Kapitel 25

Snotlout was at long last beginning to understand the routine the Guardians seemed to rigorously follow, even if it meant he had to wake up excruciatingly early. Bunny was the ringleader and he organized the madness of running the club upstairs combined with providing a stable environment for eight young children. Snotlout wasn't a big fan of kids, but he admired how hard the tireless Australian guy worked for them. To say Snotlout didn't grow up in the most nurturing of homes was an understatement. But he would be a liar if he didn't admit that he envied the kids a little bit that people who weren't family were so willing to raise them.

Snotlout was even surprised to see how well Luka took care of them. It was like comparing night and day seeing the way Luka behaved towards Snotlout and the way he acted with the kids and other residents. With others he was gentle and attentive, but with Snotlout his eyes became daggers and he would always talk down to him. It was demeaning, more so than when he had to take orders from Dagur. At least Dagur wasn't some entitled long-haired fagwipe.

"You know, you actually need to use soap when you wash dishes," he heard Luka criticize over his shoulder.

"Yeah. I do know that. Thanks." Snotlout grumbled in frustration due to his endless monitoring. He added more soap to the sponge and continued scrubbing the dirty plates and silverware. Snotlout and Luka were put in charge of cleaning up breakfast after the kids had gone to school, but he had learned that it was previously just Luka's job before he had moved in. The black-haired weirdo seemed to assign Snotlout tasks with him whenever possible in order to, as far as Snotlout could tell, pester the crap out of him.

He heard Luka snort in amusement before walking across the kitchen to wipe off the table. They fell back into their usual silence as they continued to work. Snotlout no longer had an interest in talking to him, since Luka would either refuse to answer every other question Snotlout had or treat him like a complete idiot.

He finished washing the dishes and moved on to drying them off. Luka walked over and picked up the dishes as he finished drying them and put them away. As he finished the last one, Luka interjected, "After this I'm going to help Jack work on things upstairs. Make sure you actually help Hiccup clean the house this time."

Snotlout handed him the last plate and turned to walk out of the kitchen and get the hell away from him. As he did so he mumbled, "Whatever. Have fun pegging your boy-"

He stopped mid-sentence as Luka had appeared alongside Snotlout and held out an arm in front of him to block his exit. Snotlout inhaled sharply in surprise and turned to face Luka while backing into the fridge in attempts to put some distance between them.

But Luka leaned into the fridge to further restrict his movements and, despite Snotlout being much broader, he suddenly felt small in comparison to taller male's overbearing nature.

"Now listen," Luka said in a voice so low Snotlout had to strain to hear him, "I have put up with you and your snide comments for over a week now and, quite frankly, I find it cute that you think you can insult me. But-" he moved his face so close to Snotlout's that their noses were nearly touching. Snotlout felt the full intensity of his eyes penetrating through him as he continued, "if you wish to continue staying here, I suggest you quit trying to get under my skin."

Luka stood up straight and smirked at Snotlout before reaching out to roughly pat his cheek a couple times as he said, "Don't be dumb." And he turned to walk out of the kitchen.

Snotlout scowled and rubbed his cheek from the slight stinging he had left behind. He had just assumed that Luka never heard him as he had never reacted before. But then again, nothing seemed to get past the sneaky bastard. He heard the front door open before Luka had reached it and Snotlout saw Hiccup emerge into the entryway. Hiccup smiled at Luka and Snotlout saw Luka lean over to kiss the side of his head lightly before leaving the basement.

"Hey Scott," Hiccup said holding a much kinder expression in his eyes as he walked over, "You ready? I figured you and Toothless would be done here by now."

"Yup. Ready as I'll ever be," Snotlout replied disdainfully. He was never in the mood to clean, but that seemed to be all he did now. Although, he appreciated being paired with Hiccup over the others. At least Hiccup was nice to him.

They began the daily cleaning regime, which Snotlout found completely unnecessary. But Hiccup explained that because they weren't living in a standard home, it needed more attention to stay put together. The fact that there were fifteen people crowded in one space didn't help either. Every day they would scrub one of the bathrooms until it was immaculate, clean the floor, dust two other rooms, and do a couple loads of laundry. In addition, Bunny would give them other odd jobs to do on top of that.

They began the day with cleaning Anna's bathroom and Snotlout was busy concentrating on getting any grime or early signs of mold out of the cracks and crannies in the tile floor. He was still frustrated with Luka's patronizing treatment of him and must have been scrubbing too furiously because Hiccup picked up on his attitude.

"What's wrong?" Hiccup asked interrupting his thoughts.

"Nothing." he replied gruffly as he increased the strength behind his scrubbing.

"Is Toothless being too mean again?" he asked a little tauntingly.

