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Hiccup turned in front of the mirror. He wasn't in his tunic, was inspecting a large, unsightly bruise over his ribs on the left. It was purple and black - never a good sign - and it hurt like Hel. Still, he found himself poking at it a little, just to see how much it hurt.
"Ow."
Toothless rumbled at him, and Hiccup looked over. His dragon didn't appear pleased.
"No, Toothless, I'm not going to Fishlegs about it." He grabbed for his tunic, began pulling it on. "I don't want to bother him with it."
Toothless barked out a question: "Why not?"
"Because, it's not a big deal," Hiccup told him. He began fastening on his leather armor. It hurt pressing something tight against the bruise, but his friends would know something was off if he wasn't wearing his armor.
Toothless said nothing, but flicked his tail at him in annoyance.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Hiccup responded. His dragon was annoyed with him for not going to Fishlegs for help, but why should he? It was just a bruise. "Now, are you coming to breakfast or not?"
Toothless grumbled something at him, then rose from his position and stretched. They left the hut together, and found that they were the last to arrive at the clubhouse. That was unlike them; Hiccup had spent too much time looking at that damn bruise.
Their friends greeted them, and Hiccup took a seat between Astrid and Fishlegs. There was already a plate ready for him, so he dug in. Maybe eating would help the pain.
"Any plans for the day?" Ruffnut asked.
"That depends," Astrid said. "I wonder what our fearless leader here wants us to do." She elbowed Hiccup hard, like she usually would, but this time was different - she elbowed him right in the ribs.
"Agh! Ow!" Hiccup jumped up from his seat, clutching his ribs, breathing hard at the pain.
"Whoa, what is it?" Astrid asked, and his friends were quick to gather around him. He felt like it was suffocating him.
"N-nothing. Nothing," Hiccup got out quickly. He tried to stand straight, but doubled over again, a cry of pain leaving him.
"It's clearly not nothing!" Fishlegs exclaimed. He helped Hiccup back into his seat. He was panting, holding his ribs. "Hiccup, what happened?"
"It's stupid," Hiccup said. "Just from a stupid accident."
"Okay, that doesn't tell us what happened," Astrid said, crossing her arms.
Hiccup sighed, but didn't let go of his ribs. "Fine. Toothless and I were trying out this new maneuver and he swerved to avoid a tree. It ended up throwing me off and I hit a branch really hard on my way down."
"Hiccup, you should have told us!" Snotlout cried. There was anger in his voice. "You tell us to tell you when we're hurt. I think the same should apply to you."
"But I'm not hurt. It's just a bruise."
"Okay, then let's get a look at it." That was Tuffnut.
Hiccup looked around at all of his friends. They weren't relenting on this. With a sigh, he began taking off his belt and his pauldrons so he could remove the rest of his armor. Once that was gone, he lifted up his shirt to show them.
Fishlegs and Astrid gasped, Snotlout looked stunned, and Ruffnut and Tuffnut were fighting each other to try to get a good look, yelling: "Let me see! Let me see!"
"Hiccup, that's not nothing," Astrid said quietly.
Fishlegs came close, ran the palm of his hand over the bruise, making Hiccup wince.
"Sorry! Just checking that nothing's broken." He felt at Hiccup's ribs with two hands now, and Hiccup bit his lip to hold in a cry. Yep, that hurt.
"Okay, nothing's broken," Fishlegs deduced, letting go of Hiccup. Hiccup put his shirt back down, relieved to be hiding the bruise again. "But it's definitely a bad contusion. I'll have to wrap it, and you're on bed rest for a week."
"A week?!" Hiccup was not happy about that. "But, I have to-"
"No," Astrid cut him off. "You don't. You need rest like Fishlegs said. You'd tell any of us to listen to him."
Hiccup frowned, huffing through his nose. "Fine. I guess I'll allow myself the same treatment I give you guys."
"Don't be mad at us, Hiccup," Tuffnut pleaded. The Dragon Riders were once again sitting down around the table to finish their breakfast. "It's just because we care."
"Yeah," Ruffnut added.
"A lot," Snotlout put in.
Hiccup couldn't help but give them all a bit of a smile. They were right. He deserved the same treatment he afforded them; he did it because he cared, and now they were returning the favor.