"Hah is this all you can do?" Dagur exclaimed triumphant as he swung his ax at Snotlout, crashing with force against his shield. The match's result was clear from the beginning. As soon as they started sparring, Dagur had been charging and Snotlout couldn't do much if not trying to defend himself from each furious swing.
"Come on you can do it Snotlout!" Astrid cheered along with the other riders. The only one that stood for the redhead was his sister.
"Kick his butt brother" she yelled and gestured frantically to win.
"You are NO match for the great Dagur" the Berserker laughed in his face and pointed the weapon at the opponent that was heavily breathing for all that exercise.
"It's not fair, why I got to fight…him?" Snotlout whined but kept his stand as a true warrior.
"Because you are a mediocre fighter, Jorgenson my friend" Tuffnut had his arms crossed over his chest as he turned to his sister "also does he know that ochre is a mix of clay and iron?"
"Well then it suits him, he's getting beaten like a sword on the forge" Ruffnut added with a grin but kept gazing at the two fighters.
"What exactly are you doing here?" their leader's voice was suddenly heard from behind the cheering squad and everybody froze.
The two sparring partners lowered their weapons as turned to look at him; the dragon riders avoided the stern glances of Hiccup as he waited for an answer, both of his hands on his hips.
"Well we uhm were learning new fighting techniques by watching these two great warriors fight each other" Astrid explained after a few seconds with a wide grin. This was the best excuse she could find in that short time.
Hiccup just shook his head and pinched his nose "Do I have to remind everyone that the hunters could arrive at any moment? Who is keeping watch right now?" he then asked.
"Aw come on Hiccup, Smirdvarg will…" Tuffnut tried to reason with their boss but he was quickly silenced.
"Smirdvarg and the night terrors are awake during the night. During the day keeping the Edge safe is our responsibility." He cut short, his tone severe.
"Hiccup is right" Fishlegs sighed and felt immediately guilty "I'll go patrolling with Meatlug" he offered to cover the first turn.
"I'll come with you" Heather smiled at him as they moved to go together along with their dragons.
"Hey hey you two" Dagur began but Hiccup stopped him and gestured to follow him.
The warrior looked surprised but then grinned. "I won" he turned just for a second to look mockingly at Snotlout who, of course, wasn't of the same opinion. He began bickering with the others but Dagur was already following the Hooligan's heir and didn't hear anything else on that matter.
"Keep calm Dagur, no funny business. You are trustworthy." He muttered to himself as he entered Hiccup's hut. Toothless was nowhere to be seen, that was the first thing he took notice of.
The second was that Hiccup was in the middle of the room and he was studying him in silence.
"yeah, that's not creepy at all" Dagur exclaimed. He realised immediately that he had actually spoke out loud and his green eyes widened "uh I mean ahahaha what's wrong brother?"
"You are strange Dagur" Hiccup concluded and gestured him to just chill, sit or whatever he wanted to do. Dagur of course had a long journey yet before he finally could learn about personal space and belongings. Consequently he decided to sit right on Hiccup's bed and get comfy over there.
The owner sighed but a small smile appeared on his lips "I never actually thanked you for saving me the other day"
The redhead blinked and felt warmth on his face. Sunburn was a risk of the trade as a warrior after all.
He blinked again when he noticed that Hiccup seemed to be waiting for any sign of reaction from him. Oh, right.
"Well I couldn't leave you like that now, could I?" he replied slightly embarassed but then he remembered the plan. "Of course a few ages ago I might have not done anything to save you but now...now I have your back brother!" he grinned proudly.
Hiccup winced at that but maintained a cool head "This is not the first time you help me in a difficult moment" he continued; he was implying of course about the time when Dagur had saved both Toothless from the poison and Hiccup from the dragon Hunters.
"Now that you mention, it's true" the redhead thought for a while then laughed "either you enjoy getting poisoned or you are just really unlucky uh?"
"Not my personal taste I can assure you" Hiccup told him before getting closer to the Berserker who was now twitching because of that renewed closeness.
And it was Hiccup's own volition! What was happening, was the plan working?
"Take off your armour" the younger chief told him, a hint of red on his nose.
"You…you are getting sunburn too Hiccup" Dagur was nervously eyeing the other but neither of them were moving an inch.
"Take off your armour, Dagur" the other repeated, this time more firmly.
"My…why?" he asked finally when his mind cleared enough to let him actually hear the request. He shrugged and took the plates off revealing his undervest beneath. It was damp in sweat from the previous fight against Snotlout, the fabric jealously clinging to every muscle of his upper body.
