Unformatted text is Norse, or narration.

Italicized text is Irish.

Underlined text is Dragonese.

Bold text is used for emphasis (and author's notes).

Hiccup spent the majority of that day in the forge, his mind just chanting the thought of 'You're getting married!' until he almost wanted to rescind his offer. Not that he would, of course. That would be needlessly cruel and neither of them would be happy with that decision. Still, it would be nice if he could focus on what he was doing. He'd wasted several sheets of parchment trying (and failing) to sketch out designs. For once, the designs were completely unrelated to dragons. Well, unless you thought about it in the way that the invention would allow his father to move around without the aid of his dragon. It was a sort of chair on wheels. A chairwheel? Wheelchair. Though, the more he thought about it, the more he worried his father would be unable to traverse town properly due to the uneven ground and stairs in various locations. It would be better than nothing though, right?

"Hiccup!" It was Gobber. Hiccup accidentally scratched through the drawing.

"I'm in here!" He called out. Oh. When had it gotten dark? He crumpled up his latest failure of a sketch.

"Ah, good. Your father's been wondering where you got off to." Gobber walked into Hiccup's workplace, and Hiccup rubbed his eyes, not completely sure when the last time he'd looked away from the desk had been. "Said you disappeared this morning after he had a friendly conversation with you." Hiccup scoffed.

"He asked when I was going to propose to, move in with, and have kids with Aran. Really not the kind of conversation you expect from your dad first thing in the morning." Gobber looked amused as Hiccup gathered up his things.

"Well?"

"Well what?" He received a rather expectant look, and Hiccup groaned. "Well I kind of proposed to him after that conversation. And started moving some stuff over…" Hiccup mumbled.

"Great! When's the wedding? I need to find the best goat to sacrifice." Gobber said lightly as they began walking to the great hall. His pseudo nephew chanced a laugh.

"Well, obviously it has to be on a Friday."

"Of course. I'd have called you mad, otherwise." Friday was Frigga's day after all, and what kind of person would you be to get married on any other day? Frigga was the goddess of marriage and childbirth, so if you didn't get married on a Friday you must have been mad.

"I haven't really planned any further ahead. It was kind of a spur of the moment choice and I've been working on inventions all day."

Hiccup felt it had been too long since he'd had a proper conversation with Gobber, but he supposed that was his own fault. Now that he felt Aran was probably healed enough to be left alone without suddenly dropping dead, it was quite likely that he wouldn't be spending every waking moment with him. Upon entering Meade Hall, Hiccup pointedly avoided all eye contact with his parents and went to sit with his friends. Astrid commented on the fact that he'd actually joined them for dinner for once, and he immediately felt embarrassed for being such a worrywart. His blush served to amuse his friends, and he told them to shut up about it after a few minutes of solid teasing. When asked where his boyfriend (he hadn't exactly broken the news yet) was, he answered that Aran was probably still at home. Hopefully. Not wanting Hiccup to worry again, Fishlegs asked him about any inventions he may be planning, and Hiccup launched into explaining his plans for his father's wheelchair. All in all, Hiccup felt it was a day well spent, and had been planning on returning to his fiance with an apology for being gone all day, but was instead met with a handwritten note.

'Hey Hic!

Sorry I'm not home, I had a lot of energy after your (bad) proposal and I wanted to let my parents know right away. I'll probably be back within the week, but if I'm not it's probably because I'm busy planning things. Please come drag me back to Berk if I don't return on my own within a month.

Love, Aran'

"Why are you like this?" He grumbled, mostly to himself. He immediately started writing his own note.

'Dear Aran,

You are ridiculously impulsive and I am not amused by your impulsiveness when it involves you flying across the ocean after you've barely recovered enough to be left alone. Still, I'm trusting you (well, Méaróg) not to die so if you never end up reading this I hope it's because you came home while I was here, or because I went to Ireland myself to drag you back. I'm probably at the forge or Meade Hall if I'm on the island, but I'm sure you could figure that out on your own.

