it.

“Alright, well.” You take a small step back, just trying to gain some distance between you and the small man. “It's a good thing I met you then if you'll be Chief someday.” You just play into his antics, hoping his aggression would die down.

“Snotlout!” He yells out, and you flinch at the volume so close to the man.

“Uh, bless you?” You scratch the back of your head, confused.

“No, it's- Ugh, it's my name!” He takes a step forward, closing the distance once again to poke your chest once more. “And you better remember it!” You raise your hands placatingly, nodding your head.

“Of course, yeah, no problem, big guy.” You watch a pleased grin stretch across his face before hearing your name called out behind you. You've never been so grateful for Skullgar than in that moment. “Oh, looks like I'm being called to work. I'll, uh, see you around?” Without waiting for a reply, you spin and start a light jog back to the work area. You hear one last thing from Snotlout, yelling as you gain distance.

“You owe me an arm wrestle!”

You approach slowly, both hands up and in front of you; one holding a sponge frothing with soap, the other a wet washcloth. You take careful steps- this time, anyway, since normal steps apparently didn't work last time- and try to close the distance between the sponge and Grimrar. The dragon eyed you suspiciously, his giant body coated in a purple dust that causes him to sneeze once more.

“Now, just hold still. This will only take a second…” You trail off, taking another step closer before Grimrar’s eyes widen, kicking off the ground and bucking around wildly. You try to dodge an errand wing, windmilling your arms to try to catch yourself before suddenly you fall onto your backside, groaning.

“Why did Skullgar think this was a good idea…?” You complain under your breath, inspecting your arms and wiping some of that purple dust off of you.

“I think you'll have a lot better luck if you approach from the front.” A kind voice startles you, so it takes a few moments for the words to sink in. You turn to see a rather portly Viking, blond-haired and smiling. He was currently leaning forward against Skullgar’s fenceline, looking between you and the dragon.

“Uh, sorry?” You ask, standing and holding the wet sponge and washcloth out, away from your clothes.

“Grimrar, there. If you wanna’ catch him by surprise, it'd be better to approach directly from the front. A blind spot, y'know? Because his eyes are on the side of his head.” The man moves his hands to either side of his head as an indication, and you turn to take a better look at the dragon for yourself.

“Huh,” You huff out, nodding back toward him. “That's really smart- and helpful. Thank you.” You nod toward him, looking back to Grimrar as you try to circle around. Unsurprisingly, he's grown wary and suspicious of you, turning his head to keep you in his eyeline. “Well, that can't be helped I guess.” You huff again, kneeling down into a crouch to take stock of the situation.

“By the way, the name's Fishlegs,” The kind man continues, hopping the fence and beginning to take slow but confident steps toward Grimrar. “I'm one of Hiccup's friends.” I groan, just barely catching myself from facepalming into the sponge in my hand. Huffing, I stand and look toward him warily.

“You're not here to threaten me, are you?” I ask hesitantly, moving back toward the bucket to dip the sponge back in. “Or flirt? One of them did that too.”

“Probably Ruffnut,” Fishlegs guessed accurately, “She's a bit of a wild card. I wouldn't be too worried about her, though, her main focus is on Eret, ‘son of Eret.’” He's now right next to Grimrar, and to your delight, the dragon hasn't bucked once. Fishlegs reaches up, petting the top of its snout before reaching under with the other hand to give scritches to its chin. You're unsure what you've just watched, but Grimrar enjoyed the petting so much that he shook himself down into a puddle on the ground, completely relaxed. “There you go should be good to go.” He dusts his hands of the purple powdered stuff, looking at you with another smile. “And no, not here to threaten. Just trying to help.”

You can't help the pleased smile that crosses your face, moving up next to Fishlegs. Grimrar doesn't move from his splayed-out position, even once you place the sponge against his scales. “Well thank you,” You nod to him with a genuine smile, taking up your task with renewed vigour. “What's with all of you dragon riders wanting to meet me so bad?”

“Oh, no,” Fishlegs tries to correct, raising his hands. “I wasn't trying to follow you around or anything. I live right across from Skullgar down that way,” He makes a gesture, and you take a quick glance before refocusing on the dragon. “I was heading down to the Hall when I saw you struggling, just figured I'd offer some friendly help.”

“Well it's certainly appreciated, thank you.” You smile back at him, moving away to grab your bucket of soapy water, heaving it over closer to the dragon. You dip the sponge, continuing your work on the other side.

“But,” Fishlegs continues, and you glance over with raised eyebrows. “I think the reason you're being hounded with all of us is likely Hiccup's fault.” I blush slightly, turning my attention back toward the dragon, trying to play it off. Fishlegs continues, but you swear you could hear a smile in his voice. “Once Astrid found out where he keeps running off to, Hiccup couldn't stop talking about you. House designs, carpentry ideas- he even gushed about the fact that you knew next to nothing about dragons. This would normally seem like a bad thing to someone as obsessed with dragons as Hiccup, but he enjoyed being able to teach you everything about them. Something about how your ‘curiosity is insatiable,’ and how your ‘eyes light up as bright as dragon’s fire' when you hear about something you like.”

By the end of his long tirade, you felt both embarrassed but strangely pleased. There was so much to unpack about everything you just heard- but not while covered in purple dust.

“That's… Very interesting,” You struggle to find the right words, settling just for that. You finish washing the face of the dragon gently, checking over him to make sure you got every scale. “I think the twins said something similar.”

“Well, that makes sense. They do complain the most when it comes to Hiccup’s raving.” You huff a laugh under your breath, finally dropping the sponge and washcloth into the bucket and taking a look at yourself.

“And as much as I'm enjoying this conversation, I should really go get cleaned up.” You smile toward Fishlegs, giving an awkward wave.

“Sure, see ya’ around!” He does a quick wave in return, turning to continue his way toward the Great Hall. You huff in frustration, looking back down at yourself. ‘This purple pollen is gonna’ take forever to get off of my clothes!’

Hiccup was back! He had been away for close to a month on some sort of scouting mission, according to the rumours. You could’ve just asked to make sure, but you felt hesitant in doing so. They would’ve asked why you wanted to know, and you didn’t have a good answer besides, ‘I miss him,’ so you decided to instead pretend as if everything was fine. And it was fine! You obviously could withstand a month away from your crush.

You only knew Hiccup was back because Toothless had flown right over your home as you were about to enter inside, finished with your day of work. They were a black blur above you, but the call of the Night Fury was unmistakable, and you turned to watch them fly toward the town before vanishing among the trees. You bite your lip, holding back a smile. If he was back, does that mean he would visit? You were excited to see him but didn’t know when that would be. If he was going into town, then it couldn’t hurt to visit him for once? He had always kept inviting you to the Great Hall anyway, what hurt could that do?

You leave your home without even entering it, turning and making your way back to the town. You jogged some of the distance, trying to tell yourself to temper your expectations. He might be busy, unavailable for you to pester. Or, he could be wandering around to tell everyone he was back and would be excited to see you. You pulled in a deep breath at that daydream, trying to push it away. Whatever happens, it’ll be fine. If Hiccup was busy, you could just go to the Great Hall for some dinner.

You finally exit the copse of trees between your house and the town, walking into the darkly lit area. Dragons mulled around in some places, casting large shadows across the ground and staring at you wearily. A few other people were walking through the town, though you expected they were all just trying to make it home themselves. You’re finally closing in on the Great Hall, hearing a ruckus of laughter and cheering from inside. Toothless sat outside the building, grooming himself before glancing up to look directly at you.

You freeze midstep, your eyes growing wider as Toothless stares at you. You’re unsure what to do, having never actually met the dragon before, personally. It was just the two of you out here- the sounds of your fellow Vikings just inside the big door, out of reach- and you felt more vulnerable than most other times in your life. This was one of, if not the, deadliest dragon known to man. And he was staring at you with wide green eyes as if determining your worth for himself. Finally, after a few minutes, Toothless turns away and resumes his previous task.

You couldn’t help the large sigh of relief you let out, slowly inching your way closer to the door. Toothless made no more moves to acknowledge you, and you felt relieved by it. Pushing into the Great Hall, you hadn’t seen everyone so lively in such a long time. Though granted, you hadn’t been here for every other end of the day, when the Vikings were finally able to let off a little steam. Most of the older ones were drinking, but you finally spied a table farther in the back, surrounded by all of Hiccup’s friends you had just recently met. The twins, Snoutlout, Fishlegs, and even Astrid sat in a circle around the table, laughing loudly and talking amongst themselves.

