Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Snotlout let out a sigh of relief when the riders finally left Berk to get back to the Edge.

They hadn’t stayed that long. They just had a routine check-up with the A-Team, and Hiccup had to speak with their chief about something super important, no doubt.

So overall a very short three-day visit. But three days was more than enough for Spitelout to let his displeasure about his son be known.

-

It all started when Snotlout didn’t immediately walk to his father’s home after they arrived at Berk. Instead opting for staying for dinner with the other riders at the great hall.

Eating at least one meal a day together kind of became a tradition since they got to the Edge. A way to see the others, connect, and find silent comfort if needed.

He didn’t even really think about it. It was just part of the routine for them. But once he and Hookfang got to his father's house, Spitelout made his opinion on their little tradition known.

“Ah, who do we have here? And here I thought your old man wasn’t even important enough for you to pay him a visit.”

Snotlout froze at the entrance. His father seemed a little unsteady on his feet, drunk once again.

“Oh, hi, Dad. I’m sorry that I'm late. Me and the others just got dinner together once we landed. You know… long journey and all…”

“Excuses, excuses. Those ‘friends’ of yours make you weak. As if a Jorgenson would be exhausted after that little trip! Ha! Pathetic.”

Snotlout felt himself getting smaller and smaller the more Spitelout spoke. He knew that his friends didn’t make him weak, dammit. But standing up to his father always ended with Snotlout being hurt more.

Spitelout hadn't laid a hand on him ever since the incident with Hookfang, but that didn’t mean that his words couldn't cut just as deep as the whippings had.

As if sensing his growing distress, Hookfang pushed his face through the door to shoot Spitelout a venomous glare.

“And get that overgrown guard dog of yours out of my house before I nail his head to my wall. I don’t need a reminder that my own son isn’t man enough to fight his own battles.”

Hookfang’s glare deepens at Spitelout's words, and Snotlout can hear a deep growling start from his dragon's chest. He puts a calming hand on Hookfang's snout in hopes of deescalating the situation.

“Ok, Dad. It seems like you’ve said your piece; I’m just going to bring Hookfang to his stables now. Have a good night.”

“Hey boy-o! I wasn’t done! Come back here and show some respect!”

But Snotlout wasn’t listening anymore. He pushed Hookfang's snout back out the door and got in his saddle. He only wanted to get Hookfang away from his dad.

That wasn’t the first time that Spitelout had threatened Hookfang, and it always sent a chill down Snotlout's spine just thinking about what his dad could do. He’d do anything to protect his dragon from the fate his father fantasized about.

“Bring us away from here, Hooky,” whispered Snotlout.

Hookfang cast one more venomous look at Spitelout, who tried to follow his son, only to have to cling onto the doorframe in his drunk state.

“Please, Hookfang.”

At that, Hookfang spread his wings and took off, leaving Spitelout and his hateful words behind for the day.

-

Snotlout did not join the others for dinner the remaining time they were on Berk.

Other attempts at speaking with his dad just ended with the same hate thrown his way. Snotlout couldn’t even remember if he had seen his dad sober once during this moon.

With one last threat against Hookfang fresh on his mind, he and the other riders took off.

—

But even in the air, Snotlout couldn’t get his dad’s words out of his mind. Even just thinking about his partner's head hanging over the fireplace at his dad’s house made him sick to his stomach. He felt a spark of panic grow in his heart the more he thought about it. A spark that grew the longer they flew.

This was ridiculous! They weren’t on Berk anymore. They were on their way home. He had nothing to panic about!

But trying to force the panic down only seemed to make it worse. Snotlout could feel the tears rising behind his eyes.

No. The others can’t see him like this! They can’t see him being weak. His father's words came to his mind again.

Would he really do that? Sure, he had been drunk when he said it, but could he really try killing Hookfang? Yes, Hookfang was more than a masterful fighter, but what if Spitelout somehow managed to get an upper hand?

Snotlout felt his fingers anxiously rub Hookfang’s horns as his thoughts kept on spiraling, his breath getting faster by the minute.

Hookfang let out a questioning huff at Snotlout’s rubbing. When his rider didn’t answer him, he concentrated on listening to his rider's heartbeat and breath. The moment he found both to be way too high, he broke flight formation and searched urgently for a safe place to land. Hookfang knew what these early signs meant.