"He's a fucking asshole," Snotlout crudely remarked before leaning back on his toes to look up at Hiccup, who was standing in the bathtub scrubbing the walls.

"Have you tried just being nice to him?" Hiccup asked pausing in his work to look at Snotlout while reaching up to lightly hold onto the shower rod.

"Why should I? It's not like he's tried being nice to me," Snotlout retorted.

"That's because you keep being a smart ass to him," Hiccup argued back causing Snotlout to bite his tongue and resume his scrubbing. Hiccup continued, "Look, he didn't go out of his way to be nice to me either when I first got here. But that's just how he is. And especially with you, being friends with Dagur for so long-"

"We weren't friends," Snotlout interjected firmly.

Hiccup paused for a moment but resumed what he was saying, "Either way, he doesn't trust you. So it wouldn't hurt to at least be civil."

Snotlout clenched his jaw stubbornly trying to resist Hiccup's suggestion. But it did make sense to him.

"Besides," Hiccup continued, "I don't like what you say to him either."

"Because you're like his boyfriend or whatever," he said more as a statement than a question. It was the only explanation for the way they behaved around one another.

"Yeah, something like that," Hiccup responded sourly before returning to scrub the walls of the shower.

They cleaned in silence for a several minutes, but Snotlout felt as though he might have insulted Hiccup, so he decided to break the silence with an apology, "I'm sorry for being rude to Luk- Toothless… I guess I don't have the best track record when it comes to being nice to people."

Snotlout heard Hiccup snort in response so he figured now would be a better time than any to continue down his long list of apologies that were due. "And…I'm sorry again for all the trouble I've given you. For bullying you in school, calling you names, beating you up, and… you know."

Hiccup stopped cleaning again to look down at him. Then to Snotlout's relief, he saw him smile a little. "I already told you that I forgive you, you know."

"I know…" Snotlout started to say again, "But I still feel bad." He dipped the bristle brush he was using in the bucket of bleach water to clean it off before resuming his scrubbing. Then he asked in reference to his bullying, "I didn't like…turn you gay, did I?"

He expected Hiccup to perhaps be a little offended by what he said, but the last reaction he expected was for Hiccup to burst out laughing in response to the question. He looked up at him and saw him doubled over leaning one arm against the side of the shower trying to control his fit before responding in between breaths, "No offense Scott… you're not exactly my type."

Snotlout never thought he would ever feel so offended being rejected by a gay guy. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked his eyebrows coming together.

"I'm sorry," Hiccup apologized while controlling his laughter. "Someone just doesn't turn gay. And what I meant was that I wasn't into bulky bear-guys who looked like they wanted to kill me on a daily basis," he said referring to Snotlout when they were younger.

"Right, you like the creepy snake dudes that look like they want to kill me," he said obviously referring to Toothless.

"Yeah, sure, we'll go with that. Minus the creepy part," Hiccup replied before getting out of the tub to lean over and clean the bottom.

"So you are actually with Luka?" Snotlout asked since he couldn't quite pinpoint what was going on with them.

"Mhm, Jack too," Hiccup answered nonchalantly.

Snotlout's confusion only increased. "Now that's even more messed up," he said.

"Why's that?" Hiccup asked looking over his shoulder and raising an eyebrow at him.

"Well, for one thing, Jack was with that one chick in high school and now he likes dudes all of a sudden?" he said still baffled by how that even worked.

"He's still into girls. He's just bi," Hiccup calmly explained while he scrubbed.

"There's no such thing."

"Uh, yeah there is," Hiccup said before sitting on the edge of the tub and resting his elbows on his knees, letting his wet hands hang limply over them. "If you talked to him about it, I'm sure he'd clear that up for you."

"Whatever. You guys are still messed up," Snotlout said stubbornly not believing him.

"Because?"

"Because you can't be in a relationship with two people at the same time! That's insane and I'm pretty sure it's considered cheating," he retorted.

"Not it's not," Hiccup began, "We're not sneaking around and lying to each other. Besides, why do you care?" he asked before standing back up to turn on the faucet and rinse out the tub.

"I don't." Snotlout said firmly. "I'm just saying you all are freaks."

Hiccup rolled his eyes and said, "Well, this may come as a shocker to you Scott, but I stopped caring a long time ago what you think about me. Besides…" he said as his mouth morphed into a devilish smirk, "you're just jelly I get more action than you," he finished confidently.

