Chapter 10 – Dancing Shadows

When Hiccup thought of bliss, he thought of soaring in the sky on Toothless' back with the soft and fluffy clouds under his feet. At times, he thought of Astrid's smile or the smiles of his friends and family, side by side as if all their problems were as far away as possible, hidden underneath the white and gray clouds. Every now and then, Hiccup could dream about nice things, things that weren't always about devastation and loss, or about the Edge and his dad. At times, there was just peace and tranquility, of arms wrapping around him then pulling him close until his back was pressed against Astrid and her warm bosom.

Keenly expecting softness, Hiccup instead felt his back press against something rugged and solid, and the arms wrapped around him were muscular and veiny. He felt prickly hairs brush against the back of his neck then he remembered that Astrid didn't have a beard, nor muscly arms nor a rugged torso.

Glancing back, Hiccup realized that the person pressed against his back was not his blonde and endearing fiancée but none other than the redheaded Berserker who smiled at him fondly as if what they were doing was nothing unusual.

Nothing unusual at all.

"Gah!" Hiccup yelped out, heart beating rapidly as if it was ready to burst out of his chest. The nightmare flickered and seethed in his mind so vividly that he thought it was a memory. It took him a few seconds to compose and remind himself that it wasn't real that he was asleep and nothing more.

Suddenly, the sheets beside him rustled as they shuffled. Even in the darkness, Hiccup could tell that something or rather someone laid beside him, snoring softly and large. Hiccup knew he was on a bed since there were sheets on him however he did not remember not having his shirt on before going to sleep, then he remembered that he didn't go to sleep last night as usual.

For right now, he was on Dagur's bed with a definitely asleep Dagur who snored ever so softly without a care in the world, or a care of what was clearly a mistake.

"Oh my Thor! Dagur! Wake up!" Hiccup quickly reached over to the other man's thick shoulder that barely budged at his nudge.

"Wake up!" Hiccup exclaimed, and the redhead stirred slightly before his eyes suddenly burst open. "Wha- What? Are we under attack?"

"No! But soon you'll be!" the brunet bit out at Dagur whose eyelids began gradually closing.

"What are you talking about?" A loud yawn quickly escaped the Berserker which could probably be heard by the dragons outside.

The Hooligan abrasively gestured both hands toward Dagur, "This! What're you doing?"

"I was sleeping, I thought that was fairly obvious." Dagur spat out with a raised brow.

"I know that! But you're here!" The brunet searched the room frantically as if it wasn't already obvious. "Sleeping here and next to me!"

"Yeah and so?" The Berserker asked.

"So how did this happen?"

Rolling his eyes even at his state, Dagur huffed for a moment before answering, "You fell asleep while I was giving you a massage remember?"

"I did?" With hands gently roaming over his body, Hiccup gasped abruptly at the sudden realization that he was without a shirt. Frantically searching through the sheets despite being covered with darkness, panic and embarrassment filled Hiccup's conscience like a cup being overfilled.

"Oh gods! Why didn't you wake me up?" he asked the Berserker with an accusative tone.

"Because for the same reason why you don't wake people up who are sleeping! Now for Thor's sake could you pipe down and relax? Some of us are trying to get some sleep!" Dagur grunted bluntly then turned to his side so his back faced Hiccup like earlier.

The Hooligan searched for the words to reply, perhaps another witty or snarky remark but not a single word left his lips. However, a guttural sound left his lips, "Augh!" before he turned his back at the other man and prayed that this never happened and that it was all a dream.

It wasn't long before sleep took Hiccup as his soft snores moved throughout the room and into Dagur's ears, which pleased the redhead. A pleased sigh escaped the Berserker at the thought that he didn't have to explain more to the other man, explain that just before Hiccup woke up, their bodies were pressed up against each other. They were two peas in a pod when Dagur abruptly woke up and realized that their limbs were entwined like a bundle of twigs in a camp site.

The Berserker quickly pulled away and pretended to be asleep while his heart pounded ceremonial drums, signaling his upcoming execution at the hands of Hiccup Haddock. Thankfully, the gods were watching over him or perhaps toying with him. He could only hope for the former.