It is when Fishlegs stands, pushing away from the table and walking to a nearby buffet that you see him. Hiccup is sitting between Fishlegs’ empty seat and Astrid, laughing and shaking his head toward the twins as they begin to wrestle around, likely in some sort of disagreement. He is holding a cup out, moving to take a drink from it when his eyes scan the room, settling on you. You can see his eyes widen slightly before he slams his cup onto the table, the liquid inside splashing up and over the rim of the cup. You laugh and begin to approach as you watch him look down with surprise, then begin to stutter an apology toward Astrid, who had unfortunately been caught in the crossfire. That glare you knew so well was back on her face, though it seemed contrasted with a grudging familiarity and acceptance of Hiccup’s antics.

You hear a barely-there, “Excuse me one second,” From Hiccup before he spins and moves to make his way to you. Except, in the time it took him to clean his spill and apologize, you had closed most of the distance already. So, he spins and moves to step forward, then tries to catch himself as he notices you are already right behind him. His arms windmill, and you reach out to grasp his hip to keep him from falling over.

“Hey, there. Going somewhere?” You ask, with a smile, forgetting to remove your hand right away. You could see a blush lighting up his cheeks, but it was likely from the alcohol he was drinking, not anything you were doing. If he even was drinking alcohol.

“No,” Hiccup stutters out, clearing his throat and standing straighter. You realise where your hand is with his movement, and quickly pull it back to your side. He smiles, taking a small step forward to lean into your space. “I saw you come in! You’re finally here, you’re actually taking me up on my offer?”

“To have dinner in the public eating house?” You chuckle, trying to make a joke, and Hiccup shakes his head with his big smile.

“To eat here and share my table. I can introduce you-”

“Oh, he knows us!” You turn at the loud voice, finally noticing that every person at the table- including Fishlegs, who returned with a massive pile of food for the center of the table- was watching both you and Hiccup with varying emotions across their faces. Astrid and Ruffnut looked annoyed, Fishlegs pleased, meanwhile, Tuffnut and Snoutlout looked almost mischievous, with wide smiles. You realize it was Tuffnut who had called out, crossing his arms and leaning back.

“He does?” Hiccup asked slowly, his eyebrows raising, accompanying a look that almost portrayed fear. But why would he be afraid of that?

“Sure does!” Tuffnut answers and Ruffnut stands suddenly, pushing her brother’s head before moving to sit next to Astrid. The two girls lean in close together, whispering. Fishlegs continued to look on with a pleased expression, nodding as he reached for a large hunk of meat.

“Yeah, he met all of us over time while you were gone.” Fishlegs agreed, and you laughed nervously.

“Uh, yeah, actually,” You agree, turning your attention back toward Hiccup. He looks like he doesn’t know what to say, so you proceed to explain. “There was Astrid that day that she was looking for you. But then Ruffnut and Tuffnut found me working a few days later. Snotlout was on the back of his dragon and was flying by when he noticed me.” I smile toward Fishlegs, waving my hand in his direction. “And Fishlegs actually helped out a lot with one of the tasks Skullgar gave me the other day.”

“Oh! That's,” Hiccup hesitates, looking between you and the table before nodding, “Yeah, that’s good.” He doesn’t sound too confident in his words, but you nod along anyway. “I was actually going to introduce them to you! At- uh, at some point.”

“Sure you were, Hiccup,” Tuffnut called out, much too loud in your opinion.

“Wha-” Hiccup hesitates, looking unsure of himself. “Why don’t you take a seat?” Hiccup moves toward the table quickly, pulling out the only chair left- between Fishlegs and Tuffnut. He gestures to it with a smile before hopping delicately over to his seat, on the other side of Fishlegs. You sit down, reaching toward the middle to grab something small you could pretend to eat, just for something to do. Tuffnut immediately leans in close to you, invading your personal space.

“So, tell us about yourself [y/n], we’re all dying to hear.” You hesitate, then look up to the rest of the table staring at you still. Hiccup also scans the table, noticing the same with a wince and a sympathetic look toward you.

“Oh, well,” You hesitate, placing your food down on the table gently. “I just moved to Berk recently- right before the whole town moved actually.”

“Well, we know that,” Snotlout complains, leaning forward over the table. With how much of his chest you could see hanging over the table, you couldn’t help but wonder if he was standing on his chair to appear taller. “Hiccup told us that one already. Tell us something new!”

“Yeah, where are you from, anyway?” Tuffnut asks, still leaning into your space. You look quickly toward Hiccup and Fishlegs, both of whom have their eyebrows pulled together, cringing at their friends’ questions.

“Oh, I’m from, uh,” You hesitate, moving your gaze toward the table and idly playing with your food. “Just, somewhere pretty far away. I rode on a boat- well, a few boats. It took weeks before I finally found somewhere I felt safe enough to call home.” The table around you was quiet, contrasted by the reverberating crowd surrounding the group of you in the Great Hall. Cheers and calls were being thrown around, too loud and too many to distinguish any of the crowd’s words in the background. It was Ruffnut who broke the silence of your table.

“Well, that’s extremely unspecific of you.” She crosses her arms, disappointment clear across her face. You could only shrug, picking your food back up. Astrid’s voice across the table startles you, unaware that she has been listening.

“She’s right. It was. Why don’t you tell us the name of where you’re from?”

“Astrid,” Hiccup interrupts quietly, raising a hand to her arm with an expression that was clearly asking her to stop. She only tugs her arm away from him, standing and placing her hands on the table in front of her, leaning closer to you.

“No, I want to know. Why won’t you tell anyone where you’re from? Got something to hide, [y/n]? Planning something you don’t want us to find out about?” Her glare is back, which really is the only expression you recognize on her now. Her laughter from earlier had seemed awkward to you, but you had preferred that over this. She was questioning you again, but now in front of all of her friends. And Hiccup. He looked horrified up at Astrid, but he wasn’t stopping her.

“I-” You begin before Fishlegs reaches out to press a hand to your arm. You look at him to see a hard expression on his face, looking directly at Astrid.

“Leave him alone,” His voice is so contrasted to what you are used to- that kind and soft voice replaced by something cold and hard. “You’re better than this, Astrid.”

“I’m just asking-” Astrid throws her hands out, changing the target of her glare.

“No, you're interrogating.” Fishlegs removes his hand from you, and you can’t help feeling a pounding in your chest similar to adrenaline. “He lives in Berk, with us. He’s not evil, he’s not plotting anything, and he certainly isn’t causing a scene like you are.” You are surprised at the strength he exhibits, watching him with new eyes. You could see Astrid’s shoulders slumping. It takes her a bit of incoherent stammering, but she eventually rests her eyes on you again.

“I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.” She sits back down slowly, Ruffnut reaching out to rub her back. Your heart was still hammering, but you felt like you had to say something.

“I ran away from home.” Well, that certainly was not something you should’ve said. Every single head turns toward you, everyone but Fishlegs leaning forward over the table to get closer, to hear anything else. “To, uh,” You stutter slightly at the attention, feeling a blush heat up your cheeks. “To answer your question. That’s why I don’t want to say where I’m from.”

The lot of them lean back slowly, realizing they aren’t going to get a story after all. You let out a soft breath as Astrid nods, and you can see her expression opening slightly as if she is beginning to finally trust you. You aren’t sure how you feel about that, but you figure it couldn’t hurt. You finally let your eyes roam back to Hiccup, who once again has a pinched expression and seems antsy, staring between you and the door to the Great Hall. You wondered if he wished the both of you were alone together once again- just like you were wishing for.

“Bet you wished you ran away from home,” Tuffnut called over the table toward his sister, a sinister smirk stretching across his face. Ruffnut groans, calling out her own answer back about how she’d rather he ran away so she could have their dragon for herself, and the rest of them broke into laughter. The conversation naturally progressed, and it was like you had a front-row seat to Hiccup interacting with his friends. It was different, seeing him in a setting that wasn’t just the two of you, or out in town performing as Chief. He was just a guy here, sitting with his friends and enjoying the night. It was nice, to see this side of him.

The common thread of every conversation was the same: dragons. Each one had their own dragon (although the twins shared one with differing names), and each dragon had its own behaviours and personalities that caused clashes with not just each other, but with other dragons and its own rider as well. You thought they all were living happily ever after with their dragon, but it was almost as if every single one of them had an oppressive roommate who treated them like pets instead of the other way around.

