A Song of Scouring Eyes - Hiccup x Male Reader

Chapter 3

Warnings: descriptions of burned and slightly infected flesh
Word count: 4974
No update tomorrow, busy!

If there was one emotion Hiccup had been feeling for most of the day, it had to be guilt. It started when the ship had blown up, and he saw the rider fly out while clutching his right arm. It only got worse when he saw him a second time, catching the bandages on that same arm before he could hide it behind a pauldron. Not to mention, despite being hurt by the riders, he still came back and caught a man trying to hurt them and their dragons, then gave him money for breaking the floors of the clubhouse, refusing to take it back. It was only right that he offered the weary man a place to rest.

Of course, Astrid must've realized something else. Whenever she invites someone to spar with her, she really wants to question them in a non-invasive way or just talk to them about something. If Astrid had something on her mind that seemed to be bothering her, Hiccup would often offer to spar with her to let her get it out since it's the only place she really would. Heather picked up the same thing, offering to spar her whenever the problem was something Hiccup wasn't supposed to hear. He doubted she wanted to spill her guts to a stranger, so if he had to guess, she wanted to talk to him about Viggo and what he was after.

The walk was sort of uncomfortably quiet, so in an effort to break the ice, Hiccup spoke up,

"So, 100%? Where'd you get that name?"

"You don't have to pretend you didn't hear my name." He responded, and gods Hiccup had nearly stopped breathing when the man had first spoken up in the air. He hadn't been expecting him to speak, at least not in a calm tone that wasn't steering his dragon. And then later when he'd heard him hum under his breath with his dragon that he was sure the other's couldn't hear, he couldn't help the dumb smile on his face that earned a weird but humored look from Astrid. Maybe it was the deprivation of all other defining features that made Hiccup focus so intently on his voice, but he thought he'd love to hear him talk more, "Ymir said it loud enough that the whole world might as well have heard."

"Yeah, but you weren't the one who gave it to me, so it was the respectful thing to do." He saw their hands relax to their side and their head tilt ever so slightly, not yet well versed enough in the man's expressions to know what that meant, but he still had a feeling it was a positive response. The man sped up his pace a little bit, now walking beside Hiccup instead of just following behind,

"Then let me introduce myself," his voice was hesitant, but carried an air of finality as he spoke, holding out a hand for Hiccup to shake. Reaching out, Hiccup took his hand to be met with a firm grip, "I am Y/n Alfison, son of Alfi the Persuer and Visna the Fierce. Legacy."

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third, son of Stoick the Vast. Sort of legacy?" A wide smile grew on his face at what was essentially permission to say their name.

"Well, Hiccup, can you let go of my hand now?" Y/n asked, their hand slack in his own as Hiccup realized he'd been shaking for far longer than what was strictly necessary. Quickly releasing their hand, his face must have truly been something to see as the rider raised a hand to their helmet in what was surely something stifled. That was something he'd noticed, too, that the man seemed to try to hide every action that made them seem more human. Maybe it was a habit, he guessed, since the life of a bounty hunter was surely one where emotions getting involved could be bad news.

He'd seen at least a little seep through when the man was fighting his bounty, telling his dragon to stand down when Brawler could have frozen Ymir right there. He'd wanted that fight, speaking to the fact the two must've known each other and was backed up by the way he tore the armor from his bounty's body. But even then, he cut them off before they could get the better of him, detaining Ymir and going to throw him onto Brawler's back. Whatever Ymir had done, it must've been very personal since Y/n seemed like a professional person.