Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hiccup is tired. So so damn tired. It's not just because he stayed up a few nights in a row to work on his fire sword and other projects, it's the constant battle with Dagur and the Hunters and trying to keep up with Viggo in this life size version of Maces and Talons. He wants to rest his body and mind, get away from it all for just a couple days.

When an opportunity for escape presents itself Hiccup takes it. Shot down during a recon mission, he finds himself coming conscious to Viggo, Ryker, and several hunters approaching from the surrounding forest. Their weapons are drawn as they hesitantly step closer. Hiccup feels more than he sees Toothless leap over and settle above him, a shadow that snarls at the threats before them. The hunters look ready to attack until Viggo holds a hand out to signal them to halt, though they're still poised to jump.

His brain is kind of fuzzy when Viggo speaks to him. Hiccup is sure it's something snarky that he would normally rise to, but all he can focus on is the deep tone of the man's voice and how it doesn't hurt his head. When he doesn't respond according to plan, Viggo dares to get closer, kneeling down so he can get a better look at his young rival. Toothless growls at the chief but Hiccup rests a hand on the dragon's forearm to settle him - he doesn't want to be caught in the middle of a fight in this state even if it means they get captured in the process.

Viggo asks a question but the words sound garbled to Hiccup's brain. The confusion must be clear on his face because Viggo pauses, considers, reaches a hand out and barely brushes his fingers over the rider's cheek where Hiccup can already feel a bruise forming but the man's hand feels cool on his heated skin so he leans into it just a touch. It's enough to seal some sort of deal - Hiccup can see it in the dragon hunter's eyes, it's the one thing that seems clear amidst the fog. And yet, there's no foreboding.

He closes his eyes and let's darkness envelop him.

The next time he wakes his mind is somewhat clearer. He's in a bed, tucked into soft furs that smell of spice and musk. Curled on the floor at the end of the bed is Toothless looking content as he eats from a dish of fish. There's a desk by one wall of the tent, a couple chests, a bookcase, the typical dragon hunter decor that always turns Hiccup's stomach.

Part of the tent opens up and Viggo silently walks in. He secures the entrance behind him. His eyes roam over to Toothless who gives a snarl, though a lot of the usual anger is missing from it. Hiccup suspects the fish and the fact they're not in cages or chains has a lot to do with that. For whatever reason they've been treated well in their capture and Toothless apparently isn't going to ruin that yet.

When Viggo's gaze gets to the bed, he perks up seeing Hiccup is awake. A grin adorns his face as he walks over and sits by Hiccup's hip. "I feared you would never wake again, my dear." He brings a hand up to cradle the rider's face, his eyes concerned as he takes in the visible bruises and scratches there. "How are you feeling?"

"I-," it takes a moment for him to form words, his brain confused and his throat dry. The sips of water Viggo helps him take soothe his throat and refresh his mind a bit. "Tired. I'm tired… and hurt all over." The words come out kind of slurred and seem to make Viggo's brow crease in worry.

"Hm. Well, you can rest easy now. And rest will help you heal." He removes his hand from Hiccup's face, let's it settle on the teen's thigh instead where it gives a comforting squeeze. "The storm has passed and the crew is readying the ships. By tomorrow morning we'll be back on course to home."

"Home?"

"Yes, home." The confusion on Hiccup's face increases, so Viggo elaborates, "part of our engagement, love. You're joining me in the Hunter village so the rest of my tribe can finally meet you and give you a proper welcome."

That doesn't clear anything up. If anything, Hiccup has a thousand more questions than before and a panic is rising in his chest and did his dad arrange a marriage for him while he was out cold or is Viggo really trying to lie his way into an engagement with his enemy?

"Hiccup," there's a hint of fear in Viggo's deep brown eyes and it's terrifying how good of an actor the man is. "You do remember that… don't you? I know you seemed disoriented when we found you, but I assumed that was simply from the crash landing. Perhaps, it did more damage than I originally anticipated."

Somehow, that sparks a memory. No, not of any of Viggo's lies, but of being found, the fogginess and confusion, not being able to make out the figures around him or form a coherent thought. Does Viggo think he has amnesia? What did he say that would give the hunter that impression? And oh my gods is he really trying to take advantage of his supposed ailment? Hiccup wants to rage at the man for being so cruel and ruthless, but the words die on his tongue.

What happens if he reveals himself to Viggo?

He's defenceless. He's injured all over, can barely move his own arm or think straight. If he breaks the illusion, now, then he's at Viggo's mercy in a different way, a way that will likely mean himself and Toothless get thrown in a cramped cage, beaten and starved for information, waiting for the dragon riders to track them down after their scents have been washed away by the storm that must have come through. But if he plays along? Viggo is treating him with a kindness Hiccup didn't know existed in the hunter. He's even kept Toothless fed and content.

"I don't… remember anything." Hiccup isn't good at acting but he can play dumb. If it means he doesn't have to fight his way out of a situation he'll lose, then he can pretend he has amnesia, pretend he isn't repulsed by Viggo's affections (however real or fake they are).

He'll take his time healing and when he's good and ready, he'll wake up one day with all his memories back. When that day comes, he can finally let out his fury at Viggo for taking advantage of him in such a vulnerable state and Viggo will never have to know that Hiccup let it happen.

And if this means Hiccup finally gets a damn break from the fighting and the war and the stress, then he's going to revel in it.

"When we get to the village, I'll have the healer take a look at you. Perhaps he'll know how to restore your memories." Viggo wraps Hiccup's hand in his own larger one. "Until then, rest up. I'll wake you for dinner." He kisses Hiccup's knuckles, stands, and leaves the tent.

Silence hangs heavy in the air. Hiccup looks to Toothless who was watching the entire exchange. There's no doubt the dragon understands what just happened, can smell Hiccup's lies mingling with Viggo's lies. The look on his face is the same one he gets when Hiccup is testing new devices or in a project haze. It says 'this is gonna blow up in your face and you'll have no one to blame but yourself' and Hiccup accepts it this time because he knows the nightfury is right.

Despite that, he musters a wry grin and says, "we're finally getting that vacation, bud." Toothless grumbles and rolls his eyes, turning his attention to the remaining fish on his plate. Meanwhile, Hiccup sinks into the furs, feeling every ache in his body flare before settling. He falls asleep content in the knowledge that his rest won't be interrupted by hunter attacks, dragon rescue parties, deranged not-brothers, or troublesome dragon riders.

Chapter Text

They arrive in Dalir after ten days of sailing. Hiccup is thankful he’s too tired and injured to notice each day pass and that the rocking of the ship is soothing when he’s wrapped in furs. During the day, Viggo passes through the room, usually with meals or to change Hiccup’s wrappings. He doesn’t often linger when there’s light out. At night, he works in the study connected to his room. By the time the chief makes it to bed, Hiccup is already asleep and barely notices when Viggo crawls in next to him.

“Best to keep our routine normal - it may help you recover your memory,” he explained after the first night when Hiccup laid tense next to him, waiting for roaming hands and wondering if he’d be able to keep his mouth shut in order to not blow his cover. He’s almost surprised Viggo has managed to take it so slow, keeping his touches limited and not a single kiss on the lips, yet. But Viggo is smart. If Hiccup has amnesia, then they’re basically strangers. This is just another strategic move to not scare him off before they can get to the village where no one can find them.

By the time they get to Dalir, Hiccup has regained some mobility. He can walk with some support and doesn’t rely on Viggo to help him eat or drink like in the first few days after his crash. He’d much rather have Toothless as his sole support in this new place, but he’s willing to keep up appearances and hang off Viggo’s arm if it means finally getting off the ship. It’s the first time he’s really been around the other hunters since his “amnesia” and it’s strange to see them holding back their glares as he walks by them.

What’s stranger is getting out of the docks and into the main market where the regular villagers are. Logically, he knows it wouldn’t be much different than Berk or any other viking settlement, yet his mind conjured an image like the Northern Markets with shady vendors and danger lurking in every corner. This market, though, is filled with life.

Families mingle between stalls, shouts rise above the crowd as friends find each other and parents barter with merchants. They look over when they see him and Viggo stroll by and there’s only curiosity directed at them. Most surprising is their lack of hostile reaction to Toothless. The nightfury is pressed against his other hip (Hiccup isn’t happy about how that forces him closer to Viggo, but the gesture is comforting all the same) and eyeing anyone that gets too close. Hiccup recognizes the behavior from when the dragon first joined Berk and didn’t know who to trust or wanted to keep everyone away from his rider.

The village is so much different than he imagined. He always thought the rest of the tribe would share the enthusiasm of killing and hunting dragons - that's how Berk was before they made peace - but it's like they're completely detached from the business. Well, not completely . They obviously produce a lot of their equipment here and the people are decorated with dragon-wares and it's easy to pick out which huts belong to hunters. But there's not the constant talk of hunting dragons or killing the beasts. It doesn't consume their lives in the way dragon killing consumed Berk.

Children run around with normal toys instead of weapons, they dream of being hunters but they also dream of other things like baking and building and adventures. Hiccup learns this when they arrive at the Grimborn hall and he meets Ryker’s children: Orest, Armod, and Gyda.

The kids rush the door the second it opens. Viggo is quick to shield Hiccup from the hellions who are just as quick to halt their assault when they see their uncle instead of their father. Orest, the oldest daughter, stands a bit taller when she sees Viggo and it reminds Hiccup of a general getting ready to give a report to his king.

“Welcome back, uncle.” It seems a bit formal for an eight year old, yet Hiccup can’t help but think it’s kind of cute. Even cuter is how her outfit resembles Viggo’s. “While you were gone, I studied the books you left about war strategies in the Northern Tribes. I almost made it through all of them, but somebody stole them before I could finish studying.” She directs a heated glare at her younger brother, Armod, who avoids the stare in favor of counting the knots in the wall.

“Maybe if you weren’t so mean to me…” he mumbles under his breath. Orest’s fist twitches and Armod bolts out of range, running deeper into the hall and out of sight.

“I’m sure they’ll turn up,” Viggo pacifies before the girl can run after her brother, “we can pick up your studies at a later time. For now, we have a guest.” He leads Hiccup into the hut, allowing him to stand beside him once more. “This is Hiccup.”

“Is he the one you’re marrying?” Armod asks from above them, startling Hiccup.

“How did he…”

Viggo is unphased as he answers. “Yes, he is my fiance. You are to treat him with respect while he is here.” Orest and Armod share a narrow eyed look at the word “fiance” that makes Hiccup wonder how much the rest of the tribe knows about him and why he’s here.

“Whoa!” a third small voice exclaims from behind them. Though it makes his body ache, Hiccup turns to see a little girl, no older than three, gazing up at Toothless in awe. “Dragon!” She’s proud of her declaration as she spares a look to her uncle who nods an affirmation to her. If not for their proximity, Hiccup wouldn’t have noticed the brief tension that wracks Viggo’s body when Toothless stoops down to snuffle at the child’s face, his teeth retracting when her pudgy fingers reach up to push his snout away.

The nightfury smiles at her, gently nipping at her hands with his gummy mouth as a way to show he means her no harm and she giggles at the treatment. It’s strange to see a child so unafraid of dragons when first meeting one. Most Berkian children still have memories of the dragon raids, winged beasts raining fire from the night sky, tearing apart their homes. Even the youngest are told stories of what it used to be like before peace was achieved.

Here, though… Dalir is too far away to be affected by the same nest that was near Berk. They don’t have that ingrained fear of dragons except for stories they may hear of hunting them.

Hiccup can feel himself losing energy - he’s put more strain on his body in the last hour than he has in the last week. Slumping into Viggo is all it takes to snap the man’s attention away from Toothless so he can help Hiccup to the couch. Once the dragon rider is settled, his gaze is immediately back on his nieces and nephew, the other two having gotten brave enough to approach the nightfury.

“Gyda-” Viggo goes to warn the little girl when she decides to start climbing Toothless, but Hiccup stops him.

“She’s fine,” he waits for Viggo’s eyes to meet his own, “she can’t hurt Toothless and he won’t hurt her. He loves kids - they sneak him extra fish and are always willing to give him scratches.” He chuckles at the end, partly at Toothless but mostly at Viggo. The almighty dragon hunter chief caring about the wellbeing of three children when Hiccup’s only known the man to be ruthless and uncaring of the lives of his men.

It almost reminds Hiccup of Stoick after Hiccup woke from his coma. His father was so fidgety when it came to Toothless being near Hiccup or anyone else in the village. What was considered normal rough housing for the dragon and rider always put Stoick in a tizzy because he was too busy worrying about the two ton beast pinning his scrap of a son to the ground.

"Viggo!" A woman is marching towards them from the other end of the hall. She unceremoniously drops a basket of laundry on the table as she passes it, her blue eyes pinned to Viggo. "Where is that husband of mine?"

"Settling matters at the docks, Ida."

"Mhm, since when do you leave him to do that? The deal is that you bring the ships in and my husband gets to come home." She's nearly in Viggo's face and Hiccup feels caught between them despite being sat on the couch.

Ida is the type of woman Gobber might describe as beefy with eyes a pale blue and hair the color of straw in a thick braid behind her head. Her presence demands a certain level of respect and Hiccup can already see the power struggle between Viggo and his sister-in-law when it comes to this household.

"I needed to escort Hiccup here-"

"Ryker could have done that."

Viggo makes a noise that says he disagrees with that statement. Ida mimics the noise back at him, her head bobbing side to side in mockery. Before she can rip into Viggo, her children go running by with Toothless jumping at their heels, their laughter turning into screeches when the dragon playfully swipes a paw at their boots. Ida yelps and Hiccup is definitely getting flashbacks of his dad's panicked face now.

"There's a dragon in my home!"

"He's harmless, really, he won't hurt-"

"Calm down, Ida. He belongs to Hiccup-"

" You! " Ida spears Hiccup with a threatening stare, "you brought a dragon here?" She stops, a new thought occurring to her bringing her focus back to Viggo, "what game are you playing this time? It's one thing to bring-"

"Why don't we discuss this in my study." Viggo ignores her protests, doesn't even spare Hiccup an excuse before he's forcefully leading Ida to a room upstairs. Hiccup is again left to wonder what everyone was told before his arrival and, now,  what kind of person Viggo's tribe knows him as. Ida must know the man is manipulative if her comments mean anything.

"Are you smart?" Orest is sitting on the couch next to him, her blue eyes calculating.

"Uh"

"You have to be smart if you want to stay. That's the rule." That's a tough rule. But doesn't Fishlegs apply the same rule to the twins and Snotlout when he's working on a project? Hm. Not so much a tough rule, then, just a sensible one.

"Oh, well, I think I'm pretty clever. And Viggo must think so, too, if he brought me all the way here."

"Why can't you walk? Is it 'cause of yer leg?" This one's shot from Armod who's leaning over the back of the couch on Hiccup's other side.

"Wha- I can walk just fine even with the prosthetic."

"But Uncle Viggo was helping you walk."

"Okay, yeah, I kinda crashed while flying but-"

Gyda hops onto his lap and it takes everything in him to not cry out when she lands on a particularly bad bruise. "I wanna fly! Take me flying!"

"I really don't think-" Gyda's bouncing with excitement, now, completely ignorant to Hiccup's pain or the impending 'no' to her demand. He sucks in a breath, his cracked ribs hating every jostle caused by the child on his lap, all hope of a speedy recovery is slowly getting crushed.

"Gyda, get off him," Orest grabs her sister's arm to pull her off but the little girl refuses, pulling back with a yell and colliding with Hiccup's chest in the process. He's starting to wish he'd taken his chances in the dragon hunter cages. It couldn't be worse than having children fighting on top of him.

Toothless croons in distress. Armod has joined the fight as if it's a game and now all three kids are a tangled mess around Hiccup so Toothless can't just grab them to pull them away and he doesn't want to hurt them but they're hurting Hiccup!

He roars.

It's not a big one, not even close, but it's enough to startle the children off of Hiccup and stop their fighting. They scream as they jump away alerting Viggo and Ida who run out of Viggo's study to see what the commotion is. Hiccup knows it doesn't look good. Gyda is crying and the other two whimper when Toothless' piercing green eyes flick their way. The dragon isn't angry, just concerned and definitely not happy, but only Hiccup can decipher the difference in emotions.

Ida has Gyda in her arms in a flash, Orest and Armod tucking close to her sides, seeking comfort after the scare they received.

"What happened?" The question is hard and cold and asked by both adults in the room. Ida's frigid stare is on Hiccup while Viggo's is on Toothless and Hiccup hates that because they had such a good start and now they're back to this , and he's lost any trust they had in him, however little that might have been.

What's worse is that he doesn't trust himself to speak just yet, not with the wheezing that shakes his lungs as he breathes through his pain. He can't even gather the will to look at Viggo right now. There was a thought that maybe he could sway the man's opinion on dragons while here, but now…

A coughing fit breaks the silence. Hiccup bends in half as the coughs wrack his body, eyes squeezing shut once it passes and arms wrapping around his middle. He squints his eyes open when he feels Viggo crouch in front of him and gently pry one of his arms back to see flecks of blood in his palm.

"You need a healer." The concern in the man's eyes catches Hiccup off guard. It's different than before, almost feels real. "Orest, go fetch Hafdan, bring him here."

Orest is quick to obey, though she hesitates when she has to pass Toothless to get to the door.

"Come, let's get you to a bed, my dear." Hiccup scowls at the mention of going back to bed, hates that he'll be stuck there even longer than before. But at least he's not on that ship anymore. Viggo huffs what might be considered a laugh as he takes Hiccup into his arms and carries the dragon rider upstairs. Toothless follows without prompting leaving Ida, Armod, and Gyda down below.

Chapter Text

Hafdan says he has to rest for the next couple weeks. Any healing his ribs had done on the trip here has been negated by the rough treatment from the kids plus he managed to get an infection in his lungs. Already, he has a fever and the coughing has gotten worse. The good news is that most of the other injuries - the bruises and cuts and sprained wrist - will be healed by the end of the week, plus he's not stuck on that ship anymore.

He should have expected as much. It's not the first time he's been stuck in bed after a bad crash or getting sick. Maybe it's a selfish thought, but Hiccup is glad he isn't on Berk or Dragon's Edge for this. Back before the riders knew to be softer with him, they would continue their rough treatment, the playful shoving and punches, while he was incapacitated and it always made things worse. After they learned they had to be careful they often became too careful and overbearing, constantly hovering or crowding his room until they knew he was better.

Here, he has peace and quiet. Viggo picks up a similar routine as on the ship. During the day he's out in the village preparing for winter and performing other chiefly duties. At night he returns to the hall where he sits with Hiccup for supper, then sits in his study for a while doing paperwork and helping the kids with their studies.

Ida takes care of Hiccup throughout the day. She brings him meals and makes sure he's taking his medicine, keeps a steady supply of cool rags on him until the fever breaks. There's tension the first week after Hiccup's arrival. He doesn't know how much she understands of the situation, but her suspicion is clear and she gives the impression that she doesn't expect him to be here long. Plus the issue of bringing a dragon into the house. Regardless of her feelings, Ida takes good care of him.