“Hookfang! Snotlout! What are you doing?” Hiccup called after the monstrous nightmare. Toothless let out a questioning growl. Both were left unanswered, as Hookfang flew faster and faster to a nearby island.

“Ok riders, we have to follow them and find out what's wrong. After me!”

The riders all sped after Hookfang, who flew as if all of Viggo’s fleet was hot on his tail.

There were only more questions in Hiccup's mind as he saw Hookfang land on a small island. Calling it an island was probably a bit generous. It was little more than a big flat rock in the middle of the ocean. There were no trees or any other kind of plants. Just a big rock. What could Hookfang and Snotlout want there?

The other riders landed shortly after Hookfang. This close to the dragon and its rider, Hiccup saw that there was in fact something wrong with Snotlout. His eyes were wide and glassy. They didn’t seem to really be tracking anything around him. His breathing was also way too fast to be considered normal.

But before Hiccup could ask Snotlout what was wrong, the other rider's grip on Hookfang's horns slackened, and he fell off his dragon. Just as he would have collided with the rock, one of Hookfang's wings softened his fall. The monstrous nightmare let out a worried grumble. The normally so aloof-acting dragon was in clear distress over his rider's condition.

Hiccup was off of Toothless’s back in an instant, and so were the others. Hiccup was the first one to make it near Snotlout.

“Snotlout? Can you hear me? You need to breathe!” Hiccup called to his cousin, who was still hyperventilating on Hookfang's wing.

The moment he got to the edge of Hookfang’s wing, the dragon roared so loud, even Hiccup took a few steps back from Snotlout, who seemed to be spiraling even deeper into his panic with every passing moment.

Before any of the riders could attempt to get closer to Snotlout's heaving body, Hookfang tightly wound his body and wings around his rider, shielding him from the outside and from the other humans and dragons. With one last withering look in Hiccup’s direction, the monstrous nightmare tucked his head into the cocoon, where he placed it on his rider's heaving chest, all while letting out a steady rumbling sound.

-

Hiccup watched the monstrous nightmare's actions with puzzlement. Hookfang had never reacted so outright hostile towards the other riders, especially when they tried to help Snotlout.

Hiccup slowly inched closer to the dragon-made cocoon.

“Hey Hookfang, easy there, my friend. We’re just trying to help Snotlout. If you’d please let us look him over? He needs help right now.”

But the moment Hiccup made contact with one of Hookfang's wings, he was rather violently pushed back by the monstrous nightmare's tail. The push was followed by a low, protective grumble, but otherwise Hookfang didn’t move from his spot.

Hiccup’s fall was thankfully cushioned by Toothless catching him.

“Thanks, bud.”

“What do we do now? We have to get to Snotlout!” asked Astrid.

The riders could still hear their friend’s erratic breathing within Hookfang’s cocoon.

“I don’t really know.”

Hiccup was getting more worried by the second. They had to help his cousin somehow.

“We could all go at it from different angles! Hookfang can’t smack all of us.”

“Genius, brother! And if he does smack anyone, I hope he gets you first.”

“Ruff, Tuff, not helpful. Hookfang isn’t our enemy. We can’t circle him like that. It would only make things worse.”

“That’s right, Hiccup. Hookfang only seems to want to protect Snotlout. He wouldn’t lash out against any of us if he didn’t feel like that would be the best for his rider,” Fishlegs contemplated.

“You’re right, Fishlegs. We have to show Hookfang that we mean no harm. I’ll try going to him again; maybe I can talk with him.”

Hiccup turned back towards the cocoon, and just as he started going near it again, Toothless stood in between him and Hookfang, a worried look on the nightfury’s face.

“What is it, bud? I have to get to Snotlout. He needs help.”

But Toothless, after looking towards Hookfang, pushed gently against Hiccup. He let out an insistent whine.

“Come on, Toothless, we don’t have time for this! What is it that you want to tell me?”

“Hiccup, I think the dragons want us to trust that Hookfang knows what he’s doing.”

Hiccup looked over at Fishlegs, who was scratching an equally worried-looking Meatlug behind her ears. She also had positioned herself between Hookfang and the other riders.

Hiccup looked back towards Hookfang.

“But Snotlout needs help right now.”

“And I think the dragons want to tell us that he’s already getting it. Listen, Hiccup… Snotloud’s breathing... it’s calming down slowly.”

“Fishlegs is right. Listen, Hiccup,” Astrid put a steadying hand on Hiccup's shoulder, “Hookfang is helping.”

