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Hiccup frowned deeply looking at Dagur's wound. "Why the Hel did they stab you?"
"Should I have asked for an explanation?" Dagur panted. He had his hand pressed to the wound in his stomach, blood seeping through his fingers. He grabbed the handle of the knife.
"No, no! If you remove the knife you'll bleed to death!" Hiccup cried. "I don't have the proper supplies out here to take care of you." Hiccup scratched his head, looking around. Toothless mrowed at the both of them. They'd escaped the people that had attacked Dagur at the Northern Markets. Hiccup wasn't really allied with Dagur, but he couldn't just leave him hurt like this! He'd found him in an alley, breathing hard, bruises all over his face, and blood coming from his stab wound. Hiccup and Toothless had quickly gotten him out of there.
"So what?" Dagur asked. "You're going to take me somewhere that does have proper supplies?"
"I have to," Hiccup said, looking at the wound. Gods, he hoped it hadn't pierced anything bad.
Dagur cocked his head at him. "Why are you helping me?"
"Because..." Hiccup found himself at a loss for words. "I can't just... I couldn't just leave you like that! It wouldn't be right."
"Hiccup, we're enemies," Dagur said flatly. "How many times have I tried to capture or kill you?"
"M-many times?" Hiccup put an arm under Dagur to get him up. "Come on. I'm taking you back to the Edge."
"Oh, so Astrid can kill me?" Dagur huffed out. It was clear that moving caused him pain; Hiccup hated it.
Toothless growled as Hiccup came near with Dagur.
"Toothless, come on," Hiccup whined. "We're helping Dagur and that's that!"
Toothless grumbled, but didn't make any other sound. Instead, he sat still and let Hiccup help Dagur onto his back. Dagur groaned, doubling over. Hiccup frowned again, mounted Toothless in front of Dagur.
"Okay, hold onto me," Hiccup said, grabbing the hand holds of the saddle. He bunched up his muscles for taking off.
Dagur yelled in pain as Toothless took to the air. Hiccup cringed, one, because the other man was in pain and he hated it, two, because he had his big arms wrapped around him and he hated it. All his mind could think was that he was going to be physically or sexually assaulted. That's what Dagur had wanted from him, maybe still did want from him. He wasn't sure.
Dagur didn't say much during the flight, which meant that the wound was bad. He was usually so talkative. He even slumped his head against Hiccup's back.
"Dagur, stay with me," Hiccup said. "Stay with me. We'll be there soon."
Soon meant in the next half hour. Could Dagur make it that long?
He has to . Hiccup would never forgive himself if Dagur died on his watch, enemy or no.
He made it to the Edge as the sun was setting. His friends were gathered in the clubhouse for dinner.
"Hey, Hiccup. We got you a plate!" Ruffnut exclaimed as he landed. "Wait... is that...?"
Astrid ran at Dagur, grabbed him by the shoulder, and put a dagger to his throat. But then she saw the state he was in, the knife sticking out of his stomach, the blood that had gotten all over him and Hiccup.
"What... what happened?" she asked, backing away, sheathing her dagger.
Hiccup dismounted, helped Dagur down. He nearly collapsed, and Astrid had to help with his weight as well. His face was ashen.
"Found him in an alley like this," Hiccup responded. "I couldn't just leave him there."
Snotlout laughed. It was a sarcastic sound. "Well, you should have."
Hiccup shot Snotlout a glare. "Clear off the table."
Snotlout grumbled something under his breath, probably a curse or an insult. Though, he began to work with the rest of the Riders to clear off the dinner table and get Dagur onto it. Dagur lay on his back, eyes squeezed shut, a pained groan leaving him.
"If... If only I'd thought to wear my armor today, right?" Dagur asked. He was just in a sleeveless green tunic instead of his full Berserker regalia.
"Yeah, well, can't dwell on what if's," Hiccup said. There was a reason he always wore his armor when he went to the Northern Markets. It had become a very dangerous place.
He stared at the knife, feeling himself going a slight shade of green. Hiccup had dealt with blood and injuries before, but it was always difficult.
"Fishlegs, what do we do?" Hiccup asked. The Gronckle Rider was also the healing expert on the island.
"Well, obviously we have to pull the knife out," Fishlegs started. He'd gone to get his bag of medical supplies from the back of the room, so he raised his voice so he could be heard better. "Then we disinfect it and stitch it up."
"See?" Hiccup said to Dagur. "I didn't have the right supplies for that."
"If Astrid kills me in your sleep, I'm haunting you for the rest of your life," Dagur rasped.
Hiccup gave a nervous laugh, glanced at Astrid. She said nothing to quell either of their nerves.
"Hiccup, could you, uh, pull out the knife?" Fishlegs asked. He had a bottle of alcohol ready as disinfectant, and a thread and needle sat nearby.
