Heather grumbled as she was arguing with her irresponsible brother. They were in what was originally a designated warehouse in the Edge; Heather had gained ownership over it after becoming a dragon rider and now it was officially her house.

"And what do you think I could've done, mmm?" He asked her, gesturing with the healthy hand the bandages wrapping his left arm.

"I don't know Dagur, but you cannot keep on being a target for anyone to hit" she put her hand on her hips.

"Yeah well my beloved sister, you may have not noticed yet but I'm a Berserker. One day I get to hit someone, the next I'm the one being hit" he shrugged before wincing because of the movement. He felt lightheaded and his sister wasn't making things easier for him.

"Be more considerate of your safety, that's all I ask" the dark haired girl sighed. It was clear that her brother was an hothead and there was probably nothing that could change that.

"If I had, blondie would have been in worse shape than me" identical green eyes locked together once more "would you have preferred that?"

"No, of course not" Heather replied and fell silent. She felt ashamed of how the things went during that battle. She was a Berserker as much as a dragon rider and in the end she couldn't do much to help her friend.

"Then that's that. No more about this" he cut short and turned toward the door as he heard knocking on the door.

"Yeah?" he called out to whoever was outside, their brotherly quarreling finally finished.

They were Hiccup and blondie, namely Astrid, coming to see how Dagur was feeling. They had hands entwined before entering. Dagur had just a second to take notice of that before they left each other's hand.

Instinctively he tensed up. The wound burned and his head was slightly spinning. There were too many people, he was getting more and more agitated.

"Not you too" he growled at none in particular and went to sit on the wooden chair that had previously kicked on the floor while arguing with his sister.

Astrid had guilt expression plastered all over her face and he didn't want to see that stupid sadness. He was alive after all, what was all that fuss about?

"You saved me Dagur, and I'm worried about you. Is that so bad?" Astrid asked him.

"I'm perfectly fine" he cut short and pouted. She didn't look less anxious than before.

He took a deep breath.

"Look" he pumped his healthy arm, flexing hard all his muscles "do you think you need to worry about these beauties?". He teased her and wiggled his thick eyebrows up and down. He then smirked when both Astrid and Hiccup got different shades of red over their faces.

"So, no worries Astrid. You're welcome" He stopped every moment after that, relaxing his whole body. That should also work to avoid every other mean of discussion, or so Dagur thought.

Heather meanwhile had hidden the sly grin on her face as she suggested "Hiccup, why don't you check on Dagur's bandages? I want to go with Astrid to check up on the others".

It was the right moment to go along with their plan, it was a perfect excuse to let them settle their differences. It was also true that she wanted to make sure the others were not seriously hurt since it had been a very bad attack this time around.

She nodded incouragingly at her brother as to give him a hint but he apparently wasn't in a very good mood.

"Sure" Hiccup agreeded and sat next to Dagur while the other two went out without any other comment, because it was clear that Dagur would not have tolerated any more apology or fuss over him.

The Berserker hissed when Hiccup brushed a little too close against his wound; other than that he remained silently moping.

"You keep on surprising me" suddenly Hiccup spoke, making the redhead turning his gaze to him. He felt the careful touches of Hiccup as he took care of his injury. The dragon trainer inspected any possible infection and decided it was better to clean it again with the mixture of water and herbs they usually used to disinfect deep cuts.

Dagur wasn't speaking with the exception of the few soft hiss every now and then. He was completely enraptured by the slim and capable hands that were tending his wound.

"It was a very brave thing to do"

"Oh please brother, not you too" rolling his eyes, Dagur finally interrupted his silence before it could turn into a repetition of what had just happened with Heather. "I'm fine and Astrid is safe"

"Yes. Thanks to you" he turned his olive green eyes on the emerald ones "you protected her while I couldn't"

"You were too far to"

"No. I saw that hunter throw the spear at her but I just…" he frowned, finding hard to say the words " I just froze. I was panicking. Without you and with our dragons captured she didn't have any chance to survive that strike" Hiccup sighed and got back to his work "Moreover you didn't have your armour because of me. You were completely exposed"

"Yeah well" he thought about it for a while then scratched his red tufts "It happens when you get your emotion to take over in the middle of a battle. This is why being deranged is useful in this cases, you know?" he chuckled tiredly.

"As much as I am deeply grateful to you for saving Astrid, I agree with Heather. It was a stupid thing to do. You could have been hurt instead, very badly"

"But I didn't. And I cannot imagine how you would have reacted on the battlefield if that spear had actually reached her. Actually don't make me think of" Dagur stopped in the middle of the sentence to hiss again as the cut was now burning under the dump tissue Hiccup was using to clean it with.

"Sorry" Hiccup muttered, trying to be more careful.

"Anyhow, that wasn't anybody's fault. We didn't know they were hiding from us right inside the Edge and were waiting the perfect moment to attack" he offered the other a lopsided grin.

"But you told me repeatedly to stay on alert because it was too strangely peaceful. I thought I had everything under control and yet" his brown eyebrows furrowed down as the younger Viking felt visibly guilty for his foolishness.

Another deep breath. Nope it wasn't working this time.

"Now listen brother" Dagur inched closer to the other, faces nearly touching as he growled. Enough was enough. He was really tempted to headbutt the one in front of him to stop his guilty speach. His eyes were twitching for all the effort he was making not to do it. "Nobody died so you can just learn from all of this and LEAVE it be for everyone's sake".

Hiccup was stunned and was left mouth gaping by that reaction, hands frozen still over the injuried arm.

No no no he needed to stay calm.

Another deep breath.

Dagur could just offer a "Please?" and a tense chuckle as an apology for nearly exploding right in his face. Only then he took notice that Hiccup hadn't been scared or disgusted by his closeness, and at that thought made his heart beat faster. He quickly concluded that was because of all the excessive bickering and moving around when he should rest instead.

"You are right" finally Hiccup showed him a cautious smile. There was still traces of of uncertainty, or was it worry? Dagur was mesmerized by those emotion and, oblivious to any possible discomfort for that prolonged closeness, he kept watching intently into the other's deep eyes.

No, he couldn't be sure of all the things he was seeing; he felt like he was sailing through unknown and misterious green ocean. In his ears he couldn't hear the sound of those waves but the fast beating of his heart.
With a mighty heave he broke free from that trance and finally lowered his gaze. Hiccup's cheeks were red again.

"Are you okay?" he asked finally confused, one eyebrow raising slightly. "the fever is not coming back, is it?". With his free arm he brushed the skin of the younger's forehead with the back of his hand.

The hand was quickly batted away by Hiccup who consequently moved a few inches away from the other and resumed his care for the other's injury. His posture and movements stiffer than before.

"I'm perfectly fine"

"Well now, look at the turn of the discussion" Dagur snorted indignant "That's precisely what I kept repeating but did anyone listen? No huh". He fell back on the backrest. "I'm tired"he sighed and completely missed the short breaths of the younger viking who was finally finishing to wrap his wound once more

"Well I'm done" Hiccup said and got up quickly, avoiding the other's gaze. Not a big deal since Dagur was nearly out of it after all those neverending talks. He was getting sleepy. He mumbled something and nodded, he could now crash onto his sister's bed and rest for a while.

Hiccup waited quietly, and at certain distance, to see if the other needed any kind of support; Dagur just dragged himself toward the bed by himself, yawning loudly. The medicine was kicking in.

As he was safely sprawled on the bed and his bandaged arm confortable on his side, Dagur felt a warm blanket covering his fatigued body.

"I'm really happy that you are safe" he thought he heard Hiccup say before a gentle touch on his head lulled him toward a deep and restful sleep.