Summary: Hiccup offers emotional support for a broken heart, despite his own.
Hiccup chuckled fondly as he watched Toothless pounce at leafy shadows in the encroaching dusk. The Night Fury's playful antics ceased abruptly as a noise was heard not too far off where they walked. Ears tilted forward, Toothless curiously made his way over to a grove of trees and Hiccup followed, wanting to make sure the dragon didn't find trouble.
A hen's sharp cluck and fluttering wings made the both of them jump, Toothless side-hopping away like a startled cat. His ears flattened in exasperation when he recognized Chicken. As both dragon and Hiccup knew, where there was Chicken, the male Thorston twin wasn't far behind.
While Toothless grumbled and flopped down among the fall leaves, Hiccup grinned and moved closer to the trees. "Tuff? You there?"
YThe twin occasionally drove Hiccup up a wall, it was true, but then he drove everyone on Berk crazy sooner or later. The long summer at Dragons Edge had given Hiccup some insight as to why he cared so intently about what Tuff thought about him - both in the past and present.
It had been subtle at first, like the time he'd spend all night working on a new tail for Toothless one wintry evening, just because of a certain someone's snarky comment. Lately though, he'd "thought about what Tuffnut said" many other times, more than he'd ever really mentioned to Astrid. Now he finally understood.
Tuff was here, without his sister, back pressed up against a tree and face half-hidden in shadow. Maybe now Hiccup could screw up enough courage to talk about it, to see where Tuffnut stood on the subject. As soon as the scant moonlight revealed the rest of Tuffnut's expression, Hiccup felt a pang in his chest. Right now was definitely not the time for any such discussion.
"What's wrong?" Hiccup asked, and he hoped it was the earnest concern in his tone that chased away the beginnings of a sneer from the other boy's countenance. Hiccup *knew* something was wrong. Tuff usually looked like he wanted to punch something when he was angry, but he'd never before looked like he wanted to punch something and cry.
"Snotlout," Tuffnut snapped out, as though the name itself was poison. He took a breath, let it out in a long controlled hiss between his teeth. "Snotlout is what's wrong."
Hiccup tried to think of how someone like Snotlout Jorgenson could possibly get under Tuffnut's skin this bad, but he was spared the asking as Tuffnut continued.
"He lied to me. Acted like he wanted to be my friend - MY friend. Not OUR friend, but mine. Listened to me, tried to find a common interest, helped me out with the boar pit." Tuffnut swallowed thickly and Hiccup nodded, uneasy at where this was going.
Snotlout and Tuff *had* been hanging around each other a little more the past couple days, but he'd suspected it was all leading up to an epic prank of some sort. Snotlout had always been one of the twins' favorite targets.
"He was nice to Chicken. He …" Tuffnut's eyes closed briefly, pale lashes keeping back sudden moisture. "He asked if he could learn the ways of Loki. And he sounded genuine, like he *meant* what he said about offering to help me with my devotions. As if everything else wasn't bad enough, he lied about that. And do you know why?"
Hiccup shook his head, not able to recall a time when he'd seen Tuffnut so emotionally crushed. Part of Hiccup was thrilled Tuff was actually talking with him instead of just bantering, the other yearned to know what to say to comfort him.
"Snotlout - and Fishlegs - both like my sister. I heard them arguing about who had a better chance with her. Fishlegs was saying he'd asked girls for advice, and Snotlout … He said he had an 'in' with her brother."
Hiccup's heart sank like a stone as Tuff brokenly continued. "I wasn't his friend. Im just a field manual, a cheat code, or whatever the hell else you call a person you intend to use and toss away when you're done." Tuff spat. His voice was suspiciously thick and Hiccup pretended not to see him wipe his eyes. A gentle sad trill sounded from Tuffnut's other side and Hiccup watched as the Night Fury - barely visible in the dark - nuzzled his head under Tuff's arm.
"I liked him." Tuff muttered, absently stroking Toothless' scales. Hiccup felt himself possessed with a sudden envy, until the meaning of those words hit him, sucking his breath away. "I actually … really liked Snotlout. The worst part is … I still kinda do."
They sat in silence, both hurting, Hiccup for different and yet similar reasons. He decided to focus his pain into anger at Snotlout. Of all the thoughtlessly cruel things the boy had ever said or done, this took the top shelf.
"Do you want me to kill him?" Hiccup asked flatly in all seriousness and too late his mind screamed TALK TO - not KILL, TALK TO - we are REASONABLE VIKINGS for Thor's sake!
Tuffnut stared at him in honest shock before grinning brightly through his tears in a way that made Hiccup's heart flutter. "I thought at best you'd offer to give him a verbal lashing and some nasty chores. But cold blooded murder? You DO care!" He threw his arms around Hiccup's shoulders, pulling him into a hug.
Hiccup's brain short circuited and he hugged back, muttering some form of abashed denial.
"Oh, I know you won't actually kill him, but the fact you considered it even for a moment … it really means a lot to me that you actually got mad enough on my behalf." There was nothing to say, only nod as Tuff hurriedly dried his face with Chicken's 'help'. He looked better than he had before; though still shaky and eyes overly bright, Tuff now sported a shadow of his usual smirk.
"He'll get his due later anyway. Especially since my sister is nowhere near interested in either of them. She still has her hopes set on you."
Tuff gave him a friendly nudge to the ribs and Hiccup laughed weakly. "Ah hah hah, yaaaay." Toothless warbled, rolling his eyes in agreement.
With the mood lifted somewhat, they walked back to the outpost, each keeping to his own thoughts. Hiccup rested a hand lightly on his dragon friend's back, trying to piece back together his shattered hopes. There was still time, at least. Astrid knew and had agreed to be his beard, so long as he did the same courtesy for her and Heather.
Who knew, maybe Tuff would realize someday exactly how much he was cared for and by whom. Right now, Hiccup could only wait and see.