Another one-shot! I just want to get this up because I might not be posting for another two weeks… or at least not as much. I have a lot of school work to do so yeah. :)
This one was requested by… ME AGAIN! XD
Enjoy this one-shot! Mother/Son bonding! :D
Valka looked up at the stairs, tapping her foot impatiently. When would Hiccup get up? It wasn't like him to stay in bed so long in the morning- especially since he became chief a month ago. He'd been going nonstop since, and had always been up extremely early in the morning to go for a flight on Toothless then off to do whatever chiefting duties they day brought.
Toothless was by her side, having woken up a long time ago, but had noticed how Hiccup was still sleeping, an dhad decided to let him rest. He realized how much he needed his rest… he'd seemed so out of it and tired yesterday that Toothless decided he could go without his morning flight.
Valka looked back outside and at how high the sun wa sin the sky. It must be nearly half past eight. Hiccup should've been up hours ago.
"Hiccup?" Valka asked, starting to go up the stairs. She was beginning to get concerned. Maybe he was more exhausted then she'd first thought.
She stepped onto his loft and tiptoed to his bed. Toothless was following her, trying carefully to be quiet. Valka stopped beside his bed, peering over the heap of blankets to try, and see his face. The blankets were pulled up to his nose though, so she couldn't get a good look. Toothless crawled over to the other side of the bed, and sat down. He looked at Hiccup then up at Valka with his head quirked to the side in question.
Valka set her hand on Hiccup's shoulder and gave it a little shake. "Hiccup?" she asked quietly. "It's getting pretty late." Hiccup would be frustrated with both her and Toothless if they didn't wake him up soon, and she knew it. She understood why too, so, as much as she hated to, she tried to wake him up.
"Hiccup?" she asked a little louder, shaking him again. He groaned in answer, trying to roll back over. Valka smiled at his sleepy grumble over waking up.
"Come on, son. If you don't wake up, I'll have Toothless lick you till you do." Hiccup moaned again as he tried to pull the blankets over his head. Valka paused, listening closely. His breathing sounded a little deeper then she thought they should, even if he was asleep. Hiccup didn't snore, so this worried her. He moaned again, and she realized to her concern that it sounded more like a moan of pain instead of a moan of sleepiness.
"Hiccup, do you feel alright?" she asked reaching her and into the blankets in search of his head. Hiccup mumbled something that she couldn't understand under the mound of blankets.
Her hand finally touched her skin, and she withdrew it sharply. He definitely had a fever, and a high one at that. How long had he had it?
"Hiccup, I know you're sick, so come on out so I can figure out what you have… please, son."
Hiccup moved under the blankets, then came his raspy voice, "I'm fine, Mom. I'll be up in a little bit… just give me a few more minutes…"
Valka shook her head. How did Hiccup expect to get up, much less chief when he had as high a fever as this? The boy was so stubborn it was unbelievable. Well… not quite because Valka remembered how stubborn Stoick was, and how stubborn she herself was. So it was no surprise Hiccup's stubborn level should be higher than most.
"Mom, you can go. I'll get up in a bit. I'm fine, okay?" Hiccup's voice came again from under the covers. Valka shook her head and took hold of the blanket, tossing it off Hiccup's head and upper body. He was curled into himself, with one of his knees against his chest, and to her surprise he was shivering.
"Hiccup, you are not fine…" Valka placed her hand onto his sweaty forehead again. It felt abnormally hot. "How long have you had a fever?"
"Don't h-have… a f-f-fever." Hiccup mumbled between chattering teeth. "F-f-freezing." He rasped as reache for the blanket again, pulling it over himself up to his chin. "Wh-wh-why's it s-s-so c—c-cold?"
Toothless cooed worriedly and laid his head beside his riders, nudging it gently. Hiccup brought a hand out from under the blanket to touch the dragon's nose. "S-s-sorry… B-b-bud. Missed m-morning… ride." Toothless cooed again as though to say, "Don't worry, I understand. You don't feel good."
Hiccup coughed hoarsely, trying to muffle the sound with his cupped hand. "Iz nuthin, Mom." He mumbled behind his hand.
Valka knelt down beside the bed, "Oh, Hiccup." She said gently, raking her hands through his messy and sweaty hand. "You can't hide your illness from me, Hiccup. I'm your mother- mother's see everything you know."
"Don't really… I've only had one for a month…" Hiccup said sleepily and in that raspy voice, still heavy with sleep and illness.
Valka's face fell and her heart felt heavy. Yes… that was true. How she wished she had come back. Hiccup had been neglected so much… he deserved better.