And they were right. Snotlout’s breathing, which had been loud and fast enough to be heard over Hookfang’s steady rumbling, was starting to slow back down.

“You’re right.”

Hiccup looked into all the riders' worried faces.

“I guess we’ll have to wait it out and hope that Hookfang knows what he’s doing.”

Toothless, who knew better than anyone how hard it was for his rider just to wait something out, especially when one of his closest friends was hurt, gently touched his nose to Hiccup's hand in a show of comfort.

—

Snotlout came out of his panic feeling the safest he had felt since before visiting Berk. All he felt was a calming warmth all around him and a comforting weight on his chest. Once he focused his gaze on his chest, he was met with the concerned face of his dragon, whose pupils literally seemed to double in size once Hookfang realized that his rider was back with him.

“Oh Hooky, what's going on? Did it happen again?”

All he got for an answer was an affirming huff.

“And you helped me again? Thank you so much, Hookfang. I’m already feeling a lot better, thanks to you.”

That earned Snotlout a wet lick from chin to temple.

“AH Hookfang! Cut it out! I’m fine!”

“Snotlout! Are you alright? Are you feeling better? Can you maybe get Hookfang to let us in?” asked a familiar voice from outside the cocoon Hookfang had made with his body.

Snotlout now really focused on his surroundings for the first time since coming back up from his panic. All he saw was Hookfang’s scales all around him. He looked at his dragon with wonder.

“You shielded me? Even from the others? You shielded me so they wouldn’t see me like this? “Oh Hooky, you are a wonder,” Snotlout whispered affectionately.

Hookfang let out another rumble and blew a bit of smoke in his rider's face. The quiet giggle that this got out of Snotlout would be denied till the day he died.

“Snotlout?”

Snotlout could’ve stayed in this cocoon forever. Forever kept warm and protected by Hookfang’s fire, but he knew that he’d have to face the others sooner or later. Explain himself; let his motherhenning cousin check him over.

He gave Hookfang’s snout a tight hug before he separated from his dragon again.

“Ok, Hookfang. Please let them in now. You know how worried they get. Especially Hiccup and Fishlegs. You did good in protecting me and helping me back, Hooky.”

Hookfang licked one last time through his rider's face before reluctantly lifting his wing and opening the tight little cocoon he had made for Snotlout.

-

All riders' attention was immediately on Hookfang as he slowly revealed a sitting Snotlout, his breathing back to normal and his eyes less glassy.

Hiccup slowly came near the two, and this time he didn’t get a negative reaction from Hookfang. The monstrous nightmare's whole attention was still on his rider, who now slowly got up.

Hiccup looked at him skeptically.

“Are you alright? Do you need help?”

“Ah, that? Oh, that was nothing; don't worry about it. So when are we continuing our journey? I can’t wait to get back to the edge.”

Now every one of his friends looked at him skeptically.

“Äh, Snotlout? That didn’t look like nothing to us.” said Ruffnut.

“Yeah, to both of us. And if Chicken was here, she’d tell you the same thing,” added Tuffnut.

“That actually looked like a panic attack, Snotlout. You shouldn’t underestimate something like that! If Hookfang hadn’t reacted so fast, you could have fallen mid-flight.”

“Yeah?! But Hookfang did. Don’t worry, Fishlegs. It’s fine.”

“Snotlout, don’t lie to us. We are your friends. We want to help you. We have never seen Hookfang act like that before.” said Astrid.

Hiccup laid a gentle hand on his cousin’s shoulder.

“They are right. Hookfang has never been that aggressive with any of us, and you’re clearly not fine. If it was a panic attack, we at least need to know what triggered it so we can help you in the future.”

“As I said… it’s nothing. Just got lost in my head. My dad said some stuff. Nothing new. But I don’t want to talk about it. I just want to fly home now. Hookfang needs his dinner.”

It was clear to everyone that he was just deflecting, but Hiccup saw that it wouldn’t help anyone to argue with Snotlout now. So he decided to first of all get them all home to the edge and let them all sleep this day off before trying to get to the bottom of this. Spitelout being a massive asshole wasn’t something new after all. Hiccup didn’t know what he could have said to his son for him to react like that.

“Fine. Let’s go home and get us all some food and sleep. But we will talk about this. Please, Snotlout. This was serious, and if your dad did something, we can help you. Trust us!”

“I do. Trust you all, I mean.”