Currently, Astrid was going on about her dragon, Stormfly, who had been pouting in her backyard for the last two days, refusing to fly, all because Astrid had forbidden him from eating her next-door neighbour’s lamb. She’s whining, and the table is commiserating, trying to come up with some sort of plan to fix the situation.

“I still think you should just feed him a lamb.”

“Tuffnut!” Astrid called out, reaching over to smack him in the head, “I just said I don’t want to kill my neighbour’s lamb! He just got it, and I want to be a good neighbour!”

“Not his lamb!” Tuffnut argues, jumping up and away from the table, dancing out of reach. “Just any lamb! Buy one and feed her that!”

“No,” Hiccup warns, shaking his head with an amused smile, “That’s setting a dangerous precedent. Soon, all she’ll agree to eat will be lambs. Then the other dragons will get jealous, and before we know it we won’t have any of them left. That’s why I put those feeding rules in place, we have to be careful.” He explains this like it's only natural, the easiest thing in the world, and reaches down for another bite. You shift in your seat slightly, watching him. He seems so… adult. He’s not fumbling his words or awkwardly tripping over; he has a confidence with his friends that makes you almost jealous, but mainly just curious, like you couldn’t help but want to see more.

“Well, then I’m out of ideas!” Tuffnut threw his hands in the air in defeat, and everyone at the table laughed. You glanced around, feeling slightly out of place during these conversations. The only dragon info you really had was what Hiccup had supplied to you. Tuffnut plops back into his seat with a huff, shaking his head. “How do you get a dragon to stop eating lamb?”

“You spike it with something gross?” You throw out, causing both Astrid and Hiccup to whip their gazes onto you.

“What do you mean?” Astrid asks, leaning forward and resting her arms on the table. You shrug, thinking out loud.

“I mean, if I had something I was eating, that suddenly tasted like the grossest thing in the world, then I don’t think I’d end up craving that food anymore.” You hesitate at their stares, shrugging again, “Personally, anyway.”

“Well, how would we even do that, though?” Astrid asks, genuinely curious. Hiccup puts his food down, watching you with intention. You can’t tell what’s running through his head, but you were just hoping not to make a fool of yourself.

“Well, do dragons eat dead things? Or just hunt for living creatures to eat?” You purse your lips in thought, looking up to escape the sight of everyone watching you. Tuffnut begins to laugh but stops once Ruffnut elbows him harshly.

“They eat dead creatures, yeah. We’ve been trying to train them out of hunting, at least while they’re at the village, so they mostly eat things we’ve prepared for them.” Hiccup answers, smiling toward you with encouragement. You nod, then pick up your food, gesturing with it as you speak.

“Well, then, stick an eel inside a sheep.” You take a bite, looking around at the confusion on everyone’s faces. “Like, chop it up and stuff the inside with it?”

“Stick an eel…” Ruffnut begins, with her twin following up,

“In a sheep…”

“That’s a brilliant idea!” Astrid calls out, and you watch in shock as a genuine smile spreads across her face, caused by you. You never thought you’d see the day.

“It really is,” Hiccup whispers breathlessly as he stares at you, so quiet you question whether he had actually said it or not. Fishlegs elbows Hiccup’s ribs, who in turn startles and looks down at the table, his face heating in a blush. You wondered what that was about, but felt pleased as the rest of the table began to congratulate you on your idea. Astrid shortly excused herself, calling out her need to execute this plan immediately.

No one else seemed ready to leave, even after they all finished eating. The Great Hall’s population was dwindling down slowly, but you felt warm, comfortable and safe among your new friends. And you couldn’t help it- you finally, truly believed they were your friends. They joked with you, including you in conversations even when you didn’t know most of the things they were talking about. Snotlout personally was a fan of telling you stories, gesturing largely with his hands and making a show of it. Fishlegs interrupted with corrections to the story or trivia bits, while the twins held responsibility for the comedic one-liners, inserting at points to make the table laugh again and again.

The fires were dying down and everyone seemed to be settling down, having quieter conversations with each other. No longer joining in, but enjoying their company, you pull out your little whittling project and set to work. It was Snotlout who noticed, bringing it up.

“You carving something over there, carpenter?” You look up to see all of them turn to look, Tuffnut leaning close to you to spy why you were holding under the table. You laugh, bringing it up for all of them to see. It was a sitting dragon, fashioned after Grimrar this time (as he was the one dragon you were most familiar with), with his front legs pulled together in front of him and wings spread out halfway. His details weren’t finished yet, but the general shape of the dragon was formed.

“Just a gift.” You smile, shrugging, setting the dragon on the table to test its weight. It took many tries to get it to stay upright and sitting evenly. But now it stood like a tiny idol or doll, staring blankly ahead.

“Oh,” Ruffnut drawls out, leaning her face close to the dragon to inspect it. “Which dragon is this?”

“It’s Grimrar!” Fishlegs calls out before you answer, reaching and snatching it off the table. “The wings are slightly smaller than his wingspan, and his snout is a little thinner, but you definitely have done a great job!” Fishlegs sets the dragon back on the table, looking at it again with a smile. You nod, agreeing that it was, as Fishlegs explains to the rest of them who exactly Grimrar was.

“Oh, you have to carve me one! Hookfang would be a perfect sculpture!” Snotloud called out, leaning across the table in excitement. “How big can you make it? As big as a house?”

“Don’t be unreasonable,” Ruffnut calls out, pushing Snotlout back down into his seat.

“Yeah, I don’t know if I could carve anything bigger than this,” You pick the project back up, waving it in emphasis. “But I’ll see what I can do? I can’t promise anything though.” At this, both of the twins begin scrambling toward you, begging for you to make one for them as well. They begin arguing with each other about the features that the idol should exhibit, both wanting emphasis on either head as the ‘better’ one. You just laugh, shaking your head and tuning them out as you move your attention back to your project. Now that they knew of it, you figured you’d better finish the details quickly and give it to Skullgar before he hears about it from someone else.

The night finally draws to a close as Snotlout begins snoring on the table, the rest of your friends finally standing and moving to the exit. Everyone seems tired, Hiccup especially, and you know you’re going to regret how long you stayed up when it comes to work tomorrow. Although, you were due for a day off at some point. Surely it’d be fine if you slept in tomorrow. Everyone said their goodbyes at the doors to the Great Hall, Toothless sleeping in a ball nearby. Hearing Hiccup’s voice, he begins to stretch and stand, leisurely making his way closer to Hiccup. As you turn to leave, a hand on your arm stops you.

“Hey, why don’t I walk you back?” You turn to see Hiccup’s eyes- a simmering juniper colour in this low lighting. The night was dark, and there was only one torch on the wall nearby. You hesitate, remembering how tired he was.

“I’ll be ok Hiccup, you go get some sleep.” He just shakes his head, taking a step closer.

“Please?” This causes you to pause, watching his eyes and wondering if you’re really reading desperation in them. “It’s a long walk through the forest, I don’t know if I’d be able to sleep without knowing you made it home safely.” Your eyes glance away from him, scanning his retreating friends in the distance.

“But what about the rest of your friends? Not worried about them?”

“They live in town,” Hiccup argues, sounding uninterested in them, “And they have dragons.”

“Sure,” You agree, unwilling to argue with him further. You knew you just craved more of his attention, having not seen him in so long and being surrounded by people when you finally did. As you both begin to walk, you hear Toothless following behind you. Your shoulders become stiff over time, uncomfortable with an unknown dragon so close to your defenceless back.

But nothing happens. It is a quiet walk, and you move to carry a torch but Hiccup took it before you could so he was holding it up between you. The circle of light it gives off was eerie, almost like you both had your own little bubble away from the world. Well- the three of you, as Toothless slunk low to the ground behind you both. It was only when your house was coming into view that Hiccup finally spoke up.

“I’ve been arguing with myself all night, but I have to ask.” You turn to look, your eyebrows raised as he tries to give you an imploring smile. “Will you carve a little Toothless idol for me?” You see Toothless raise his head out of the corner of your eye, looking at you and tilting his head sideways.

“Oh,” You begin, laughing at the unexpected request. “Speaking of, I actually have something for you.” You watch his face get overtaken by surprise, quickly raising your hands. “Uh, not Toothless though. I carved something else. From memory. It’s probably not very good, actually-”

“I’d love to see it,” Hiccup interrupts your rambling, smiling brightly at you. You suddenly become nervous, those nerves growing the closer you get to your house.