Hiccup'

After writing the note, he put it on the bed beside the one Aran had left and made his way outside. Surprisingly enough, Toothless was waiting for him, head tilted hopefully. Hiccup smiled, feeling a bit guilty for neglecting him as of late. He'd been spending much too much time taking care of Aran. It was actually a little surprising they hadn't gotten sick of each other, considering how much time they spent together. There had been moments Aran snapped in frustration at his fiancé's constant presence, but they were short lived and he would forget his irritation within an hour. Hiccup spent a good moment giving Toothless an affectionate scratching before flying him to the house he still had the majority of his belongings in despite being in the beginning of the process of moving out. He supposed he was in a very weird sort of transitionary period of time. Him and Aran weren't exactly married yet, but they were more than just dating. He wasn't exactly the chief, but he knew he would need to take on the role soon due to his father's disability (which he knew wasn't his fault at all, but his brain kept trying to think of a way to make it such) even if nobody had said anything to him yet. He wasn't exactly living with Aran yet, but he'd begun the process of moving in. He decided everything was sort of muddled and would work itself out soon.

"We'll take a real flight when I wake up in the morning, how's that sound, bud?" He asked as he scratched Toothless beneath the chin.

They'd just landed outside his house, and Hiccup took a moment to feed his soulmate a late night snack before heading inside. Quietly, of course. It was summer, and considering how dark it was outside probably meant it was very late at night, so his parents were definitely asleep at that point. Or at least, that's what he'd been assuming. They were having a hushed conversation in their bedroom, and he closed the front door as quietly as he could. Letting his curiosity get the best of him, he approached the room so as to hear better, only slightly surprised to find the door ajar. He thought he heard something about someone needing to be ready to become the chief, and immediately deduced that they were talking about him. Hiccup made eye contact with his mother, but didn't want to maintain it and looked away as he made his way upstairs as quietly as he could now that he knew what they were talking about. He got to his room and sat on his bed, self doubt creeping into him now that the thought of him becoming chief had forced itself back into his mind.

His father had given him some distance with the topic, due to the recent battle with Drago and the Alpha destroying a major part of Berk and Hiccup wanting to take care of his boyfriend (now fiancé), but he suspected he couldn't avoid the subject for very much longer. It had been about a month since they had begun working to clean Berk up and restore the damaged buildings, and several lives were unfortunately lost to the destructive ice breath of the great bewilderbeast. Thankfully, due to the not quite warm, but definitely above freezing summer weather, most of the ice had begun to weaken and the larger chunks were removed early on. Bodies and resources that were still salvageable had indeed been salvaged from the wreckage. Hiccup remembered the absolute terror he'd felt when an ice blast almost claimed his life. He would have died, had Toothless not been there, and with Toothless being the Alpha now, Hiccup was starting to feel that he should stop avoiding his responsibility to become chief.

"Hiccup?" His head shot up at the sound of his mother's voice. She'd appeared in the door to his room without him even noticing, though he supposed that was fair. He hadn't exactly been paying attention to his surroundings, and she was used to moving with an oddly animalistic grace that left her footsteps light.

"Hey, mom." She sat herself on the bed beside Hiccup, putting an arm around her son and squeezing his shoulder.

"Are you… alright?" Before he could respond, say that he was fine, she continued speaking. "You looked a bit lost, inside."

"I guess I'm just…" Part of him wanted to insist that he was fine still, even though his voice had already betrayed him and he'd started speaking in a way that wouldn't allow that. "I've been avoiding thinking about taking over Dad's job, and hearing you talking about it, well…" He shrugged slightly. "I still don't know who I'm supposed to be. How can- how can someone like me be the chief after someone like him?" There was a moment of quiet between them, and Valka gently stroked his hair, causing him to turn his face in her direction.