That at least brought some peace to his friend's faces.

“Ok, thank you. Do you think you can fly so shortly after all that?”

“Of course. A Jorgenson can fly under any circumstances.”

Hiccup’s gaze was back to skeptical. He mustered Snotlout’s still slightly trembling hands and his too-pale face. He looked around at the other riders. Then he looked back to Hookfang and Snotlout.

“Hookfang? Would you let one of us also ride on you? Just to make sure that Snotlout and you get to the edge safely and without any more accidents.”

“Hey! I don’t need to be babied!”

Hookfang gave an affirmative huff to Hiccup's question and lowered his neck and back.

“Hookfang! Don’t go behind my back like that! I can ride home all by myself!”

Hookfang made eye contact with his rider and let out the most pitiful-sounding whine any of the other riders had ever heard him do. Additionally, he lowered his head and let his pupils expand again. The riders had to admit that it was a very heartwrenchingly cute look. As cute as a monstrous nightmare could look.

Snotlout, meanwhile, was kind of melting on the inside. Hookfang knew exactly what that look did to him. His dragon knew that the rider couldn’t say no to that face. Stupid, traitorous, brilliant, sweet, protective dragon!

The fact that his mighty and proud dragon would stoop so low and use this look for the first time in front of others also showed Snotlout how serious Hookfang really was.

Snotlout knew that his partner had a bigger protective instinct than his wingspan sometimes. Especially when it came to him, but he normally hid it pretty well when around others. But now his dragon tried forcing his hand. And he had to do it in front of everyone! But Snotlout couldn’t be angry at him, the panic attack having drained much of his energy. Maybe it really would be for the best to not ride alone the rest of the way to the edge.

“Fine,” Snotlout gave in. “But no unnecessary questions on the way back, and this is a one-time thing, ok?!”

“Of course! Now who’d you want to ride with you, Snotlout?” Hiccup smiled.

Snotlout looked into his friends' faces. He knew that any of the twins would be overwhelming right now, and Astrid rarely left Stormfly’s back as it was; he would push her to do something she didn’t want. Leaving only Hiccup and Fishlegs, the two mother hens of the group. Snotlout knew that despite their differences, both couldn’t wait to really check him over at the edge and make sure he was fine. But Toothless needed help flying and clearly loved doing it most with Hiccup. The other riders were not able to read Toothless as effortlessly as Hiccup could. That left only…

“Fishlegs! If it’s ok for Meatlug, ride with me. But no questions and poking at me till we arrive home. I know you and Hiccup are just dying to get your hands on me, and who could blame you?”

Astrid and the twins rolled their eyes. Yes, Snotlout would be good as new in no time.

“Ok, Snotlout. Let's all go home. Meatlug, Süße, please fly underneath Hookfang in case anything happens,” Fishlegs directed.

All the dragonriders got back onto their dragons, Fishlegs behind Snotlout, while Meatlug stayed beneath them.

—

Both riders first flew in silence on Hookfang.

“Ok, Fishlegs, I know you're dying to speak, to ask all kinds of stuff or whatever. Especially when you're nervous. But I really don’t have the energy for that right now.”

Fishlegs felt caught by Snotlout's words. He could feel a small blush forming on his face and neck.

“How about this… You tell me some of your lame dragon facts, and I fly Hookfang. Deal?”

And so Fishlegs started reciting some of his dragon cards for Snotlout, who first actually tried to listen to Fishlegs’s voice. But he soon had to acknowledge his body's exhaustion. With Fishlegs’s soothing voice as background noise, he felt himself fall into a light slumber fast. His grip on Hookfang's horns slackened again, but this time he had his friend there to prevent him from falling off of Hookfang’s neck.

Fishlegs used one of his hands to stabilize Snotlout, while he took hold of one of Hookfang's horns with the other one. That made Hookfang let out a questioning and worried huff.

“No worries, Hookfang. I got him for you. He’s safe. I promise. Me and Meatlug won't let him fall. Let’s just get back home.”

Meatlug gave an affirmative gurgle. Hookfang let out a pleased growl at that. Fishlegs felt as the monstrous nightmare seemed to relax his shoulder; today had also been nerve-wracking for him. Snotlout also eased further back into Fishlegs' chest.

The next thing Fishlegs knew was Toothless and Hiccup flying closer to them.

“Is he alright?”

“Yes, Hiccup. The day really did a number on him. I’m glad he finally gets to rest.”