Snotlout felt the urge to dump the bucket of water over him, but he held himself back knowing there was bleach inside. So instead he just retorted, "Go fuck yourself, Spit-Up" using one of his old nicknames for the skinny geek and went back to scrubbing. His eyebrows came back together in confusion over everything Hiccup had told him. He didn't understand one bit of it. He still didn't believe Jack was bi. You're either gay or you're straight, anyone who says they're bisexual is just too afraid to admit they're gay. And isn't having a relationship with more than one person illegal or something? …No, maybe not illegal. Otherwise cheaters would be put into jail all the time. But it didn't change the fact it was weird as hell. The final thing he couldn't fathom was Luka having feelings. Guy was so stoic all the time it was unnatural. But…Snotlout could admit that he was able to understand why Dagur and others were willing and able to screw him, even if it was just to put him in his place. If Snotlout crossed his eyes just a little or looked at Luka from across a room, he could see how easily he passed for a chick. An image of Luka dressed in punk drag crossed his mind and Snotlout had to mentally punch himself for even entertaining the idea.

However the idea did leave him with a question he was curious about, "So… if there's three of you. Which one of you's the girl?"

"Excuse me?" Hiccup asked a little offended. "None of us. Like... what do you even mean by that?"

"Like which one of you takes it?" he said smirking a little bit. He secretly had his bets on Luka. He watched Hiccup's face turn red a little bit; however, he was pretty sure it was from anger.

"Uh, first of all, what even possessed you to think you could ask me that? And second, it's none of your damn business." He rinsed out the bathtub one last time and stormed out past Snotlout, leaving him alone to finish.

...

Hiccup left Scott to finish Anna's bathroom on his own. He would go to wash the kitchen floor, which he found easier anyway. He stalked into the kitchen and pulled out a bucket from under the sink to fill it with water and a bit of soap. While waiting for the water to fill the bucket, he settled his fuming.

He sympathized with Scott to an extent. The guy had a rough upbringing and was influenced by Dagur for a few years, but that didn't mean he was going to stand around and be insulted by him. Scott hadn't angered Hiccup by calling him, Jack, or Toothless a girl; he was pissed that the troll seemed to find it acceptable to pry into their sex lives. Seriously…you don't just ask those questions to people unless maybe you're friends, which Hiccup and Scott definitely were not. And even though he didn't divulge names to Scott, Hiccup was still particularly insulted from the guy's implications that he was weak for liking anal. Shit ain't easy at first. Then he snorted to himself while wondering how well Scott would handle it. Probably not well.

About fifteen minutes later he spotted Scott round the corner out of the hallway into the kitchen. Not pausing in his washing, he asked gruffly, "Did you actually clean the bathroom?"

"Nah. I actually just decided to piss all over everything and leave." Hiccup frowned at his crude sarcasm and Scott must have seen him because he added, "Of course I cleaned it. That's why I came in here to help you."

"Well, grab the broom and start sweeping the entryway I guess," he ordered in a low voice still indicating he wasn't happy with him.

Scott frowned and left to go grab the broom out of the closet before returning to sweep up. Several more minutes passed in silence while each was distracted by their own ponderings.

Eventually Hiccup decided to interject, "Does it make you uncomfortable or something?"

"What?" Scott asked not clear on Hiccup's meaning.

"That I'm gay? Or that Jack, Toothless, and I are together?"

Scott didn't answer for a moment as he swept the dirt into the dustpan. Then he stood up straight, leaning on the broom and responded, "Not uncomfortable. I guess I just don't understand it."

"What's so hard to understand?" Hiccup asked trying to understand where he was coming from. He moved off the floor to sit down on one of the benches while watching the larger boy.

"How you can like dudes, dude. Let alone how you can like two dudes at one time. Like, girls are so hot. They're soft and got-" he made a crude grabbing motion with his hands to mimic squeezing a girl's chest.

"I don't think it's that hard to understand. You're acting as if male and female are like black and white, when it's mostly the same general body give or take a few features. I just happen to have a different preference than you. It's like-" He leisurely crossed one leg over the other and leaned back into the table as he elaborated, "It's like how you and another straight dude can have two completely different tastes in girls. Tall, short, boobs, ass, thin, curvy, whatever. So girls you find most attractive will vary from what another guy finds most attractive to the point where you don't even know how a guy could be into her. It's just your personal preference. And mine just happen to be very different from yours." He knelt back down on the floor to continue washing as he said, "And besides that, you can have feelings for more than one person. Just like how you can love more than one family member." Hiccup was careful not to say 'parents' since he wasn't sure how Scott felt about his parents, especially his dad. But he hoped his point still remained valid.

He looked up and saw Scott making a scrunched face, which Hiccup was pretty sure meant he was thinking about what he said. After a minute he admitted, "I guess that makes a little sense… But you're still weird."

"I can deal with that. I still think you're kind of a dick," he said grinning up at him.

Scott gave a crooked grin back at him and resumed his sweeping. Hiccup hoped that meant they had come even a little bit towards a mutual understanding of each other.

…

...

