#dragon x gender neutral reader

[agoraphxnics]

He’s a selfish dragon. He knows he should let you go, free you from the tower your father so cruelly placed you in. That would be the humane thing to do. Alas, he is no human. He was—and is—monstrous beast of legend, yet here he remains just as much a prisoner as you after being outsmarted by your father. He should hate you for even having that wretched man’s blood, but your golden heart beckons to him. He is a dragon, after all, and he would be remiss to ignore treasure when he sees it.

He’s hoarding you away, an avaricious move that goes beyond his duty to fight off your suitors until one bests him. He won’t let them take you; it doesn’t matter how hard they try.

You became his the moment you were both charged with this tower.

And dragons will do anything to keep their things.

#ngl I just wanted to write about dragons #dragon #agora writes #agora writes monsters #dragon x reader #royalty au #monster boyfriend #monster lover #monster #monster writing #agora writes yandere #gender neutral reader #gn reader #neuvilette x reader #zhongli x Reader #genshin #genshin impact #dan hang #dan heng x reader #zhongli #neuvillette #any dragon works #fantasy au #yandere zhongli #yandere neuvillette #yandere genshin #yandere dan heng #honkai star rail #yandere honkai star rail

[deunmiu-dessie]

royalty!reader who's on the run from their tyrannical uncle who is hell-bent on taking the throne for himself. royalty!reader who's the sole surviving royal descendant. royalty!reader who finds themselves without shelter as the unforgiving winter of the north looms closer. royalty!reader who's stranded in a big, dark cavern, struggling to stay warm. royalty!reader who delves deeper into the cave, unknowingly awakening a sinister creature lurking in the shadows. dragon!lover who's large in all aspects. dragon!lover who can't help but tease the royal by threatening to eat them. dragon!lover who sleeps atop mountains of gold. dragon!lover who always runs hot. dragon!lover who blows smoke into your face constantly. dragon!lover whose voice literally rattles your bones. dragon!lover who begrudgingly allows you to stay in the cave. dragon!lover who figures, he'll put your body to good use during the winter as payment. ˙ᵕ˙

"you do not scare me, dragon."

with a quivering exhale, you feel the dragon's firm, touch from behind, his warm lips caressing the sensitive skin of your neck. despite the cold draft in the spacious den, caspian burns with the intense, thick, molten fire that swells within his chest.

the aroma of smoke and the biting winter blizzard that howls just a few steps away permeate his scaly skin, a tantalizing combination that sets you aflame, igniting a fiery surge of warmth in the depths of your belly; leaving you intoxicated and dizzy under his searing touch. your nerves tighten like a coiled spring as his lips tantalizingly brush against the tender curve of your ear. "you should be scared."

˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖

#monster x human #monster fucker #monster headcanons #monster lover #fantasy #writerscommunity #writeblr #monster x you #monster x reader #monster boyfriend #monster bf #monster fluff #monsterfucker #dragon x human #dragon x reader #dragon #monster romance #drabble #monster imagine #CASPIAN IS A LITTLE SHIT #x reader #gender neutral reader #gender neutral y/n #x female reader #x male reader #deunmiu dessie #x nonbinary reader

[bump1nthen1ght]

A Very Monstrous Kinktober: Day 13 (Size Difference)

Kink: Size Difference

Pairing: Male!Dragon x GN!Reader

Other kinks: Sex toys, Doggy Style, Creampie

Warnings: N/A

Word count: 1400 words

Kinktober Masterlist

A/N: As you can tell I went a little hog wild with this one lol, hence why it's longer than the others. Hope y'all enjoy!

You clench your jaw, eyes scrunching closed. But the dildo didn’t hurt, no, it felt good. This was the first time you had successfully taken the 10 inch toy to to the very end without having to tap out, the thick girth of it often leaving your burned, and not in a good way.

Your hole was extra sensitive already, Abzu’s admirable skills with a vibrator bringing you to orgasm twice in just the last hour. But the pressure isn’t overstimulating, but intoxicating. It twists up your insides into an unkempt mess, has your fingers digging themselves into your blankets,

You’re ready.

You tap the bed 2 times, the nonverbal signal for Abzu to stop. He does, quickly taking out the dildo and crawling up your side. He looms over you, the bed creaking as places his excess weight on it.

“I’m sorry, love. Are you okay?”

You shake your head no, but quickly turn to Abzu once you hear him gasp. “No! No, I’m fine, baby. It’s just…” You wet your lips, throat suddenly feeling very dry. “I didn’t want to cum on it. I think-” you take another breath. “I wanna cum on your cock.”

Abzu’s eyes go wide, pupils dilating as an unintentional purr rumbles in his chest. If it were possible for his scales to get any redder, they would be.

“A-are you sure?” Abzu croaks, trying not to seem too eager. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t. I’m ready.” You wiggle your hips, “I know it.”

Abzu stutters out an ‘okay’, so bashful for a dragonoid twice your size.

He gently readjusts himselfs and slides backward, running a scaled hand down the length of your back. He’s always been very cautious in how he touched you, very aware of his strength and build. It was sweet, seeing how much he held back for your sake, seeing him hold back his whines and love bites as to not appear too desperate, too animalistic.

He had never been able to fuck you with his cock. You had attempted cockwarming, but even as you got used to his size just resting inside of you, he always seemed restless and on edge. It was almost good, but no quite there.

But practice makes perfect. And tonight, you’ll both be rewarded for your hard work and diligence.

An industrial sized thing of lube sits on the nightstand, Abzu squirting a handful and rubbing it along his cock. With plenty of ribs and bumps and a thickness resembling a soda can, it looked like a daring sex toy in itself. Attached to the sweetest, most gentle lover ever however, it rarely got to be put to use.

Until now.

The head of Abzu’s dick is hot, even slathered with cool lube and precum. Just the touch of it against your entrance has you shivering, hips wiggling with anticipation. A hot wave of breath blows across the back of your neck, Abzu leaning forward and resting a free hand by your head to steady himself. From your peripheral you can see his claws beginning to furl into the sheets, his palm almost the size of your head.

“Okay, I’m gonna put it in now.” Abzu whispers, slit now felt up against your tight hole. You nod, forcefully relaxing your lower half and trying to sink into the sensations. With something so big, you often had to remind your own body that this wasn’t something to run from.

Like the dildo, Abzu slowly pushes inside you. You can feel his heavy breathing, hear the rumbling purr in his chest as he slowly sinks into you. His other hand moves by your face, his large body completely shadowing yours.

You exhale slowly, reminding yourself that you took a dildo around this size easily not too long ago. But gods, did this feel way better.

“Fuck.” Abzu whispers to himself, that filthy mouth only coming out when he was really horny. “You f-feel really good.”

“So do you.” You purr, eyes crossing as he finally reaches the end, hips hitting your ass. “Please fuck me, baby. I want it, I need it.”

You can see the hot steamy breath as Abzu exhales, right in front of your face as he settles into his position. He had chosen to lean forward due to your difference in height; if he sat up like in traditional doggy style, you’re sure his cock would by lifting you off the bed, have you dangling like a cocksleeve.

Not that you’d mind, but Abzu always liked to play it safe.

Abzu humps into you gently, only pulling out an inch before sinking back in. You throw your hips back again, getting a choked moan from your lover,

“Faster, I can take it.”

Abzu nods, mind too preoccupied for words, and begins thrusting at a moderate pace. Even so it's still enough to rock the bed, headboard slamming against the wall as Abzu throws his weight into your tight backside. Your groans, muffled by the blanket underneath you, are no less erotic as each hit stretches you out further than you thought possible. The ribbing of his cock dragging down your walls in delicious ways.

“By the gods.” Abzu moans, claws cutting through the duvet cover. “It’s so tight.” Stars shoot behind your eyes when he Abzu gives a particular hard thrust, already beginning to lose himself in pleasure. “I’m gonna go faster. Is that okay?”

You give a thumbs up, finally collected enough to take your face out of the blankets and look forward. Just in time for Abzu to begin bettering your pussy with a fervor. Now the headboard cracks against the walls like thunder, the bed springs squeaking like pigs as the whole bed itself rocks across the floor. Sparks of pure lightning shoot up your spine and deep into your core. Theres a wet thwap as Abzu’s hips hit your sopping hole, already soaked with precum.

“Oh gods, Abzu!” You moan, eyes nearly crossing. But you refuse to close them, not when you can see a perfect underview of Abzu’s coiled up face; Biting his lip, drool beginning to spill down his jaw, those desperate eyes peer back at you, watching his own cock fuck you open.

“You’re f-fucking incredible.” Abzu snarls, eyes darting to how easily his dick disappears inside. “Taking it all, like a good mate.”

Abzu breaks eye contact to moan again, clenching his brow down. You can hear the bedposts scratching lined into the hardwood, pictures on the wall rattling nearly their supports. He’s gotten to the point where he can pull his dick all the way out to the tip and plunging it back in, making your toes curl.

“Your cock is incredible.” You stutter, the stoking climax scrambling your brain. “I’m obsessed, I don’t think I could ever go back to toys.” Your hos jerk, spasming walls milking Abzu. He snarls again, fangs biting down onto his bottom lip. “Fuck! It feels so good!”

A numbness is spreading down your legs, like when your limbs fall asleep. But this time the buzzing is more like tiny shockwaves, sending earthquakes across each cell. You’re close, hole sucking Abzu in and trying to get him there too.

“Please cum in me.” You pant, looking up at Abzu. “I wanna be filled up, baby. Take it all.”

“Fuck yeah.” Abzu reaches up and grabs the headboard, easily cracking it under his grip. He doesn’t mind the way the wall knocks against his knuckles, lesbing a fist shaped imprint. “I’m gonna drain my balls in you.”

You nod in desperation, climax peaking. With your hips rolling over his dick, it doesn’t take Abzu long to finish after. The cacophony of skin hitting skin and you're slowly-breaking bed is overshadowed by Abzu’s ferocious roar as he cums inside you, hot jets of cum quickly filling you to the brim. Squirts leak in between his cock as he rides out a 20 second orgasm, no doubt ruining the duvet beneath.

Abzu pants above you, impressively holding himself up as to not crush you as he catches his breath. You have no such problem, letting your body sink into the mattress as your muscles finally give out.

Abzu sinks to the side, cock still inside you, cum steadily drizzling out of your hole. Those large hands rub your lower back, his gentle purr rumbling your sore muscles.

#my writing #reader insert #monster x reader #gender neutral reader #kinktober #kinktober 2023 #dragon x reader #dragons

[moonit3]

Can I get a uhhhhh dragon yandere (it's ok if u don't btw!! I just love getting presents and the unusual)

yes, you can get a yandere dragon, anon.

WARMTHLESS

➥ warnings/notices: yandere male, obsession, manipulation, kidnapping, forced relationship, age gab (like the dragon is imortal and reader is a young adult), there is a child here, gn! reader, readers uses a cane later in the story, implied violence, implied death.

➥ yandere! dragon x gn! reader

➥ synopsis: the great dragon of the south never expected to become a caretaker of a human child, but luckily he has someone to help him with the task.

➥ a/n: did I love writing this one? yes. however, be warned that it takes a while to the yandere show up his tendencies as I try to make this one feel more ‘realistic’, to make the dragon slowly fall in love with reader with everything going on with their lifes. also, be aware this is quite long.

the great dragon of the south always lived by himself since the beginning of humanity. staying by his own lair on the coldest mountains, he spend most of his cleaning his treasures and watching the humans from a village nearby the mountains.

it’s a lonely life, but that was dragon made for, to live by themself til one day their bodies stop working and then to ascend to the afterlife. that’s what oberon’s ancestors told him, he is destined to be a lonely dragon til his last breath on earth, but that changed after a day.

during the coldest winter that passed in earth, oberon was waking throughout the abandoned path once used by merchants and to his surprise, he finds a human shelter. it’s destroyed, corpses are everywhere and so is blood. what did happened here? it couldn’t be simply raiders who attacked, the marks on the now dead bodies shows sharp claws and the scene is too messy to be made by humans.

his eyes notice one the tents moving, so he steps closer to see what is inside and he made a great discovery. a baby.

“oh, a tiny human.” shaping into his human form, oberon hold the children into his arms as gently as possible and analyze the little one. few drops of blood in their face and despite everything, they aren’t crying like he thought they would. “a brave one, i see…”

the first thing that came to his head was going to village nearby and hand the child to the people there, hoping to find a living relative to raise them. however, there is too much snow for him to travel and using his dragon form is out of question, it would only scary the villagers. so another idea came to his mind, he would take care of the child in meanwhile until the weather changes for good.

inside his lair, the great dragon managed to make a makeshift bed for the tiny human made of old vests and fur of ancient animals he once hunted for fun. despite not being the most appropriate place to a baby rest, the little one probably found to be comfortable as their eyes closed in seconds, leaving oberon alone with his thoughts.

why would an expedition bring a baby with them? any human should know how the cold mountains aren’t a suitable place for a newborn, but he can’t ask it as the child’s probably parents are dead, meaning that he will have to go the humans’ village soon.

the next morning, before the sun raise on the sky, oberon put the heaviest coat to cover his human form and the little one who rest on a handmade baby sling on his chest. with that, he began walking down the mountain and sing a sweet melody to the child stay calm during the trip, it’s working as the two made their way to the village.

step by the step and a three hours late, oberon arrived at the small village after a snowstorm had calm a little, luckily no house or building seems to be torn apart. and pulling the hood down, the baby awake by the soft light of the sun and their giggles made the dragon smile as both approach the closest house.

he knocks at the door and someone opens it quickly, “oh my! what are you doing in a weather like this? please, come in.” oberon enters the tiny house and takes off the hoodie when the door closed behind him. “take a cup of tea, dear traveler.”

the dragon observes how small is the house. the bed serves the same purpose of a couch to watch the fireplace and the only walls inside are the one to separe the bathroom from the rest of the home. it’s so small, but it’s fit a human to live in comfort on their own.

“thank you for let us in.” oberon sit on the edge of the bed, carefully holding the baby and put them to rest on the warm blankets. with his hands now free, he removes his heavy coat and grab a cup of tea to take a sip from it. “may I ask if you have anything to feed a child? if that isn’t too much to ask, my fruits are long gone to the child’s belly.”

“I do have some berries,” the gentle voice of the human make oberon smile, this person simply didn’t notice the horns on his head or they just don’t care at all? “and I think that I might have some strawberries that I brought some days ago…”

as you search for the fruits, oberon analysis the interior of the house. there are a few portraits on the walls, photos that include you with other people he believes to be your family. it’s something that oberon envy from most humans, they can have family and relationships without worrying about immortality, as they live together til the end. while dragons get to live forever with one at their side.