Daybreak and SS Beowulf creaked sounds which sent shivers throughout the dragons' scales as they watched their riders avoid each other in a symbiotic system of sinister silence. The morning sun could not warm the chilly atmosphere that set on the sails and seeped into the room, ghostly perpetrating the wooden structure and causing it to cry out with rickety sounds.

Hiccup appeared from the ship's hull with a thunder cloud hanging over his head. He wished to carry this cloud to a certain Berserker who was humming to himself on the deck. The dragons noticed Hiccup's presence and slightly inched back, wary of the impending doom.

The Berkian chief stopped beside Dagur, his face creased from the bubbling rage. "We need to talk." He said. The Berserker raised a brow momentarily before a faint smirk appeared on his face.

"Good morning to you too." Dagur greeted as bright as the morning sun.

"Last night…" Before Hiccup could continue, the Berserker abruptly interrupted. "Ah!" Dagur exclaimed, placing a finger on Hiccup's lips to silence him.

"Hold on a sec, answer my question first- how're you feeling by the way?" Dagur asked with a raised brow then added, "Physically that is."

"Good…well ummm" Hiccup scratched the back of his head then continued lowly, pinched by an acute sensation of remorse, "...better actually…"

"Good. I'm glad to know." The Berserker commented and crossed his arms.

Shaking his head, Hiccup glanced back to the redhead, "But that's not what I want to talk to you about."

"Mhm?" Dagur hummed and crouched down to remove several ropes left on the floor yesterday. He carried them while Hiccup followed suit.

"Well uhh, you see- ehem…last night was uhh…" Though the words were as fresh in Hiccup's memory since he rehearsed them earlier, they seem to get caught at his throat. It probably had something to do with Dagur's damn smirk.

"Awkward." Dagur turned to him with that smirk again.

"Yes! To say the least…" Hiccup pointedly stated to the bigger man as he would to the troublesome twins back in Berk. "You could've woken me up…you should've-,"

"Should've what?" Dagur abruptly dropped the ropes atop one of the barrels with a thud. "Disturb a person who was fast asleep and isn't in anyone's way whatsoever?"

A second of silence passed before Hiccup answered, "Well- yes!"

"Oh really?" Dagur asked.

"Well of course not! But that's beside the point! You know that's not what I mean!" The frustration began to crawl up to Hiccup's nerves and it made his voice louder and more demanding.

"Then what is it? Oh please tell me Hiccup. What person wakes up another person who is sound asleep?" Angrily, Dagur gestured his hands together as if they were holding an invisible box from one side and carried it to another.

"I was not content!" Hiccup refuted.

"Oh you were! I saw the look on your face, and you were so cute like an angel." Dagur's eyes went wide and doe-like as the redhead described the other man.

Flabbergasted, a large scowl appeared on Hiccup's expression then he questioned, "Angel?"

Dagur could merely roll his eyes before shaking his head and stomped toward their chamber. Noticing that the other man had left, Hiccup cried out, "Dagur wait! We're not done here!" He ran quickly, his metal stump thumping on the wooden surface as heavy as the burly man, making the candle sticks rattle. Unable to find another way out, the Berserker turned around to confront Hiccup with sharp eyes. "Ugh fine! What do you want me to say? Apologize?"

"No- I mean it's not….I just-," Amidst the sequence of Hiccup's stuttering, Dagur bit his cheek as his defensive words tried to slip through his lips. Hiccup looked up to him. "How are you so okay with this?"

A nerve twitched in Dagur's temple, "Well why wouldn't I be? We just slept in the same bed and nothing else. There should be nothing to worry about."

"Look, since you're clearly very uncomfortable with it then fine, tonight I'll sleep on the floor. I don't care!"

"Why are you mad?" Hiccup angrily asked.

"Because you're being so difficult! You're going crazy over sleeping in the same bed with someone which I'm sure you've done plenty of times with Astrid." Dagur gestured both hands at the bed.

"Well of course it's different! Sleeping in the same bed with you is completely different as sleeping in it with Astrid!" Hiccup exclaimed.

"Alright but how is that a problem? It's not like it'll hurt anyone if we bunked together."

