I could talk about how long it's been, again, or we could just get right to it.
Sound good? Good!
-HTTYD-
Hiccup moved around his kitchen, Toothless watching his every move from his bed. He'd learnt that if he stayed out of the way, he was more likely to get a few little scraps, whereas if he bothered Hiccup too much he got kicked out of the kitchen. So Toothless just watched him, waiting patiently in hope.
Hiccup hummed to himself as he worked, able to lose himself in the familiarity. He loved to cook, and found it very relaxing. Hiccup was in no rush that morning, so took the time to enjoy the whole process as he stirred up pancake batter, perusing the options for mix-ins and toppings while the pan heated up. His kitchen smelled delicious the entire time, with the butter melting in the pan followed by the sweet batter he poured in. A tart, fruity scent followed as Hiccup dropped a handful of berries in. Once he was done, Hiccup looked over the plate of pancakes happily, drizzling warmed peanut butter over the top. Toothless got his own little dish that was just peanut butter, which he set about lapping up happily.
He set down his plate, a mug of coffee steaming gently next to it. Hiccup sat down, stomach rumbling eagerly. He ate, enjoying every bite that was bursting with flavour, then went to sit on the sofa with a groan, sipping his cooling coffee and rubbing his pleasantly full stomach.
Well, his breakfast had definitely been more relaxing than last nights dinner. True to her word, Astrid had not tried to push him in to anything physical beyond cuddles and kisses, though he got the impression she was a little disappointed about going home alone that night. And Hiccup had enjoyed the evening, but the secrets still lingering over him were never far from his mind.
Not for the first time, Hiccup contemplated asking Valka if he could tell Astrid the full situation. But he knew Valka would never have agreed, and he was pretty sure "I fucked my birth mother before I knew who she was" was never going to go over well. He sighed and picked up his phone, intending on some mindless scrolling to try and quiet his mind. Instead, he found a text message from Valka waiting, politely enquiring when he would next be free for a doggy playdate.
Hiccup smiled at the thought of her and Thump, and quickly tapped out a response once he'd thought through his schedule.
"You wanna see Thump again soon buddy?"
"Oof!"
Toothless wagged his tail excitedly, which broaded Hiccup's smile further. A jolt of guilt made itself known as he felt the flutter in his belly, but he pushed them both away. Time. Practice. It was going to get easier.
He spent his day to himself sketching and painting, taking breaks only to walk Toothless and grab quick meals. Astrid called him for a chat that evening, and they talked idly about their day. He listened patiently to Astrid complaining about work, then answered with tales of an uneventful dog walk and a day spent doodling.
"Those pancakes sound awesome. PB and J pancakes, what a world!"
Hiccup chuckled.
"I'll make them for you some time."
"I'm holding you to that! Alright, I'm gonna go, my bath is run and I want to unwind before bed."
They wished each other a good nights sleep, and hung up. Hiccup took a quick shower to get the remnants of paint off his skin, then sat in front of the TV with a hot chocolate and a cuddly dog friend until it was time for him to go to bed.
A couple of days later, he and Toothless exited his car at Valka's home. She was waiting outside for them with Thump strapped in to his harness, and Hiccup grinned at the new addition to his attire while Toothless ambled up to sniff and greet the other dog.
"Very stylish!"
Valka laughed along with him. Thump had a sort of jacket on, which indicated he was partially sighted and a rescue dog.
"I think he looks very handsome. But he got quite upset on a walk when a child got too handsy, so I felt it prudent to ensure anybody nearby understands he's had a rough time."
"That's a good idea. I guess I'm lucky that Toothless is just a bundle of love for everybody."
Her smile lit up her face. She was beautiful. Hiccup cleared his throat and pushed that thought away, then gestured toward the park.
"Shall we?"
"Come along Thump."