“here I found some, mr…”

“oberon, just oberon.”

a small basket of fruits is now at his side, waiting to be eaten by the time when the child wakes up later. for now, the two share true same roof til the snowstorm ends and for what it’s look, they will have to be together for a while.

“so, why did you came to the village? the snowstorm won’t stop anytime soon and bringing a child so young isn’t the best idea.” the human pour another cup of tea to the dragon before taking a seat on a close chair to take a better look at the baby. “this child isn’t your, am i right?”

“indeed. i found them at destroyed campsite at the mountains, their parents are long gone.” the smile on the human’s face vanish by his words, sad about the true reality of the baby’s parents. “i would take care of the child on my own, but i lack the ability to raise them as I don’t know to take care of another living being.”

oberon felt guilty for what he is going to say next, but he has too. “could you help me raise them? just for a brief amount of time and then i can leave afterwards.”

the humans stay quiet, taking about the proposal gave by the dragon, unaware of his true intentions, “well, it’s sound a good deal.” a smile grown on their lips, a tint red on their cheeks of the idea of getting close to the mysterious man.

“then it’s a deal, mx…?”

“call me [name] and you are?”

“oberon, just oberon.”

times goes on as oberon began to raise the little girl at your side, feeling happy knowing that you let stay at your home without expecting anything in return. it’s a generous act and the dragon knows that not many people would be as nice as you, so he makes sure to keep his value at your small house.

you continue doing the hard work such as cutting the wood for the fireplace to keep the house warm, fishing at the frozen river, going for the market to exchange your products to supplies for the cold winter, that’s your role in the house. while oberon become the main caregiver for the young girl, learning how to take of a baby who always need his attention, changing diapers and teaching her the old tales of mythological creatures he once meet in his dragon form.

life is going smooth, oberon can’t deny that. having someone to help him raise a human kid in an environment with other children sounds better than raising it at his lair, where no one would know their presence. but this life isn’t going too good for you, he can see the dark circles growing under your eyes for working long hours and he notice how sometimes the money wasn’t enough to cover the food, so you would just starve yourself to let him and the child eat. an generous, but foolish act as he doesn’t need to eat as much human does.

“you should eat more, oberon.” that you always say to him every time you give your barely touched plate of food to him. “taking care of a child on your own requires more energy than fishing.”

he tries to talk about it with you, but Oberon always lose the discussion as you give that sweet smile to him. the same smile you have when playing with the child after a long day of working, the very same smile that he has seeing for the last two years. you have endure so much because of him and the kid, oberon feels guilty about it. he sees himself as a failure for not giving or making your life easier, maybe things will change for good when the three of you start living at his lair back at the mountains.

it was another day of work for you and definitely it was exhausting as there war almost nothing that you fished today. the villagers didn’t brought any the tiny fishes you offered, but they felt compassion knowing that you are the sole provider of the house, so they handed you the food they didn’t sell. it was a great gift as you won’t ever forget about it.

going back to your home, you’ve expected to be welcome by the child’s hugs and oberon’s sweet words, asking about your work. however, that didn’t happened. walls empty of the many family’s portraits, the clothes oberon sewed missing, food is gone and the worse, none of them are here. almost like they were nothing, but hallucinations.

you yelled their name, searching the surrounding area of the cabin as the snow gets heavier and the wind colder. there are no footprints of them, no trace of they could’ve been, perhaps your mind is playing tricks. if so, how can you stop it and how can you find the two most important people of your life?

the idea of them simply vanish made you uncomfortable, made you cry in the middle of the snow and scream of frustration. things got worse and you have no idea of to fix it. but a thought came to mind, maybe they went to the village to buy firewood when you were out.

the small chance of seeing them made you get up from the cold snow and clean the tears away from face, ready to go back to the village and ask the others.

unfortunately that never happened.

claws met your shoulder and in a blink of eyes, a dragon began to fly away from your cabin. his wing flapping and creating strong winds as you desperately try to get away from it. you try to yell for help, but the dragon was too high in the sky to anyone hear you scream and no one would be a fool to help you in this situation. so you had no other option than just stay still and hope for the creature don’t drop you. the high ground made you dizzy and without option, your eyes closed by the moment you saw the clouds.

above the clouds and hide from danger, there is a lair of the great dragon do the south. he lives there’s along with two another people and those are his most important treasures, ones that he will never let it go.

the travelers brave enough to climb up there to exchange good with oberon, report the two people living with him are completely opposite.

the oldest, the spouse, always wearing the same expression in the face of tiredness. they use a cane to walk around the lair (now transformed into a cozy home) and some more aware travelers could see the scar on the spouse’s leg. it’s huge, definitely the reason why they need to use a cane to move.

some ask how them how was the accident, curious about the reason behind it. the spouse always replied there was a slippery ice that resulted in them becoming this way, yet some travelers doubt that by seeing fear in their eyes when answering it the dragon is always watching them talking with outsiders, but none pushed forward to know the truth.

and the second treasure is his daughter. an energetic and intelligent girl who is always reading about the world outside, dreaming to go out and explore the many places from the books she have read. her eyes sparkle whatever a traveler tell about the magnificent places she could visit when getting older and she is always writing in her journals about it.

and that’s what she did. finally of age, the little girl now grown as a smart and kind lady left the lair to adventure herself into the unknown. she doesn’t forget about to send magic letters (that literally just spawn at the lair) to her parents, telling about the world and the numerous cultures she has learned.

it’s great to know their daughter is doing okay, but for the great dragon, something is missing of the lair. it’s the silence that irritates him, the lack of a reason behind those make his spouse act happy and joyful with him and the fact they are begging to see the outside world again. it’s been years since the dragon let them walk at the mountain’s feet and the last time they did, the human tried something idiot and got to use the cane for their rest of their life.

they began to make him angry, always asking to be outside for just a little and they won’t stop talking about it! the dragon wanted to keep them occupied to ever think about it and so he found a way to chain them inside the lair once again.

one day, returning to the lair after flying around the southern region, the dragon brought someone else in his arms, a baby. the view of a small figure in the arms of their husband made the human just stare at it, fully scared to ask why there is blood on the child’s face, but brave enough to ask why he brought a kid to the lair.

“it’s our second born, my dear.” what? “you looked so sad after our daughter left, so I believe that being parents once again will make us happier, closer and of course, you will stop nagging about brainless things of going outside. now, you should give our baby a bath, right? I will make dinner for the three of us.”

@moonit3 writings

#yandere x reader #yandere oc #yandere #anon #yandere x you #yandere imagines #yandere writing #yandere headcanons #yandere male #yandere dragon #yandere x gn reader #yandere x gender neutral reader #yandere hcs #yandere boy #yandere exophilia #yandere man #gender neutral insert #gender neutral y/n #gender neutral reader #my oc oberon #➥·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ moon writings

[seivsite]

includes: il dan heng x gn!reader. spoilers cause it’s dan heng, there’s some possessiveness but the good kind, popped this out of my brain at 1am so not proofread + unedited — wc: 161

Thinking about IL Dan Heng, who struggles to keep his Vidyadhara instincts under control. Whenever you’re around, he becomes possessive, concerned about your interactions, particularly when it comes to engaging with the wrong people.

He’s the type to wrap his tail around your waist, pulling you away from those who annoy him and distract your attention from him.

He’s the kind of person who kisses you passionately until you’re breathless, and even when you beg or whine to him to let you breathe, it only seems to intensify his desire to keep kissing you.

He often leaves possessive marks on your neck and collarbone, perhaps driven by his instincts.

He’s also very protective of his dragon-like features such as his horns, tail, and sharp teeth, allowing only you to touch them because you’re his one and only beloved.

He loves being the big spoon and cuddling you tightly, using not only his arms but also his tail wrapped around your body.

NOTES. love the fact all my dan heng works are spoilers! listen il dan heng and dan heng are TWO different people i love the idea of il dan heng more cause there are more potential in my brain for some reason—anyway hope u like it dan heng lovers~

TAG LIST. @yanqingisim @rintosei

LIKES AND REBLOGS ARE APPRECIATED! ‹3

#( ru’s works ) #honkai star rail #honkai star rail x reader #honkai star rail spoilers #hsr #hsr x reader #hsr x you #hsr x y/n #hsr x gender neutral reader #hsr spoilers #dan heng #dan heng hsr #hsr dan heng #dan heng x reader #dan heng x you #dan heng x y/n #dragon dan heng #il dan heng #imbibitor lunae #dan heng imagines #dan heng headcanons

[tinypnut]

Hot take

Is anyone tired of smut? Like don’t get me wrong, I love a good smut filled oneshot but like. Why is it when I go looking for emotion comfort or angst it’s all just smut instead of genuine connection between characters or reader inserts?

Cause like, yeah we’re horny fucks but I just want emotional comfort with Astarion from BG3 cause he lowkey gives demisexual vibes cause of his trauma. Before his character growth I can see smut with him but like, that’s only act 1, the rest of his character growth has him not wanting sex because it makes him uncomfortable and or causes flashbacks for him.

Or like, Aemond or Daemon from House of Dragon, yeah, GOT is like half sex but there is so much more content that can be used to write fics other than smut.

Anyone else feel the same?

#fanfic #fandom #x reader #reader insert #oc insert #gender neutral insert #bg3 #astarion #baldur's gate 3 #game of thrones #house of the dragon #aemond targaryen #daemon targaryen #astarion x reader #astarion x tav #aemond x reader #aemond x oc #daemon x reader #daemon x oc #inspiration #fiction #fanfiction

[rockingbytheseaside]

✦ Moonlit Tides

Tw: slightly suggestive themes hinted at the end. Otherwise, SFW. Idk what this is, just an artistic literary piece of a fanfic w/ Neuvi

“The Chief Justice of Fontaine must exercise impartiality, thus he cannot form intimate relationships with the people of Teyvat.”  

… Is what Neuvillette told you, as you sat ashore during a still night. Although his words were directed at your curiosity, it felt more like he was speaking to himself, recalling his duties as a judge. After all, remaining objective and unbiased is the single most crucial concept that sets the Chief Justice apart from the common folk. 

At least, for the 500 years that he’s been the Iudex of Fontaine.

Yet something about the tone of what he said pulled a melancholic string. His eyes remained on the still waters of Liffey Region, the peaceful silence between you and him sublime. Yet you stood there, beside him, and in a completely relaxed manner, you said: 

“...But I’m not from Teyvat.” 

A simple answer, really. However, the silence followed was not so subdued, as Neuvillette turned to stare at you with widened eyes. Of course, you’re not from this world, you hail from beyond the stars; a simple glance at your star-shaped pupils reflects the truth of this statement.

So why was Neuvillette pondering the possibility only now? He knew that about you, that’s why he recruited your aid in Fontaine, that’s why he let you close as a confidant, that’s why he often poured his troubles to you behind closed doors during late nights. You knew the taste of the Hydro Dragon’s tears. 

But the Chief Justice sought more. On paper, his impartiality means nothing when it comes to you - he cannot judge you, and you cannot be placed on the same scales as the people of Teyvat. Thus the Hydro Sovereign took it upon himself to place you on the scales of his heart. 

At first, It began discreetly. Neuvillette would often invite you for late-night walks by the beach. Away from the courthouse’s commotion, the two of you would stroll and chat away past Marcotte station, letting the salty breeze serenade your minds. Even more so often, The Iudex hand would clasp yours to keep you closer. 

“Take a step with me into the water.” - he would later ask one day.

He knew of your resonance with hydro, therefore diving into Fontaine’s sea must be harmless for you. He would extend his plam and wait for you to bask your feet into shore. Although you initially gave him a hesitant look, he beckoned you closer. “Only to relish the water’s coolness. We don’t have to dip any lower past our knees.” - he would reassure. And so you two would often dip your toes in water during the warm nights, letting his gentle grasp lead you further from shore. It became a routine, and surprisingly, not a single drop of rain would pour from Fontaine’s clouds. Instead, the two of you would be greeted with a clear, starry sky; and Neuvillette worshiped the way your gaze shone when you observed the stars above. The endless cosmos paralleled your star-shaped pupils.      

But days standing ashore wasn’t enough for his draconic instincts, which led Neuvillette to invite you underwater. To stand on the open surface didn’t satiate him, any human could eavesdrop on your tête-à-tête by night. Thus, you would often follow him to the depths of Fontaine's seas, surrounded by lush seaweed and blooming Romaritime flowers. He would hold you close in his protective embrace, leading you to the sandbed of the depth where many Lumitoile starfish are scattered. Like the stars in the sky, you would be in awe at them, too. 

Many nights, he would spend with you leisurely exploring the profundity of the seas, talking about the many curiosities one would find in the deep. He would gift you with small chunks of raw pearls, or compel you to enjoy finding seashells. Of course, that wasn’t the only reason he would swim with you here. The underwater provided ample privacy… and ample noise reduction. 

Words didn’t need to be spoken anymore. His lips would seek your own, knowing you’d provide relief to the turbulence in his heart. Only you knew the taste of the Hydro Dragon’s tears, after all. Neuvillette’s body and intuition screamed for him to keep courting you, albeit not in the same sense as mortals do. That’s why he invited you to many peaceful walks by the water, that’s why he valued your company when sea gazing or star gazing at night, and that’s why he slowly warmed you up to his numerous gifts and trinkets, consisting of luminescent pearls and ancient seashells. Because his leviathan side was unintentionally pursuing you. 

In the depth of the ocean, where minimal sea light pierced through and no human dared to venture, the hydro dragon sovereign would love you, relishing your muffled whimpers and shivers. His keen sense of smell picks up your scent and savors it until your pheromones and cries are mixed with his heat. Body and soul entangled on the soft seabed, and Neuvillette’s sharp teeth desiring your skin. At least, for these tender moments in the depth of the world, he could forget he was the impartial Chief Justice.

Ultimately, you’re not from Teyvat, and only you were a witness to his biased side - a passionate and delicate dragon, whose sharp eyes always lingered on yours and sought you. Like the ocean tides pulled by the moon's unreachable allure.       

Yes, the title is inspired by Fontaine's OST "Moonlit Tides". As always, any art in my writing is my own artwork. thank you for reading so far.

#genshin impact #genshin headcanons #neuvillette #neuvillete x reader #dragon neuvillette #gender neutral reader #neuvillette fluff #fluff #genshin x reader #genshin x you #genshin fanfic

[hydroj1ns]

quick li fluff

(i need him so bad)

cw: dragon hybrid zhongli x gn!reader, just fluff :) | not proofread

Waking up in Zhongli's comfortable, spacious Liyue apartment is like heaven on Earth, with light bathing your sleep-ridden form through a gap between the curtains as you crack your eyes open to be greeted with a sight that immediately brought a dreamy smile to your face.

