Kapitel 21

Since Christmas dinner, Hiccup's concerns over the past several weeks have shifted from Toothless to Jack. It was clear that Toothless wasn't going to let on why he reacted the way he did and Hiccup had the suspicion that the boy didn't even fully understand his reactions himself. So he and Jack stopped asking about it and let him get back to preparing for his exam.

Jack's mood, on the other hand, had fallen into a pit lately. He had explained to them beforehand that he had little to no control over his mood during the winter and would for no apparent reason fall into a depressive state periodically. This time around, he said his new medication was helping as well as having Hiccup and Toothless around to provide a solid sense of companionship. However, that didn't stop Hiccup from worrying about him.

Currently Jack was meeting with his therapist while Hiccup and Toothless were left in charge of the youngins. The two boys were lounging on the couch alongside one another with their feet on the coffee table and their sketchbooks propped up on their knees. Hiccup liked having him there to draw with because it gave him a different perspective. Hiccup's style was more concrete in the sense that he liked drawing the people, scenery, and world he saw, but Toothless was a million times more abstract. It always made Hiccup wonder how his brain worked for him to be able to visualize the images he put down on paper.

Hiccup glanced up to see Anna walk out from the hallway carrying her coat and heading to the door to put on her boots. She looked nicer than usual today. Not that she ever looked bad, but she was wearing makeup and had put on a nice looking, grey dress with leggings and a scarf tied fashionably around her neck. She grabbed her black, leather boots and walked over to sit next to Toothless as she put them on.

"You look nice," Hiccup noted.

"Oh thanks! I'm going out to meet an old friend of mine. But um…" she looked over at Hiccup idly sitting around and said, "I wouldn't mind the company though if either of you wanted to come with me. It beats having to sit by myself on the metro for an hour."

"Where are you headed?" Toothless asked not looking up from his sketchpad.

"All the way over to the west side. I know, it's a bit of a commute. So…" she smiled up at them in friendly persuasion, "I would really be happy to have someone go with me."

"I'm good actually," Toothless said. "I'll stay here and watch the kids."

"I don't need a babysitter! I can take care of myself." Pippa spoke up in protest.

Toothless looked up from his drawing at her and his eyes grew wide all of a sudden. He pointed at the floor and yelled, "OHMYGOD CENTIPEDE!" and proceeded to burst out laughing when all the kids in the vicinity shrieked and ran away from where he pointed. Hiccup and Anna couldn't hold in their laughter either at the episode.

Pippa ran up to him and crawled into his lap, forcing him to move his sketchpad aside. "That wasn't funny," she said as her face formed a pout and glared at him. Several of the other kids replied in agreement with her.

He smiled at the little girl and replied, "Well, when you kill a centipede on your own, then I will think about letting you watch yourself."

"...Fine." she said haughtily and Toothless knew she would be determined to hold him to that statement. She turned around and lay against his chest so that he could pick his sketchbook back up and continue drawing while looking over her shoulder at what he was doing.

Anna looked over at him and smiled. She loved how well he handled her siblings. He was better at making them listen than Jack was. Jack always played with them and didn't really enforce Anna's rules that well. But she could always trust Toothless to keep them on schedule and make sure they did their homework and such. Her eyes moved over to Pippa in his lap, who was watching his hands with keen interest as he continued his drawing. Anna had her suspicions that Pippa had an innocent case of puppy love for him.

"Shouldn't you be studying anyway?" Hiccup chimed in. "Your test is tomorrow after all."

Toothless rolled his eyes and replied, "I've studied enough. If I don't pass this thing then I'll shave my head and join a monastery." Hiccup grinned a little at the mental image.

Anna giggled a little at the thought as well. "But you're not even Catholic," she said nudging him in the arm.

"Sure I am," he replied in a straightforward tone. "Everyone from Germany is Catholic."