"Well, I know you're sick, and you won't be leaving that bed today at all. I'll have Gobber take over your duties for you today… okay Hiccup? You need a break anyways." Valka stood and went to the stairs. "I'll be right back." She paused and looked at Toothless. "Don't le thim get up, Toothless." Toothless nodded and lifted his head, setting it down on Hiccup's chest, pinning him to the bed.
"Uhhh Toothless… no you too…" Hiccup groaned tiredly as he weakly tried to push the dragon away, failing miserably.
Valka returned a few moments later with a wooden bucket in her hands, filled to the brim with ice water. She set it down beside Hiccup and took out a rag from the water, ringing it out and placing it on his hot forhead. Hiccup moaned in contentment and self-consciously leaned against her hand.
"That feels good." He said quietly as he let his eyes close.
Valka smiled and leaned back. "What hurts, Hiccup? Does anything hurt specifically?"
Hiccup paused then answered, "No." just a simple word, and Valka knew instantly that he was lying.
Valka said sternly but gently, "The truth, Hiccup. What hurts?"
Hiccup sighed, "Well… my throat hurts some… and my stomach is a little queasy… not bad though."
Valka frowned and leaned forward. "Open your mouth."
Hiccup looked startled as he looked at her, "Wh-what? Wh-why." He was shivering again, his body racked with chills from his fever.
"I want to see your throat." Valka explained. Hiccup looked at her again, but complied.
Just as she expected, there was white in the back of his throat, indicating Strep. "Oh, Hiccup…" she said softly. He closed his mouth and groaned.
"I'm pretty sure you have Strep Throat." She said pulling the blankets around him a bit more, then rewetting the rag and placing it back on his forehead. He leaned against it again, sighing with content.
"Whats… that?" Hiccup asked hoarsely, coughing again and wincing at the pain it caused.
"It's where you're throat hurts pretty bad… and sometimes you can get nauseous… do you feel nauseous, Hiccup?"
"Y-yeah… kinda do. Not bad though…" he moved as he curled into himself. "Gahh…" he groaned.
"Oh, son." Valka sat on the edge of his bed, pushing her hands soothingly through his hair. It was grimy and sweaty, but she didn't mind. Hiccup leaned into the touch of her cool hand.
"Go to sleep, alright? I'll be right here if you need anything. If it gets any worse, I'll go get Gothi… alright?"
Hiccup nodded before nodding back off into a feverish sleep. Toothless sighed as he watched his sick rider, then turned his gaze back to Valka.
Valka smiled and rubbed the dragons head. "Don't worry, Toothless. It's just a virus. He'll be just fine in a couple of days." Toothless purred and turned back to Hiccup, his face pinched in worry.
"Could you go get Astrid, Toothless? She'll want to know why he's not up and about-" she was interrupted by the sound of the knock on the door. "Oh, never mind. That's probably her." Valka stood up, brushed her hands against Hiccup's hot cheek lovingly, then turned and headed down the stairs.
Valka swung the door open, revealing Astrid standing there, Stormfly standing not far behind her.
"Morning, Valka!" she called out cheerily. She paused when she saw Valka's face. "Is something wrong? You look worried."
"Hiccup's sick." Valka said simply. "Could you stay with him while I go and talk to Gothi? I think he has strep and I just want to know what the best way is to treat it."
Astrid nodded and stepped inside, hurriedly taking off her coat. "He keeps over working himself." Astrid said under her breath. "I knew he would get sick. I warned him. But does he listen? No. He's Hiccup. He never listens. Sometimes I think he's worse than the twins…" she went on as she headed towards the stairs. Valka shook her head and smiled at the girl. When was Hiccup just going to purpose to the girl? They'd been dating for almost a year now- well- she'd been told they'd been dating for the last five years- but it just became official a year ago.
Astrid tromped up the stairs two at a time, anxious to see Hiccup. As much as she was frustrated with him for not listening, she couldn't help but feel concerned. Hiccup had always gotten sick easily, and when he did get sick, he seemed to get it worse then normal.
Toothless was sitting beside the bed where a figure lay under lots of blankets. Toothless looked up and smiled happily at seeing Astrid, knowing that the girl would take good care of Hiccup.
Astrid stepped forward, pulling Hiccup's chair away from his desk beside the bed. She looked up at Toothless, "How's he doing?" she asked quietly. Toothless cooed, just as quiet, before looking back down at the sick chief.
Astrid pulled the blanket down a little so she could at least see his face. His hair was sweaty, and some of his bangs clung to his equally sweaty forehead. His face was flushed from the fever he had, and although he was sweating profusely, he was shivering uncontrollably.
"Oh, Hiccup." Astrid whispered, wiping her hand across his face. He mumbled incoherently and pressed his head against the coolness of her hand. "Why do you do this to yourself?"
Toothless cooed in agreement, nudging Hiccup's shoulder gently.
