Jack stared at the armour plating Gobber had fixed him up with, turning it over in his hands, watching it reflect light and the spiderwebs of ice that had already collected over the metal. The chestplate was lean and lightweight; frost swirled up the front and the back, collecting in flakes along the dip of his spine and the shoulders. Jack placed the armour plate back on the dirt floor of Hiccup's hut, awaiting his return; by now, Hiccup had to know where Jack was going and why he had the armour in a defrosting pile.
Jack was just going to have to convince Hiccup to come with him.
Stoick said the quest for the will-o'-the-wisps would be a test of strength, courage and patience; they only came out when they were ready to take you to your Fate. Jack didn't exactly like the nonchalant way they spoke of their Fates, as if it were a prize to die - Jack could defiantly beg to differ - alas, they were Vikings and as Hiccup said, they were all for 'Death or Glory' (even if glory meant death).
Jack leaned back, his leather pants digging into the dirt as did his bare soles. Jack thought distantly of the other Guardians and how much was riding on him to get the Defenders together - his stomach twisted at the thought of messing up. He was already behind, it seemed; they had maybe two days before they set off for the trip with The Bear King but with every sleepless night Jack sat through, he felt like he was letting them all down again. He was letting down North, Bunny, Sandy, Tooth - and worst of all, he was letting down the kids, the believers.
Hiccup pushed through the thick door, finding Jack staring distantly at his hands; his shoulders were hunched, his eyes unfocused. Jack hadn't even heard Hiccup come in. Hiccup walked over, his eyes landing briefly on the pile of armour before they returned to Jack's weary face. Hiccup had never seen Jack like this; he was always so happy, so full of life, so fun ... seeing him like this, it crushed Hiccup. Hiccup took a seat beside him, his metal leg leaving a scar across the dirt floor; Hiccup awkwardly placed his arm against Jack's shoulders, biting the inside of his cheek. "What're you thinking about?" He asked, breaking the silence.
"Screwing up," Jack hadn't even felt the words come out of his mouth, he was so out of it. Hiccup's arm, awkward as it was, should've been warming Jack's stomach with the flutter of butterflies; instead, Jack felt his heart drop. He was expecting Hiccup - this kid, who would do anything for anyone, who had a family and friends and a village to care for - to just drop all that and follow Jack on a mission for certain death and despair? Jack closed his eyes, not with a quick flutter, but a painful wince - Hiccup watched him, his fingers twisting against the cloth of Jack's shirt.
"Jack," Hiccup said aloud, his voice rising slightly, "Jack, look at me."
Jack didn't. He turned his head away, his fingers twitching; if his staff were down here, he could already be off, in search of the next Defender, instead of here, forging false comfort from a boy who had a better future as the next Chief of Berk, Astrid by his side ...
"Jack," Hiccup snapped sharply. "Fine. Listen then."
Jack sighed but gave a single jerk of the head, signalling to Hiccup that he would indeed listen.
"If you're as much of a screw-up as you think," Hiccup began, "then why would the Guardians pick you? Why would they send you off in search of three Defenders?"
Jack was silent, staring at the wall of the hut, his eyes a bit less cloudy.
"Because they trust you," Hiccup continued, "because they believe in you."
Jack flinched; his wrist twisted, digging his palm hard into the dirt. Frost blossomed beneath his hand and Jack felt his cheek pulse, the black spiderweb throb - he needed to get away, he needed to find the next Defender, he needed to stop Pitch -
Hiccup gripped Jack's shirt as Jack tried to leap to his feet; Hiccup wrenched him back down to the ground, noticing how glassy Jack's eyes looked, how the black spiderweb pulsed beneath a translucent layer of pale skin. Hiccup felt an overpowering sense of longing - he needed Jack to stay, to calm down, to not do anything rash - so Hiccup did a reckless thing, something a Viking boy and a winter spirit were not supposed to do.
Autumn and Winter met one another with a kiss of stunned lips.
...
Eric and Tim walked along the cliff, Eric's wings tainted red with blood. Tim clutched his own bleeding forearm, an eye blazing silver, another gold; the skin on his arm came in slow thin layers, the blood growing hard and dark red, loosing colour until all that was left of the encounter with the crocidile was a long pale scar.
Eric, on the other hand, fretted over his wings, his voice reaching an octave no male should've achieved, "Tim, oh gods, Tim, what will I do? Does bleach work with wings? Oh gods, Tim - "
"Stop being such a woman, Eric," Tim remarked snidely, flexing his arm with the regenerated skin.
"Really, because, gods forbid, if one of your clocks would've gotten so much as a millisecond out of line -," Eric began, resentment bubbling up his throat. Tim rolled his multicoloured eyes before focusing them on Eric's wings; after a minute or so, they were pearly white.
Eric gave a sigh of relief, trying to catch a look of them as he walked beside Tim.
Tim glanced at Eric. "We should probably go tell North about what happened."
Eric shrugged. "You're the Time guy, man - shouldn't you know when to tell him?"
