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Hiccup sobs, clawing at the– the thing on his face as if he can get it off that way. Of course, he can’t– there’s a key, and Krogan holds it, tosses it in his hand in a way that makes Hiccup want to scream.
The man sneers, laughs at Hiccup’s pain, at his raw screams and scraped fingertips, at the bruises littered all over his torso, at the cuts peppered over his arms and legs. Hiccup chokes on another cry, wishes he could speak, wishes he could curse Krogan out for putting this inhumane muzzle on him– and if sensing this, the man says, “We’ll take it off when you agree to talk.”
Hiccup glares, an unspoken go to Hel begging to spill from his lips. He shakes his head, ignoring how dizzy it makes him, and Krogan scowls. “Fine.” He snaps his fingers, and the guards flanking him immediately walk forward to grab at him, to hurt him, and Hiccup screams, terror overcoming him as they hoist him up by the underarms. He’s so scared. He’s so scared, and he can’t do anything about it, he’s stuck here, stuck, stuck–
He passes out after the third blow.
“Hiccup?”
Hiccup is woken by gentle shaking, a cool hand ghosting his bruises, another warm one tugging at his muzzle. He opens his eyes to see Ruff and Tuff exchanging glances, and inhales sharply, coughing at the sudden influx of air filling his lungs. He sobs, and Tuffnut ruffles his hair so casually Hiccup can almost forget his current situation. “Easy, H,” the younger boy says quietly. “We’re gonna get you out of here.”
“Hiccup, do you know if there’s a key to this thing?” Ruffnut asks him calmly, and Hiccup nods furiously, tears spilling out of his eyes and onto Tuffnut’s hand. Ruffnut breathes a sigh of relief. “Okay, do you know where it is?”
Hiccup tries so hard to speak, but his mouth can’t open and the words won’t form. He whines, curling in on himself, and out of the corner of his eye, he sees Ruffnut bite her lip. “Shit, okay. Krogan probably has it, right?”
“Probably,” Tuffnut says, eyeing it warily. “I mean, we could always just…”
“Are you fucking kidding me?–”
Hiccup sobs again, and Ruffnut groans. “Okay, fine. Ugh– Hiccup–” her voice instantly switches tones, rough to gentle, annoyed to kind– “Hiccup, we’re going to cut through this, okay? Can you hold still?”
Hiccup nods, clutching Tuffnut’s pant leg to ground himself, just get it off get it off get it off. Please get it off.
Tuffnut holds his hand, chats idly to him while Ruffnut slowly cuts through the leather, and Hiccup sees a burst of magnesium fire in the sky, resists the urge to shudder. He doesn’t even notice Ruffnut has stopped until she places a hand on his shoulder and says, “Hiccup? It’s off.”
And he wants to believe her. He wants to believe her so badly, he really does, but it’s been on for a week now– how could it be gone just like that? And he wants it off, he wants it off, he begins to breathe rapidly, scratches at his face, rocks back and forth, sobs, “Get it off. Get it off, get it off get it off get it off, please pleasepleaseplease get it off, get it off–”
“It’s off, man,” Tuffnut says in alarm, but Hiccup– Hiccup can feel the ghost of it, feel the imprints on his face where it used to be, and he screams, “No! Get it off, please, I’m– I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you! Please get it off!”
“Okay,” Ruffnut breathes. “Okay, he’s pretty freaked out. We need to get out of here before someone hears us.” She picks him up easily, and Tuffnut keeps stroking Hiccup’s hair as he repeats, sobbing into his hands, “Please, please get it off. Please get it off. Please, please, get it off. Get it off. Get it off.”
Get it off.