A half-dragon, half-man was sitting with his back against the bedframe, a novel in one hand and mesmerizing golden irises moving in saccades across line after line of text. The man's strong, dark bronze horns protruded from his head elegantly, like decorative pillars sculpted by the most talented artist in the world. His hands, large, dark, and adorned with glowing golden veins flipped page after page in his book as he continued his leisurely reading. His deep chocolate hair, with its ends glowing softly in the dimness of the room, was draped across his broad shoulders--- a refreshing sight compared to his usually tightly-contained ponytail that he wore during the day. His loose sleep shirt, a soft cotton fabric with a deep V-neck, allowed for just enough for the imagination, revealing the slight chisel of his chest and the pale skin of his slender neck.

When he noticed your eyes roaming across his form, he smiled, showing off his sharp dragon fangs. "Good morning, darling. Did you sleep well?" He placed his novel on the nightstand and reached over to gather you in his arms. His firm biceps did something to your sleep-ridden mind, making you giddy. You snuggled into his half-exposed chest, mumbling to yourself. "Mmph, it was good... let's stay here a little longer."

Zhongli hummed in agreement and began massaging your scalp with his draconic claws (a few clipped to bluntness). Half your face still in his chest, you noticed his tail flicking back and forth gently on the sheets. Curiously, you reached for the scaled appendage, wrapping your hand around its base and stroking down towards the end, along the grain.

It was rare for Zhongli to be in his dragon form. He of course, couldn't risk revealing it in the Harbor, and though he trusted you wholly, the only time he exposed that side of himself to you was during his heats, when golden veins and scales were unable to be hidden.

You continued your ministrations, running your nails across deep brown scales, listening to the clicks of keratin on keratin as row after row of draconic plates were passed under your fingers.

Suddenly, you felt a vibration under where your face was resting, followed by a deep grumble. Tilting your head up, you were met with a flustered Zhongli and an adorable pink blush spread across his cheeks. You stared into his warm chocolate eyes with a mischievous smile on your face. He only tightened his grip on you as you moved further down his tail, until your fingers felt the soft golden fur at its end.

Playing with his fur and admiring its shimmery hue, you indulged in the unceasing purrs from the man holding you ever so closely. The rumbles traveled through your whole body, and you thought that this might be the best part of having a draconic partner.

Then ceasing your stroking, you moved your hands to cradle his pretty face, and pressed a kiss to his unblemished lips. "You should be a dragon more often," you breathed against his mouth.

#dragon zhongli x reader #zhongli x reader #zhongli x male reader #dragon zhongli #genshin headcanons #genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact imagines #genshin impact headcanons #genshin fluff #genshin hybrid au #genshin ftm reader #genshin imagines #genshin impact x gender neutral reader #genshin impact x male reader #genshin x male reader #genshin x you #hydroj1ns fluff

[yearningaces]

Last one for tonight I promise

The dragon that loves you can't really express it's romantic feelings the way someone your size could... So it brings you fresh hunts to help keep you well fed, or brings treasure from its hoard since you like shiny things, or carries you through the air whenever you'd like, or always offers and acts ok it's self given need to protect and keep you safe, and warm... Very warm, so so warm in fact that if you come lay by his side and let him curl around you and keep you close to his heart so you can feel it beating, so that the cold air would never touch you again. And you can fall asleep as he tells you stories some real some fake, but you never know which is which.

Just... Inconvenience expressions of love that don't fit the typical standard of romance I live for that

#monster boyfriend #monster romance #x reader #monster x reader #dragon x reader #gender neutral reader

[theyanderespecialist]

Base Yandere Tail Lung Headcanons: Becoming Worthy  (Kung Fu Panda) 

[Hello, My Sexy Muffins. Now I did make this into a video BEFORE I made these headcanons. So these headcanons may not be the same as the YouTube video! I hope that you all enjoy and happy Lunar New Year 2024!] 

(Disclaimer: Tail Lung is not yandere in canon! This is just for fun and not to be taken seriously at all! Simping for fictional characters and yanderes is fine, just do not be illegal or gross about it! Yanderes are not ideal partners to have In Real Life. Also, remember to separate fiction from reality and headcanon from canon!) 

(Base Yandere Headcanons With Tai Lung From Kung Fu Panda)

.Tai Lung was once a good person. 

.But the betrayal he faced by his adoptive father and the master changed him, it brought out the very dark and worst side of him. 

.He ended up imprisoned and got to see very few people. 

.You were one of the people that he got to see and he became obsessed with you. 

.To him this obsession was love and he loves you so much that he needs to get out of here and make you his. 

.He is the type of yandere who is very possessive and needs to have you by his side at all times. 

.He is also very protective of you and needs to keep you safe. 

.He will save face for you (That is the right way to say it and not the Western way of defending honor, The whole defend your honor is a very much Western thing in media, and saving face is the proper way to describe those things! I learned this from watching various YouTubers who were born and some who still at least visit China!) and defend you with all their might. 

.He is a man who respects you but is also unstable. 

.He is very close to snapping but he has never taken a life before. 

.He has some morals where he will not kill your loved ones to make you his and he would most likely not kill his rivals. 

.He will defeat his rivals in combat, proving to them and you that he is the right man for you. 

.He has the whole major issue of NEEDING to prove himself to not only you but himself. 

.He needs you to know that he is the best man for you. 

.Also he needs to prove that to himself so he is worthy of you. 

.He still will beat the fuck up out of his rivals that is for sure. 

.When he does confess to you, he is very blunt and straightforward about it. 

.If you say yes, and accept his love, then he did it, he proved to you that he is worthy and you are his now, forever and ever. 

.But, if you say no and turn down his love, he takes it as a betrayal. After all his hard work and all he has done to prove his love for you! 

.This is where he would snap and he would kidnap you. 

.Taking you somewhere remote, where he can teach you to love him, and he will. 

.Because he will make it happen and he will get his happily ever after! 

[YASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS another chapter is done! I hope you all enjoyed this and stay sexy, all of my sexy muffins!] 

#yandere #yandere tai lung #yandere kung fu panda #yandere headcanons #headcanons #kung fu panda #kung fu panda tai lung #tai lung #tai lung x reader #reader #gender neutral #gender neutral reader #lunar new year #chinese new year #lunar new year 2024 #happy lunar new year #happy chinese new year #year of the dragon #heheh dragon warrior lol

[divine-donna]

inquisition companions react to the inquisitor missing half their arm

because bioware didn’t wanna give it to us, i decided i’d just do it myself. (insert thanos meme) even though i am like years late to the hype.

the game is like 9 years old at this point, but spoilers ahead.

do keep in mind this is my own personal interpretation of each character. it may not be accurate to your own interpretations. (also i know leliana is technically not a companion in inquisition but i included her anyways)

cassandra pentaghast

if cassandra could plunge a knife into the heart of solas, she would. she would not let him get away with betraying you and taking the anchor along with your arm. you had basically fallen into her arms when you emerged from the portal and she had to carry you back to halamshiral. for the days you were unconscious, cassandra was anxious and extra prickly. there were many times where cullen would have to talk her down from her anger. even varric did too.

dorian pavus

the first thing he did was crack a joke. the atmosphere was tense and it just slipped out. “i asked you to come back in one piece, not missing one.” safe to say, the other companions did not approve of his joke. dorian was set to return to tevinter after being notified of his new position as a magister, but he delayed the return to his homeland for you. he sat in your room as you lied unconscious, barely breathing, leg anxious bouncing up and down. when you awoke, you were immediately met with a large and tight hug from him. he knocked the air out of your lungs from that.

blackwall

blackwall admires you. in fact, everyone would go so far as to say he adores you. he thinks of you as strong, capable, almost infallible. you closed rifts, you closed the big green tear in the sky, and you defeated corypheus! what couldn’t you do? all your feats proved to him that you were the strongest leader he could ever know. and yet, you were still mortal. you left the eluvians mortally wounded and exhausted beyond belief, your eyelids so heavy and ready to close so you may drift off into the black void of sleep. blackwall would not let you, not until you were taken away to be cared for. you found him sitting besides you, awake and on guard. your mortality was his reminder that you and him were the same, even if your lives appeared to be completely different. and he understood that the world would need a leader like you and that is dangerous.

iron bull

the bull could feel a stronger kinship with you that day. it appears that the both of you lost something. he betrayed the qun for the inquisition, thus losing a part of himself, his people. you lost a literal part of yourself, something you had to come to terms with after having the anchor for two years. to say iron bull was shaken up would be an understatement. he was getting cassandra to hit him with sticks for days on end while you lied unconscious. he wondered what would’ve happened if he was with you, if maybe...he could’ve stopped solas. but reminiscing never did anyone any good.

cole

as much as he wanted to help you, cole couldn’t. he also understood that you wouldn’t accept his help, no matter how much he insisted. so instead, he did the best thing he could do: help tend to your injuries. what was curious was that he could feel very little of your pain. when he felt your pain two years ago after forming the inquisition, it was concentrated in your hand and forearm. with it gone, you felt at peace. the primary source of pain for you had been washed away. perhaps it was a blessing in disguise, he thought.

sera

sera’s immediate reaction is, like dorian, to crack a joke. everyone is used to her eccentricity. but it felt different this time around. while you laid unconscious, recovering from the long battle, she occupied herself. she had to busy her hands and her legs, keep moving, keep her mind busy. because if she sat too still for even a second, then her mind would think about the worst outcome. she would get images of you, dead, because solas had betrayed you, betrayed her, betrayed the inquisition. hell, he betrayed the world! that knob! thinking he knew what was best! sera’s all the more relieved when it’s revealed you survived. she bursts through the door to see you and hug you tightly, complaining about how much you scared her.

varric tethras

in all honesty, varric should’ve been more prepared to expect...well, the unexpected. he had expectations of you coming out unharmed, untouched. obviously, that was not what happened. and he wondered if he was responsible for this. he had been one of the many people to support you as the inquisitor two years ago, suggesting it. he wondered if he made the wrong decision. but also, part of varric was relieved. he lost someone close to him two years ago. he didn’t know if he could handle losing you too.

vivienne de fer

the court would devour tales of the eluvians and how you managed to survive. that was vivienne’s first thought. people would be talking about you for centuries to come, certainly. and yet, she knew in her soul that was not what you would want. she does her best to minimize what rumors spread when you first emerge from the eluvians and help give you privacy. behind closed doors, vivienne checks on your injuries. part of her is amazed that the anchor was removed so cleanly.

josephine montilyet

josephine has seen many things ranging from serious to just plain absurd. when she was alerted that you had returned with many serious injuries, including the loss of half your arm, she sent messages to get the best possible doctors in all of orlais to help attend to you. the woman was definitely stressed beyond belief. but when she wasn’t trying to get everyone from backing off from you or getting people to look at you, josephine was attending to you herself. you awoke to find her wiping some sweat off your face and when she noticed, she muttered about how great andraste was and embraced you tightly.

cullen rutherford

your knight-commander appeared to take the news very well, much to the disapproval of cassandra. but the moment cullen was alone, in private, he flipped a table, causing everything to crash. all he could feel running throughout his body was regret, guilt, and anger. regret and guilt for not having gone with you. he should’ve. because if he did, maybe you would have came back alright. anger directed towards solas because the apostate had betrayed you, the inquisition. and everything you and him had worked towards was going to crumble. all of his hard work, leliana’s, cassandra’s, josephine’s, it’d all be for naught. cullen ends up spending a lot of time alone while you’re unconscious. he prays to andraste and the maker to distract himself from any wandering thoughts going towards lyrium. certainly the new mabari hound he decided to adopt on a whim helps with distractions at least.

leliana

the woman has seen many things in her lifetime, having experienced the fifth blight itself and been part of that fight against the archdemon. still, things aren’t easy when you come back from the eluvians missing half of your arm. even if it goes against all her duties, leliana stays with you until you wake up to make sure you’re alright. you’re the inquisitor after all and it’s vital that you’re still alive.

solas

he’s the one who took it. you think he cares?

in all seriousness, it gave him no pleasure to remove your arm for the anchor. even if his plan was...well, shoddy we should say, the anchor was going to kill you. he had no choice. carrying your hand and forearm around felt heavy. he could carry it just fine but what made it heavy was the burden that came with his plan to tear down the veil and bring doom upon the world in a desperate attempt to bring it back to what it once was. and also, the burden of having harmed you.

#dragon age #dragon age inquisition #cassandra pentaghast #dorian pavus #blackwall #iron bull #sera dragon age #cole dragon age #cullen rutherford #josephine montilyet #dragon age leliana #solas dragon age #varric tethras #vivienne de fer #x reader #male reader #female reader #gender neutral reader

[oncewhenalongtimeago]

Hiccup x reader where Hiccup is stressed over being the chief of Berk and is extra clingy to reader?

Better Left Unsaid

Pairing: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III x Reader

Words: 14,022

You wondered if you would ever be able to touch the sky again. You don’t talk about it.

Tags: Httyd 2, Comfort, reconnection, resolution, suggestive content, Gender Neutral reader, reclusive reader (ish), reserved reader (ish), disappointment, rebound, oneshot, ambiguous ending

“It-It’s just too much,” Hiccup stuttered angrily, hushed. He shifted his arms, gesturing lightly but frustratedly with the mug in his shand, leaning against the wall. The water inside sloshed back and forth as he settled the mug down on the table with a thin clacking noise, pushing off against the wall.

It was silent, the empty dark of night all-consuming in a way that blocked everything else out. Even with passion in your voice, you probably still couldn’t speak louder than a gritty whisper.

The Haddock house was empty and dark, the fireplace in the center of the hut untouched as it has been for many nights since the passing of Stoick the Vast. Your basket sat abandoned by the door, washed over by a sheet of blue shadow.

“Maybe you need a system,” You suggested awkwardly, caught off guard as hiccup paced, too taken by his own trouble to care for much else. This wasn’t how you’d imagined any conversation between the two of you to go.

You saw each other around, of course, but events like those usually consisted of turned cheeks. It had been so long since you last talked, and it hadn’t quite ended on good terms.

“My Dad didn’t-” Limbre fingers struggled against the straps and buckles of his armor, inelegant and terse with frustration, Hiccup’s cinched brows and an angry grimace conveying everything you needed to know.

Usually nothing short of a stupid idea from his own head would get him out of it. Or a hard hit. You did your best to give him counsel anyways, despite your unsurety. He’d probably just been swept away by it all, falling back into old habits quickly. 

He would snap out of it soon enough, though if he decided just as you did that you’d rather not address anything at all, you would certainly not complain.

