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Hiccup had tossed and turned most of the night unable to fall asleep until the sun was up. Of course, he only got a few hours of sleep before he felt Toothless nudged his side. Hiccup groans and tossed over the other way putting his back to the overgrown lizard. Toothless grumbled grabbed the end of his blanket and pulled it off him.
“Toothless….” Hiccup grumbled back as he put his pillow over his head. He felt like he hadn’t slept in a week.
Toothless snatched his pillow too making Hiccup give an irritated huff.
“Fine! I’ll get up…” he said forcing himself to sit up. He was irritated already today. It was going to be a long day.
Toothless began to bound around the room happy his rider was finally up. Hiccup however just wanted to lay back down as he clicked his leg into place lazily. He slowly pushed himself off the bed and felt how tight his muscles were in his neck.
“Gods…” he mumbled as toothless at the same time practically shoving his saddle into his arms.
“Alright, Mr. bossy,” he mumbled tiredly and yawned as his dragon spun around. Hiccup placed the saddle on the wiggling dragon making things very difficult for hiccup. Even more difficult from not being able to concentrate, missing his buckles, his hands not as nimble as usual.
“Remind me to put a clasp on rather than buckles..” he said to Toothless who shot down the ladder as soon as the last strap was fastened.
Hiccup slowly made his way downstairs as well noticing a dull headache come on. He hoped that once he was on Toothless, and getting some food he would feel better. He had already taken his tonic before he had fallen asleep as a precaution.
Hiccup walked outside and mounted on Toothless, “Alright bud.” Hiccup said tiredly.
Hiccup felt somewhat better and somewhat worse at the same time in the air. On one hand, he was more awake after letting his adrenaline pump and the cold breeze hit his face, but on the other hand, his headache was more throbbing and irritating than it had been. He also just felt drained.
Toothless grumbled back annoyed with Hiccup for the 4th time.
“Sorry bud.” Hiccup clicked the tail into the place it needed to be, he was a bit slower than normal this morning. Usually, they were anticipating each other’s next movement, but Hiccup felt like he was struggling to stay caught up with Toothless.
Toothless’ ear flap whacked him making her hiss out.
“Alright then. Let’s just land then.” Hiccup snapped somewhat making Toothless huff but he pulled down roughly.
Hiccup and Toothless landed, not all that gracefully, outside the main hut. He could hear the others already up. Hiccup dismounted and rubbed his templed annoyed at his dragons… well annoyance. It sounded stupid, even to him but he felt on edge… maybe some food will help.
“Take a long flight?” Astrid asked just as she sat down with a bowl of stew.
“U-uh.. no. Just late.” he sorta mumbled and stuttered out as he walked in. He could feel a weird turn in his stomach. It was nauseous but also the food did smell good. He took a smaller bowl than he would have normally and sat down.
“How was it?” Fishlegs asked Hiccup just as he sat down at the table.
Toothless let out an annoyed huff from the corner.
“Yeah, what he said.” Hiccup said to him and rolled his eyes a bit.
“Sooo not a good flight,” Astrid asked seeing the pair seemingly in a fight.
“That’s what I said.” Hiccup tried to keep his voice light but he knew it came out a bit more brash than he wanted.
Snotlout snorted, “Seems like Hiccup slept on the wrong side of the dragon’s nest last night.” he poked.
“Not in the mood Snot.” Hiccup bit back weakly as he took his first spoonful of stew. He leaned his head into his hand subconsciously hoping the pressure would ease his headache...
Astrid gave him a worried look, “Were you up working on an invention?” she gently prodded him.
“No.. just couldn’t sleep,” he said and looked down to his stew. He squinted his eyes and rubbed them then felt a sharp pain in his temple. He mumbled a few curses only he could hear.
“Hiccup…. Are you okay?” Fishlegs asked gently.
