i like your messy hair, i like the clothes you wear

[icy]

[ A week passes with two spirits and one human as residents of the enormous Workshop, dining with North whenever he appears out of his office but generally doing their own thing in the meantime. Jack flies off now and again to spread snow and wintry cheer, tactfully letting Dave and Hiccup some time to get to know each other now that both of them are rubbing along better than could have been hoped. He hasn't seen much of either of them separately, so Hiccup wandering the Workshop corridors far below Jack (where he sits atop the Globe playing with a puzzlebox) in the new clothes the winter spirit procured for him from a high street store a couple of days ago, is definitely a head-turner.

Oh no, he's hot. Hotter.

Hiccup looks not entirely unlike the way he does in his flight-suit, only ... casual, cut and shaped into modern-day clothing in a way that has Jack staring (fitted brown leather jacket, bottle-green leather pants with laces up the sides so they can be adjusted to those skinny legs), puzzlebox dropped forgotten atop the North Pole as he sweeps down to land in front of him. He drapes his staff over a shoulder as he hops onto the carpet, a hand stuffing inside his hoodie pocket as he ducks his head with a greeting smile. ]

So where've you been all morning, lazybones? It's almost noon.

Comments

[dragonconqueror]

[It's been a rather...strange week.

Not that he wasn't grateful for what had come to pass, not at all. He had his husband to snuggle up to and his interactions with Dave were getting better. Without much to do but check on his herd every now and then, Hiccup had taken to coming back to North's workshop as a resting point. The den was lonely, too many memories and even though Jack had forgiven him he felt uncomfortable going back there, reminded of the years he'd spent asleep.

The modern world is hardly something to scoff at like he wanted. He still hadn't been out beyond the nesting grounds himself but every piece of technology Dave or North shows him is a marvel. He has years of research to catch up on. The world might have been ready for the Guardian of Freedom to return to it, but the Guardian of Freedom wasn't ready to return to the world. Hiccup kept finding excuses.

The new clothing Jack had gotten from him was smoother than his flight suit, more butterysoft than anything. He stretched, back creaking underneath the brown leather jacket before he spots Jack coming down from wherever he'd been. A clink of the puzzlebox falling off the globe makes him raise an eyebrow slightly before yawning.]

Just got up. I was up with Dave most of the night.

[icy]

[ Jack vaguely wishes Hiccup would never stop stretching. He drags his attention up from the clothes and finds he's already smiling when he replies. ]

Yeah? What were you two geniuses talking about? [ He nods ahead and falls into step beside him. ] C'mon, let's grab lunch.

[dragonconqueror]

[The stretching makes the jacket ride up, exposing a thin torso and stomach before Hiccup lowers his arms, letting them drop to his sides.]

Modern science versus viking ingenuity.

[It's said as a matter of fact, like it's important, which it probably is to them. The dragon prince loops an arm around his husband's shoulderstugging him in close and placing a kiss to his forehead.]

Lunch sounds really good.

[icy]

[ Fucking illegal jacket. Jack twitches as an arm is slid around his back, relaxing a moment later as he veers into Hiccup's personal space for the kiss, sliding his hand down the back of That Coat. Cold as he is, he keeps his body inclined toward his husband's heat. ]

And what did you learn about modern science? Oh, wait, I know! That it's boring.

[ Grinning, he teases him with a laugh purring up from his chest. ]

[dragonconqueror]

[He rests his nose against the other spirit's forehead after the kiss, not knowing what his new clothes did to Jack. Hiccup didn't really think anything about the hand sliding down the back of his coat, snorting at Jack's easy dismissal of science.]

It's not boring. You just don't get anything. Actually it was interesting to see how many of my theories had been proven right...

[Hiccup tugged his husband as close as possible, using his free hand to wave it around and elaborate.]

[icy]

[ Loving being tugged in as he is, Jack pulls a face and rolls his eyes. He crumples forward and wheezes like an old man, copying Hiccup's gesticulations and hobbling on his staff. ]

Oooh, I'm Hiccup the old man and I'm sooo smart, I know eeeverything about science and aaalways did! Whoops, there go my teeth. I suppose that's gravity at work, the little tyke!

[dragonconqueror]

I do not sound like that, and I'm not old.

[He huffs, crossing his arms over his chest in a way that makes the jacket ride up, pulling back a little from his mate. There's a raised eyebrow before he rolls his eyes, shaking his head.]

