Hey y'all!
I'm finally getting caught up on all of these! Didn't realize how busy I'd get with school starting a couple weeks ago. Hoping to get all caught up with Sicktember this week, and hopefully stay caught up.
As many of you may have noticed, especially If you are reading on a browser, not the app, I added new covers to pretty much all of my completed stories this weekend. My hope is to keep making sure I have those done before I start posting a story from now on.
Today's prompt: The Sniffles TM
Hope you enjoy!
Fishlegs didn't know what to do. Something was off with Hiccup, though he wasn't sure what. He seemed more tired than usual, aside from his sniffling and coughing. All signs pointed to Hiccup having caught a cold; something that was only going to get worse if Hiccup didn't rest.
But of course, Hiccup wasn't resting. Why would he?
Instead, him and Fishlegs were in the clubhouse, working on designs and technical aspects of Hiccup's latest invention, Inferno or, as Hiccup had started calling it, the Dragon Blade. There were blueprints, schematics, gears, and different tools spread across the two tables and chalkboard that they were using. Hiccup was fiddling with the new sword blade that he had made for this project after designing the weapon's final appearance.
Fishlegs was worried. He knew that if he even suggested Hiccup being sick to his friend, he would shut down. He certainly wouldn't go rest like he most definitely needed to.
Hiccup wasn't blind. He had caught Fishlegs watching him for a while, but had caught on after a while, assuming that Fishlegs would just say whatever was on his mind and would stop watching him so closely. It seemed that he was more focused on whatever he was watching for with Hiccup than the project that he was helping with.
Hiccup sighed heavily. Clearly, Fishlegs wasn't going to share what was bothering him unless he asked.
"Out with it, Fishlegs."
The blond boy looked confused, "Wha-what do you mean?"
"You've been watching me more than contributing to this today," Hiccup gestured to the papers and tools on the table. "Clearly, something is bothering you. Out with it." He turned to look at his friend, leaning against the table. He mildly hated how much he had just sounded like his father.
Fishlegs got even more sheepish. Hiccup had noticed him watching him. And was now demanding to know why. He watched as his friend coughed a few times, sniffled, then went back to looking at him expectantly.
"I, uh," Fishlegs cleared his throat. "Are you okay?"
Hiccup seemed surprised. "Am I okay?" The other boy nodded. "Why wouldn't I be okay? I'm fine."
"You just seem… off," Fishlegs explained. "And more tired than usual. Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine," Hiccup insisted, absentmindedly fiddling with the sword blade that was still in his hand. "I'm just stressed. This war with Viggo and Ryker being the main thing."
Fishlegs listened, but was partially distracted by how Hiccup was fiddling with the blade. He was running his fingertips along the side of it, close enough to the edge that if he wasn't careful, he would cut himself. And with how Hiccup wasn't really paying attention to that, the chances of him cutting himself was high.
"I, uh, I should probably start working on dinner," Fishlegs changed the subject. It was his turn to make dinner tonight anyway, but he really just was trying to get his friend to go rest. "I think you should go lay down well I do that. You look exhausted." Hiccup raised his hand to object. "Even if it's just stress, you need to take care of yourself too," Fishlegs added.
Hiccup sighed, turning and placing the blade down on the table so he could gather up all of the papers. "Fine. I'll go rest." He didn't seem happy, that Fishlegs had even suggested it, even if he knew that his friend only wanted the best for him.
Fishlegs watched his friend gather up all of the papers, tools, and invention parts into his arms, and leave the clubhouse towards his hut. The blond boy felt bad. He normally enjoyed geeking out with Hiccup and helping him with his various inventions. But today was different. Hiccup was very clearly not himself today. And Fishlegs was certain that all his friend needed was to go rest for an hour or so.
He'd only seen his friend ignore the signs of a cold or illness once before, and it hadn't turned out well. It'd been back during that first winter with the dragons. Hiccup had been very clearly getting a cold, but no one had said anything, thinking that he knew how to take care of himself, so it didn't get worse. They'd been very wrong. And Hiccup had ended up passing out, collapsing in the middle of the plaza one day due to fever and exhaustion. After that day, the Riders had all agreed that they'd never let him get to that point again. Though they'd never had to think about it, since Stoick had kept a much closer eye on his son's wellbeing after that day.
A few hours later, Astrid and Snotlout had arrived up at the clubhouse for dinner. It was just getting done, so as Fishlegs set it out on the table he looked around for Hiccup. He wasn't there. Maybe he had fallen asleep and was just still asleep. That gave him a chance to ask the other two about him.