Valka gave a small tug at the leash, just enough to let Thump know it was time to walk. He started trotting happily, though he stayed close to Valka's side the whole time as they headed toward the green area. Toothless walked ahead, occasionally looking back to make sure Thump was still there behind him. Hiccup smiled at him, glad Toothless wanted to look out for his new friend. Both he and Valka enjoyed being outside and were dog people, so they had almost as much fun as their canine companions on their walk around the park, soaking up sunshine and breathing in fresh air. As they headed back, Hiccup held out Toothless' lead to Valka.
"Hold him a sec? The DVDs are in my car."
Valka took it, and Hiccup ducked in to grab his backpack out of his car, then locked it back up and rejoined the others. He took Toothless back so Valka could unlock her front door, and the foursome headed inside. She'd put an extra food and water bowl down for Toothless, and he gratefully made a mess while he got a drink.
"Ok, I brought a few options. And some cupcakes. I am compelled to bring everybody baked goods."
She took the box of cupcakes with a giggle and Hiccup pulled out the DVDs hed brought with him. Valka had lamented her small collection of DVDs post-divorce, so Hiccup had offered to bring some of his over to see if he had any she'd not watched, or one she had but wanted to watch again. He had plenty, as he preferred having his own collection as opposed to hoping that he could find it on Netflix or something.
"Oh, this does make me feel old. I was a little girl when this came out!"
Valka held up Back To The Future, and Hiccup shrugged.
"It's not that old! Did you watch it as a kid then?"
"No, my parents weren't fans of movie theatres. Thought they attracted too many teenagers."
"Then I guess that's what we're watching."
Hiccup grinned. He hadn't watched it in a while himself, but he remembered enjoying it immensely as a teen. He set up the DVD whilst Valka made them hot drinks, and they sat down on the sofa. They initially sat further apart, but Toothless and Thump took issue with that and shoved themselves either side of the adults to curl up, the additional bulk of two dogs meaning Hiccup and Valka had to sit much closer together. Hiccup did his best just to focus on the TV, ignoring Valka's leg brushing against his occasionally.
He felt he was doing alright until Thump shifted around some more, and Valka moved a little to accomodate him. Any closer and she would have been sat in his lap. She muttered an apology, and Hiccup realised she looked uncomfortable too. So he tried to relax the tension in his muscles, and waved off her concerns.
"It's fine. Dogs just need all the room."
He chuckled, and Valka did so too. Hiccup turned his attention back to the screen, and thought maybe things were going to calm down again.
And then he remembered what happened in the movie.
"Oh shit. I swear, this wasn't intentional!"
He started laughing out of awkwardness at the ridiculous situation, and Valka looked completely bewildered.
"What on earth are you talking about?"
Hiccup covered his face with his hands and mumbled "just watch" to her. Valka did so, and Hiccup listened as Marty tried to avoid his teenaged mothers advances, which were not subtle in the slightest.
"Oh... that's dreadful!"
Valka cracked up laughing too, and both of them snickered and shook their heads at what had just transpired in the movie. Each time they began to calm down, they would catch each others eye and the laughter started up again.
"I swear, I haven't watched this film in a few years now. I'd forgotten about... that."
Hiccup gestured vaguely at the TV screen. Valka patted his arm, still occasionally chuckling.
"It's fine. I just didn't expect... that. Especially from a movie that was released when I was young! My gods, if my parents had caught me touching a boy like that at her age. At the family dinner table, no less!"
"She only squeezed his leg!"
Hiccup answered, and Valka raised an eyebrow.
"I suspect she wanted to squeeze something else but they couldn't show that in the movie."
Hiccup snorted.
"Well. Maybe! But still. If a girl had done that to me as a teenager, my dad would probably have high-fived me and my mom would have put condoms in my room or something."
Valka rolled her eyes.
"That's his mother!"
Hiccup waited. Valka winced, then turned away from him. He sighed, hoping she was going to find it funny, but then he remembered that they had very different experiences of the time he was growing up away from her. Hiccup reached out and touched her arm gently, and was glad when she didn't shake him off.
"Look. I know I find what happened a bit less weird than you do, because I didn't know about you until recently. But just like she didn't know they were mother and son then, neither did we."
Valka let out a deep sigh, then turned back to face him.
