Title: "That's My Cousin You're Talking About!"

Summary: When another tribe visits Berk, a bully from said tribe gangs up on Hiccup. Unfortunately, he make the mistake of doing it right in front of Snotlout, who is less than thrilled to say the very least.

Characters: Hiccup, Snotlout, Astrid

Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Family

Rating: Mild T

Requested by: Sarnakh the Sunderer (and other reviewers who have asked for some Hiccup and Snotlout cousin-bonding).

The boats docked on the shores. Over fifty of them moored in Berk's docks, even more villagers standing and cheering on the shores of the great ships.

The Meathead Tribe was coming to visit, although Hiccup would never truly understand why. The Meatheads had never been exactly...err…"compatible", especially the Chief's son, Carr. Carr didn't like Hiccup especially, although that was something else Hiccup would never understand the reason why.

Honestly, he never did anything to make Carr hate him so. It was not his fault Carr hated him.

Stoick stepped forward as the Chief of the Meatheads stepped off the boat. While Hiccup stood behind Stoick, Carr stood behind his father, his arms crossed, his face carrying that same, boastful, murderous snarl it always had.

"Pleasure to see you again, Murderous," Stoick greeted, clasping the visiting Chief's hand in both his own and giving it a firm shake. "You and your tribe are always welcome here on Berk."

Murderous, the Chief of the Meatheads, smiled. "And it's good to be welcomed to Berk, Stoick," he said. "You remember my son, Carr."

Carr stepped forward and nodded.

Stoick nodded back. "Yes, I remember," he said. "Come. Let's give you the grand tour. A lot has changed since you last came here."

And that was really how Hiccup's bad day started.

They were walking through the plaza, when they passed Snotlout, who was standing beside Hookfang, trying (and failing) to calm Hookfang down. Carr gasped at the sight of Snotlout and Hookfang.

"Look at that!" he said proudly. "Monstrous Nightmare! The most poisonous dragons, ever!"

Honestly, it was a no-brainer that Carr was wrong. "Actually, Carr," Hiccup said matter-of-factly, "Monstrous Nightmares aren't poisonous. They have a lot of firepower, but no venom as far as we know."

Carr glared at him, and Hiccup pretended he didn't notice. Snotlout and Hookfang eventually tagged along, following Stoick, Murderous, Carr, and his cousin as they continued through Berk.

They passed Meatlug and Fishlegs, who were smelling flowers. Carr pointed in their direction. "Look at the size of that Nadder!" Carr exclaimed.

"Actually," Hiccup said, "that isn't a Nadder. It's a Gronckle."

While Hiccup tried to ignore Carr's second murderous glare, Carr's father laughed. "You'll have to excuse my son," Murderous said. "We don't see a lot of dragons."

Snotlout laughed. "Just another thing that makes us Berkians better than you Meatheads." Carr glared, and Murderous simply chuckled. Snotlout shrugged, and Hiccup tried to pretend he was invisible.

The worst of it all came later, after many of Carr's failed attempts at guessing which dragon was what and what each dragon could do. He mistook a Terrible Terror for a Zippleback (in his defense, though, there were two Terrors standing side by side, and it caused the illusion that they were one dragon with two heads and two tails), and for the longest time, he didn't know what kind of dragon Stormfly was.

Although Hiccup would never say it out loud, in his opinion, Carr was an idiot.

But of course, Hiccup would never say that out loud, so his opinion really didn't matter.

Hiccup didn't fail to see Carr's murderous glare after Carr thought Gronckles were the ones that shot spines instead of Nadders, although he tried to ignore it as he had done all day. Hiccup looked at Snotlout. If Snotlout sensed Hiccup's discomfort, he didn't appear to. He was too busy bragging about how "amazing" Hookfang was to Carr, and Carr was too busy being mad at Hiccup to care.

Stoick ruffled Hiccup's hair, and Murderous laughed.

"Ah, your son's quite the smart one, is he, Stoick?" he said. "Knows a lot about dragons, by the looks of it. Maybe he can teach you a little more about them, Carr." He put his arm around Carr's shoulders and nodded encouragingly.

Carr crossed his arms angrily. "Yeah, great," he grumbled.

"In fact," Murderous said, "why don't you two go on and work with a few dragons while Stoick and I finish catching up."

"WHAT!?" Hiccup and Carr shouted in unison. Snotlout cackled.

"Go on!" Murderous said. "We'll meet up with you later on, during the treaty signing this evening."

That was really how Hiccup's bad day started. He didn't argue with his father, and Carr didn't argue, either, and the duo headed into Raven Point.

Snotlout watched them curiously. Although Hiccup hadn't seemed to notice, Snotlout had noticed the dirty, evil glances Carr was throwing at him, and Snotlout didn't feel well about it. So, silently, and telling Hookfang to stay put (which the dragon had absolutely no problem doing), Snotlout followed his cousin and Carr into the forest.

He followed them for a while without them knowing. Hiccup didn't say anything, and neither did Carr. They continued walking, deeper into Raven Point. Deeper and deeper until Snotlout wondered if he had worried for nothing.