"You came early into this world." Her hand dropped to rest on his shoulder once more. "You were such a wee thing. So frail, so fragile." Hiccup looked away, not sure why she was saying this to him. She tapped his cheek with the back of her fingers, causing him to make eye contact that he couldn't bring himself to maintain, instead focussing on a flyaway hair. "I feared you wouldn't make it." Valka turned her eyes away from him to look off somewhere distant, beyond the physical boundaries of his room. "But your father… He never doubted." Hiccup looked down at his lap, feeling his eyes grow slightly damp. "He always said you'd become the strongest of them all." Valka cupped his cheek in her hand, almost seeming to wipe away tears that weren't falling. "And he was right." She moved her hand to brush through his hair. "You have the heart of a chief," A touch to his heart. "And the soul of a dragon. Only you could have brought our worlds together. That is who you are, son."

She cupped his cheek once more, and now that she'd stopped speaking, he allowed himself to look her in the eye. Forest green orbs so similar to his own yet so very different at the same time held a gentle, maternal warmth he never knew. It was Valka who initiated the hug, but both of them who yearned for the mother-son bond that had been missing for their entire lives. Valka began to hum quietly before letting her voice grow in volume and sing a lullaby Hiccup had never heard before. It was incredibly relaxing, and when he pulled away from her it was with a smile. As he leaned down to begin removing his prosthetic, he spoke to her.

"I don't need a lullaby to fall asleep, mom."

"Ah, well, I suppose I'm just making up for lost time." She clearly had guilt in her words, but Hiccup couldn't comment on it as she continued talking. "You can bet I'll be singing to my grandkids, though!"

"Aran probably has that covered, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind you taking his job every now and then." Hiccup joked, and Valka laughed easily, perhaps a bit too loudly, but it was endearing.

"Goodnight, Hiccup." She stood, bending over to kiss him on the forehead. "Try not to be so hard on yourself. From everything I've heard about you, you're going to make the finest chief Berk has ever seen."

"Night, mom. Thanks." He smiled at her, a smile which she returned.

Despite how busy his mind had been before, he found himself falling asleep quite easily after that conversation with his mother. It had been a good talk, but he found himself regretting that he hadn't brought up his engagement with Aran. He really kind of needed to let his parents know about that. Before he passed out, he told himself he would tell them the next time he saw them, whether they be in the same room or not. When he woke up, he took a moment to stretch before heading downstairs. It appeared he had run into a parent of his much sooner than he'd thought, as he'd woken up rather early.

"Hiccup."

"Oh! Dad! Hey!" He laughed. "What are- what are you doing?" Stoick raised an eyebrow. "Carving. Right. I should have… guessed that… because you're holding a- a small wooden duck. And a knife." Stoick chuckled, shaking his head. "So, uhh, where's mom?"

"She woke up earlier. If you'd spent more nights at the house, you'd probably notice that she rises with the sun." Hiccup frowned, feeling guilty.

"Sorry…" Stoick shook his head.

"You're a grown man, I'm not expecting you to spend all your time with your parents." That only made him feel slightly better, but he wasn't about to have an emotional conversation with his dad, so instead he changed the subject.

"Ah, well, I'm moving out anyways, so I should probably spend a little more time with you guys before I go." At that, Stoick set the knife and duck aside.

"You're moving out?"

"Yeah, figured it was time I leave the nest, so to speak." He scratched the back of his head. "I know it's a bit unconventional, moving in with someone you're not married to, but that should be changing soon, and you'll probably have grandkids before you're sixty now, so- I'm just gonna-" Hiccup made for the door, but Stoick grabbed his arm as he passed. "Right." Hiccup sat himself down on the couch near the armchair his father occupied (when had they gotten that? His house almost felt foreign).

"Well?" Hiccup proceeded to tell the story of how he (lamely) proposed to Aran, and Stoick guffawed.

"To be fair, I'd like to point out that I have no reference point for this kind of thing. He still said yes." It occurred to Hiccup that Aran hadn't directly said yes, but it had been heavily implied.

"I have to wonder why. You're even worse than me!" Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"Ha, ha." There was a surprisingly comfortable quiet, and he took a moment to feel content that their relationship had developed so much in comparison to what they'd been five years ago. "... You're really… okay with this?"

