Oh look! A h/c fic and it's not Hictooth for once!
Okay I lied, there is implied Hictooth h/c in this fic.
To be honest, this was written because I'm of the oppinion that there aren't enough h/c fics like this in this fandom. So enjoy!
Edit: Fixed some minor mistakes.
Pain & Comfort
Vikings didn't cry, it was as simple as that. Along with their 'stubborness and pride is key' Berkian upbringing, being tough was also something they were taught to be from the very beginning.
Vikings didn't weep when they were hurt, they didn't wail when they lost a battle, they didn't bawl in an argument. They were tough, they were untouchable, unbreakable, they were Hooligans. Most of them were raised that way.
During times of war, being tough was the norm.
At the young age of sixteen, the Riders of Berk were already as Berkian as they could come. They were trained as warriors, they were better than to let their emotions get the better of them. That's what they believed.
Even Hiccup, weak and scrawny as he had always seemed, so unlike a Viking, hadn't shed a single tear in a long time.
So it was why, when watching him desperately trying to control his emotions and fail miserably at doing so, that Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout suddenly felt very uncomfortable standing here in his room and didn't know what to do anymore.
They were supposed to be meeting up for Dragon Academy related business in the Training Ring. When Hiccup failed to show up in time, Snotlout and the twins had generously offered to go get him.
Planning all sorts of wicked ways in which they could get the supposed slacker out of bed when all of them had arrived on time for once, none of them had expected to rudely burst into the boy's room unannounced and find their target of interest beyond despair.
Hiccup was still in bed just as they had suspected, but he wasn't sleeping in like they thought he'd be.
Instead he was a panting and gasping mess with bloodshot eyes who was trying his very best not to let anymore tears escape now that he was in unwanted company, clutching his knee and stump of a left leg with both hands as if that could alleviate the pain and curled up as he sat against the headboard.
His prosthetic was on the other side of the room near Toothless' stone bed, presumably thrown there in frustration.
"Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut..." He spoke up in shock, his voice breaking a little as he tried to contain himself. He hadn't expected visitors. His door was always open for anyone, but he had hoped he wouldn't have any today.
"Go back to the Academy, I'll-I'll be right there." With a stuffed nose he sounded even more nasal than usual as he told them to leave him be.
Hiccup wanted to be left alone, he didn't want to be seen like this. At least, not now and not by these particular teens. They were friends, just not the kind Hiccup wouldn't mind being vulnerable in front of.
When none of them moved, frozen in place by pure discomfort alone, Hiccup couldn't help but snap a little, fueled by pain.
"Didn't you hear me?! I said go!" Though it came out softer than he intended and his voice broke again.
Gazing around the room, Snotlout was the first to notice that Toothless wasn't present in the room. Most likely the Night Fury had left to get his Rider something to ease the pain from Gothi, like willowbark, or to get their chief, Hiccup's father.
For now that meant Hiccup was going to be all alone, they realized. And even though they were uncomforable seeing him in such a helpless stated, the three teenaged trespassers seemed to decide simultaneously that they were more uncomfortable with the idea of leaving him to face this by himself than they would be if they stayed.
"Does it... hurt... a lot?" Snotlout was the first of the three unwanted visitors to speak up, breaking the heavy silence already occasionally interrupted by a sob or two that Hiccup failed to keep down.
His cousin had turned his face away from them as he rested a cheek on his knee so he wouldn't need to see them staring at him. But then Hiccup send Snotlout an angry glare at the question, which was somehow strangely reminiscent of Stoick the Vast.
Usually some painful, snarky sarcasm would've come to sass Snot back in his place, it was something particularly Hiccup was known for, but nothing came this time. Nothing besides more strangled sniffs. As if this whole situation couldn't become any more unnerving than it already was.
A pang of guilt drove a blade into the heart of the Jorgenson boy as he remembered complaining about Hiccup's metal leg just a week or two ago.
He had seen it as a sign of valour back then, as proof that his twig of a cousin had achieved something great that he did not achieve. Today he was proven wrong and shown what having such a 'trophy' truly meant.