"Ughh…" Hiccup moaned as he rolled over. Astrid noticed the damp rag that lay on the bed beside him, and realized what it must be for. She grabbed it and rewet it in the cool bucket of water beside the bed, replacing it on his forehead. He groaned again and let out a hoarse cough.
Hiccup's eyes opened slowly, and he blinked as he looked up at her, as though not quite seeing correctly.
"A-Astrid? Whatcha doin here?" he mumbled.
"You idiot." Astrid said softly, "You've been working too hard… you know that right?"
"Yeah… sorta gathered that…"
"So, you'll listen when we tell you take it easy?"
"Well… no… probably…"
Astrid sighed in defeat. "Hiccup will you ever learn to listen?" she asked in a mix of frustration and concern.
"Probably not… I'm a Viking… stubbornness issues." Hiccup smiled lazily as his eyes blinked back sleep.
Astrid patted his shoulder, "Go to sleep, Hiccup. You're barely awake now as it is."
Hiccup closed his eyes, for once actually listening to her.
Astrid rewet the rag and placed it back on his head. Then she sat back and watched the steady rise and fall of his chest as he slept.
Valka returned not long after, quietly creeping up the stairs.
She carried a bowl that steamed a foul smell from within it. Astrid cringed and stood up. Everyone was terrified of Valka's cooking, Hiccup had even admitted that she was worse than Astrid- which Astrid had taken as a complete insult. Her cooking wasn't that bad, was it?
Well, for one thing, it definitely was not as bad as Valka's.
"What is that?" Astrid asked, resisting the urge to pinch her nose. Even Toothless back up as Valka approached the bed. If… whatever was in the bowl… wasn't fit for dragons, how could it be fit for a human?
"Something Gothi concocted. Don't panic, I didn't cook it." Valka laughed quietly. "Oh, he's asleep again?"
Astrid nodded. "He's exhausted."
Valka walked to Hiccup's bedside. Toothless backed up, shaking his head feverishly as the smell from the bowl grew closer. Valka laughed again before giving Hiccup's shoulder a little shake.
"Hiccup, I have something that'll make you feel better." Hiccup moaned and rolled over, blinkinig up at his mother.
"Oh, hi Mom." He said, his voice raspy. His nose wrinkled as he took in the smell. "Please tell me you're not going to feed me that… Toothless won't even go near it." Toothless grunted in agreement.
Valka shot Hiccup a stern look before waving a hand at him, "Sit up. Besides, Gothi cooked this, not me."
That seemed to reassure Hiccup a bit as he sat up, the blanket slipping down and bunching around his lap. He wrapped his arms around himself as he began to shiver again, although he was wearing a thick green woolen shirt.
Valka handed him the cup, which he took hesitantly. He brought it up and grimanced.
Valka tapped her foot. "Just chug it, it'll go faster."
Astrid pitied Hiccup, extremely relieved that she wasn't in his position and had to drink that, even if it wasn't cooked by Valka.
Hiccup tipped the bowl back and drank it all in one swig. He hurriedly handed the bowl back to Valka while he crawled back under the blankets, coughing and choking.
"You're trying to poison me!" Hiccup mutter under the blankets, still coughing uncontrollably. "What is in that stuff!?"
"Garlic, salt, some weird oil, viniger-"
Hiccup groaned, "I've heard enough."
Astrid chuckled softly as she watched. Poor Hiccup.
Astrid didn't want to leave Hiccup, but she supposed she should go out and help Gobber take care of the village- besides, someone needed to watch the twins and keep them out of trouble.
"I hate to but I think I should probably go and help Gobber. I'll come back a bit later to check in on you, Hiccup." Hiccup lifted his hand in a weak wave before Astrid disappeared down the steps and out the door.
Valka sat down in the chair Astrid had previously been seated in. She ruffled Hiccup's hair again, comforting him.
Hiccup sighed as he leaned in to her touch. As much as he liked having Astrid there, it was nice to have his mother. There was just something soothing about having a mother there to care for him. He muttered drowsily without fully realizing what he was saying.
"Thanks Mom… for being here… you won't leave will you?"
Valka felt her heart squeeze as she heard those last words. How she wished she had returned to Berk years ago, to be there for Hiccup during those hard times. When he lost his leg, or other times when he got hurt. To be there to see him become one of the greatest Vikings in the entire archipelago. She so wished she could go back and change it.
"No Hiccup. I'll never leave you. I'm staying right here, with you." Valka whispered tenderly. Hiccup closed his eyes again, and his breath evened out as he fell asleep.
"And that's a promise." Valka whispered, placing a kiss on his head.
That's the end of this one everybody! I really wanted to do a short story with mother/son bonding. Hoped you liked this! Please review… I love getting you're guy's suggestions or feelings for this story!
Thanks again and until next time!
-FanWriter02