"Yeah." Hiccup reached for the hilt, his hand shaking. He took a deep breath, then another. He tried wrapping his fingers around the hilt, but just couldn't do it.
"Why are you the one freaking out?" Dagur asked him, noticing his hesitation. "I'm the one with a knife in my stomach!"
"Okay, okay!" Hiccup took ahold of the hilt. "This is going to hurt..." He tugged, the knife came free, and Dagur bellowed, writhing around on the table.
"Hold him!" Fishlegs cried as he began trying to push up his tunic.
Hiccup laid his hands on Dagur's abdomen, and Astrid laid her hands on his legs, trying their best to hold him down to the table. The next part, the disinfecting, made Dagur scream. Hiccup winced at the sound, tried his best not to draw back and keep holding him steady.
"Sorry, sorry!" Fishlegs cried. He patted the wound with a towel, then went for the needle and thread. Dagur had stopped moving, was just breathing heavily, wordless.
"It's okay," Dagur grunted. "Gotta do what you gotta do."
Hiccup and Astrid didn't have to hold Dagur down for the stitching, which was good. Hiccup didn't think he had the fortitude to hold him like that any longer. His own skin touching Dagur's had freaked him out a little bit.
The Riders convened in a separate room in the clubhouse as Fishlegs worked on Dagur.
"Hiccup, why the Hel did you bring him here?" Snotlout asked angrily. Hopefully he wasn't loud enough to be heard.
"I couldn't just leave him to die! That would have surely killed him!"
"And?" Tuffnut asked, raising an eyebrow.
Hiccup made a frustrated growling sound. "No one harm him. I mean it." He met the eyes of each of his Riders, trying to instill the command through his gaze. It must have worked, because they put their heads down, shuffled their feet.
"Where is he going to stay?" Ruffnut asked.
"My hut," Hiccup answered. He figured Dagur would feel safer closer to him.
"Shouldn't we restrain him or something?" Astrid asked. "He's not our friend, Hiccup."
"I know, I know." Hiccup looked back into the other room, where Fishlegs was working diligently. "But what can he do while he's wounded?"
Astrid gave him a very serious look. "Hiccup, we know what he wants with you."
"Yeah? And if he tries, I'll punch him in his wound," Hiccup said. He didn't know if he really could do that, hurt a person that badly, but maybe if it came down to self defense he could.
The Riders didn't look happy, but that seemed to be the end of the conversation. They gathered back in the clubhouse just as Fishlegs was finishing stitching up Dagur's injury. His big hands were covered in blood, and usually that bothered Fishlegs, but he seemed to be focusing on his work rather than that.
Dagur was hardly conscious, so he didn't move much as they cleaned around the wound. They had to heft him up to a sitting position to bandage it.
"Ugh, why is he so heavy?" Snotlout complained.
"Muscle," Dagur murmured. He must have heard that.
After bandaging his wound, they set him back down on the table. Hiccup studied him, wondering how they would get him to his hut.
"Dagur, you awake?" Hiccup asked.
"Mm?" He raised an eyebrow. Good. He was.
"Think you can walk to my hut?"
"Walk? No. Ride, sure."
"Okay." Hiccup beckoned Toothless over. He didn't seem happy about any of this. Hiccup couldn't blame him. Dagur had captured and hurt Toothless numerous times, and had planned to abuse him and keep him as his. Though, he came over nonetheless, and the Riders helped Dagur slump onto his back.
"I'll come back for dinner, alright?" Hiccup said to the other Riders. He didn't want them coming with him. He felt like there were unsaid things between him and Dagur, things that could only be said in private. The tension between them was thick enough to be chopped with a knife.
The Riders didn't look happy, but they began cleaning up the table, and returning to their dinner. Hiccup left, leading a Dagur-burdened Toothless to his hut.
Dagur was conscious enough to get up the stairs with some help, and he sighed in relief when he collapsed into Hiccup's bed. He put a hand over his stomach, but then seemed to realize that his tunic was all torn and blood stained.
"Got anything for me to wear?" Dagur asked.
Hiccup scratched the back of his head. He and Dagur weren't really the same size.
"Can I just help take the tunic off?" Hiccup asked. "I don't have anything. Sorry."
Dagur winked at him. "Trying to get me naked."
Hiccup's face burned red. He didn't know if it was mostly out of embarrassment or anger. "You know I'm not!"
"Fine, fine, sorry." Dagur sat up with a grunt, and after a moment of breathing through the pain, raised his arms for Hiccup to remove the tunic. Hiccup's skin itched with discomfort at touching Dagur like this, but he didn't really have much of a choice. It had been his idea to save him. Now he had to follow through.