Hiccup let out a loud laugh and stood up. "You're so full of it," he said calling on his bullshit as he walked over to the door to put on his boots as well. He was so critical of everything Hiccup knew there was no chance he was very religious at all.

But Hiccup was glad that Anna offered him the option of getting out of the house though. He liked drawing with Toothless, but he was growing restless of constantly being inside all the time due to the biting cold.

Anna got up to follow him and grabbed her coat. After making sure they were appropriately dressed, they both waved goodbye to the group before heading outside together.

…

...

The metro was a different experience than the above ground street trams. The underground was well lit, but always felt a little eerie to Hiccup. And anytime he stood waiting for the train to come, his brain couldn't help but imagine what would happen if he tripped and fell onto the tracks as the train approached. Now, Hiccup wasn't suicidal in the slightest. He just figured his brain imagined such grisly scenarios in order to ensure he did everything he could to prevent it from happening.

After they got off the last train, Hiccup followed Anna up the flight of dirty cement stairs to reemerge to surface level. The trip was long mostly because they had to wait twenty minutes for a connector at one point, so Hiccup was happy that they were finally almost to their destination. The weather was cold enough that he wanted more than anything to be inside.

When they made it to the street, Hiccup followed Anna's lead down the block. He realized he was in an entirely new area that he didn't know existed in the city. As he looked around, he noted that the buildings and general surroundings were more rundown than other places. He also saw a lot of the small business signs were in Spanish.

Hiccup knew Anna was Colombian and she had told him on the way that she practically grew up on this side of the city. Hiccup knew her father was a doctor and was curious as to why she didn't grow up in a more affluent neighborhood. With his hands in his pockets and his head tucked into his scarf, Hiccup quickened his pace hoping that Anna would follow his lead. He was ready to get out of the cold.

She led him several blocks until they reached a hole-in-the-wall restaurant. Like the rest of the buildings, the paint was peeling in many places and the exterior in general had a very worn appearance. They walked inside and the warmth immediately enveloped Hiccup's face and took away the biting sensation on his nose. After looking around, he was impressed to see that the inside was definitely better maintained than the outside. The walls were painted a rich red color and the lighting was soft and gave the impression they were in a candle-lit room. The furniture consisted of the typical restaurant-fare tables and chairs. But the aroma of the establishment was absolutely mouthwatering. Hiccup just realized how hungry he was.

Anna led him further inside and he jumped when a scream erupted from in front of them. Before he knew it a girl had materialized and was hugging and kissing the life out of Anna while talking rapidly to her in Spanish. Hiccup had taken two years of Spanish in high school, but it was hardly enough to decipher her accelerated speech. The girl that was hugging Anna had very long, dark-brown hair that was tied back and looked to be about the same age as Anna, but was several inches taller than her. She was wearing simple black pants, a black shirt, and a black apron. She clearly worked at the restaurant they had visited.

After several minutes of inexplicable excitement. The girl released Anna and turned smiling to face Hiccup. "Disculpeme, disculpeme. Soy Manuela y-" she started to say but Anna interrupted her.

"Manuela, this is Hiccup. And Hiccup, this is my oldest friend Manuela," she said in English cueing Manuela that Hiccup didn't speak Spanish. However, he did understand basic introductions. But he continued in English since it was more on his comfort level.

"It's really nice to meet you, Manuela. Is this your restaurant?" he asked curiously.

"Yes, it's my family's restaurant. But come! Let's go sit and I will ask Javi to get us something to eat," she said with a rolling accent that Hiccup couldn't help but find extremely charming. She turned around to lead them across the small room to a table by the kitchen. Anna was walking next to her and Hiccup saw Manuela turn to look at her.

"Muy bello chula. ¿Es él tu novio?" Hiccup felt himself blush a little since he was fairly certain she complimented his appearance and asked if he and Anna were together.

"No nonono," Anna replied giggling a little.