Hiccup nodded in some denial still, “Yeash.. Fine Fishleths.” Hiccup mumbled as he started seeing sparkly dots dance across his vision mixed with black dots.
He also suddenly did not like the taste or smell of the stew pushing it away from him and leaning heavier into his hand, the warmth and pressure easing the headache that was beginning to grow.
“Maybe you should go lay down for a bit Hiccup?” Astrid suggested.
Hiccup shook his head, “No.. I’ll be fine in a few…” he said his words almost slurred but slow as he had to think about them.
Fishelgs hummed in displeasure.
“Well, you look like you were in the kill ring with a screaming death hiccup,” Snotlout said
“Helpful Snot.” Hiccup mumbled as he felt his headache suddenly spike to what felt like a rod that had been dipped in a fire suddenly pierce his skull. He winced as he screwed his eyes shut.
Hiccup knew it was Astrid talking, his ears were humming and somewhat muffled, but he would know her voice anywhere,“Okay that's enough. I’ll help him back to his hut. Fishlegs Send for Gothi and Stoick. Snot, make sure the twins-”
“Astrid stop… i’mits fine.” he stumbled out
“Hiccup, this could be serious… You were hurt the other day in the raid, it was-”
Hiccup shook his head her words going too fast for his brain… then he understood what was going on… maybe a little too late. Gods, how did he not see it coming?
Hiccup stood up, “i’m-i’ll be with my hut. And please don’t call Gothi or my father.” he mumbled out before walking away from the group. He stumbled slightly but Toothless was at his side the next step he took to steady him, helping him make his way back to his hut. Toothless crooned almost seeming to appologise and cheek in.
“Yeah.. imsorry too buth.” he said tiredly as he walked into his hut, suddenly happy for the darkness. He walked upstairs slowly before sitting on his bed with a relieved thump. He grabbed out a bottle from his drawer as Toothless came over and sniffed it then sneezed.
Hiccup grinned weakly at his friend's actions, “Strong…huh?” he asked him slowly.
Toothless rubbed his nose on the ground trying to get rid of the smell.
Hiccup took 3 sips of the tonic. He thought about how he was going to explain this to the group. He just hoped they wouldn’t do anything rash. Hiccup thought a bit as he looked over to Toothless and signaled for his dragon to come over to him.
Toothless obliged and turned. Hiccup slowly and clumsily started taking off his saddle. He was glad when it was over as the ‘cling’ of the buckles was starting to annoy him… that just meant he had waited too long to take his tonic.
“Great,” he mumbled as he quietly put down his saddle.
Toothless croons out in concern for his rider and Hiccup winced, “Shhh.. Please?” he nearly whispered making Toothless humm lightly.
Hiccup sighed softly and took off his prosthetic and felt himself shiver slightly. He grabbed his furs and laid down beneath much more than any Viking should be using this time of year, much less still shivering underneath them.
Hiccup curled up slightly as he felt his head feel like it had been set on fire. He put his hand up on the side of his face that hurt the most. Gods it hurt. Maybe it would have felt worse if he hadn’t taken his tonics. Maybe he should talk to Gothi when they see her next. All this ran through his head for some amount of time that he couldn’t tell. It could have been 3 minutes or it could have been 6 hours. Either way, Hiccup wouldn’t have been surprised, what snapped him out of it however… was his stomach flipping.
Hiccup shot out of bed and over to the empty bucket in the room and heaved his guts up. He groans before swishing some water, which somehow also makes him more nauseous, before going back over to his bed. He asked himself how water could make him nauseous. Hiccup curled back up as his head only felt worse. Sometimes he wondered how much worse his headaches could get… then he’s always humbled.
