The Journey Into Us

Pairing: Hiccup X Toothless
Rating:
M for Mature

Disclaimer: I do not own anything HTTYD-related.

Chapter 40

=Trayden's POV=
(Saturday, 1/24/2020; 11:45 am)
(Barbarchi City, Archipelago)
(Hunter's House)

I suspected that I would be tired after staying up late with friends, then later to have sex with Hunter until we finally went to sleep at 4 am. I didn't not think I'd sleep until almost noon. That's what I saw when I woke up, the clock on Hunter's wall read 11:45 in the morning. I noticed Hunter wasn't in the bed anymore, so safe to say he was out with our friends, if they are still here. I know my siblings probably are, along with Natalie, Skyler, and Lyla. I sat up in Hunter's bed to try and wake up more. I finally got to my feet after five minutes and moved to the bathroom in Hunter's room. After doing all my normal morning things, I splashed my face and returned to the main bedroom, spotting a note on Hunter's pillow now. I picked it up and read it over.

Good morning, handsome!
I got up at 8 am, weather is still pretty bad. Driving ban is still in effect, and the state of emergency. No one else was up yet, so I grabbed your bag from the living room and brought in the bedroom. I did go back to sleep until 9:30 am, but then was up for good :) The others are still here and awake too, just so you know. I told them I found you awake at 6 am and having trouble sleeping, so let you sleep in my room while I did a small morning workout and took a shower. No one questioned a thing! Feel free to take a shower and get changed before you come out if you want, I left a towel out for you in the bathroom. See you soon!
Always,
Hunter.

Well, wasn't he the sweetest thing ever? Is it bad that I've developed a major crush on him but don't want to say anything because he might not feel the same and I mean, we only just became friends two months ago, and have already had sex twice. I think I'll just keep it to myself, and maybe it's only a crush because we're both gay and he's been so nice to me because I'm shy and new to a lot of things. I shouldn't think too much on having feeling for him unless something else comes up to prove that I do develop feelings for him. I suppose I would shower and change clothing for now and then go see everyone. I got my change of clothes, and entered the bathroom again. I figured out how to work Hunter's shower, then stripped down and stepped in.

. . .

(12:05 pm)

I completed my shower in fifteen minutes, then dried off, and got partially dressed. It was only to brush my teeth and put on deodorant. I made sure my body hair was taken care of and cleaned up. When I was satisfied with how I looked after everything, I finished getting dressed and left the towel where Hunter had his on a second bar to a rack on the wall. I cleaned up all my things and exited the room. I slipped on socks, then grabbed my phone off the charger, which was another nice act of Hunter to do, bringing it into his room and setting it to charge for me. I left my bag by the nightstand, I could grab it later on and say I forgot to bring it out. I took a breath and left Hunter's room. I followed the sounds of voices and stepped into sight.

"Hey, hey," Erik pointed out my arrival into the main area now.

"The late sleeper has finally woken up," Dexter grinned.

"Shut up," I remarked, rolling my eyes.

"Not his fault," Hunter smiled. "Sleeping on my bed is easy. It's like being on a cloud, in the dark, with no sound whatsoever,"

"That about sums up my description of your bedroom," I nodded.

"And don't pick on your brother, poor thing didn't even get to sleep until about 6 am. The rest of us got to drift off to bed easy at 2 ish and were up around 8:30-9 am," Hunter told my younger brothers. "He was tired, leave him alone," I gave Hunter a look that clearly meant thank you. He just smiled and I knew he was essentially saying that he had my back. "So you slept better, Tray?"

"Insanely better," I responded with a nod.

"Good, I'm glad. Seems like we're all gonna be stuck here for most of the day and possibly into the night again, so it would suck to have you falling asleep too early on us," Hunter chuckled. "Are you hungry? There's some leftover breakfast in the fridge, or we're about to do lunch," He offered.

"Not really. Still waking up, when that comes full circle, I'll be hungry," I yawned a little.

"All that sleep and you're still tired?" Ava blinked.

"Hey…Too much sleep is just as bad as not enough…" I mumbled.

"If you wanna go back to sleep in my room, I don't mind," Hunter mentioned.

"No, no. I'm good with being up for a bit. Maybe later, though, if it gets boring. Not that I assume that will happen at your house," I teased.

"Damn right it won't," Hunter grinned at me as I shook my head laughing.

"All hail the party king," I joked.

"Aw, you do love me!" Hunter batted his eye lashes

"I rescind my comment, you're a drama queen," I remarked.

"Still a royal title, so I'll take it," Hunter laughed some. A second time, Trayden just shook his head with a smile.