Snotlout was glad he had spoken with Hiccup earlier. What he explained made more sense to Snotlout than before. He still didn't completely relate, but it was a little easier to understand the way Hiccup phrased it. It made him remember Tuffnut's girlfriend, who was really thin, had narrow hips, and like zero cleavage. And yet Tuffnut was totally into her. Snotlout couldn't really see why, but then again, he was a boob guy. He loved girls with curves. So he could sort of see how Hiccup was just like Tuffnut, except that he was into the dick. But yeah. Who would have thought that the quirky, awkward runt was so good at talking?

Hiccup had also given him something to think about when it came to Luka. It probably wasn't the smartest idea to bother him, given that he could easily hand Snotlout over to Dagur any time he wanted. Snotlout had some doubt that Dagur would actually kill him; however, he didn't doubt that he would injure him severely again. And if it weren't for Hiccup and Jack, he might have died that night from hypothermia. So he was perfectly satisfied with staying as far away from the guy as possible. If that meant getting on Luka's good side, he'd have to deal with it.

Currently, he was lounging on the couch in the living room as Hiccup and he had completed all the chores in the basement. Hiccup had since gone upstairs to go to work and the kids had all gone to bed, but because Snotlout wasn't allowed to leave the basement, he had no choice but to hang out alone. It sucked that they didn't at least have a television to keep him busy. The only things there were books, and Snotlout hated reading.

He decided to slouch down further into the cushions and close his eyes. At least sleeping was something to keep him busy…

His nap didn't last long, however. His attention perked up when he heard someone unlock the metal door and watched as Luka entered, thumbing through some mail. He pulled out a letter and laid the rest on the small table next to the door. Snotlout watched as he stood in the entryway and ripped open the letter and pulled it out to read it. His eyes quickly scanned over it and Snotlout heard him exhale in response to what he read. But he had trouble reading the expression on his face.

"S'up?" he asked curiously.

Luka glanced over at him before responding, "Nothing. I just got a letter saying I'm eligible to receive my GED."

"You never graduated high school?" Snotlout asked surprised. He didn't either, but he wouldn't have expected the same out of someone like Luka.

"Well, now I did," he said waving the letter before pocketing it.

"Oh…congratulations then," he said trying to sound sincere.

Luka raised an eyebrow at his response and then simply said, "Thanks," before removing his shoes and going to walk down the hallway.

Snotlout sighed and decided to follow him, partially out of boredom and partially because he figured he should follow through. Luka paused at his bedroom door and turned his head to look at Snotlout as he approached him.

"Hey dude…" he started to say and then hesitated not sure how to phrase it. He wasn't that skilled at forming apologies so he simply stated, "I'm sorry for making fun of you and all. Hiccup explained stuff to me and I guess I understand a little better now."

Luka studied his face for a moment before opening the door to his room. "Come on in," he said to Snotlout before going in his room. Snotlout hesitated at first, since he was never allowed in his room before. But he accepted the invitation and walked inside.

The first thing he noticed was the wardrobe. Snotlout wasn't an aficionado of furniture, but he had to admit it was awesome looking. It was a tall, black wooded, and intricately carved piece that looked more expensive than the rest of the furniture in the house, which was heavily mismatched and looked to have been scavenged. The other peculiar thing he spotted was the bed, which was larger, but he knew that Luka shared this room with Hiccup and Jack.

"You guys share a bed? That's so gay," he said chuckling but then abruptly stopped realizing he might have insulted Luka.

"You really are a quick one aren't ya?" Luka responded sardonically while throwing him his typical patronizing look. "I thought you said Hiccup explained everything to you," he added before opening the wardrobe and rummaging through it.

"He did… I just wasn't thinking," he responded apologetically. He had trouble remembering to watch his mouth around Luka.

"Well, I was about to head out," he said as he pulled out a dress shirt and blazer, "But, since you haven't stepped outside in over a week, did you want to come with?" he asked glancing over at Snotlout.

"What? Really? What about Dagur?" he asked concerned.

"I know where Dagur typically goes. Sun is almost down and as long as you keep your head down and wear something a little off-color, you shouldn't stand out."

"Well, what would I wear?" he asked uncertainly. He only had the clothes Luka had bought for him and they didn't look new when he got them. However, Hiccup had asked North to tailor them how Snotlout wanted, which was really cool of the guy even though he had never met him. But he knew Dagur would recognize his old coat if they happened to come across him.

"Here," Luka said before pulling out another, larger dress shirt and a leather jacket. "I got that for you the other day. The jacket is Hiccup's. But it's a little big on him so it should fit you fine."

Snotlout took the clothes from him and wondered whether Hiccup wouldn't care that he used his coat. But he figured Luka knew him best and accepted the clothing. "Where are we going?" he asked next.