“I’m glad too. It was a good idea to not let him ride alone. We wouldn’t want him falling off Hookfang a second time today.”

“Yes, you’re right. I think we do, however, need to find a solution if something like this ever happens again. What if Hookfang isn’t fast enough next time or doesn’t find a landing spot in time?”

Both riders felt as if some of Hookfang’s attention shifted to them.

“Fishlegs, I thought the same thing. I think we should think about making adjustments to his saddle. To all of our saddles, for that matter. Something like this could happen to any one of us. We need a way to secure the rider onto the dragon.”

“But it can’t be something permanent. It has to be something easy done and undone while flying. Because as stupid as it sounds, sometimes it’s beneficial to fall off a dragon,” interjected Astrid.

“You're right! Something like a retractable robe…”

“Also it has to be something the dragons can undo by themself. You saw how Hookfang cared for Snotlout! He couldn’t do that if his rider was secured to his back with no way for the dragon to get him off.”

“That’s true!”

Fishlegs felt Snotlout getting restless against his chest.

“Guys, maybe we better talk about it at home. We’ll wake up Snotlout at this rate,” whispered Fishlegs.

“Right, right, let's talk about this later.”

Both Astrid and Hiccup flew a few meters away. Near enough to stay in formation but far enough so no one would hear them discussing new saddle ideas. Hiccup had already opened one of his notebooks on Toothless’s back.

Fishlegs only affectionately rolled his eyes at his friend's shenanigans and focused back on Snotlout. The other rider had settled back against Fishlegs's chest and seemed to be sleeping deeply again. Fishlegs re-secured his grip around Snotlout and used his other hand to lightly pet one of Hookfang's horns.

“Thank you for your help today, Hookfang. You kept Snotlout safe when we couldn't. I promise you, we’ll do anything to keep him and you safe in the future.”

Hookfang let out a proud huff at that. As if to say, ‘You better do!’ Fishlegs let out a little giggle at that, while Meatlug flew up to Hookfang's snout to lovingly rub her head against Hookfang's. Hookfang gave her a low, thankful rumble in return.

Chapter Text

It was late when the riders made it back to the edge. Snotlout was still knocked out against Fishlegs’ chest; his breathing indicated a deep sleep.

Instead of landing at the stables, Hookfang opted to land in front of Snotlout and his house directly, Toothless hot on his tail. Hookfang gently pushed the door open with his snout before lowering his neck expectantly.

“Is he still asleep, Fishlegs?”

“Yes. The last few days must have really drained him. No worries, I'll carry him inside.”

“Thank you.”

Fishlegs softly picked a sleeping Snotlout up and slowly made his way into the house. Hookfang was ready to immediately follow his rider when Hiccup called him back. The monstrous nightmare looked conflicted between following Fishlegs and staying to hear what their leader had to say. With one last worried look, he turned to face Hiccup and Toothless. The latter gives him an encouraging huff.

“Hookfang, I’d like to thank you for helping Snotlout today. I understand that you know him better than any of us probably ever could, and I apologize for doubting that you knew what you were doing. I think today was hard for us all.”

Hookfang let out an affirming growl at that.

All three turned their heads as Fishlegs returned from the house.

“I put him to bed. He is still fast asleep. I think it would be best if we talked about it tomorrow. You know how Snotlout gets; if we want to help him, we have to be gentle and direct about it. Or else he’ll just clamp up again.”

“You’re right. Please get everyone to the clubhouse; I'll be there in a few.”

With that, Fishlegs left his leader at Snotlout's front door. Hiccup made his way inside, closely followed by both dragons.

Once they got to Snotlout's bed, Hookfang curled his body around it the best way he could, always keeping an eye on his rider.

“Hookfang, we are home. Snotlout is safe; you made sure of that. You should also rest now. He’s not going anywhere, and we others will keep watch over the outpost. Rest.”

Hookfang slowly lowered his head onto a free spot of the bed, making sure his snout was lightly touching his rider’s arm, before closing his eyes. Hiccup knew that Hookfang probably wasn’t going to sleep much that night, but he still hoped the dragon would allow himself at least a little bit of rest.

He let his gaze wander to Snotlout.

“What am I going to do with you, cousin? How can we show you that you’re not alone in this, that you have people on your side? We care so deeply. And I know that you do too.”

He stayed at Snotlout's bedside deep in thought for a few minutes longer before getting up to talk with the other riders. With one last look at his cousin and his dragon, he closed the door to the house.