“Ok, just,” You huff out a nervous breath, trying to smile for him, “Temper your expectations, I probably got a lot of it wrong.” You push open your door, wandering inside your house. It's a bit more messy than the last time he was here, but in a way that shows it's lived-in now. You move directly toward the shelf beside the bar, picking up the idol you just finished carving the other day. It was supposed to be Stoick the Vast, carved from your memory of that giant statue that had stood on the old Berk island. He was a rather large man, with a long beard, a small bull-horned helmet, and holding the handle of an axe with the head on the ground in front of his feet. You’d added details- curves in his beard, decorated armour, and bulging muscles.

You’d heard a lot about the previous Chief. You never met the man, but still had fierce respect for him. The stories told of him were grand and awe-inspiring. He was the Chief who had protected his town from dragon attacks. He had killed so many and protected so many others, it was no wonder there were so many stories to tell. But just as well, there were stories of him being gentle. Caring for a baby Hiccup and touring him all around Berk. Accepting Hiccup’s love for dragons in the end, and helping implement this new lifestyle, surrounded and loved by dragons until the end.

You hold it out toward Hiccup, avoiding his eyes as you move behind the bar, emptying your pockets onto the counter. Hiccup approaches the bar slowly, staring at the figure in his hand silently. He taps the bar with his other hand, curled into a fist, and you wonder if this was a bad idea. Then you hear a sniff. Hiccup looks up, tears clear in his eyes, and smiles sadly toward you.

“I don’t know how I could ever repay you.”

“Oh,” You begin, shaking your head, “You don’t have to. I just hope I remembered it correctly. He was your dad, wasn’t he?” Hiccup nods in response, looking back down to the figure and tracing the curves with his finger. He laughs softly, placing it on the bar upright.

“You should make one for yourself.” You tilt your head curiously, confused by his meaning. He continues, explaining, “You should carve your parents into one of these. So they can watch over you while you’re here.” Your face drops, immediately looking away from Hiccup. You feel restless and start walking around the bar and away from Hiccup.

“No,” You shake your head, moving to start tending to your fireplace. “That’s fine. I’d rather carve the dragons.”

“But,” Hiccup hesitates, looking between you and the gift he received. “I didn’t know how much I needed this until it was in my hand. Maybe you just don’t know-”

“Hiccup,” You interrupt, feeling your heart start to pound in your chest. “I’m so thankful you like the gift, but not everyone had close relations with their family like you did.” It is quiet behind you as Hiccup takes this in, and then you feel a hand touch your shoulder. It startles you since you hadn’t even heard him approach.

“I’m sorry,” He’s apologizing, and it sends a twinge of guilt through your stomach. You finally look away from the fire, up into his eyes. “I didn’t mean to upset you.” You sigh, taking his hand from your shoulder and pulling him toward a bench nearby. You sit down, and Hiccup quickly sits next to you. You could hear some sort of rustling outside, the bobbing head of Toothless out of the window seeming to have found something to entertain himself with.

“Don’t be sorry,” You whisper, pulling your attention away from the window and back to him. “You didn’t know.” He moves to interject, but you touch his hand again and he falls silent. “My relationship with my parents was never close, but,” You take a deep breath, staring into the fire. “They disowned me.”

“What?” You could spy Hiccup shaking his head in confusion out of the corner of your eye, but your attention was stuck to the fire, the image of those days playing out in your head. “Why?”

“Because I wasn’t what they wanted me to be.” You take another deep breath, turning to look into his eyes. “I was born with a girl’s body.” You watch his confusion dip even further, and you feel panic rising in your chest with every word that spills out. “I am a boy, as you and everyone else have noticed. But I grew up with the expectations from my family that I’d be a woman because I was born in this body.” You sigh, shaking your head and looking back toward the flickering flames. “They trained me as they would any of their children, teaching me how to defend myself and fight with a battleaxe. They taught me where to slice a dragon open to kill it with one hit, and how to lay traps that would capture anything that walked over it. They trained me, sure, but they never loved or cared for me.”

Hiccup remains silent, and you don’t even notice as tears begin to spill onto your cheeks as you continue your distant stare into the fire. “When I came out to them,” You began, sucking in a breath and having to steel yourself to continue, “They thought it was a joke at first, laughed. Then they told me no, I couldn’t be a boy. That I wasn’t allowed. I don’t know what they thought, that I could just stop being who I am?” You sniff, finally closing your eyes and dropping your gaze, feeling tears splash down onto your hands in your lap. “I started dressing more masculine, and it just felt right. It didn’t take long for them to have had enough. They gave me an ultimatum. ‘Stop playing dress up, or leave.’” You huffed out a desperate laugh, but it wasn’t funny to you. You didn’t know what else to do. “So I left.”

“[y/n],” Hiccup whispers your name with so much emotion, that you finally raise your gaze back to him. You couldn’t read the mixture of emotions on his face, but he looked pretty. And concerned for you.

“It’s okay Hiccup,” You whisper out, shrugging. “I began binding my chest, packed all the masculine clothes that I owned, and took the next boat out.” Staring into Hiccup’s face, you hear yourself spew out, “I haven’t regretted a second of it.”

“Really?” Hiccup asks with feeling, leaning forward toward you.

“This Berk feels more like home than anywhere else ever has,” You finally admit, able to pull a real smile to the surface. Hiccup raises his hand, gently wiping the tear tracks from your cheeks. After, he lets out a long breath, looking at your fireplace and reaching to throw a log on top.

“So does anyone else know?”

“Well,” You begin, wagging your head from side to side in consideration. “Gobber knows. I don’t know if he told anyone, but I have a suspicion that Skullgar knows as well.” Hiccup’s eyebrows raise to comical heights.

“Gobber? Gobber knew this? For how long?”

“Since the moment I got to Berk.” You softly laugh at his expression, glad to have gotten that off of your chest and not have Hiccup leave you in the cold. You don’t think he realizes your immense gratitude for just accepting your story and not questioning your gender- he hadn’t even made a big deal of it. The only thing that mattered to him was your parents disowning you, like only that thought was unimaginable and not any of the rest. “Maybe not the second I stepped off of the boat, but I began to ask around for handiwork I could help with. Gobber found me, practically drowning in my own tears and fright, and calmed me down. I couldn’t help it, I spewed out my whole story for him to hear. He didn’t judge me or anything, even helped me get my apprenticeship under Skullgar.” You smile softly, tilting your head. “I owe him a lot.”

“Wow,” Hiccup whispers, sinking back onto the bench and looking at you with amazement. “You’ve been through so much just to end up here.”

“It’s okay, really,” You insist, reaching to take his hand with yours, holding it. “I’ve built myself a life here that I actually enjoy. I have friends now, people who actually enjoy my company. I don’t have to kill things on a weekly basis, and no one questions my outfit choices anymore.” You chuckle softly, thinking back. “Honestly, I was sort of suppressed and numb back then. I don’t remember ever feeling happy.”

“But you’re happy here?” Hiccup asks, leaning forward as if this meant the world to him, as if you hadn’t been already trying to convince him of this fact. You laugh, squeezing his hand and nodding.

“Yes, I’m happy here, Hiccup.” He lets out a breath of relief, his shoulders slumping along. You can’t help the smile that crosses your face, surprised about it after having just talked about your past life. “There’s so much more to this world than I could’ve imagined.”

“Well,” Hiccup begins, smirking and shrugging a shoulder, and you pull your hand back lest he think something ridiculous- like how you have a massive crush on him that’s getting harder to suppress. “It’s actually a lot more than even this.” He gestures around your house, but likely indicating the entire town of Berk. He has that smile on that usually means he’s thinking of dragons again. “When you go flying, you really can see how big this world is. Everything seems so small in comparison. Like, it’s not the end of the world if you end up making a mistake, y’know?”

You study his posture, wondering how often he went flying when he got anxious about his chiefly duties and responsibilities. Did he go flying to calm himself down, or did he get energized with the wind in his face? He had mentioned a map he was currently drawing out once before, and your curiosity burned to see how much of the world he has explored, how big the drawing had gotten. You begin to yearn to see him like that, in his element and happy. You wanted to feel that, while also seeing him at his happiest-

“I think I’m ready to go flying with you.”

Hiccup sits straight up, his hands reaching out to take both of yours with an overwhelmingly excited expression. “Wait, really? Seriously?” You laugh at his excitement, nodding your head.

“Yeah. I mean, Toothless doesn’t seem to mind me that much. And,” You shrug, chuckling again, “I have to admit, you’ve got me curious.”

“Yes!” Hiccup cheered, jumping to his feet and pumping his fist in the air. “Yes, definitely! Tomorrow?” You tilt your head, consideringly, then nod.