“Your Dad didn’t have to deal with so many trappers or dragons.” You shook your head. You had to admit that you were somewhat disconnected from the matter. The two of you hadn’t been close for years, and you kept to yourself pretty closely. This whole situation was an accident, more of a wrong place, wrong time then anything done on purpose, per se.

You moved around the table, nearly stumbling as you went, suppressing a shiver as you shifted through the cold room, like an empty void. You wondered how Hiccup dealt with it.

You snorted. 

Helping him out felt like crossing some sort of invisible boundary you usually avoided like the plague. But, you had pity on him and the dark circles underlining his eyes. You didn’t think he’d notice. It wasn’t something you worried much about, anyways, not since you were in your teens. That was a sore spot you’d rather not touch on.

“Isn’t a Chief supposed to be able to handle everything on his own? If I do that, then wouldn’t…” Hiccup trailed off into a contemplative, moody silence, glaring off to the side as you did your best to pull his straps free. You weren’t much better with them than he was now, but it was workable, “I’m supposed to be- Wouldn’t that prove that I’m not-…”

He looked somewhat like his father, with that expression, though the skinny frame and his wild, scruffy hair offset it somewhat.

His father was large and tough, but something you noticed about Stoick, even from a distance, was that he was stressed. And angry, all the time. He knew what to do and when to do it but couldn’t handle a lot. Not always. You could imagine the veins bulging from his forehead now, even from beyond the grave. 

You weren’t sure Hiccup was ever supposed to be like him. If he was supposed to even try. Him being Chief wasn’t ever something you imagined even as kids, just as he probably never imagined it for himself, but you were sure if he pulled something together it might be manageable. 

“You’ve always been enough for whatever you wanted,” You muttered, “You’ve been enough since before the dragons and you are enough now as Chief. Coming up with some sort of system isn’t... bad. You Dad had a system,” You winced, watching his expression carefully as you brought up his Dad, though you were sure that not much would reach him when he was in this state, “Your father had a second-in-command for a reason, you know.”

“My inventions, they’re not-” Hiccup groaned. You heard the unsaid question. But wouldn’t that be cheating?

“They’re just as a part of you as anything else.” You repeated the age-old adage, “It doesn’t have to be in invention, though, if you don’t want it to be. Just… Establish a chain of command, or something.”

Hiccup threw his head back, scrubbing his face with his hands. Then he looked back at you, as if he was just then realizing who he was talking to.

“The island probably won’t implode without you. They’re Vikings, they need a little lead, just trust me.”

Sometimes you were fine, and sometimes your disappointment followed you like a sheet over your eyes, something buzzing constantly around the periphery of your vision, bits stuck to the back of your boots like poorly spun wool.

You crunched through the grass on the far end of the bridge leading up to the village, nerves coiling in your guts briefly before you brushed them away. 

Such was the life of a recluse.

You squinted as you marched across large wooden planks, confident in the sturdiness of the bring just as you were unconfident in what lay before you, a figure sitting with their head down on one of the large logs that made up the railing. 

It was a common sight for people to sit by the edge, usually teens, usually with friends, a stolen jug of mead or two in hand on dark nights. It was also a good spot for contemplation. You’d use it many times, especially on rainy, foggy days. It made quite the atmosphere.

However, during the broad daylight, people usually tended to just come and go. They didn’t spend much longer there than they had to. To be honest, most people had dragons. There were many more interesting places up in the sky. You didn’t get that. You dragon, it left a long time ago. 

You shifted your basket of foraged berries and sticks and bits under your arm and grimaced confusedly as you neared the figure, closely examining dark gray armor and a worn, untucked green undershirt. 

“Hello, Chief,” You said plaintively, after you’d spent a few seconds stopped being him, looking down on hunched shoulders and frazzled flyaways.

He groaned, “Please don’t call me that.”

You snorted, gently resting your basket on the ground, making sure all the latches were secured tight over the lid. It got pretty windy up there, wouldn’t do you any good to lose all of your day’s hard work, “What brings you over to my small neck of the woods?”

You shrugged at his silence, relaxing the the hand on your hip before swinging your legs over the same log and planting yourself firmly to his left

“I can’t do this,” Hiccup mumbled exhaustively, without looking up.

You stuck out your tongue, leaning back onto your hands, which pressed against the warm surface of the wood pleasantly. It took you a moment to remember that you should probably come up with a follow-up question, “Why?”

You were a bit rusty.

“I can’t do this,” Hiccup turned briefly to give you a sour look. You stuck your tongue out at him.

“Okay,” You shrugged your shoulders, ever the loyal confidant.

So you were going the whole ‘ignore the Gronkle in the room,’ route. You could deal with that.

You wondered where Toothless was. He’d taken to his Alpha statues pretty well, as in, he did nothing to enforce it at all, so there was nothing for him to worry about. Come to think about it, it really was just Hiccup, managing both Vikings and Dragons.

Hiccup shot a look at you again, perhaps asking himself what was wrong with you. Below you, the sea rushed and lulled, storming over the jagged rocks below. You watched it like a snake on a mouse, hypnotic in its movements.

“It’s not. There’s so much to keep track of and,” Hiccup started, continuing on, shaking his head, “Everyone’s always got something- this isn’t like- it’s not like my Dad’s just on a vacation. He’s dead. I’ve never taken care of something this long-term. And Astrid-... I’m not so great at the whole ‘commanding’ thing.”

The split with Astrid was rough on him, you knew. He didn’t talk about it much at all, but everyone could tell it was weighing down on him. People talked, and you didn’t necessarily have to be a part of the conversation to overhear.

You hummed sympathetically, as a group of people started to gather on one end of the bridge. You weren’t sure if Hiccup had noticed it yet, though you were sure if he had he was ignoring it for the time being. 

“You don’t have to command. You just have to be able to direct,” Most people sort of expected Astrid to be there for the whole commanding thing, but honestly you resented the idea, despite the accuracy of it in practice, “I know a guy who would be willing to handle the stables for a day. Johannes, you remember him, right?”

 They, meaning Hiccup and Astrid, were both busy with their own responsibilities, so you didn’t think they had a lot of time to talk it out. It was strange. For the longest time, second to Toothless, of course, she’d been his best friend. The thought sent a sharp, bitter jab up your spine.

You rolled your eyes anyways. A lot of Vikings would give a lot to be able to be in charge of something. As you grew older, you started to realize that Stoick the Vast had a hand in everything. Maybe too much of a hand- that man was stretched thin, “The whole commanding, intimidating bit is Toothless’s job now.”

“Yeah,” Hiccup choked out.

From the corner of your eye, you noticed a pack of Vikings already halfway to you, encroaching from the Berk side of the bridge, arms waving in the air. You looked away for a moment with furrowed brows, beginning to scoot back with high caution, trying your hardest to not make any sudden moves.

“When’s the last time you did something for yourself?” You asked, “Gone to the forge, or flown out?”

“I have no idea,” Hiccup wheezed.

“When’s your next lull? It’s a lot easier for me to say it than for you to do it, but you should probably, you know, take a step back,” You suggested.

“Never,” Hiccup gestured with his hand, other arm pressed against his back, “This is it, for the rest of my life.”

You grimaced, shrugging pityingly as you heard the distant shout of his name, and watched Hiccup crumple in on himself again as the two of you met eyes.

You were a bit surprised by how easy conversation flowed between you, though you were sure whether you wanted to run or just shy away from it. You weren’t sure if you felt anything for it at all.

You shook your head, deciding very astutely on the running bit, swinging back onto solid ground and gently lifting up your shoulders. You hooked your fingers under the edge of your basket and pulled it into your arms, settling it smoothly in hand.

“Well, when your life’s over, I’ll be here. We’ll, ah, figure it out then, I guess.”

You lifted your tunic from your back, tugging until you were able to twist it over your head.

As you did, you eyed the portraits of the wives taken off and replaced, hung lower on the wall and decorated with each of their assets. You’d found them lying around and it felt wrong not to return them to their original owners somehow. They were usually separated from the rest of your dwelling by a thin, old moth-eaten curtain.

You were sure the wives were all just as ugly and unpleasant as Mildew himself, but there was something off about taking them down especially when you kept everything else close to the same.

You patched the hole in the roof with old ship’s sails and mismatched tiles, just enough to keep your cabin barely above freezing in the wintertime.

You shook your clothes onto the floor as you changed, mindful not to look down at any of the scars in the darkness of your hut. 

You were probably supposed to feel proud. They were trophies of battle. Most other Vikings would wear them proudly, displayed like an honor bestowed onto them. They didn’t particularly bother you, though it never bode well to linger on reminders of things long since finished.

If only they knew how you’d gotten them.

You didn’t earn them through bravery or anything else of the sort and you weren’t anywhere near one of the worst when it came to scarring. First place probably went to Phegma, who had a huge burn scar just barely covered by her day wear.

 You got yours because you weren’t fast enough to dodge the blow of an axe, to jump out the way of a trap sprung on the group without taking some serious damage. 

You were a great planner, an architect and an infrastructural thinker. But that didn’t often come in handy on the Edge, especially not when all the buts of your knowledge that could be applied were better covered by the other Riders’ areas of expertise. 

So where everyone else excelled, you stumbled. Where everyone else tumbled with the blows, you fell hard onto the ground, and you hadn’t anyone to confide your hurts in. 

Eventually trying to keep up got to be too much. When you saw the rest of them, able to come together so easily and shake off all their cuts and injuries, you hurt.

There was nothing quite as terrible as watching everyone, especially Hiccup, walk forwards while you strayed behind, struggling your hardest and failing to even to keep to their heels.

You blinked at the scratching of something sharp against wooden walls, muffled though still clearly audible, coming from the outside. You paid it no mind, ignoring it just as you ignored the tiny shafts of sunlight seeping through the cracks between wooden planks and crumbling walls, illuminating tiny particles of floating dust.

It was just the branches pestering the framework of your salvaged home, one of the half-dead bushes lining the front, nearing the height of a tree, mimicking the sound of a dragon you’d long since pushed from your mind. Yours.

You sighed. It was just another thing weighing on your mind back then, when you’d been at your lowest. You were tired of it, now. But a blank kind of tired.

Like a flat, fresh water ocean. Waveless, shallow. Eerie.

It was a much calmer tired than the kind you felt then; Violent waves slamming you into the sand, rubbing fragile lungs raw with grit and silt. Of the bruised ribs, the fighting, the cuts and hurt no one seemed to notice and the friend you didn’t seem good enough to have anymore.

You reached down to pull your tunic off the ground, tossing it onto a nearby table, covered in dust, made frail through disuse. You coughed at the fine grime tossed into the air, flapping your hand in front of your nose in an effort to disperse it.

You wondered if the sealights would be lit tonight.

“-He has five dragons. Five. And he wants me to come up with a whole set of dragon towers for him how?-”

You trod through the dewey morning leaves, back straighter than necessary, trying not to sweat too much or to look back at the armorless, green-tunic-ed guest at your back.

You couldn’t say you weren’t a little tired of the whole running Berk it yourself. Sure, you weren’t necessarily responsible for it but it was a pastime of a lot of the Vikings around town to talk about it, the mindless gossips, and once or twice while you were in town trading for what you needed. 

There were also the sailors, who had a mind, when down by the docks, to share the business of everyone regardless of the tribe. Even as the village recluse, you got roped into it, listening around corners with rap ears

“-Even with dragons it’s not easy to-” Hiccup waved his hands around, journaling under one arm and eyes glued, glaring onto the ground. It turns out he had taken you at your word. Sort of. He was still very much alive. He must have found some time off, or figured out something, because here he was.

You squinted at the paper in your hand, staring at messily done blueprints. There was a house sketched lifted above the ground by a pole and another sketch of a bunch of regular huts stacked on top of each other. You held the same basket from before under your arm, woven bits frayed and flexible and worn.

You recognized the beginning stages of a bunch of these sorts of huts being built all around Berk. It was getting fuller, especially with all of the ex-trappers and Vikings migrating in from the other tribes. And then there were relations outside of the interpersonal to manage. So of course there needed to be a few changes.

“This isn’t safe,” You said drily, “Remember the windmill? These are all going to fall down with the next devastating winter. And where are we going to find logs large and long enough to keep all these houses up? There aren’t nearly enough trees on all of Berk to get this done for everyone.”

“I know!” Hiccup pausing, turning to shake his head quickly, before bending over to scrub the hair on his head, “It’s insane! Everyone wants me to go with it!”

“You shouldn’t,” You deadpanned.

“I might,” Hiccup pursed his lips, “If it gets them to leave me alone. I can’t be builder, Rider and Chief.”

“Well- no, you can’t be. But why don’t you just come up with a few sturdy designs and make him choose one. Same for everyone else. Then just,” You paused, grimacing as you had to grab a branch, pushing it out of the way, “Put someone in charge of building all of them. And making sure they don’t go build in all the wrong spots.”

“I don’t know,” Hiccup shrugged his shoulders, letting his arms fall back to his sides, turning his head up and allowing the light filtering through the thick wooded area to fall onto his face, “Everyone wants something unique. You think they’ll settle?”

You turned around, branch still in hand, “They’ll have to. Same way they have been for three hundred years.”

You rolled your eyes and set forth again, letting go of the branch, which swung back quickly. You didn’t quite see what happened any more than you heard Hiccup’s yelp and the subsequent step back.

“Ow, ow, ow ow, Gods, curse it-”

You turned back around startled, turning back into the branch which followed its inertia, snapping back into your face. 

You brought your hand back up to your eye so quickly you smacked, dropping your trusty basket right out from under your arm and falling roughly onto your butt. The berries on the inside poured out of your basket onto the forest floor and you cursed, bemoaning it and yourself and laying the rest of the way down onto your back.

Head against the roots of a tree, smelling the earth and staring up at the dappled sunlight through waving tree leaves, you couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up through your throat.

It was better than getting mad, or crying. Still, you stifled it, shaking your head clear, pushing yourself back up, ignoring the stickiness of the berries stuck to your back and the juice dripping down the side of your hand.

Hiccup looked down on you skeptically, lips quirked in a way you read as confused. You remembered a time when he might have fallen down with you. It seems though that as the two of you got older, he became much surer of yourself. 

Still, it was a world of difference from the Hiccup you knew a moment ago, stressed and weighted and tired with all the burdens of everyone else on Berk and the loss of his father on his back. 

You wanted to see more of this Hiccup, who was snippy and sarcastic and who you might have loved once upon a time. Who wasn’t stuck in mournful contemplation about identities and relationships and other such sad things.

And maybe you wanted to take back some of him for yourself, as if it might bring back to you the part of yourself you lost, at least for just this little while. Though if this was where it ended, for you, this moment would be more than enough.