"Just someplace in central. Should be busy enough that you won't stand out," he explained before slipping off his white T-shirt and turning around to pick up the dress shirt he previously picked out.

Snotlout's eyes instantly widened when he saw Luka's back. The scarring on it was more extensive and intricate than he had ever seen on anyone, including Dagur. Dagur had explained to him that the scar patterns he had were symbolic of his rank in the gang. And he had given Snotlout the impression that he was pretty high up there in terms of rank… But Luka's had to be ten times greater than his…

Luka turned around and Snotlout thought he saw him smirk ever so slightly when he caught his reaction to his scarring. But he raised an eyebrow at him again and asked, "Well? Are you going to go change or not?"

Snotlout snapped back to attention and replied, "Oh…right. I'll be right back." He turned to go into Bunny's room where he had lately been sleeping on a mattress that they pushed under Bunny's bed during the day. Bunny had long since gone upstairs to run the club and wouldn't be back down until after it closed. But before he had gone out the door, he heard Luka call from behind him, "Don't forget to put on that pair of black pants I got for you too."

Snotlout went into his temporary room and did as he was told. He figured the clothes Luka chose were better to disguise him anyway since they were nothing like what he would normally wear. When he was finished he left to find Luka in the living room and saw that he had changed into a full suit that was tailored to fit him well. He wrapped a violet scarf around his neck and tucked it into the coat before looking up at Snotlout.

"Ready?" he asked. Snotlout nodded in response before grabbing a cotton hat to protect his head and left with him out the door.

He spent most of the trip in silence following Luka through the streets. He noticed that Luka took a bit of an unorthodox route instead of following the shortest path into downtown. But Snotlout was mostly focused on keeping his head down and avoiding eye contact with people. He wasn't sure what had him so paranoid, but he couldn't help it. Perhaps never leaving the basement was having an impact on his psyche.

When they got a little closer into the bustling city, he quickened his pace to walk next to Luka and asked, "Were you already planning on asking me to come with you or did you just ask because I apologized?" He was wondering because it seemed weird to him that Luka had gone out of his way the other day to buy him a dress shirt just for the occasion.

He saw Luka's eyes glance at him sideways before he smiled a little and replied, "Both. I was hoping you would be more cooperative by now, Hiccup definitely helped that. And, yes, I made preparations ahead of time in case you agreed to come."

"But why ask me? Why not ask Hiccup or Jack?" he asked because it still wasn't adding up completely.

"Because," Luka said his face falling into its usual expressionless state and his voice dropping to a much quieter level, "You already agreed to not ask me stupid questions and not to talk to anyone about anything regarding Die Alptraumbande."

"The what?"

"The Nightmare Gang. La Pandilla de Pesadillas. Whatever you want to call it. I think the names are unoriginal, but I didn't come up with them. Either way, I know I can trust you to stay silent, yes?" he asked trying to incite a confirmation from Snotlout.

"Yeah…I swear. But I thought you wanted to run away from all that?" he asked unclear of Luka's motivations. Dagur had made it sound as if he ran away like a scared little child.

"I did," he said before sharply rounding a corner, "But there's some shit I still need to take care of."

Snotlout quickly scurried to keep up with him before asking concerned, "Will this get me in trouble with Dagur?"

"No," Luka responded nonchalantly, "If anything it'll give you a little more security from him."

"How's that?" Snotlout asked.

"Because they'll know you're working for me," he said smoothly before quickening his pace a little.

Wait, what? He's working for Luka now? Bastard didn't even pay him! He hurried up to catch up with him again and pondered for a minute what Luka had said. He wasn't sure if he wanted to work for the long-haired freak, but… if it'll keep him safe from Dagur then he figured it was worth a shot.

Before Snotlout could ask him any additional questions, Luka turned to stop in front of a building. The door was a royal red and there was a rug leading up to it with decorative plants on either side. The whole street they were on seemed to be lit up with classier restaurants and establishments that Snotlout knew he could never afford on his own. But he followed behind Luka and tried his best to look as though he frequented these places all the time. Luka pushed open the door and walked inside with Snotlout right behind him.

They walked into what appeared to be a small foyer with the same royal red accents as the front door. In front of them was a set of mahogany double doors and a matching mahogany staircase was placed off to the right that led to an upstairs balcony. Luka walked over to the left to a man working at a desk who had the appearance and dress of a butler.

"Name please," the man asked him in a posh British accent.

"Luka Nachtschatten and guest," he replied simply.

The man leaned to look around Luka and stared at Snotlout disapprovingly. Snotlout narrowed his eyes in response and felt the need to punch the entitled look off the bastard's face.

"Welcome back, sir. Your party is waiting for you upstairs," he informed Luka with notes of boredom in his voice.