He looked at Toothlessy, who dutifully followed him, as always. His hands found his dragon's head easily and began scratching him gently.

“I also have to thank you, bud. Great work today. But now I want you to go to bed. You had a long flight today. I’ll come back to the house later, okay? I’ll just talk with the others.”

Toothless gave a quiet purr and bumped his nose against his rider's hand before doing as Hiccup had asked of him.

-

When Hiccup got to the dining table, he saw that Fishlegs already had gotten a hold on everybody. Four pairs of eyes followed him as he sat down.

“I promise, I’ll keep this as short as I can. We all need to sleep, but here are a few ground rules for tomorrow.”

All attention was on him now; even Ruff and Tuff stopped bickering and looked serious. Hiccup was glad that all his friends were on the same page as him about the importance tomorrow might have for them.

“Firstly, I’ll start with the talking, alright? The last thing we want is to overwhelm him and have him go back into himself. Secondly, we have to find out what exactly happened on Berk, but no one will push him about it. We want him to open up on his own terms and not force him into anything he doesn’t want. We all know what Spitelout is like and what he’s taught Snotlout over the years. All that won’t be undone by one day. Just be gentle with him… but don’t make it too obvious if you can. You know how much he hates feeling pitied. Everyone understood?”

The other riders nodded their heads.

“Good, thank you. Ruff, Tuff, could you take on guard duty for today, please?”

“No problemo, bossman.”

“And Fishlegs, are you still up for breakfast duty tomorrow?”

“Yes, Hiccup, of course.”

“Thank you, now get some rest. Today was hard for all of us.”

The only rider that stayed behind with Hiccup was Astrid. She closed her arms around her leader in a tight hug.

“You know he’ll be fine, right? He’s Snotlout. He always gets back up. Just give it time.”

Hiccup returned the hug just as tight.

“Yeah, I know. But I’ve not seen him get so distraught over something Spitelout said since we were children. And you know what scared me the most?”

Astrid hummed questioningly.

“Hookfang knew exactly what he was doing. We didn’t even see what he did, but it helped. And it helped fast. Hookfang acted as if it was routine to him. Yes, he was worried and maybe a little panicked, but never did he question his own decisions. How often did something like this happen when we weren't there? How often were they alone for them to develop this kind of routine? How long have they hidden this from us?”

“We’ll get to the bottom of this, Hiccup. For now, we can only try to be there for them. Show them that it’s ok to lean on us, to rely on us. We’ll keep them safe, just how we’ve kept each other safe since we first started riding dragons.”

“Thank you, Astrid.”

Hiccup squeezed her one last time before letting her go.

“You should also go to bed. Get yours and Stormfly’s energy back up. I have the feeling that the next few days will be absolute chaos.”

“When aren’t the days chaotic? As long as we have the twins with us, I think not one day will go by orderly,” Astrid laughed.

“You need to go to sleep too, Hiccup. Don’t leave Toothless waiting too long. You know how bad he sleeps if you’re not with him.”

“Yes, I know. Goodnight, Astrid.”

“Goodnight, Hiccup.”

—

Snotlout felt a sense of deja-vu overcome him as he opened his eyes the next morning.

Wait, wasn't he just flying on Hookfang's back? How did he get into bed? He couldn’t remember going up the stairs or arriving at the edge at all, for that matter.

But before he could lose more brain cells thinking about how he got to bed, Hookfang pressed his snout into his line of sight.

“Hooky!” Snotlout gave his dragon’s snout a tight hug. “Good morning. How did you sleep?”

Hookfang slowly blinked at his rider.

“You look tired, my friend. Did you sleep at all tonight? Hooky… You know you didn’t have to keep watch. I’m sure the others had everything under control, overprotective mother hen, you.”

Snotlout could’ve sworn he saw Hookfang roll his eyes at that before he pushed his head against his rider's chest in the way that he only did when he demanded pets.

The Viking felt his heart melt out of his chest at that and made sure to pay attention to all the scales on his dragon he could reach.

“Oh Hooky, I scared you yesterday, didn’t I? I’m so sorry. But you did good; you got me back safely. See? I’m alright; nothing happened that we can’t handle. Hm? As long as we are together, everything will be fine.”

Hookfang gave an affirming huff at that.

A sharp knock cut through their quiet moment like a knife.