"Oh I'm sure that's what you said to all the people you've taken to bed before!" The words immediately brought forth regret before Hiccup could take them back.

"I-I didn't mean that-,"

With a sharp glare and a grunt, Dagur shoved past Hiccup's shoulder, stomped to the door and slammed it shut. Hiccup's hand met his forehead followed by a guttural groan.

At the deck, Hiccup found the other man whose forearms resting on the port and eyes fixed to the horizon. Hiccup silently approached Dagur then broke the silence with an apology. "I'm sorry…"

The other man removed their eyes from the horizon then to the side, "For what?"

"For what I said. I didn't mean it. I shouldn't have said it."

Dagur glanced over the other man with a serious countenance, "Mean it or not, there is some truth to it."

"I have been with plenty of people before, it's not really that outrageous for my people to know that their Chief gets around." Dagur paused.

"But that doesn't mean that I'd do the same to you."

Nodding, Hiccup stated, "Yes you're right. You're absolutely right and I was wrong. I shouldn't have presumed that about you or blow things out of proportion…"

"I'm just- I'm still getting used to the idea."

The gust of sea breeze swept the deck as the two men momentarily until Dagur's lips formed a flat slant. "That's understandable. It's not every day you hear the sexcapades of Dagur the Deranged. I don't blame you for being cautious."

"And I can assure you. I would never intentionally bring you to a compromising situation."

Without a shred of doubt in Hiccup's core, the lanky chief smiled back and replied, "Thanks. I trust you." This brought a wider grin on the Berserker's face.

Total equilibrium returned to SS Beowulf for the rest of the day. Both chiefs busied themselves with managing the ship and more cartography from the Berserker dragon eye lens. Line after line, Hiccup sketched until he could get the thought that had been gnawing at him. It wasn't until dinner, under the starry night and blackened sea did Hiccup mustered the courage to approach the Berserker with his thoughts.

They were having some chicken and vegetable broth soup and Dagur had just finished his story regarding babysitting Gustav as favor for Stoick when Hiccup started, "Hey Dagur, if you don't mind me asking…"

"Yes Hiccup?" The redhead took a sip of broth from his spoon.

"I was wondering, about what you said earlier, about getting around." Suddenly the Berserker started coughing profusely as if he had just swallowed his spoon as an accident. When he recovered, he cleared his throat and glanced at Hiccup with a more worried expression than the other man.

"Uh what about it?"

"I know you're sometimes quite forward about things…"

"Yeah, well it's kinda easy having very little sense of boundaries when you're deranged." Dagur tapped his right temple with his index finger.

"Right."

"Why do you ask?"

Hiccup sheepishly turned away and tried to find the answer from the deck's floor. "Well…it's just…um it would explain why you're so relaxed about the whole sleeping in the same bed as another guy-uh person- I mean!"

Questioningly, Dagur raised a brow and placed his bowl on his lap. The dragons had finished their meal and were staring at their rider's exchange attentively. They seemed quite averse to the pauses their riders made and ensured to remain silent as if they sensed the tension accurately.

"I see." Dagur said.

"It's not that I'm assuming or anything! I guess what I'm trying to say is-,"

Dagur cut Hiccup off to ask, "You're wondering if I've been with a man before?"

"Yes-," Hiccup answered quickly, "I mean- not that being comfortable sleeping in the same bed as another man means that you've been with another man before but-,"

"Yes." Dagur cut him off again.

"I'm not- what?"

The Berserker turned to the other man solemnly, the bowl on his lap began to grow cold by the second, "I said yes, Hiccup. I've been with a man before. Many I should say."

Hiccup was unable to stop his jaw from dropping as for some reason, inappropriate images involving Dagur and random strangers appeared in his thoughts.

Suddenly, Dagur grabbed his attention.

"Is something the matter?"

Quickly trying to erase his imagination into thin air, Hiccup shook his head back to reality. "No! Nothing's wrong. Why would there be?"

Dagur couldn't help let a scoff escape before he explained, "Because you look like you just heard bad news."

