A/N: oh, guys, I'm so sorry, it's been months! I have no excuse. please forgive me, review, and tell me what interests you or what you would like to see next! :)
Saturday rolled around, and Theo rolled out of bed later than usual. Grumbling to himself, he quickly showered and then pulled on a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt. He grabbed a breakfast bar from the pantry, and then headed out to the garage. He needed his car, for he promised Hiccup he would drive over today. Theo would have said goodbye to his own parents on his way out the door, with his late-rising, his father was already at work and his mother had left to run errands.
He hopped into his undersized truck, gunned the engine, and quickly pulled out. As he drove, he wondered if he should be nervous. Perhaps. Hiccup had said his father didn't take kindly to people who were different. And Theo's rare skin condition, which even now made half of his arm black-blue from the sun, while the rest of it was shaded and icy-white, was nothing if not "different". The famous coach, Steven Haddock, was nicknamed "Stoick the Vast" in the football world for both his intimidating size – 6'7"and over 300 pounds – and his voice, which boomed across the field without any amplifying assistance. He was known to be unflappable – sure, he got angry, but he never let his team give up. He'd made huge successes of next-to-nothing teams. He was a legend, he was powerful, and he was dangerous to anger.
Yet Theo wasn't worried. He'd spent ten years learning different types of combat – his mother put him up to it, hoping it would give him an outlet for the anger he always seemed to have. That, of course, stemmed from his genetic mutation. At seven, he didn't really understand why his was different – only that he was, and that he hated getting picked on and stared at for it. But his mother, unsurprisingly, was right. It did help. He stopped getting into quite so much trouble, and though he still wasn't exactly a happy kid, his attitude did improve. Over the years, he'd gotten talented. He wasn't world-class, by any means, but he knew enough to protect himself in most situations.
So he figured he could handle whatever Hiccup's dad threw his way. Plus, he doubted the man would get violent – from Hiccup's descriptions, he sounded surly more than anything.
Finally, Theo pulled into the driveway. Their house was definitely on the large size – while not a mansion, "Stoick" clearly enjoyed showing off. It was a really nice neighborhood too, for the surrounding houses appeared just as affluent. The seventeen year old turned off the engine and clambered out of his truck, slinging his backpack strap over one shoulder. Besides just hanging out, Hiccup promised to work with him on their physics project.
Of course, "work with" meant Hiccup came up with most of the ideas, while Theo constructed the thing. Hiccup, of course, explained the whole thing to Theo so that he learned, too. The older boy didn't mind. He knew better than to get in between Hiccup and a device of some kind. Plus, he'd rather keep his friend away from sharp objects. Hiccup was still a little worse for the wear from the incident behind the stadium yesterday.
Theo walked up the porch and knocked on the oversized french doors. The style of this house didn't seem to match what Theo would have thought Stoick would like. He wondered if Hiccup's mom was the one who selected this house.
Suddenly, he heard voices from inside.
"I got it," Hiccup's muffled voice echoed. Faint footsteps followed his words.
"Son," a new voice sounded, infinitely deeper. It was almost completely clear, even through the thick walls of the house. That was Hiccup's dad, then. There was silence. "Hiccup, what happened?"
"Nothing, dad. Just a few of your precious football players having a joke," even through the doors, Theo could hear the bitterness and sarcasm that littered Hiccup's tone when the younger boy was upset.
"What do you mean. Hiccup!" his father's voice commanded.
"I saw Andrew Stanleys cheating on a test, so I reported him to the teacher. That's why he was suspended and couldn't play in the game. So he and Shaun decided to get a little revenge."
"Couldn't you have waited till the next day to report him, Hiccup? That was an important game! Some scouts were there, and he didn't get the chance to show them what he could do!"
"That's what you got out of that, Dad?" Hiccup cried in disbelief. Theo cringed. Apparently, Hiccup's relationship with his dad was even worse than described. "Why do I even bother..."
"Don't take that tone with me!"
