It had taken Hiccup three weeks at the most to forget about the toy. By this time, Winter had already settled in and was coating Berk in piles and piles of glistening blankets. Only two months are left for Devastating Winter, which means two more months to be able to prepare for it and to mentally prepare himself for the deaths he has to endure. Seeing his people die out of starvation, cold or sickness was never a good feeling.
Stoick's eyes ran to where Hiccup was building a fort silently, concentrating on the weak points and where he should be paying attention more. While Hiccup wasn't the best at physical challenges, his mind is far celerver than any mind Stoick has ever seen on Berk. And no, he's not biased because Hiccup is his son, it's because he has seen what the boy is capable of. Seen how he analyses, strategises and calculates every single move he makes.
Of course, the moves that include putting him in life threatening situations not included.
With a shake of his head, Stoick turned back to the papers on his table, demanding his attention once more. It is so hard to be the chief of a village and a father at the same time. He wonders at times how he was supposed to act around Hiccup or what to say. Stoick wasn't raised to be a father, he was raised to be a warrior. Someone to lead and fight. Someone to bark orders and demand respect. His father was the same, as difficult as the man was and as cruel as his punishments were, he had shaped Stoick into the chief he is today.
By Viking traditions, he should be making Hiccup practice like Snotlout is. He should be making him sweat from dusk till dawn. Should be burning his books and sketches and telling him to grab a weapon and make a run at the trees in the woods. Discard his feelings and pain at the sight of a wound or when something happens. He should be the kind of father that Spitelout is.
But one look at Hiccup, small and determined to make the fort work, his brows furrowed in concentration, eyes squinted in thinking, was enough to make him stop whatever the Vikings thought were right and think about what will be right for Hiccup. He is no regular Viking boy, that much is obvious, but that only makes him more special. Better than anyone else.
Hiccup yelled in frustration suddenly, destroying the fort with a kick of his legs and then gave his back to it, his lips turned into an adorable pout. Stoick chuckled at that. Perhaps not so very un-Viking like after all.
Hiccup's head snapped towards him, bright green eyes dimming with betrayal.
"Are you laughing at me?" Hiccup gaped in a blasphemous tone.
Stoick pursed his lips in a straight line the same way he does around villagers. "Of course not, son, I'm laughing at the misfortune of the fort you built."
"Same thing." Hiccup grumbled, crossing his arms and slouching. "I'm not stupid."
"I never said you were, Hiccup," Stoick replied easily, still amused by his son's grumpiness. "And it is not the same thing."
"It is!" Hiccup insisted, standing up suddenly to ball his hands into fists by his sides. "You laugh at how I kicked the fort, which means you laughed at me."
"If you want to see it that way." Stoick said with a smile, turning back to the papers.
"It's the only way to see it!" Hiccup yelled, turning his head away from his father.
By Viking code, Stoick should be punishing Hiccup for even raising his voice at his father in such a way. Saying that he should be respecting him because he is far older and wiser than him. But again, Stoick can never find it within himself to even raise a hand against Hiccup.
Instead, he threw his head back and laughed, finally letting his amusement clear. Hiccup tried to hold his own laughter in for as long as he could before he too, exploded in giggles. Running to where Stoick was sitting and climbing into his lap.
Another thing Stoick had noticed was that Hiccup, despite his age, didn't mind climbing into Stoick's lap or reaching out for him. Something that Stoick had stopped doing since he was a bit younger than Hiccup, knowing that in order to be a strong Viking and an heir you have to stop acting like a small baby. But that doesn't count here, because Hiccup is, well, his baby boy.
"Your face looks better when you laugh." Hiccup said seriously, his tone not matching his high pitched voice.
"Really?" Stoick decided to amuse him.
Hiccup gave a nod. "When you look happy, your face looks good."
"And when I'm not?" Stoick cocked his head to the side.
"Your face looks like this." Hiccup proceeded to frown, furrow his brows and pull himself to his full height.