"No! It's not like that! It's just- I'm surprised that's all." Shrugging his shoulders, Hiccup slumped as remorse swam and coaxed his conscience in his gut. Dagur cleared his throat and straightened his back. "Yeah it's not exactly something Heather and I would bring up when we see you guys."

Wide eyed and brows raised, Hiccup asked, "Wait Heather knows?"

"Of course she does, she's my sister! I share everything with her, within reason that is." Dagur promptly moved his gaze to the side then he continued, "So do the Berserkers and a lot of people actually. I don't see why I need to hide it if anyone asks."

"Oh…"

Like clockwork, worry began to fester in Dagur's conscience, "Does that worry you or make you uncomfortable?"

Hiccup began to reply as softly as the information registered within, "No…"

"Did I break your trust perhaps?" Dagur asked which made Hiccup furiously shake his head.

"No! Not in the least! It's just, this is news to me. I thought- actually I dunno what I thought." The Berkian chief scratched his scalp to wonder before turning to the Berserker whose countenance remained sullen by worry. "I guess I thought after all this time and everything we went through, I would've known…I feel kinda bad actually for not asking sooner."

Relief spread in the Berserker's chest. Dagur forced himself to hide the faint smile that tried to form on his face. "Don't be. It's perfectly understandable. I don't think you've had much experience with people who are interested in the same or both genders. We may not be the majority, but we definitely exist."

"You're right…but I'm glad you shared this with me. It means a lot knowing more about you." This time, Hiccup was smiling at the Berserker and the air around them seemed to be more breathable by the second. Dagur perked up and the Berkian chief could now notice the shining smile appear on the other man.

"You're always welcome. I just hope this won't change anything between us."

A small chuckle left Hiccup then he reassured, "Of course not! Nothing's changed. In fact, I think things are better than before."

Dagur nodded and responded, "Good."

Under the darkness of the night, the two men failed to notice their dragons sharing a quick glance at each other. The scaly winged beasts shook their heads and moved their eyes back to their riders who exchanged gentle smiles as they cleared their dinner.

No less than half an hour, the men retired to their dimly lit bedchamber. Even inside, the cold ghosted through the walls and filled their lungs with chilly air. It didn't bother the two men as something else did.

"So umm, I'm guessing you'll be sleeping on the floor tonight?" Dagur turned to the brunet and asked.

Swallowing hard, Hiccup answered. "No, I won't."

"Really?"

Smiling, Hiccup reassured, "Yeah, really."

"You don't think it'll be weird?" The redhead gestured his hand toward the bed.

"Of course not! I'm not gonna sleep on the floor just because of what you told me."

With a raised brow, the muscular man said, "Yeah but I hope you're not choosing to sleep on the bed just to prove that you're okay with what I said to you."

Hiccup's face creased at the very accusation, "No! Of course not! That'd be even worse than being not okay about it upfront. Look, I'm more than happy to sleep on the bed since it'll really help with my back."

With a slight head tilt, Dagur answered, "If you say so."

Deafening silence shrouded the room and the two men began to slowly remove their garments. Dagur didn't even have to ask as Hiccup helped him change into more comfortable clothes to sleep in. The Berserker tried his best to control the burning sensation beating from his chest to other parts of his body.

He turned away from the light, hoping that the other man could not see the color that sprang from his cheeks, possibly redder than his hair. Fortunately, Hiccup didn't seem to notice as he gently and gracefully continued with his task. Hiccup only paused to tell Dagur to go to bed first since he'd be responsible for the light.

Dagur swallowed thickly and agreed.

When Hiccup finished with Dagur, he started to change into more comfortable clothes as well. Out of respect for the other man's privacy, Dagur made sure to look away and made his way to the bed cat-like, seen but not heard.

Dagur's breathing got harder and that was all he was going to describe about himself and nothing more. Certainly not hot and bothered about anything else nor wide eyed with confusion as to why his body was reacting this way. Dagur carefully laid to the farthest side of the bed, to the side closest to the wall. Even though he mentioned before that the bed had more than enough space for them both, Dagur shuffled hastily until he could feel his heavy breath pushed back from the wall.