“Snotlout? Are you up yet?” called his cousin. “We were wondering if you’d come to the clubhouse? You know… Maybe talk about yesterday?”

Shit! He totally forgot about his little promise from yesterday. Well, there's no way to get out of it now.

“Yeah, I’m up. I’m up. You can stop yelling, Hiccup! I’m up! I’ll be there. Just go. Just let me find a fresh tunic, and I’ll be right behind you.”

“Ah, ok, Snotlout. See you in a few.”

Snotlout waited till he couldn’t hear his cousin’s footstep anymore, then he made eye contact with Hookfang again.

“No time like the present, I guess. Let’s get this over with, Hooky. I think that they’ll not let this go unless we talk with them.”

Hookfang gave him an encouraging nudge.

“Ok, Hookfang… You and me, buddy. As long as we’re together.”

And Snotlout tightened his shoulders as he made his way to the clubhouse, Hookfang tight on his tail, always there to help his rider.

—

“Hiccup! Do us both a favor and start with your questions already!”

“Yeah, alright, good. So Snotlout, what the heck happened yesterday?”

“I may have had a small panic attack because of something my dad said. I know! It's childish to get so worked up about it. You know how he is, how he always was. It wasn’t even the first time he said it. Don’t know why it had the effect it had.”

“But what was it this time?”

“Yeah, isn’t your dad the king of spewing bullshit on a daily basis?” asked Tuffnut.

“Hey guys, don’t be like that. I know my dad isn’t easy sometimes, but he tries. He was just drunk; he threatened Hookfang, but I’m sure he didn’t mean it.”

The riders weren’t sure if Snotlout wanted to convince them or himself when he said that.

“He threatened Hookfang? Snotlout, what did he say?!”

Snotlout hesitated for a moment, getting more unsure by the minute. Hookfang gave him an encouraging nudge with his snout.

“He… he said that he’d hang Hookfang’s head on his wall if I didn’t get him out of his sight.”

“He what?!” Astrid already had her ax in hand.

“He was just drunk again! He meant it as a joke; I’m sure of it.”

“No, that's not funny at all.”

“It’s not. Believe us, Snotlout. Tuff and I devoted our lives to Loki. We know what we’re talking about. Your dad is a massive piece of shit, nothing else.”

“Snotlout, what would you do if any of us said anything like that about Hookfang?” asked Astrid.

“I’d kick your ass, obviously!”

“Then why is it any different when your father says stuff like that?”

“I-I … It just is, okay?!”

“Okay, okay, okay… Let’s all calm down for a second.” Fishkegs interjected.

“Yes, let’s all calm down. Snotlout, you said this wasn’t the first time? How often has Spitelout threatened you or Hookfang?”

“How often? Try every time I’ve failed him. He means well. It builds character and strength! You wouldn’t get it.”

All Snotlout saw was devastation in his friends' faces.

“What?! It’s the Jorgenson way. That’s how it’s always been…. Don’t look at me like that.”

Fishlegs was the first one able to break out of his frozen state. He immediately enveloped his fellow rider in a tight hug.

“Hey! Fishlegs! What are you doing? Hands off! What has gotten into you?!”

“Oh, Snotlout, I’m so sorry.”

“What for? You’ve never laid a hand on me?”

Snotlout felt Fishlegs’ breath hitch at that.

“I’m sorry we weren't there for you when you needed us most.”

The twins were the next ones to join the group hug.

“Yeah, we’re sorry too. Your father is an even bigger piece of shit than we all thought.”

Lastly, Hiccup and Astrid joined in before the dragons made a protective ring around their riders. Hiccup made eye contact with Snotlout.

“This is, of course, your call. But if it were up to me, you and Hookfang would never see that man again. What he did to you, to the both of you, is inexcusable.”

Snotlout was taken aback by the conviction he could see in his cousin's eyes.

“Hiccup… he’s my dad.”

“I know. It’ll always be your call. Just know we’re here for whatever you do. Let us prove to you that there is another way. That you shouldn’t treat family like that.”

“You’d do that for me? And for Hookfang?”

“Of course! You can always count on us. We riders stick together.” Astrid said, some of her anger not yet faded.

Snotlout let himself finally fully relax into the group hug at her words. He’d have much to think about, much to talk with Hookfang about. But in this moment he only wanted to feel the comfort of his friends.

Snotlout, for the first time in forever, really felt at home, without needing to sit on Hookfang’s back.