"He looks at you different." It's the first non-medical related thing she's said to him and he has no idea what it means. "Talks about you different, too." Ida's focused on wrapping his wrist, her eyes not leaving her work making it harder for Hiccup to decipher her tone and what she means.

"Papa thinks yer different, too." Gyda pipes up next to him. She came in with Ida to apologize for hurting him, the children previously having been forbidden from disturbing him until his fever was gone. He forgave her instantly and offered his own apology for Toothless scaring her and her siblings, explaining that she scared the dragon when she jumped on Hiccup. Gyda had a good laugh about that, not believing a tiny girl like herself could scare a mighty dragon and it seemed to be enough to ease some tension out of Ida.

"Viggo doesn't bother to bring suitors home anymore - they never last long and fighting to keep them is such a hassle for him."

There's a snarky comment at the tip of his tongue. He wants so badly to agree with that, say that he would run, too, if he found himself engaged to a man like Viggo, say that the only reason he's here is for a break from fighting and to heal. He swallows it. There are questions he could ask here, instead, but his mind comes up blank.

"He's… different than I expected him to be." That's the truth. On the ship he was still the ruthless dragon hunter chief that was acting out a charade of kindness and love. In Dalir, in this home, Hiccup almost believes it's not a charade at all. Viggo treats his nieces and nephew with tenderness and patience. He can hear them from the study on quiet nights, the children asking questions and Viggo taking the time to give them thoughtful answers, explaining each part until they understand. He even answers some of the weirder questions Armod and Gyda come up with.

Hiccup's found himself lulled to sleep by the rhythm of Viggo's voice on more than one night.

Ida hums in agreement. Hiccup wishes she would elaborate on her own statements, yet can't muster the courage to ask.

"Your dragon keeps leaving 'presents' by my back door." The jump in topic is like whiplash and Hiccup needs to take a minute to recalibrate his brain to the subject of his dragon. Toothless has spent a fair amount of time out of the room or hiding in the rafters. Now that he doesn't have to defend against dragon riders and Ida has proven she can care for his rider, the nightfury has begun a venture of his own. Part of that is getting on Ida's good side.

"Oh, yeah, Viggo mentioned the, uh, kills Toothless has been bringing back." It was simple to explain to Viggo since the man understands dragons and is willing to learn more. But Ida? Hiccup has no clue. "Well, part of that is him making amends. He truly feels bad about scaring the kids and he's trying to make it up to you."

"Mm, and the other part?" She’s looking at him now, blue eyes intense.

How does he explain this in a way she'll understand? "To him we are visitors in another dragon's nest,” he starts slow, picking each word out carefully. “We're here for an indefinite amount of time, you're feeding us and taking care of us and Toothless wants to ensure our presence is paid for." Hiccup pauses. "Ah, no - wait, not 'paid for' but that we're… that we're carrying our weight while we're here. Normally I would be able to help with that - pick up chores around the house, watch the kids, do odd jobs, anything to make us not a burden while we're here. Obviously, I can't really do any of that right now so Toothless is picking up the slack the best way he knows how."

His eyes avoid Ida's as he speaks, lingering on the ceiling and walls as he gathers the right words to say. Finally, he dares to look and sees a thoughtful expression on her face. A spare glance to Gyda shows she's intently listening and invested in his answer, as well.

"He doesn't do this to Ryker and Viggo. Always waits till it's me that opens the door before handing over his kill."

That was funny to hear about when he heard the yelling and cursing downstairs two days ago. Ida sent Ryker out to fetch the deer Toothless brought back but the moment he went to reach for it the dragon pulled an intimidation pose to startle Ryker away. He wouldn't let the man get anywhere near the offering and only gave it up after Ida came to get it herself.

"You're the head of this nest which means the gifts belong to you first, not anyone else." Hiccup smiles when he says it. It brings him great joy that any claim Viggo had of being head of this household has become null and void because a dragon recognizes someone else as the holder of that position. Ida seems to agree.

"A sensible dragon."

"He is one of the smarter ones."

Chapter Text

One month since Viggo found him after shooting him out of the sky. One month of playing dumb and pretending to have amnesia. One month and he's healed enough to get home.

Yet, he's still in Dalir.

Hiccup tells himself it's because he's not completely healed. Yeah, technically he could make it home in this state, be well enough to camp through the couple nights it will take to get back to Berk. But what if Viggo fights him on it? Tracks him down and brings him back by force? Gets angry about the whole deception thing and finally decides to take Hiccup out? He can't fight in this condition.

So he'll hang out here.

The people are nice. They greet him with smiles and have welcomed him into their tribe as if he's one of their own (a traitorous voice compares it to the way Berk didn't welcome him or treat him like a part of the tribe for so long). The land is nice. The towering forests that surround the village, the trails that wind their way up and around the mountain, pristine ocean with the occasional sea dragon riding the waves in the distance. Reluctantly, he gave the designs for an automatic tailfin to Viggo so Toothless wouldn't be grounded the entire time Hiccup is healing. The nightfury barely resisted destroying the contraption the moment it was on him, but now he uses it every few days to fully take to the skies and stretch his wings.

Hiccup makes sure to always smile when the dragon returns, reassure him it's okay that they have to fly apart for a bit. He's mostly glad his friend is comfortable enough to leave his side for a few minutes and not hover constantly (he hovers on Berk, the voice whispers).

Viggo was ecstatic when he saw the designs for Toothless’ tailfin. Despite the truce between dragon and hunter, Toothless has been guarded about his equipment, always dashing away when Viggo tries to get close to study it. He finally sat still when Hiccup forced him to, the nightfury’s head resting on his lap while Viggo took measurements for the new tail. It shouldn’t have taken as long as it did, but the hunter wasn’t subtle about looking at each mechanism incorporated into the rigging.

It’s the first time Hiccup ever saw the man so free with his emotions. The entire time they worked on the tail Viggo asked questions about how he came up with it, what inspired it, where did he learn to make this part or that part. Hiccup was so enraptured with having someone not only be enthusiastic about his inventions, but understand them that he forgot that he shouldn’t remember most of that information. If Viggo noticed, he hasn’t said anything, yet.

On a side note, he's been in Dalir for weeks and has only recently met Viggo's sister.

"I was hoping to avoid it," Viggo says when Hiccup asks.

"For the rest of our lives? We're getting married, will be spending all of our lives together, and you thought you could just hide your sister from me?" It's still weird to acknowledge their supposed engagement out loud. The first time he did it he had a twisted stomach for the rest of the day and that night he laid in bed staring at Viggo's sleeping form doubting his entire plan. Come morning he nearly pretended to regain his memory.

While he can’t pinpoint what exactly stopped him, he thinks it might have something to do with how warm Viggo is. After staying up most of the night, when the chill of morning came Hiccup’s sleep deprived brain could only focus on the warm mass laying next to him and scooching closer to that warmth. By the time he was awake enough to perform his plan, he figured he’d missed his opportunity for the day.

“You’re too alike.”

“That’s not even - if you’re gonna make up excuses can you at least make them make sense?” Hiccup is healed enough that he can flail his arms around, make exaggerated gestures with them as he talks. Viggo’s eyes track the movements, the corner of his mouth perked in amusement.

“Um, agreed!” Lifa raises her hand as she pops into view from Hiccup’s other side. “You didn’t even tell me you were bringing someone home. I come back and everyone in this dang village is like ‘ Lifa have you met Hiccup? ’ ‘ oh that Hiccup, he’s so sweet ’ ‘ Lifa are you excited to have a brother-in-law? ’ What is this? Why?” Her arm gestures are as animated as Hiccup’s.

If they could see themselves from an outside view, Viggo is sure they would understand. Mostly he’s glad the lightfury Lifa’s so fond of is still hiding out in the woods.

“Why’s it such a big deal if we’re so alike?” They say it in tandem and the synchronicity of it is enough to make Toothless look freaked out where he lounges in the grass. They're enjoying a rare warm day before the snow starts up.

Viggo doesn’t answer right away, simply takes in the view of two nineteen year olds with red/auburn hair, freckles splattered across their skin, and matching offended scowls.

“Well,” Ryker says as he steps outside and stands next to where Viggo sits on the bench, “I guess you won’t have to worry about them falling for each other. They’re practically twins.”

“I need a drink.” Viggo walks away, Ryker howling in laughter behind him. Hiccup and Lifa now have matching expressions of disgust. They’ve only known each other a couple hours but it’s more than enough time to figure out they’ll never have romantic feelings for each other.

On days like this, Hiccup wonders what it would have been like to meet Viggo under different circumstances. Could they have been like this from the beginning, sharing these playful moments where they pick on each other and banter, make each other suffer without the malice of war and fear of true pain?

Maybe that’s why he stays, he thinks as Viggo comes back out with a glass of wine. The chief sits next to Hiccup, close enough that he can drape an arm over the back of the bench and Hiccup can fit comfortably under it. They watch the kids run around in the grass, laugh as they tackle Toothless and the dragon rolls with them letting them pin him down before rolling back up and chasing each one across the hill. 

It’s comfortable. To be surrounded by a family, feeling like he’s a part of it and not just pretending he’s one of them (the voice tries to tell him he has to pretend on Berk, but he tunes it out this time. He won’t let it ruin this moment).

Chapter Text

Dagur arrives early one morning.

He's been looking for the Berkian heir just like everyone else - the riders, Defenders of the Wing, Wingmaidens, even the Outcasts are on the lookout. After weeks of finding nothing but the debris on the island Hiccup was doing his mission on and weeks of barely any activity from the dragon hunters, Dagur decided it was time to pull out his secret card.

He admits to Ryker that he knew of Dalir from his father, Oswald, learned of it as the home of dragon hunters. Time with said hunters gave him the chance to pinpoint its location and now he's here to find Hiccup because if he was caught by Viggo then he would be here where the rider's allies can't find him.

It's a mutual concern for their brothers that has Ryker leading Dagur into the village in broad daylight and has him sharing the tale of Hiccup's amnesia.

"I want him out of here,” Ryker says as they pass the last of the market stalls and enter into the main village. “They're all too attached to him - Viggo, the village, my family. What happens if his memories come back? He could wake up in the middle of the night and all he'll know is that Viggo manipulated him."

Dagur hears the implication there: what if Hiccup snaps right then and kills Viggo? What if he uses all this information to his advantage, uses it to destroy this tribe? Dagur knows Hiccup is capable of it, but he'd have to be pushed to the absolute limit before that happened, right? Only Viggo physically violating the teen and/or directly attacking Berk would be enough to cause such retribution from his brother.

"How bad is his amnesia?"

"Only remembers his dragon and his name. No tribe or friends or family, no memory of the war he's fought with us for months. He's a blank slate."

"Has he asked about any of us?"

"Not really."

Dagur laughs, "are you sure you have the right kid? Hiccup's hit his head before and he wouldn't stop asking questions till he had all his memories back. He never shuts up."

A croon catches Dagur's attention and brings his eyes up to Toothless perched on a rooftop nearby. The nightfury stares intently, questioningly. There's a challenge in his acidic green eyes but Dagur isn't sure what it means, what he's warning the Berserker not to do. Toothless looks up the street at the forge. Dagur follows his gaze.

Inside is Hiccup working alongside the local blacksmith. While the larger man works at the anvil shaping metal, Hiccup stays occupied on the sidelines with sharpening tools and weapons. Even from a distance Dagur can see the easy smile on his brother's face, practically hear the laughs that shake his chest every so often. Villagers greet him as they walk by, some stopping to talk to him as they come in to pick up an order or wait to put one in.

Dagur understands, now.

He's seen the same scene play out on Berk. Hiccup working the forge, villagers coming and going as they do their business. They speak to Hiccup as they pass through, he returns them their weapons in exchange for payment or he takes notes on their orders and gives them a quote, then they're gone and he's back to work.

For all the similarities, this scene in Dalir is so much warmer than he remembers in Berk. Because here the people linger and Hiccup doesn’t flinch every time someone gets close and Toothless isn't lounging on the roof eyeing every patron that comes in to do business.

He doesn’t wait for Ryker to lead the way. Dagur walks over to the forge, putting in only the slightest effort to stay hidden in the crowd so he can savor a few more minutes of observing Hiccup. When he makes it to the front of the crowd and Hiccup looks up to greet him, Dagur catches the way the younger’s eyes widen and his breath hitches. The dragon rider is quick to recover, putting on a smile that’s not as real as the ones he gave everyone else.

“Hey there!” It’s almost painful how blatantly fake Hiccup’s enthusiasm is and Dagur has to wonder how the Grimborn brothers fell for his act, “I don’t think I’ve seen you around before. I’m Hiccup.”

“I know.” The smile on Dagur’s face is much more real, as is the way Hiccup flinches at his short statement. “You’ve been missing for a while, brother.”

There are whispers from the patrons around them. Ryker told him that the rest of the village knows of Hiccup’s amnesia - there was no official announcement, but rumors spread like fire and now there will be more rumors. But he’s not here to make life harder for Hiccup, he came here for answers so he invites the dragon rider to talk somewhere private, somewhere away from the prying eyes and gossiping villagers. Reluctantly, Hiccup agrees.

They end up taking a walk in the woods. Toothless has joined them acting as guard, of sorts, and keeping anyone from following them. Shattermaster is quick to find the group and the sound of the dragons romping between the trees is all that fills the tense silence between Dagur and Hiccup.

"You're really gonna just hide out here the rest of your life?" Dagur thought Hiccup would jump at the chance of freedom not let himself get held down by another tribe like this.

"What was I supposed to do?" Hiccup’s voice is quiet.

"Leave?"

"I was injured - bad . There was no way I was going to fight my way out of there or risk getting shoved in a cage and starved till someone found me." He won’t look Dagur in the eye. Most people would take a couple days of rough treatment over handing themselves to their enemy for an indefinite amount of time. And with the way everyone’s been searching he would have easily been found and brought home.

"Okay, but what about now? Hiccup, you're more than healed you could have come back weeks ago!"

Silence.

"You could have at least sent word that you're alive. Everyone that knows you has been freaking out for weeks - your dad is tearing the entire barbaric archipelago apart just to find you. And he keeps looking at me like it’s my fault you’re gone!”

Hiccup doesn’t respond right away.

"I didn't want to risk the riders finding this place."

Dagur gives him an unbelieving look.

"Dagur, these people are innocent! This isn't like charging into a hunter camp where you can cause damage and blow things up in the name of freeing dragons. The riders aren't bad people but what if they charge in like that? What if they let their emotions take over and forget there are real people here with lives and families and - and…” He trails off, losing steam, losing his argument. His hands restlessly run through his hair as his eyes follow Toothless and Shattermaster through the trees.

“So Stoick doesn’t deserve to know his only son is still alive?” Dagur can see the way his question stings Hiccup. “Why are you still here?”

He watches Hiccup debate to himself and he wonders if he’ll finally get the truth. Finally, Hiccup looks him in the eye, though only briefly. “I think you already know.”

Yeah, he does. The few minutes in the village were all the proof he needed that Hiccup is happier away from Berk. He smiles like he means it, laughs with true joy in every breath, walks like he doesn’t have anything to be ashamed of and like the weight of the world isn’t his to carry. The Hiccup that exists here is like the Hiccup he got glimpses of when they were little kids, before Hiccup knew what being a runt meant and before Dagur knew what it was to be deranged.

Dagur lets out a long, rough sigh that’s more like a groan, rubbing his hands over his face. It’s exhausting being a big brother.

“You couldn’t have chosen a different village? It had to be this one?” Dagur only kind of means that. It’s convenient that Hiccup landed here where Dagur could find him and not in some random small village at the edge of the world where he could truly disappear. But coming here in the custody of Viggo Grimborn?

“Well, I do like making friends with my enemies,” he gives Dagur a meaningful look, sneaks a look at Toothless, too. They walk in silence, caught up in their own thoughts for a minute.

“So… you and Viggo are friends, now?” The corner of his mouth snakes up because he knows the story Viggo fed to his people.

Hiccup chuckles, but it’s that awkward one he makes when he’s hiding something. “Something like that.” He’s back to not meeting Dagur’s gaze. Dagur grins.

“Am I invited to the weddi-”

“No.”

“But-”

“Rephrase: gods, no!”

They stay in the woods for a while, Dagur razzing Hiccup and Hiccup trying to steer the conversation away from his not-so-fake love life. The sun is below the horizon when they make it back to the Grimborn hall. Dagur stops at the bottom of the path leading up the hill.

“You go on ahead, I’m heading out tonight.”

“Are you sure?” Hiccup looks torn between insisting he stay the night and letting him go so they won’t have to keep up the amnesia act. He doesn’t fight when Dagur affirms he wants to leave.

“I’m going to tell your dad.” He has to be firm about it, make sure Hiccup knows there’s no compromise on this part. Stoick needs to know his son is alive or he might not make it through the winter.

“I - okay.” Hiccup takes a deep breath. “Yes, you should - he should know that I’m okay. Just… don’t tell the riders where I am?” Dagur has learned firsthand that the other teens are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to Hiccup and they wouldn’t hesitate to charge through the upcoming winter storms just to get their leader back. “I’ll handle them in the spring when they’ve had time to cool down and might actually listen to what I have to say about all of this.”

That’s a long few months for Hiccup to keep his friends in the dark, but Dagur agrees. He wonders how long it’s been since Hiccup had a peaceful winter, wonders if his brother can have that here among dragon hunters and without the pressure of being a chief’s son or the leader of teenaged dragon riders.

They say their goodbyes and Hiccup heads up to the hut. Dagur waits at the bottom of the hill until Hiccup is inside and another figure exits, charging down the path. Ryker snarls when he gets to Dagur. “I told you to get rid of him.”

“Yeah, then I decided not to.” Dagur smirks at the elder man. “He’s not a threat here.”

A condescending laugh breaks out of Ryker, “wasn’t it you that said over and over not to underestimate the Haddock boy?”

“Oh-ho-ho, that was definitely me. But! That was when he was our enemy.” He swings an arm around Ryker’s shoulders, stretching through the height difference. “Don’t be Hiccup’s enemy and you don’t have anything to worry about!” He pat’s the hunter’s back, then pulls away and turns to the forest.

“I’ll be back in the spring to check up on him,” Dagur calls over his shoulder. “See you in a few months!” He doesn’t wait to hear what Ryker has to say to that, ignores the angry yells that follow him into the sky as he takes off on Shattermaster. All that matters is that his brother is alive and happy and now Dagur can focus on getting back to Berk so he can have a (long and agonizing) chat with Stoick.

Chapter Text

The kissing is new. Kissing Viggo is new. The dragon hunter was never shy about that aspect of their fake relationship, but it wasn't until after Dagur showed up that he started kissing Hiccup on the lips. And Hiccup doesn't hate it.

