Author's Note: So sorry for the long wait. I was originally planning to post this fic all in one go (prologue + 2 parts + epilogue), but I figured the length would be pretty overwhelming. Therefore, a total of 4 chapters it is. Here's the next installment: Part 1 :)

Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians or How to Train Your Dragon.

Sentient

Part 1

Jack spent the weekend getting used to the second presence in his apartment. It felt really nice to finally have someone to talk to, even if that someone didn't necessarily talk back.

Homundroids were, for lack of a better description, basically servants. They did as they were told and nothing else. It was in their programming, and the only time they could react on their own was when their masters were ever put in physical danger.

Still, there were a few instances Jack had caught Hiccup on the verge of responding to him, only for the homundroid to hold itself back and snap its mouth shut when it realized just what it was about to do. He was undeterred though, and continued to chat despite the one-sidedness of the conversation. Hiccup's behavior was definitely not normal for a machine, but Jack wasn't complaining. Quite the opposite, in fact.

"Come on, Hiccup! Talk to me," he said with an encouraging smile. "Do I have to make it an order?"

"…Is that a trick question?" Hiccup seemed to reply carefully, keeping its face blank and devoid of any emotion.

Jack rolled his eyes and sighed, watching as the homundroid wiped the tabletop with a damp rag after putting away the dirty dishes. "Alright then, how about this: Tell me about your day."

"Jack showed how to cook and do housework," came the automatic response.

"And what did we learn from dessert?"

"Jack likes chocolate mint flavored ice-cream." Again, without missing a beat.

Grinning widely, Jack barked out a laugh at the deadpan tone. "There! Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" he chuckled. "And you don't have to be so formal all the time, you know. Loosen up a little!"

This time, Hiccup actually paused for a moment, as if to let the words sink in. Jack took the opportunity to drive his point home. "I mean it, Hiccup. I appreciate you listening to me when I ramble, but don't hesitate to join in too, okay?"

"…Understood," the homundroid said quietly, a hint of a smile on its lips.

"Awesome!" Jack jumped up from his chair and grabbed Hiccup's arm, dragging it into the living room. "Let's go! The night's still young and the gaming console awaits!"

Surprisingly enough, it was Hiccup who had doubts about following Jack to work despite the fact that it was in its code to stay close to him. The homundroid said nothing about the matter and remained silent as they walked to the daycare center on Monday morning, but Jack was somehow able to sense its discomfort from the way Hiccup moved stiffly behind him, keeping its eyes fixed firmly on the pavement.

Its hesitation was understandable, of course. Who knew how the children would react to a homundroid who looked like a big fearsome dragon? Jack had called in beforehand and his colleagues had been a little wary at the news, but they had agreed to give Hiccup a chance before deciding whether it could continue to accompany Jack to the center.

Anna, Thomas and Rhonda were waiting at the entrance, eager the meet the homundroid that walked in after him. While Anna cooed about how 'cute' Hiccup was, the twins both agreed it looked 'badass', taking in Hiccup's claws and wings with open awe and admiration. But as much as they approved, it was the children's opinions that mattered, so they had to make sure the homundroid looked as unthreatening as possible. Anna suggested that it keep its claws retracted and flatten its wings against its back, and it was practically shrinking into itself by the time they finally deemed it okay to step into the room.

As it turned out, all the fuss had been unnecessary.

The children loved Hiccup. Jack was disappointed to tell them that the homundroid couldn't fly, but they insisted on going outside anyway and soon enough, they were happily taking turns to sit on its shoulders, pretending they were soaring through the skies as it flapped its wings. Ron and Tom (or 'Ruff' and 'Tuff', as they preferred to be called) played the evil villains that the 'dragon man' had to defeat, and the children gleefully ordered Hiccup to fire plasma blasts at them, shrieking with laughter when the twins clutched their chests dramatically and fell to the ground with a wail.