The shadow on the wall etched into Hiccup's shape. The shadow moved as one who undressed would on the wall and somehow, Dagur could not remove his eyes from it. The heat from his body somehow intensified at every sound of shuffling and every movement of the shadow cast over the wall.

It made the hairs on his neck feel sensitive to every movement of the air. Suddenly, the shuffling sound of Hiccup's clothes stopped then Hiccup's shadow moved from one side of the room to extinguish one of the candles. Darkness draped that part of the room. It reached over to Dagur the more candles extinguished until the one next to the bed was left.

The bed started to move once Hiccup's weight pressed onto it, yet it somehow made Dagur's condition worse. The redhead was accustomed to having men in his bed before but somehow tonight was different. Somehow the deliberate presence of Hiccup made it different and Dagur could only bite his lip out of frustration. His heart thumped against his rib cage, almost ready to burst out and made the blood vessels madly throb throughout his body.

Once Hiccup laid on the bed, he blew the light off and Dagur could no longer see his shadow on the wall.

A heavy sigh escaped Hiccup, the exhaustion of the day left his body and left room for recovery to begin. However, neither men felt the other asleep. Each one had their eyes wide open in the dark, staring at a thought they could not see.

"So…" Hiccup broke the silence.

As if a heavy weight was lifted off Dagur, he replied, "So?"

"I was wondering…" Hiccup answered like a whisper.

Dagur couldn't help but give a chuckle then stated, "You do that a lot."

Hiccup sneered at Dagur for the comment but said nothing about it to continue, "What's it like…" He paused for a moment, "being romantic to a lot- I mean- several people?"

Dagur turned, shifting his body along carefully to not trigger his injury. Though he could not see the other man's face except for the silhouette made from the light of the moon outside, he could tell that their faces met. "I'll have you know that I'm not always romantic to people I have join my extra-curricular activities. Sometimes we just cut to the chase and get on with the hot stuff-,"

Hiccup had to interrupt, "Okay thanks but let's leave it at that."

"You asked."

"Right…"

Another moment passed before Dagur could question, "Why do you ask?" He was thankful at least for the room's change of mood. Talking was good.

Talking was a useful distraction from whatever it was that made his skin burn and breath heavy.

"Well I…I dunno, I'm curious that's all." Hiccup replied.

"Curious on how different it is? I thought you'd be used to it given how you're usually around Snothat, Snot-something…anyway, my point is, when I get the chance, I find a willing partner or a few. I don't think of it more than just sex really." Dagur answered.

"Hm I see…" Hiccup's response was somewhat bordering between disappointed and perplexed. Even though Dagur did not know what the other man was thinking, he could tell plenty of thinking was happening at that very moment.

"But that doesn't mean that I can't be romantic. I know I may not look it but I'm a hopeless romantic at heart." Dagur bit his tongue as soon as he said it.

"Really?" Dagur felt the bed shuffle as if Hiccup turned his whole body to his direction.

"I have witnesses." The redhead answered sleazily and wriggled his eyebrows. He made smacking sounds with his mouth as if he was kissing someone which he knew would make Hiccup uneasy.

"Okay! I believe you!" Hiccup exclaimed. "You know there's a thing called being too forward you know."

"I know…" Dagur gave himself an internal high five. Only for a moment could Dagur relish in the hype as his own words quickly bounced from darkness.

"To tell you the truth, I wasn't always comfortable sharing this side of me you know?"

Hiccup didn't answer but it didn't bother Dagur.

"I wasn't telling the whole truth earlier about being comfortable with who I am because even though my tribe changed for the better, I still wasn't comfortable being open with what I do with other guys when no one's looking." Dagur muttered to himself softly as if Hiccup wasn't in the room at all. "I try to hide it by being with several women but it wasn't the same. It was like living in fear of what people thought and most of all…living in fear of what I was. I mean can you blame me?"

Flashes of Dagur's past suddenly appeared in Dagur's mind. They manifested in the darkness and yearned. "I already had a history of being bad…now that I had the respect of my people, I didn't wanna lose it. I did everything I could to protect this new me because I was scared…"

"It wasn't until Heather found out…caught me in the act rather, that I started to reconcile with this part of me. I was so surprised with how supportive she was. And it was with her that I started to be upfront with my interests in men. Eventually, everything simply fell in place. Well, it helped that she threatened anyone who had a problem with me."