They reached the table and Manuela gestured for them to take a seat before turning and heading off into the kitchen. Hiccup heard her speaking to someone within, presumably ordering food, and then quickly reappeared to join Hiccup and Anna. The restaurant was surprisingly vacant. But perhaps they weren't completely open yet.

"So Hipo," she said mistaking Hiccup's name and sitting down across from him. "Are you single?"

Hiccup quickly felt himself turn red at the question and rubbed his arm while stammering out, "I...uh...no. Not...not really." He hoped that roughly translated as 'I'm sorry but I'm actually gay and in a serious relationship with two other guys.' Roughly the same.

Manuela giggled at his nervousness and turned her attention back onto Anna in order to allow Hiccup to calm down. Hiccup noticed that Anna was smiling a little at him as well.

"Anna, you have no idea how much I missed you around here. How are your brothers and sisters? Where do you live now? How come I hardly hear from you?" she asked Anna in quick succession.

Anna briefly explained that they were living on the east side of the city and were doing fine. The reason that she hadn't visited or spoken with Manuela being that she was studying for dental school.

"Ohh fantástico chula. Your father would be very proud of you, you know." Anna's mouth upturned a little at the compliment.

"You knew Anna's father?" Hiccup inquired. He was quickly realizing how little he knew about the girl he lived with.

"Of course Hipo! Anna's parents are practically legends! She only doesn't tell anyone because she too modest," Manuela said while leaning into Anna, who smiled at her teasing.

Hiccup looked over to Anna and then back at Manuela. "What were they like?" he asked now insatiably interested in what made them legendary.

"They were two of the most wonderful people on the earth!" she began and Hiccup raised his eyebrows in surprise. She continued, "Her mother and father moved into this neighborhood and were so kind, so compassionate, and so generous that he gave medical treatment to anyone who needed it. And he never asked anyone for a dime." Hiccup's eyes widened a little at the description. "And as you can maybe see, Hipo. Not everyone around here even has a dime, you know? But they accepted whatever anyone had to offer and was, really, such a lovely man."

Manuela looked over at Anna and smiled kindly at her. Anna smiled back and continued explaining to Hiccup, "He was very passionate about helping people. After we moved to the city, my father fell in love with this neighborhood and wanted to do everything he could to help it."

"And I don't think Anna realizes how much he did," Manuela interrupted. "He really gave everyone hope and promise for a better life. Her mother too. Helped everyone she met. Together they adopted...how many of your brothers and sisters?"

"Only Jamie and Sophie are my biological siblings. But I never considered the others any less related to me," Anna admitted.

"You see?! And that is why you're just as wonderful!" Manuela exclaimed while wrapping an arm around Anna, who suddenly appeared bashful from all the compliments.

Hiccup smiled broadly at her. He never realized how amazing her family was and just accepted that Anna was related to all of her siblings. But it made sense to know that they were all adopted. It explained why many had differing physical characteristics and their ages didn't exactly line up.

"I'll be right back," Manuela said still smiling warmly at Anna and left to run into the kitchen.

"How come you never told me any of that?" Hiccup asked her still impressed from the previous conversation.

Anna's expression fell a little and her voice lowered as she explained, "It...it just brings up memories you know?"

"Oh…" Hiccup felt bad all of a sudden because he realized she obviously misses her parents more than anything.

"But don't feel bad, Hiccup. Being here helps me remember how great their lives were. How much love everyone had for them." She smiled a little and then added, "Thanks for coming by the way."

Hiccup's mouth upturned a little as well. "No problem. I'm glad I did."

Anna's smile grew wider and she looked over as Manuela carried out a tray with food on it.

"Your favorite," she said addressing Anna. "Hopefully this will persuade you into coming back more often."

Hiccup looked at the tray of food and couldn't recognize it. It wasn't anything he's had before; however, it smelled amazing.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Oh! Hiccup. You haven't lived until you try their mole sauce," Anna said as she spooned some of the meat, sauce, and rice onto a smaller plate.

