The Gray Area (1/2) - A Viggo Love Story (HTTYD/RTTE)

19. Emptiness

"So let me get this straight," Heather began, shooting Viggo an inquisitive look, "you're letting Sessa live off of your soul? You? Viggo Grimborn?" She crossed her arms and frowned, scoffing, "sounds a little too generous, to me."

Viggo put a hand to his heart and insisted, "as I've said before, Heather, I have a changed heart." He looked down at Sessa by his side, "thanks to Sessa, I was given another chance..to live a more meaningful life. I owe her much more than a little bit of my soul."

Sessa felt her heart flutter. It felt odd and wrong, yet pleasant. She wasn't sure why hearing Viggo say that put her in such an emotional fluster, but it did. Overwhelmed by the foreign emotions she began to feel, she let go of his hand. Her heartbeat settled back down, but the feeling remained. She had to remind herself that this was a good thing.

When silence fell over the room, Snotlout asked, "so..what now?"

Hiccup looked around at everyone. Even Viggo was waiting for him to speak. Sessa, however, seemed not to care, examining the room around her. "I guess, just our usual routine," Hiccup responded. He turned to Sessa and Viggo, offering, "we'll be training with our dragons, if you want to join."

Sessa wore a blank expression as she reminded with a single word, "sun."

"Ah, right," Hiccup recalled awkwardly.

It was amusing to Viggo, seeing everyone react to Sessa's odd personality. But he couldn't pass up an opportunity to earn trust, so he decided, "I'd love to watch, if I may. Lilith and I've never formally trained before."

"Right," Hiccup said again, as if he'd forgotten, "because you have a dragon now.......this is...weird."

Viggo grinned crookedly as the others began to leave the clubhouse. He looked back at Sessa and put a hand on her shoulder. Peering down into her face, she looked back up at him. For the first time ever, he saw her eyes clearly. He noticed that they were not, in fact, completely black. Her huge pupils were rimmed with a sliver of powder blue; he imagined that was the original color of her eyes. "It's after noon," he told her, "the sun will be setting in a few hours. You should sleep."

Sessa was infatuated by the kindness of his gaze. The feeling of his hand on her shoulder sent her heart racing once again. She soon realized something; she didn't want him to leave. Not for a few hours, not even for a few minutes. But was that her need for soul, or something entirely different? Perhaps both at once?

"Viggo, I.." She began, trailing off in nervousness. These emotions she felt scared her. And it scared her even more to think of being alone with them, without Viggo to keep her company.

Noticing her fear, Viggo frowned, "Sessa, don't worry." After hesitating, he wrapped her into a hug. Pulling her body against his, he felt a tingling in his core. He realized that this must be what it felt like to have his soul touched. Sessa also felt something strong in her chest, deeper even than her heart. She felt an emptiness fill, and for a moment, Sessa felt human again.

She closed her eyes, snaking her own arms around Viggo's back. Ear pressed to his chest, she listened to his heartbeat. She was quite surprised to find it beating just as fast as hers, if not faster. Why was this?

But soon, Viggo let her go. The emptiness in Sessa's core returned, the emptiness that she'd never noticed before. Because it had never been so full before. Looking up at Viggo, she reached up a hand. Sessa let her fingers land on his scar, tracing the bumps and wrinckles delicately.

All Viggo could do was watch her in wonder. He watched her eyes examine his face, while his were glued to hers. And before he could stop himself, Viggo leaned forward, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. All at once, Sessa felt energy surge through her being. But it was gone in the blink of an eye. As Viggo left the clubhouse, she couldn't help but smile; with him, she knew that she'd always be safe.

• • •

The sun had set by the time everyone gathered back at the clubhouse for dinner. The meal was silent and tense for a while. But thanks to the twins' ability to diffuse stressful situations with thier nonsensical stories, the tension was soon lessened. Although Sessa didn't talk, she quite enjoyed listening. And once everyone was finished eating, people began to break off and go to sleep.

Except for a few.

Sessa was standing outside when she noticed Heather walking to the stables. Leaving Viggo with Hiccup, she decided to go talk to her old friend, and to check in on Nightshade and Lilith.

Once she arrived, she found Heather feeding her razorwhip. "A beautiful dragon," she tried to start a conversation.

Thankfully, Heather accepted, looking over her shoulder with a sideways smile, "this is Windsheer."