Hey friends!
Three stories in one day! Dang, I'm on a roll this week. This one is a little longer, but is still as cute and fluffy as the most of the others.
Day 14 of Sicktember, the prompt was: Clean Sheets/Fresh Pajamas
Hope y'all enjoy!
Valka had not intended to still be living at the chief's house. Her son was now chief, and while he had told her she could stay initially, she had assumed that she would have moved into her own house by now. In fact, there was one ready for her to move into in the village. But Hiccup had insisted she stay for a little longer, as he wasn't ready to be alone in the house after his father's passing.
She had understood but had brought up the idea of actually marrying his betrothed. He'd shot the idea down, though she wasn't entirely sure why. Her son seemed head-over-heels for the girl he was betrothed to, and, from what Valka had seen, the young blonde returned his feelings.
Now she was laying in the bed she had formerly shared with her late husband, listening to her son cough above her as he tried to sleep in his childhood room, having insisted on staying there, wondering if she should go try to help him when he sounded sick.
Was he too old to want help from a parent?
Had Stoick ever stopped taking care of their son when he got sick?
Would Hiccup be upset if she tried to take care of him?
She was stuck on that last question. The last thing she wanted to do was upset the son she had just gotten back. He had forgiven her, seemingly without issue. But she assumed that meant she was then treading on thin ice with him.
She decided to wait, and if his coughing got worse, she'd go check on him. Next thing she knew she heard a rather loud thump, then what sounded like quick crawling across the floor above her. That didn't spell anything good. She worriedly got out of bed and headed for the stairs up to her son's room, still worried he would get upset with her for trying to mother him.
Toothless nearly ran into her at the bottom of the stairs, worrying her even more. If Toothless had been coming to get her, something had to be seriously wrong.
Reaching the top of the stairs, she found her son's bed empty. Of course he wasn't there, she'd heard him crawl across the room. Turning, her eyes landed on her son leaning against the wall across the room from his bed. He was sweating, eyes closed, hand resting on the bucket next to him, tunic and prosthetic missing.
"Hiccup-" She didn't know what to do, choosing instead to stay at the top of the stairs, unless he made it seem like he wanted her closer.
Said Viking opened his eyes wearily to look at his mother. "Hey, mom." His voice was quiet, slightly hoarse. "I didn't wake you, did I? I told Toothless not to bother you like he always did Dad."
"I hadn't gone to sleep yet, and he didn't. I met him at the stairs. Is everything alright?" She slowly moved closer to him, now able to tell that he was sick. She was even more concerned now. Toothless bothering Stoick when Hiccup got sick? That almost sounded like the boy's late father hadn't cared when his son fell ill or found it as a burden. It didn't match the relationship she'd seen between Hiccup and his father at all before Stoick's untimely death.
Hiccup shrugged, another sudden wave of nausea washing over him. He quickly turned to lean over the bucket next to him; Valka rushing the rest of the way to his side to rub his back. Her hand involuntarily jerked back after barely grazing his heavily scarred back. What had happened to him?
The young chief sat back as his latest round of nausea finished emptying his stomach. "My back to sweaty for ya, mom?" he asked, a small chuckle escaping him.
Valka didn't know how to respond, just staring at him. "Your back…" She took a few seconds to gather her thoughts. "No, no the sweatiness wasn't an issue, you're probably feverish," she added as an afterthought. "The-the scars…what happened?"
A look of realization struck her son's face, a small smirk eventually creeping its way onto it. "I was the heir to one of the most feared chiefs in the Archipelago; naturally, I was a target for kidnappings and torture growing up." Hiccup chuckled, casting a glance past his mom at Toothless. "Well, that and being the one who ended the dragon war by befriending a Night Fury. A lot of other tribes considered me a traitor to Viking-kind."
Valka didn't know how to respond. She felt even more guilty that she hadn't been around to help protect him. "I-"
Hiccup cut her off, "If you're about to apologize again, don't. You've already apologized for more things that you had no control over, Mom, let's not add another to the list." His expression was soft, despite his ill state. This wasn't a conversation they should have been having now, while he was ill.
Valka nodded, gingerly leaning forward to brush his sweaty fringe out of his eyes. Her hand came to rest on his cheek, and, to her surprise, he leaned into it. "Let's get you back to bed, son. You need to rest."
She gently picked up his hands from the floor, getting ready to pull him to his feet. Hiccup positioned his right foot under him as she helped him stand, though he was rather wobbly once he got there. He fell forward into his mother's arms, catching her confused and worried look as he did so.
"Took my leg off before bed." She nodded in understanding. "You probably heard me fall before when I initially went for the bucket," he chuckled. "Forgot it wasn't on."
She chuckled, helping him hop over to his bed. "Do you regularly forget when you take it off? I've a thump like that in the mornings too."
"Yeah," Hiccup smiled. "For some reason, I can never remember in the morning if I took it off or not the night before. Used to scare the heck out of Dad when he'd hear me hit the floor most mornings. I guess that's why I've gotten in the habit of yelling that I'm fine after I do so in the morning."
She walked back over to the chest at the end of his bed after helping him to sit back down on his bed; he really should change his leggings, given how sweat soaked they probably were, she'd find a clean blanket for him too. To her pleasant surprise, he had about three clean ones in the chest. She pulled a pair of his leggings out of the chest as well as a clean blanket for him. "You should change into clean leggings, at the very least." She tossed the clean ones to him, pulling the dirty, semi damp blanket off his bed and setting the new clean one, still folded, at the end of the bed.
He may have been sweating, but the cool wind coming in the windows of the house would do nothing to help him get better. She was a little surprised to hear him mention his father with a smile on his face. Most mentions of his father since the former chief's passing had resulted in a souring of the boy's mood or tears forming in his eyes. Maybe he'd finally found a way to move on.
She walked over to the corner where she'd found him sitting and grabbed the bucket. It was full; the least she could do would be empty it in case he needed it again. He caught sight of her as she got to the stairs.
"Oh, Mom, you don't have to-"
She cut him off, "Don't worry about it. I'm sure you'd rather it be empty if you were to need it again." He just stared at her.
She went and emptied the bucket outside, thinking about their interaction as she cleaned it out. He hadn't seemed upset with her; instead, he'd seemed almost thankful for her coming upstairs before.
As she returned to her son, she found him smiling at her. He appeared to have actually changed while she was gone, his old leggings in a small pile next to her bed. He was laying on his side on the bed, the new blanket pulled up over him. She placed the now-clean bucket next to his bed.
"What?"
"You kinda remind me of Dad."
She was confused. "How so?"
"He would have taken care of me the same way you did. Though he may have actually tried to help me change," Hiccup chuckled. "He was really overprotective, and it translated a little strangely to when I got sick."
She smiled, another fond memory of his father. And he wasn't upset with her. She tucked him into bed a little better, pressing a soft kiss into his damp hair.
"Of course he would have done that. Your father was afraid to touch you when you were a babe. He was so afraid that he would break you," Valka chuckled at the memory. Hiccup's smile had gotten even bigger.
She turned to go back to bed, but turned back at the last second. "Don't be afraid to send Toothless for me if you need something, okay?" The young chief nodded as his eyes slipped closed.
This was a cute one to write, albeit a little difficult. We see very little of Hiccup and Valka's relationship period, so I had precious little to work with for this one.
As I've said before: Thanks a bunch in advance for any favorites, follows, Kudos, or comments. They really do make my day!
Until next time,
Daystrid out!
*excitedly keeps writing, much to roommates' dismay*