"What's mole?"

"It's a delicious type of sauce popular in Mexico, but Manuela's family makes some of the best." She smiled up at Manuela and continued, "They make it from scratch and use like a million spices. Just try it, you'll love it."

Hiccup spooned some food onto a plate for himself as well and lifted a piece of the sauce-covered meat into his mouth.

If minuscule fireworks could have exploded on his tongue, that would be an accurate description of that mole. It was fantastic. Together they continued talking and eating until they were full.

After lunch, Anna and Hiccup thanked Manuela for the amazing food and Anna gave her a big hug. Manuela said a farewell to her in Spanish making her promise to come back and gave Hiccup a small peck on his cheek as well.

Once again they waited for the train in the freezing cold of the underground station. At least it sheltered them from the wind outside. Hiccup sat huddled close to Anna and bounced his leg to try and keep his blood moving.

"Thanks again for coming with me Hiccup, it was really nice to spend time with you," Anna told him suddenly.

"No, thank you for inviting me. I'm really glad I got to see this part of your life," Hiccup told her honestly. He felt closer to Anna than before and was really happy to know she had such amazing parents. Even though their car accident was unfortunate, it helped Hiccup understand why Anna was such a kindhearted person.

Anna glanced over to him and smiled warmly. "You know...I never told you this. But I'm really glad you came to us, even if the circumstances were less than ideal."

"You mean to the Guardian's?"

"Yeah. I cannot even begin to explain to you how much of a difference you've made," she said her eyes glassy with emotion.

"What do you mean?" Hiccup asked his face morphing into confusion.

Anna exhaled and folded her hands together in her lap before clarifying, "You've made such a difference for a lot of us. Even in Jack, who I didn't think would ever change. But I think you're good for him...and Luka."

Hiccup felt himself blush a little, but knew that the cold impeded the reddening of his cheeks. That was at least one benefit of the temperature. "I...uh… you know?" he asked sheepishly.

Anna let out a loud laugh, "Of course I do, Hic. You guys think you're so sneaky, but you forget that kids are sneakier. And they talk. A lot."

Hiccup grinned in remembrance of Pippa's comment on Christmas. The kids have snuck up on them a few times, not that the three of them did anything explicit outside the privacy of their own room, but Hiccup had always assumed that they were too young to know what was going on.

Anna continued, "But seriously. I never thought I would ever see Luka as happy as he is now. It's like he's a completely different person." She reached out to grab hold of Hiccup's hand, "You've really helped him. Helped all of us. And I just wanted to thank you."

Hiccup felt flattered that she thought so well of him, but he didn't feel like he had done anything that noteworthy. However, there was something that he had always wondered but hadn't had the appropriate opportunity to ask. "How was Toothless when he first came to you guys?"

Anna leaned back and deeply exhaled as she recalled the memories. "Luka...he was in pretty bad shape. I'm not gonna lie to you. North introduced him to us but he wouldn't talk to anyone for weeks. Jack tried his best, but Luka would just lock himself in their room and refuse to answer to anyone. Wouldn't eat much either." She turned her head and looked ahead at nothing in particular. "The only person that got through to him at first was Sandy, probably because Sandy doesn't talk. But when Jack told him he was having frequent nightmares, Sandy would make him tea before bed to calm him down. I think that helped a lot at first."

Hiccup pressed his lips together in a thin line. "Do….did he ever tell you what happened to him?" he asked. He suspected the answer, but was curious as to what she thought about it.

"No," she said confirming Hiccup's suspicions, "But I don't care to know if he doesn't want to tell me. That's fine. All that matters now is that he has you," she looked back over at him and Hiccup felt warmth bloom around his heart at the comment. "Do you love him?"

Despite the cold, Hiccup knew his face had reddened. But he nodded his head and replied, "Yeah...I do."

