December 15 2013

Prompt: Cuddling

Modern AU

Hiccup grumbled as he finally found sanctuary under the covered porch at his front door. He welcomed the fact that the rain drops had ceased their assault on his person, but that didn't change his mood after what had already happened that day.

He had woken up late that morning because his alarm clock hadn't gone off. Normally Jack would have been there to wake him up, but Jack had had to leave extremely early that morning for work. When he did finally wake up, Hiccup had gotten changed and bolted out of the house, only to find that his car battery had died. Resigning himself to the fact that he would have to take the bus and be late, he started to walk. Half way into the ten minute walk to the bus stop, the heavens opened up and Hiccup had left his umbrella at home. And because life really had it out for him, as Hiccup was walking up to the bus stop, water dripping from his soaked clothing and hair, the bus passed without stopping and forced him to wait another thirty minutes for the next one.

When he finally arrived at the auto shop, the day only continued to get worse. The coffee was garbage, so Hiccup had a hard time staying awake, and then Snotlout took the honour of pointing out that his shirt was inside-out in order to embarrass him. He busied himself as soon as he could in order to try and take his mind off the morning's events. Unfortunately, that didn't work as he only got to work on one car that day, and it was an old beater that even Hiccup couldn't figure out the problem with.

So, there Hiccup stood, on the front porch, soaked and exhausted. It didn't help that he knew as soon as he walked in he would have to start making dinner since Jack wouldn't be back until later. He really wasn't in the mood to cook, but he didn't want to make his boyfriend pay for his bad day.

Hiccup cursed at his keys as he fumbled to get the door unlocked. When he did manage to get in, he took off his shoes and climbed up the stairs to the bedroom to get out of his soaking wet clothes.

Upon entering the room, before even turning on the light, Hiccup was startled by a soft mewling sound. Looking over to the source of the sound, he could see the yellow-green eyes staring at him with a sense of annoyance even through the dark.

"Sorry Toothless," Hiccup whispered, realizing he must've woken the cat from his nap. Sometimes he thought that cat slept more than he was awake, but he still loved him nonetheless. Hiccup just grabbed whatever he could without turning on the light and went out into the hallway to change.

Finally in some dry clothes, Hiccup returned downstairs and went into the kitchen to start dinner. He turned on the gas stove to medium heat and placed a pan on top, putting in a few tablespoons of oil. Deciding he may as well watch some television while he cooked, he walked across the room to the television and grabbed the remote. When he pushed the power button, however, he was greeted by a blue screen and the words "no signal".

"Of freaking course!" Hiccup said, exasperated. He turned the television as much as he could and started looking at the wires, trying to figure out which one was loose. Nothing appeared to be out of place, so he had to check each cord individually. He sat there fiddling with the cords when he was startled by the sound of the front door opening. He cursed under his breath when his head hit the cabinet the television was under.

"Hic? You here?" Jack called.

"Yeah, in here," Hiccup called back, rubbing the back of his head.

"Uh, Hic? Does something smell like it's burning?" Jack asked, still in the other room.

Hiccup thought for a minute, and then it hit him. "Crap!" Sure enough the oil in the pan was smoking, and as if on cue, it set the smoke detector off. Hiccup immediately turned off the heat and headed to the smoke detector to turn it off, but Jack beat him to it.

"You're early," Hiccup commented as Jack was reattaching the detector to the ceiling.

"Couldn't wait to see you again. I felt like today was way too long without you," Jack said, ever smiling. As he finished, he wrapped Hiccup in a hug and gave him a quick kiss.

"I'm sorry dinner isn't even close to ready. It's just, ugh," Hiccup sighed, lowering his gaze.

A wave of concern immediately came over Jack and his smile fell, as did his arms which immediately found Hiccup's hands. "Rough day?"

"You have no idea," Hiccup nearly mumbled, gaze still averted.

Jack released one of Hiccup's hands and used it to grab his chin, forcing Hiccup to look at him. Looking directly into his eyes, he said, "Then tell me." He reached back down to the dropped hand and led Hiccup over to the couch where they sat together. Jack immediately put his arm around Hiccup's shoulders.

Hiccup started from the beginning, leaving no detail out. Jack sat there, ever listening, soaking in every detail, never removing his arm and never losing eye contact. When Hiccup was finally finished recounting the depressing details of his day, Jack wrapped him in another hug with his other arm. This time, however, Jack didn't let go. Instead, he kept his arms around Hiccup and dragged him down so that they were lying down on the couch together.

They lay in silence, Hiccup fiddling with the fabric on Jack's shirt and drawing small circles while Jack kept both arms firmly around Hiccup's middle section. They didn't need to use words to feel the amount of love and understanding between the two of them at that moment. Without either of them realizing, they slowly drifted off to sleep in each other's arms.