Actually, kissing is a pleasant way to start the morning. More often than not, Hiccup is woken by Viggo's lips scattering kisses over the exposed skin of his shoulders, finding a spot on his neck to linger at, marking a trail up his jaw until Hiccup is arching into the older man, head tilted to give him better access. It leaves him a bit hot and bothered by the time they make it out of bed and down to breakfast, but by evening they'll be back at it, Hiccup returning every kiss with as much enthusiasm as Viggo gives them.

The warmth it ignites in his belly is matched by that in his heart. Because it isn't just the excitement of bedding someone, lust driving every touch and kiss and nibble. This feels like Viggo is grateful every morning he wakes to find Hiccup still laying next to him. As if every night that Hiccup joins him in bed is a promise that he'll stay another night another day. Hiccup feels loved by this dragon hunter that he thought would only ever be capable of lusting after him.

"Have we ever done more?" They barely made it to the bed this time. Hiccup straddles Viggo's lap, their clothed cocks so close and he wants to eliminate the space in between, wants to know what it would be like to push further, pretend like they've done this a thousand times before.

"Had sex?" There's a breathlessness to Viggo's voice, an eagerness in his deep brown eyes.

Hiccup nods, hand running over the scars on Viggo's neck.

"Yes." It seems Viggo would like to pretend tonight, too. Hiccup kisses him to keep from laughing or tacking on a smart remark. He's pretty sure Viggo knows the amnesia is fake, but there's no use ruining the game now. The moment either of them breaks the illusion they'll have to face the reality of their situation, admit that their origins won't allow this to work. Until then they'll keep pretending.

"Would you like to?" Viggo asks when Hiccup ends the kiss. His forest green eyes consider his unlikely partner.

"No, not tonight." As much as he wants to throw caution to the wind, Hiccup also wants to test this boundary.

"Of course, my dear."

Hiccup grins, "thank you."

They continue on as they were, relishing another night together free of their shaky past and happy to immerse themselves in the idea of a future together.

At some point, Hiccup started calling Viggo chéri. He thinks it started in the hazy hours of sleep on nights when he would wake as Viggo crawled into bed or maybe in the morning when tender kisses eased him into the waking world. When it started doesn't really matter because up until today he's never said it outside their bedroom.

"What does that mean?" Gyda asks.

"Hm? What does what mean?" Hiccup tries to play dumb, tries to ignore how Viggo's attention is on them from across the room.

" Chéri ?" It sounds more like 'cherry' when she says it and Hiccup has to decide fast what to do because he can't let Viggo hear the answer. The one time the man asked about its meaning Hiccup sleepily replied, "fat chance I'm telling you" and proceeded to use the term even more that night.

"I…" He drags it out as he has a staring contest with Viggo over Gyda's head. "I…" An idea pops into his head, he looks Gyda in the eye, "will tell you if you promise, really promise , that you won't ever tell Viggo."

Lifa barks a laugh from where she helps Ida with the stew. Viggo, on the other hand, looks ready to smack Hiccup upside the head. His stare is sharp when Hiccup meets it again, but the teen's smile says he doesn't care what consequences await him so long as Viggo suffers even a little. He turns back to Gyda who gasped in excitement.

“Yesyesyes!”

“Ah-a-a, hold up,” the little girl has bounced her way into his lap and Hiccup has to steady her before she tumbles straight off. “I mean it, a real promise. No one else gets to know what this means.” He’s using the mock serious face he usually reserves for Toothless, but it’s enough to get Gyda to put on her own serious face and nod to him.

“Promise,” she holds out her pinky and Hiccup links his own pinky finger with hers, sealing the oath.

“Alright.” He sends a mocking grin to Viggo, then leans down to whisper in Gyda’s ear. Hiccup pulls away and can see the wheels turning in her head, watches as she puts it into context and realizes why he uses it in reference to Viggo. She’s bouncing again and it’s too much for her to contain so she jumps from the couch to dance around the room, manic giggles echoing off the walls.

When Ryker returns with Orest and Armod, the trio inquire as to why the youngest family member is so giddy and no one gives them a straight answer. Throughout the night Hiccup sees Gyda get harassed by her siblings for an explanation, but her lips are sealed. Even later when Viggo finally gets a chance to steal the little girl away, the frustration on his face when he comes to bed proves that Gyda held true and didn’t spill his secret.

“Goodnight, cheri ,” Hiccup says after he gives Viggo a consolation kiss.

The first time one of the kids calls him "Uncle Hiccup" he nearly drops his hammer. Hiccup's doing some repairs around the house - things Viggo and Ryker are too busy to take care of - when Armod hops over to him, book in hand.

"Uncle Hiccup, what does this word mean?" He flips the book around and points out the term he's struggling with, completely oblivious to how he just broke Hiccup's mind so easily. "Hiccup?"

The dragon rider snaps out of his stupor and quickly answers the question as well as the several that follow. Seemingly satisfied, Armod dashes in to hug Hiccup's legs, calls out a swift, "thanks!", then runs back to the living area where he joins Orest on the couch. It still astounds him that the kids are so willing to devote time to learning. It's such a new concept on Berk to focus on teaching more than just fighting and dragons that it's weird to come across a family where knowledge is encouraged.

"Uncle Hiccup!"

"Gah!"

Gyda startles him from behind. She has questions, too, but they're about other languages. Ever since finding out Hiccup can speak more than Norse and Latin, the little girl has been trying to learn from him. Mostly she likes that she can trip up her siblings by saying things they can't understand. Better yet, she swore Hiccup to secrecy so he won't tell anyone that he's teaching her which means no one even knows where Gyda is learning all this.

Honestly, the best part is knowing that not even Viggo can understand his youngest niece.

"You're not a viking. You're not my son."

Heat everywhere, flames engulfing anything they touch, ash choking the air. Berk is burning.

The riders are downed, villagers try to put out the fires, Plegma, Ack, Sven all run by, glowing burns lighting their skin, Hafdan, Ida, new faces join the fray, screams of terror of anguish fill the night, the whistling hiss of a nightfury -

"No!"

He turns on his heel to stop the plasma blast from killing his father, to get his dragon off of Stoick before he loses one of the people he loves the most, but it's not his father and it's not his best friend. Lying on the ground, skin charred and face barely recognizable is Viggo Grimborn.

Running, he tries to run towards Viggo, his leg gives out, his foot is gone, he lands hard onto the dirt, screams echo around him, a monstrous roar shakes his bones, behind him look behind him, the Red Death rises above the smoke and flames its six eyes all focused on him, it sucks in a breath, dragons getting caught in the force of it, sickly green gas filling its throat and a spark

A spark

The fire eats him alive

Hiccup takes a gulp of air as he shoots awake, hands curling tight into the fur, body wound like a spring. A shuttering breath escapes him, slow and steady. He tries to banish the cursed images from his mind and forget the sound of his father disowning him, of a nightfury's whistle aimed at that same man, the sight of Viggo burning - his heart pounds too fast in his chest.

One hand struggles to untangle from the fur, then tentatively slides over until it feels the presence of another body. He wills his eyes to look over. Next to him is Viggo perfectly safe and alive and sleeping peacefully next to him. The tightness he woke up with unwinds enough that he can get his breathing under control.

A nightmare. Just a nightmare.

Rather than risk waking his fiance, Hiccup carefully extracts himself from bed and heads downstairs to sit on the couch by the hearth. He can gather his thoughts there, let out the few tears that gather in his eyes when he thinks about all that he nearly lost back then and all that he could lose, now. There's so much more to lose now that he's let this tribe of dragon hunters into his heart. He's so caught up in his thoughts he doesn't notice the tiny footsteps that pad over to the couch or the little boy that sits barely a foot away from him.

Armod makes his presence known with a sniffle. Hiccup turns his eyes to the boy, takes in his rugged appearance, the redness of his cheeks, the tears spilling down his face.

"Nightmare?" He asks, voice just a raspy whisper. Armod nods, chin trembling. Wordlessly, Hiccup pulls him into his lap and the child eagerly curls into him with a sob. Toothless peeks his head over the back of the couch to offer his comfort to the pair, nose nuzzling into their hair and a soft croon into their ears. They sit together quietly until Hiccup finds his voice again. "This is the first one I've had since coming here." He thinks he would have had them sooner if he hadn't been injured and high on medicine for those first few weeks. 

"You know what helps fight nightmares?" Armod looks up and Hiccup wipes the tears from his cheeks before continuing, "Sleeping next to a dragon."

Toothless takes the cue and settles down in an open spot near the hearth. Hiccup stands, Armod in his arms, and walks over to sit under the dragon's wing right against his soft belly. The kids are used to playing with Toothless, tackling and climbing and being rough with him, but Hiccup knows they hardly take advantage of this softer side of the nighfury. Armod reaches out a hand to gently stroke the scales of Toothless' belly, feel the purr that resonates there as the dragon shifts to hold them closer. A small grin banishes some of the sadness in his face.

"Nothing bad can touch us so long as Toothless is here to protect us." Armod nods, sniffles one last time, and buries his face into Hiccup's chest. Within minutes they're both deep asleep.

Ryker will not be won over easily. The man has been watching Haddock since the day he came into the Grimborn's hands and only became more vigilante as the weeks passed, especially after Dagur's visit. He's waiting for the day it all falls apart, for Haddock to wake and realize he's not where he's supposed to be and take it out on Viggo and their family.

When Ryker wakes one morning only to learn his son is missing along with Haddock, all his fears seem real. The dragon rider must have gotten his memory back, probably grabbed the first family member he could find and ran off to later use Armod for leverage or revenge. It's the only thing that makes sense.

Except it doesn't make sense.

Toothless is still in the house, looking disgruntled at all the commotion around him, tucking his wings in closer with a glare at anyone who comes near.

Viggo is good at hiding his emotions, but Ryker can tell his brother is stressed by all of this. He seemed so relieved when Dagur decided not to take Hiccup away, smiling more, freer with his happiness. The whole tribe has been in better spirits with their chief taking a break from being his fear inducing ruthless self. It seems like they're going back to square one if Hiccup has left. But that still doesn't make sense.

Unbidden, the possibility arises that something else happened, an intruder that came for one and the other got caught in the crossfire. Haddock has other enemies and there are no doubt wanted posters from Viggo's bounty hunt floating around even months after the event. Anyone could have tracked him back to Dalir like Dagur did. And Ryker's kids aren't automatically safe, either: they're members of the chief's family. They've had scares before when Orest was just a babe and someone wanted to get back at Viggo or Ryker for some injustice or use her to gain money and power.

The Grimborn brothers dealt with the threats and made sure no one would try any stunts like that again but perhaps Viggo's shift in attitude has made the tribe too comfortable.

"We'll start a search, starting with the main village and moving out. Anyone that resists or stands in our way is suspect and up for interrogation." There's a glint in Viggo's eyes that proves he hasn't lost his touch just because of a few weeks of happiness. No, he's still the ruthless chief of the dragon hunter empire and someone’s going to pay for running off with his prize and his nephew.

"Who are we searching for?" A voice, thick with sleep, asks from behind them. Toothless lifts his wing enough to snuffle his nose at something underneath, his tongue darting out to lick that something and Ryker's surprised to hear a child giggle in response. A hand catches the edge of the dragon's wing to move it completely out of the way revealing Haddock and Armod cuddled underneath. Armod hops off Haddock's lap, hair sticking up from sleep and dragon spit, and strolls out from under Toothless' wing as if it's just another morning. He's wrapped in Ida's arms in a split second, questions spilling out of her mouth too fast for the boy to process.

"I had a nightmare." He sums up, though that doesn't really explain anything.

"Why didn't you come to us?" Ryker asks, eyes narrowed at the half asleep form of Haddock, wondering why his son would seek out the dragon rider instead of his own parents.

"I was gonna but Uncle Hiccup was out here. He had a nightmare, too." At the mention of his name, Haddock looks over eyes suddenly wide like a dragon caught in the line of a bola. He looks like he's still battling away the fogginess of sleep and keeps scanning the room as if looking for someone. His entire demeanor clears up when Viggo appears by his side, kneeling down to help him stand. He clutches at Viggo's arm as if afraid he'll disappear if he lets go.

"Sorry," Haddock addresses Ryker, "I always sleep next to Toothless whenever I have nightmares. Thought it would help Armod, as well."

Ryker guesses Armod looks brighter than normal. It's not too different from how he is after sleeping between himself and Ida after a nightmare. He grunts in acknowledgement, goes to pick up his son so they can finally relax and have breakfast.

Hiccup has been an intruder of his home for months now and it's hard to see him as anything other than that or the miscreant dragon rider that destroys hunter camps. He has the same wild potential that Viggo had at that age and it's frankly terrifying to think of what he could do with that after seeing what Viggo did with it. But Hiccup isn't Viggo. Hiccup doesn't have a grandfather pushing him to be better than the rest of the world and use all of his potential no matter the consequences.

Now Ryker understands what Dagur meant. Hiccup cares about people and apparently that now includes the Grimborn family.

He glances back, watches Hiccup wrap his arms around Viggo's waist, sees his lips move as he says something into the older man's ear. A smile stretches across Viggo's face, one lighter than anything Ryker's seen on his brother. They kiss and hold each other tight, then walk over to join the rest of the family.

They’re safe, so long as they aren’t his enemy.

Chapter Text

Hiccup has been in Dalir for almost two months and this is the first time he’s sat down with Viggo’s esteemed grandfather. Usually the man avoids talking to him, preferring to stick to the sidelines and observe for the few occasions he’s been around the family hall for meals. He has his own small hut near the chief’s home where he spends most of his time. Hiccup suspects it’s a similar situation to what Berk set up for Mildew to keep him away from the village, except this time it’s just to give Egil space from the rest of the family.

When Viggo approached Hiccup to tell him he’d been invited to a game of Maces and Talons with his grandfather, the chief seemed almost nervous as if he’d been dreading this moment since the day they’d arrived. Even so, Hiccup doesn’t feel anxious about it. He’s gone up against Viggo plenty of times - in their war and, recently, in actual games. If he can impress Viggo Grimborn, it shouldn’t be too hard to impress the man’s grandfather, right?

"I hear you come from Berk. The tribe that made peace with dragons, invited them into your homes, take to the skies with them." He stares at Hiccup intently and Hiccup pretends not to notice how the old man tops off his wine. They’ve been at it for just under an hour, taking their time making each move, sizing one another up. Though he’s not a fan of wine, Hiccup has found himself drinking from his cup to calm the unexpected nerves he got when he entered the hut.

"Uh… yeah. At least, that's what I'm told." Hiccup shrugs, eyes only briefly meeting Egil's over the board. It’s easy to tell that this is the man that taught Viggo how to play the game and how to lead a tribe.

"Sounds like the ideal place for you to be." He finally makes his move on the board, gestures for Hiccup to take his turn.

"I suppose so… it certainly sounds lovely." Hiccup studies the board, lingers a stare on one set of pieces then decides to go a different direction. After he makes his move he sits back and takes another sip from his newly filled glass. "I can't wait to see it in person, all the dragons everywhere." His tone is wistful at the end, but he can’t help it. It’s been months since he was home and he’s starting to miss it.

Egil's stare is heavy whenever it lands on him, but Hiccup has dealt with this before - men thinking they can intimidate him with a look alone, Viggo's intelligence shining through his eyes when he's in the middle of a manipulation. "You should go back." That snaps Hiccup's eyes up to Egil's. The old chief makes his move before continuing, "did they not say it would help you remember? Surround yourself with familiar people and places so they will spark your memory. Is that not what you want?"

"I… " It's hard to know what to say. Hiccup feels like he's being called out for his lies. At the same time, that doesn't feel quite right. It's more like Egil is calling out Viggo for executing a poor plan and calling Hiccup out for being the fool that fell for it. "Why does it feel like you're trying to get rid of me?"

A grin spreads across Egil's wrinkled face. The old man gestures for Hiccup to make a move. The dragon rider distractedly does as Egil speaks. "I married a woman who was cruel and ugly and shit at fighting. But her mind," he wags a finger at Hiccup, moves a piece on the board, "she could tear entire nations down with just her words." He takes a sip of wine, the first Hiccup can remember him taking since their meeting started. "What Viggo needs is someone with a mind as sharp as his own. I'll not let him fall victim to emotions and pretty faces like his father and his brother."

Suddenly, it makes sense. He's heard it around the village, whispers of other loves that were dropped unexpectedly, Viggo seeming to give up on relationships altogether, resigned to be alone as he fills his bed with temporary lovers. Hiccup always assumed it was the man's cruel nature, his ruthlessness and viewing everyone around him like pawns in his game that drove potential partners away.

In the end, maybe it was never something wrong with Viggo. He should know this by now, does know this deep down because he's spent months learning it and just needed this last bit of information to put the picture together. His fake fiance has been denied a happy life because his ass of a grandfather views emotions as weak - a typical viking if Hiccup's ever seen one.

"You'd really rather him be jaded and alone for the rest of his life than let him marry someone that could make him happy?"

"Happiness is not for people like us, boy. Those that have a brain and can use it must not be weighed down by low intelligence barbarians throwing weapons around and pretending to be civilized. You are just another one of those barbarians but with a dragon. You don't belong here."

Hiccup can feel his heart racing, feel the blood boiling in his veins at the rage he feels towards this entitled old man. For the first time in his life he's being grouped with his people and he despises every implication it puts on him. His hands shake and he has to resist the urge to grab his wine and toss it in Egil’s face in an effort to wake the man up to reality. But he’s not a barbarian.

"If one thing has become abundantly clear to me since coming here, it's that I belong with Viggo and I belong in this village. Whoever I was before this, wherever I came from, is moot to that."

He stands.

"If you think you can play me, think again. I'm not like the others that came before me; I won't fall for your games, nor will I fall for his. Every choice I make here is my own.”

Hiccup doesn’t look back as he walks out, doesn’t deign to care what Egil’s reaction is. When he gets outside, he glances across the hill to the Grimborn hall. A warm light fills each window and the laughter of Ryker’s kids dances into the night as they try to avoid going to bed. He wants to join them.

Instead, his feet carry him to the forge where he lights a fire and finds work to busy his hands. If he were paying attention, he might notice the villagers peeking out their windows at him, their gazes concerned and fearful (they know he sat with Egil, know what that means for Viggo’s suitors, expect to see Hiccup dash off at any moment). He might have also noticed Viggo himself lingering just outside the light of the forge and talking to Hallberta who came out the second she saw the chief.

She speaks for everyone when she gives Viggo her condolences and the man accepts them because he knows what they know and he’s just as surprised as they are that Hiccup didn’t immediately call for Toothless and fly off.

Hiccup doesn't see Viggo until he's standing in the entrance of the forge. When he does notice him, he looks the man straight in the eye, hammer pointed at his chest.

"I'm not leaving."

"No one will fault you for leaving."

"That isn't what I want."