"Thank you," Luka said before turning around to walk to the staircase. Snotlout glared at the snobby old man before turning to follow Luka up the carpeted staircase that was the same royal red as the front door.

Walking up the stairs and onto the balcony, he was able to view the room that was previously blocked off to him in the foyer. The royal red carpeting extended into that room as well and the walls were the rich color of cream and adorned with intricate carvings and mahogany moldings. The ceiling was intricately carved as well, showing the age of the building as well as its relative worth. The main parlor included a small bar, a pool table, and had comfortable looking couches and lounge chairs scattered throughout along with tables. There were several windows lining one side of the room that would normally let in a fantastic amount of light if it weren't so dark outside. From what Snotlout could tell, there was a small courtyard outside. In the parlor stood several groups of men in circles holding glasses of wine and chatting lightly. Snotlout could tell from their appearances that they had a decent amount of money. They paused in their conversation and glanced up at Luka and Snotlout as they crossed the balcony.

They only had to walk several paces before the hallway concealed them and they were out of the rich men's view. Snotlout felt better that way, he felt an overwhelming amount of judgment from everyone in the building.

Luka turned a corner to follow the hallway down to the end and walked up to a mahogany door. He gently knocked on it and only a moment passed before a fairly young man opened the door. He was dressed in a suit as well with a striking green tie and smiled warmly at the sight of Luka.

"Luka! I am overjoyed to finally meet you after all these years! My father spoke very highly of you. Come in, come in," he said in a rolling accent and moving aside to let Luka pass. Snotlout hesitated, but the man nodded to him as well encouraging him to enter.

Snotlout walked in to the small room, which was adorned with coral-colored walls and mahogany accents. There were two leather sofas and a coffee table situated between them with a lamp in the corner that emitted a warm light throughout the room. A stone fireplace stood on the far side, whose embers were burning lightly.

"So I take it you're Esteban's son?" Luka asked referring to the man's much younger age. He couldn't have been much older than Luka after all.

"Yes, yes. You are correct in that assumption. I carry the same name as my father and am taking over his role in the company," he briefly explained. He then turned his attention back to Snotlout, "And who might your partner be?" he asked.

"His name is Scott," Luka answered for Snotlout, "But he's commonly referred to as Snotlout within the group."

"Ah. Well, I will refer to you as Scott here then. It is a pleasure," he said charmingly and held out a hand, which Snotlout accepted and shook.

He turned back to Luka and gestured for him to sit down, which they both did. Snotlout remained by the door feeling as though he wasn't an actual part of the meeting. And he felt even more lost when Esteban asked Luka a question in what he could only assume was Spanish and Luka agreed to it.

Snotlout stood watching the two of them talk but not really understanding any of it. Esteban's Spanish flowed beautifully and was so charming that he probably could have convinced Snotlout to agree to anything if he asked him. Snotlout was also shocked that Luka was able to talk back to him. But granted, Snotlout could tell that he wasn't as good at speaking it as Esteban was. He would often struggle to find a word or pause before speaking. Occasionally in their conversation Snotlout would pick out a word, but he still had no idea what they were talking about. So he just decided to casually lean against the door and wait for them to finish.

...

[So why not work with my brother then?] Luka asked monotonously while lounging back into the sofa. It was a really comfortable couch.

[He is much too busy and, besides, you are a prodigy! No one has ever done more than you in my quadrant. Without you, the police have been absolutely relentless.]

[You compliment me too much. I only worked with your dad for a year.]

[I apologize, but I promise you that I am being completely honest when I do so.]

[Fine. But no one in the group wants to see me again in the neighborhood. Not after what they think happened.]

[Yes, I already know. It was clever of you to contact me through Manuela by the way. She is no longer involved and is not being monitored anymore. However…] he said before lighting up a cigar to smoke. He held it out to Luka, who shook his head at the offer and he continued, [She is still obviously upset with what happened to her fiancée. But I know full well it's not your fault. Pitch was desperately looking for an excuse to get rid of him for quite a while. And besides, he was a hot-tempered idiot. He should have known better than to hurt you of all people,] he finished chuckling a little.

Luka didn't answer him after that and just continued watching him and patiently waited for him to continue. Esteban took a drag on the cigar and held it in for a few seconds before gently exhaling the thick smoke.

After noticing Luka's lack of contribution he continued, [Don't worry about the dealers in the neighborhood. I'll take care of them and convince them otherwise if you can deal with the police again for me.]

[Why should I help you?]

Esteban studied him carefully for a moment and then said, [I can wire you whatever amount you ask for.]

[I don't want your money.]

Esteban maintained his charming smile as he pondered a more suitable trade. Smoke curled off the end of his cigar as he held it casually off to the side. Then he said, [How about we sweeten the deal then? You help me increase business and I'll improve your reputation and future career.]