"With what- you and Aran?" Hiccup nodded hesitantly, grasping the fabric of his shirt in his hands. "Well, it's not what I had in mind, but I'd be blind not to see that you're happy together. I'll admit, I may not have been so open to the idea had Aran not told me everything while he had a concussion, but it was easy to see how much he cares for you." It was weird hearing the words coming from his father's mouth. He wasn't an idiot, but he wasn't the best at emotions.

"Oh." Hiccup knew he should be happy with those words, and he really was, but he wasn't sure what to say.

"If I'm being honest, he reminded me of my own feelings towards your mother." Hiccup nodded. "I could see the love in his eyes when he talked about you, and while he wasn't my first choice for you, I don't think I could ask for a better son-in-law." Stoick smiled at him, and he returned the smile. It was genuine.

"... Thanks, Dad." Hiccup got up from his seat. "I'm heading out. Do you need anything before I go?" He saw his father about to shake his head before having second thoughts.

"Well, could you bring Skullcrusher to me?"

Hiccup glanced outside, seeing the rather beetle-like dragon snoozing peacefully in the grass outside their house. He nodded and went outside, waking the dragon up with some difficulty. Skullcrusher stretched, and Hiccup fed the dragon before leading him inside the house, where his father was waiting. Stoick thanked him, hoisting himself up onto the dragon with the sheer strength of his arms alone. He flew off on the rumblehorn as Hiccup made his way to his own dragon with a decent amount of fish in a basket and a small breakfast of his own. He had plans to work on his father's wheelchair, but those could wait.

That day was full of adrenaline charged flights with Toothless, forgetting to eat, and a whole lot of tinkering. He was making significant progress on his father's wheelchair, and he spent a large portion of his time in the air with not just Toothless, but his mother as well. It was how several days passed, and he felt rather satisfied when he finished the wheelchair a few days after drawing the sketch. He tested it by piling heavy rocks on it and pushing it around, satisfied that it could take his father's weight. Hopefully it could take his strength as well, but Hiccup couldn't think of a way to test that, as he didn't have the muscle to replicate how much strain would be put on the wheels when his father wheeled himself around. The chair was able to fold up- something that took him a while to figure out- to take less space when it wasn't in use, and to provide easy carrying. He took advantage of this as he walked around in search of his father. It was surprisingly hard to find his old man, but when he did he decided to wait a bit longer, as he was on the docks at the moment and wouldn't be able to find any use for the wheelchair. There were stairs leading to the docks, after all. Hiccup really needed to figure out a way for Stoick to overcome stairs without getting on Skullcrusher.

Hiccup instead went to sit in the town's plaza, grabbing a sufficiently thick stick from the ground before taking his knife from its sheath on his arm and beginning to carve it, not completely sure what he was making. Eventually, it became a very small figurine of Toothless, roughly the size of half his thumb and lacking in any significant detail. It was nothing compared to the duck carvings his father seemed to do to relax in the mornings, and though he wasn't satisfied with his work, it had served its purpose of wasting time, and he looked up to see his father landing not quite nearby, but definitely in his range. Before he could take off to do whatever chiefly duties he had, Hiccup ran over to him, thanking the gods that he didn't slip and fall on his face like a fool. Stoick waited for him to catch his breath, and when he did he launched into an explanation of what he'd invented. He went on to ramble about how he'd tested the weight capabilities, but wasn't sure if the wheels would survive him turning them (hopefully they would- he'd found no evidence to suggest that they wouldn't, but he was a bit paranoid). As he unfolded the chair, Hiccup realized his father hadn't said anything to him, and he was surprised to look up and see him smiling. Before he could say anything to him, Stoick lowered himself to the wheelchair, and Hiccup was struck by the fact that he was looking down at his father now. It was jarring.

"Thank you." The words were simple, but they were incredible sincere. Hiccup didn't know how to respond, other than with a shrug and a smile. "I'm sure you've noticed that I'm… not exactly cut out for my job anymore." He looked older than Hiccup had ever noticed, though he supposed it made sense that he would look his age and then some. A fifty year old man, and the chief? That had to produce a lot of grey hairs.