“Sure. I’m due for a day off. Why not?”

His expression was almost more than you could take, so filled with excitement and hope and love. You wanted to grab him and hug him, wanted to take his face into your hands and press a kiss to those upturned lips, you wanted- You cut yourself off with a shake of your head, standing and facing him. He took your hands once more, staring deep into your eyes. “You won’t regret it.”

Hiccup was going to end up the death of you, you were sure of it.

TAG LIST: @lecoindetobi , @yakosobaboba ,

[neytui]

How would you feel if you get a compliment for the first time in 300 years

[mayonesavegana]

Today I discovered through my favorite characters that my type is smart people, nerds, sunshine idiots, women who could destroy me and boys who could be Spider-Man.

[gaeasun]

I cant believe they really made a show about solving crime with math but i do love it

[katetorias]

jack is so smitten Can I get more head over heels jack over at table 9

[patrice-bergerons]

A team we are coordinating with is trying to send something out and they should have everything they need from us but they are being so slow in responding / actually wrapping things up and I'm sitting here fighting for my life trying to stay awake

[kurikorso]

y'know I feel like hiccup httyd is kind of an anti-blorbo. not cuz he's unlikable or anything but i feel like if you said he was your little skrunkly scrimblo or something he'd materialize behind you and tell you he's uncomfortable with you talking about him like that

[quietlyblooms]

man i envy chiyo. she’d never embarrass herself in front of ice cream shop employees — she’s too damn good at social interaction 🥲

[hiccupbutpurple]

Thought about Stoick singing Slipping Through My Fingers sometime during rtte and now I’m bawling

[lilliths-httyd-blog]

People writing Viggo normally: "I like Maces and Talons and fucking the living daylights out of my dear Hiccup"

Me writing Viggo: "a heem heem whimper" (collapses)

[dragetunge]

Hiccup was raised by two dads and he loves them both.

[serenefreakgeekao3]

Fear of Falling

CHAPTER ONE [Masterlist]

Pairing: Hiccup x ftm!reader (can be read as just masc!reader) Summary: You've lived here long enough that you've certainly heard of Chief Hiccup and his unrivalled intelligence. You never expected to actually meet the man- or become someone he takes notice of. Tags: carpenter!reader, awkward!Hiccup, meet cute(?), Warnings:  [y/n] used like once, obsessive use of the word ‘really’ according to grammarly, nothing really A/N: Hey y'all, glad to be back to writing. I take such long hiatuses but every day that I'm alive I dream up stories and wish I could gain the inspiration to write. Even if this is just a bunch of self-indulgence packed together, since I'm sure there's not many people out there right now searching for hiccup fanfiction, I don't regret a bit of it. Anyway, chapter 2 is already in the works so no need to fear on that front. Send in your thoughts please, I live off of validation Words: 6156

Weightless.

Cold…

OH SHIT

Your eyes fly open and dart around to try to rest upon something, anything. Anything besides the clouds surrounding, then rising above and beyond you. Anything that might save you from the eventual inevitable.

You are falling. You always knew it would come to this, so adamant you were about your 'fear of heights' that you kept correcting others to a 'fear of falling.' You told them, but no, they had to push and push until you relented.

You finally see his form, on the back of a black blur racing toward you. You hear your name screamed out just as your vision turns to white all around you. You can't help but feel this is the end, and your last thought ends up being 'I don't regret any of it.'

THREE MONTHS EARLIER

New Berk. It almost reminded you of old Berk except, well, more normal-shaped. Why the Viking ancestors before them decided to settle on a land more vertical than horizontal, you'll never know or understand. But with the incoming refugees from other Viking clans, along with the dragons that the Chief keeps rescuing, the town definitely needed an expansion.

There are a lot of similarities to the old Berk. The majority of the town still stands along a tall cliffside. There is construction underway to build a long ramp leading down from the cliff to the water's edge. Odin willing, even the people are the same- mostly.

But there is a lot different too. More landscape meant more room for the town and even more room for the dragons to nest and hunt. People are more on edge, from the recent move because of the threat of dragon trappers attempting to find them- but also from the fact that the majority of this land being settled on hasn't yet been completely explored. There is even the slightest possibility that there's already a town here.

Chief Hiccup assured everyone that after multiple scouts and fly-overs, the likelihood of another civilization on this island is close to zero. You believe him, for some reason. He just seemed really earnest, you guessed. You didn't actually know the guy, but you've heard a lot.

You move to your next project, pulling yourself away from your relaxing break. Being a carpenter was especially useful when you were building an entirely new town. You're still rather new to the whole thing, the carpenter's axe was a bit more awkward in your hand than the battle-axe you had trained on as a kid. Sometimes you still bent nails when hammering boards into place. No matter your mess-ups, which were happening far less often, the other carpenters caused no trouble with you- often teaching you the correct way to do whatever task you needed help to figure out. For Vikings, these lads sure were nice. Another influence from Chief Hiccup, if the rumours were true.

The Great Hall had been constructed first. A place to eat and drink, and turned into a temporary shelter until the rest of the homes were built. It was essentially the central point to the entire town, what there is of it so far, so that's where you were walking to. You heard your name called once close enough, turning to notice Skullgar waving you over. He was a nice enough older man- gruff, but attentive. There wasn't a leader in the construction crews aside from the Chief, but if there was Skullgar would be the closest to it.

"Hey, mind grabbing a couple extra boxes of nails from the shed? We're running a bit low and gotta patch up a few holes in the Hall." You nod, changing direction with a wave to him. The 'shed' was the carpenter's shed, where the tools and extra supplies not being used were kept together. You were intimately familiar with the building, having been part of the crew who built it, and spending the majority of your time there. You've even taken to sleeping there behind a few boxes, feeling more comfortable by yourself instead of surrounded by the whole village in the Great Hall.

You pushed the door open with a squeak, the fading sunlight catching on the dust motes hanging in the air. Something moves suddenly and quickly inside, causing you to jump and press a hand to your chest. It was just a guy, but you hadn't expected the room to be occupied. It’s a public building, however, so nothing unusual. The man, who also had jumped and was looking at you with such wide eyes he seems to have been caught doing something he shouldn’t have been, starts scooping a bunch of papers spread across a table into a pile.

“Sorry!” The man calls out, looking between the pile of papers scooped together and back to you. “Sorry, I didn’t know anyone would be here, I’m not trying to get in the-” The man curses, dropping a few metal pieces onto the floor with tiny clanks. You stare at his stumbling awkwardness, trying to hold back a chuckle. “Were you looking for me? Did someone send for me- was it Astrid?”

“Okay, okay,” You hold your hands up peacefully, waving him down. “I was just sent here for a box of nails. Nothing to worry about.” The more you stared at him, the more familiar he became. You couldn’t quite put your finger on it. You watch the man’s shoulders slump in relief as he lets himself fall backwards into the chair he had probably just been sitting in, his shaggy brown hair flopping around his head at his jerky movements.

“Oh, right. Right,” He chuckles nervously, raising a hand to rub the back of his head. “This is the carpenters’ shed, I forgot.”

“You forgot you were in a shed?” You question him as you walk to the closest wall of shelves, plenty of boxes of freshly hammered nails just lying in wait. You grab a couple of boxes in each hand, turning to eye him.

“Right, well. I was just,” He hesitates, looking up to you with a wince, “I had a few ideas I needed to jot down on my notes, and everyone kept harrying me. I was hoping for a place of respite.”

“Trying to get away from it all?”

“Just for a bit,” His tone slowed, looking at you with confusion before suddenly changing the subject, “I’m sorry, are you new?” You shrugged in response, making your way back to the door.

“Sort of. ‘Was new in the old Berk, but moved here with the lot.” You glance back to him, standing once more in the doorway. “You do look familiar, though. Do you work any of the manual labour jobs?” You watch him tilt his head consideringly, shrugging.

“Well, I’m sort of a blacksmith. Been helping with those,” He nods toward your hands, indicating the nails. You squint your eyes for a moment- and then it finally comes to you.

“Oh! Thor’s hammer, you’re Chief Hiccup.” You laugh then, shaking your head in disbelief at yourself. ‘Didn’t even recognize your own Chief. Really?’ He immediately starts shaking his head, using his hands on the armrest of the chair to push himself to stand.

“Please, don’t- not the whole title. Just Hiccup. Hiccup is fine.” He takes a step closer toward you, and you’ve realized you’ve been threatening your exit without actually stepping away. He was entertaining to talk to, but you were probably holding the other guys up.