But then, all at once, Carr stopped. Snotlout jumped behind a tree and peaked out from the side, keeping himself hidden yet still able to see Carr and his cousin.

And to his shock and surprise, Carr punched Hiccup right in the stomach. Hiccup gulped and doubled over, his arms wrapped around his abdomen, his teeth clenched, clearly trying to hold back any cries.

Obviously, this had happened before between Carr and Hiccup, the punching and all.

But how had Snotlout not seen it before?

For a while, Snotlout was too shocked to say anything. He gasped, and then shut his mouth for fear of Carr or Hiccup hearing him and recognizing his presence. He wasn't so sure what to do…

Carr kicked Hiccup immediately after punching him, and Hiccup stumbled, lost his balance, and hit the ground.

"Think you're pretty smart, don't you!?" Carr snapped. He delivered another kick, and Hiccup bit back another cry. Snotlout wanted to interfere. He wanted to, but he didn't know if Hiccup would appreciate him interceding. Hiccup didn't like to be treated as though he were weak. He didn't like to be pitied fussed over, and he didn't like it when someone else fought his battles for him.

That, and Snotlout was pretty much in shock of what he was watching. Growing up, he and the twins used to gang up on Hiccup and beat him up every now and then, but…

Snotlout looked at Carr's insane, furious, angry yet sickly, cruelly satisfied face as he punched Hiccup again in the ribs and Hiccup choked back another scream of pain.

Had Snotlout really looked like that way back when, when he used to beat Hiccup for the fun of it? Snotlout hadn't actually thought about it before...but now...now…

"I bet you think it was cute, huh?" Carr continued angrily. "Getting smart like that, trying to impress my father and embarrass me!?"

Hiccup shook his head, although he didn't open his mouth. Snotlout wanted to interfere. Snotlout really, really, really, really wanted to, but he didn't know what Hiccup would think of him if he did. Did Hiccup want to be pitied, or did he-

Carr kicked Hiccup again, but it was harder than all previous kicks combined, and this time, Hiccup screamed.

It was then that Snotlout found himself running. He didn't remember springing from his hiding spot and rushing forwards, towards his cousin and Carr. He didn't remember shouting, "HEY! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" He didn't remember Carr trying to run away.

In fact, the only thing Snotlout truly felt was when he raised his fist, and slammed it right across Carr's face. Carr's head jerked, and the boy stumbled backwards, cradling his cheek in his hand.

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM!" Snotlout shouted, standing between where Carr was still stumbling about and where Hiccup was lying, still panting and gasping for breath.

Carr lifted his head again and spat. "Why are you defending him, Snotface?" he asked. "I thought you were on my side. He was trying to be smart, trying to embarrass me in front of my father, trying to-"

Snotlout cut him off by another harsh slap and kick. Carr was shoved against the ground on his side with a cry of indignance - or maybe it was pain.

"That's my cousin you're talking about!" Snotlout hissed. "I've never been on your side, Carr, and I never will be on your side! Mark my words…" He took a step forward and jabbed his finger in Carr's face threateningly. "If you so much as touch Hiccup again," Snotlout said, "you won't get off as easy."

Carr's glare hardened, and he stood up. "I'm going to go tell my father," he growled, and then, he took off running, stumbling only slightly due to the bruises Snotlout had inflicted on him.

"YEAH!?" Snotlout called back at him, cupping one hand around his mouth. "Go on and do that, Carr! Go run crying to your Daddy! Tattletale on me, whatever! See if I care!" Snotlout knew that Carr would probably make up a lie, probably say that Hiccup started it and that Carr was only trying to defend himself.

But Snotlout wasn't afraid of that.

He'd witnessed the entire thing and could stand on Hiccup's side of the argument-

Snotlout froze.

Hiccup.

He spun around to face his cousin. Hiccup was still trying (and failing) to get up, clutching at his ribs and hissing through his teeth whenever he so much as moved. Snotlout ran to him and gripped Hiccup's forearm tightly.

"Come on, cuz," Snotlout said. He helped Hiccup to his feet (well, one foot and prosthetic) with a grunt and pulled Hiccup's arm around his neck. "Let's get you back to the village."

He started walking, practically dragging Hiccup along the entire way. To his surprise, Hiccup didn't actually protest. Snotlout decided that he'd done the right thing in standing up to Carr.

"You...you didn't have to do that, Snotlout," Hiccup said, just before they stepped foot into the village. "You-"

"Oh, what?" Snotlout said. He pulled Hiccup's arm back around his neck when the boy started slipping from his grasp. "Leave you to fend for yourself? Yeah, 'cause that was going real well...Thor, Hiccup, do you ever eat?" He always knew his cousin was light, and an even lighter eater, but for sixteen, this was just ridiculous. Snotlout was pretty sure that if he wanted to, he could carry Hiccup without any problem at all.

And that wasn't because he was strong, either.

Hiccup laughed hoarsely. "That's a stupid question."

Snotlout sighed. His stupid cousin, always trying to put on a brave face, even if his face was quite literally covered in bruises. Actually, by the looks of it, Hiccup would have a really bad black eye by morning…

"Thanks...anyways," Hiccup said. "For that."

"You bet," said Snotlout. "What else is family for?"