Anna smiled kindly at his honesty. "Well, I can tell Jack cares a lot about you and Luka as well. The way he looks at you…I've never seen him look at anyone like that before," she said but her voice betrayed her sadness slightly.

Hiccup looked over at her and felt bad for having something she had wanted. He knew she cared a lot about Jack and that it didn't work out between the two of them. Jack seemed to be over it, but then again, he was never emotionally invested in the first place.

He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a voice off to the side of him.

"Anna! ¿Es realmente usted?" Hiccup turned to see a broad, smiling man striding over to them. His dark hair was cut short and he sported a thick coat and scarf along with dark, baggy jeans.

Anna stood up and seemed to recognize who the man was. She walked over to him and kissed him lightly on either cheek before engaging with him in Spanish. After catching up for a few minutes, she turned to include Hiccup in the conversation. He stood up as well when she gestured to him.

"This is my housemate, Hiccup. Hiccup, this is another old friend of mine, Esteban."

"Pleasure to meet you, Hiccup," he said in a rich accent. Hiccup was realizing he had a bit of an attraction for Anna's friends.

"Nice to meet you too," Hiccup said smiling politely in response.

"So, uh, I'm sorry Anna. I wish I could talk more, but I was on my way somewhere. It was a pleasure running into you though," he said turning his attention back to her.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to try and visit more often. Hopefully I'll see you again soon?" she said to him.

"Absolutely," he replied and Anna's face lit up a little. Then he switched to Spanish and said something briefly to her that Hiccup noticed caused her eyebrows to come together in confusion. Before she could ask him about it, he kissed her on the cheek and turned to head up the dirty cement stairs.

"What'd he say to you?" Hiccup asked concerned that he had offended her in some way.

Anna removed herself from her thoughts and looked up at Hiccup, "I...uh...I don't know. It didn't make much sense. I must have heard him wrong..."

Her answer didn't remedy Hiccup's confusion, but he could tell that she was more confused about it than he was. She seemed a little preoccupied for much of the trip home, but Hiccup's efforts persuaded her to eventually talk to him again.

...

...

...

When they arrived back at the Guardians, Sandy had woken up and was in the kitchen serving the kids a late afternoon snack. Anna excused herself for a moment and Hiccup walked into his bedroom.

It was empty and he was still heavily concerned by how distracted Esteban's comment affected Anna. He also felt really dirty after riding on the subway all day. So he discarded his clothes to wash and gathered new ones to go take a quick shower.

Hiccup generally took pretty quick showers, however he couldn't help but take his time since he needed a few extra minutes to thaw his skin out. He was outside for so long that he didn't realize how numb his body had become. He was also heavily preoccupied with what Anna had told him about Toothless. Hiccup could only assume that a lot of his behavior was attributed to losing his brother who was the only reliable person in his life at the time. Hiccup couldn't imagine what it felt like to have no one. Even after he ran away, he still knew he had Astrid as his friend.

After rinsing off, he turned off the shower and stepped out to dry himself off. Despite all the time that had passed, he still felt the need to inspect the scarring on his hip. It had faded in color, so it wasn't quite as red as it once was. But the appearance still made him uncomfortable. Even though Toothless's and Jack's constant appraisal of his body had given Hiccup more confidence than he's ever had, he still felt shy about taking off his shirt due to the peeking disfigurement. It pained him even worse to look at Toothless's back, because he couldn't shake the feeling of responsibility for what happened. No matter what Toothless told him, a part of his brain still believed that if he hadn't been there, then Toothless could have gotten away. The only reason he stayed and didn't fight was because of Hiccup.

He released a heavy sigh to try and shake the guilt and changed into his clean clothes before leaving the bathroom. He opened the door to his bedroom and his vision was immediately drawn to Toothless, who was without a shirt and was rummaging through the wardrobe in front of Hiccup.