“Just Hiccup then.” You smile softly, pushing the boxes in one hand under your other arm to extend the hand toward him. “I’m [y/n], one of the carpenters here.” You watch Hiccup move a bit too quickly, tripping slightly before righting himself in front of you, reaching to shake your hand.

“Carpenter, right. Yeah, that,” He chuckles nervously, looking around the shed, “That does make sense.”

“It was nice to officially meet you, Hiccup, but, uh-” You hesitate, waving the boxes of nails in the air as an explanation. Hiccup looks confused for half a second before stumbling back again, nodding quickly.

“Yeah, right of course! Duty calls!” You laugh, your chest beginning to expand into something pleasant at the sight of this awkward man. Who knew the Chief could be such a… a normal guy?

Construction moves a heck of a lot faster when you have dragons to help. Of course, that was only if they wanted to. Some dragons were so close to their riders that they’d do anything to help, eagerly waiting for their next task. Some, you were told, were just bored enough to offer assistance. Between the dragons with large, axe-like tails knocking trees down in a quarter of the time and the larger dragons able to lift the entire log to move to the saws easier, plus the ones able to fly up and hover above any building to place it’s roof quicker, homes were being built in record time.

You didn’t have your own dragon, never seeming to find one that meshes well with you. To tell the truth, no dragon seemed to pay you any attention. You didn’t mind, honestly. You were mostly just scared of them when you first moved to the old Berk, but you’ve since grown used to their constant presence. They each had their own personality, and you’ve quickly learned which ones with the pricklier attitudes to avoid. Plus, they provide a never-ending amount of work with their accidents- whether burning things unintentionally or knocking their giant bodies into buildings- so you feel a sort of job security here. At least these people wouldn’t kick you out, your job was important.

You mainly helped with the ground-level projects. You’ve been helping build homes for all of the residents, and while few people still claimed shelter in the Great Hall, most now were no longer homeless. You were still sleeping in the shed, still unnoticed, even though you’ve been offered every house built since the beginning. The self-assigned leaders decided that the carpenters and blacksmiths- the manual labourers helping to build this town- were designated the most important to be given a home first. They needed the best rest they could get if they were to build the rest of the homes and shops. However, building from the inside of the town outward meant that every home offered to you would be located in the center of town. If anything, you were a home-in-the-outskirts kind of guy.

You were currently helping to build the ramp down to the ocean’s edge, kneeling on the edge of the path to hammer the nails into the steps when you suddenly let out a loud curse. You drop your hammer, bringing your thumb up to your mouth to suck on it. It wasn’t bleeding, but the force alone had hurt. You might’ve even bruised yourself once again. Glancing down, you mumble another curse through your thumb as you eye the bent nail sticking out of the plank, mocking you. Shaking your head, you lift your hammer once more to pry the useless nail out, adding it to a pouch on the front of your leather apron. You reach to the side, knocking your hand against the box of nails- of empty nails, apparently.

Shaking your head at yourself, you take the empty box and stand, adding your hammer to a loop on the side of your apron for easy access. You make your way to the top of the cliff carefully, the ramp having no railings yet, and breathe a sigh of relief as you get to the top. Heights don’t generally scare you, but the idea of falling off of the side of that dangerous railing? Now that was frightening. You make mention of your plans to Skullgar, who happens to be nearby, and he grunts in reply as you make your way to the shed.

You eye the building in the distance, remembering only a few days earlier when you had met Hiccup for the first time. Since then, you have begun to see him everywhere. He was always around the construction sites, pointing out the next place available for a home to be built, planning where the blacksmith’s forge and shop would be put, and even deciding on a building specifically to make the dragon saddles so the queue wouldn’t stop up the construction materials. You particularly liked when he offered to help, holding large pieces of lumber in place for the supports of a home, or lifting large boxes onto a dragon for transport. For such a skinny man- compared to the rest of the Vikings- Hiccup sure has a good amount of hidden muscle.

But you were sure everyone liked to stare at Hiccup, he was the Chief after all. And incredibly handsome. They were just better at hiding it, you supposed, since you’ve never seen anyone else so distracted by him as you appear to be. You’ve even taken to trying to avoid the major areas that he’s been frequenting, trying to keep yourself from being distracted so you could properly work. It worked well today, when you decided to go halfway down the cliff’s edge, you couldn’t see anyone else besides the dragon riders flying back and forth, from the top to the bottom. They had to build the docks down there, and the supports for the ramp.

You pushed open the door and realized now why you hadn’t seen Hiccup amongst Skullgar and the rest earlier. He glances up just as you enter, and you watch a smile grow across his face. His eyes drew you in, such a deep colour of green that you couldn’t help but be breathless for a second. They almost seemed to reflect the light pouring in from the door, like a star shining in his eyes. He unconsciously took a step toward you, his smile growing.

“Seems every time I need a moment away, I find you.”

You breathe in, tearing your eyes away from that mesmerizing sight. Right, time away. “Sorry for interrupting then, I’ll be quick.” Your voice is more mumbled than you would’ve liked, but you try to quicken your pace to the shelf, grabbing one box to slip into your apron. Hiccup was quick to rebut, reaching out to place a hand on your shoulder.

“No, no! That’s not what I meant.” You turn your head slightly, glancing at him from the corner of your eye. “It’s a nice surprise, is all. You helped me to relax last time.” You try to hold back a laugh, your lips tilting up into a smile with the effort.

“I helped you to relax?” You turn, leaning your back against the shelf behind you, the wood digging a painful line into your spine. “I scared you half to death, you tripped like three times, and stuttered the entire time?”

“I did not stutter,” Hiccup refutes, pointing a finger toward your chest. He drops his hand with a laugh, shaking his head. “I can’t really argue the other two points.” He seems to be having trouble keeping his eyes off of you, trying to look around the room nonchalantly before being inevitably drawn back to you. It felt weird, to have someone’s full attention like this. “I don’t know, you brought me out of my head for a bit.”

“Well, I’m glad I could help,” You mumble, dropping your gaze to your apron. You begin to pull the bent nails out of their pocket, dropping them into the empty box you had carried back from the ramp, as you continue. “I’m always looking for more ways to be helpful around here.”

“From what I’ve seen, you’re helpful enough.” You glance up at him briefly before looking back down, and you hear a bit of stuttering in response from him. “I mean, that is to say, you help out a lot. A lot more than some of these guys, anyway. Half of them just let their dragon do all of the work, they don’t ever even pick up a hammer themselves anymore.” You chuckle blandly, nodding along. Of course, you’d noticed this, but it wasn’t your place to judge anyone. At least they were trying to help.

“Well, thank you for,” You hesitate, your eyes moving back to him as you finish your sentence slowly, “Noticing.” Was he really noticing you? You didn’t think anyone besides Skullgar even registered your presence. Hiccup begins his awkward laugh, once again trying to drag his eyesight away from you to go anywhere else in the room, raising a hand to rub the back of his head.

“Ah, well. It’s sort of my job, isn’t it?” His eyes lock into place, unseeing. “I mean, that’s exactly it, right? It’s my job to organize the building process of the town, so I gotta’ keep an eye on everyone. Make sure that everything’s running smoothly. That no one is slacking off,” He continues his awkward laugh, finally meeting your gaze once more, “Those… dang slackers.”

You finally laugh, the familiar laugh from before that feels like something in your chest is loosening its grip. You feel lighter, somehow. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right. I’ve been noticing you around a lot more.” You close the box of bent nails, waving them around with a jingle. “Decided to take on more chiefly duties now that your dragon is off being distracted?” Hiccup glances at the box in your hand, seeming distracted.

“Yeah, something like that,” He reaches a hand out, stopping your movement and taking the box out of your grip. “What’s this? Why are there so many of these bent out of shape?” You chuckle nervously in response, crossing your arms and pulling them into yourself.

“Ah, well. I get distracted, or I don’t angle the hammer the right way. Still learning, after all.” Hiccup raises his gaze to meet yours, a gentle smile gracing his face. You feel the tightness in your shoulders loosen.

“Well, that’s fine. Easy enough to fix.” He reaches inside and takes one of the 90° angles, inspecting it close to his face. Concentration was apparent, his eyebrows scrunching together to create a small line between them, his eyes squinting tighter, his lips pursing just slightly. How could anyone get any work done around this man? His expressions were so vivid, each one with its own little face shape and quirk. You could spend a lifetime studying this man- if you were an artist you would find yourself drawing him and never getting bored. “I’m hurt.”