Stoick laughed at that, throwing his head back once more. Hiccup broke his act and started giggling again, the sounds making Stoick smile even more. Oh Hiccup, ever so blunt and subtle.
"You love making fun of your father huh?" Stoick gave him a small grin.
"No." Hiccup laughed. "I love making fun of my chief."
"Ahhh good one!" Stoick chuckled, patting Hiccup's back a bit too hard.
Hiccup grumbled, giving his father a glare before he slid off and went to stand in the corner, giving Stoick his back. Stoick was more amused by his son's cat like behaviour than anything else.
"Are we friends still?" Stoick asked the ever frequent question between him and Hiccup.
Hiccup gave his ever changing answer. "No!"
"Ah, there's my five minutes of silence." Stoick chuckled good heartedly.
Hiccup humphed, turning his head even further away from his father. He would prove to him that he can stay silent for more then five minutes. He can and he will. He is fully capable of being silent. Hiccup repeated the mantra inside his head so he wouldn't forget it but eventually got bored and started looking around. He noticed a few holes in the stairs, making him raise his small fingers to put them in them.
How did these holes get in here? Were they already there a day ago? How long has it been since it first appeared? Why did it appear in the first place? Is the house falling apart? Hiccup hopes not, he really wants a place to sleep by the end of the night. What else has been ruined somehow in the house without him knowing? He has to do something about it. Immediately.
He should tell his dad, surely he will know.
"Hey Dad!" Hiccup turned away from the stairs to run back to his father, climbing into his lap once more.
Stoick chuckled silently, knowing it's only been a good minute since Hiccup promised not to talk to him. He kept the thought to himself though, better not to upset Hiccup with it.
"Yes son?" Stoick turned his head towards the child who was snuggled closely to his chest.
"There are holes in the stairs!" Hiccup gasped, pointing at the stairs.
"Really?" Stoick humoured him.
"Yes!" Hiccup insisted, getting off Stoick's lap and tugged on his arm. "Daaaad you have to see it! What if the house collapses?!"
He said it with so much passion, so much panic, that Stoick had to raise a hand and pretend to cough when he was actually laughing. It doesn't help that Hiccup likes to make exaggerated hand gestures each time he talks, it only adds to the scene.
"And how will these holes make the whole house collapse, Hiccup?" Stoick raised an eyebrow.
Hiccup tugged insistently on his arm, trying to move his father from his chair. "Dad if you just come and see it! You'll know how!"
Stoick pretended to think, raising a hand to his chin. "I don't see how some holes will make our house collapse."
Hiccup huffed in annoyance, letting his hands hang loosely on Stoick's arm. For the dramatic flare if not anything else, Hiccup threw his head back to signal out just how done he was with his father. Stoick hid his smile away in his beard.
"You're not listening to me!" Hiccup yelled, reinforcing his efforts on tugging Stoick out of the chair. "If you listen to me you'll see."
He said each word with a grunt, already panting from the effort. Stoick watched him with amusement, secretly wanting to laugh at the way Hiccup's face turned red from effort. Maybe he should do something just to please the boy, make him less red faced.
Stoick stood up suddenly, Hiccup hanging from his arm limply. The boy let go of it, holding his large fingers to drag him to the stairs. Stoick allowed him to drag him wherever he wanted, as long as it kept Hiccup's mind off of wanting to destroy something for a good minute or two.
"Here!" Hiccup said as he pointed to a particularly small hole in the stairs. "See? It's gonna make our house collapse!"
Stoick hid a smile in his beard. "I really don't think it's this bad, Hiccup."
Hiccup's face turned annoyed. "Well, you're thinking wrong! This is gonna ruin our house! We will be sleeping with Gobber!"
"And what's wrong with Gobber?" Stoick knelt to Hiccup's level.
"He's smelly." Hiccup said with a disgusted scrunch of his nose.
Stoick threw his head back and laughed.
"Yes I do believe he's due to another bath once again." Stoick agreed with a smile.
