Biology

Chapter 29

Baking took more-or-less the rest of the day, and it turned out that Hiccup was pretty much a disaster on legs in the kitchen. It was a good thing that Jack had managed to get him to wear the apron, or he would have gone home covered in every ingredient they were working with. Instead he just got some flour on his jeans and a couple of dozen cookies to take home with him as thanks for "helping."

Having taken up the kitchen for the entire afternoon and a good part of the evening meant that no one had had a chance to actually cook dinner, so in the end North just shrugged and ordered pizza, then allowed Jack and Hiccup to take theirs upstairs and eat in Jack's room—under the condition that his door remain open. Neither of them complained about it.

Finally, around eight o'clock, having spent the better part of the day together, North almost reluctantly kicked Hiccup out for the night, then rolled his eyes when his son spent nearly fifteen minutes at the front door with the other boy, exchanging little kisses and soft goodbyes.

Eventually, they did manage to pry themselves apart long enough for Hiccup to make it out the door, at which point Jack closed it behind him, turned around and leaned back against the wood with a happy little smile on his face. It was the first time North had seen Jack smile in weeks, and if he'd had any doubts left, they quickly dissolved at the sight.

Still, he had a few things he needed to talk with Jack about, and so before the boy could vanish back to his room again, North interrupted his happy daze with the clearing of his throat and a serious look.

"Jack, there are some things we need to discuss."

"Oh." Jack pushed away from the door, shifting a little, hesitation in the movement. "Um... okay. I—I guess we probably do."

North nodded, waving a hand lightly. "Come on. We'll tidy the kitchen while we talk."

Jack just followed along quietly. His father had already given him permission to see Hiccup—had even been the one to actually bring Hiccup into the house this time—but he couldn't help being nervous anyway. It was practically instinctual.

The kitchen was pretty much a disaster. Normally when Jack baked (or cooked), he made a point of being tidy and cleaning up after himself. But then, he didn't usually bake with Hiccup, either. Between his boyfriend's hopelessness and his own distraction, things just... hadn't gotten cleaned up.

"Sorry, I should have, um..." Jack stood in the doorway and fidgeted. "I was just, I mean..."

North sighed and shook his head as he looked around, then just moved across to start cleaning up, resealing the flour and putting it away, along with the bottle of vanilla and the icing sugar. "It's alright. You had company and were distracted."

"Yeah, but..."

A chuckle. North tossed him a towel. "Come on, I'll wash."

They fell into a sort of familiar rhythm after that; the kind born from years of nights spent in the kitchen together, cooking and cleaning and doing the dishes. North always washed—and Jack always dried. That was just the way it had been for as long as either of them cared to remember.

For Jack, it was almost comfortingly domestic, after everything. The last few weeks had been hard on him for more than just the fact that he couldn't see Hiccup. His relationship with his father had been strained to the breaking point: another faltered step and it would have snapped in two, possibly been shattered past the point of ever being fixable. And that had been as distressing a thought as the idea of spending the rest of his life without Hiccup.

"Dad?"

Jack broke the silence first, though he didn't look up. Blue eyes stayed pinned on the plate he was holding in his hands and he continued drying it methodically. North glanced at him from the corner of his eye, but didn't stop washing the dishes either.