"Well, I wouldn't say you've been doing a terrible job…" Hiccup tried to assure him, but he had to admit that his father's limited mobility was negatively affecting all the responsibilities he had in the day. Stoick gave him an unimpressed look, and Hiccup was sure his face betrayed his inner thoughts. Drat.

"I wasn't bringing it up for your pity."

"I know, I know…" Hiccup sighed. Stoick continued on as if he hadn't said anything, but that was fair because it wasn't as if what he'd said actually added anything to the conversation.

"As you know, before the whole…"

"Fiasco?"

"Yes, fiasco. Before the whole fiasco with Drago, I-"

"Decided it was about time you made me chief." Hiccup interrupted, knowing where the conversation was going.

"And you…"

"Flew away." He provided after his father trailed off, clearing wanting him to finish the sentence. Stoick put his large hands on the wheels of his chair and experimentally began moving himself forwards. Luckily, it seemed Hiccup had made it sturdy enough, and they were both on their way somewhere.

"You're twenty years old, Hiccup." Hiccup nodded.

"I-I know, I've been avoiding my responsibilities about chiefhood." He kicked a rock on the ground, luckily avoiding falling over. "Can I… tell you something?" His voice felt small, and hesitant. He was glad their path had taken them away from the busier parts of town.

"Anything." They came to a stop in a location Hiccup recognized to be near the house he would be moving out of soon.

"When I flew away, I…" He rubbed his nose, trying to get the words out. "I was just afraid of trying to be like you. I didn't think I had it in me, honestly." Hiccup wanted to tell him just how great, how brave, how absolutely selfless he was, but his throat suddenly felt tighter. "You're… I don't care what anyone says about Hamish the First; you're the greatest chief Berk has ever seen." Stoick gave him a genuine smile, and the corners of his eyes crinkled as he did so.

"That's a high opinion you have of me, son. I hope you prove yourself wrong." Hiccup followed him into the house, watching as he pulled a piece of parchment (likely his task sheet of the day) out from between his belt and tunic and placed it on the dinner table. "Come on, let's head to the great hall for dinner. We need have the chiefing ceremony, after all!" Hiccup laughed awkwardly about his dad's enthusiasm.

"About that, don't you think maybe, I don't know, we should tell the village that I'm kind of… engaged to Aran? Like, before we tell them I'm going to be… chief." They began making their way towards Meade Hall, and Hiccup was glad that he was finished with his father's wheelchair. It would have been awkward, looking up at him as he sat on Skullcrusher. Stoick seemed thoughtful. "And hey, if they kick me off the island, at least there's still Snotlout." The idea of his cousin being chief disturbed him greatly.

"They're not kicking you off the island if I have any say in it." Hiccup smiled at him. Then they reached the steps that lead up to the great hall, and he groaned.

"Okay, so I may not have planned the whole 'stairs' thing very well."

Word Count: 3,995

I'm not super happy with this chapter. It's pretty short but ehhh oh well;;;

Thanks for all the reviews on the latest chapter! Each one of them made me happy!

Anyways, here are the guest reviews! I change how I do them literally every time I respond to them don't I :')

From: MMM

Review: finally they are getting married sweet can they really have kids?

Response: They can indeed! Aran is basically a trans guy, so he can get pregnant. If any of you readers think that's weird, well, too bad.

From: Guest (TruestofTrue is that you)

Review: :Don't worry too much about lack of reviews-unfortunately readers can be both spoiled and lazy when it comes to remembering that review are important to the creative process. By the way, while I haven't reviewed this story in quite a while (see above), rest assured that your writing has not lost any of its finer qualities.

Response: Ahh, yeah, I try not to, but sometimes you guys just confuse me :') It's quite alright that you've been busy! Thank you for the compliment!

Anyways that's about everything. I'm not completely sure when I'll be updating again (chapter 38 is giving me a hard time...) but the way it's going now, it seems that this fic will end on chapter 40 (tho ch40 is technically an epilogue)! Stay tuned for a super important author's note that I'll be leaving at the end of ch40 by the way. You guy'll be helping me determine my next fanfic endeavor :D

As always, I hope you enjoyed, and I'll "see" you next time!