"Isn't it-"

" Stop ." The hammer hits the ground hard and Hiccup doesn't know if he dropped it or threw it there. All he knows is that Viggo is putting on an act again but this time it isn't the kind and loving fiance it's the high and mighty chief that crushes the rest of the world under his boot. This is the Viggo he met so many months ago, the one that would send a dozen of his men into a losing battle just to have a chance at getting Hiccup bound in chains at his feet. "Stop sounding like that vile old man you call a grandfather and talk to me like normal, talk to me like Viggo-freakin'-Grimborn and tell me - tell me to stay o-or tell me to leave. Anything, just tell me anything but make it come from you ."

Hiccup is done playing these games. If Viggo wants him to go, then he'll grab what he needs and take off tonight, fly towards the horizon until there's no more horizon left and hope that somewhere between here and there his soon-to-be broken heart will either heal or get lost in the icy sea. Because leaving here will be so much harder than leaving Berk.

Viggo's face is blank, his shoulders tense and hands clenched behind his stiff back. There are gears turning in his head, words forming on his tongue. A deep breath. Determination sets into his form. His words come out steady and sure.

"You are free to go."

Oh gods. Oh gods oh gods oh gods no. That isn't what he wanted. Oh Thor, he can't breathe, can't get his lungs to pull in air, can't get anything through the lump in his throat that's choking him . Viggo wants him to leave. After he put so much time and effort into this plan - shooting Hiccup from the sky, bringing his fleet in early and halting all other plans, getting his entire tribe to play along. So much work to get Hiccup by his side and now he's telling him to leave. And what about the progress they made? They can't be considered enemies anymore, for Thor's sake they sleep in the same bed and kiss each other with the sweet tenderness and passion of lovers because that's what they are. Were? Is that why his chest hurts so bad and his ears are ringing?

Wait, he missed something. Viggo's mouth moved but the words were drowned out by the chaos exploding in Hiccup's head but he needs to hear what was said because maybe it will explain why Viggo wants him gone and maybe it will make leaving just a smidge easier if he can just understand why this is happening.

"What?"

"I want you to stay."

Oh.

Oh .

It wasn't a passive aggressive ' you are free to go ' it was an honest one, a granting of freedom. Hiccup may go and Viggo won't stop him.

"Oh," Hiccup let's out in a breath. He stumbles back into a nearby stool, vaguely feels himself sit as the panic quiets within him. Distantly he feels Viggo's large hands rest upon his shoulders and he focuses on that, using the feeling to reel himself back into the moment.

He can stay.

He will stay.

Viggo kisses his forehead and it's then that Hiccup realizes he's been nodding his head and murmuring "yes, yes I'll stay, please let me stay." He burrows into Viggo’s chest, breathes deep the scent of spices and leather and lets his heart ache over how much it feels like home.

“I want you to stay, Hiccup. Stay here with me.” Viggo whispers into his ear and once upon a time he would be hearing these words while bound and chained and they would have been terrifying enough to keep Hiccup awake at night. Not anymore. Rather than cower, Hiccup nods again, wrapping his arms around the dragon hunter that holds him so dear and wondering somewhere in the back of his head how his life came to this.

It isn't until his breathing is back to normal and his heartbeat has calmed that Hiccup comes to a few realizations. Most won't process until later when he can properly dissect them (the lightness in his soul, the apparently very strong feelings he has for Viggo, having to explain to his father that he's moving to a village of dragon hunters), but among all the factoids that flood his brain one has been deemed the easiest to process after the emotional stress of the day and it's honestly the last thing Hiccup wants to think about yet the words stumble out of his mouth all the same.

"There was supposed to be a wedding." Hiccup mumbles it where his face is pressed to Viggo's chest.

"A wedding?"

"A wedding," Hiccup tilts his head up, voice still quiet. "That was the whole point of this, right? To tie the knot while I supposedly had amnesia so I'd wake up one day only to learn that I'll be stuck with you for the rest of eternity." There's a smirk twitching on his lips by the end and Viggo takes the opportunity to kiss it away, Hiccup welcoming the gesture.

"That's a dramatic way to put it." Viggo earns a pinch on his side for that (not that it phases him). He grins down at Hiccup. "We can take care of that now, if you'd like. It would be a bit of a rush, but I'm sure we can find proper outfits and all the appropriate ceremonial accessories even at this time of night. The feast would be easy to put together - everyone here adores you, we'll have everything we need within an hour. Are there rings around here?" He scans the forge, "we just need a stand-in for now."

He goes to walk away in search of the metal bands, but Hiccup clings to his waist.

"Nope nope nope, no wedding! You didn't even ask me, you told me we're getting married and that is not acceptable." Hiccup wonders if they've spent too much time together in these last few months. This is supposed to be the fear inducing chief of the dragon hunter empire yet here he stands jokingly planning a wedding with his dragon riding fake fiance.

"Mm, I should have married you when you were too weak to say no." Oh, well, that sounds a lot more like him.

"Oh yeah? What stopped you?" Hiccup asks, green eyes lighting up with mirth.

"I didn't want my betrothed looking so pathetic at my wedding."

"Ooohoho what! Alright, I'm leaving. Toothless, pack up we're taking that vacation!" The ever reliable dragon leaps down from the roof and cackles at the pair as Hiccup disentangles himself from Viggo's embrace. Toothless recognizes that tone, knows when his rider is joking, but he crouches down anyways in preparation for flight. Hiccup makes a dash for the saddle, but Viggo snatches him straight off the ground and plops him onto the workbench where he steps between Hiccup's legs and wraps his arms around the teen's waist for good measure.

"You aren't going anywhere, my dearest Hiccup." He begins a venture of pecking kisses over Hiccup's face and down along his jaw. "From now on you belong to me which means you will be staying right by my side until I say otherwise."

" Oui, chéri ," Hiccup practically moans, leaning into the kisses, hands clutching the leather of Viggo's tunic. "Mm, so, new proposition."

"Yes?" he says into the dragon rider's throat. His beard is a pleasant scratch against Hiccup's skin and he wonders how it would feel on more sensitive parts of his body. He swallows thickly.

"We skip the wedding and go straight for the consummation. Nice and easy, save time and resources and oooh gods yes !" Viggo gives him a swift answer in the form of wandering hands slipping under fabric and teeth nipping at his collar bone. They consummate right there in the forge, nearly do it again several times on the walk home (only Toothless' interventions and the chilly winter wind keep them moving), almost don't make it up to their room in favor of doing it in the living area, and finally, blessedly, have one more passionate go at it in their own bed while Hiccup thanks the gods the walls are thick and there's a study between them and everyone else in the house.

In the morning Hiccup walks through the village with a glowing confidence, meeting the surprise and scepticism on everyone’s faces with an easy grin of his own and a reassurance sparking in his eyes. Hallberta catches his arm as he goes to step into the forge.

“You’re staying?” She asks and Hiccup nods, his grin widening. Hallberta isn’t convinced, yet, puts on a stern look to pin the dragon rider down. “No games. Plenty of suitors thought they’d stay, as well, then took off when our backs were turned. If you say you’re staying, then you’d better mean it, lad.”

“I promise.” Warmth fills his heart and he’s earnest when he tells Hallberta, “there’s no place I’d rather be than right here with Viggo.”

And Hallberta believes him.

Chapter Text

"Chief!" Bodvar calls to Viggo from the bakery. "Heard there's a significant amount of dragons and explosions by the forge this afternoon, thought you ought to know."

Since deciding to stay Hiccup has been far more active around the village, in the forge, and especially in Viggo's study. It's what the dragon hunter has been waiting for from the moment he started suspecting Hiccup's amnesia as fake, knows that it's likely going to lead to the teen petitioning for change in Dalir and the ways of the tribe.

"I'll look into it." The baker nods and goes back to his work.

Honestly, taking a detour to the forge is a nice distraction to his chiefly duties. The hunting season is more in line with his interests - the organization, the planning, working directly with dragons, and the thrill of the small battles that come from having opposition like Queen Mala and Hiccup. But winter, the off season, is dreadfully mundane. He'll take any excuse to get out of settling petty arguments amongst villagers or making decisions that suddenly no one can make now that he's back on the island for winter.

Viggo rounds the corner just in time to see a monstrous nightmare spew flames at a colorful shield being held by a certain auburn haired dragon rider and Viggo has to fight every instinct that tells him to intervene because Hiccup knows what he's doing, he trusts the dragons, he knows how to work with them in his own unique way, Hiccup will be okay, so why is his heart hammering in his chest?

But he's okay. The flames die down and there stands Hiccup very much not on fire or in danger. The teen cheers and gives the monstrous nightmare a pet on the snout, then returns to a table he moved outside that has a number of tools, bowls, and materials spread over it. A handful of villagers have gathered at a distance to watch the inventor at work. Dragons are perched all around, as well, chattering away in their bubble of safety - they know by now that if they stay close to Hiccup, they won't be in any danger of the hunters.

As Viggo approaches the table, its contents become clearer. Dragon scales in a rainbow of colors are scattered across the woodtop, barely contained in the rough piles they’ve been gathered in. Next to the piles are bowls whose contents are just as colorful but more like a paint or paste that’s been spread over scraps of leather, wood, cloth. Hiccup’s notebook lays open among the mess with scribbled notes about ratios and materials and “fire proofness.”

“You’ve been busy this morning,” Viggo comments. Hiccup pulls the notebook towards him and adds a few notes about the shield still smoking on his arm.

“I had an idea,” he says absentmindedly, still focused on writing. He finishes his thoughts and finally looks at Viggo. “Obviously I don’t like dragon hides and all the implications of them and what happens to dragons to get them - I don’t need to tell you all of that. But I was thinking there must be an alternative, right? Preferably a different product entirely, one not dragon related, but it’s not like we can just stop all the dragon hunting overnight and expect the tribe to not suffer from that, so,” Hiccup holds up the shield, “the solution!”

Upon closer inspection Viggo can now see that the shield is covered in the colorful paints Hiccup seems to have created. The smoke is finally gone from them yet there’s a lingering warmth from the heat of the monstrous nightmare’s flames when he runs his fingers over the smooth surface. He gently pries it from Hiccup’s grasp so he can turn it around, see that the back is entirely cool and unmarred by the flames except for some uncovered bits around the edges.

“It took a lot of experimenting, but I think I found a reliable way to turn dragon scales into a paste that can be applied to different materials like shields and armor and leather. It retains its fireproof characteristics, keeps the vibrant colors of a healthy dragon, and it doesn’t harm the dragons since they shed their scales all the time!”

“How did you get it to adhere to the shield? I’ve tried something similar with grinding up dragon scales but I could never find an adhesive that could withstand the heat of dragon fire.” There was a time where Viggo had seen the mountains of discarded dragon scales and wondered what could be done with them aside from adding them to accessories and embellishments. That idea was abandoned rather quickly, unfortunately.

“Dragon spit.”

Viggo lowers the shield to stare at the dragon rider with a flat look. “The same slime you come home covered in?”

Hiccup deflates in irritation and sputters out, “I do not come home covered in it-”

“Really? Because I’ve lost count of the times I’ve kissed you and came back with a mouthful of dragon spit-”

“Okay, okay! We’re not talking about how Toothless is overly affectionate.” The dragon in questions perks up with an offended huff from the roof of the forge, glaring at Hiccup and Viggo from his perch. “We’re talking about how I just found a way to cut down on the production of dragon hides without cutting down on the overall profits of the tribe and also creating an entirely new market of products for trade.” He snatches the shield back and adds on as an afterthought, “aaand how I can fireproof basically anything I want, now.”

Viggo grins, kisses Hiccup's cheek, and let's the dragon rider get back to his experiments. This isn't the radical uprising he was expecting when bringing Hiccup home. It isn't the teen fighting Viggo at every turn of his business or sabotaging their equipment to keep them from hurting dragons. This is logic and real solutions that Viggo can implement when Spring comes around. No doubt there will still be fights and unhappy clients, but so long as his profits stay relatively the same the dragon hunter chief is willing to make some changes.

It’s after Snoggletog that Viggo begins work on his own project. While Hiccup is off picking up work around the village, Viggo is in his study designing, then in the forge crafting. In less than a week, he has a beautifully forged ring of gold with a dragon winding around the outside of the band. He keeps it in his pocket at all times waiting for the right moment to ask the question he never thought he'd get to ask.

If they'd had anything like a normal courtship, then Viggo would have planned it out more, would have added in little details of things that brought them together, would have staged it in a place that was special to them. But this isn't a normal relationship that he and Hiccup have had. So he's elected to be a bit more spontaneous - a trait Viggo picked up from Hiccup soon into their war and is glad to get to utilize in a different setting.

The downside to having not planned out anything is that the "right moment" doesn't come until the first time winter breaks, several weeks after Viggo finished the ring. For the first time in months the sun is warm enough to soften the snow piled around the village and allow heavy cloaks to be removed, the streets are filled with children running about and adults gathering in the patches of afternoon sun.

Not only is it the perfect weather for snowball fights and afternoon strolls, according to Hiccup it's also the perfect weather for Viggo's first flight.

It's a curious feeling hoisting himself onto Toothless' back and fitting himself behind Hiccup. He might liken it to riding a horse (for the few times he's had the chance) - being lofted above the ground, levied on a powerful beast with a mind of its own, that same power permeating the air around it so that Viggo feels it thrum in his own being. Suddenly it makes sense why the dragon riders act like they're invincible when they're only perched atop their dragons. The anticipation of getting into the air has Viggo inwardly vibrating, wanting to know how much more powerful one can feel when a dragon is in its home, in the air where it's the most dangerous.

With a crouch and a leap, Toothless is launching them into the sky at speeds that force Viggo to grab at Hiccup's waist to keep himself on the nightfury's back, stomach struggling to catch up to his body and heart beating wildly in his chest. The wind is harsh on his exposed skin even as they level out among the clouds, the chill of winter prevalent where there's no ground to hold the heat of the sun and no buildings to block the cool breeze. They sway in the air like a rowboat out at sea.

Viggo can feel Hiccup's eyes on him excitedly taking in his reactions. His first instinct is to lock it all away, be stoic and collected in the face of new experiences, appearing strong for his people. His eyes drift down. Way way way down to his island where his people look like nothing more than specks of dirt over a map and a few of the specks - dragons - grow bigger as they take to the sky as well. He follows their path and takes in the clouds billowing around them, the sun filtering through them, the blue backdrop that makes them seem so much brighter.

The muscles in his face relax allowing his wonder to show through. His heart begins to calm. One of Hiccup's hands moves from the saddle to ensnare itself with Viggo's and the chief is thankful for the grounding touch even as a part of him wants to shake it off so he can get lost in the feeling of being miles above the ground, untouchable by his duties and the nagging questions of villagers.

"Ready for the real flying?" Hiccup gives him a crooked grin, one that promises a day of exhilarating dives and terrifying loops and a view of his home from angles Viggo could have only dreamed of before now. He grins back, kissing the younger man's jaw and wrapping one arm tighter around his waist.

With a joyful warble from Toothless and a laugh from Hiccup, they soar higher and faster. Every daring maneuver, every twist and turn they make, loosens an age old knot inside Viggo's soul and he lets himself laugh in this place where no one can hear him and no one can tell him not to. He lets Hiccup's enthusiasm seep into him until he's matching the triumphant cries and roars of the dragon and rider. This , he thinks, this is freedom. This is why Hiccup wakes before the sun, why he stares at the endless blue sky with longing, why he's irritated and flighty after being on the ground too long. Why would he ever come down when he can have all of this?

Viggo is broken from his thoughts when Hiccup leans back into him, eyes closed in bliss and a small serene smile on his lips. He plants a kiss at the rider's temple, slips both his arms securely around his body, and rests his chin on his shoulder. It's the first bit of peace the chief has felt in a very long time.

"Hey," Hiccup says, turning his head into Viggo, the cold tip of his nose brushing against the older man's cheek. Viggo hums in reply, eyes focused ahead at the growing pinks and oranges of the sky. "Marry me?"

Everything stops.

"Excuse me?"

Did that sound accusatory? It must have because Hiccup is gradually sinking into his arms as if he could disappear if he tries hard enough. Viggo takes a breath and calms his tone.

"How is it that you always find a way to ruin my plans?"

"I, uh…what are you-?"

Viggo pulls away far enough to dip a hand into his pocket and retrieve the ring. Without asking, he takes Hiccup's hand and slides the golden band over the appropriate finger, admiring his own handiwork when the evening sun hits it just right to make the dragon look like it's flying circles around Hiccup's finger. He doesn't need to see the glittering tears accumulating in Hiccup's eyes to know they're there, but Viggo looks anyways so he can forever remember the sight of two forests lit up by passion and the setting sun.

They kiss, slow and comfortable and heavy with all the love overwhelming them in this moment and Viggo decides right then that he'll do anything to keep Hiccup with him. He'll open himself up to whatever crazy ideas the dragon rider comes up with, he'll form them into something that can keep his tribe prosperous and stand firm against his grandfather when the man inevitably protests the changes.

No one will take this treasure from him.

Chapter Text

Hiccup wakes up, head pounding and body feeling oddly cold despite the blanket draped over him. He reaches a hand out in search of something, something to warm him, something that should be next to him, but all his fingertips come in contact with is empty space. One eye cracks open. The only light is from the hearth downstairs casting a warm glow at the edges of his loft.

Gently, he props himself up and looks around, ignoring the way his head protests even that small action. Next to his bed is a chair with a thin blanket thrown over its back - a usual addition to his room when he’s bedridden with an injury. Wracking his brain Hiccup vaguely remembers a recon mission and a crash.

Okay, so he must have hit his head and the riders were able to find him and get him back to Dragon’s Edge. That's good… that he was found.

Toothless saddles up next to the bed, brows furrowed, concern dripping off him. He noses Hiccup's cheek, his chest, a lump on his head that must be causing his headache. Hiccup plants his palms on the nightfury's face and gently pushes him off.

"It's okay, Bud, I'm fine." At least he thinks he's fine. Aside from the headache, there's still the feeling like something is missing beside him and his hand instinctively rests on the bed in search of it. Toothless leans in to sniff at the spot, a low, sad croon following the action.

"Hiccup," Astrid's head pops into view at the top of the stairs, voice alight with relief, "you're awake, finally!" She hops up the last few stairs and is quickly at Hiccup's bedside setting a set of fresh wrappings and a bowl of water on the side table. Her arms wrap around Hiccup in a hug that's soft for Astrid but still a bit rough for her friend, though he doesn't say anything other than a half-stifled grunt. When she pulls away, she tugs the chair closer to the bed and sits on the edge of it. "How are you feeling?"

"Well my head isn't doing too great," he tries for a joking tone, but can't hide the grimace when Astrid's hand goes up to inspect the sore spot on his head. His friend returns the look as she sits back and her eyes tentatively meet his.

"Yeah, there was a struggle getting you back…" she trails off.

"Oh, dragon hunters, I'm sure…" That doesn't sound right, though. "I just assumed I hit my head in the crash."

Astrid's face flashes with an uncertain look as if there's something off about his assumption, or maybe something not so off about it. "Well, there was the original crash and…" she sighs, takes Hiccup's hand in both of hers (her hands feel too small ), and puts on a determined face. "Hiccup, you crashed and Viggo got to you before us. You weren't with him long, but the crash messed with your memory and Viggo took advantage of that. We were able to track you down, though, and get you out of there, but he had you pretty brainwashed so you put up a fight - that's how you crashed again and now, apparently, your memory is shot, again."