He needed reprieve. You decided you would be that reprieve, for as long as he would take you.

“Why don’t we do something besides talk about Berk?” You smiled wryly to yourself, rubbing your hands off on your smock, shrugging your shoulders loose once you got back onto your feet. 

You did your best to put on a happier facade, different from the insecure, hunched-shouldered version of you from way back in the past, and different from the apathetic lone figure you were now.

“I…” Hiccup blinked at you for a moment. He looked a tad thrown off by you now with your shoulders high, hands on your waist and back straight, much different from any sort of behavior you’d exhibited since long before.

The wide smirk on your face faltered, and you toned it down a little, slumping a bit. You knew you hadn’t had the ability to make Hiccup smile in a long time, but this was just terrible. Sometimes you wondered if you ever had, or if he was just faking it. It didn’t matter much to you now.

“Or, you can come with me and wait outside while I go find a change of clothes,” You said blankly, letting your hands fall to your sides, “Your pick.”

Hiccup grimaced, probably thinking of the greeting he’d get once he got back. You weren’t quite sure how he made it out here in the first place, and in his casual wear no less. You hadn’t seen him in anything less than a full set of leather armor for a very long time.

Of course, he’d chosen the latter. Sort of.

You let the water from the stream run over the toes of your boots, waterproofed by tar and oil as you pulled up your smock, scrubbed until it was worn and back to the same colorless dull hue you had gotten it in. It was to your benefit that you had worn something under, though the berries were much too pigmented for you to leave your smock on its lonesome.

“You didn’t have to wait for me,” You sighed, picking yourself up and away from the beck, slinging your water heavy clothing over a low-hanging branch. 

You turned to look at Hiccup who had decided to wait by the treeline, back to one of the large pines lining the whole island. He had found himself a terror along the way and was minding it with amusement, waving a thin branch above its head and watching and it leapt and curled after.

“It’s alright,” He said almost bashfully, without looking up, as the Terror flipped onto its belly, wriggling after the branch Hiccup waved over its stomach like a fish to a worm, “I, ah, I got Johannes to handle the stables.”

Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck as you pulled down your sleeves, picking at the loose threads and checking for any unpleasant damp spots, of which, for once, thankfully, there were few. 

“You took my advice, then,” You noted absentmindedly that this was the tunic you’d worn on the Edge, its color washed out and much thinner, but still very recognizable.

“Yeah,” Hiccup weighed the stick in his hand almost contemplatively before tossing it to the side, watching as the terror scurried after.

“So,” You said, sweeping your foot almost carelessly across the carpeted forest floor, pulling your basket into your arms again, “How have you been?”

“How have I been?” Hiccup asked astoundedly even as he eyed your smock, reluctantly pulling his gaze from it in order to follow as you led your way back up to the forest path, “I think you know the answer to that.”

“Yes, well, no- I mean, from before that,” You scoffed, looking down darkly into your nearly empty basket.

You meant after you left.

You felt the familiar pulling of tides, tugging at something deep and light in your gut. 

The air was still between you. It was hard not to feel when there was nothing between you but air and your own memory of some hastily forgotten hurts.

“That was a stupid question,” You shrugged, kicking aside a stick, protruding from just off the path.

You were sure Hiccup had been too stressed earlier to care or notice but it was easily felt now. Your quarters were much too close for you to put on the same old facade and pretend that nothing had ever happened and that the two of you weren’t ever more than strangers, your bond closely resembling something you might have once called friendship.

“I… Well, if you don’t mind tagging along still, I won’t make you do much,” You pushed down thoughts of beating storms, rain so thick you couldn’t see five feet in front of you, “You caught me off guard.”

You blinked away memories of rushing, towering waves and a bone-deep chill only made worse by the pressing winds and the water soaked deep through your clothes and to your bones, causing you to shiver and shake and pull closer to the neck of your dragon. 

Pressing deeper into leathery skin and scales, closer than you ever thought possible, praying to the Gods that you might be spared the indignity of living to see another day past your shame, past your desertion.

“Alright,” Hiccup decided finally, eyeing you oddly.

You pretended you didn’t feel the phantom shivers clawing up and down your spine or the echoes of a deep burning hurt you were certain had gone long since unnoticed by all the wrong people.

You made sure your breathing was steady as you marched forward, carefully putting one foot in front of the other. 

You listened to the occasional wingbeat of a dragon from up above and the unburdened twittering of small animals in the foliage surrounding you. 

You heard Hiccup stifle a yawn from back behind you. You wondered what you could do to make this trip worth it for him. To be honest, you weren’t quite expecting him to take you up on your offer. It was more of a snipe, really. 

You’d never been good at those, though. People always took you much too seriously.

There was a clearing up further ahead to your left, one you neared as the trees grew thicker and larger, where you could hopefully make up for some of your lost boon. The berries, you were sure they were gone, but perhaps you could make up for it by finding some other things.

The loudest noise between the two of you was the sound of your footsteps.

You inhaled the misty air of the forest and, eventually, you began to relax.

“Here we are,” You hummed, as the path grew lighter, sunlight filtering between the trees and the foliage.

You examined the crown with care, looking over each leaf and link, turning it around gently in your hands. What began as a task born from boredom became something you invested yourself into with brief interest.

The atmosphere was bright and the sun warm against your shoulder blades, laying like a heavy furred blanket across them as you leaned down, splitting small holes in the ends with your fingernails and threading grasses through until you had some approximation of a flower crown, minus the flowers. 

It was the kind of warmth that made you sentimental, bringing up a feeling that felt like something flowering, which you pursued vaguely as if this might have been the last time you ever felt it. 

By the time you two had been teenagers, Hiccup had been long since uninterested in that kind of thing. In teenage boy fashion, he avoided things such as flower crowns and playing in the sand down by the beach, much too focused on killing a Dragon and trying to seem tough enough to meet standard. 

Then he got Toothless, and from there on after he hadn’t time for anything but Dragons and the Riders. He was too absorbed in his inventions to pay any mind to other things.

You’d deeply wanted to do it, though maybe not always specifically to him, but you’d never found the purpose. You had it now.

You turned to Hiccup with a lopsided smile, watching his chest rise and fall gently for a few moments. Your lips twitched, falling into a small crown as you held out the crown, deciding whether or not you should drop it.

 Hiccup blinked drowsily awake at the sudden movement, to which you startled and before you realized it, the crown had gently slipped from your fingers and fell over the crown of his head. Because of the angle, though, it looked to be resting more on his forehead than anything. 

You held your breath as his eyes unfocused and fluttered shut again, unregistering, and you backed up on all fours with quiet ease, pushing yourself to your feet, attempting to flee the scene and pretend nothing had quiet happened at all.

You shuffled to the other side of the clearing, craving distance, walking a path around it like you were attempting to trace the edges with your feet. You balanced on it, placing your heel to the other foot’s toe and then again with the opposite foot, arms out in front of you, taking note of all the shrubbery around you.

Eventually the shifting ferns drew back your attention and you glanced back towards Hiccup, who’d sat up groggily, slowly examining the crown that had probably, most likely just fallen from his head.

He looked a complete and utter mess. You hid an ugly grin.

“I hope you like it,” You smiled down at the stem connecting a nice wad of berries to the bush. It was too quiet for him to hear and you were much too far away, but it was more of a musing to yourself anyways.

You leaned back onto your heels, sore for all the walking you’d done. You wondered if they were the right kind, enough to replace the bushel you’d lost earlier. You weren’t completely sure they were edible, anyways.

The two of you had broken out into a clearing, one covered in grass and ferns, and this was where you had decided to set midday camp. 

You lounged there in the waning sun, Hiccup more so than you, not so much watching the world turn to oranges and reds as witnessing it in your periphery. You’d lived it too many times for it to be any sort of novel. 

You were sure it was different on dragonback, but alas. You didn’t have that option.

After you came back to Berk, taking to the ground like you’d developed a phobia of everything else, it spent a lot of time flying around on its own, going who-knows-where on most days. One day, when you’d had the mind to look for it, you’d found that it had flown off for what was most likely good. 

You traced the leaf veins below your thumb, lost in mindless remembrance, ambiguously aware as Hiccup got up.

He groaned like he was a decades older man than he was, audible across the clearing, while putting his hands to the small of his back and leaning backwards mad before he made his way over. 

“What’s this?” Hiccup asked, holding what you were sure was the crown in his hand. You weren’t looking and ignored it, not necessarily expecting him to call you out on it any more than you’d expected to make the crown itself.

“Not sure,” You said, before looking over, and glancing up and down at ruffled clothes, messy hair and the sleeve that came up to wipe off the corner of his mouth, “Have a nice nap?”

“I’m just fine, thanks… “

You rolled your eyes, “That wasn’t my question.”

“Does it matter?” He asked, straightening out his shoulders.

“You were out for a while,” You said in lieu of an answer, “Was worried you needed me to drag you back to the village. Tuck you into bed.”

“No,” Hiccup said exorbitantly, “Never.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” You shot back.

“Maybe.”

“Definitely…” Hiccup started, “An exaggeration.” 

“Not at all.”

“Are you sure?” 

“Everyone’s had their share of it,” You stated, lifting your shoulders exaggeratedly, bringing both hands up by your head with your shrug, while kicking out your foot, turning to trot off in the opposite direction.

“You do a lot of really-need-to-be-dragged-back-after activities.”

“Hey, well, I’ve done a lot of that for you, too.”

“Pick one, name something.”

“I mean, I’ve kept you from falling down off cliffs a lot,” Hiccup ran a hand through his hair.

“I have since not stopped falling off cliffs,” You squinted at him, “And neither have you, I’m pretty sure. Also, that jumping off dragons thing? Serious disqualifier. That counts as at least half a cliff jump every time. Negative helping-me-out points. Honest.”

“What?” Hiccup shook his head, gesturing towards himself, “Doesn’t count. Never met a dragon that didn’t have my back. Natural Dragon Master. No danger.”

A natural if by natural he meant through fifteen years of absolute failure in any sort of interaction with an animal more sentient than a frog.

“Sure…” You remembered all the time he spent as kids, half with you and sometimes without, running across rooftops for his dad. Because you were being chased. By dragons. 

“Okay, call me a dragon, right now.” You said, with finality.

“Right now?”

“Right now.” 

You spent a little while staring at him.

“What, now?”

You nodded.

You were slightly surprised when he played along, even though you knew you had been egging him on to do it. You watched him cup his hands and chitter oddly into them, in a mimicry of what you understood as a Terror call.

You looked down on him with fake skepticism. Usually, with the call, it was a hit or miss whether a dragon would respond. The dragons with Riders tended to ignore you completely unless you were their rider. 

Both of you knew this, though you counted it on being a miss.

“They’re coming, you’ll see,” Hiccup said, waving his left hand as if he was clearing smoke out of the air.

“I hope it blows up in your face. Like that catapult, from when we were kids,” You blew a raspberry at him.

“What, which one?” Hiccup asked.

“The one you tried to roll up to your house, kept rolling down the hill, went straight through Burthair’s cart and smashed through his fence,” You grinned, “Your dad made you round up all his sheep after, remember?”

You remembered trying to help him quietly in secret, gathering a few sheep on a lead before you were caught and sent home to be scolded.

“No, hey, You blew that one up,” Hiccup said incredulously, “That one was all you.”

“Yeah, it was.” You admitted guiltlessly.

“You are the worst,” He said, as the sound of flapping and the rustling of trees grew slightly louder. You ignored it, thinking it was just another random group of dragons lost over Berk. There had been a lot of those as of late.

“The worst,” You agreed. You had a foot already up, halfway into a turn before a bright yellow, spiny body slammed quickly into your face.

You yelped, falling to the side, tumbling slightly as what must have been a Terrible terror scrambled for purchase and left off your face and into the tree line. You blinked, half-shaded under low-hanging branches.

You braced yourself against your arm, bringing your other hand down from your face to see red in the shape of a smeared line across your face. By the look and size of it, it wasn’t too bad.

You opened and closed your jaw with annoyance, realizing quickly that the Terror must have scratched your face. 

Henceforth, though, you were much more easily capable of dodging around the sudden appearance of more Terrors, catching a tiny green one just before it face planted into the dirt. 

“Woah, woah, woah,” You caught Hiccup, too, doing his best to dodge around them, jumping back as a feisty blue clawed its way up his back as he made his way towards you.

It was a difficult effort to make as by the time you had found solid ground, the dragons began to jump on top of him, covering his arms and legs so that he looked like a pile of very large and colorful bees standing on two legs.

You could help but laugh, wobbling over to help. You slipped your hand under the leg of a terror just before Hiccup fell over with a shout, falling forwards and nearly dragging you with him as he tumbled into the shade of the treeline. 

And as if following a command, terrors scuttled away, as if chasing after your peals of laughter, echoing around the clearing.

There wasn’t nearly enough time between Hiccup’s call and the appearance of the dragons for any, or at least most of them to have come in from Berk, nor any guarantee that any of the Terrors heard him, but these gathered quick enough for you to be seriously impressed.

“Yeah… I wasn’t expecting that either.” You stared down at Hiccup as he stared back, the two of you looking at each other with startled eyes, you bent half over and Hiccup propper up on his elbows on the ground before the two of you broke out into breathy laughter.

The flowers and plants around you were heady, filling the breathless airheadedness in between your eyes with even more cotton.

Your voices mixed and quieted in equal fashion, the two of you ignoring the mutterings of the forest until, eventually, they grew into something you could hear. 

“Hiccup!”

You froze, a wince stuck on your face.

“Hiccup!” This shout was much more drawn than the last. 

It was Astrid. 

You saw the shadows of her and Stormfly drift smoothly over the face of the clearing. You wondered if she had followed some of the Terrors out or if she had gotten Stormfly to track Hiccup’s scent.

You were about to look back at Hiccup for some sort of direction before he tugged you after him. Tugged until the two of you were huddled under the alcove you had missed, made by two thick roots of a ginormous tree, waiting.

You weren’t sure how far above she was, she hoped she didn’t see your basket, sitting plainly across the way.

You could tell Hiccup was holding his breath, staring out deep into the forest, where trees went from towering to the sole consumers of light, protecting a misty undergrowth beneath a dark, leafy roof. There was a log to the left of the entrance to the narrow space, half-rotted and sprouting mushrooms out of its side.

You recalled that there had been a notable instance around when the two of you had been just about twelve, sneaking around in the Great Hall for the leftovers post meal. You’d been trapped in a closet, when they’d had those, removed after you and Hiccup had accidentally burned them down at fourteen, with nothing but a loaf of bread between you.

The air wasn’t nearly as musty or stale, and of course it was much darker then, with not the whiff of a fresh plant in sight, but the principal was still the same.