You jump, clearing your throat and coming back to yourself. You tried to play off the fact that you’d just been staring at him directly, feeling an awkward pinch in your stomach. “What?”

“These were the nails I made,” He meets your eyes for a second before pointing a finger toward the top of the nail. “Gobber puts tiny grooves in the tops of his nails, said something about supporting the shape better or something.” Hiccup shrugs, dropping the nail back into the box. “I’m not talented enough for those fine details yet.”

“But I thought fine details were what you did? Don’t you make dragon saddles?” You shifted your weight to your other foot, curious now. You watched Hiccup hesitate for a moment, tossing the box onto a nearby table- empty of papers. What had he been doing in here if not-?

“I’ve gotten pretty decent at leatherworking. Gobber tends to help more with the metals, I never really got the hang of it.” You nod along, shifting your weight again. You felt yourself getting antsy, glancing toward the open door and watching a random dragon lumber past.

“I’ve never really gotten the hang of anything,” You admit quietly, unsure why. Hiccup takes a step closer, lessening the distance enough that you can almost feel his presence right next to you.

“But, you’re a carpenter? Wouldn’t that mean you’re good with wood?” You shrug, glancing back toward Hiccup from the corner of your eye once again. His expression now is one of confusion, maybe even pity? No, not pity, but there was something there that you couldn’t quite read. If only you could spend more time with him, perhaps you’d know his expressions more clearly. You could already feel every expression of feeling being burned into your chest, you were learning more and more about him and it almost terrified you how much you yearned to learn more. You remained quiet for probably a beat too long before you spoke.

“Better at it than I thought I would be, I guess.” You push yourself up, moving toward the door. You stopped on the threshold, turning around to meet his eyes once again. He hadn’t moved aside from keeping his eyes trained on you. “I should get back to work.”

“I’d say I’ll see you later in the Great Hall, but I don’t think I’ve seen you eat there once.” ‘Does he really notice?’

“I tend to take my suppers on the go, or in bed.” Hiccup nods, looking almost as if he wants to say something, but refrains. You look back to the blinding outside, the darkness of the shed having messed with your vision. “I’ll see you later, though, I’m sure.”

Your meetings in the shed become more frequent, and begin to last a lot longer as well. You talk about everything and yet nothing at the same time, learning his favourite colour and telling him yours. Gossiping about the other carpenters, laughing about Gobber awkwardly trying to flirt with some of the new men. They also begin to be interrupted a lot more- the longer you both stay huddled in the shed, the more opportunity for someone to need more nails or a replacement hammer. They always looked at the two of you with a weird side-eye, causing you to grow uncomfortable and cut the talk short. It was one day, almost a week after these talks began to grow comfortable, that Hiccup finally asked.

“So, which house did you claim anyway?” You look up to him with a smirk, then drop your gaze once more to the block of wood in your hand, careful not to cut yourself with the sharp knife in your other. You’ve taken to whittling this last week. Hiccup suggested it the time he saw you after you said you had no speciality, saying perhaps you were just better with the finer details than the larger projects. You were willing to give it a try. Now, every time you two meet up you pull out this same block of wood and continue to shave away at it, still unsure what you were making. It helped to be doing something with your hands.

“Looking to pay a late-night visit, are we?” Hiccup chokes and stutters, attempting to say words yet not quite reaching that goal. You laugh, feeling light and airy, something you’ve grown accustomed to whenever you’re with Hiccup. “It’s a joke,” You reassure, continuing with a shrug. “I don’t have one.” It’s quiet for a few moments, and you can practically hear Hiccup’s confusion.

“Don’t have one?” Hiccup lets that thought sit in the air for a moment before beginning his tirade, “But, wait what? All of the carpenters got a house before anyone else did? Weren’t you able to pick which one you wanted? Did they somehow forget about you? But- wait, where have you been staying though? I always check on the lads still living in the Great Hall- just a check-up, y’know, to make sure they’re doing alright. But I never see you there. Still. Even at night, when you should be sleeping- where do you sleep?” You feel your chest shaking in laughter, raising a hand to rest your fingers against Hiccup’s arm to finally stop his words. You’d noticed that one already, whenever you touch him he always stops everything, paying his full attention to you. It still felt weird.

“I sleep here.” You take your hand back, moving to continue your whittling.

“What, here?”

“Yes, here.” You glance up to see him looking around the space in disbelief. Then his eyes are back on you, those glorious emerald eyes. They always seemed a deeper green inside the shed, probably something to do with the lighting. They were of a yellowed green when outside, the sun shining on his face.

“What do you mean?” You set your work aside on the table, standing from the chair you’d been lounging in. At some point a second chair had been added to the shed- you were suspicious that Hiccup had done so, but have yet to prove that fact. You move to the side of the shed most people just avoid, full of planks of wood, pallets, and boxes filled with supplies. At the farthest wall, you motion behind a few of the stacked boxes, indicating your own little space. All there is to see are a few boxes with hay piled on top, a few changes of clothes pushed behind your pillow and a canteen lying on its side nearby. You didn’t need much, and Skullgar allowed to you stay once he discovered you one late night.

Hiccup stood quickly, limping slightly at first before straightening. He had to push in close to you to see the space you indicated, and you could feel the heat radiating from his body. He was always so warm. He soaked in the sight of your ‘bed’ for a few heartbeats before shaking his head, mumbling “No.

“Nope,” He continues, his voice getting louder as he keeps taking steps away, shaking his head more, “No! What? No!” He laughs, disbelief colouring his voice. “You mean to say you’ve been sleeping on that this whole time? You’ve been staying in this drafty, unfit-” He laughs again, looking around the shed as if with new eyes. They land back on you with something new. You’ve yet to see this determination in his eyes. “No, we’re building you a house.”

“It’s fine, really-”

“I’m not hearing it,” He replies defiantly, taking a step forward and taking your hand, pulling gently. “Come on, we’re picking you a house.”

“They offered them all to me,” You injected, but followed along. He led you to the door before stopping, turning to look at you curiously, his head at a tilt. “Skullgar has made sure to offer every home that we’ve built. He’s even said I could design my own at some point, and I’m extremely grateful, for everything.” You shrug, acting like it’s no big deal. Because it’s not, to you. Besides, you were living in a barn at the old Berk. If anything this was a step up. “It’s just that- well, none of them fit.”

“Why not?” Hiccup turns his attention solely toward you, and you feel like he’s forgotten that his hand is still in yours. “Why haven’t they fit? We’ll make one that will.” Laughter is forced out of your throat, shaking your head in disbelief at the gall.

“They’re all just really close to the Great Hall. To the majority of the whole city.”

“Yes?” Hiccup nods at you to continue, but still doesn’t understand. “It’s safer?”

  “It’s not very comfortable for me,” You mumble in reply, shrugging again. “I like being a little farther out. On the outskirts.” You smirk then, looking over his shoulder to the outside. “Can’t exactly build a house on the outskirts if you don’t know where the town will end just yet.”

“We’ll pick a spot. You and me, we’ll go walk out into the forest and when it seems far enough then we’ll settle it. I’ll make sure of it, I can borrow Grimrar from Skullgar, clear the area of the trees. And-” In Hiccup’s distracted mumbling he finally smiles, meeting your gaze once more. “We can design a blueprint for your house. Together.” He startles slightly, rubbing the back of his head once more. “I mean, if you want to. Just that, I’m really good at drawing blueprints and designing things, I’m just offering my help. I also have paper, y’know, and-”

“And I think that’s a great idea, Hiccup.” You interrupt him gently, tugging lightly against his hand still in yours, and you see the moment he remembers he was still holding your hand. You’ve never quite seen such a cute blush light up on someone’s face before. Still so expressive.

“Do you want to right now?” Hiccup stutters out, and you’re surprised that he hasn’t pulled his hand away, instead tugging you back in reply. “We can go and-”

“Hiccup!” You glance over his shoulder, spying the second-in-command, Astrid, looking relieved and beginning a jog toward the shed. You were sure she’d only seen the back of Hiccup, and you were still inside the building unseen. As Hiccup moves to turn and face her in response, you pull your hand away and take a few steps back into the shed, looking at the shelves. You came in here for something earlier, something you had to grab. If only you could remember what that was. Astrid’s voice sounds closer now as she speaks, “We need Toothless to come down and settle a fight between a few dragons. If they keep going the way it looks, they might end up tearing down half of the Great Hall. I swear, something has gotten into these-” You hear her stop herself bluntly, followed by a, “Who is that?”