“Ah!” he winced to himself as he felt like someone had shoved a scolding sharp metal rod between his temples and somehow curved it behind his right eye. He curled up further in his bed tears pricking at his eyes. Thor it hurt! His hand shook as he just prayed to the gods it would go away soon. Toothless, who had been a little too quiet for his liking, suddenly seemed to understand what was going on. He half climbed up on the bed with Hiccup. He put his head on his rider's side and started to purr. Between the rhythmic sound, and the warmth of his friend. Hiccup started to relax… that was until he could hear a familiar voice and quick feet running outside his hut. Toothless seemed to hear too his ear flapps twitched suddenly.
The door swung open creaking and with a thud as shoes on wood were heard echoing threw the house. The blinding rays of the golden hour sun filled Hiccup's vision from upstairs and he buried his face in his arm to block out the noise and the sound with a groan.
“Hiccup?!” His father's voice shouted through his hut.
“Go, go get ‘em Toothless…” he said quietly. Toothless got off him leaving Hiccup and missing the warmth his friend was giving him. Toothless crooned softly making his father’s step, and two? Three? Other sets quickly come up. Hiccup groans and winced at the loudness of them.
“Son are you-” His father seemed to understand the moment he saw him. His steps stopped and even his breathing quieted after a few breaths.
Gothi waddled over to him almost silently. Hiccup peeked open his eyes to see the old woman staring back at him. She made a gesture to him knowing what it meant and he nodded a little.
“Didn’t work,” he mumbled out.
“Uh… What is going on?” Astrid asked loudly making Stoick sigh.
“We will take a look at him, lass. He’ll be fine though.” Stoick said quietly making Astrid give them both a weird look before she glazed over at a pitiful-looking Hiccup before she also left, the front door scraping closed.
“How long?” Stoick asked his voice soft.
“Morning.” Hiccup said not being able to form full sentences at the moment.
Gothi frowned and waved her staff around.
“I know..” he knew she was mad he hadn’t sent a letter, “Thought itta go away. It was fast,” he said.
Gothi frowns before pulling out some herbs from the pouch she has. Stoick sat down on the bed next to Hiccup and rubbed his back with a sad look.
Hiccup yawns feeling tired and quite frankly drained of any energy he had.
“ ‘iccup?” His father asked. Hiccup listened but heard his name called again making Hiccup look up at him somewhat raising his eyebrows as a response.
“How much tonic did you take?” he asked quickly.
Hiccup frowns as he thinks. He had to think about it harder than he should… “Three” he got out, his voice deeper and dragged on.
Gothi caught his eye as he looked over he felt somewhat dizzy just from moving his eyes which also sent a stabbing pain back through his head and he curled up a bit tighter again. He felt like he entered the fog into Helheims gate again. He didn’t know how much time had passed, or when he had even fallen asleep.
All he knew was that his whole body felt like a gronkle chewed him up before spitting him back out.
“How yer feelin’ son?’ Stoick asked quietly.
“A little better…If you call this better,” he said quietly. The noise still bothered him but the flickering candle in the room didn’t. That was a win.
“Understandable son.” he said softly “Gothi dosn’t think your fall caused this. Just a coincidence,” he said softly.
Hiccup hummed in acknowledgment.
“I’ll let you rest son,” he said softly getting up and Toothless replaced his weight on his bed.
“Toothless.” His father started but Hiccup shook his head.
“He’s fine,” he mumbled out.
“Okay son.. the others know you’re……pretty worried.” He said quietly.
“Okay..” Hiccup mumbled out tiredly only half hearing or maybe just half understanding his father. Hiccup heard the front door close softly this time as he let his eyes also fall heavily to escape the last bit of his headache.
Hiccup yawns stretching as he looked around. It was morning. Oh no… it was Morning!
Hiccup threw the covers off him quickly making Toothless jump up and hunch up like a scared cat.
“Oh Thor!” he mumbled out as he quickly put his leg out as the events of yesterday flooded back in his brain, “They knew.. They saw! Gods they called my father!” he panicked briefly as Toothless settled down and crooned nudging him to geth is rider to take a breath. Hiccup looked down at his dragon his eyes dilated fully and sighed “You’re right…. But gods... this is going to be a fun breakfast.” he said and once his heart rate slowed down, his body somehow felt worse than last night.