That's… that's a lot to take in. So Viggo had him for some indiscernible amount of time while he had amnesia and molded him into someone that would fight his own friends? A twist forms in Hiccup's stomach at the thought. He looks to Toothless for comfort and is surprised to see the dragon looking at Astrid instead. His brow is low in an almost- glare and his pupils aren't as round as they would be if he were relaxed, his body is tense. It reminds Hiccup of the first few weeks after the Red Death when the nightfury would stand in defense against anyone that got too close to his rider. He pulls the dragon's head into his lap, running his palms over smooth scales to soothe himself and his friend.

"It's probably for the best that you don't remember what he did to you."

Hiccup disagrees. He'd rather know exactly what the man did to get him to resist coming home with his friends.

Astrid let's Hiccup stay silent, filling the room with updates on the other riders as she works on changing his wrappings. Fortunately, he got away with mostly just cuts along his arms and some over his chest and back. It seems strangely placed for some of them - his armor would have protected his torso so he must not have been wearing it when the riders found him.

"We'll head out in the morning. Viggo's probably right on our tail and we'll be more protected on Berk until your head is better. And Fishlegs says being around a familiar setting will be good for your memories. You seem pretty okay right now, but it wouldn't hurt to make sure all the important parts are there. Maybe it will help push away the bad memories, too."

Astrid smiles, proud and reassuring. Toothless huffs at her and buries his snout in Hiccup's tummy. It causes the warrior's smile to falter, but Astrid swiftly puts it back on and ignores the dragon.

"Get some rest." She hesitates, then leans in to peck a kiss onto Hiccup's cheek. Toothless gives an indignant roar as the young woman struts for the stairs and leaves the hut and Hiccup's hands instantly grip around the nightfury's neck to keep him from running after his friend.

"Toothless! What's going on with you?" The dragon has never acted this way towards Astrid's affections before. Toothless pulls his glare away from the stairs so he can nose at the "assaulted" cheek, huffing moodily at it. Hiccup's face is only slightly flushed from the kiss from his crush. And yet… there was no flutter in his belly or tingle on his skin from the kiss. All the feelings that once flooded him just from being near Astrid are absent and he can't help but wonder if Viggo has something to do with that.

He lays down and drags the blanket up to his chest. Toothless spares one last look at the door before resting his massive head over his rider and rumbling out a purr that vibrates through Hiccup. Even though it agitates his head, he welcomes the calming sound of it, falling into a deep sleep as his exhaustion catches up with him.

By morning the headache is barely a throb in the back of his head. The sunlight that peeks through the windows isn't painful to look at and there's only a slight pang when he hoists himself up and out of bed. There is an ache present in the rest of his body, one Hiccup only feels after he's been moving around his hut getting ready for the day, though it's nothing he can't push through until he's back on Berk.

His armor is missing - he assumes that's something that got left with the hunters or maybe Viggo had it destroyed during his brainwashing. Whatever the reason, Hiccup finds he doesn't mind too much except for on the principle of the matter: it's a loss at the hands of dragon hunters, but this gives him an excuse to craft something new, something better.

"Guess this'll have to do for now," he says, half to himself and half to Toothless as he pulls a thick tunic over his head. The leather of his armor would have been warmer, but it's only autumn so a warm tunic plus the sun will be enough to keep him warm on the flight to Berk. "Ready for breakfast, Bud?"

The nightfury bounds down from the loft, landing next to Hiccup. Together they head up to the clubhouse where the rest of the riders are already gathered and each greet Hiccup as he enters.

"How's your head feel?" Astrid asks, taking the seat next to him.

"Eh, better. Everything else hurts, though." Hiccup takes a bite of bread.

"Any memories come back? Did you dream of anything or see flashes of faces? I was talking to Bjorg once and he said after he got amnesia he'd have moments where he would zone out from the sight of certain items. When he came back to, he'd remember something he'd lost." Fishlegs cuts in. He has a notebook at the ready and seems excited by the prospect of hearing about Hiccup's experience. Snotlout and the twins look just as interested despite all of them knowing that the memories Hiccup gets back might not be pleasant ones.

"Nothing, yet, Fishlegs. It's all just blank when I try to think about the time right after I was shot down." The group deflates from the news.

"It's for the best," Astrid asserts, staring down each of the riders. "Hiccup doesn't need to remember whatever horrors Viggo put him through." Her hand takes Hiccup's and squeezes it in support. He offers a tight grin and takes his hand back so he can continue eating. It's unsettling that so many feelings are missing in one interaction, that his face doesn't flush and his body doesn't feel lighter from her touch.

"We'll see what happens when we get to Berk." Hiccup doubts much could trigger him there. If anything, he probably won't get anything back until he sees a dragon hunter or Viggo for the first time. Regardless, he'd rather not linger on the topic lest his imagination start filling the gaps with undesirable possibilities. "Hey, did it snow while I was out?"

It's a tad early in the season for snow, but Hiccup could swear he saw some clinging to the rooftops and the grassy areas on the ground on his way to breakfast.

The riders discretely share a look, startled and desperate for someone else to answer. Astrid takes the lead.

"It was just a flurry last night, nothing major, will probably be melted by this afternoon." She picks up her plate and gestures for the others to follow, "we should head out soon. The faster we get home the better."

No one argues as they begin to vacate the table, clearing it of any plates and cups, and packing away the rest of the food for the long flight ahead. Hiccup is left sitting with only a piece of bread in his hands and confusion at the sudden change.

Getting into the air and on track to Berk proves to be more difficult than anticipated. The moment Hiccup and Toothless take flight Toothless starts pulling in the opposite direction they need to go, twisting his body and wings against the position Hiccup has the tailfin in.

"To- Toothless! Cut it - whoa! - cut it out, Toothless." Hiccup tugs at the saddle to get the dragon's attention and turn it towards Berk. "We're trying to get away from the Dragon Hunters, not charge right back to them."

Toothless responds with a deep, sad croon, eyes searching the horizon for something that his rider can't figure out.

"Bet he's trying to get revenge," Snotlout pipes up from Hookfang as the pair swoop into their line of sight and cause Toothless to grumble. "Want to hunt down the hunters that took your buddy, huh, Toothless?"

Hiccup looks wearily between his nightfury and Snotlout. He knows the dragon isn't adverse to revenge, especially when it comes to anyone that lays a hand on his rider, but there's usually a fury in Toothless' eyes when he's in that kind of mood. Right now the dragon just seems desperate and forlorn.

"Well, whatever it is it can wait till later. Let's just get back to Berk." He reaches a hand down to run it over Toothless' neck until the dragon looks away from whatever's across the horizon and adds, "I bet Dad's been missing us - it's been a while since the last time we visited."

The nightfury's eyes light up at the mention of Stoick. He looks away, considering, then nods his head and turns around so they can finally start the journey. The group collectively lets out a sigh of relief and Hiccup takes a moment to wonder if he's ever seen them so eager to go back since they moved to Dragon's Edge. The thought quickly leaves his mind as they take off and a sense of normalcy overcomes them. It's a welcome change to some of their strange behavior in the last few hours and Hiccup relaxes as Tuffnut and Ruffnut bicker back and forth with Snotlout egging them on.

It's in a period of boredom that Hiccup's fingers start to fiddle with the saddle, finding all the spots he uses to keep his hands occupied and realizing they're not quite the same as he remembers. An inspection reveals to him worn spots that have been repaired, a newly polished finish encompassing the saddle, gears on the rigging that have been cleared of soot and grease buildup. He doesn't remember doing any of that. Looking behind him, it's clear the tailfin was also modified at some point if the brighter red is any indication.

When did he do all of that work? It had to have happened before the riders rescued him, but then how could he have gotten a chance to do all that while in Viggo's custody? Was that part of the man's game?

Hiccup's heart beats fast in his chest. He takes a breath, calms himself outwardly so his friends won't start asking questions. Something tells him they either won't have an answer or Astrid will try brushing it off like before. Desperately curious, Hiccup's hands start feeling out all the hidden pockets within their range, the pockets he uses to store notes and maps and small items that could easily fall from saddlebags.

Every note has changed.

What once were notes on the Dragon Eye and lense locations are now notes on dragon scales and armor sketches, "things-to-do" with the names of people he doesn't know and rough doodles of dragons by landmarks he doesn't recognize. And in the last pocket at the very front of the saddle, looking like it was hastily shoved in and buried between the scraps of parchment that already lived there, is a ring. A gold ring with a finely crafted dragon winding around its band and an engraving on the inside that lovingly states "My Dearest."

His eyes feel watery all of a sudden and he has to fight the urge to put the ring on his finger. Instead, he clutches it tight in his fist, blinking away the tears that want to fall, and taking slow breaths to steady the influx of nerves bubbling in his gut. Something isn't right. Something more must have happened in the short time he was with Viggo, something that Toothless knows, something that his heart knows but can't remember properly.

He glances over the dragon riders around him. They've all been occupied in their own worlds and haven't noticed the crisis Hiccup is having on Toothless's back. He looks at the ring one last time and stashes it back in its pocket.

Berk is just a speck on the horizon, but it's in sight, now, and the group gains a burst of speed in their excitement to almost be done with the trip, to get to land and stretch their legs and eat. Hiccup puts on a grin and pretends to join in on their merriment - he's glad to get to rest like they are, but the weight of his discovery pulls him down and he's looking forward to being in the privacy of his room where he can process the notes and the ring on his own.

Chapter Text

Astrid tells him and the other riders to stay put as they land outside the chief's home. They hadn't told anyone that they found Hiccup, hadn't had the time to even send a terror mail before they left to save their leader, and with Hiccup's current condition it's best if Astrid just goes in by herself to explain the situation.

A little red flag goes up in Hiccup's head. Shouldn't he be there to greet his dad? Wouldn't his presence relieve the tension that Astrid seems to be anticipating?

He stays silent as his friend goes in to speak with Stoick. The trip to Berk has been long and the recent revelation of his changed notes and the mysterious ring has left him worn out. From down the hill and on the stairs to the Great Hall villagers begin to spot him, their calls of greeting filling the strange, tense silence the gang has fallen under. Hiccup waves back, willing his mind to focus on something other than the sound of Stoick's voice getting louder inside the hut or Astrid's voice rising to match in her frustration. Nothing they say can be understood from where the riders stand, but the obviously negative tone of the interaction has Fishlegs shuffling his feet and Snotlout glancing worriedly towards the hut before catching himself and darting his gaze away, again.

"Heh, probably just his anger at Viggo?" Fishlegs attempts to pacify when Hiccup aims a raised brow at him. He finds himself reluctantly accepting the answer, a bud of anger threatening to bloom inside his own chest at the thought of what Viggo could have done to him and for the memories he lost of that time. With a heavy sigh, Hiccup leans into Toothless.

Finally, the door shoots open and the riders bolt to alertness, half expecting Astrid to come barreling out of the hut. What they get instead is Stoick standing in the doorway, eyes alight with fury and glaring down each dragon rider until his eyes come to rest on his son. The anger clinging to the chief falls away in an instant and in that same moment Hiccup is hit with an overwhelming homesickness, the kind that makes it feel like he hasn't seen his dad in months or even years. He can't stop his legs from shooting him into his father's arms, can't stop his eyes from watering up when he's completely encased in the man's warmth. And Stoick holds him there, not caring that they're outside for everyone to see and only adjusting the hold to lay a hand on Toothless' head when the dragon butts in.

The chief pulls away after a long moment to address Hiccup's friends. "I want you all to go home." He spares a glance at Hiccup. "We'll talk about what you did, later."

The group nods, eyes barely meeting their chief's and agreement mumbled out as they mount their dragons and take off. Stoick is quick to usher Hiccup and Toothless inside, pulling them in for another tight hug after the door is closed.

"I've missed you, boys."

"I've missed you, too, dad." And that's true even if Hiccup only remembers it being a couple weeks since their last visit to Berk.

"Now," Stoick gives them one last squeeze, then lets go to walk deeper into the house, grabs a couple of mugs, and begins filling them with mead. "I want to hear all about what you've been up to."

What he's been up to?

"You mean besides, ah, getting captured by dragon hunters?" His dad should be furious right now. He should be interrogating Hiccup on what happened and making a plan to take down the hunters if they come for him and start finding ways to restore his memory. He shouldn't be pouring them drinks and chatting like this is just another visit for supplies.

"Ah, well, more so after that, I suppose." An arm wraps around Hiccup's shoulders and sits him down in his chair at the table where Stoick goes to sit across from him. "I was skeptical when Dagur came to me to explain what was going on - still don't trust that boy, but he seemed genuine enough. It was your letter that really convinced me."

The last letter he sent his father was an update on their last mission and oh, gods, what reason would Dagur have to visit Berk on his own?

"Uh, dad, I don't think we're entirely on the same page here."

It's only then that Stoick stops to look at Hiccup. In the time the man stares at him, Hiccup tracks his emotions from confusion to realization and a flash of anger to a certain uncertainty that's balanced by a calculating clarity.

"Son, what's the last thing you remember?"

Hiccup explains it to him the same way he did to the riders and just like them his dad gets this look about him. Again, Hiccup is bombarded with the feeling of missing something vital, something more than the memories of being brainwashed by the chief of the dragon hunter tribe and he dearly hopes his dad will tell him what's going on.

"Maybe," Stoick hesitates, "you know, you've had a long flight and a rough couple days from the sounds of it. Why don't you head up to bed? You can get some rest and we'll catch up in the morning."

Hiccup wants to argue, wants to demand that Stoick tell him the truth instead of hiding everything from him. His mouth opens to do just that, but his voice dies in his throat. As much as he wants answers, his dad is right: Hiccup is exhausted. On top of the trip and the weird vibes he's been getting from everyone, his body is sore from whatever happened when his friends found him and there's still a slight pounding in his head. All he wants is to sleep.

"O-okay, sure," his voice is quiet, almost a whisper. "G'night, dad."

Toothless follows him up to the loft. He licks at Hiccup's hand when his rider stops short of the bed, a questioning croon accompanying the action. Hiccup sends his friend a reassuring smile, "I'm fine, bud."

He begins the process of removing the saddle and tailfin, unbuckling each piece and tucking it all away carefully. His hand hesitates over the pocket with the ring in it. His fingers itch to fidget with it, feel its weight in his palm, find comfort in it even though he has no clue where he got it from. After some debate, Hiccup leaves it there and heads for his bed.

He removes his boot and prosthetic and climbs under the blanket. Only after his rider is settled does Toothless move to his rock slab, warming the surface and winding himself into a cozy bundle to sleep. Hiccup tries to focus on the nightfury's steady breathing rather than the way his right hand searches for a ring on his left hand or the way his bed feels too small. It takes a while, but sleep eventually takes him.

When he wakes up, it's with a deep longing in his chest and tears wetting his cheeks. Across the room Toothless is sound asleep and Hiccup's thankful for that - his friend has been wound up with worry since Hiccup was recovered and doesn't need to know there's something upsetting his rider, especially when Hiccup doesn't even know what's so upsetting. There were no dreams he could recall last night nor any memories returning. He wipes the wetness from his face and gets ready for the day.

Downstairs Stoick is awake and going about making breakfast.

"Mornin' son! How're you feeling?" He appears to be in a better mood than the previous night, all traces of uncertainty and anger gone.

Hiccup stretches his shoulders and the muscles in his back, testing them for the soreness that's been bugging him the last couple days. "I don't hurt as much and my head feels better."

"That's good to hear," his dad sets a bowl of warmed stew in front of him, smile on his face. "Now, I was thinking and perhaps it's best if we keep things as normal as possible around here. We'll set you up back at the academy to work with the A Team and some of the younger generation, then you can spend some time with Gobber in the forge."

Taking a break from thinking about the war sounds nice. But Viggo is still out there and it's unlikely the man will lay off his attacks just because Hiccup and the riders aren't on Dragon's Edge.

"Dad, what if they come for me? Shouldn't we prepare for a battle or come up with some kind of plan?"

"Don't you worry 'bout that. I'll take care of it and you focus on getting those memories back." Stoick gives him a reassuring grin, one that only kind of puts Hiccup at ease. He trusts his dad to keep him safe, but that feeling is back that something's being kept from him.

He doesn't get the chance to start up his own interrogation before his friends show up at his door and he's dragged off to the academy for the rest of the morning.

The same strange mood follows Hiccup through the village and to training, the one that he glimpsed the day before when he arrived on Berk and that has everyone looking at him like they haven't seen him in ages or as if they're surprised to see him alive. His gut bubbles with anxiety. The crowd that forms along the edges of the arena don't help to ease his mind, not when their eyes stay glued to him.

What's worse is that it's clear they all have questions burning on their tongues, but every time anyone seems close to asking one of the riders intervenes.

"We're not bringing up Hiccup's absence," Astrid asserts when Spitelout and Gustav become more persistent. While Hiccup is grateful he doesn't have to deal with questions he clearly won't be able to answer, he also wishes his friends would back off some. He may be confused by the questions, but maybe they could offer insight to whatever secret the riders are trying to keep.

Training ends and the group opts to grab lunch from the Great Hall then find a nice grassy hill to picnic at. His friends avoid any talk of the current situation, steer the conversation to dragons and the twins' most recent pranks, new information Fishlegs learned about the fauna of an island not far from Dragon's Edge. Around them their dragons nap and play in the grass, the unusually warm autumn sun feeling refreshing and energizing after a morning of training. It's the most normal Hiccup has felt all day.

They linger up on the hill far longer than they should. There are other places they're needed on Berk - they have chores to do and the odd jobs their parents set aside for them especially for when they visit. No one is willing to break the peace, not until Hiccup decides maybe it's safe to ask the questions buzzing in his head.

"Hey guys? I'm not… I'm not missing something, am I? I mean, you told me everything you know about what happened to me, right?"

The riders share a look amongst themselves. Astrid speaks up first.

"Of course, Hiccup." She gives him a smile, placing a hand on his arm, ignoring how Toothless huffs at her. "What you're going through must be hard, but you're our friend and we're going to do everything we can to get you through this."

The others enthusiastically call out their agreement.

"Right," Hiccup lets his eyes meet those of each of his friends, wills their reassuring faces to bring him comfort and settle the anxiety threatening to bubble back up in his stomach. These are his friends, his comrades, the people he can trust the most in this world. "Thank you."

His smile doesn't feel real to him, but it's enough to get his friends to dismiss the topic and move on with their day. They pack up the remains of their picnic and head down the path that will lead them back into the village.

Joining Gobber in the forge is like a balm to all his troubles of the day. His mentor greets him as if he never left and it's easy to fall into their regular routine, playful bickering included. Hiccup willfully goes on autopilot sharpening weapons, being Gobber's other arm, and ignoring the put-out feeling he gets every time he takes a customer's order and they don't engage in further conversation. He writes it off as a side effect of the time he's missing in his memory, perhaps a buried desire to catch up with everyone for whatever extra time he's been gone.