"You know...sometimes I think you do this on purpose," Hiccup said as one corner of his mouth curved upwards in response to the lean smoothness of the boy's chest and stomach. It seemed like too much of a coincidence to him that he would frequently walk in the bedroom to see him half naked.

Toothless turned his head to look over at him while his mouth crept into a smirk before replying, "Maybe sometimes. But this time I honestly didn't know you were home."

"Where's Jack?" Hiccup asked as he walked over to him.

"Still out with Bunny." He paused after he saw the look in Hiccup's eyes. "Why?" he asked suspiciously.

"Because I don't really like being interrupted," Hiccup said as he leaned up into Toothless's mouth. Toothless grinned and graciously accepted his kiss. It pleased him to see how bold Hiccup had become with him...and it definitely turned him on whenever he did so.

Toothless reached up with one hand to run his fingers through Hiccup's damp hair and used the other to pull the smaller boy against him. Hiccup never had to ask Toothless twice, the freckled-boy was quite the little minx when he wanted to be. His uncertainty had long since melted away; however, his eyes always held a slight innocence to them that made Toothless instantly want to claim him. Without wasting any time, Toothless tilted his head to entice Hiccup's tongue to dance with his own.

Hiccup sighed into the sweet taste of the raven-haired boy before opening his eyes to peek at the gorgeous boy's face as his tongue seductively slid against his own. His eyes were closed, regretfully hiding the emerald hues that Hiccup always longed to see, but Hiccup could still make out the definition of his lashes and the hard line of his jaw as his mouth moved greedily against his own. Hiccup let out a small moan not only at the utter skill in which Toothless moved his tongue, but his hips too. Gods he was irresistible.

Toothless grunted a little when Hiccup grabbed hold of his hips and guided him over to the bed where he was pushed down with more force than the brunette typically used with him. In the time it took him to open his eyes, Hiccup was already on top him and leaning down to resume kissing him with growing passion. A shudder of anticipation ran through Toothless's body at the urgency and desire in which the brunette bit and licked his lips and tongue. He had never been this overbearing with him before and it excited the raven-haired boy to no end. Toothless let out a small moan of want before reaching up to hold onto the freckled boy's neck. He wanted so badly to feel all of him...

[Removed due to FF's ratings policy]

...

If you are ok with reading, follow link to Archive of Our Own page

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...

Hiccup moved closer to pull the raven-haired boy against him and buried his face in the crook of his neck feeling so tired he could have probably fallen asleep then and there.

"Hiccup?" Toothless asked him trying to get his attention.

"Hm?" Hiccup responded as he was distracted since he was still basking in the afterglow.

Toothless laughed a little and said, "I asked if you enjoyed it?" In a way, he counted it as his first time as well since he had never topped anyone before. He wanted to make sure he hadn't hurt him.

"Definitely," he said tilting his head to kiss Toothless's throat affectionately.

Toothless grinned and snaked an arm under Hiccup's side and hugged him against his chest. Hiccup heard his voice husk in his ear as he quietly rumbled, "I love you."

"Mm...I love you too," Hiccup murmured before reaching his head up to kiss his lips gently again. As long as the raven-haired boy was alongside him, everything would be ok. Everything was perfect.

Toothless smiled warmly at him and buried his face in Hiccup's hair as he felt Hiccup lay his head back down against his shoulder. Toothless's chest felt so warm from the connection he shared with the smaller boy that he probably would have pillaged whole villages if the brunette asked him to.

Hiccup breathed in the other boy's scent and felt the desire to never leave his side. He laid an arm across Toothless's stomach and squeezed him lovingly.

The silence was broken by Toothless's gentle laugh, "Oh...hah, sorry. I made you bleed a little after all."

"What?!" Hiccup exclaimed and leaned up onto his elbow pulling the sheet up to survey his body.

Toothless gestured with his head at Hiccup's shoulder and Hiccup looked down to see Toothless's bite mark and several spots where his teeth had broken the skin.

"Son of a bitch."

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