He Is… Relaxing
Hiccup stood in the forge, working on the pile of swords the villagers had dropped off. Some of them were too bent to be straightened out again, and those she would have to melt down for reuse, but the rest were to be sharpened before the celebration tomorrow. This would literally take hours. And then, it wasn't like she could rest. She just had so much to do and such little time, Hiccup had no idea how she could do it all. Contrary to popular belief, she did, in fact, like sleep.
From his spot on the floor by the forge fire, Toothless groaned and flopped onto his back.
"If you're bored, you can go out and play, Sweetie," Hiccup offered. Toothless huffed, offended, and sat up before turning his back to her. Hiccup sighed and rolled her eyes, going back to work on the sword in her hand. Great, now she would have to schedule in an apology for Toothless as well.
"Hiccup, drop whatever you're doing, I found something and I think you'll really like it!" Jack came swirling into the forge with a dramatic swoosh. Pieces of metal rattled on the countertop because of the strong gust of wind which accompanied the winter spirit.
"Can't," Hiccup sighed sadly as she swung the sword over to the table filled with already sharpened swords. "I have to finish sharpening these swords, then melt down the useless ones, and then I have to take inventory and make a list of everything we need. Then I need to apologize to Toothless."
"Wow. Sounds like a lot of work," Jack rubbed his chin contemplatively. "You know what sounds better than a lot of work, though?"
"Everything?" Hiccup guessed, huffing to try and blow her bangs out of her eyes. Jack walked over to her and moved the hair for her.
"You know me so well," he grinned. Hiccup smiled up at him before sighing, tired.
"I wish I could, but I've already been neglecting my duties, and Gobber is not happy," Hiccup looked at the ground. Jack smiled down at her, and Hiccup's breath was taken away. He wasn't grinning or smirking. He wasn't beaming or snickering. He was just quietly smiling down at her. His lips curved in a small gesture of true affection, and Hiccup's heart practically leaped out of her chest.
"I just… miss you?" Jack scratched the back of his neck.
"I can finish this tomorrow." Hiccup decided. She tugged off her apron, and Jack flew around her workroom, back to the happy-go-lucky Jack Frost that Hiccup knew and loved.
"Great!" Jack flew down and started tugging Hiccup through town. It wouldn't be good if they saw her flying without Toothless. Said dragon cried out in indignation and raced to follow the two love-birds. "Hurry, or he'll catch us!" Jack called back to Hiccup, who couldn't do anything but giggle in amusement.
After running for a short while, and being given no few number of odd looks, Jack and Hiccup finally stopped in a lush green landscape, surrounded by rocks and steep inclines, set with a beautiful lake in the center.
"The…cove?" Hiccup looked at Jack questioningly.
"Yup. Don't you love it?" Jack walked to a large bounder and sat down, leaning his back against the stone. Hiccup walked over and eased her way down, too, muscles a bit sore from working in the forge for so long.
"Oh, no," Jack said, pulling her in between his legs. "We're here to help you relax. Part of relaxing is letting me give you a massage."
"Wha—?" Hiccup didn't know what to do. "I relax all the time!"
"No you don't," Jack grinned. "Come on, you need this." Toothless warbled off to the side. Hiccup rolled her eyes. At least now Jack can't say that Toothless never sided with him. Jack's cold fingers on her skin made Hiccup shiver, but the more Jack worked her muscles, the warmer he became. Hiccup soon found herself melting into Jack's embrace, letting herself get pampered. Just this once.
"Take it off, Hiccup."
Hiccup sat upright, turning to face Jack. "What?" she questioned, her hand automatically going to cover her left leg. He had tried to get her to take it off before, so many times. But… her leg was so ugly.
"Trust me," Jack's voice stayed even and warm, and his eyes stared directly into hers with a sort of genuine trustworthiness. And honestly, why shouldn't Hiccup trust Jack? He was her first friend. Her first crush, too, really. He was her first in most things. She could trust him.
"Ok," she whispered, looking down. She slowly bent over and untied some of the wrappings which secured the prosthetic in place. Her hands trembled, and she let out a shaky breath.
"It's ok, Hic," Jack reassured her, and suddenly Toothless was right there in front of her. She smiled up at her scaly best friend. He grinned back toothlessly before he took her prosthetic into his mouth and skipped away. He sat down and turned, probably just to make sure that Jack was still acting in the way he should.
Hiccup took special care not to look back at Jack as she leaned back against his chest. She felt him kiss the top of her head, and the skin at the end of her stump twitched.
"You're beautiful, Hic."
Hiccup narrowed her eyes. Something… weird had happened to Jack. He wasn't normally like this.
"Jack," she turned slightly and looked up at him. "Are you alright?"
"I'm just fine," Jack said, kissing the top of her head again.
"Well, nice to meet you, Just Fine. I'm Hiccup," Hiccup grinned up at Jack. He just buried his head into her hair.
"Hm…" Hiccup studied Jack, again, rubbing her chin. "I must be off my game. With that joke, even if it was out of pity, I'd at least have gotten a smile out of you."
"Having a bad day," Jack mumbled. He looked so completely different from the winter spirit flying around the forge a few minutes ago.
"Aren't we all?" Hiccup sighed, wrapping her arms around Jack's neck, and using him as leverage to pull herself around so that she straddled him. Toothless didn't growl, so she didn't have to worry about Jack being melted to death, either. "Come here." She pulled him into a hug, and he gladly accepted it. She relaxed against his form. Sure, he was cold. But it was refreshing. And, it balanced out the heat from her cheeks. She couldn't really help it though. Jack was just… so handsome.