Next, he took off Dagur's boots, and Dagur laid back down, breathing another sigh. He seemed relieved.
"I have to go eat dinner. I'll bring something back for you." Hiccup made to leave, but Dagur reached out his arm and took his wrist. His grip wasn't gentle.
"Hiccup?"
"Let go of me."
Dagur did, and Hiccup pulled his hand up to his chest, as if he'd been hurt by the touch. He took in a big breath. "What is it?"
"I'm sorry."
Hiccup blinked in shock. Then blinked again, utterly stunned. Was he... was he receiving an apology from Dagur the Deranged?
"F-for...?"
"Everything I've done to you," Dagur said. "You still... you know what I've wanted with you in the past and still took care of me. You didn't have to do that to yourself."
"If you think I didn't, then you don't understand me very well." Hiccup didn't make to leave yet. He sat on the edge of the bed, trying to get more comfortable with Dagur's presence. He would have to - it could take a long while for his wound to heal before they sent him on his way. But could he do that? Morally? Logically? What if saving Dagur hurt more people?
"Dagur, you have to promise me you won't return to the Dragon Hunters," Hiccup said. He turned his head to look at him. "I want saving you to have meant something."
"You're afraid that because you saved me, you just doomed others," Dagur said. It wasn't a question, but Hiccup nodded anyway.
"Fair, fair," Dagur said. He shifted a little, trying to get comfortable on the bed. He looked up at the ceiling, then at Hiccup. "What about Heather?"
Right. Dagur didn't know that Heather was a double agent working for the Dragon Riders. And Dagur genuinely loved and worried about his sister.
"We'll get her out," Hiccup answered, laying a hand on Dagur's. "That's my promise."
Dagur nodded, and Hiccup found that he wasn't withdrawing his hand. Instead, he took it, gave it a squeeze. "Promise me, Dagur."
"I promise."
"Good." Hiccup released Dagur's hand, feeling like he'd been holding it for too long. He brushed it off on his tunic, as if that would relieve his discomfort. He sighed, looked straight ahead. "I'm sorry I'm like this."
"Like what?"
Hiccup couldn't look at Dagur as he said it. "Scared."
"Hiccup, I... I wanted to... you know what I wanted to do to you," he said, "what could have happened if I got my hands on you." He shook his head. "You have nothing to apologize for."
Hiccup looked at him now. There was something in Dagur's eyes that he couldn't discern, and he couldn't quite sort out what he was feeling. Everything was muddled.
"Can I... try something?" Hiccup asked. "To get over my fear."
"Try what?"
"Kiss me," Hiccup said, shocked that the words had actually left his mouth. "Kiss me and nothing more. Prove to me you have the restraint. Prove to me that you won't hurt me."
Dagur looked utterly stunned. He sat up, arm wrapping around his wound. He had to take a few breaths before lifting his head. "Are you sure?"
Hiccup looked at Toothless, who was giving him a questioning look. Of course his dragon wouldn't understand. He hated Dagur, and Hiccup didn't think that was going to dissipate anytime soon.
"I'm sure," Hiccup responded, turning back to Dagur.
Dagur smirked. "You ever kissed anyone before?"
"Of course I have!"
"Who?"
"Doesn't matter right now." Hiccup touched Dagur's cheek, leaned forward. His breaths were coming in little, frightened puffs. But he needed this. He needed this to overcome his fear and prove to himself that Dagur wouldn't hurt him while he stayed here on the Edge.
Dagur took Hiccup's face in both his hands, leaned forward as well. Their lips were close, nearly touching.
"Are you sure? "
"Yes," Hiccup whispered.
So their lips met. It was so different from kissing a woman, from kissing Astrid. The most noticeable difference was the irritating scratch of Dagur's beard against his face. But then there was the way Dagur kissed. It wasn't something little or chaste - it was big, hard, full of passion.
And that was it. Hiccup pulled away, and Dagur let him. Dagur pulled away as well. Hiccup was honestly astonished by his level of self control. He hadn't known that he'd had that in him.
Hiccup took a deep breath, let go of Dagur, and Dagur relinquished his touch on him.
"Feel better?" Dagur asked after some time in silence.
Oddly enough, the answer was yes. Dagur had proven to him that he wouldn't hurt him, that he could control himself around him, even while doing something like kissing.
And even more odd was the fact that Hiccup wanted to do it again.
"Yeah," Hiccup answered. "I... kind of want to kiss you again." He said it with a blush.
"Well, I certainly can't complain about that." Dagur put his hand on the back of his head, and Hiccup grabbed Dagur's other hand, putting his other on his waist. They moved in close, and this time, there was hardly a hint of hesitation or discomfort. This kiss wasn't Hiccup trying to get over his fear or prove something to himself.
This kiss was real.