"Ye know, I was startin' ta think you were never comin' back!" Gobber comments after yet another group of villagers stops to welcome Hiccup back to Berk.

Hiccup snorts, still caught in the good mood of their familiar banter. "Come back? You make it sound like I had a choice."

"Eh, true" the blacksmith turns to give his apprentice a suave, knowing look, "if I fell as hard as you did, I wouldn't leave, either. Love 'as a way of doin' that ta people." He tacks on an eyebrow wiggle before returning his attention to his current project, unaware of the way Hiccup's face has paled or how it feels as if his stomach has dropped to the floor.

Love? Like, falling in love? Who would Hiccup fall in love with in a tribe of dragon hunters and why is Gobber acting like it's okay?

Everything comes spiraling back: the obvious secrets being kept by his friends, the unusually enthusiastic greetings from the tribe, his father's comments from last night, the strange instincts that keep popping up that he can't explain, and the ring he can't stop thinking about. Something isn't right and he needs to ask before the riders show up to drag him away, again.

"Gobber, h-how long was I gone for?" Hiccup asks, unsure if he wants to hear the answer after everything he's noticed all day. His mentor gives him a strange look, eyebrows scrunched together, prosthetic hammer paused midair as the molten sword before him is forgotten. Hiccup rephrases his question, "how long was I with the Dragon Hunters?"

The hammer lowers and Gobber turns to fully face his nephew. "Ye mean they didn't tell yeh?"

Hiccup shakes his head, arms tucking in as dread fills his gut.

"Did they tell ye anything? "

Again, he shakes his head, then amends, "they told me Viggo captured and brainwashed me and that when they found me I hit my head and lost my memories… again. That's all. They won't tell me how long I was gone for or how they tracked me down or even where they found me."

"Well fer starters you were gon fer months , Hiccup! They took ye before winter 'n it's spring, now - we were startin' to think you were dead!" Gobber swings his arm around as he gets worked up and the hammer piece nearly knocks a box of tools off the workbench. "Yer gone fer months and den one day Dagur comes flyin' into town with word of your whereabouts just to tell us he thinks yer better off there instead 'o here, your home. " The man thunders around the forge. He angrily unlocks the hammer from his arm and replaces it with his hook, the click as it locks into place hitting Hiccup's ears harsher than it ever has before.

The dragon rider's shoulders are hunched up to his ears, his heart beating in his chest so hard it's difficult to draw in breath. His fingers search for a ring that should be on his hand, a ring he thinks would have brought him comfort in this situation if only he could wear it without fear of his friends seeing it and confiscating it. Somewhere between the blood rushing in his ears and Gobber's yelling, Hiccup hears Toothless' concerned rumble, feels his dragon's flank against his hip, seeks comfort in scales even as he misses the metal that should be in his hand, a hand that finds its way to the pocket at the front of the saddle and rests on top of it.

"Come on," Gobber hobbles past him, gesturing with his hook. He doesn't look at Hiccup but instead focuses his furious stare ahead to ward off any villagers that might try to stop them.

"G-Gobber, wait, what about everything else? What were you saying about l-love and me falling for someone? What happened when I was gone?" He needs to know and he doesn't care who hears them.

"You sent us a letter," Gobber explains, though it's not much of an explanation. He doesn't elaborate until after they stop once they're away from the larger masses of villagers. "Told us you were happier in this other village, that ye felt more welcomed there than ye ever did on Berk and ye know what? I could believe that. I know yer life here 'asn't been great, lad."

His face softens, the late afternoon sun lighting the man's eyes and revealing to Hiccup a weariness born of many nights sat up worrying over the whereabouts and wellbeing of his honorary nephew.

"Dagur mentioned he thought you were fallin' in love with the chief of the hunter tribe and that just bout had me and Stoick charging straight through the winter storms to get to ya! Just like yer friends we thought you were bein' manipulated but the way you talked about 'im in yer letter…" that knowing look is back on Gobber's face. "It's the same way Stoick would talk about yer mother."

Hiccup's gut tightens with sadness at the mention of his parents and their love while simultaneously fluttering when he thinks about being in love with Viggo Grimborn. His head tells him it's wrong in every way, but his heart seems to know there's some kind of truth there.

As they march up the hill to the chief's hut, the pieces fall into place and suddenly Hiccup understands why something's missing in his bed, why he woke up feeling homesick despite being home, why Toothless has been so on edge when it comes to Astrid, and why his hands keep itching for that ring.

I want to go home , the thought echoes loudly in his head and resonates with his heart. Wherever the riders took him from he wants to go back and he wants to know if it's possible that he actually found a place to be happy, a place he can feel loved and love in return. And he especially wants to know if it's possible for him and Viggo to have found common ground even after the months of war and all the horrible things that have happened between them.

Gobber addresses Hiccup as he opens the door to the hut and gestures for the dragon rider to enter, "you wait in here while I find yer father and we can sort this mess out."

"No need for that, Gobber."

Stoick is already inside leaning over in his chair with his elbows propped on his knees. Pacing on the other side of the room is Dagur who stops to look over after he hears the door open. His eyes lock with Hiccup who freezes in place. Stoick and Gobber have both mentioned Dagur a few times, their comments alluding to the young chief's involvement in Hiccup's disappearance or, rather, the reason why he wasn't brought back to Berk sooner.

Dagur grins.

"You know, it's just your luck to actually get amnesia after spending months faking it, brother."

Chapter Text

It feels odd sending the riders away with Dagur, watching them take off without him while his father and Gobber promise to look after him.

Hiccup catches the worried looks they throw over their shoulders and barely manages a facsimile of a reassuring grin and a brief wave for good measure. It's difficult to muster with their betrayal fresh in his mind.

"I ordered them to let go of their search. I already knew where you were and that you were safe; there was no reason for them to hunt you down."

They defied the chief's orders and Hiccup isn't even surprised. He and the riders have made a career out of defying authority for the greater good, so of course they would follow that trend to supposedly save him.

Except it wasn't just the chief, it was his father they defied. Shouldn't they have trusted Stoick to have Hiccup's best interests in mind? How could they believe Stoick would abandon his only son so easily?

Then they showed up with an amnesiac Hiccup as if bringing him back to Berk would show Stoick how wrong he'd been about the situation. All the while they let lies dance on their tongues as they paraded Hiccup through the town like their prize: who cares if they've disobeyed the chief when their rebellion brought Berk's heir back home?

Hiccup wonders if their rebellious habits would have simmered down with him as chief or if they'd be just as bold in their defiance with him.

"Heather came to me after they received an anonymous letter on the Edge. It told them where you were and how to get there. They left that night to rescue you."

Dagur admitted to sharing some of the truth with his sister. She was tasked with keeping an eye on the rest of the riders and easing their worries. What she got in return was her friends accusing her of not caring about Hiccup and being like everyone else that had given up the search for him. And when the mysterious letter came, Heather tried to convince the riders to hold off a little longer, to take some time to make a plan, to talk to Stoick first, to do anything else that wasn't immediately following the lead given to them.

They ignored her and left her behind.

"We came up with a way to buy you some time."

They can't miraculously wipe the riders' memories about Dalir's location. Even if Hiccup makes it back there, there's nothing to stop them from trying to "rescue" him, again.

But they can still work to get Hiccup back to Viggo. Once he's back in the hunters' hands, they'll protect him (because they know how to follow their chief's orders, Hiccup thinks snidely). 

What's stranger than watching the riders fly away is the feeling he gets as he and his father mount their dragons and head out themselves. As Hiccup scans his eyes over Berk, his chest constricts just a smidge. This could be the last time he sees Berk. No matter what transgressions are between them, Berk is still the place he was born and raised and leaving it this time shoots a hollow pang through him.

There's a different home waiting for him, though, a place where he was so welcomed and happy that he was willing to hide away from his tribe for an indefinite amount of time. He hopes it's everything Dagur says it is.

The spring air is refreshing and clears his mind as they fly towards what was once enemy territory. It's a long flight just to Dragon's Edge and even longer to the hunters' island. Even if Viggo sent ships out to find him, it's unlikely they'll cross paths for another few days. At least it gives Hiccup more time to come to terms with his reality. Once they find Viggo, there's no going back. He'll need to be ready to surround himself with dragon hunters and remind himself that the only alternative is staying on Berk with a tribe of vikings that are willing to lie just to keep him in their grasp.

Seeing Dragon's Edge on the horizon is a relief. As soon as their bellies are full, the dragons curl up to sleep, resting up for another lengthy day of flying.

Now that he knows how long he was gone, Hiccup can pick out the evidence all around him. Their outpost was clearly abandoned through the winter. There's still wear and tear on the buildings from snow storms and there are ratty dragon nests in any nook the smaller beasts could find. Though he missed it before, there's a musty stale smell that still lingers in the clubhouse and his own hut.

His hut which is covered in a thick layer of dust that the riders never dared to touch. All his inventions are exactly where he left them and there's a mass of blankets gathered under his bed by what could only be terrible terrors (the little dragons are still there, Hiccup discovers after trying to retrieve a blanket for his bed).

Not wanting to be exposed to the untouched tomb of his room, Hiccup takes refuge under Toothless' wing and sleeps there for the night.

Morning comes, breakfast is had, and they set out once more.

They opt for a more exploratory path of flight this time, going after any ships they see in the distance, checking out any hunter bases they can find. It's unlikely they'll find any hunters so close to Dragon's Edge. A few days is not enough time to get ships so far from their village.

They camp out on a woodsy island. Normally they would seek coverage among the trees, but the beach offers the chance for hunters to spot them. It's such a backwards sentiment that Hiccup almost argues with his father about it. He wants to be covered and safe and a little part of him even hopes they don't make it to Viggo. He could go somewhere else, instead. Berk is full of liars and Dalir is full of hunters so he'll fly off into the distance and hope he lands in a nice little village where he can disappear. No duties, no complicated feelings, just him and Toothless braving the world together.

Except Toothless is searching harder than Hiccup or Stoick. The nightfury is determined to get Hiccup back to the hunter village and back to their enemy and he's completely disregarded the anxiousness oozing off his rider. If anything, the dragon seems to think finding Viggo will fix that anxiousness.

That night, Hiccup doesn't sleep as well.

Another morning, another day of searching.

He's starting to think he'll manage another day of not having to confront Viggo or his tribe when a trio of ships appears from behind a cluster of islands. A look through his spyglass reveals the hunter insignia on their sails and a pit sinks in Hiccup's stomach.

The closer they get, the tighter his hands fist the saddle. There's movement on the decks and instinct has him tightening up like a spring, ready to dodge projectiles and give out orders to his team.

Instead of the attack he's used to, the hunters clear a spot for Hiccup and Stoick to land. There's no weapons aimed at them, no axes or bolas held to the ready, no shouting to "ready the cages!" Just a hushed murmur as they slowly turn their attention to Ryker on the top deck.

The man eyes them from his vantage point before descending the stairs and stopping a good arm's distance in front of Hiccup and Stoick.

"Nothing to say?" He asks Hiccup.

"Uh, what?" His eyes dart to his father.

Ryker takes a step forward, gaze narrowed. "Thought you'd be more… enthusiastic about being 'ere."

"His memory's gone," Stoick catches on quicker than Hiccup. " Actually gone this time, none of that fake business from before," he adds when Ryker gives him a look.

Finally, Hiccup finds his voice. "Is…ah, is Viggo here?" It's difficult to ask the question when he'd much rather be flying off the ship. He doesn't want to see the man he's been at war with or, apparently, sharing a bed with. Toothless croons up at him.

Ryker regards him for a moment more.

"He took a separate fleet. By now he's at least a day or two of sailing east of us. We flanked the direct path to Berk in case your riders took any detours."

Hiccup flinches at the claim of the dragon riders. They're hardly his anymore, not after their betrayal and defiance. Aside from that there's a mild relief in his gut as well: he won't have to face Viggo today. He turns to his father, "guess we're camping out for another night. We can head back to that small group of islands we passed a few miles back and head out in the morning."

"'Ey, hold it!" Stoick puts a hand on Hiccup's shoulder to stop him from taking off. "We'll rest here for the night. If we make camp on land, Viggo will make more distance between us. Best to stay where we won't lose any ground."

Hiccup averts his eyes and grunts, not willing to acknowledge how easily his father saw through his attempts to stall. His only hope is that Ryker has remained unchanged by the recent months and will kick them off the ship anyways.

Unfortunately, his luck doesn't hold out. The older Grimborn does laugh at him, though. "That's the Haddock I almost missed while we were home." He gestures for them to follow him below deck where he leads them to a room they can stay in for the night. "You don't show so much attitude around the rest of the family."

"Rest of the family? Who else is there other than you and Viggo?"

"My wife. My children. How do you think we spend our winters? Bad enough I'm stuck with Viggo during the hunting season. I'd go mad if I was stuck in a hut just the two of us."

Hiccup never thought of the other side of their lives. The Grimborn brothers never seemed like the marriage type and it never fit the image that came with the war. The hunters were just hunters, nothing more. Even learning of Fishlegs' family history didn't change that idea.

"How many kids do you have?"

"Three."

"Wow, how old are they?"

"Young."

"Do most of the hunters have families?"

"Dagur was right; we should have suspected you of faking amnesia sooner. You really don't shutup."

Hiccup glares at Ryker.

"You can stay here for the night," he opens a door to a small room. There's a single cot pushed into a corner and just enough space for Toothless to cram himself into the room with Hiccup and Stoick. "If you need a meal, grab it now before they clean up for the night. Breakfast is at dawn."

"And our dragons?" Hiccup butts in before Ryker can leave. He wants to know Toothless and Skullcrusher will be safe while on the ship.

"No harm will come to them."

With that, Ryker departs.

“I’ll, uh, I’ll just sleep with Toothless,” Hiccup says, already moving to curl up with the nightfury. Once settled in, he reaches up to pull the dragon’s wing over him, but his father’s voice cuts in before he can completely seal himself away for the night.

“If you really don’t want to go back to him, we can figure something else out. We can go back to Berk.”

There are benefits to his father having learned how to read him and learned how to care for him in the last few years. This is one of the times he wishes they were still too awkward around each other to take on hard conversations.

“I… it’s not that I don’t want to see him.” Except for the fact that it’s exactly that. “What do I even do when we get there? In my mind, he’s still the enemy and this could be a trap. Buuut if everything you ‒and Gobber and Dagur and Ryker‒ say is true, then he’s expecting something else when we meet again. I can’t just fall into a relationship I don’t even remember having.”

Stoick hums in understanding. “Well, if he’s anything of the man you spoke of in your letter, then he’ll respect your needs and he’ll work with you to get your memories back.”

“And what about that, what about my memories?” He’s gesturing wildly, now, his anxieties coming to the surface. “I don’t even know if I want them back because - because I don’t know if I want to love Viggo!”

“Oh son,” and it’s that same tone he used to use when he talked about Hiccup’s mother, the one he’d hear on the nights his father mourned their loss. “It’s never about whether you want to love someone. Love doesn’t work like that.” If they were in a larger room, Hiccup is sure his father would be crouching next to him, pulling him into a tight embrace. Instead, he settles for leaning forward so he’s closer to Hiccup’s level and he addresses both his sons when Toothless looks up at him, too.

“True love doesn’t care about what you want, it cares about what you need.”

“You really think I need someone like Viggo in my life?”

“I think maybe you need each other. Your mother and I were practically opposites, but together we balanced one another. We made each other better people.”

“I can’t see how Viggo could make me a better person,” Hiccup replies bitterly.

Stoick laughs, “I guess we’ll see for ourselves.” He leans back on the bed and adds, “this isn’t a permanent decision, son. I’ll be there until I’m sure you’re safe and you can always leave afterwards - that’s what Toothless is here for.” He pats the nightfury on the head and the dragon purrs at him in approval.

“Get some rest. We’ll get an early start tomorrow so we can make it to Viggo’s ship.”

With that, Stoick settles into the bed and Hiccup coerces one of Toothless’ wings over him. He stays up far longer than he should, his mind trying to figure out what qualities Viggo Grimborn could possibly possess that would help Hiccup become a better person. No matter how he turns it, there’s no clear way it could happen. The man is ruthless and selfish and completely uncaring of others.

Hiccup can think of a thousand ways to make Viggo a better person, but every way Viggo could influence him leads to the vision of a corrupt version of himself.

He silently promises to never allow that to happen. The moment he sees himself becoming anything like the terrifying chief of the dragon hunter empire, Hiccup is leaving.

Chapter Text

Breakfast is awkward when surrounded by dragon hunters that won’t stop staring and whispering to one another.

Hiccup tries to keep his head down and hide behind the form of his father. Stoick, meanwhile, seems oblivious to the attention and eats his meal in complete peace. The sooner they can leave the ship, the better, Hiccup decides. He eats faster and silently wills his father to do the same.

A shadow falls over his bowl and Hiccup glances up to see Ryker standing over him on the other side of the table.

“We adjusted course to put us closer to Viggo’s ships and shorten your trip.” The man smirks down at Hiccup’s glare and it’s reminiscent of the look Dagur gets when he’s messing with him. The choice to change course was purely for Ryker’s amusement. Judging by the way his smirk widens, Hiccup assumes he got the reaction he was hoping for.

“The dragons will be happy about that,” Stoick says. Thankfully he refrains from commenting on Hiccup getting to see Viggo sooner. Hiccup is going to pointedly not think about that for as long as possible.

When Ryker continues to stare Hiccup down, the rider grunts out a “thanks” and returns to his breakfast. Having gotten what he was looking for, Ryker continues on his path to retrieve a bowl of food for himself and sits down at a table far away from the Haddocks.

Hiccup can't help but wonder what their relationship looked like on Dalir. There's no way they were buddy-buddy. Not in a million years could he imagine himself getting along with Ryker Grimborn even under the unorthodox circumstances they were subject to before Hiccup's amnesia. At best, they were probably tolerable of one another's presence.

Shuttering at the thought of being Ryker's friend, Hiccup finishes the last of his food. He needs fresh air for his brain and to stretch his legs before submitting to another full day of flying, so he ascends the stairs to the top level of the ship.

Toothless is prancing about the deck, clumsily bumping into hunters for the fun of it and trying to engage Skullcrusher in play. The armored dragon stays just as stoic as his rider's namesake, only sparing the nightfury a few huffs of steaming breath when he gets near enough. Both dragons perk up when Hiccup approaches.

"Hey bud," he greets Toothless and returns the dragon's loving nuzzle. "Good news for you: our trip has been shortened." Toothless must hear the lack of enthusiasm. He woofs at his rider, his fishy breath eliciting a silly reaction from Hiccup that has Toothless cackling at him.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up!" Hiccup nudges the dragon's shoulder, but the beast barely budges.

"You boys ready to go?" Stoick emerges from below all wide grins and bright eyes. The man is far more excited than Hiccup is to get their journey moving. Toothless matches the man's enthusiasm, hopping over to him then back to Hiccup who he hefts up and into the saddle.