Hiccup also had a pretty impressive wingspan, Jack discovered when the homundroid was invited to a tea party after lunch. The sleek appendages had a purple sheen under the sunlight, and they stretched far and wide over the excited group of children, providing them with some shade and relief from the afternoon heat. 'Tooth' (Anna was studying dentistry part-time, and the woman was simply obsessed with teeth) eagerly snapped photos with her smartphone when the poor homundroid was handed a cup of tea, giggling at the way it looked absolutely clueless as to what to do with it.

At the end of the day, everyone agreed that Hiccup was welcome to the center anytime, and Jack did a double take on the way home when he spotted the small braid one of the girls had managed to tuck behind the homundroid's right ear.

Friday evenings had been officially declared 'Gaming Nights'.

Jack owned a fairly impressive console along with a decent collection of games, most of which he had already beaten multiple times by himself. But now that Hiccup was here, he finally had another player to compete with. As a machine, Hiccup simply needed to be plugged into the system before it could start playing, and it could also operate on its own without needing to use a controller.

"Oh my god, Hic! For a computer, you suck at this!"

"Because ramming other drivers off the track is the epitome of professionalism."

"Sore loser."

"Lousy trickster."

Jack stuck out his tongue at the homundroid, smirking smugly.

Slowly but surely, Jack noticed that Hiccup was beginning to loosen up. It had been reluctant at first, speaking formally and acting aloof, but Jack's persistence (which he refused to admit were bordering on childish and annoying antics) eventually managed to get Hiccup to crack. And when it did, Jack was treated to a whole new side of the homundroid.

Hiccup must have been encoded with a sarcastic personality program or something, because apparently it had been hiding quite the tongue. Instead of blank stares and emotionless expressions, Jack now received actual eye rolls, exasperated looks, and a daily (over?)dose of quick wit and sass.

Wheezing with laughter and giggling helplessly, Jack struggled to contain his guffaws while Hiccup stood in front of him, looking utterly unamused as colorful pieces of confetti on its body fluttered to the ground.

"You are too kind," it muttered dryly, shaking its wings in an attempt to dislodge some of the tangled streamers hanging off them.

"Looks like you got into a fight with a party and lost," Jack sniggered before reaching forward to help remove the glitter and paper covering the homundroid. There had been a birthday celebration thrown by one of the children's parents at the center earlier that day, and Hiccup had accidentally gotten in the line of fire of several trigger happy kids armed with party poppers.

"I wonder whose fault that is."

Jack waved a hand dismissively, innocently pretending that he hadn't been the one to instigate Operation: Decorate Hiccup by encouraging the kids to add a splash of color to the mostly black homundroid. Behind them, Anna was seeing the last of the children off while Ron and Tom were busy cleaning up the room.

"Times like these I find it hard to believe you're thirty and not three," Hiccup snorted as it lifted its arms to allow Jack to reach the pieces of metallic foil stuck on the undersides.

"What can I say? I'm young at heart," Jack grinned wickedly.

"And by 'young', I presume you mean 'immature, childish and juvenile'."

"I thought you weren't programmed to be a smartass?"

"Now that's a surprise."

"What is?"

"You. Thinking."

"Hey!"

Once every month, Jack would book an appointment with North to have him do a checkup on Hiccup. Homundroids didn't exactly have an expiry date (they were simply replaced with newer models), but Jack was perfectly happy with his and wanted to make sure it was well maintained. North gave him tips on how to care for Hiccup, teaching him how to do simple tasks like keeping its joints well-oiled, removing rust, and updating its antivirus software.

"Your hair's really soft!" Jack exclaimed in surprise, gently smoothing down auburn locks with a comb. "Got any secrets you'd like to share?" he asked teasingly.

"Well," Hiccup drawled, "just keep bleaching it the way you do now. When it all falls out, wear a wig made of fine synthetic fibers."

Jack swatted the homundroid's arm good-naturedly in response. Putting away the comb, he picked up a duster and proceeded to clean its wings. "I'll have you know, it wasn't easy getting this shade of silver," he huffed, weaving his fingers through snow white strands. "And the ladies happen to love it. Makes me look senior," Jack flashed a cocky grin and struck a supermodel pose at the eye roll sent his way.

"More like senile."