Hiccup looked away and seemed to fold in on himself as a stabbing pain in his leg added to the burning. There was a reason why he, usually so much stronger than this, released a soft whine. To him, this situation was getting worse with every passing minute and the awkwardness did not help.
"Do you.. need anything?" Ruffnut was the one who spoke up for once, urging their Lead Dragon Rider to gaze back at them again.
"I need some privacy, that's all. Some time to be alone!" He did not appreciate the fact that they were still here.
"We can't leave you alone like this." Snotlout grew a bit braver as he talked back to his cousin, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"Why-why are you being so difficult?! Tooth-Tooth is going to be right back." Still Hiccup continued to argue, growing all the more frustrated when he wasn't being left alone and it helped his pain little.
The fifteen year old boy was like a cat on that front. He'd rather be left alone with his Night Fury by his side as his sole companion and comfort. He accepted little else.
"Than I guess you won't mind when we stay here for a little while longer, 'cause we're not leaving. Not until Toothless is back." Snotlout's own brand of stubborness shone through as he put his foot down and refused to leave. It helped the Thorston twins regain their composure too.
"You're not?" Hiccup seemed surprised upon hearing his cousin's verbal rejection and his anger seemed to melt away.
It was still morning, though midday would soon arrive, but he was already tired. He had been kept awake all night by his leg. Even Toothless' best efforts to soothe him had not been able to help him, something that had greatly pissed the dragon off.
The threshold of pain for a dragon was quite high and it had helped the Night Fury cope with the physical pain of losing his tailfin. The greatest pain, for him, had been his fear of never being able to fly ever again.
It was already before the defeat of the Red Death that Toothless came to discover that a human's pain threshold wasn't as high, so when Hiccup experienced any kind of pain in his leg... Toothless hated that he failed to help.
Hiccup turned his attention back to his three visitors, who were still standing there, though not as awkward as minutes earlier.
"Uh... No! No, we're not leaving. In fact, we are going to sit right, uh, here!" A tense Tuffnut approached the bed and plopped himself down at the foot end on the bedpost nearest to him, sitting unnaturally straight.
Neither one of the three knew how to comfort someone for trivial things, let alone for something as big as this. Yet, they found themselves wanting to try. At least for Hiccup's sake.
"Yeah, right here." Tuff emphasized, trying to make himself comfortable. Ruff and Snot seemed to follow his lead, each choosing some place on or near the bed to sit. Snotlout prefered a stool.
Despites the slight awkwardness still persistently present, Hiccup found himself appreciating the gesture now and no longer felt as opposed to their company as he once was. He gave them the most cautious of smiles to show them just that.
"Sooo... What's wrong?" Ruff dared herself to ask once she was seated, though she wasn't exactly sure if she even wanted to know.
As much as she and her brother hurt eachother, a past conversation of wanting to have ugly scars caused by mauling seemed to come to her mind, neither one of them seemed to like pain as much as they once pretended to like. Especially not when it happened to someone they cared about.
"I-I don't know? I mean, I slept with my prosthetic on a couple of nights in a row... I-I think it may have become a little inflamed. Though the weather really doesn't help." Hiccup had calmed down a little, though the burning had not lessened in the slightest, and admitted he might've had a hand in his own problem. It had been another reason why he had tried to keep this to himself.
"Where did Toothless go?"
"Should someone go get Astrid or Fishlegs?"
"Are you all out of willow bark?"
The rest of the awkwardness melted like snow before the sun as three of Hiccup's most unlikely friends showed a side to themselves that he had never seen before. After a restless night, seeing them this way was strangely comforting.
A new stab of pain in his sensitive stump took him by surprise and the exhausted boy curled up just a little bit more. Fresh tears clung to his lashes, but Hiccup found himself opposing them less now.
He realized he was amongst friends, good friends. And though they had no idea what they were doing, they were there for him. For this morning, at least until Toothless would return, Hiccup could afford to be a little weak.