You held very little stake in it all, but you kept close and stiff anyways, the joyful atmosphere from before mixing into something fun and scurrilous, electrifying the space behind your eyes and sending ticklish bolts of lightning down your spine.

It remained there until the heavy wing beats of the Dragons above you faded long into the distance.

The field, littered with scented flowers and bushes, must have muddled Stormfly’s scent. Or she really was just following the Terrors. One thing was sure, though. Where there was one Rider, there were more.

“I thought you said you got people to cover it?” You asked.

“I did. They should have been able to, but something must have happened,” Hiccup leaned back against the tree bark, hitting the back of his head against it lightly, grunting lightly as it did. 

You wondered if he had grown a few inchest still since you had last been close to him on the Edge.

You raised your eyebrow, asking the silent question. Are you going to go back?

Hiccup said nothing, looking away, though you couldn’t miss the soft clench of his jaw and the gentle slouch, or the agitated twiddling of his fingers by his waist.

You rolled your eyes. Privately, you almost felt bad that you weren’t able to give him a better time out. But also, there would be many other times for him to make up for it with other people. You wondered if he would ever choose to come back to you.

“They should be able to handle it. They’re not children. But it’s no burden on me whether you stay or go,” You inclined your head forwards.

You placed one foot in front of the other across the uneven wooden planks. You just needed to get down to the fields.

You strode past the bright red hut that marked the Jorgenon Clan, avoiding haphazardly placed construction materials.

You paused where you stood and turned back as Hiccup called your name, standing right in the middle of the walkway. It never ceased to surprise you whenever he showed up. 

It wasn’t much. But it still surprised you every time he came with greetings.

You smiled.

He quickened his pace, pulling himself up onto the path and stopping in front of you, prosthetic clicking against wood.

“Hiccup,” You greeted, “What brings you to me?”

“Where do you live, now?” He asked, “I was planning on stopping by, but…”

“Up behind the spire on the way to Gothi’s,” You hummed.

“But that’s… You live in Mildew’s old hut?” Hiccup asked, surprised. 

“Yeah,” You nodded, rifling through the satchel clipped to your waist, flicking through rows of herbs with delicately placed fingertips, “So what have you been up to?”

You realized you needed to go off-island soon. The idea filled you with dread.

“Do you really want to ask that?” Hiccup questioned, “because there’s been a lot…”

“Why not?” You shrugged.

“Some rouge dragons have been eating holes into the earth- and with all the dragons underwater, coupled with the Scauldrons-” Hiccup rubbed his forehead, “Basically, they’ve been drilling new hot springs, which has been nice, but no one’s gotten to any of them yet. They always seem to dry up before anyone can get there and back and I keep getting complaints about people’s water getting stolen, or something.”

“Ouch,” You said sympathetically, as Hiccup continued on.

“I wish they’d give it up, honestly. There are more important things for me to get to, but I haven’t even been able to get to all the trading issues with all the other tribes… Anyways, are you busy?” Hiccup asked quickly, looking back and forth.

“Busy?” You asked. 

“I kinda want to get out of here before anyone else…” Hiccup shrugged his shoulders, cringing.

“Notices?” You finished, “Let’s go.”

“A hot spring?” You asked aloud, both your and Hiccup grasping the edge of the pool on your knees, watching the water bubble slightly. 

Hiccup extended a hand hesitantly, grazing it over the bubbling surface. You watched as the foam fizzled underneath his palms and when he didn't flinch, you sat back and pulled off your boots, rolling up the legs of your trousers, revealing a long scar on the leg furthest Hiccup.

“It’s alright to wash in?” You asked, Hiccup nodding an affirmative. 

You rested a bare foot onto the bubbling water, testing it out with your toes, before sinking your legs in with a breathy sigh. 

“It’s one of the ones you were talking about, right?” You asked

“Yeah,” Hiccup confirmed, watching you closely.

You let out a soft, disappointed sound at the idea that it might be gone soon.

The spring looked to be about waist-deep, though that might be something you needed to test out before dipping into the pool. It was pressed up and partially embedded in the side of a rocky cliff, spearing into the ground at a sideways angle. 

All around, the two of you were packed in by large, lush fauna. Huge ferns, even larger trees and a great deal of mist.

Very, very private.

It was extremely tempting.

“We could… It would be nice, but…” Hiccup reasoned. He didn’t seem into the idea, which was fine. Honestly, you didn’t mind having this spot all to yourself. 

There wasn’t much of a practical way to sink into the waters without stripping nearly bare anyways. Hiccup’s armor would most definitely be damaged by the water, and you didn’t like the idea of marching back to Berk in sopping wet furs.

Your undergarments certainly weren’t up to scratch for the kind of soak you were looking for.

“We don’t have a change of clothes.” You said, meeting his eyes head on. The two of you looked at each other for a moment. 

Hiccup must have followed the same line of thought, looking at you like he’d caught something odd and he didn’t know what to do with it. There was an odd feeling curling in your stomach, and an awkwardness that hadn’t been so palmable between you since before… Before.

Did it really matter if he saw you naked? Or at least clothed only partially? It wasn’t as if you’d never seen him the same during all your years of semi-sturdy friendship.

You spent a moment feeling the skin on your face begin to warm, brows crinkling with a remembrance that sort of killed the mood before you glanced away with as much casualness as you could muster.

“Do you think we could get back in time?” You asked instead. 

“Well, there’s not much hope, but I guess it’s worth a try,” Hiccup started hesitantly.

You and Hiccup stared down at the small bubbling hole at the base of an empty basin. It had been an awkward walk back to the Village. Still, you seemed incapable of suggesting anything else. Hiccup, too. 

“Gods damn it,” Hiccup said. 

You shrugged, the roll of cloth under your hands shifting only slightly. Besides the tarp strapped to your back and the towels to Hiccup’s, the both of you were carrying a set of undergarments you found which should have covered just enough to remain modest in the springs.

Toothless, behind the two of you, basket in mouth, grumbled as he dropped it to the tall grass floor. You’d brought him along in order to help carry the bulk of your things.

“Well,” You started, puzzling to yourself, hand under your chin, “I mean, we could try what you did last time? With the Terrors?”

“But with a Scauldron, right?”

You nodded, “Honestly, it’s that or head back.”

Hiccup winced, immediately backing away to settle down onto one knee. He was turned to face your right, so that he was looking out towards the forest. 

He opened his mouth and cupped his hands, then paused. Then he tried again. But no sound game out. The whole time Toothless looked peeved, eyes shifting between the two of you as he snorted.

You stared blankly, waiting, which was probably the first time you and Toothless ever felt the same sort of emotion, though you most likely meant it in a much more joking fashion than he did.

“I can’t do it with you watching,” Hiccup said, finally.

You squinted at him, wondering what was up with the sudden-onset stage fright, just as Toothless rolled his eyes, shaking his torso like a wet dog, causing a hastily-clipped basket to fall off his saddle. 

“Oh,” You said, turning around and grinning to yourself, “Alright. Howl away.”

You hoped he hadn’t figured out how to get to the fish basket yet. It would be a pain to walk back to Berk with everything in hand, and it would be very easy for Toothless to leave without his incentive to follow the hostage on his back.

“It’s not howling.” Hiccup deadpanned.

You knew that. You were actually pretty decent at it, back when you were still involved in the dragon business. 

“Alright.”

You stared out at a heavy wall of fauna, a large leaf and a towering set of two trees consuming the vast majority of your vision. You watched a bug crawl up the exterior of one and noted to yourself silently that you would have to watch where you rested your things while you were in the spring, if what Hiccup was trying was to work.

You listened to him shift and shuffle, moving around until Toothless must have gotten tired of waiting and he himself let out a loud, echoing roar.

You jumped back, caught off guard, jerking towards the pair with your ears covered by your hands, undergarments, falling to the grass below.

“How long do you think it will take to fill up?” You asked from the floor, hips sinking into the grass as you pushed yourself up, shrugging the straps holding the large cloth tarp in place off your shoulders.

“Not sure,” Hiccup said, shifting from foot to foot, “We should get changed first.”

“Yeah,” You agreed, tossing it over to him. He weighed it in his hands, examining it before pulling it free and letting it unravel onto the floor. 

“Hey, do you have any idea where we packed the blanket?” You asked. It was a bit overkill, but… You bit your lip.

“In the saddle, I think.”

You inhaled touchily as Hiccup gripped onto the edge of the tarp, turning from you to throw the other end out, watching it unfurl as it caught air, “Ah, do you think you could get it?”

Swiftly though not without ungain, Hiccup slung the tarp over one of the low-hanging branches, the ends of the fabric falling horizontally over the thick grasses and bushes around you. 

You supposed that meant the tarp was unnecessary, the forest here enough to bless you with cover and privacy. You noted that down.

“What? He’s harmless,” Hiccup said, letting the curtain fall closed behind him.

You squinted into the sky, up through a very small window, shafting light down through the trees. You would have worried that no other dragons would heed Toothless’ call, knowing that you yourself wouldn’t, had you not already heard the hurried beating of wings from up above. 

You stuck your tongue out at Hiccup, then turned it towards his dragon.

Honestly, it was still unimaginable to you that Toothless had developed the ability to become Alpha. It was insane, and insanely lucky. For Hiccup, that is.

The two of you, meaning you and Toothless, had never been left alone in the same room together for a reason, though most people just thought it was your fault. The reason being that Toothless didn’t like you, and you didn’t like him as a result of that. 

Harmless… Right. You scoffed.

You knew you knew better and you reassured yourself of that fact, as Toothless grumbled at you from across the small space.

Hiccup shook his head at you, quirking the corner of his mouth to the side as it formed a fondly exasperated line, unclipping various satchels and baskets from Toothless’ back.

You grimaced and scooted further away from the dragon, nudging the basket of fish closer to him with your foot, hoping that he might take more of an interest in that instead.

You kept your eyes trained on the dragon even as Hiccup walked to his side with his clothes under his arm shuffling through the treeline and behind the curtain. 

“You have enough room?” You squinted at Toothless, resting your arms against your knees, and he narrowed them back.

It had been a tricky job to get his things without anyone else noticing, a lot of careful pressing around corners and tricky, calculated jabs from Toothless, many of which you were still bitter about. 

“It’s enough,” Hiccup responded, voice trained. 

The scaly thing was still grumpy; the chances of him soldering a grudge were high, especially where you were involved. The two of you called him away from a tussle with some other dragons from around the bend, which he seemed to be enjoying by at least some measure.

If only he’d put some of that energy into being a more attentive Alpha. You wrinkled your nose, judging the dragon like a temperamental parent.

You listened to the shifting of leaves, fabric and leather before deciding you’d been waiting too long, much too used to doing things on your own time.

“I’m just going to change over here,” You called through the curtain, “Turn around, will you?” You asked Toothless, who grumbled at you disgruntledly, the ridges of his brows as furrowed as he could make them.

“Turn around, Toothless,” Hiccup confirmed from behind the curtain.

He shifted with a grumble, lumbering sideways and around, though not without whacking you in the calf with his tail, first.

You finished changing just as the first few dragons began to settle down.

You shuffled to the side once you were ready, letting Hiccup through to order and direct, gentle-parenting the dragons into doing what you needed. 

You watched him. He was shirtless, legs bare, though his left ankle remained wrapped to his prosthetic. You wondered if it hurt, sometimes, though you hadn’t the courage to ask.

He was slim as always, muscled but not quite muscly, more soft than not. It went unsaid that he was not nearly as built or wide as any of the other Viking men, so you tried not to ogle.

You sat, legs crossed on the ground as Hiccup directed the Scauldrons and Gronkle in turn, slowly patching and filling up the pool.

“How long do you think it will take to cool down?” You asked as he sent them off and he came over to stand by you, settling himself onto the small stretch of grass you were laid in.

“Not sure,” He answered.

At one point Toothless turned towards the trees, shaking himself off before beginning to march through the underbrush.

“Hey, don’t go too far, bud,” Hiccup called after him.

The two of you sat there, just you, watching steam rise from the pool

“He’s been really independent lately,” Hiccup stiffened slightly, picking at the wooden end of his prosthetic, “Yeah…”

You moved back to give him space as he unraveled the leather wraps keeping his prosthetic secure to his leg, revealing a stump and a good amount of pinched scar tissue.

You spent a moment longer looking at it than you probably should’ve before looking away. You’d never seen it before

You wondered if Astrid had. You couldn’t imagine a world where she hadn’t.

Hiccup sunk into the water first.

Sweat beaded on your forehead as you hovered above it, hands lightly gripping the edge of the pool. 

You dipped your toes in before all at once you sunk into the water, drifting down until your feet touched ground, sighing as you felt the heat rise up to your hips.

The ground was made up of small pebbles and smooth stone, and much nicer on the bottoms of your feet than you’d expected.

There was a ledge underneath, just the right height and length going around the inner edge of the pool on most sides to make a nice enough bench. You waded towards it, settling over the concave surface, ignoring the slight unevenness of it.

You relaxed, going boneless underwater, feeling your face redden as the heat from the water floated up into it, causing a line of sweat to run down your cheek.

With nothing else to you, your eyes drifted over towards Hiccup. He was much the same, though he was a little more out of it.

He really needed it, you supposed. 

You blinked at him as he tilted his head back, exposing freckled skin, much more faded than when you were younger but visible just the same. 

You eyed a multitude of cuts, long and light against his tan, following them down to a long vertical cut by the right side of his chest.

 “What’s on your mind?” Hiccup’s voice brought you back to alertness, breaking the spell the spring seemed to put you under.

You tilted your head back and forth, debating whether or not you should answer.

He followed your eyesight instead, answering the silent question in your eyes.

“That… Axe. Training accident,” He answered, shrugging. You marveled at the casualness of it all.

“...And that one?” 

“Dragon racing. Caught in the side by one of the spikes over Hofferson house,” You nodded. You hadn’t been in town for that one.

“And, I’m guessing, that’s why you guys use more of a track, now?”

Hiccup rubbed his neck sheepishly.

“Where’d you get yours?” He asked

Being able to talk and converse with him like this was great and all, but you were afraid that behind all the mindless platitudes and play-warmth he would finally, finally see you. See deeper than the scars like cracks on your surface, seep right into line lines and stare into your core to somehow find you wanting.

You hunched slightly inwards self consciously.

“Hey, it’s… it’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it,”

Hiccup drifted towards you, resting his hand on the side of your shoulder. 

You kept your eyes trained downwards, staring at  large groups of bubbles as they rose to the surface, coloring the water an opaque white.

Your exhale blew hotly back into your face, rising up with the steam.

You nodded.

Hiccup hummed under his breath, voice tinted with a hint of confusion.