"Oi, you calling me old?"

"Ancient."

Pouting, he bopped the homundroid on the head with the duster.

Yes, Hiccup was the best thing that had ever happened to him, and Jack wouldn't trade it for the world.

There was a little boy named Sanderson who attended the daycare several years ago, when Jack had first started working there. He was quiet and reserved, but polite and well-behaved. The blond's favorite activity was playing in the sandbox near the garden outside the center, earning him the affectionate nickname 'Sandy'.

Sandy's parents were often working abroad and their busy schedules left them hard-pressed to spend time with their son, let alone raise him. In their place, they bought a homundroid to see to his every need. Jack didn't know much about Sandy's home life or upbringing, but he did recognize the homundroid that walked the boy to and picked him up from the center regularly. As far as he could tell, 'Astrid' had been taking good care of him, keeping him safe and well-fed (if his slightly pudgy figure was anything to go by).

One incident involving Sandy and his homundroid stood out in particular, and that was when Anna had brought several jars of colored sand for the children to play with. There was plenty to go around even though the blond went wild that day, using up pads of drawing paper and bottles of glue to create many beautiful sand drawings. Most of Jack's colleagues agreed with him that the kid definitely had potential as an artist later in life.

When Astrid arrived later in the evening, Sandy had rushed up to it with a handful of his masterpieces and shoved them into its arms, eagerly pointing out what he'd been busy with all afternoon. Jack had been sweeping up some spilled sand nearby, and he was surprised to see the normally silent boy talking excitedly to his homundroid, flipping through his stack of sand-covered papers.

As he chatted away, Jack saw Astrid reach down to pet the boy's golden hair fondly, smiling like a proud mother, and it had been the first time he caught a glimpse of a very distinctively human expression of love on a homundroid's face.

A cool hand gently brushed sweaty white bangs away from his forehead, laying a neatly folded piece of damp cloth on the fevered skin.

The soothing relief from the heat roused Jack from his fitful slumber and he cracked his eyes open, noticing that the curtains had been drawn to block out the harsh sunlight streaming through the window, enveloping his room in shade. Somewhere at the back of his hazy mind, it occurred to him that he should be getting ready for work, but a wave of dizziness washed over him when he tried to sit up, and he barely registered the firm hands on his shoulders steadying him as he swayed weakly.

"H-Hiccup?" he rasped out, his throat feeling sticky and parched. The rim of a glass was pressed against his dry lips and he parted them gratefully, allowing the cool water to enter his mouth as he drank with thirst.

"I have notified the center of the reason for your absence," the homundroid said softly, carefully helping Jack back under the warm covers. "They send their well-wishes and have given you the next two days off to recover from your illness."

"Great…" Jack sighed, watching sleepily as Hiccup replaced the cloth that had dropped from his forehead. Falling sick (with a fever, no less – he hated those) sucked, but being taken care of like this felt oddly nice. Though it was probably part of Hiccup's programming, he could almost sense an undercurrent of worry behind its actions. Still, despite knowing it was likely just his imagination, he let himself pretend that the homundroid was genuinely concerned about his health.

"How are you feeling?" And there it was again. But even if his addled mind was deceiving him, Jack soaked up the attention like desert sand in rain.

"Like crap," he groaned, shuffling deeper into the blankets. The heat was uncomfortable, but he fought the urge to kick the covers off, knowing that it wouldn't do him any good to let his body's temperature drop too much.

Hiccup's hand was slightly tentative as it petted his hair lightly. "Rest," it advised. "I will prepare medicine and something for you to eat when you wake up later."

Absently, Jack realized that Hiccup was tending to him without being told what to do. He reminded himself that it was probably acting according to its programming (falling sick was technically a physical danger to the human health, wasn't it?), but the thought still nagged at him for some reason. He let it go as the soothing motion of the homundroid's fingers carding through his white locks lulled him into drowsiness, and he closed his eyes with a content hum.

Something soft brushed against his cheek as the darkness behind his eyelids coaxed him back to the world of slumber, and although the sensation lasted only briefly, Jack felt his lips curl into a faint smile as he returned to sleep.