It was stiff, and achy, like he had worked out, yet it felt bruised on every inch. Then he felt how tired he was… even though he slept for half the previous day. The migraine took a lot out of him.
Hiccup sighed pulled on his leather armor and started to slowly walk to the main hut. He could hear the others laughing and talking with… his dad. He was still there.
Hiccup walked up to the door hearing his father’s voice more clearly,
“Welp… I should go check on Hiccup.” He said and Hiccup heard a weight shift, presumably his father getting up from a chair. Hiccup walked in.
“No need Dad.” hiccup said making everyone quickly jump out of their seats and rush him.
“Hiccup!” the twins tackled him in a hug, “We thought we lost you!” Tuff said
“Yeah! I called dibs on Toothless” Ruff said with a laugh.
“Uh…” Hiccup said looking to the others for help.
“We were worried about you,” Fishlegs said somewhat explaining.
“Well speak for yourselves! I knew he would be fine.” Snotlout said crossing his arms and turning up his nose. But the soft side glance told Hiccup that he did care about him.
“You were crying like a baby when Gothi and Stoick didn’t-”
“I was not!” Snotlout shouted aggressively back.
Hiccup cringed slightly at the noise level making his father clear his throat to get them to settle down a bit.
“How are you feeling son?” his father had walked over to him and collapsed his hand on his shoulder.
“Much better. “ he said to him with a nod and a thin smile.
Astrid hit his shoulder his father didn’t have his hand on making HIccup jump and grab his sore shoulder.
“Hey! What was that for?” he asked with an annoyed and surprised look.
“That is for not telling us you had migraines and scaring us into thinking your brain was bleeding mutton head!” Astrid barked at him angrily.
“Oh…. yeah. I guess I can see-” he was cut off by her pulling him towards her by his collar and their lips connected for a brief moment.
“I’m glad you’re okay.” She said her tone was a lot softer. He heard his father stifle a laugh and cover it with a cough. Hiccup felt his cheeks heat up as he squirmed a little at the new information his father had on him and Astrid.
“Well, I should head back to berk. Now that we know everything is okay,” he said.
“Thanks, Dad... And sorry for scaring you. Well, all of you.” he addressed the gang too.
“Just don’t do it again,” Snotlout mumbled out.
“Trust me. If I had a choice I wouldn’t,” he said to them.
“Make sure he takes it easy today. And try to be a little quieter.” he eyed the twins.
“Why is he looking at us?” they asked eachother
“We will. Thanks, Cheif.” Astrid said as they watched Stoick hop on his dragon and take off.
“Sooo… Can I ask a few questions?” Fishlegs asked as soon as his dad was out of earshot.
“Let’s get him something to eat first-”
“Yes you can Fishlegs, and yes I’ll eat too,” Hiccup said to them as he went to go to the stew but Astrid was faster in getting him a bowl. He rolled his eyes playfully but sat down at the table as he was handed his bowl.
“You didn’t have -” He stopped seeing the look on Astrid's face, “Thank you,” he said and she smirked and nodded before sitting down. The gang crowding him.
“So what did my dad tell you guys?” he asked deciding to start there.
“That you had something called a migraine. That you got them or had gotten them from time to time when you were younger. And that it probably wasn’t caused by the accident. “ Fishlegs said
“Ohhh and he said it hurt a lot! Like being clobbered in the head with a mallet!” Tuff said excitedly.
“And it wasn’t life-threatening like physically anyways,” Astrid added in.
Hiccup chuckled and nodded a bit. “I got headaches a lot when I was a kid. When I was about 10 the migraines started. They were pretty bad up until I met Toothless.” he said “but after the red death they sorta crept back in for a while. Maybe another year or two. But I haven’t had one not like this anyways in 2 years?” he said thinking to himself, “but I do get them but they are more minor. If you call being hit in the head with a mallet minor.” he said joking a bit.
