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

22. What is Love?

Sessa blinked, unsure if she should be offended or grateful, or perhaps happy, maybe angry. She simply sat on her yak-fur, criss-cross, a blank expression on her face as she tried to decipher the meaning of Viggo's odd behavior on this morning. After an awkward silence, she felt the need to say at least something, "um..I don't..."

"It's good, Sessa," Viggo assured her, "and, I find it quite adorable, if I'm being honest."

"Adorable," Sessa repeated in surprise. She'd been called many things, but never once had she heard the word 'adorable' being used to describe her. The definition, she knew of. And she knew that it was a compliment, so she gave him a small uncertain smile and muttered, "thank you.."

Viggo just about melted at the shyness in her voice. Was it possible that this woman who'd been on her own for so long, could actually be falling for him as well. He hoped it were true. With a slow sigh, he spoke in a calming tone, "get some rest."

As Sessa laid down, it struck her that she'd been quite obedient to Viggo lately. She recalled how she would once disregard a suggestion as such without giving it a single thought. But he meant good, he wanted to keep her safe, and she knew that. So she continued to listen to his caring words, and closed her eyes.

• • •

By the time night rolled around, Sessa woke to the sound of hushed voices in the clubhouse. She rubbed her eyes and stretched before sitting up to look around. At the table in the center of the building, Hiccup and Astrid were talking with Viggo. From what she could hear, the older man was attempting to convince Astrid that he could be trusted. Even Hiccup was trying to help Viggo's case.

However, this ended only with Astrid storming out if the clubhouse. Sessa watched Hiccup apologize before chasing after Astrid. Viggo sighed, a weak sideways smile on his face as he looked out to where the couple stood now on the outer platform. Soon, the two disappeared into the darkness.

"Why does it bother you so much?" Sessa's voice jolted him to turn around. Somehow, the woman had managed to sneak up on him without him noticing. She walked right past him and out of the building, knowing he would come with her. "Whether they trust you or not doesn't change who you are," she told him matter-of-factly.

Viggo walked beside her as they descended a set of stairs to a lower platform. "Because trust can change how you see a person," Viggo explained, "without their trust, I'm still a murderous dragon hunter with no heart."

Sessa gave him a sideway glance of confusion, but left it at that. Though she didn't understand it herself, she could tell that it meant a great deal to her friend. The two continued to walk until they reached the stables. Once there, Sessa spotted Hiccup and Astrid standing together outside of his hut. She watched the way they interacted curiously.

The two held hands, facing one another, speaking words that Sessa couldn't hear. Then, their bodies morphed together into a hug. They stood like this for a long time, spiking her curiosity even more.

Noticing Sessa staring into what looked like just darkness to him, Viggo approached her with a frown, "is everything alright?"

"Why do Hiccup and the girl share so much contact?" She wondered, "both of their souls are well in tact. Yet they still exchange pieces, as if it will benefit the other."

"Exchange pieces?" Viggo repeated, raising an eyebrow.

Sessa then went on to explain, "the other day when I was blinded by the sunlight, I could see your souls. And theirs," she pointed toward the couple in the distance, "mixed together, at times. So much, in fact, I could barely tell them apart."

Viggo was quite impressed by this, and amazed that souls could be so fluid. But he was eager to answer her question before asking more of his own. "Physical touch isn't just something for survival," he explained to her, his voice soft and gentle, "it's more meaningful than you could imagine."

Turning to look up at him at her side, Sessa listened closely to his words. "It's a different kind of need, and want," he told her, captured by her obsidian eyes, a warm smile on his face, "you'll come to understand it some day, once you have a stable soul."

The conversation was over, Sessa knew, but she wanted it to continue. She looked down, taking one of Viggo's hands into her own. She watched his fingers enclose around her skin, entranced by the simple action. "I think I do understand it, a small bit," she told him, watching Viggo's thumb brush in circles on the back of her hand, "sometimes, I feel completely alive, but still have this longing.."

Viggo's heart jumped at this. "I thought it may just be because of the way I am," Sessa explained with scrunched eyebrows, "maybe..maybe it is this 'need or want' that you speak of."