"– near the outskirts of the city. If sighted, call the police immediately. Do not approach or confront this man under any circumstances. The local authorities are working with the FBI to apprehend this wanted terrorist, and everyone is advised to remain vigilant at all times.

"In other news, there has been a break-in near the south residential district where yet another homundroid was stolen last night. This marks the fourth case in three weeks, and despite the lack of evidence, there are claims that the thefts are targeted and not random acts of crime."

"Jack, it is time to go."

"Hm?"

"You are going to be late."

"What time is – Oh shit, I'm coming!"

"It is speculated that the missing homundroids are part of a controversial group known as –"

"Sentients?"

Jack nodded as North paused in the middle of tuning Hiccup to look at him. "Yeah. I've heard that term being used quite a lot recently, especially with all the news about the missing homundroids. I was wondering if you could tell me more about it."

"There's not much to tell," North admitted, putting aside his tools to face Jack. "Also, there's no real proof that Sentients exist. Mostly rumors only."

"What kind of rumors?" Jack asked curiously, leaning forward in his seat.

"Rumors of a rare defect that allows homundroids to think for themselves and feel emotions. That spark of life that makes them more than just machines!" North began to gesture wildly with his arms. "It is a wondrous thing! But no one knows where it comes from. Out of hundreds of homundroids produced in assembly line, only a few are Sentients."

"Wait, so you're saying that they're alive?"

North shook his head. "Not quite. See, normal homundroids have to follow programming, yes? They have failsafe to make sure they cannot turn against masters. They must listen and do as told. But Sentients!" He clapped his hands in excitement. "Sentients have a bit more flexibility. They can question orders, talk back. I don't know if they still have to obey, but people say they are less inclined to if they refuse."

Jack took a few moments to process the information, sneaking a glance at the temporarily deactivated Hiccup. "How do you tell if a homundroid is a Sentient?"

"No one knows. Is grey area, lots of debate," North sighed. "Which makes it very sad."

"Why sad?"

"Because of abuse," the older man replied with a frown. "Homundroids are like slaves. They exist to serve humans and to protect us. But we don't always protect them."

A sickening feeling began to pool in Jack's gut and he turned to look at North with dread. "What do you mean?" he asked, even though some part of him already knew the answer.

"Some people use them for entertainment, for pleasure," was the blunt reply. There was no point in sugar-coating the ugly truth. "They cannot say no, so people think they can do whatever they like to them."

Jack was wide-eyed and speechless with horror. "That's – that's –"

"Wrong?" North interrupted gently. "Are you so sure, Jack?"

"But –"

"Can they feel pain? Can they feel fear?" he continued, silencing Jack with his questions. "Are they only machines? Or are we dealing with living creatures? Even if they are Sentients, there is no proof. And if there is…" His eyes darkened with sorrow and Jack swallowed hard, anticipating the worst. "Well, you know what some people do to keep things quiet. Permanently."

And that was all North was willing to share about the matter. He picked up his tools and returned his attention to Hiccup, leaving Jack to his thoughts.

The rest of the afternoon passed by in silence.

Jack liked the cold, but this was just ridiculous.

The heating system in the building he lived in had chosen the start of the winter season to quit on the tenants, and despite the landlord hiring repairmen to resolve the issue as soon as possible, they were told that it would take at least a week to get the heaters up and running again. Until then, they were advised to bundle up or simply move out and crash someplace else temporarily.

The second option wasn't available for Jack, so he found himself dressed in a hoodie and a pair of track pants, shivering under the covers and grumbling sourly under his breath. It was only the first night, but even he had to admit it was freezing, and he knew the temperature would only continue to drop over the next few days. He was seriously contemplating the idea of wearing his winter coat to sleep when a soft knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. Hiccup stepped in, carrying an extra set of blankets in its arms.

"Thanks Hic, you're a lifesaver!" Jack grinned and sat up, reaching out to pat the homundroid's arm in gratitude as it spread the blanket over him. His hand drew back in surprise when his fingers brushed against the scaly forearm. "You're so warm!" he exclaimed with astonishment. Was it the cold, or was Hiccup naturally like this?