He looked inquiringly at the other as he was still waiting for a reason behind that request. Hiccup hesitated for a few seconds, swallowed a rather difficult lump of saliva and finally raised his hands to take a hold of the offered armour.
"I will add a few trinkets to it as a thank you gift" he explained "I have already a few project in mind". Hiccup backed away from the berserker to put the steel garment on his work bench. On his comfy position on the bed, Dagur had to stretch his neck to try and see what the other was doing but he just saw the young man tinkering with his tools and grabbing a few parchments where there were probably those ideas he had talked about.
"An original addition from the most renowned blacksmith of Berk. It'an honour" Dagur chuckled excitedly, well aware of how great was Hiccup at inventing useful stuff.
"Don't let Gobber hear that" Hiccup retorted humbly, but Dagur could hear the amusement in his tone "I will need some time to work on it" he continued as to invite the other to go away and let him work in peace.
Dagur, of course, didn't quite catch the hint.
"Sure, no problem. I mean, it's not like I have a desperate need of my armour these days" he replied instead. " I'm just using it just to fight with your rider friends. And by the way they have a lot to learn, I can assure you" he continued to talk, mostly to himself because Hiccup was trying to focus on his calculations . "Then again it has been too quiet these days, that's definetely suspicious. Those dragon hunters are surely planning something. Did you discovered anything?"
"No. We have gone on the island around the Edge, back to Berk and to the dragon's island but we didn't find anything new. No enemy, no new lens for the dragon's eye"
Dagur hummed "It's probably not a good thing"
"By the way" Hiccup stopped his every action to turn toward the redheaded Viking confortably lying on his mattress "are you sure you told us everything about Viggo and his operating bases?"
There was a hint of distrust in those words. Again. The redhead frowned and felt like he got back at the starting point.
"Yes" he replied, his face a clear mirror of the hurt and anger he felt at that remark. "I wouldn't put Heather or you at risk" he continued, straightening himself, no more relaxed in his sitting position.
Hiccup was looking at him with his earnest eyes and he couldn't do anything to offer as proof. He sighed in frustration when the other mumbled something to catch his attention once again.
"Eh?" he asked confused because he didn't quite hear the soft voice under all his angered thoughts running into his head.
"I said I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that" he offered while returning to work on the armour.
All the anger suddenly evaporated and an amused grin got back on the bearded face.
"Ahaha my bad then" he shrugged and got up stretching soundly all his muscles. He then crossed his arms behind his back as he dawdled toward the younger viking, curious as to see what he was planning.
He stopped at a certain distance in order to give Hiccup the space he craved. His gaze fell on the detailed drawing of his armour and the addiction he had designed just for it. He knew he was good but that didn't stop to impress him even more .
"You sure studied my armour a lot" he scratched his uneven beard as he noted a few details that he himself didn't know where there.
"I just" Hiccup paused for a while, then continued "have a good memory, that's all"
Dagur nodded absentmindely but he kept looking at the younger chief that was now pulling out various tools and beginning to measure each plate. His gaze was inevitabily attracted to Hiccup's eyes;
they were shining with intelligence and concentration and he could't stop staring at them.
He must have been too obvious his stare because after a while of a confortable silence, Hiccup lifted his head to meet his gaze.
"...what?" he finally asked since the other one was still looking at him unusually quiet.
Dagur blinked. And then blinked again.
"You have very bright eyes" finally blurted the first thing he could think of in that chaos of thoughts.
Hiccup winced. And his eyes widened.
Oh no no no no, that was not good. Dagur was panicking, he had made a mistake and now the Hooligan's heir was back on his usual reaction.
"Sorry" he raised his hands in an apologetic gesture and sheepish smile "But it's true they are very deep, I like them a lot" he continued much to Hiccup's awkwardness.
Completely dumbfounded by that unusual dialogue, Hiccup put his right hand to cover his face and with the left one pointed at the door "If you want to have the upgraded armour let me work in peace" he told him.
"Oh, okay brother" he replied, unsure if the other was angry with him or what. "However you need to learn to take a compliment . Especially from me!" he grinned hopefully as he could with those sentences bury the hatchet. Hiccup was looking at him behind his fingers and didn't look particularly amused.
"Go. Now" he ordered again firmly.
"Okay, OKAY! I'm going, geez" he sighed dramatically spreading his arms "If you need me I'll be...well around" he saluted and left the house.
Hiccup was finally alone. He lowered his temporary hiding hand with a deep sigh and looked at his reflection on the protective garnment.
"What do I do with you?" he muttered to himself before slowly going back to work on the armour.