“So it just comes on? No warning?” Fishlegs asked.
“No, I did have warnings… I just ignored them and didn’t realize them until it was too late. Not to mention this one came on a little faster than I could keep up with it.” Hiccup said as he swallowed a spoonful of soup.
“So what caused it then?” Astrid asked motioning for his stew.
Hiccup took a bite and thought “ dunno. Could be weather, stress, could have been a smell. It’s sometimes really unclear what causes them. When I was younger cheese set them off almost every time. But I’ve kinda outgrown that.” he said with a shrug.
“So you’re telling me that the weather can set you off into a painful migraine?” Astrid clarified and he nodded
“So what does it feel like?” Ruff asked
“Uh… well this one felt like.. Well painful.” he said but that didn't satisfy anyone and he sighed, “just don’t freak out okay?” he asked the more sane members who just looked at him nervously,.. “It felt like someone had put a sharp rod for like leather work, the one that looks like a large nail, and put it into the fire until it was glowing then shoved it through… my skull… and it angled itself behind my eyes. ” he said slowing down as he saw there faces slowly start turning to horror, “That’s not even the worst part…” He said, “By the time my dad came it felt like someone sawed open my head and tossed in a bunch of razors.” he said. He saw everyone squirm at the thought. “And sometimes like lightning decided to just hit my face,” he added.
“So… Like a bone broken?” Astrid tried to grasp the amount of pain.
Hiccup shook his head, “That would be mercy. Maybe uh childbirth? But maybe worse. I dunno. Gothi hasn’t really compared it to anything.” he said
“Wow! That’s.. um … pain.” Tuff said showing even how uncomfortable he was with the description.
“Pain? That’s torture you mutton heads!” Snotlout somewhat shouted at him. Hiccup knew he meant well.
“Well, my Uncle Buffnut had them and said that drilling a hole into the skill and stuffing a rodent in the whole helped,” Ruff said making the group look at the twins with a horrified look.
“I can’t tell if you’re joking or not…” Fishlegs said, “Putting a um, carcass in an open wound-”
“They have to be messing with you Fishlegs… Right?” Astrid second-guessed herself looking at the twins.
“Well not just any rodent dear Sister. A dead mole” Tuff said confidently
“You sure it wasn’t a mouse.” ruff asked her brother
“Nope, it was a mole. He said-”
“How about a new question?” Hiccup asked changing the subject.
Astrid shook her head, obviously relieved to shift the topic away from the gruesome tale. “Alright, Hiccup, here's one: how can we help you when this happens again? Because it sounds like we should be prepared."
Hiccup smiled softly at her concern. "Thanks, Astrid. Just... if it happens again, make sure I have my tonic nearby. And keeping the room dark and quiet really helps. Toothless is already good at knowing what I need."
Fishlegs nodded thoughtfully. "We'll make sure to keep the noise down and help you get comfortable. It's the least we can do."
Snotlout, trying to maintain his tough facade, added, "Yeah, and if anyone tries to bother you, they'll have to get through me first."
Hiccup chuckled, appreciating the support. "Thanks, Snotlout. That means a lot."
As they finished their meal, the gang continued to talk, but this time the conversation was lighter. Hiccup felt a warm sense of gratitude for his friends. Despite the rough start to his day, he knew he could rely on them.
Later, as the sun began to set, Hiccup found himself back at his hut, feeling better but still weary. Toothless lay beside him, purring softly, providing comfort and warmth. Hiccup's thoughts drifted to the future, to the adventures and challenges that awaited them. He knew there would be more rough days, but with his friends and Toothless by his side, he felt ready to face whatever came next.
As he drifted off to sleep, Hiccup murmured, "Thanks, bud." Toothless's purr grew louder in response, and Hiccup fell into a deep, restful sleep, knowing he was never alone.