"Good news everyone," Chelsea beamed. "Storm will be tapering off by 5 pm, and Mayor Raseri set the time that the state of emergency and driving bans to end at 9 pm tonight,"

"Probably to leave time for road crews to clear everything," Dexter shrugged.

"Plow the roads, and lay salt down," Lyla nodded in agreement with her boyfriend.

"Well, guess we're all stuck together for a bit longer," Alyssa chuckled.

"Good thing we get along," Hailey giggled.

"That is an extremely good thing," Devon nodded.

"You get dad's text, Tray?" Ava wondered.

"Haven't really checked my phone since I got up. Was it general check in to pacify our mother that we're all fine?" I arched a brow.

"Well…That and I guess he passed along a hint of what mom is hoping to get for her birthday party tomorrow, which is still on for 4 pm at Meade Hall," Dexter said.

"Great," I rolled my eyes. "What does she want, or did you specifically say hint because you don't know what it means?" I asked.

"We don't know what it means," Cole laughed with his other siblings. "The message he sent to all of us said your older brother will know."

I got my phone from my pocket and found my messages with dad, then tapped it and started reading what he said about whatever mom was hoping to get tomorrow. "So…What did he say?" Erik questioned.

"Gimme a minute," I retorted, still reading. Dad sent more than just a few words, this was a full on request because mom probably made mention of it and now he was trying to see if it was possible to happen.

"She wants her favorite band to play live," I reported to my younger siblings. Just like that, my three brothers and one sister looked at me quickly.

"You mean-," Ava started.

" Her favorite band being Dragon's Fury?" Dexter inquired. I nodded.

"That's impossible to set up in under two days," Erik reminded.

"I'm sorry, I'm confused…What's Furies Roar?" Nicole looked at the Raseri family.

"I've never heard of it, and I'm a huge music buff," Hunter added, agreeing with Nicole that it was new information to him too.

"You've never heard of it because it's not an official band. It's private. No concerts, merchandise, downloads…Nothing," Lyla informed.

Natalie nodded. "Good portion of it is covers of others bands or artists. Little of their music is their own, and the ones they make are damn incredible,"

"Okay, so if they aren't official then how do you know of them and their songs?" Hunter asked.

"Furies Roar is-," Lyla began.

"It's us, Hunter," I sighed. Silence fell over the room. "It's my siblings and I, few friends too. It started back on Eyja Nott, which translates to Isle of Night and rumored back in Viking times to be the homeland of the legendary Night Fury dragons," I explained.

"Raseri and Heift both mean Fury. Raseri is Fury in Norwegian, and Heift is Fury in Icelandic," Natalie stated. "Furies Roar came from us hanging out and all loving music. We used to put on shows when our families did picnics," She mentioned.

"You guys are a band?" Fisher blinked.

"Were a band, and second time…Unofficial. It stopped a long time ago," I repeated and clarified.

"Only because you moved away to Berk and lived with Grammy, and started attending Berk school," Erik rolled his eyes.

"Well, we're all in the same place now, and mom is making a reasonable request…" Ava mentioned.

"I think we should do it for her," Dexter agreed, then they all looked my way. "But…It's up to you, Tray,"

"You don't need me for it. I just run music off my phone," I said. "The rest is up to all of you," I sat back, arms folded over one another and closing my eyes. "You wanna do it, go ahead. I'll handle music and equipment."

I ignored them after that, disengaging from the conversation as my friends were just asking more in curiosity about everything. I had my phone in hand, looking through pictures. I was turning their talk out because I didn't want to hear any of it. I loved music, but I didn't have the passion I used to. There was an important person in my life that helped me with music, and he was gone now. My drive to sing went with him. I knew he wouldn't want me to give it up, but what am I supposed to do? That person was special and my biggest supporter, he was at every performance. I didn't realize I got lost in thought until I felt my phone vibrate and glanced at it to see a text from Hunter. Why was he texting me when I was sitting just a few spots away?

Hunter's Cell, 12:30 pm
I noticed you got all quiet and seem upset when this topic came up. Are you okay?

~They know why I stopped taking part. I don't care what they choose to do, but they know my stance on things. Just wish they'd not push the issue…~

Hunter's Cell, 12:31 pm
Tell them that, Tray. They need to respect your wishes that you've chosen not to do it anymore.

~I don't care them bringing up the band thing…I care that they're drawing attention to the fact I stopped and everyone is trying to ask why.~

Hunter's Cell, 12:33 pm
And you're not saying anything because it will draw more attention?

~Yeah…~

Hunter's Cell, 12:34 pm
Would you like to talk about it? Or is that what you're trying to avoid because it makes you angry or upset? I won't push, I'm just trying to understand.

I almost sighed. I couldn't hide it from Hunter. I couldn't keep anything from him. Despite our sexual hookups, Hunter was still my friend and we often got into these deeper talks. I didn't want to talk about it now, but I would tell him later.