Luka scoffed at him and asked, [And how are you going to do that?]

[It won't be the easiest challenge, but it is possible. My father is still incredibly influential after all. He liked you a lot and would not mind bringing up your skills in negotiations with former colleagues. I have my ever expanding group of younger connections as well. If anything it would land you a comfortable job in the business sector. But if that is not to your fancy, then you'd be hired privately to do what you were already doing. However instead of helping, you could sabotage your father's enterprise.]

Luka's mouth drew up into a smirk at the idea. But he knew it wasn't as simple as Esteban was presenting it to be. There were too many X-factors involved, and Esteban was one of them.

[What makes you so willing to betray my father?] he asked curiously.

[I wouldn't call it betrayal,] Esteban said casually before bringing the cigar back to his lips and inhaling. As he exhaled he continued, [It's simply business. You working for your father restricted the growth of my family's company. So I would just like to propose a bargain and gain you as an asset instead. You were trained under the best in the business after all. Nobody is more valuable than you right now.]

[You're trying to flatter me again.]

[I promise you I'm not. I'm only stating the facts. And the truth of the matter is that I sought you out because I want you to work for me.]

[You understand that I cannot do so freely. That if I were to work for you, the only thing you would have is my word.]

[Absolutely. But I think we can build up enough trust between the two of us for your word to be worth more than a formal contract,] Esteban concluded smiling broadly. [But I will give you time of course to consider my offer. I will still appease your reputation with my dealers in the neighborhood. Hopefully once I do that, you will have decided you can trust me to follow through in whatever you ask of me.]

With that, Esteban stood up and extended his hand to Luka. Luka stood as well and accepted his hand to shake it firmly. He found Esteban's offer tantalizing, but he doubted that he'd follow through. The guy was still relatively young and, despite his natural charm, he didn't have direct control over his father's colleagues. Esteban Sr. might be able to sway them, but it would still be a huge gamble that would ultimately drag Luka back into the world he had tried to get away from. The only reason he met with Esteban in the first place was because he had a soft spot for the west side of the city and wanted to atone for his father's sins that contributed to its squalor.

They made their farewells and Luka left the building with Snotlout following behind.

…

Despite his efforts, Snotlout couldn't get Luka to answer any of his questions until they had walked a half-hour's distance away from the private club. It was the middle of the night at this point and Luka was leading Snotlout through less populated areas that obscured them more easily in the shadows.

"Can you please just tell me what that was about?" he asked. His curiosity was killing him and he had a million questions to ask. But if Luka would just answer a couple of them, he would be satisfied with just that. After all, he was apparently working for him now.

Luka sighed at long last and admitted, "It's a really long story, Snotlout. But I needed to meet with him to try and make up for something that happened several years ago."

"What happened?"

Luka looked over at him as they walked and replied in a low voice, "I don't really want to talk about it. It was a misunderstanding that ruined my reputation in my old quadrant."

"Woah. Woah. Woah." he said before stopping in the middle of the vacant park they were passing through and forcing Luka to turn around and face him. "You were in charge of a whole quadrant? But Dagur said you were nothing but a-"

"Dagur's an idiot if you haven't noticed by now," he responded calmly, cutting off what Snotlout was saying before turning and continuing towards home.

Snotlout ran to catch up with him and walked a little behind in silence for a while. Everything he was experiencing was slowly changing his previous conception of Luka, which had been loosely based on the things Dagur had told him. The guy was the only one who knew Luka personally when Snotlout had hung around with him, Dagur's other followers were in similar positions as Snotlout. The majority of Dagur's rants about Luka were usually directed at his undeserved entitlement for being Pitch's bastard child. The rest were graphic descriptions of the joy Dagur got out of hearing him scream… His overly sadistic nature was enough to even make Snotlout sick to his stomach. The guy was just on a whole different level from your normal, ethically sane person.

But from what he had put together from hanging around him for so long, he knew Dagur dealt to a sector on the South side and that Benedikt had given him several portions of the East side in exchange for keeping quiet about Luka's location. But to control a whole quadrant? That was something Snotlout only knew Benedikt did.

"Hey wait up!" he called to him since he had further increased his pace. But no matter how hard he tried to keep up with him, Luka kept himself several paces in front of Snotlout. Snotlout figured it was so he could avoid answering any additional questions.

Soon they arrived back at The Guardians and Snotlout followed Luka down the metal staircase and waited for him to unlock the basement door. He clicked the lock and looked over at Snotlout before saying quietly, "You did promise me that you wouldn't say anything. And I expect you to be careful that you don't, alright?"