You pressed your thumbs into his shoulder blades in the dark of your hut, moving with his muscles as he groaned and flexed them backwards.

You felt the outline of lightning scars under his shirt and followed them down lazily, rubbing a path around them, pushing deep into weary muscle through his thick tunic.

Hiccup leaned into it. Again, you moved to accommodate him.

You shifted over your hastily done bed, dull fabric shifting below you.

Afternoon light trickled in through the blinds.

You counted every scar visible above the line of his collar, each cut and scab that formed alabaster marks against peachy-tan skin.

You worked through knots, strains and strains and stresses, watching with a careful eye as Hiccup softened, letting them melt off and away.

You worked your way back up, and down, leaning maybe a bit closer than necessary, feeling your breath on your face as you exhaled into the nape of his neck, lifting your elbow higher in order to get a hard spot a few lengths away from his spine. 

Hiccup let out a breathy sigh. 

You flushed.

You sifted through the assortment of ripe berries in the cart, humming thoughtfully. 

You weren’t quite sure what to buy. Honestly, you didn’t need to buy any at all. You had a large enough stock at home to guarantee you’d not need to buy or forage anything until the next year.

 You would never say it out loud but you were actually out to take inventory. A whole lot of the other Vikings would be displeased to hear about it, you were sure. It was a good way for you to keep stock of what was in store and what you would need to search for on your own. It was how you made your coin. 

It was quite easy, especially when you took advantage of your close proximity to Gothi. Though a tough and harried healer, she was still an elder and it was much more convenient to have the shops travel up towards her. 

Some might have called it ‘taking advantage of the elderly,’ but you were loath to the idea. You didn't upcharge her by too much. Whenever you did up the price, it was much deserved payback for dumping her waste down your side of the mountain. Somehow it always landed on your roof.

You brought your finger to your chin and moved to accommodate a newcomer you sensed by the corner of your eye, careful not to look up at the stall keeper, who was squinting down at you suspiciously. You were afraid he might have been catching on. 

You walked over to a wide array of scales, most likely scavenged from the dropped and shed skins of the dragons who enjoyed roaming around town.

You enjoyed the fresh air, the wind as it flowed over your scalp. You felt light and pleased, one hand held to your back as you pursued the displayed wares.

 There was a nice arranged pyramid of orangish-reddish scales and a set of electric yellow and purple sat above a wrinkled, dull green cloth, and a line of iridescent scales by your right hand.

“You see something you like?” You startled as you heard a voice murmur by your ear. It seemed to be that you were so engrossed in pretending to be invested that you hadn’t noticed as your fellow shoppe leaned into your space. 

You walked to the side, turning so that you were leaning away from her. 

It was a woman, brown hair nearing red, the brightest auburn you’d ever seen in the light, dressed in a thin layer of furs with both hands on her hips. You recognized this woman.

“These came from me,” She exclaimed calmly, voice running off her tongue like thick, gooey honey. 

The stall keeper rolled his eyes, “You’ll get your cut, don’t worry.”

The question must have been obvious in your eyes because Valka smiled, “Oh, yes, I collected those myself, you see.”

You smiled uncomfortably as Valka laughed to herself, finally backing up a tad. 

You straightened your back and your shoulders, exhaling deeply.

Though she was unbalanced from her time away from general society, she was confident and it served her well.

Her swell mood was contagious. You quirked your lips with the urge to join in, though to your chagrin, your own laughter came out more as a breathy uncomfortable chuckle than anything. You were also very much out of practice.

She didn’t seem to notice, though you knew that was most likely a calculated effort. You were glad for it.

“Hello,” You managed an honest smile, “Trying to push sales?”

“I’ve a bit of a vested interest in this shop, I should say,” She said, examining you as if you were a sort of creature from a land she’d never seen before, “Who are you?”

Valka paused, blinking to herself. Before you could respond again, she asked, “What’s your name? What’s your story?”

She didn’t know, you realized with a pang. There was no reason for her to, of course, Hiccup being your only link to each other and the two of you hadn’t been nearly as close as you had been before, as of late, but it still hurt a little. Definitely put a damper on your mood.

You kept up your smile anyways, mimicking her pose.

“I’ve not much of a story to tell, I’m sad to say,” You inclined your head.

“Everyone’s got a story,” Valka insisted, “Even-Oh, it should be-...”

You hummed your question.

“It’s probably wandered off somewhere, the frightful thing… There-! This one’s been pretty helpful,” Valka pointed out behind you, “A bashful thing, helped me bring down some of the wares. He showed up a few months before, well…”

Her eyes unfocused and her stance fell just the smallest bit. You winced with sympathy, remembering how Drago had smothered the island in ice before nearly killing off all of its inhabitants. She was very open about it, especially in the hall, and word spread faster than fire on Berk. It must have been difficult to lose her husband and her Alpha Dragon all in one day.

You shifted, turning following her direction after a moment of solidarity, and froze. 

With its head bowed down, looking guiltily away from across the clearing was a dragon. Your dragon. 

She leaned forwards against you conspiratorially, though this time you didn’t react, even as she whispered loudly in your ear with false secrecy, “It doesn’t hurt to have a bit of extra change on hand, you see. That’s why I’m here.”

“I do see,” You nodded along, though something about your voice was off as you spoke, still staring at your old dragon. Your voice was much too sharp and flat and cracked in all the wrong places.

You blinked away a light burning in your eye, refusing to meet your dragon by the eyes. 

Your heart twinged, ruffled and upset as you were all at once confronted with the reality that you really had been abandoned, though it wasn't as bitter a fruit knowing that it had been, in part, your fault.

“So, you said these scales are on sale?” You cleared your throat, turning back towards the stall with the full intent to ignore the thing as you would a stranger, which it might have very well been. 

“Which would you recommend?” Your eyes refused to focus as you blocked it out of your mind, refusing to acknowledge the faces or manners of any of the people around you. 

It was because of that that you just nearly missed him, approaching down the path to your left, once again clad in dark gray and brown leather.

“Oh, hello, Hiccup!” You called.

“You’re trembling,” Hiccup noted with surprise in his voice as you approached.

“It’s been a while since I rode a dragon,” You admitted balefully, as the two of you strode towards Toothless’ saddle. 

Even before, when you had just gotten yours, you’d had a hard time learning to love being up in the sky. But you pushed through it, because it was what Hiccup loved, and because it was getting to a point where you needed a dragon in order to keep up with everyone else.

You never did talk to anyone about how much it terrified you. 

“Will you be alright?” 

You nodded hesitantly, though privately you weren’t so sure, your heart beating like a drum. 

Hiccup sighed, “We’re just headed to the sea stacks, right?”

“Yeah,” You took a few hesitant, shaking breaths before swinging yourself up on the saddle behind Hiccup, who looked back at you, securing his helmet as if he thought it might be better that he leave you behind, as if you might shatter at the slightest breeze. 

“Thanks for taking me,” You looked away, ears burning shamefully. The things you could forage for on Berk weren’t cutting it. You needed the extra coin.

You jolted suddenly as you took off, alarm racing up and down your spine as you pressed yourself flush to Hiccup. You kept your eyes as straight ahead as possible, knowing that looking down, at the disappearing dow of Berk in the distance, would be your downfall.

You noticed Hiccup kept close to the ocean floor, guiding Toothless only just high enough to cleanly avoid the ocean waves below.

Past the wind rushing through your hair, the pressure plugging your eardrums and the sound of Toothless’ wings beating through the air, you realized that this wasn’t so bad.

Eventually your breathing evened and you were able to loosen up to some degree.

You leaned your head against his neck, arms relaxing slightly around your torso though your front stayed no less melded to his back.

You noticed the two of you had wandered all the way down, strolling the boundary between grazing fields, dotted by sheep, and the closer line of houses to your right.

You were still a slight bit shaken, though you’d made it back with all of your things intact plus extra, which was alright enough.

Hiccup looked back and forth, at where your hut ended just beyond the Great Hall, probably wondering if he should have been the one to walk you back instead.

“I don’t eat down at the hall much,” You looked back, keeping the silent ‘or ever’ to yourself.

“Well, I can understand why,” Hiccup looked to the side, voice sardonic, as the two of you, from a distance, watched Tuffnut and Snotlout wrestling for a plated chicken leg. You weren’t sure how they got so far out from the Great Hall so quickly. As far as you were aware, they didn’t serve food this early.

“Would you?” He asked.

Snotlout was able to pin Tuffnut to the ground, about to take a bit from the leg in his meaty grasp before Tuffnut basked him over the back of his head with the empty plate.

The other Riders were sat around him at the high table.

Hiccup seemed uncomfortable sitting up on the elevated platform reserved for the Chief and company by the forefront of the Great Hall. Out of place. Not quite like he was in shoes he hadn’t grown into yet, as was the saying, but more as if he was standing in front of a pair of shoes that did not belong to him at all.

You asked yourself if he might be more comfortable down with the common folk. 

You sent him a small wave just as the two of you met eyes, Hiccup at once sending a complimentary quirk of the lips back.

You came.

It took you a few days to get there, but eventually you worked up the courage to make it down and to sidle around the heavily concentrated group of Vikings in the open floor of the hall.

Just as I promised. 

You gave him a half-smile, lifting a spoon of stew to your mouth. It had been a while since you had tasted something from the hall. You had to admit it was a taste that you couldn’t replicate, not that you tried. You weren’t sure whether or not it was something you liked.

A crowd of Vikings obscured your vision as they walked past, large mugs and plates in hand.

You stared down at your bowl of stew and the thin slice of bread on the place beside it, wondering if all of this was worth it.

You were surprised when Hiccup settled down in front of you, startling you out of your own musings, plate of his own in hand. 

You peered round him, back at the table to see the rest of the Riders and Gobber back up on the podium. They seemed just as equally confused.

“What brings you down here?” You got the vague idea that it was expected, though not a requirement of the Chief, for Hiccup to sit up by the front table. Something about establishing authority and basking in the attention or something before it wore off, you didn’t care.

It didn’t seem like something Hiccup was interested in, anyways. 

“What, no ‘hello?’”

“Nope,” You popped the ‘p’ as Hiccup pulled out his journal from under his arm, settling it on the table to his side. You stared at brown leather and at all the small bits of parchment sticking out the sides.

“Let me see,” You said, 

“You sure?” Hiccup asked with a crooked smile.

You nodded, beckoning him over to your side of the table, craning your neck as he laid the book out in front of you and settled down besides.

“What’s that?” You pointed downwards, as he began flipping through the pages.

“What, this?”

You hummed, “No, go back.”

Hiccup blinked, and you saw the minor realization wash over his face before he flipped back the page almost reluctantly, revealing a messily sketched out crack in the earth and a crude map of the archipelago with a bunch of x-es littering random regions over the sea. 

“Do you mind if I…?” 

He shook his head no, handing over his notebook as you pushed aside your stew.

You read over some of the notes to the side, furrowing your brow.

“The Caldera,” You said, remembering the old wives tale.

“Yeah,” Hiccup rubbed his neck, “I didn’t mean for you to see it, but what do you think?”

“There’s something about it, I don’t know,” You said, shrugging, “It would be really nice.”

Hiccup scrubbed his neck embarrassedly, “It’s just a fantasy I have sometimes.”

“Is that why you spent so much time wandering?” You nodded your head, taking a sip from the large mug in front of you with hunched shoulders, “It would make a great discovery.”

Hiccup nodded.

You got it. It was unbelievably unrealistic, but that was probably the point. It was something for him to chase after even after everything else became unfamiliar. There was something charming about its unattainability, in a way.

Mead. Maybe it was a comfort you yourself craved.

You barely paid attention as you filled your mug and his, watching as, across the hall and through warm and bustling bodies, Hiccup and Astrid spoke. 

It was with all of the passion of a newly split couple. Though you couldn’t hear everything, you could see the meaningful tilt of Hiccup’s brown, the way his shoulders only moved when he spoke about something worthwhile, and the emotive movement of his hands. 

They were leaning close together by a gaggle of the others, speaking in whispers. It was probably nothing of consequence to you. She was, still, his right hand woman. 

But he looked at her like she hung the stars and wove this very Earth, hanging on to her every word, no matter the severity or banality.

You downed a mug, mead dripping down the corner of your chin. You wiped it off with your chin, lamenting and then going after another. It would take quite a great deal for you to get drunk.

You watched as Astrid walked away, back turned to Hiccup, her side exposed to you, and took note of the way, mouth open as if to speak, he reached out slightly, like he might be able to pull her back by some invisible string.

Your heart beat against itself, rhythm as loud and violent to your ears as the crashing waves outside down by the coast. You ignored it, tucking it away like a book under your pillow in the dark of night. 

You furrowed your brows, picking up another mug and filling it to the brim. It was only considerate, if you were going to drink. 

Your arms were full of mugs by the time you thought to wander back, balanced unevenly in your arms. He might need it just as bad as you did. 

You’d stumbled back to Hiccup’s hut in the dark, chuckling and laughing like a pair who didn’t want to do much besides forget the world around you. 

There was something tense in the air between the two of you despite the physical closeness. You weren’t quite sure when or how the two of you had fallen into each other, or why you thought this was a good idea. 

You gasped through the press of lips and the taste of ale on tongue, backed up against a wooden wall, head pressed back against the hard, uneven surface.

You pulled apart, and Hiccup leaned forwards to rest his forehead against the wall by your head, panting in your ear.

You weren’t sure who you’d slept with and who you hadn’t. Many drunk nights at the Hall, sneaking large mugs of ale and mead into your small, lonely corner meant many mornings slung over beds in houses you weren’t familiar with. Being so disconnected meant it was easy for you to slip out and away without anyone noticing.

But you knew you were here, and you were here now.

You slipped your knee between his legs. He ground down on it.

Your undergarments were up to scratch this time, though you weren’t sure if you needed them.

You felt the rise and quell of feeling and emotion and dead conversation. You searched for something to say, something to soothe, to matter or to not in a way that mattered the way someone did when they knew they weren't great, but wanted to be.

He looked exhausted. Tired from hours on his feet, time he wasn’t allowed to spend alone and a while too long throwing ideas on building, automatic tailfins and infrastructure between the two of you.

Guilt curled around like a tiny worm in your stomach. It was the same feeling you got falling from a high place, the same kind you avoided every time you saw a dragon take off into the air.

You pondered if you should ask, wondering if it was fair to want him to take the first step or back away, hands drifting back and forth underwater. 

“I’m… I’m sorry,” He said, and you weren’t sure why.

You tilted your head, sitting across from Hiccup in the same spring from before. His calf was pressed between your ankles, brushing over scar tissue as Hiccup sandwiched your left ankle between that and his other leg. 