~Will tell you later on after everyone leaves, if that's okay?~

Hunter's Cell, 12:35 pm
More than okay.

I still loved music and singing, it just felt weird to do it now with that important and special person gone. I mostly kept singing to myself, like in the shower or cleaning my apartment. I glanced around to see everyone still talking about Furies Roar, I'd love to hide away right now. "Fine. You heard him guys and girls, he said it's up to us," Dexter remarked as I rolled my eyes. I knew his remark was to guilt me, but our family knew why I stopped and I was grateful that were, at least, not saying anything further. It just wasn't something I wanted to get into right now. "We should find a way to practice before tomorrow at 4 pm," He added.

"You can work on stuff here if you like," Hunter offered. "Wild Fantasy performers practice everything right here in the living room. Open space, good music system. Have instruments somewhere around here too," He mentioned.

"That would be awesome!" Erik smiled.

"Thank you, Hunter," Natalie and Ava said together.

"No problem. We can bring it up after lunch," Hunter nodded.

. . .

=Normal POV=
(9:30 pm)

The rest of the day had been interesting with the Raseri siblings, excluding Trayden, Natalie, and Lyla practicing for the performance gift to Rachel Raseri for her birthday. Trayden never took part, just watched quietly. Natalie and Dexter split up lead singer parts by male and female, the rest did instruments or backup singing. As explained, some songs were done with live instruments if the group knew them, but the rest were more karaoke from Trayden's phone. Personal pizza was everyone's lunch, then hot dogs and cheeseburgers for dinner. Everyone left in the last half hour of 9-9:30 pm when the travel ban and state of emergency were over, so now it was just Hunter and Trayden again.

"Well, that was fun," Hunter mentioned once he closed and locked the door after the last person took off.

Trayden was spending another night, since their first set of plans were interrupted by the storm and everyone getting stuck there for basically twenty-four hours. The males were changed into their night clothing and sitting on the couch with sodas in hand. "Is that what we're calling it?" Trayden muttered.

"What? Oh, come on. I told you we'd plan something for just us and not get interrupted," Hunter reassured. "Your siblings, Natalie, and Lyla are incredibly good, by the way," He complimented.

"Yeah…" Trayden nodded. "I'm glad they keep up on it. I backed out years ago,"

"Why did you? Seems like Furies Roar was a hit among family," Hunter wondered.

Trayden sighed. "The…Person it started with isn't here anymore…And I guess I just lost the drive after that," He informed.

"Tell me, Tray. I know it's probably personal, and it seems to be a sad subject…But It helps to talk with friends and family, people who care about you. So talk to me, what happened?" Hunter invited gently. Trayden took a deep breath. "Relax…" He smiled softly. "Your pace, we have all night." He reminded.

It was small, but that bit of reassurance from Hunter set Trayden at a little ease. "Okay…So do you remember on during the New Year's celebration where I talked about a friend who showed me how to see, hear, and feel music?" Trayden started as Hunter nodded to him, recalling that this was referred to as a good and old friend of Trayden's from Eyja Nott who was terribly busy. "His name is Blake Solberg, but he unofficially referred to himself as a Raseri," I informed. "Blake and I became friends in elementary school, 1st grade. We were the best of friends, like brothers. He…Was a lot like you in being carefree, open, funny, loyal, etc. And Blake even dealt with the same thing you had involving your parents. Blake was bisexual, he came out to his parents when he was thirteen and they abandoned him at my house a week later," He continued.

"Abandoned him at your place?" Hunter arched a brow.

"Blake and I were working on a project for school, some book report, I think. His parents had brought him over and said they would come get him at 7 pm. They never came. He tried to call and text, but no answer. My parents tried to reach them as well, and nothing. Finally, my mom drove us both over to the house and realized right away what happened. His parents had sold the house, and moved away. There was a note on the side door by the garage saying they didn't want Blake, or accept his choices, all his belongings were in a few boxes that were in the garage,"

"Okay, I despise what my parents did to me…But at least I was fifteen and they gave me warning to pack what I wanted and leave, also the fifteen minutes to make calls for a place to go…" Hunter remarked. "That's cold. But presumably, he ended up with you if you mentioned he unofficially called himself a Raseri?" He asked.

Trayden nodded. "My mother was in an enraged, sympathetic fit upon seeing the letter. It had been a Friday, we actually had school off for some reason. The project was due Monday, so Blake got dropped off that morning around 10:30 am so we could spend the day finishing things up and then hanging out. Obviously, it been a ploy that his parents used the day to load up and move out. He explained, taking a drink, then a few breaths.