[icy]

[ Jack's soft laughter comes easily, a flicker of a glance sliding to that slice of a navel before he leans in, walking backwards ahead of Hiccup who looks healthy and alive, everything Jack has dreamed of for so long. His lashes lower as he trails the crook of his cold staff along that exposed peek of a happy trail, making it a little more obvious that You have my attention, idiot. ]

You're over a thousand, kid. Trust me, you're ancient.

[ A grin eases in as if for a kiss, veering away when Jack nimbly hops away on the breeze to stroll ahead again. ]

[dragonconqueror]

[It's a pity that cold doesn't really affect him anymore, but he shiver for the spite of it when he feels Jack's staff trail down his stomach. Any other time, he would've taken the obvious invitation and had sex with his husband right then and there, but this wasn't their cave. Hiccup leans in for the kiss that he thinks is coming before the cold isn't in front of him anymore, staring after Jack with a frown and a pout.]

You're older thanme. If anyone's ancient, you are.

[Great comeback, Haddock.]

[icy]

I'm only three-hundred years older than you, give or take.

[ Jack keeps out of reach as they wander to the kitchen, walking along the thin wiring of fairy-lights overhead and choosing to tiptoe along the edges of work-desks. ]

Which was really more like a test run.

[dragonconqueror]

That's still a couple of hundred more.

[Hiccup pouts when he realizes he can't follow him up there, not nearly nimble enough to perform that kind of feat.]

No matter how you look at it, we're both old.

[icy]

Yeah, but you have the soul of a grumpy old scientist, you were just born in the wrong Age.

[ Hopping down to pace beside him once they have to get in one of the elf-operated lifts, Jack slouches against the side of it to survey Hiccup's ass. ]

Are you gonna get a computer or read the books in the library?

[dragonconqueror]

[He's a little too aware of the surveying his ass is getting, turning his head to look at his husband before he shrugs, dropping the argument.]

I think I'll stick to books for now. Learning I woke up a thousand years into the future is enough of a puzzle to work out rather than tacking learning to use a computer onto it. Dave said he'd teach me if I did though.

[dragonconqueror]

[It's been a few months for Hiccup since he was last here, he thinks as he dismounts Toothless at the mouth of a familiar cave, looking down into the deep dark pits. There's no echo of roars or rumbling snores anymore, not since the herd moved on, silent as a grave. Toothless nudges him with a small whine, ear plates pulling back against his head before Hiccup raises his head to rub the Night Fury reassuringly along his snout.

The one he should really be comforting is Jack.

Hiccup turns to look at his husband, watching for any signs that he's uncomfortable as he reaches out to take Jack's hand, sliding his fingers through his and squeezing them, rubbing his thumb gently over his palm. It was only a couple of months ago for him but it was a few hundred years for Jack, the dream memories coming up unbidden before he shoved them down. He attempted to give his mate a smile, though it came out small.]

We don't have to do this if you don't want to.

[icy]

[ Jack is flightier than usual, only touching down because Hiccup does. He lets him hold his hand and gives a squeeze back, but when he steps forward it's with no attempt to hold onto him. The sight before them of the entrance, now broken where he barricaded it, is enough to have his feet moving on his own. ]

I'm okay.

[ He lets the breeze lift him up, carrying him inside with a reluctance to touch much of anything. In that way, Jack soars through the huge caverns in silence with only a breath of the wind about his heels. Grasping onto ledges here and there to orient him around corners, he knows the route back to the den like a sixth sense. It creeps him out. ]

[dragonconqueror]

[The response makes something in his heart break, but before he knows it he has to climb back on Toothless just to keep up with his husband. They know the way back to the den like the back of their hands (or paws in the dragon's case), passing the spot where he found Jack ten years after he became a Guardian and feeling a pang of nostalgia. Toothless chases after the wind at Jack's feet like a dog on the heels of a mailman, the caves echoing with his footsteps.

Within minutes, they're at the center of the caves, the sanctuary they'd carved out for the Bewilderbeast. There's no dragon made ice like there used to be, no but Hiccup can spot the entrance to the den. He just waits to make sure Jack knows where he's going, hunched over on Toothless' saddle, new leathers creasing with his position.]

[icy]

[ Hesitating as he comes to the mouth of the den, his heels draw up a moment before he lands, staff held in both hands at the middle as Jack heads gingerly inside. His fingertips reach out for the pockmarks in the side of the cave, fluttering to each one without looking (two, two, three, one, two) and he eases around the corner in the rock that he used to swing himself around with hurling force, now pacing with less than a waver in his step.

Bare feet carry him to the edge of bare old straw and tattered, rotten furs in the central hub, a place once so constantly warm yet speckled with ice that he loved the contrast and could throw himself onto the thick nest without a care. It's like looking at a dead animal, trying to figure out where the limbs were, the bones, the skull, and not knowing quite how everything fits because it's gone.