"Sorry, Dad, but if you'll excuse me, I have a friend waiting out front," Hiccup deadpanned, and the footsteps started up again.
Theo just stood there, waiting patiently. He purposefully stood half-in and half-out of the sunlight, making part of his face dark blue, while the rest was extremely pale.
Finally, the door creaked open.
"Hey, Toothless," Hiccup greeted with a half-smile. "Sorry 'bout the wait."
"Not a problem. Hey, you look worse than yesterday," Theo half-joked. It was true, though. Even though his nose no longer bled, the black eye from yesterday had turned an ugly purple-yellow color. Other, fainter bruises mottled Hiccup's freckled face, and he walked with a little bit of a limp today.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," the red-haired boy responded with a real smile this time. He opened the door wider, gesturing for his friend to come in.
"Hiccup." Stoick's voice boomed from further down the hall. "What's the meaning of this?"
"This is my best friend, Toothless," Hiccup responded flatly. "I invited him over."
"'Toothless?'" Stoick echoed, thick red brows drawn together in disapproval.
"My real name's Theodore. 'Toothless' is just sort of a joke," Theo responded with fake cheer, smiling broadly.
"Hiccup, you know I don't like people coming over," Stoick reprimanded, his voice a low growl. He caught his son's wrist as the boy passed, effectively halting his progress. Theo was suddenly struck by just how small Hiccup was in comparison to his father. He was more than a full foot shorter, and about a third of Stoick's girth. Almost his entire forearm was enveloped by his father's hand. Theo bent his knees, subtly shifting into a fighting stance in case Stoick got violent. He wouldn't just stand by and watch the abuse.
He needn't have worried. Hiccup scowled, yanking his arm from his father's grasp.
"I did tell you. I called your phone last night, but you were at the game so you didn't pick up," Hiccup spoke sharply, bitterness once again entering his tone. "C'mon, Toothless. We've got a physics project to work on," the younger boy spoke up.
Theo followed his friend up the large staircase, and into a large room with walls painted a soothing gray-green. The room was somewhat messy – the bed wasn't made, and odd scribbles, designs, and notes lay strewn on the desk and around it.
"Hey, Hiccup, can I ask you something?" Theo broke the silence. "Your dad, he doesn't...he's not..."
"No, he doesn't hit me or abuse me or anything," Hiccup turned to face his friend, finishing his thought. "I promise. He's never beaten me. My mom would come back from the grave and kill him if he ever even thought of it," Hiccup joked. Theo locked his eyes with his friend's. Despite the attempt to lighten the mood, he knew Hiccup was telling the truth.
"Okay, just making sure," he responded, leaning against the wall.
"I don't blame you. It doesn't exactly look good," Hiccup acknowledged.
"Then what's the deal?" Theo asked.
"He just...doesn't get me. He doesn't understand why I don't like football, why I like physics, why I've been begging him to let me start college for the past few years. I know he wishes he had a better son. He and my mom were both super tall and fit and athletic, and I'm...not. Just a scrawny little fishbone," Hiccup laughed sadly.
"That doesn't seem fair."
"Well, it's not your fault, is it?" Hiccup responded. "And sorry about the whole, I-don't-like-people-over thing. Mom picked out this house and her personal touch is kinda eveywhere...and I think he doesn't want other people messing things up. He – We never really got over losing her," the younger boy finished quietly.
Feeling awkward just standing there, Theo walked over and patted his best friend on the shoulder. "I'm sorry. It must have been tough."
"It was...is," Hiccup sighed, dipping his head to hide his eyes, which Theo suspected were a little less than dry at the moment. Theo reached over further, giving Hiccup a quick but firm side-hug. The younger boy cleared his throat, in what Theo guessed was an attempt to disguise his sniffling. "So...um, physics?"
Theo smiled understandingly. "Sure thing."
Hiccup returned the smile gratefully.
okay, done! not too terrible exciting, but a little more insight into Hiccup's home life. I hope you enjoyed, and please, please, please review!