The homundroid looked slightly flustered as it nodded. "My body generates approximately the same amount of heat as an average adult. It decreases when I power down for the night, to conserve energy," it explained.

"Oh, uh… Good to know." Jack found himself looking away, suddenly unable to hold eye contact with Hiccup. Mentally, he chastised himself for even thinking about asking the homundroid to warm up his bed. The idea felt… Well, not wrong, but not right either. Hiccup was only a machine and it had to obey his orders, but was this considered crossing the line? The conversation he had with North weeks ago surfaced in his mind and he bit his lip hesitantly, unsure as to how to approach the delicate matter.

"Would you… like me to sleep with you tonight?"

Jack could feel something crack at the rate he whipped his head to stare at Hiccup incredulously, clearly not expecting the homundroid to make the offer.

"If you are uncomfortable with the close proximity, I will remain at the edge of your bed to leave you with as much space as possible," Hiccup continued, shifting uneasily, and Jack noticed that the homundroid was also pointedly averting its gaze, choosing to stare at the wall instead.

He reasoned that Hiccup was giving its consent (not that they were going to have sex or anything, so calm down Jack stop overreacting) and besides, it would be just like two friends having a sleepover. The idea was tempting, and Jack really didn't want to wake up as a human icicle the next morning.

Silently, he pulled down a corner of the blanket and patted the empty space next to him, smiling shyly at the homundroid.

True to its word, Hiccup made sure to stay out of Jack's way, keeping its folded wings facing outwards and scooting as close to the edge as it could without falling off. The heat from its systems would be trapped under the blanket and transferred to Jack, allowing him to sleep comfortably.

It worked in theory, but then the homundroid observed that Jack was unconsciously burrowing his way through the double layer of blankets as he slept, his body slowly but surely inching its way towards the source of the warmth. Even if Hiccup got up and lay down on the opposite side of the bed when he got too close, the man would just change directions and repeat the process. The game could go on for hours, but Hiccup knew that moving around too much probably wasn't part of getting a good night's rest.

In the end, it settled for simply staying in the middle of the bed, allowing its master to curl into its body.

Jack let out a sigh of content as gentle arms wrapped around him and pulled him closer to a broad chest. He snuggled deeper into the warmth, faintly registering a dull hum of machinery from its source. The sound was soothing, and he felt so safe and protected. He didn't need to open his eyes to know that Hiccup was the one making him feel like this. Drifting at the edge of consciousness, he let himself be pulled back to sleep.

Their arrangement continued over the next week. Hiccup always left the bed before the other was due to rise, and Jack suspected that the homundroid didn't want him waking up to find himself being hugged like a pillow. He knew Hiccup had promised to keep its distance, but honestly Jack had to admit he rather preferred the close contact instead. Besides, judging by his own sleeping habits, he had most likely been the one to move around first, leaving the homundroid no other choice than to remain where it was, and he made sure that Hiccup understood he was perfectly alright with it.

Then Jack received an email from his landlord one afternoon, informing him that the heaters had finally been fixed. The news left him with mixed feelings for some reason, and when Hiccup bade him goodnight hours later, he realized that his bed had never felt so big, or so empty. The heaters were running smoothly and he wasn't shivering at all, yet there was an inexplicable chill that seeped under his skin.

"Please stay…" he whispered to the silent room, unheard, long after Hiccup had left and closed the door behind it. The homundroid was probably already in the living room, getting ready to power down and recharge for the night. Logically, Jack tried to convince himself that there was no reason for Hiccup to share his bed anymore. Despite knowing that he could always make it an order the homundroid could not refuse, he was unwilling to abuse the power he had, and it took an hour of tossing and turning before he finally fell into a restless sleep.

The next morning however, he found fresh paw-like footprints imprinted into the carpet just outside his door, next to a power socket in the wall.

Perhaps Hiccup hadn't been so far away after all.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! There's just one more part left before the epilogue, but I'd love to hear what you guys think of this so far :)