Work Text:
"Well, my dad says he's proud of us, especially me, his favorite son," Snotlout declared.
"I didn't say that." Spitelout's voice was a low, menacing growl. Oh. Snotlout knew that tone.
"Dad!" he exclaimed anxiously. "You got your voice back! That's great!"
"Is it? We'll see about that." Spitelout grabbed Snotlout by the shoulder. Hard, hard enough to hurt and leave him squirming. "We have a lot to talk about, boyo."
Snotlout wanted to beg and plead with his father, as he sometimes did before a beating, but he was in front of his friends. He couldn't lose anymore dignity than he already had. He had to—
"You let go of him!" Hiccup demanded, stepping forward. He had yet to return Astrid's axe to her, and looked a bit threatening, even with his lithe figure.
Spitelout tightened his hold, and Snotlout squeaked a little. His father's fingerprints would be dark in his skin later.
"Oh, you want to get involved in my family business?" Spitelout asked, eyes narrowed.
"Yes, actually, I do," Hiccup responded. His eyes flitted to Snotlout, and Snotlout quietly shook his head. He didn't want Hiccup getting involved. He was just going to make things worse, probably for both of them.
And gods, he felt so embarrassed. Couldn't his father have waited till they'd returned home for this? He didn't want all his friends to know that Spitelout hit him.
"And why's that? You think I don't have a right to discipline my own child?"
Snotlout was surprised when Astrid stepped forward to back up Hiccup.
"Well, Spitelout, Snotlout's an adult, actually." She crossed her arms over her chest, but there was an anger in her icy blue eyes. "And if your discipline of him involves this—" she gestured to Snotlout, who was still cringing at the pain in his shoulder—"then I've got a problem with it."
"Astrid, you hit me all the time," Snotlout said with a nervous laugh. No, no. His friends couldn't get involved! What if Spitelout brought this up with Stoick? Oh gods, he felt like he was dying of embarrasment. He just wanted to melt through the glacier they were standing on.
"He hits you?!" Fishlegs yelped.
Oops. Let on too much there.
"Whether I lay a hand on Snotlout or not is not your business." Spitelout's voice was rippling with anger. He finally let go of him though, and Snotlout shuffled away a little bit, rubbing at the spot that would certainly bruise.
"Spitelout, you're going back to Berk," Hiccup said. "Alone. Snotlout is coming with us back to Dragon's Edge."
"Oh, and you think you and your friends are going to get in the way of this?" Spitelout puffed out his chest, lifted his head high. "I could talk to your father, and—"
"My father doesn't even like you!" Hiccup cried. Snotlout was surprised the words came out so plainly. "You think he'll side with you?"
Spitelout stomped through the ice over to Hiccup, and Snotlout silently hoped for him to slip. He got almost nose-to-nose with Hiccup, who stood his ground, lifting his own head high. He was a bit taller than Spitelout, and Snotlout couldn't help feeling a small bit of satisfaction from that.
"I will not be bullied into anything by a bunch of teenagers!" Spitelout shouted, voice raising in pitch. "I don't care that you're all adults, or that you're the chief's son! As your elder, I deserve—no, no—demand respect!"
"Respect should go both ways," Hiccup responded, eyes narrowed. Again, his voice was as even as ever. Snotlout didn't know how he wasn't quivering on the inside. Well, maybe he was. Or maybe he wasn't afraid of Spitelout the way he was. Certainly Spitelout wouldn't raise a hand against Berk's heir, right? "And you clearly have none for me, and none for Snotlout, so I don't think I'll be giving any in return."
Spitelout laughed. Right in Hiccup's face. Snotlout was now embarrased by his father's sheer audacity. Hiccup had more power than him, even in this situation. Granted, Snotlout knew he'd never respected Hiccup, even after he'd saved the lives of nearly everyone in the tribe by battling the Red Death, even after everything he'd sacraficed and put on the line for them, for him. Hiccup had never liked his half uncle, and Snotlout didn't see why he should start now.
"And what are you going to do?" Spitelout asked between harsh chuckles. "Tell me to go to the corner?"
Hiccup let out a frustrated growling noise, and Snotlout noticed how his hand tightened around the shaft of Astrid's axe, his other hand balling into a fist.
"No," Hiccup replied firmly. "I'm ordering you to return to Berk." His voice was the hardest Snotlout had ever heard it. "And given that I'm the chief's son, I outrank you. So? Do as I say."
Spitelout blinked in surprise, taking a few steps away from Hiccup. His cheeks were coloring, and Snotlout could feel spiteful satisfaction tingling in his chest and belly. This was good. This was so good. He no longer felt shame for his friends knowing about what his father did to him. He might later, but in this moment, he just felt a twisted sense of joy. His father was getting what he deserved.
For a long while, there was silence, Spitelout trying to stare down Hiccup, to make him back down, but Hiccup stood his ground with a glare. The rest of the Dragon Riders fell in by Hiccup's side, also glaring at his father. Snotlout, feeling brave, rushed over to join them. He slipped and nearly fell, but Tuffnut grabbed him and steadied him, patted him on the chest. Snotlout gave him a grateful look before also turning a glare on his father. He felt braver with the Riders by his side.
Gods, I love them. He might have to tell them that later, if he had the guts for it. Love was sappy, not something he admitted to, but it was what he was feeling right now, so strongly that he wanted to hug them all and cry.
"Fine," Spitelout finally said. He turned towards his dragon, Kingstail. They'd brought him along despite Spitelout riding on the back of Hookfang the entire time, breathing down Snotlout's neck, a reminder that he was beholden to him. "I'll go back to Berk." He gripped the saddle to mount the Nadder, but then turned back to Hiccup. "And don't think your father won't be hearing about this."
"Oh, I'm counting on it," Hiccup said, and he sounded satisfied himself. There was no way Stoick was going to let Spitelout get away with all this. Besides, Hiccup had saved Berk and the Skrill. There was no reason for Stoick to be upset with him.
Spitelout hmphed rather loudly and mounted his dragon. Hookfang, standing close by, let out a small chortling sound, his form of expressing amusement.
"Oh, you think that's funny, do ya?" Spitelout snapped at Hookfang. "Well, I—"
His words were cut short as Hookfang puffed smoke from his nostrils directly into his face. Spitelout coughed, then waved the smoke away with a scowl. With one last glare towards Hiccup and the Dragon Riders, his eyes lingering on Snotlout, he and Kingstail took off, leaving the glacier behind.
Snotlout's knees were shaking. He suddenly felt weak, like he couldn't stand any longer. Relief like nothing he'd ever felt before coursed through his veins, but then there was terror, terror he hadn't been letting himself feel.
He collapsed into the arms of his friends, tears stinging at his eyes, trailing hot down his icy cheeks. Hiccup had dropped Astrid's axe to help catch him.
For a long while, Snotlout couldn't speak. He kept trying too, but each time he opened his mouth it resulted in a sob. He would have been more embarrassed if not for the exhaustion he was feeling.
"It's okay, Snotlout," Fishlegs said soothingly, rubbing his back. "We've got you."
"I-I-I—" He couldn't finish. He wanted to tell the Dragon Riders that he loved them. He had to. They'd stood up to his father and saved him from a beating. No one stood up to Spitelout, not even his mother. (Granted, she knew what his knuckles felt like too.)
"We know." The soft smile was in Ruffnut's voice. She patted him on the back.
"Yeah," Hiccup said. "We sure do."
Snotlout was relieved he didn't have to get the words out, relieved that his friends already knew that he loved them. He loved them more than most of his blood family, if he was being honest with himself.
For now, Snotlout just enjoyed the warmth of their arms around him, and cried with relief.