"But he doesn't! He says this is how a Viking should smell like! It's so disgusting!" Hiccup waved his arms around as he explained his point, holes in the stairs forgotten.
"He is right.. somewhat." Stoick said.
"No!" Hiccup said, horrified. "He's not! It's gross, Dad! Why do Vikings have to be so smelly and gross?"
"We're not smelly or gross!" Stoick defended almost immediately, his voice rising.
Hiccup, used to that, crossed his arms and turned away. "Well, it is, I've read that the Romans don't smell like that!"
"Why do you care about the Romans? You're a Viking! This is how we do things around here!" Stoick crossed his own arms, standing up.
His height and width should by all means terrify his son, but Hiccup merely looked at him with a bored glance before he dropped his defensive stance.
"Whatever, you like the Vikings way too much." Hiccup grumbled.
"I am a Viking." Stoick reminded. "And so are you!"
"But why does a Viking have to be smelly or big or scary?" Hiccup asked, his arms doing their own thing. "Why can't we be nice and kind and smart?"
"Because being nice and kind and smart can't make you survive in here." Stoick said sternly. "If you do it, you'll be dead in no time."
"But then I'd go to Valhalla?" Hiccup asked innocently, head cocked to the side. "With my mother?"
Immediately, his father dropped whatever defensive he was about to say in the Viking's honour at the words of his son. Stoick knelt down to Hiccup's height and took his small hands in his own large ones.
"Just because Valhalla is a good place it doesn't mean you should go there." Stoick said gently. "You can meet your mother there when you're much older and stronger."
"But why not now?" Hiccup asked, his green eyes wide.
"Because-" Stoick hesitated to explain it.
How can he explain it all in a good way without triggering any of Hiccup's previous hate and anger towards the toy Valka made him which will eventually make him remember how he hated her?
"Because, son, you are still very young and have a long way to go," Stoick said at last. "Your mother would be happier to see you when you're older."
"But she won't be happy to see me now?" Hiccup's bottom lip started to tremble.
"No no no-" Stoick protested quickly. "Of course she would! But it would make her happier to see you all grown up!"
"Oh," Hiccup said, no longer sad.
Stoick sighed in relief. At least he passed the danger zone.
"But isn't there any way I can be a good Viking?" Hiccup asked.
"A good Viking grabs an axe and throws it at anything that is in his sight." Stoick replied.
"I meant like a nice Viking." Hiccup said grumpily.
Nice Viking? How can this even work! Kids and their mindsets! Stoick can't even recall another child who said such thing or even thought of it. Even the adults never say things like this. It's always his son who thinks of the most bizarre ideas ever.
Oh well, it is still his boy. He must have taken that trait from his mother, Valka always had a soft heart.
"Uhh-" Stoick is really bad at this. "Why don't you go and see what Gobber is doing?"
Hiccup slumped. Though he was young, he already knew when his dad is trying to tell him to run off without actually saying it. How rude. But again, his dad is a true Viking.
"Okay..." Hiccup mumbled, leaving the house without his usual cheer.
"Hey Gobber?" Hiccup asked for the millionth time since he got into the forge five minutes ago.
"What?" Gobber almost shouted.
"Teach me how to make a sword!" Hiccup begged again, jumping on his tippy toes.
"No!" Gobber said. "Too dangerous! What do you need a sword for?"
"To hunt the trolls!" Hiccup said indignantly.
"With a sword?" Gobber turned to him. "You'll need something bigger than that!"
"Mace?" Hiccup asked, leaning in a little before gagging at Gobber's smell and moving away.
"No no something that will kill these little devils right away!" Gobber said happily, unaware of Hiccup fighting for his life next to him. "Something like an axe!"
"Daddy's axe!" Hiccup said brightly, making Gobber give a little grin.
Though Hiccup no longer calls Stoick daddy, he still calls his axe daddy's axe since Stoick always told him not to touch or play with daddy's axe when he was a baby. Rather adorable when you think about it.