"So, is it a talk-about-it kind of bad day, or a shut-up-Hiccup-and-let-me-use-your-body kind of bad day?" Jack's shocked face snapped up to see Hiccup's. She couldn't help but to grin mischievously back at him. His shock only lasted a second, though, because he soon replaced it with his trademark grin, plastered on his unfairly beautiful face. Hiccup couldn't help but to smile at the childlike quality it had.
"Hm…" Jack hummed, pretending to think. "I think I'll use your body this time."
Hiccup wasn't even surprised. She had offered. She just wondered how far they would get before Toothless stopped him. And, judging by the look on Jack's face, he was about to do something completely crazy and unexpected. And, as much as Hiccup loved crazy and unexpected, she really hated waiting for the surprise.
"Yup." Jack nodded, and the two stared at the other for a second before Hiccup squirmed lost her nerve, and looked down at the ground, not entirely sure what to do. She inwardly cursed her body for letting her blush so easily.
"What do you want me to do?" She asked him shyly. Jack grinned.
"Lie down and hold still."
Hiccup obeyed, and Jack giggled. The sound was so innocent and contagious that Hiccup couldn't help but laugh with him. Toothless was starting to growl, but he wasn't moving. Jack didn't even spare the energy to glare at the dragon. Hiccup was just observing Jack curiously, wondering what he would do next. She couldn't stop smiling, though, and that made her cheeks ache just the slightest bit.
"Close your eyes," he leaned down to whisper in her ears. She shivered, and Jack grinned down at her. She smiled back up at him. "Trust me," he mumbled, "I won't do many things that you wouldn't want me to."
"Jack!" Hiccup swatted his arm playfully, but then simply said, "I do trust you." Her muscles seemed to melt with the lack of tension, and her body relaxed so much that for a second Hiccup almost fell asleep.
She wasn't sure exactly what Jack was doing, but she could feel his cold presence hovering over her. She could practically see his smirk, and that caused her to frown a little. What was he doing?
"Hold still, now," Jack grinned into her ear. Hiccup instinctively shivered, but then the words registered in her head. Her eyes flew open.
"Wait, Jack, are you going to—ah!"
After the initial cry of shock, Hiccup erupted in bursts of laughter. Jack's nimble fingers raced up and down her sides, and his own laughter joined Hiccup's. She couldn't breathe, and tears started swimming in her vision, just waiting for her to blink so they could fall down her rosy cheeks. Rosy from laughter, not embarrassment.
"St-st-ahahahahap!" Hiccup laughed, trying and failing to push Jack away. Jack just chuckled in response, moving over to straddle Hiccup to get better access to all her tickle spots. Along her ribs, her stomach, right behind her ears. Hiccup's hands moved up Jack's body, and she started moving her fingers along Jack's neck, and he snapped his head down, gasping with laughter, but not giving up on tickling Hiccup. Eventually, though, he caved.
"Hiccup!" His laughter ricocheted off the cove walls as Hiccup kept attacking his sides. His wheezed and he fell forward, onto her shoulder. "Can't breathe," he gasped. She stopped tickling him and he relaxed, trying to catch his breath. Hiccup didn't say anything, either; she just lay there, panting, holding onto her poor, aching stomach.
The two of them lazily rolled over so that Hiccup was on top again. Hiccup brought her arms up and she crossed them before tucking them behind Jack's neck and head, using her arms as a pillow for Jack's head. He hummed appreciatively. Hiccup rested her head on his chest, listening to his heart beat start to slow down. She was glad for the temporary silence. Sometimes it was nice to just… be with Jack.
Whenever she was with him, she found that all her worries and doubts melted away. He was just so… she couldn't find the word for it. His scent calmed her, and his steady pace of breathing set a pace for her heart. His voice was low and smooth, and it sent a heat up through her cheeks.
But more than that, it was him. His facial expressions, his jokes, the way she could just forget herself around him and say whatever she wanted without feeling nervous he would judge her and leave. The way she trusted him not to hurt her in any way. She hadn't really felt this way before, other than with Toothless, and even then, it was different with a dragon. She liked this feeling. She liked it a lot.
"Remind me never to let a grieving boy use my body to feel better. Like, ever again," Hiccup moped jokingly. Jack laughed, and she could feel the vibrations running through his chest. She closed her eyes and just embraced the sensation of it against her cheek. She pulled herself up, closer to his face, and pecked him on the side of the neck.
"Never again?" Jack looked down at her. His one eyebrow was raised, and his lips were set in that smirk that got Hiccup's humor center ready for something funny to happen. "Never again? Girl, what if I'm sad again? Then who's going to give me the funny rubs?"
Hiccup pursed her lips together, trying to keep her smile at bay. Eventually, though, the laughter broke through, and her body shook with the amount of laughter that was pushed out of her petite body.
"Oh m gods, Jack," she couldn't even scold him, because as horrible as that joke was, she was also the one laughing at it. Jack's body started to vibrate underneath her, and the two just laughed for a moment before the atmosphere became quiet again. She put her head back on his chest, content with just lying here with him.
"He was just that person who I could always trust, no matter what. Physically or emotionally, I knew he would never hurt me, not on purpose anyway. But I can't keep running away from this, Bunny. He is...
Two more chapters!