"Yeah. I may not be all that smart, but I've learned how to keep my mouth shut. However…" he said reevaluating his options. "If you get any money out of this, would you cut me in on it?"

Luka stared at him intensely for a moment and snorted out of humor before responding, "I knew you spent too much time around Dagur for him to not rub off on you."

"That wasn't Dagur. That was me living alone on the streets for several years," he said firmly. He hated being compared to Dagur.

"Sure. Well… I can't promise you anything because I'm not sure if anything is going to happen. But if you keep quiet, I'll make it worth your while later."

"How?"

Luka smirked at him and replied, "We'll just see what happens." And with that he opened the door. They walked in and removed their shoes and coats. Snotlout figured it was late enough that everyone had come back from the club by now. And he was tired as hell. Since he had been waking up freakishly early, he started getting tired much earlier as well.

"I'm going to bed," he said before dragging his feet down the hall. He didn't know what Luka meant, but he figured that he couldn't have had control over a whole quadrant without having mad hookups. And he at least seemed more upstanding than Dagur at keeping his promises. He'd just have to be happy working for him and see what happens.

...

Toothless was absolutely exhausted after that whole affair, but he knew he wouldn't be able to settle his mind enough to sleep. So he walked into his bedroom and noticed Hiccup was already passed out in bed. Jack must have still been finishing some things up in the club. He changed out of his suit and put on a pair of pajamas and a T-shirt before returning to the kitchen. He made himself some tea before going to relax on the couch. He wasn't able to make a tea like Sandy could, but he figured the act of drinking it sometimes relaxed him enough so he could sleep. He kept only one lamp on to provide a subtle light as he sat and tried to relax.

He battled with himself on what he wanted to do. He didn't want to get tangled up in that mess again, but at the same time, the thought of bringing down his father was extremely tempting. And as they walked home, he calculated it to be entirely possible. There was a moderate chance that he could pull it off as long as a couple things fell into place for him. He figured he could get it done in under a decade if everything went as he expected it to. Sooner, if he was lucky.

And he also knew his time was running up at the Guardians. He knew that Pitch would need him eventually, his replacement, Jeremiah, wasn't as good. The only reason he had been able to hide out in one place for so long was because Benedikt had stayed behind and convinced Pitch he needed time for things to settle down and wait for certain people to phase out of power before Luka could come back. That time had to be approaching if Esteban had gained control over his previous quadrant and Benedikt had made the connections he said he did. Shit…

He put the tea down on the table and dropped his head into his hands. He didn't want to leave… For the first time in so long he was happy. Really, really happy. And if he went back then he wouldn't be able to see Hiccup or Jack again. And the thought of losing them made him feel like his heart was being ripped out of his chest. He couldn't imagine what it would feel like to actually happen…

Toothless leaned back into the cushions of the couch and looked at the ceiling. No. He couldn't break down over this. Esteban was offering him a possible way out and he had to figure out a solution to make it work…

The tea must have worked because he woke up a few minutes later to the front door opening. He had dozed off while sitting up, but still leaning back into the cushions. As he opened his eyes, he saw Jack walk in. At the sight of him, Jack grinned as he took off his shoes and walked over.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked bemused by Toothless's wakefulness.

"Couldn't sleep," he said as he yawned widely.

Jack grinned and replied, "Yeah, well I'm not tired yet either," as he perched himself on top of Toothless placing both hands on his neck and pulling him up into a kiss.

Toothless's eyes widened at the sudden escalation of events. He placed his hands on Jack's hips and pulled away from the kiss so he could look at him and ask, "What? Were you expecting something tonight?"

"Kind of," he said holding his lopsided grin, "Hiccup has been a giant tease all night and the little bastard went off to bed leaving me to finish his share of the work."

Toothless grinned and let his head fall back into the cushion. He wasn't sure if he was entirely in the mood either after everything that happened. But he sympathized with Jack; Hiccup loved to tease the pants of the white-haired boy. Unfortunately, he occasionally didn't follow through, which made Toothless understand Jack's frustration. But to give Jack an answer he said as he gently stroked his sides, "I mean…I like need to take a shower and shit. I've been running around all d-"

Jack interrupted him by pulling him back into a bruising kiss and grinding himself down into Toothless's lap trying to convince him. He felt Jack's tongue swipe across his lower lip and he opened his mouth more to deepen the kiss. He felt a little bit of heat gather in his pelvis from Jack's friction and he reflexively pushed himself up into the white-haired boy as his thoughts vehemently battled against his body. Jack pulled back slightly, leaning his forehead and nose against Toothless's and Toothless felt his breath ghost across his lips as he muttered, "I could take one with you…"

Damn he was good.

I think we all know where this is going...

So what do you all think? Should just Toothless and Jack have some fun,

or should they wake up Hic too? ;D