“Astrid, I-” Hiccup hesitates, and you watch him look between you and her from the corner of your eye. “That sounds- I mean to say, I was just, uh-”

“Go on Hiccup,” You mumble quietly, trying not to intrude on their chiefly business. You turn with what you hope is a comforting smile, nodding at him. “It sounds pretty dire. You should go take care of that.” It seems almost like he’s going to argue when he gets jerked to the side, looking back toward Astrid.

“Come on, we can talk on the way.”

“I’ll see you soon, ok?” Hiccup calls out to you, already making his way in the direction of the Great Hall. You just wave in response, looking back to the shelf. Was it the nails you needed?

You’ve already grown accustomed to the sounds of New Berk at night. With the number of dragons here, some of whom already being nocturnal, there are plenty of noises that would’ve kept you up at night back home. ‘Not home,’ You remind yourself, ‘Just back where I’m from. It’s not home any longer.’ Though, nothing really feels like home anymore.

The sound of the door to the shed opening, however, was not part of the common thread of sounds. You felt yourself stiffen, laying unnaturally still as you try to listen. You hear a quiet footstep, then the sound of metal clanking against wood. Once more, a repeat of those sounds, then silence. Then your name was called out softly. You push yourself up, flipping off your blanket and practically crawling out of your little hiding spot. Once standing, you lock eyes with none other than Hiccup.

“Can’t seem to get enough of me?” You ask, whispering. Neither of you really needed to, but it felt appropriate at this time of night. You lean against one of the boxes hiding your bed away, crossing your arms. “How’d the dragon taming go? Do I have some extra work on my hands in the morning?” Hiccup had such a soft look on his face that it felt almost out of place being directed toward you.

“No, no extra work. Toothless always comes when I whistle for him, and being the alpha has its perks. We also separated the duelling dragons to either side of the town, so it shouldn’t be a problem anymore.” His voice was low and rough, and you shifted your stance unconsciously at the sound. You really liked it. “But, enough of that. We have work to do.”

“Now?” You ask, shooting a look toward the open, shutterless window, out to the pitch black of night. “How long ago did dinner even end? I doubt we could go scouting in the woods right now.”

“Maybe not, but we could begin designing, maybe?” Hiccup chuckles nervously, taking a few steps toward the empty table and pulling a handful of papers out of his pockets. “I managed to grab some past schematics that were used in the construction of some of the other shops and houses. Thought we could use them as a starting point, pick out the features you like the best and condense all of them.” As he rambled you stood there in shock, listening to his plan. It almost sounded like he’d been thinking of this since he left you earlier that day.

“Right now?” You ask, disbelief colouring your voice. Hiccup looks up quickly, locking eyes. “It’s the dead of night? When do you even sleep?”

“Oh- right, no, that’s,” He did his nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his head and turning fully toward you. “I have a place, up the hill on the edge of the cliff. I sleep there. At some points. Sometimes. Sometimes I go out and find Toothless in a clearing nearby and sleep against him. I-” He shakes his head, widening his eyes and looking away as if berating himself. “No, but if you want to sleep, yeah, I can totally just go.”

“No, it’s- it’s fine-” You stumble over your own words now, shooting your hands out as if you could make him stay.

“I just thought maybe,” Hiccup speaks over you accidentally, stopping himself to nod toward you, restarting his thought. “I just figured we’d get interrupted a lot less if- well,”

“If everyone else was asleep?” You finished, a subconscious smile spreading across your face.

“Well, yeah.”

“You’re gonna’ be too tired for your chiefly duties tomorrow.”

“You’re gonna’ be too tired for your carpentry duties tomorrow,” Hiccup shot back, as if proving a point. You just silently chuckle until he realises that the point he was proving was your own, and he turns his head in thought. “I just mean-” He hesitates like he’s trying to come up with an excuse. “I can just tell people you need some rest. You can take a break.” This thought seems to spark another, causing him to turn and look at you with a curious look. “Wait, when do you take a break? I always see you working or- well, here.” You look away guiltily, shrugging.

“These little sessions are my breaks.”

“No, but they only last less than an hour.” You weren’t so sure of that one, but you didn’t deign to argue the point. “That doesn’t count, everyone should get a day off. A full day off.”

“What would I even do?” You shoot back, half-seriously. There really wasn’t anything for you to do besides just help out. And talk to Hiccup, apparently.

“You could go fly?” You laugh nervously, shaking your head.

“It’s fine Hiccup, let’s just take a look at these plans you brought.” He seems ready to argue the point, but you tap your finger against a random paper. “I really like how this room is shaped.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to be closer? I mean, you can’t even see the town from here.” Hiccup continues his complaining, glancing nervously back the way you both came to tilt his head this way and that, as if that would help his sight.

“I don’t really want to be able to see the town,” You insist, stopping and taking a long look around the area. “Just enough away that the town doesn’t bother me, but close enough that the walk to work won’t take too long.” Your words were mumbled, nodding your head slowly. This looked like a decent place. You heard the trickle of a stream nearby and thought you could see part of it through the thick brush and trees.

“But, it’s not really safe, is it? I mean, if we’re going to be attacked they’d pick off the people on the edges and work their way in.” Hiccup demonstrated his point with his hands, moving up next to where you were standing.

“I can take care of myself.”

“I’m not saying you can’t, it’s just- I just-” He hesitates, looking around as if the words would come to him.

“What, you’re worried about me?” You laugh, the thought being ridiculous enough to be a joke. As you look back at his face, your laughter dies down.

“Well, yeah.” His voice was quiet and sincere. You were startled and confused. Your response was to break eye contact, waving ahead of you at the area.

“I think this is a good place.”

“Alright,” Hiccup begins with a clap, smiling toward you brighter than the sun shining through the trees. “Let’s get started.”

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alternatively  send  👄  +   ♥  and  my  muse  will  kiss  your  muse. || accepting

@countlessrealities sent; 👄 + ♥ [[ for my Morty from your Morty 🤭 ]]

For once, Morty felt like a regular teenage. Strolling through the neighborhood, hand locked gently within his boyfriend's hold. Swinging idly as they walked side by side. It was a sunny day and, better yet, a free day where the Ricks went off to do their own thing. Which meant no adventures, no worrying about their time spent to be interrupted. Just the two of them and nice, vibrant day.

The park that they arrived to wasn't too far away from the house. Sun beams glistened over the bright colored flowers and the lush green that covered the whole area. A perfect spot for the both of them to hang out for a while.

He walked a bit faster than his counterpart, dragging him over towards a certain tall tree. Branches hanging down low enough to cover them a cool shade to block out the sun.

Standing in front of his counterpart, he took a moment to gaze into those hazel eyes. He should probably say something. Give a compliment or a romantic one-liner of sorts. That's how these things went, right?

Instead of saying anything, spending too much time lost in thought about it, he felt his body move on it's own. Inching forward until their lips pressed together. Chaste, but lingering, enjoying the soft affection.

His body felt as if it were floating. So light and his mind spun in the best of ways. Going crazy from just the smallest ounce of affection. The corners of his lips twitched into a smile, breaking the kiss and parting ways.

"Y-You're amazing," Was what left his mouth next, tone quiet but still loud enough for the both of them to hear. "A-And I-I like you a lot! So much!"

And with that, he wrapped his arms around the other's frame, pulling his boyfriend into an embrace. Closing his eyes the same way he did during the small kiss. Being careful not to squeeze too hard or to become nervous.

Instead, he let himself melt enough to relax against his boyfriend's body. That smile ever-so present on his face. So content and blissful. A perfect start to their day.

[hunsa-jars]

Went to my cousin's bachelorette party yesterday and oof

When you put an introvert into an extrovert situation

[stonerzelda]

I am so sorry for you weddings suck so bad for literally everyone involved. I promise not even the bride and groom have fun literally everyone should just courthouse elope and sign the docs. Im sorry you had to go through that but I'm glad it had a good outcome tho <33

YOURE SO CUTE GAHDJFJF OTS OKAY THO im just honestly so dramatic bc i am become stay silly <3 for real tho like on the way home i was arguing w my bf to say like literally if we get married we should just elope. Like its not that serious we can just do that saul goodman style and then if we want to have a party later we can get away with inviting JUST our friends and it would be fine. But he really really wants there to be 2 playstation 3 Rockband stations at our theoretical wedding and i cant argue w that basedness so fine but litchrallyyy

[nerdpiggy]

AHHHH Kimi wa Houkago Insomnia was SO good... such a surprise favorite of last season