Tim's eyebrows furrowed. "Wait ... Are we talking about the same thing?"
Eric glanced at him. "Well, if we're both talking about how ironic the fact that Hiccup and Jack will be forced on a boat to go see The Bear King - when they're my favourite ship right beside Romeo and Juliet - then yes."
Tim stared at Eric. "Yeah, I wasn't - "
" - Oh."
"Yeah."
The two stared at each other for a moment, the breeze of the never aging running through their hair; Tim snapped out of it first, his head jerking to the side. "You smell that?"
Eric blinked, turning his head in the direction Tim was staring in. "What is it?"
Tim pulled a pocketwatch from the shreds of his suit, glancing momentarily at the clockface. He concentrated on the face; the hands of the clock began to tick back. "It's gonna be smoked rabbit in a moment," Tim said, the hands ticking back swiftly.
Eric smirked slightly as Tim poised his thumb over the jut of metal out of the top of the watch. "What? No time pun?" Eric teased and Tim rolled his eyes, saying, "I'll think of something later," before pressing his thumb down, sending the two a few minutes into the past.
...
The breaths of autumn and winter mingled, Hiccup's lips numb and Jack's lips exceedingly warm. Jack's eyes fluttered open, blue meeting green; Hiccup stared at Jack, suddenly too aware of Jack's jawline and the pile of armour and the pained expression on Jack's face as he stared at Hiccup, taking in the splotches of colour sprinkled on his flushed cheeks and the way his crooked teeth poked over his cold lips as he took a breath.
Jack took in everything he could see of Hiccup, wanting a fresh image in his mind; he wanted to know exactly where each freckle was, how his eyes looked in this light, how his nose shadowed his cheeks, how his fingers anxiously twirled around each other. Jack didn't want to remember the look of realisation on Hiccup's face or how his shoulders hunched or how easy the kid looked to breaking down - he wanted to remember him happy and colourful and lively - and so Jack wrapped Hiccup in a hug, already feeling his body shake and he pressed his lips against Hiccup's hair, moving down to leave a kiss on his nose.
"It's gonna be alright, Hic," Jack reassured, holding the boy close. "I'm going to protect you."
Hiccup pushed away from Jack, staring incrediously into his face. "Yeah? Then who's going to protect you?"
The two were forced apart at the creaking of the door; they both lurched away, faces mirroring guilt. Astrid poked her head in, Toothless shoving the door aside to rush to Hiccup, his tongue lolling. Astrid pulled Jack's staff in behind her, tossing it to him; he caught it, casting her a confused glance.
Astrid smiled, walking into the hut to untie her belt; the knife sheath clanged against the table as she tossed it down. She glanced back at Jack, his eyebrows raised. "You need to keep a better eye on that stick, Jack," Astrid told him. "Spitelout tried to use it as firewood."
Jack paled, his eyes wide; his hands wrapped around the staff protectively.
Hiccup shot him a look and Jack gave a fragile smile, shrugging. Astrid glanced at the two, already certain something was different; she didn't press, however, instead she gave Hiccup a look of disapproval and asked, "Hiccup, where's your armour? Don't tell me it's still at Gobber's - "
Hiccup glanced at her. "I - uh - "
"I'll get it, then," Astrid sighed, turning to walk out.
"No, um, I'll do it," Jack said, standing, pulling his staff up with him. "I'll do it, Astrid, it's fine."
Astrid glanced at him. "We'll go together."
Jack shrugged. "Alright. Let's set off."
The two moved to the door, both sending last glances at the confused freckled boy still getting a tongue-bath from his dragon; when the door had closed behind Jack, Hiccup held up a feeble hand to prevent his face from being licked. With his lips warming, forcing the cold away, Hiccup touched them with his free hand, his stomach flopping and flipping like a live fish, Jack's doing the same.
Astrid glanced back, notcing Jack lingered behind near the hut. He glanced up, noticing for the first time that she was waiting for him; he flashed her a smile - one less cheerful than the ones she'd seen before - and the two walked up the trail to Gobber's hut, Jack's hand clenched against his staff, the bark digging into his flesh, blue frost and white ice flowing from his palm - and even now, with splinters biting into his skin, the only pain he could feel was the pain of knowing that he was never going to be able to protect himself, not with Hiccup as a beautiful colourful distraction, one well worth the risk.
GUYS. FROZEN UK TRAILER. GOING TO WATCH. AND CRY. AND OBSESS. AND JOIN FANDOM.
also Once Upon A Time comes on again and they go to Neverland and Peter Pan. my feelings
I also kinda want to write a story about Eugene called The Adventures of Flynnigin Rider (like the stories he heard) but more about how his life as Flynn Rider came to be I don't know what do you guys think
oh yeah and Hijack kiss heh heh heh -tears-
NINETY REVIEWS. WHAT. FIFTY FOLLOWS. HUH. THIRTY-FOUR FAVOURITES. I CAN'T EVEN. I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH
-insert invitation for people to talk to me about Frozen bc I need Frozen friends you feel-