The old fabrics crumble with the breeze as he lifts up enough to fly into the center, sinking into a crouch on his old favorite spot, an arm curled over a bent knee. ]

... I loved waking up here.

[ Back when it was the safest place in the world, nothing could have touched them right here. ]

[dragonconqueror]

[Hiccup dismounts again, gesturing for Toothless to stay where he is. While the Night Fury might be interested in exploring too, he knows this is his rider's time with his mate, so he thumps down into a sitting position, pawing at the ground as Hiccup follows Jack gingerly through the hall leading to the den.

It's musty, a strong smell wafting to Hiccup's nose as it's kicked up with the breeze, spider webs fluttering in the wind. He rests his hand on the curve of the wall, watching and waiting. The den is cold now, the warmth from the hearth nonexistent. The furs that used to serve them as a bed were little more than limp rugs he typically used to see in older viking's homes, souvenirs from hunts long ago.

Hiccup leaves his spot, wandering over to where he'd hung his father's cloak up on the wall. He brought his hand up, fingers curling through the tattered, worn furs before Jack's voice comes over to him, turning his head to look at his husband. Spotting where he was, he gives a small smile, pulling away and walking over.]

As did I. I loved watching you sleep, how warm I felt even though you were cold.

[icy]

[ Blue eyes flicker up in time to see Hiccup touching Stoick's old fur cloak, his heart aching for him in a different way to the one it already is. Jack hops out of the nest to stand at its edge next to Hiccup, hands clasped around his staff as he surveys the dead old thing with mournful fondness. ]

This is a different kind of cold. It got like this on its own, disused and neglected. [ His staff sends a small sliver of fern-frost over a corner of a rotted blanket in a gentle ice-dance. ] There's no life to it.

[ But he loves it, like an old pet that he would love to see well again yet holds no hope out for. In any case, there's Dave to think about and it wouldn't be right to shack up together exactly as they used to, not to mention the migrating herd doesn't want to stick around here anymore.

Catching sight of something, he crouches down to ferret it out and rises holding an old wooden bowl. Jack's laugh barks out as he realizes what it was used for, leaning his head on his husband's shoulder as he shows him. ]

Still smells like flowers.

[dragonconqueror]

[Disused and neglected. His stomach flips at those words, the impact of their den suddenly making him realize that he really had slept a thousand years. There's a crease in the furs, body in shape where he'd been laying, watching the frost creep up the corner of the blanket. He used to take care of the den like one would a house, but it's now beyond hope of being repaired.

Not that he would move back in without Jack and his herd. There's also Dave to think about now, as weird as it is to include a human in their coupling, but he makes Jack happy, and that's all Hiccup wants. To make his mate happy after not being able to for a thousand years.

The sudden appearance of the lube bowl over his shoulder and the way his husband's laughter startles him makes him laugh himself, the smell coming easily to his nose before he screws it up.]

Rotten flowers, but I digress. [He smiles, reaching up to pet a hand through the hair belonging to the head on his shoulder.] Man, what was I thinking?

[icy]

We could give it a wash, put Dave's cereal in it.

[ Jack's grin splits his face as he shakes with laughter, nudging the hand in his hair with a bump from a temple. Tossing the bowl in his hand, he taps the ground with his staff and sends a frozen blanket over the whole nest, freezing it solid into Arctic, enduring ice. ]

[dragonconqueror]

That would just be cruel. Besides, I don't think anything could get the smell out of it.

[Hiccup spares a few chuckles himself, responding to the bump to his hand by stroking his fingers through Jack's hair a little more. He watches the frost blanket the den, pausing before looking to his husband.]

How're you feeling?

[icy]

[ Even so, Jack's going to hold onto the keepsake. He might have to scrub it to hell and back but he doesn't entirely mind the old flowery scent and it's nice to have one thing remain from their time in the den.

He's pretty sure he ate grapes out of this thing, once. ]

Mmm. [ Frowning slightly, he shrugs and shakes his head. ] I thought it would hurt more, it's just kind of sad and I already expected that. You?

[dragonconqueror]

[He tilts his head slightly, humming before shrugging, letting his head rest back against Jack's and reaching to wrap his hand around the one holding onto the staff.]

Sad, like you said. A little lonely. This place was home for so long, it feels like...empty, I guess.

[icy]

[ A glance flickers automatically, then dismissively from the hand covering his on the staff, Jack's slight body-weight resting against Hiccup. ]

Thank you for bringing me back here. I know it's not easy on you either.