"Yes, something like that!" Gobber said with a grin. "Or maybe take your dad hunting trolls with ya! They wouldn't even dare to show their faces again when they see him!"
"Why?" Hiccup inquired.
"He's tall, angry, loud, violent, ugly!" Gobber slammed his hammer-hand on the metal. "Is really scary! Especially when he's standing there with that look on his face! Gives you the chills!"
Hiccup remembered his father's look when he threw his toy on the ground and stepped on it and shivered. His dad was really scary back then, it was the first time Hiccup ever truly saw that side of him. It was always funny when he did it to other people but it wasn't so funny when it was done to him. Hiccup had thought that it doesn't apply to him.
But if his dad can look that scary, maybe he can be scary to the trolls too. They might leave Hiccup alone and stop stealing his socks, which is something good!
"Do you know where he is?" Hiccup asked.
"I think he went to see why the yaks keep on falling in Mulch and Bucket's farm." Gobber said absentmindedly.
"Okay thanks!" Hiccup said as he ran off.
"No problem!" Gobber answered happily before he started whistling a tone. Realisation dawned on him moments later when he remembered that Hiccup is still six and is very small for his age and who knows what he can get himself into?
Knowing Hiccup, many things.
Gobber dropped the metal and limped to the door, running as best as he can with his prosthetic.
"Hiccup!" Gobber called, looking around for a small brown haired boy in the crowd of working Vikings. "Hiccup!"
Oh Stoick is going to kill him for this.
Stoick is going to kill Gobber.
Unless he has a good explanation as to why his son is standing in front of him with a grumpy look on his face demanding him to leave everything at once and come hunt trolls with him. According to Hiccup who has been told by Goober; Stoick is tall, angry, loud, violent, ugly. While Stoick was proud of all the other things but ugly? Is the one legged, one armed, bald Viking with a weird neck talking about looks?
"I can't just drop everything like the nap of a yak and come with you, Hiccup!" Stoick said in exasperation as he lifted a heavy log.
They were building a wider pen so the yaks won't bump into each other.
"But I'm your son!" Hiccup stomped his leg. "And we haven't got the time to do anything together! Why can't you understand that?"
"I have an entire village to feed!" Stoick exclaimed. "I can't leave everything! The people would starve!"
"Well, I'm starving!" Hiccup yelled, making Stoick raise an eyebrow at him. "From affection!"
Though he said it uncertainly and as an afterthought, he really meant it. His dad hasn't been paying much attention to him lately and Hiccup still thinks it's because of the incident with the toy. Is he still mad at him because of what happened?
"You're totally fine, Hiccup," Stoick huffed, moving to carry more logs. "I have to do lots of things and there are enough complaints on my plate! Take Gobber with you, I'm busy."
"You're always busy!" Hiccup stomped his foot again. "Always busy busy busy busy!"
"That's because I'm a chief, son," Stoick grunted, passing the logs to another man.
"But you're also my dad!" Hiccup yelled. "Why do I have to share you with the entire village? It's not fair! Everyone gets to spend their time with their dads!"
Hiccup wrapped his arms around himself, sniffling a little bit. He refused to look up and see his father's face. Why does he have to share his dad with everyone? Why can't they just make someone else chief? Everyone else has a dad and a mum, Hiccup only has a dad.
It's not fair.
Above him, he heard his father sigh and drop the logs, ordering the men to take care of it while he deals with Hiccup. Hiccup shook his head stubbornly to keep the tears from falling. He blinked as hard as he could.
"Hiccup," Stoick said in that same tired tone from before. But this time, he was gentler and quieter.
"No!" Hiccup said thickly.
"Son," Stoick put both hands on his shoulders. "When I'm protecting and tending to the village, I'm also protecting and tending to you."
"No you don't!" Hiccup yelled, uncaring if other people noticed. "You only care about them!"
"That's not true," Stoick replied. "You're part of the village, aren't you?"
Hiccup stayed silent.
"Answer me, Hiccup, I'm talking to you." Stoick said sternly.
"Yeah," Hiccup slumped. "I am."