"Back to Blake's side, though," Trayden started again after a moment. "Blake was undeniably upset. Angry and hurt. We worked together to get his belongings into the van. Mom had put the back seats down while explaining to my father on the phone what happened. It was decided that Blake would stay with us until everything got sorted out. With Blake being thirteen, he was going to be taken away to a foster family since he had nobody left. Not because his family was dead, or lived too far away…They all shunned him for being bisexual, and his decisions for after he grew up with wanting to join the military."

"That's awful…" Hunter frowned.

"My parents knew I didn't want to lose my best friend, so they petitioned to be his foster family. We had plenty of room at the time on Eyja Nott. Blake was actually two years older than me, but started school late way late and got held back a year. So, I was only eleven. Dex was seven. The twins were five, and Cole was two. Our house back then was a four bedroom. Mom and dad were in the basement, converted into a bedroom. Us kids had the upstairs. Ava had her own room. So did Cole. Erik and Dex shared, then Blake and I shared too. It wasn't hard for mom and dad to be accepted as foster parents, and only for the unique situation being what it was," Trayden went on, taking a moment to breathe.

"Blake ended up doing really well in school once he was living with us. When Blake turned eighteen, I was only sixteen and still in high school at Nott Academy. Blake ended up doing real good in school when we in seventh grade, I was thirteen. Blake got to jump to ninth when he was fifteen, the grade he should have been in anyway because of the staying back thing. So obviously, he graduated at eighteen and I was only sixteen and in tenth grade. Blake went on to join the army like he wanted to. Everything was fine, my parents let him continue staying with us because he was basically one of the family…" Trayden looked down a bit.

Hunter put his hand on Trayden's, causing the male to look at Hunter again. "It's okay, take your time…" Hunter reminded.

"You already know I started to struggle with my sexuality at seventeen, so in my junior year…I was getting bullied and teased a lot. And then Blake got deployed overseas. My siblings had their own stuff to deal with and my folks were busy, so I felt really alone. I begged my parents the summer before senior year to transfer me out, but all the other schools were either full, out of district, or private. So what ended up happening was that my grandmother needed a caretaker. She was have a series of medical issues, and mom was going to temporarily live there until Grammy could handle herself again. I took the chance go with her during the summer, and suggested that they let me live with my grandmother to continue caring for her and mom wouldn't have to take time off work. This let me start attending Berk school where I met the others," Trayden continued softly.

Taking a break, Trayden looked at the soda in his hands. "Blake was the reason the band thing got started. I got to meet the friends he made from joining the army, and we always use to put on performances for them. Blake was the reason I got so into music, which I've told you before," Hunter nodded in understanding. "Blake was the one who helped me get through figuring out I was bisexual, but he always joked that I'd end up being gay…" He tried to laugh a little. "Guess he was right," Trayden paused and sighed. "It happened last year in May…It was after Rosanna and I broke up that Blake was deployed to his second tour…And he was killed in an IED explosion." He revealed sadly.

"Trayden, I'm so sorry…" Hunter shifted in to hug Trayden tightly.

"My parents were notified, then we were all told together. There was no body to recover and busy, I think that made it harder. Our friends only know it was a death in the family, I never went into detail. They didn't even know Blake was living with my family, since Blake was on tour for eighteen months when I met them. And then Blake had moved out after returning from the first tour, he was living with his battle buddy. I went dark for a bit after Blake died, not major depression want to die dark, just wanted to be left alone. I was only leaving my apartment to go shopping or work. It was like that for months until Ethan and the others started dragging me out to parties and I realized I was gay in October." Trayden informed. "Pretty sure after I admitted it to myself, I actually hung on my balcony and chuckled a bit saying you asshole, you were right."

"You lost your drive for anything music-related except listening to it after Blake died, didn't you?" Hunter asked and Trayden nodded. "And your siblings know it's because of losing Blake?" He nodded again. "But you didn't want to say anything to the others because it would be a long explanation you didn't want to get into, then have to deal with questions of everything?" Hunter wondered.

"Exactly. I know it's been almost two years, but…Guess it's still fresh," Trayden admitted.

"That's more than okay, Tray. Everyone mourns differently. This person was your best friend, you literally grew up with him and he was like an older brother to you. Helping you through your transition into bisexual and maybe setting you up for becoming gay. This was a special person in your life, and just like with all the other things I told you since we met. You move forward at your pace and readiness…No one will hold it against you if they understand the hurt you feel from losing a friend, a brother…" Hunter stated.

Trayden nodded to him. "Thank you…For sitting with and letting me talk,"

"Any time," Hunter smiled. "Come on, let's grab a couple snacks, few more sodas and just hang. I think you need it right now,"

"I think that sounds like a great idea," Trayden managed a smile back to Hunter.