"I know. I suppose I wasn't expected to be confronted by it in a movie."
"We can turn it off?"
Hiccup offered - he'd brought other DVDs with him, after all, and didn't want to upset her. Valka shook her head.
"No, it's fine. I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
She nodded resolutely, and so they continued watching the movie. Hiccup felt her grow uncomfortable each time Lorraine made advances toward Marty, but they made it to the end of the film and she seemed more or less okay by then. "Mental note: check none of the other movies I own have these storylines." Hiccup mused to himself as he placed the disc back in the case.
He wondered how he would have handled the same situation. Marty seemed struck by the idea his mother was 'hot' when she was around his age, and Lorraine seemed intrigued and attracted to him almost instantly. But Hiccup found Valka attractive now, and she'd been attracted to him. Before they knew, at least.
"These are good."
Valka commented, and Hiccup looked over to see she was eating one of the cupcakes he'd made. He smiled at her enjoyment, and tried to ignore the pulsing desire (and guilt) when she let out a small hum of pleasure.
He knew now. He knew now.
They hugged goodbye, and Valka gave Toothless an affectionate scratch before Hiccup led him back toward his car. Valka waved, then closed the front door behind them and slumped against it with a sigh.
That had been... strange. And uncomfortable. She definitely believed Hiccup hadn't shown her that movie on purpose, but that didn't make it easier to deal with the emotions it stirred up when watching a mother make advances on her son. Hiccup was sweet and reassuring about it, because of course he was.
Except he didn't know she still wanted, even now she knew. So his assurances that it was fine when they didn't know only went so far. She was his mother, and that wasn't enough to make her body stop responding to him with desire. Valka crossed back to the sofa and sat down, stroking Thump's head gently as she thought to herself. Why was Hiccup fine about it? What was wrong with her that she hadn't managed to quash those feelings?
Hiccup was dating. He had a sweet, young, beautiful girlfriend, who had been nothing but polite and charming to Valka when the two women met.
Perhaps that was it. Valka hadn't really had many thoughts about sex prior to meeting Hiccup, after so long in a marriage that was less than stellar in that department, especially towards the end. And then she'd had her body reawoken, reminded of all the physical delights and wonderful experiences a fulfilling sexual relationship could offer. And then it was ripped away by her own reticence for an actual relationship (which she'd known Hiccup was quietly hopeful for before), and then it was hammered and reformed in to a terrible sin by the discovery that the young man who'd seduced her and convinced her to contact her long lost baby boy was the same person she'd been hoping to find all along. Just not like that.
Valka had considered dating before, but always quashed the very idea. She wanted to have the time to dedicate to getting to know Hiccup as her son, to forget how they met and to learn all the things she'd missed. She wondered, not for the first time, if she was just very lonely, and in need of a companion to fill that space, somebody suitable and legal to focus her physical desires on. And now she was older, wiser, no longer the young woman who was bullied in to giving up her child and marrying a man simply because he was 'willing' and her parents wanted to avoid a scandalous reputation. Valka was much better equipped to find a decent, healthy relationship this time around.
"What do you think, Thump?"
He cracked one eye open - his sight was pretty bad, but Valka got the idea that was his way of saying 'I'm trying to sleep' when she interrupted his lounging - and let out a small grunt, but otherwise offered no wisdom on the matter.
"Thank you, that's very helpful."
Valka leant back in to the sofa again, still idly petting her canine friend. Well, her friends were often trying to set her up ever since she'd admitted to a brief fling with a younger man. Valka turned them down every time so far.
"Next time, I'll consider it", she promised herself, and tried to ignore the discomfort gnawing at her insides. Just because time hadn't been enough to get over her twisted desires... that didn't mean finding a suitable companion was impossible. As long as she didn't try to compare them to Hiccup. Somehow, she knew nobody was going to match up if she did.
-HTTYD-
Does it say something about me that I haven't actually seen Back To The Future, but I know about that particular facet?
In my defense, I was told about it by someone who has and who knows I'm incest shipping trash.
ENJOY!