"I can see that." Hiccup responded and nodded.

Dagur removed his eyes from Hiccup's silhouette and stared at the ceiling as if interrogating it to give him answers. He wanted it to give him the words to admit his deepest thoughts. "It was even more surprising on how easy it got since then. Everyone was so supportive, my men, my people and even some traders. I guess the only one who had the biggest issue with it was me."

Even though Hiccup didn't respond, somehow Dagur had the feeling the other man was listening to every word he said. That even though their circumstances were quite different, Dagur knew this was something that Hiccup knew all too well. If everything he'd known about Hiccup recently was that they were the types to resort to self-pitying.

"Well that's in the past now. I've moved on and happy as can be." Though they left his lips, Dagur was not convinced about anything of what he said. So, he turned to his side again facing Hiccup and asked, "How about you Hiccup?"

"What about me?" Hiccup asked.

"Well I've been sharing all this personal stuff about me, it's your turn. That's usually how it goes with friends right? Unless you don't wanna share anything then I won't force you."

Hiccup replied, "No, it's alright. You're not forcing me…ask away."

Dagur paused for a second to swallow thickly then continued, "I dunno what will happen in Avatross but I know that when we come back, you'll marry Astrid and produce an heir to your throne. Are you happy with that upcoming stage in your life?"

Hiccup let out a chuckle before answering. "If Astrid doesn't kill me first for lying to her, then that'll probably happen."

"Hiccup for what it's worth, I'm sure she'll go after me too." Both men shared a laugh which they're sure their dragons would hear from outside if they were awake.

"I guess I am…" Hiccup paused again. "Happy that is…"

"You don't sound so sure." Dagur adjudged.

"Well- to be honest…" Hiccup searched an answer for a moment.

"You're right. I'm not so sure because- I have this feeling in my gut, this sinking feeling that when all is said and done and I marry Astrid, I may have even less time to spend with Toothless and exploring. Already my schedules are packed with being a chieftain, leading the way and bossing people around, there's very little time to do what I wanna do…"

Dagur turned to the other man again and this time, he wished he was not injured so he could do what he felt like doing. Or rather, he wished he could set his pride aside so he could coax the other man even from a single grasp. He pinned his will on his injury instead.

Suddenly, Hiccup shook his head then continued, "Don't get me wrong, I think Astrid's great and I'd like to be with her but I also know that being with her- committing to a marriage will definitely leave very little or no room to doing what I want. I know it's selfish since it's my responsibility as the chief to be there for his people but-,"

"No it's not." Dagur interrupted.

"Not what?" Hiccup asked.

"It's not entirely selfish to go after what you want, sure there will be people who'll be disappointed in you and it might even mess things up with being chief and all but, I think I'd rather that than live lying to myself. Everyday, for the rest of my life, I don't think I'd ever want to do that ever again."

The redhead glanced down even though there was nothing to see then he added, "And I think…I may be wrong, but I think you're quite like who I was back then, hiding what I truly feel about myself. I really think that you should be more open to others about how you really feel rather than let their expectations command you to doing what you don't want to do. Sure it'll be tough at first and it'll be really hard to deal with the disappointment however, if the people who love you, truly love you, they'll let you be happy. They'll let you be free."

"You're probably right but difference is you're lucky that you don't have to hide anything about yourself to anyone. Not anymore that is." Hiccup responded and somehow, it sent a stinging sensation within Dagur.

'That's not entirely true.' The Berserker thought but yearned to say.

"Bah!" Hiccup exclaimed, "Maybe I'm just overthinking it. Astrid's great and my people need me. I think I'll learn how to be happy with it someday. Don't you think so?" he asked.

Dagur quickly buried his thoughts by keeping his eyes fixed at the ceiling then answered softly, "I think you will be. Very happy." He made sure that he did not look at the other man when he said it.

"Yeah…I think so too." Dagur heard Hiccup say in the darkness though not a single soul or ghost in the room was convinced.

Not at all.

End of Chapter 10.