Hiccup situates himself, buckling the appropriate straps and doing his usual check of the equipment. It's still strange to see the patches and new polish when he doesn't remember doing it.

"Ready as I'll ever be…"

"It'll all turn out for the best. You'll see." His father sounds so sure of himself. Hiccup wishes he could be so certain of it all.

Ryker doesn't bother coming out to see them off and only a handful of the hunters wave as they take to the sky. Again, Hiccup wonders what their lives are like outside of Viggo's business and what relationships he may have formed with them or their families. He offers a small wave in return.

The flight passes in a weird haze where any given moment can feel like hours or minutes and Hiccup's only entertainment is his thoughts or the bits of conversation his father attempts to strike up. Not even venturing away to perform tricks is enough to distract Hiccup from overthinking all the ways his reunion with Viggo could go and by the time the ships appear on the horizon, Hiccup’s innards are so twisted in anxiety he fears he may throw up the second they land.

Fortunately, his stomach holds its contents as they touch down. The hunters of this ship give them a similar welcome as the ones of Ryker’s ship. There are the same hushed tones and stares and none of them grab for weapons, but it’s clear they weren’t expecting him to just appear without a fight. Their eyes sweep the skies as if waiting for the other riders to rain fire upon them at any second.

Not wanting to wait for one of them to fetch Viggo, Hiccup dismounts and marches towards the stairs leading to the bowels of the ship.

“Viggo in his usual place?” He addresses a random hunter as he passes, only maintaining eye contact long enough to receive the affirming nod. Toothless is at his heel and his father is just a step behind the nightfury.

They descend into the ship and Hiccup takes the familiar path past the dragon cages, around the corner, down the hall, and straight to the door of Viggo’s office. He’s been interrogated there enough times to have the path memorized and assume it’s where the dragon hunter chief spends most of his time.

His feet stop at the closed door.

Toothless flanks him on one side and Stoick stands at his other side. A large hand lands on his shoulder and Hiccup is reminded that his armor is missing. He’s about to face a man who’s been his enemy for months and he’s not wearing a single piece of armor. Maybe this is a bad idea.

"Do you want me in there with you? Just in case?"

Hiccup almost says yes. There's no telling what will happen behind that door and having his dad to back him up suddenly feels like something he wants. It's like he's a little kid, again, finding comfort in the massive form of his father hovering behind him. Except this isn't some enemy he has to face, this is a man that supposedly loves him enough to upset all his operations to chase Hiccup down. This isn’t the time for his father to be present.

“No, I think I need to do this by myself.”

Stoick nods and his hand gives one last reassuring squeeze before he turns to head back up the stairs. Toothless rubs his head into Hiccup and purrs that comforting sound that never fails to chase away his nerves.

“Thanks, bud.” The dragon lays down in a corner, ears perked and eyes alert as he feigns a relaxed pose. He’ll be ready to have Hiccup’s back if the need arises, though the dragon rider doubts his friend will make that call considering how hard he’s tried to get him back to Viggo. Regardless, it’s nice to know Toothless is close by.

With one last deep breath, Hiccup knocks on the door. A moment passes.

“If there are no updates on my fiance’s whereabouts, leave.”

Viggo’s voice is as hard as Hiccup remembers. He’s a chief in the midst of battle, focused on making commands and achieving his goals. Even then, there’s a weightlessness that fills his chest at the term “fiance.” It simultaneously makes him want to get closer to the man and fly off the ship.

He tentatively opens the door and peeks his head inside. Never before has he felt so timid in Viggo’s presence. The thought crosses his mind and he tries to stand taller, more confident, treat this like any other interaction he’s had with the chief. If only he could find his voice and announce his entrance with some witty remark, but it seems stuck in his throat.

As his eyes land on Viggo, Hiccup notices how exhausted the man is. The darkness under his eyes is more prominent and his form practically sags over his desk. This is not the man Hiccup is used to battling. This man hasn’t slept since the moment his fiance was taken from him.

Viggo glares at Hiccup. He stops and confusion takes over for a blink. Hiccup slips almost fully into the room, one hand lingering on the door in case he needs to make a quick escape. Viggo blinks his way into coherency as he slowly stands.

Hiccup opens his mouth with the hope he can get something out, but Viggo never gives him a chance. Hands land on the sides of his head and pull him into a kiss. It’s too brief for Hiccup to process and just as quick the man has him in an embrace, pulling him in until they’re flush against one another. An overwhelming calm hits his body as if it’s familiar with these actions and comforted by the dragon hunter chief hugging him. In contrast, his mind is racing.

Another kiss is planted on his forehead as Viggo pulls away far enough to visually take Hiccup in. His hands gently pat him down for injuries and they land on a few bruises that haven’t quite faded yet causing Hiccup to wince.

“What happened?” The hard edges that adorned Viggo’s voice moments before are gone and now it’s a soft gliding hum that resonates in the back of Hiccup’s mind. “Are you alright?”

He can’t manage any words at first. The feel of Viggo’s lips on his is still consuming him and the hands that won’t leave his arms are fogging his brain.

Hiccup takes a step back.

“The last time I saw you, we were enemies.”

Viggo releases him.

“Hiccup…”

“I was on a recon mission at one of your bases and you shot me out of the sky and we crashed.” Anger is filling him. Anger at Viggo, anger at the riders, anger at Berk. It’s all there and bubbling to the surface and he was trying so hard to not think about it.

Viggo’s hands flex and Hiccup somehow knows the man wants to bring him back into his arms, so he paces to the side and out of his reach. He doesn’t notice how his own hands grasp at the ring hanging under his shirt.

“I woke up on Dragon’s Edge and the riders told me you captured me. They said you hurt me a-and manipulated me and that I fought them when they came to rescue me. Everyone was acting so strange about it. Even on Berk no one would say anything about what happened until Gobber noticed what was going on.”

Hiccup dodges another attempt of Viggo’s to grab his arm. He turns on his heel and glares the man down, finger pointed accusingly at him.

“They did exactly what you did. I trusted them and they repaid me by kidnapping me and lying about it!”

He’s breathing hard and Viggo doesn’t dare try to touch him.

“But I expected that from you,” he snarls, ignoring the way Viggo’s brow creases in an almost flinch. “I would expect nothing less than for you to take advantage of me in that position and you absolutely did.”

Silence hangs in the air. Hiccup turns away.

“Why come back to me?” This time Viggo’s voice is guarded. It causes a knot in Hiccup’s gut and he thinks they’ve been in this position before. Did he fight with Viggo during their charade? Did he yell and scream at the man and did Viggo respond with that hard edged tone?

Hiccup clutches the ring, willing it to bring his memories back.

“I didn’t expect them to lie to me,” he whispers. Louder, he continues, “they’re supposed to be my friends, but I guess their idea of friends and my idea of friends are drastically different. I wouldn't lie to my friends about something so important."

"You did, though."

Hiccup feels a righteousness about to explode out of him. Viggo doesn't let it happen.

"Darling, you let me take you to a place your friends couldn't find you. You refused to reach out to anyone, including your father, until Dagur forced your hand. As far as I could tell, you had little to no intention of ever telling your friends where you'd gone or whether you were ever going to return to them."

Oh gods, he is turning into Viggo.

"That's– I didn't– that's different!"

"Is it?"

Why does it feel like his heart is breaking?

"Why are you standing up for them?" The Viggo he knows would jump at the chance to create a divide between Hiccup and the riders.

"I'm not standing up for them. They invaded my home, took you against your will, and tried to turn you against me; I am not going to stand up for them," Viggo growls out. He closes his eyes and sucks in a breath, holds it, lets it out slowly. "I know you and I know that you wouldn't want to stay angry at them."

The man is right. He's right and that makes Hiccup angrier. What right does Viggo have to know him so well while Hiccup is stuck floundering? He wants to know what to say to Viggo to fix all of this and to stop his world from spiraling out of control, yet he can't do that when there's this entire other side of Viggo he never knew existed.

"I want to go back to war!"

A smile flickers across Viggo's face. "No, you don't."

"Yes, I do." He gets right in Viggo's space, glaring him dead in the eye. "I want to go back to beating you at your stupid games and not feeling an ounce of remorse for the damage I cause to you and your business!"

"That's a lie. You've become quite adept at lying, my dear."

Hiccup growls.

His hands land on Viggo’s chest to give him a shove, but Viggo is quicker and solid. The man grabs his wrists and keeps Hiccup from getting away, not that that stops him from trying.

“Hiccup. Hiccup!” He snaps and roughly pulls Hiccup forward, jarring him enough to look up. “What do you want?”

“What?”

“What do you want? Why did you come back here?”

There’s no answer to that. All he wanted when he found out the riders were lying to him was to get away from them and “away” meant going to Viggo. He didn’t want to go to Viggo, though. He doesn’t know what he wants.

Hiccup turns his head sharply from Viggo, arms still tugging at the grip the chief has on him. His eyes dance around the room in hopes of finding an answer to the question. Nothing stands out to him, no light shining down to give him what he needs in this moment.

“I need my memories back.”

Viggo softens his grip. “I don’t know how to give you that.”

He doesn’t flee even though he could, now. Instead, Hiccup just nods in acknowledgement. There’s no way to magically restore someone’s lost memories.

“If you return to Dalir with me, you’ll be surrounded by the people and places that live in those memories. It may help you get them back.”

That’s what everyone keeps telling him to do.

Hiccup nods, again, this time more hesitant. He drags his gaze up to Viggo. “Okay,” he pulls his arms in and away from the other man. “Fine. I’ll go with you to your village. But! We are not acting like we’re in some kind of relationship. As far as I’m concerned, you’re still my enemy and we’re still fighting. I’m only doing this for my own sake.”

Viggo opens his mouth, but Hiccup doesn’t care what he has to say.

“AND I want the truth about what happened. You owe me the truth about whatever you did to me or whatever schemes you tried to pull and whatever crazy things happened that led to us being engaged .”

“Of course, my dear.”

That elicits another growl from the dragon rider.

“Shall we start over dinner?”

The chief is far too happy for the circumstances. Hiccup hasn’t agreed to anything that should make Viggo light up the way he has. He shouldn’t be acting as if he knows Hiccup won’t be scared off by the truths he’ll have to share or that any of this will end as a win for him.

“I’m going to bed.”

“First door on your left.”

He knows anything he tries to say will only encourage Viggo, so Hiccup graces the man with one last glare, then takes his leave. As per Viggo’s directions, there’s a bedroom in the room next to the office. It houses a sizable bed and a scant amount of personal belongings that make it clear this isn’t some random guest room. The scent that fills his nose when he opens the door makes his heart clench. Something inside him recognizes it as Viggo and there must be some strong memories attached to it because suddenly Hiccup wants to cry.

The slamming of the door echoes down the empty halls.

Worried he may actually cry, Hiccup goes to the next door and finds a smaller room more reminiscent of the one he and his father stayed in on Ryker’s ship.

He ducks inside and Toothless slips through the door before it can close. Wanting nothing more than to hide himself away, Hiccup tucks himself under his dragon’s wing as soon as the nightfury is ready.

It’s still early for rest and he hasn’t had dinner and Toothless is still decked out in his flying gear and he should probably touch base with his father. Hiccup closes his eyes.

They’ll understand if he needs some time. He can take care of all of these things later, once his eyes stop tearing up and the lump in his throat disappears.

Chapter Text

He wakes in the middle of the night, his body restless from going to sleep so early the night before. There are only a few hunters manning the ship and they hardly bother Hiccup as he strolls the deck. All except one.

“Ev’ning,” he gives Hiccup a nod.

“Oh, uh, hey,” Hiccup doesn’t know what to say to the man. His hand goes to the back of his neck and he stands there awkwardly.

“I’m Arne. You work with my uncle in the forge.”

“I do? Or did?” When they return to Dalir, will he go back to working there?

“Aye.”

Conversation stalls. Arne fiddles with his axe. Hiccup looks up at the stars.

“Did we know each other well?” Hiccup dares to ask.

Arne chuckles. “Eh, we weren’t unfamiliar with each other. You been making lots of changes to the chief’s business. I liked watching you work, wanted to see what my job will turn into.”

“Changes? What kinds of changes?”

“Somethin’ with dragon scales. You were gonna teach my uncle and some of the rest of us soon enough. Said you found a way to fireproof stuff without using dragon skins.”

That’s incredible. That’s something he can use on his other projects, something he can use on Toothless’ tail so they don’t have another Red Death incident. And armor! He could create completely fireproof armor.

“Really!” He stops himself as a thought occurs to him, “what was Viggo planning on doing with that?” Sure it’s cool for his own projects, but Viggo would see the business potential in it the same way he saw the business potential in gronkle iron. Did he create another product for the man’s empire? Will dragons somehow suffer from his creation?

“Replacing dragon skins.”

“Replacing as in ‘not harvesting dragon skins’ anymore?” Hiccup is skeptical. There’s no way Viggo would let go of what’s sure to be one of his top selling products.

“Aye! You were coming up with other things, too, I think. Lots o’ changes for the business.” Arne doesn’t sound disappointed by the prospect.

“And you’re… okay with those changes?”

“The way the chief’s been acting, I don’t think I ‘ave a choice. Might as well learn it sooner and keep a job.”

Hiccup hums, thinking.

“Not all the hunters agree, of course. Plenty want to keep our ways and I can’t disagree; this is the life I know. The chief and Ryker are in on it, so there’s not much to argue, is there?”

You can always argue with the chief, Hiccup wants to say. Viggo probably wouldn’t appreciate it, plus it would work against Hiccup’s goals.

“Can I ask you something?”

Arne nods.

“What…” he doesn’t know how to phrase his question, has to think about it for a moment. “What was I like in Dalir? With Viggo?”

“Oh, um, you seemed happy, I guess? Happier when you were with the chief or working in the forge.”

“Did anyone know what Viggo was up to?” Was the whole tribe in on the man’s plans to keep Hiccup or was he just some guy Viggo brought home with him?

“We were told you ‘ad amnesia and to act like you were engaged to the chief. One day a rumor went around that you never lost your memories in the first place, but you stayed anyways.” Arne shrugs, “we were expectin’ you to run, but you stayed and you stayin’ meant the chief wasn’t as harsh on the rest of us. Plus our families warmed up to you quick.”

That’s not what he was expecting to hear.

“Thank you. For telling me all of that.”

“Course.” Arne walks off with a friendly smile. It’s weird to not see the usual smirk or ill-intent on a hunter’s face.

Hiccup looks out over the ocean. Somewhere beyond that horizon is a village full of hunters and some of those hunters are gearing up to have their entire careers changed on them because of one dragon rider. It feels too easy compared to the struggles he went through on Berk just to get them to see dragons as something other than mindless beasts.

His feet carry him below deck and back towards his room. There’s a temptation to barge into Viggo’s room and demand they have their talk, now. It could work in his favor if the man is groggy enough to not hold his tongue. On the other hand, Hiccup remembers the reaction his body had the last time he was in Viggo’s room. He doesn’t feel like battling tears while demanding answers from the dragon hunter chief.

Sighing, he walks past Viggo’s room and back to his own. He could surely use another few hours of sleep before Toothless wakes for a sunrise flight.

As predicted, the nightfury is awake before the sun can even think about touching the sky. The dragon bounces around the tiny room until Hiccup concedes and grabs the flight equipment. They ascend to the top deck to get ready, Toothless still bouncing in place and only calming when Arne shows up with a basket of fish.

When Hiccup mounts, the dragon pauses before launching them into the air. He looks around and towards the stairs going into the ship as if waiting for someone to join them. No one appears and Toothless grunts, finally taking to the sky.

They take to their normal routine, warming up with some basic aerial maneuvers until the sun peeks over the morning clouds. The flight turns quickly into more daring moves and freefalls and skimming the surface of the sea before making the climb back to the heavens.

On one particular dive, Hiccup catches sight of Viggo watching them. It could be a trick of the light, but it almost looks like longing painted on the man’s face and he has to wonder if they ever flew together. Did he share the sky with Viggo? Did he show the man how amazing it is to soar through the clouds on the back of a magnificent fire breathing beast and know that none of your responsibilities can touch you?

The Viggo he was at war with might not be able to appreciate it, but the Viggo that’s willing to change his entire business might enjoy it.

They come back down and Toothless hones in on the chief. Hiccup barely manages to escape the saddle before the dragon trots up to Viggo and greets him with a hard nudge along his side. Viggo grins at the nightfury and runs one hand over his scales, eyes soft and voice murmuring something Hiccup can’t hear.

It’s unsettling and nothing like Hiccup would expect from the man.

“Good morning, darling. Sleep well?” Viggo addresses Hiccup. He makes a noncommittal sound in lew of an answer. His eyes stay focused on the absentminded way Viggo continues to pet Toothless and the dragon soaks in the attention. “Care to join me for breakfast?”

Hiccup would rather eat in his room or find his father or take a swim in the frigid cold of the sea. But it would be a good opportunity to finally ask his questions. After his talk with Arne the previous night, Hiccup has plenty of questions for Viggo.

“Alright.”

They make their way to Viggo’s office and Hiccup sits in the seat he’s spent many an hour being interrogated in while the dragon hunter chief seats himself opposite. The breakfast between them is simple and tempting and out of habit Hiccup hesitates to take any of it until Viggo takes the first bite, just to be sure.

A few uncomfortable moments pass as they eat.

Hiccup’s still unsettled by the benevolent display earlier, the way Viggo and Toothless interacted so peacefully. It’s suddenly harder to muster the anger he felt the day before and now he doesn’t know where to start his questions.

Viggo seems completely unphased. He leisurely eats, subtly sneaking glances at Hiccup, patiently waiting for the interrogation to begin.

Hiccup coughs to break the silence, nearly dropping the bit of bread he was nibbling on.

“What happened?” He decides to start at the beginning.

“That’s a broad question, my dear,” Viggo retorts.

“You —” Hiccup blows a breath out of his nose, “the beginning, the start, why did you think I’d forgotten everything? Why did you bring me back to your homeland?”

“Ah,” Viggo leans back in his chair, his eyes remaining locked on the platter between them. “When we found you, you were disoriented. Confused. It didn’t seem as if you knew who I was and I saw that as an opportunity.”

Hiccup waits for more. Viggo doesn’t continue.

“But what happened? ”

“Hiccup—”

Hiccup scoots forward in his chair, arms near flailing as he finds his momentum, “how did we go from fighting each other every other day to sharing a bed and convincing an entire tribe that we’re in love? It’s not— it doesn’t make sense, I can’t figure out what happened between A and B to get us here .”

Viggo finally looks at him and there’s something hard on the edges of his gaze as if Hiccup said something so completely insulting.

“Did you ever wonder what would have happened had we met under different circumstances?”

“Different circumstances as in ‘not after you kidnapped my friend and put me and my other friends through several trials to get her back’ kind of circumstances?”

Viggo grants him an amused huff.