"Have you guys noticed anything off about Hiccup recently?" he asked, easing into the subject. "I think he might be sick and just ignoring the signs."
"Yea, I've definitely noticed it," Snotlout replied.
"I saw him at the stables this morning and mentioned that he looked exhausted. He said he was just stressed," Astrid told them. "I didn't believe him."
Fishlegs sighed. "That's what he said when I asked him about it a couple hours ago. I got him to agree to go lay down for a bit cause he was clearly not completely there."
"Who we talkin' about?" Tuffnut asked as he and his sister walked in.
"Hiccup."
"Well he definitely ain't laying down," Tuffnut said. "Why should he be?"
"Cause he's sick!" Fishlegs exclaimed. "What do you mean he definitely isn't laying down?"
"We saw him fly away from his hut with Toothless like an hour ago," Ruffnut explained. "If he's sick, doesn't he know he should be resting?"
"Yes, but he's Hiccup. We all remember a few years ago when he was sick and ignored it, right?" Astrid asked. "He ended up collapsing in the middle of town."
"Of course, we all remember it," Snotlout said matter-of-factly. "How do we get him to rest though, if he doesn't want to though?"
"I don't know," Fishlegs said. "I think we just need to at least sit him down and explain that he needs to listen. Mostly because we care about him."
"Maybe we try to talk to him after dinner?" Astrid suggested.
"Talk to who after dinner?" Hiccup asked, walking in. He didn't look any better than he had when he'd left the clubhouse a few hours prior.
Of course, he hadn't gone and laid down like he'd said he would. Frustrated that his friend hadn't seemed to be listening when he said he was fine, he'd dropped all of his stuff on a table in his hut and then taken to the sky with Toothless. While doing a couple laps around the island, he'd vented his frustration to Toothless, who listened intently. Toothless agreed with the Riders, but knew better than to try to get Hiccup to see it that way.
Hiccup had stood outside the door to the clubhouse for a minute, listening to the conversation, having heard Astrid mention his name. He was now more frustrated than he'd been before, knowing that his friends seemed to think he was sick. He wasn't feeling 100%, but he figured it was just exhaustion from not sleeping well, given that he was stressed.
His friends were now just staring at him. It's like they were surprised to see him. Astrid was the first to move, coming over to him and putting her hand on his shoulder.
"Hiccup, we know you aren't feeling well."
"I'm fine." He stepped back, pulling his shoulder from Astrid's hand.
"Dude, you don't even look fine," his cousin said from the table in the middle.
Hiccup opened his mouth to protest, but Fishlegs cut him off. "Hiccup, we're just worried about you. We'd rather not see you collapse again like you did a few years ago, just because you didn't listen to your body and take it easy when you needed to."
He couldn't believe it. They were gaining up on him. "Guys. I'm. Fine," he stressed.
They all gave him a very skeptical look. He turned and went to leave the clubhouse, figuring he'd just go find dinner on his own, only to find Toothless blocking the door.
"Toothless, let me leave." The dragon shook his head. He knew his human needed to rest, but that the boy wouldn't unless he admitted it. "Toothless," Hiccup tried insisting, exhausted. He'd done much more today than he'd had energy for and was quite ready to go take a nap. The last thing he needed though, was for his friends to see that level of exhaustion from him.
Astrid gently placed her hand on his upper arm. "Hiccup, please. Take care of yourself."
Her pleading tone broke the act he'd been putting up. His shoulders slumped forward as he let his exhaustion show a little bit. He turned to look at the blonde standing behind him. She jumped a little, realizing just how much of his exhaustion he'd been hiding from them.
"Fine. I'll rest, at least a little."
"Better be more than a little," Astrid countered. "We'll be okay without you for a little while. Go get some sleep."
Fishlegs pushed a plate of food into Hiccup's hands. "What she said, but stay there until you feel 100% again. We'll bring you food," he assured.
Hiccup nodded, giving his friends a lopsided, tired smile. They were right. The five of them could handle things without him for a couple days. They were fine. They were wanting him to go rest so he could be his best when they needed him to be.
His friends cared.
Awwww! Wasn't that sweet?
Like I mentioned before, I'm hoping to get at least a couple more of these Sicktember fics out today, but we'll see what happens!
As always, favorites, comments, kudos are all appreciated! I love seeing that people are enjoying my writing! Especially since I could probably never share this with most of my family/friends lol. They wouldn't enjoy it as much.
Until next time,
Daystrid out!
*mock salutes and runs off into the forest*