"And when I do things for the village and to help everyone, I'm doing it for you too." Stoick removed one hand to point a finger at Hiccup's chest.
Hiccup stayed silent, not really understanding. But he guesses if his dad does it for him it's good too, right?
"But I dont want you to work." Hiccup whined. "You're always busy and far away from me, I don't like it."
"I can't not work, Hiccup," Stoick said. "It is my job. I have to keep everyone safe."
"How can you keep me safe if I'm far from you?" Hiccup asked, looking down at his feet.
Stoick raised his chin with a gentle hand. "What is it you don't like, Hiccup?"
"I already told you!" Hiccup said in frustration. "You don't listen! You never listen to me anymore! I don't like it!"
"Okay," Stoick said at last. "Alright, I apologise for that."
Hiccup stared off to the side, still having a glare in his gaze. It means he doesn't forgive him.
"Anything else?" Stoick asked.
"Yes." Hiccup turned his eyes back to him.
Stoick gave him a nod, telling him to continue. The same nod he gives to the villagers whenever he listens to their problems. It made Hiccup feel heard in a way he hasn't felt in weeks.
"I don't like it when you're away from me." Hiccup grumbled. "You're always away! And when you come home, you're always tired and you don't do any of the things we do anymore."
"Things like what?" Stoick gave Hiccup an inquiring look.
"Telling me about Bork the Bold." Hiccup replied instantly. "About Odin. About Thor. Freya."
"Ah," Stoick said, realising with a pang of guilt that he really hasn't been doing any of these. "I am sorry."
"I don't want you to be sorry!" Hiccup yelled. "I want you to fix it!"
Stoick hummed, thinking of a way to fix this situation while also not causing chaos in the village in his absence. Does he really have to be absent though? Maybe he could start taking Hiccup with him. It would also teach the boy some valuable lessons about being a chief.
"Alright, how about I take you with me wherever I go?" Stoick asked at last.
Hiccup blinked at him in surprise, not expecting that answer at all.
"Me? With you?" Hiccup asked quietly.
Stoick nodded.
"And see how you work and how you take care of everyone?" there was a bit of awe in Hiccup's voice now.
Stoick nodded again.
"I can do that?" Hiccup asked excitedly.
"If you'd like." Stoick shrugged, but there was lightness in his voice.
"Yes!" Hiccup said happily. "Of course I want to! Please can we start today?"
Stoick chuckled, nodding his head. "Of course, son. Just remember, you'll also have to learn a lot here about what it means to be a chief."
Hiccup gave a solemn nod, becoming serious. Stoick gave him a grin before he started tickling him, making the boy laugh.
"Dad! We're at work!" Hiccup said as he laughed, pointing to the men still moving the logs.
"Oh really?" Stoick turned to see them with a fake surprised look. "I guess I failed to remember that! I was so happy by my son's appearance to care about work!"
His plan proved to work when Hiccup practically beamed at him. Though it wasn't much, Stoick knew that the words meant all of Midgard to Hiccup. Seeing his son happy about such little things made Stoick doubt if Hiccup ever knows he loves him and cares for him anymore.
"Now," Stoick said gently, standing up to his feet. "Time to go to work again, don't you think?"
Hiccup gave an enthusiastic nod, holding out his hand. Granted, Stoick is supposed to be helping but he remembered Hiccup's words to him.
I'm starved of affection.
So he decided to just let his son hold his hand and watch as everyone else did the job. Hiccup's small bounce in his steps whenever he walked made him feel lighter from the inside, it proved to him that it was a wise decision to make.
"Stoick!" Gobber called from behind, panting rather loudly. "I've been meaning to tell you that Hiccup-"
"Is here and will be with me from now on, Gobber." Stoick told him. "No need to worry."
Gobber's face turned from concerned to confused to angry in seconds.
"Why did you say nothing then?!" He exclaimed in anger.
Hiccup and Stoick looked at each other before they burst out laughing, Gobber's face turning confused once more.