“Different circumstances as in ‘not on opposing sides’. Perhaps a world where you never brought peace to your tribe and still harbored an… unsavory opinion of dragons.”

Hiccup opens his mouth to protest such a hypothetical world, but Viggo switches direction before he can.

“Or perhaps a world where my tribe didn’t hunt the beasts. Maybe simply a world where we met on common ground instead of on the premise of war. Do you think we would get along, then?”

Hiccup can’t deny having the thought as they delved deeper into their war. On nights where he was up late planning and inventing some way to outmaneuver Viggo, when that intrusive niggling came through that asked “what will Viggo think, will he be impressed with this?”, when his friends failed to understand his mind and he’d think “Viggo would understand this and improve on it.” Hiccup had wondered before what it would be like to have Viggo on his side.

This time Viggo leans in as Hiccup droops into his seat, eyes averted.

“Two intelligent minds both enthralled with dragons and discovery, allowed to bond outside the constraints of their tribes and morals and social pressures. Do you think something more would develop between them? Between us?”

On that basis alone, yes. If it were just about their intelligence and passion for dragons, then yes he would fall for that person. Hasn’t he always had something of a crush on anyone that shows even the slightest interest in his work and ideas?

Hiccup blinks out of his thoughts, sits up straight, and looks at Viggo, again. “In this world, you hunt dragons. You kill dragons and use them for your business. You throw your men into battle like they’re nothing. How did we ignore that? How did I ignore that?”

A softness creeps into Viggo’s gaze. Hiccup could almost believe him kind with eyes so soft, almost warm, looking at him like a puzzle he once intimately knew yet can’t quite figure out in this new light.

“I can’t claim to know what was happening in those early months. You never told me why you played along, I just know that at some point we came to an unspoken agreement to pretend like our war didn’t matter.”

“You never asked about it?”

"I granted you your freedom and you chose to stay. Why would I ever waste my time wondering about your motivations when I was already sure that you are mine?"

Hiccup lets that sink in, lets the claim bounce around in his head.

“So what do you know about me?”

The moment it’s out of his mouth and the smirk spreads across Viggo’s face, Hiccup regrets asking. He’s very aware that they did more than simply share time with one another. The man across from him has seen and touched places on Hiccup that no one else has and he was doing a really good job of not thinking about that part of his absence.

They speak at the same time.

“Would you like me to show you?”

“You know what, I should go.”

Excitement on deck catches their attention before Hiccup can flee. They look up at the sound of hunters rushing from one end of the deck to the other and shouting warnings to one another. The entire ship jolts as several large forms land in a purposefully haphazard formation.

“I guess Dagur’s distraction didn’t work,” Hiccup says.

The door lurches open and Stoick sticks his head in, eyes instantly connecting with his son’s, an apology written all over his face. Hiccup nods in acknowledgement, face pinching in a grimace. His father squeezes into the room and grasps Hiccup’s shoulder in his large hand.

“I’ll take care of it. You keep heading for Dalir and Dagur and I will meet you there once the riders are secure on Berk.” He squeezes back out the door, turning to give Hiccup one last instruction, “avoid the deck until we’re out of sight. I don’t want them blowing the ship up the moment they know you can fly off.” He looks at Viggo and almost reluctantly adds, “you, too. I can’t stop them from trying to blow you up the second they see you.”

Stoick gives them a solid assured nod and heads for the surface. Hiccup catches Snotlout’s voice shouting something about explosions and decides maybe this time he’ll follow his father’s instructions. As much as he’d love to cause Viggo problems, the hunters have been unexpectedly nice and he’s not finished interrogating the man about his time on Dalir. He’ll let his father handle the riders even if it leaves him and Toothless alone.

Hiccup looks at Viggo. He has a sour look on his face, though Hiccup can’t be sure whether it’s from someone giving him orders or from the arrival of the dragon riders. Their eyes connect.

“A break, perhaps?”

“Yeah,” Hiccup nods, looking back towards the door, “that… sounds like a good idea.”

Chapter Text

He wakes up and knows without having to see that the sky has filled with swollen gray clouds, the change in pressure wreaking havoc on his stump. The logical part of him says to stay in bed. The stubbornness in him says to get up and see if there's any work to be done on deck before the rain releases.

So Hiccup hauls himself up, allows himself only a moment to rub at what's left of his leg to ease its aching, then starts preparing for the day. Within a few paces, he has the limping under control and he's ready to face the outside.

Toothless is waiting at his door. His friend recognizes this weather and the consequences of it on Hiccup's body and he's ready to support the viking however he needs. Though the look on the dragon's face gives away how much he'd rather Hiccup stay in bed to rest. Regardless, Toothless is a constant support at his rider's side and Hiccup is grateful for it.

That is until they reach the deck and his dragon immediately hones in on Viggo's location, calling out to the chief as if to say "hey! Come get your idiot!" And Viggo, to Hiccup's surprise, answers the summons.

Quick as lightning flashing across the heavens, Viggo is on his other side with an arm out to steady him. Petulantly, Hiccup thwaps it away. His nerves are already alight from the weather, nearly all his energy devoted to hiding the pain he’s in. The last thing he wants to deal with is Viggo’s unexpected caring side.

But when a pang shoots up from his stump and he can’t hide the grunt of discomfort, there’s little the dragon rider can do to stop the chief from shuffling him back to his room. “His” being Viggo’s, Hiccup realizes as that same scent invades his nose and makes his eyes sting with tears and he almost hopes it can be interpreted as tears from physical pain rather than an untapped emotional pain. He keeps his head down to avoid confronting it.

Viggo eases him down to the bed, shifting him until his legs are propped up. Hiccup glares as the dragon hunter’s hands move fluidly to remove the metal prosthetic, setting it aside with care. It’s tempting to kick at the man, his leg even twitches as if it wants to, but Toothless is quicker. The dragon butts his head forward to get a sniff in at Hiccup’s stump and, despite the betrayal, he doesn’t want to kick his best friend right in the face on accident.

A large hand gently pushes Toothless’ head away. That same hand moves to inspect what remains of Hiccup’s leg, thumbs soothing over spots where his prosthetic rubbed roughly against a swell, palms hovering over the more sensitive parts. Bit by bit, Viggo massages some of the tension away and Hiccup can’t help but settle back into the bed.

The glare leaves his brow and he closes his eyes as he lets the pillows take him. If he pretends hard enough, he can almost believe it’s someone else helping him. He may be sparing on who he allows to touch his stump, but in the early months of healing and getting used to the ebbing and flowing pains, other amputees lent him a great deal of help. They showed him how to massage away the worst of it, gave him direction on how to ease the smaller pangs, didn’t look down on him for letting Toothless hold his weight as he learned to walk again.

The longer the hands knead at his stump, the less he cares to pretend. Hiccup’s brain drops into a gooey state as the tension releases and the warmth of those hands fights off any sharpness beneath his skin and the sway of the boat lulls him.

He hums, content.

Of course that’s the moment Viggo pushes at the boundaries Hiccup firmly has in place.

Steadily, those calloused hands work their way higher up his leg in strokes that barely stretch beyond what’s appropriate, teasing at his thigh where a tingling rush blooms and tickles at the memories locked deep in Hiccup’s mind. The scent of Viggo all around him doesn’t help and behind his closed eyelids he can almost see pieces of what he’s forgotten.

Hands like this, like today, that sooth away the pains of a leg lost to an inferno

Hands that are rough with him, but not mean, they’re passionate and spark heat in his belly

Hands that are tender, reverent across his bare skin, that touch even when he’s covered in sweat or dragon spit or soot

Hands that are firm at his back when he needs support, around his waist when they soar through the sky, the back of his neck when a kiss sears through him

Hiccup jolts his leg out of Viggo’s grasp and hauls himself higher on the bed until he’s sitting against the wall. His stare is wide, nearly matching Viggo’s right back at him.

“Hiccup…”

He shakes his head at the man, head still scrambled from the onslaught of almost memories.

“I–”

The ship lurches. A firm hand keeps Hiccup from being vaulted from the bed. It burns at his skin.

“You should go help… up there,” Hiccup says, his voice feeling smaller than ever. He adjusts himself to a proper sitting position once more, eyes avoiding the dragon hunter. A hand twitches in his peripheral. Hiccup pulls his stump closer, tucks it under his other leg.

Viggo addresses Toothless, “keep him here.” Only after the dragon nods his assent does Viggo leave the room.

It’s several minutes later that Hiccup finally comes back to himself enough to pull the heavy blankets out from under him and tuck his legs into their comfort. Viggo’s scent is even stronger as he cocoons himself. His fingers automatically go for the ring beneath his shirt, pads smoothing over the intricate metal dragon.

He wonders if he can get the memories back by surrounding himself in the dragon hunter. Could it be that easy? Does he want it to be that easy? If he sleeps in Viggo’s bed and lets the man’s hands touch his skin and stops fighting it all, will he wake up with his lost memories at the front of his brain?

Though Viggo’s essence engulfs him, no other moments are awakened. Hiccup falls into a sleepless rest with the dragon hunter’s rich musk weighing him down and the sound of a storm unleashing above. Toothless props himself on the bed, head plopped on his chest to keep him in place as the ship sways.

Hours after his attempt to help on deck and after Viggo swiftly stomped on that notion, the man returns. A while ago, Hiccup had noticed the ship slow its lurching, the frantic steps of the crew matching pace as the ship stopped teetering from one extreme to the next. Rain continues to pitter patter like a continuous flow of stones pelting against wood, but the worst of it seems to have passed.

When Viggo enters the room, he looks tired in a way Hiccup hasn’t seen before. On top of the clear physical exhaustion of running through a storm, the chief is soaked all the way through.

He pauses a moment, hand on the closed door keeping him steady as the room rocks. His eyes find Hiccup wrapped up in his bed and an almost grin tweaks at the corner of his lips. “Cozy, are we?”

Hiccup glares and grunts at the hunter.

“How’s your leg, darling?”

And maybe the only benefit of the unexpected memories is that they offered a distraction from the usual pain that keeps him up during a storm. So focused was his brain on deciphering the flickers of moments, he hardly noticed the throbbing of his stump in the hours Viggo was occupied. Even now, the pain only barely makes itself known.

“Fine.”

Viggo’s gaze stays on him, analyzing. Whatever lie he must be hoping to capture Hiccup in, he doesn’t find it. Satisfied, he begins stripping his sopping wet clothes from his body and once more Hiccup finds his brain to be a step behind.

“What are you…”

This time Viggo lets the smirk slip on, side eyeing the dragon rider as another garment is peeled off to join the growing puddle of clothes and armor on the floor.

“I’m simply changing into something dry, my dear. I have other work to tend to below deck and I’m not keen on doing it while soaked.”

There’s skin. So much more skin than Hiccup has seen exposed on the dragon hunter and he’s built the same way Astrid is in the regard that no part of him is weak. Viggo may be small compared to his fellow tribesmen, but every bit of him is muscle that Hiccup is far too aware of and oh gods what would it feel like to have those thighs pressing against his own as they fly together and oh gods what is he even thinking??

“Unless you’d care for some company,” Viggo suggests, eyes alight and smoldering.

Hiccup launches himself from the bed, aiming for the door and trying desperately to make sure none of his skin touches Viggo’s. It’s a close call when Viggo instinctively goes to catch him. His prosthetic is somewhere else and he dearly hopes Toothless will grab it when the dragon follows him out, but any time he could take to search for the fake leg and secure it on is more time Viggo could manipulate him into another one of his “traps.”

He’s still undecided on the memories situation. While his pride wants to keep everything locked away and move on with his life in some new direction, the part of him that’s horribly curious wants those memories back and wants to see more of the Viggo that’s kind and wants to see the Dragon Hunter Empire change into something even Berk could never become.

“Don’t let him on the deck,” he hears Viggo instruct Toothless as he hops his way to his own room. The only people in Hiccup’s life that have successfully instructed the nightfury on how to care for his rider are his father and Gobber. Not even Astrid at the best of times has been able to order Toothless around without getting an eye roll for her efforts.

He wants to be mad about it.

But his chest feels warm knowing Toothless trusts another someone with his wellbeing.

Not to mention the other parts of himself that are feeling warm after the show Viggo put on. Right now it seems the key to his memories are in the things his body remembers over his mind and that is absolutely not something Hiccup is going to dwell on as he isolates himself once more.

The next day is no better.

The rain has mostly subsided, but the clouds above are prone to flashing in an electric light show that Hiccup doesn’t dare venture into, which leaves him and Toothless grounded yet again. To add to his suffering, his stump still aches and he refuses to let Viggo touch it in fear his body will react like the previous day. So he limps along the edges of the deck actively avoiding the dragon hunter chief and glaring fiercely any time the man dares to approach.

Toothless is little help. The nightfury takes to the air in short bursts from mast to mast, a shadow that follows Hiccup in his steady gait around the ship and acts as a beacon for Viggo to always know where the dragon rider is. If it weren’t for everything being slicked with rainwater, Hiccup might try to join his friend above. At least then Viggo couldn’t get to him.

Instead, he leans along the rails and studies the sky for a break in the clouds that he and Toothless might be able to take advantage of.

No break comes and Hiccup goes to bed with a jittering under his skin and a sore stump.

The rain is heavier the next day and Hiccup almost throws caution to the wind. His hand keeps reaching for the saddle as if to haul himself onto it just to pivot when a blast of thunder echoes in the air. Toothless is just as wound up, looking as if he’d let Hiccup mount and take to the sky if only he asked.

Viggo and the rest of the crew keep steady eyes on them. For the first time since reuniting, Hiccup feels the tension of hunters watching his every move like predators getting ready to pounce the moment he attempts escape.

The jittering under his skin gets worse as the day goes on with no chance of flying and barely any time getting to be on deck with how dangerous the sea has become with the constant storms. He takes to pacing the hall outside his room, fingers twiddling his ring, metal leg clicking heavily with each uneven step. Hiccup knows he needs to get off his leg, but the rest of his body refuses to settle unless he gets to fly but he can’t fly with all the rain and the lightning and the pain in his stump and the matching pain Toothless is under and maybe if they flew low enough except there are hunters watching them from every angle waiting for them to try to fly and —

—and he runs into a body and firm arms wrap him up and lead him to the room that smells like home and makes him want to cry and clutch even harder at the ring he wants to put on but won’t until he gets the full story on how he got to where he is.

He's restless restless restless trapped inside and pacing and trying to stay quiet. The rest of the hall is asleep, the children long ago lulled by bedtime stories and the adults having settled soon after, yet he's still awake and restless. Cold stabs at his stump and he feels the weight of being grounded for so long, of the winter keeping him inside and the storms banning him from the sky. He doesn't notice the arrival of someone until large hands rest on his shoulders, guide him back up the stairs and to a bed kept warm by a single occupant. His body gravitates towards the center of that warm spot even as his leg muscles twitch and his arms stretch and twist and beg for invisible wings to take him away.

A weight engulfs him, a physical weight not the ones plaguing his psyche, and steadily he feels the twitchiness ease away. His limbs are entangled by another's and it calms the flutter of his heart until his mind can follow suit and his exhaustion can overtake him.

Rain continues its staccato outside, but it doesn’t stab at Hiccup’s brain like before. It’s peaceful, this time, in the way that he can imagine waking to the smell of it on an island with arms holding him steady and a body pressed against his own.

Like now.

It’s the most stable he’s felt since the storms began, maybe even since he woke on Dragon’s Edge to a late fall that was actually mid spring.

Viggo shifts and Hiccup realizes just how entwined they are. The man is practically draped over him, legs strategically positioned to sit heavy atop his own, arms stretched around him, large hands interlocked with his smaller ones. Not a piece of him is free to move.

The jittering under his skin is gone.

Exhaustion drags him back under.

He wakes again, much less restrained. Viggo is still in the bed, still too close for Hiccup’s awake mind to be comfortable with, but the restlessness of the last few days is out of his body and it allows his brain to wonder what happened.

Flipping so he’s facing the dragon hunter, Hiccup contemplates whether the man would resort to drugging him to keep him from flying off into the rain.

Viggo reaches for him, eyes blissfully closed, face relaxed. Hiccup bats his hand away before it can wrap around his waist and pull him back into the too-comfortable embrace. Viggo peeks his eyes open, a drowsy grin taking over his lips.

“Back with it, I see,” he says in a voice that’s husky from sleep and that Hiccup’s body reacts to with that tingling warmth he feels more and more in Viggo’s presence.

“What did you do to me?”

Viggo huffs a laugh, eyes slipping closed, again. “More specific, my dear.”

Hiccup gives him a frustrated growl in return. “How’d I end up here?” Viggo’s grin widens and Hiccup knows there’s a snarky answer coming his way, so he butts in, “in your bed. Right now. Or last night? I guess? I was outside my room last night, so how did I end up in your bed instead?”

The dragon hunter rolls to his back, stretching his limbs with a groan before sinking back into the softness of the blankets.

“There were nights in the winter where you were restless from being grounded. Toothless was, too, but the cold was enough to make him practically hibernate. You, on the other hand, refused to settle. You were like a sparrow flitting around the hall all night.” At this he adds a fluttering motion with his hands, eyes finding Hiccup’s in a side gaze. “I found that if I could drag you to bed and weigh you down, the exhaustion would finally catch up to your body and you would eventually submit to sleep.”

He turns his head to address Hiccup fully, eyes sincere, “I know these storms have kept you out of the sky and if land were in sight you wouldn’t hesitate to claim your domain regardless of the risks. Hold on a few more days, my dear, and the skies will be yours once more.”

A lump forms in his throat.

Has anyone ever granted him such a promise? For all the times someone has told him to wait for a storm to pass before flying, it’s never sounded like that . Like they understand how his soul calls out for the open blues above and below, how he needs to feel the weightlessness of the clouds over his skin.

“Would you fly with me when they’re mine, again?” His hand clutches his ring and Viggo’s eyes catch the action.

“Of course.” He doesn’t hesitate.

In the time before, Hiccup is sure this is where they would kiss (and he thinks back to his arrival on the ship when Viggo did kiss him but he was too stunned and angry to want it). They would kiss and maybe more or maybe they’d already be out the door and in the sky and it would be exactly what Hiccup wants.

In the absence of that, Hiccup opts to not bolt the moment Viggo lifts himself from bed to get ready for the day.

Toothless has yet to fetch him, so he assumes either the rain persists or the clouds are filled with lightning. Just the thought of another day without the skies surrounding him has an echo of jitteriness running through him, though not nearly as bad as it has been. Rather than jump into his routine pacing, Hiccup stays a little longer beneath the covers dozing through the morning.

He hopes engulfing himself in Viggo’s blankets and his scent and his arms will be enough to bring back more of his memories.

Wind whips past his face, stinging his cheeks, creating a chill that even his armor can't keep at bay. But there's warmth at his back and arms around his waist and a deep laugh in his ears as he soars higher into the clouds. They begin the drop and for a moment gravity pulls him into the body behind him and he's never felt safer than right there, surrounded by endless sky with scaled wings holding him up and sturdy arms cradling him.