The water splashed gently and quietly against the rocky foundations of the island, and the sea seeped softly in and out of the sandy beaches nearby. Hiccup walked along the shoreline with Toothless in tow, letting the sand weave itself into his single shoe as he contemplated his thoughts. The sand would be an absolute pain to get rid of later, but for now, he liked the feeling. It distracted him from thinking too much.
Everything was back to normal, now. Well, as normal as life on Dragon's Edge could ever be. Dogsbreath had been sent packing, the gang had eaten some nice post-battle brunch, courtesy of Fishlegs, and Astrid had, after much persuasion, agreed to give him some time alone.
What was wrong with him? Hiccup internally monologued, his thoughts going back to Dogsbreath's prank. It was just one word from a past barely remembered, why did it make him so.. uncomfortable? Dogsbreath was long gone, already on his way back to Berk, so why did he still feel so.. bad? Was he really that.. that fragile? Was he really that weak? Why was he being such a baby about this? Did he even-
"Heya, Hic," Snotlout's voice interrupted Hiccup's thoughts. Toothless cocked his head to the side, purring inquisitively, as he and Hiccup stopped, to watch Snotlout casually saunter down the beach towards them.
"So..." Snotlout continued awkwardly, "What'cha doing?"
"Uh... taking a walk?" Hiccup responded, equally awkward.
After a moment's silence, they ended up speaking at the same time.
"I wanted to-"
"Did you want to-"
"-Talk to you,"
"-Talk about something?"
"What?" They both replied to each other, also at the same time. Toothless let out a derisive snort.
Hiccup chuckled wryly at the occurrence; Damn it, why did he always end up talking at the same time as his family members? He looked up at Snotlout, who was chuckling as well, though looking equally uncomfortable as he was, maybe even more.
"Anyway," Snotlout began, "Just wanted to, like, apologise for Dog's sucky attitude back there."
"Yeah," The heir waved it off nonchalantly, "D-D-Don't worry about it, i-it's fine."
Toothless wacked him in the arm with an ear-flap.
"You know you suck at lying, right?" Snotlout deadpanned, "It's written all over you, dude. It's clearly not fine."
"So he just wrote an old nickname on my door," Hiccup raised his arms in a surrendering gesture, "big deal."
"I'm pretty sure it's more than just that," His cousin stated, "That's your 'I'm thinking about the past before the dragons,' look."
"Hardy-har," Hiccup rolled his eyes, unamused, "D-d-did Astrid put you up to this?"
"Nope, just me," teased Snotlout, "I mean, I'd be pretty messed up if I had to suddenly meet up with a childhood bully."
"And I suppose you want to offer me some grand words of advice and encouragement?" Hiccup questioned, immediately biting his lip as the sentence came out much harsher than he had really meant it. Fortunately, Snotlout appeared not to notice, and merely put a hand in his pocket.
"Nah," The Jorgenson shrugged, "That's more Astrid's thing. Just wanted to give you this old piece of junk-"
And from his pocket, Snotlout pulled out a small, bronze figure. One that Hiccup had long since forgotten about, but immediately recognised.
"Wait, 'Lout, isn't that-"
"The figurine thingy from your fourth birthday?" Snotlout smirked, "Yep! Snagged it from one of Dogsbreath's saddlebags when he wasn't looking."
Hiccup took the bronze trinket in his hands, looking over it with awe. The metalwork was intricate and detailed, but a thin layer of dust and dirt still coated it, making it look as if the colour had slightly darkened from age. He turned it around in his hand, and the underside of the figurine's base was lighter in hue than the top.
"I know, I'm awesome," Snotlout bragged. Hiccup shot him a look and raised an eyebrow, but a small, fond smirk of his own made its way on his face as well.
"Didn't you and Dogsbreath steal this from me in the first place?" Hiccup inquired, though more light-heartedly than anything. He chuckled, not waiting for Snotlout to respond.
"Thanks," He said. It wasn't just about the figurine.
"Speaking of Dogs-butt, didn't you say you were gonna 'punish' Dogsbreath, or something?" Snotlout wondered out loud, "Tuff told me about it."
"Yeah, I sent a terror-mail to his family back on Berk about it," Hiccup grinned. Snotlout paused, and his eyes widened.
"Oh, that's amazing!" Snotlout burst into laughter, remembering how kind the rest of Dogsbreath's family were, and how they'd never failed to give Dogsbreath his due for being so cruel, "Twenty-one years old, and he's still gonna get grounded by his mom!"
"Yep," Was all that Hiccup replied with.
"Welp," Snotlout yawned, turning around towards the general direction of his hut, "I've done my good deed of the day, I'm just gonna go continue my beauty nap."
"You've been 'beauty napping,' the whole day."
"And I'm gonna continue."
"It's the middle of the afternoon?"
"Did I stutter?"
Hiccup let out a joking scoff at that, but let the conversation be. Snotlout strolled slowly away, and he continued his walk with Toothless, now with the old, weathered toy in hand. For whatever reason, he took a glance at his reflection in the sea nearby.
He wasn't the kid he used to be. He'd grown since then, and he was still growing, just like everyone else.
Toothless purred concernedly at Hiccup's silence, and Hiccup felt a smile tugging at his lips as he placed a palm on the Night Fury's scales. No matter what happened, he still had his friends, even if they didn't start out that way.
The old insults of the past still hurt, and maybe they always would. Now, though, he knew how to deal with that. He had Toothless and everyone else, and everything that would happen as they continued to grow.
Everything stayed, and yet it still changed, ever so slightly.
Boom, tadah, this fic is finished!
The idea for this story's been in my head forever, and I just had to get it down and out there, lol. The title and ending line of this fic, is, as some can probably tell, inspired by the song "Everything Stays," by Rebecca Sugar. Go listen to it! Dunno if it fits, but it makes the ending sound cool, so whatever.
This was a bit of an experimental piece, I went a tad out of my comfort zone for this, and I'm still an amateur writer, so forgive me if it came off as forced or rushed at times.
aNYWAY, for long-time followers of my stories, I'm just gonna continue writing the next chapter of Watching RTTE. Yep, back to your regularly scheduled programming.
It might come out a bit later than usual, life's being an enormous pain, but it is coming... eventually..!
Ta-ta, and please review!