“Me too.” You were sorry, for taking up his time and his space, when all he wanted was something else. You thought he might rather be alone. If that was the case, you knew you would go.

Calves and ankles pressed together, shifting against each other under the water testingly. 

Your face was red, heated by steam. Hiccup looked the same.

You scooted closer. Hiccup shifted forwards on his arms, leaning nearer to you.

You weren’t sure where you stood, since the night you spent together. You didn’t know if it meant anything or not, if it was a tryst born from your interest or Hiccup’s want to forget Astrid. You couldn’t remember.

But.

“Is it…?” He asked, eyes half-lidded.

You drifted forwards, standing up in the spring and met him the rest of the way, thighs slotted together.

Your arms were braced on either side of him underwater, palms resting on the smooth ledge surface.

Hiccup rested his hand on your arm, the other by your waist.

There were too many things between the two of you that went left unsaid. You hoped that one day you’d be able to say them. 

“A-ash…” He breathed into your mouth.

You half-slid, half-climbed down the rocky cliffside, grinning to yourself as Hiccup jogged after, falling slightly behind your enthusiasm.

To be honest, you weren’t so sure about sharing this secret with Hiccup. It felt weighty, like you were putting it to bed somehow and you weren’t sure you liked that, not ready to give up your reprieve.

It was private to you, but also, maybe it would be worth it, to share something so nice with someone else. There was a low chance he hadn’t seen it yet anyways. Soon, the others would find out and all the other Vikings would start funneling in, you were sure.

You slid to a stop just barely in time, backtracking with your arms out, stumbling back-first into Hiccup.

The two of you fell backwards, Hiccup falling into a set of bushes stationed behind you.

“Oh, ow,”

“Are you alright?” You asked him, as you separated, quickly scooting over and peering down at him as he pulled himself from the fanning ferns. 

The two of you were surrounded by rocks and fauna, world dark and blue in a way that felt fresh and new and freeing. 

This ledge was one that was difficult to get to unless you knew the way, which you won through hard-earned practice and exploration. 

The grass under you was cold, and wet from dew, But that was one of the many things you ceased to notice once you peered over the edge, at the beginning of a beautiful flickering.

“I’m alright,” Hiccup smiled, rubbing his head. You tried to look around him as if you might be able to see the back of it from the angle you were sitting.

“Look,” You pointed forwards with a breathy grin, as Hiccup settled himself beside you, your legs hanging limply over the side of the clifface.

He followed your direction, and he breathed. You could see the exact moment he looked down into the waters, calmer than they should be, always seeming flat and unassuming in this area.

You watched him focus, taken in by the mesmerizing sight.

Tiny dragons lit up the sea below, blinking pale pinks and greens and blues under the shifting water, looking very much like small, twinkling gems by the sand.

It was what you assumed was a mix between the glowing algae left over from the Flightmare’s time in the archipelago and the new, different kinds of dragons flooding Berk.

The two of you relaxed into the scene, calming in a way you were hard pressed to calm anywhere else. Maybe you had made the right call. 

It was a while before either of you would break the silence

“I…” Hiccup started, he looked at you with open eyes, “I…”

You perked up slightly, turning your head by the most minute degree, watching him from the corner of your eye. You waited, giving him time to articulate himself.

“...I miss…” 

His eyes twinkled, lights dancing in the shine of them, moving back and forth with the lights below. You softened in them, twisting so you were looking at him directly. 

You wondered what he missed. You wondered if it was something to quell or nurture the beating blooming jittering feeling growing in your chest.

“Them,” Hiccup said finally, lamely, before stopping, leaning against your shoulder. 

At the last moment, he looked away, pulling his hands off the ground and you read something a little like shame on his face as he said it, or on as much face as you could see, carefully tilted away from you.

You were sure you knew who, or whom he meant. 

You remembered how he looked at Astrid the other night as she walked away. How something in his eyes just seemed to storm. 

You remember how glum he was, still was, after the passing of his father, tall and mighty in a way that seemed to make him immortal.

You were glad. Just glad, and disappointed, in equal measure. But also you also couldn’t help but be a little disappointed that he hadn’t said something else.

You leaned back with equal weight onto his shoulder, though instead of feeling any sort of the warmth or amity you should have felt- or peace, like you usually did, staring down at the swirling lights, dancing with the currents- you just felt empty.

You took in the rustling of leaves behind you, the chittering and splashing of small dragons as they leapt out of the water, filling the air below with a colorful, glowing spray. Anything but the man besides you. The Chief, now.

“I know.”

#not an exact fill but close enough #no clinginess sorry could not work it in #how to train your dragon #httyd #x reader #fanfiction #toothless #httyd imagine #hiccup haddock #hiccup x reader #gender neutral reader

[bump1nthen1ght]

To Be Cherished (Dragon x GN! Reader) Part 2

Pairing: Male!Dragon x Gender Neutral!Reader

Warnings: Explicit Content (18+ ONLY), Dubious Consent (Consent is not explicitly asked), Slight Infantilization, Knotting

Word Count: 2300 words

Summary: “On nights like these, back at home, you typically performed a…ritual to calm your mind before bed. A rather private ritual, but a ritual nonetheless.

You slowly turn your head to Nyryym’s head, noticing the giant closed eye only 3 feet away from you.

Maybe I could.

You ponder, quietly undoing the tie around your robe and pulling the heavy covers up to your neck. With the thickness of the blankets its not like it would be too obvious what you were doing. Especially if you propped up your knees.”

A/N: Due to many requests, here's the NSFW part two to “To Be Cherished”! I decided to keep the reader gender neutral to stay in line with last one. Hope y’all enjoy!

The last few days have been weirdly tiring.

You had worked on your farm since you were 12 years old. For almost your entire life you’ve worked days of waking up at the crack of dawn, pushing your body until the very limit, sleeping, and then doing it all over again.

But you definitely underestimated how tiring doing nothing can be.

For four days you’ve woken up only when you felt like it, often taking over an hour to get out of bed afterwards. With a hot plate of breakfast on the table and an outfit all laid out, all you need to do is roll into the comfy chair and make morning chit-chat with your giant dragon captor. A captor who is all too eager to listen to your first-of-the-morning nonsense thoughts and the weird dreams you had. The routine would shift after that; sometimes Nyryym would have you try on a myriad of new clothes and pose, sometimes you’d read several of the books they had stored in their horde, and sometimes you would just take a walk around the cavern and admire the multide of illuminated flora and vast piles of treasure.

But despite sleeping 11 hours each night (often with a 2 hour sun-nap in the afternoon), you think the stir crazy is beginning to wear you out. It's been nice, this break, but the itch in your limbs begs you to be a little bit more adventurous, to have some sort of schedule to adhere and accomplish, even if it's small in comparison to farm work.

You’re lying in bed, belly full of a hot dinner and dressed in a beautiful ornate silk robe that drapes off you in all the right ways. Nyryym lays nearby, head right next to your bed as they settle into a sleep. The bed is cozy, Nryym looks cozy, but your restlessness seems to have reached a peak. You’re so tired from the vacation that you want to sleep but can’t, it's driving you insane.

On nights like these, back at home, you typically performed a…ritual to calm your mind before bed. A rather private ritual, but a ritual nonetheless.

You slowly turn your head to Nyryym’s head, noticing the giant closed eye only 3 feet away from you.

Maybe I could.

You ponder, quietly undoing the tie around your robe and pulling the heavy covers up to your neck. With the thickness of the blankets its not like it would be too obvious what you were doing. Especially if you propped up your knees.

A hot breath of air washes over your face, the slow and steady rhythym of Nyryym just nearby. It certainly seems like he’s asleep. Honestly, would a little noise even wake him up anyway?

Your hand slowly drifts down to your crotch, shooting the occasional glance to Nyryym’s closed eye. The anticipation stirs something in your gut, arousal pooling without even touching yourself.

You meet no resistance as you finally reach your sex, thankful that Nyryym had ‘forgotten’ to get underwear with this outfit. Your skin feels hot, you heart beating fast as you just caress yourself before-

“My, my, and without me?”

Your hand jerks upwards, your neck creaking as you whip around to see Nyryym’s bright golden eye.

“I-uhm-” You feel your face grow hot with your blush, holding your hands up to your chest in an attempt at lying. “I’m not sure what you mean.” Glancing down at your covers, you see no obvious sign of your nudity or your…machinations. There's no way he could see what you were doing!

“Sweet dear.” Nyryym coos, his tail coming up to caress the side of your face. “I can smell you.” The blush travels all the way to your ear tips, eyes widening.

Oh gods, this is even worse.

Nyrymm chuckles, the tip of his tail rolling down your face to your exposed neck. Those golden eyes eat up your form and despite the layers of blanket between you, you’ve never felt more naked.

“I’m-” Nyryym’s tail tip presses against your lips.

“Oh, dearie, do not be afraid.” He purrs, that familiar longing in his eyes eating away at your very bones. “I am not upset with you, only confused why you thought you had to do it alone.”

Before you can utter out a “what?” Nyryym draws closer, planting a soft (as soft as dragons lips can be) on the top of your head, then placing a lone paw on the bed. It creaks under his weight and you almost think he’s about to crush you when his form begins to shift. The humongous paw that once could carry your whole body begins to shrink and morph, scales remaining but a clawed thumb popping out. The mattress springs turn up as Nyryym’s weight lessens, his more quadruped shoulder pushing upwards and back, becoming parallel to his head. You lift your gaze and don’t find Norm's giant snout peering down at you, but an amused huff of breath across your face turns you towards his new face.

You throw your body back, surprised at how close Nyryym’s smaller muzzle is to your lips, finally getting a full view at this shifted form. While his body is vaguely human-shaped it still glistens with his sapphire scales, still all hard edges and overlapping segments. His whole head has shrunk to fit the proportion of his new form but it is still very much a dragon's face, muzzle and horns and all.

“We can have so much more fun together~” Nyryym’s eyes drift down to your shoulder, where your open robe has fallen aside and revealed your bare skin. A cold, clawed hand slips around your waist, pulling you into his covetous mouth as he begins sucking on your neck. You gasp, goosebumps rising across your arms, his talons scraping along your skin.

Well this is definitely not what I was expecting.

A rumbling purr comes from Nyryym’s chest as his other hand grabs onto your hips, the rough pads of his fingers pressing hard enough to leave bruises. Using his body weight he pushes you down to your back, your robe falling to the sides to reveal your bare chest. His hands leave you for just a moment to push aside the covers, cool cavern air rushing over your now completely naked sex. Nyryym continues sucking on your neck; The rough texture of his tongue laps against your pulse point, leaving pinpricks of desire in its wake.

“Gods, you are just-” Nyryym looks up from your neck, licking a kiss onto your jaw, “-so gorgeous. So perfect.” Nyryym pants, grabbing your thigh and throwing it around his waist. Your bare crotch rubs against his scaled one, an ice cold touch that gives you a shock. “Just absolutely delectable, my love.” There's a resounding spank as he slaps your ass, massive hands fondling the fat.

Nyryym looks down at you and you’ve never seen him so unhinged before. He had always showered you with praise and affection, but this was something else. This was hungry, this was desperate for a taste of you.

….You can’t say you hate it.

Nyryym sits upwards, still holding one of your oegs around his waist as he sucks on two of his fingers. His tongue is long and forked, licking down to the knuckle. Withdrawing them slowly, languidly, and with a pop. Nyryym winks at you.

“Gods, I can’t wait to taste you.”

Once again your horny brain is lagging behind, gasping when Nyryym takes his two lubed fingers and deftly shoves them into your hole. Like a stick stoking a fire, flashes of heat shoot up your abdomen. Your shaky moan when Nyryym curls his fingers puts a large grin on his face.

“See? Isn’t this much more fun?” Nyryym pulls his fingers out to the tip before shoving them back inside, giggling at your jerky yelp. “I knew we’d have such a great time together, pet. I knew it the moment I saw you.” He pulls the same maneuver, his free hand patting your thigh.

You grab desperately for a pillow, something to claw your fingers into and try to relieve some of the pressure. But with quick precision Nyryym grabs your wrist and places your palm on his chest. “Uh-uh.” He tuts. “I want you to grab onto me only.”

And you do, because Nyryym immeidately begins fingerfucking your hole with a determination, brutalizing your sensitive spot each time. Ridged scales scrape against the sides as he goes in and out, the schlick schlick schlick noise and heady scent all coming together to thoroughly scramble your brain. The pads of your fingers try to find purchase on his smooth chest but can’t, leaving you to feel and fondle the musculature underneath. Nyryym’s rumbling purrs vibrate through your wrist and down your arm, enough to even feel it slightly against your legs.

“I wish I had a court artist right now, darling. “ Nyryym pants, scissoring open his fingers inside you, stretching you wide. “I’m not sure if they'd be able to capture your elegance, but I would delight in having you immortalized just-” he shoves his fingers deep, “-like-” and again, “-this.” and again.

Considering your response is composed of half-muttered babbles and whimpers, you imagine you are quite a site to see. Hair eskew, robe left open and sweat pooling down your forehead and neck. You’re feeling light headed and wonder if your eyes have crossed or if the sex has just deprived you of clear sight.

But you can tell when Nyryym finally pulls out his fingers, the gaping emptiness all too apparent to your twitching lower half. The palm of Nyryym’s chest tries to scratch and paw, asking ‘Why’d you stop?’ with its fervent touches. The rumble of Nyryym’s chuckles are enough to imagine his smug face. The soft caress to your chin has you looking upwards, into his dangerously golden eyes.

“Don’t worry, we’re only just starting.”

Its only then you notice the pressure right up against your entrance, a glance down revealing Nyryym’s unsheathed cock. The tapered head taps against your lower half, the cerulean color seeming fluorescent in the low light. The cold tingle on your skin suggests it has some self-lubricant, the buzz as a droplet runs down your butt making your lower half clench. Which might be a problem, because just like everything else about a dragon, his cock is huge.

“Um, I don’t know if that will-”

Nyryym, seemingly too lost in the moment to hear what you’re saying, sheaths himself with a sharp thrust. You feel that familiar rumbling purr of his, Nyryym’s eyes going cross.

“Perfect.”

You’re cut off again when Nyryym reaches up and wraps a clawed hand around your neck, pressing you into the bed. Using his other hand as leverage, he begins fucking into you with abandon, pistoning his hips with an eagerness.

Your vision goes spotty as Nyryym squeezes your throat, fighting for breath when he releases. The sensations of his cock inside you are only heightened, every nerve electrified from the brink of unconsciousness. Nyryym’s thumb wipes a tear dripping from you eye, purring and cooing. A hot exhale washes over you as Nyryym mutters a “Fuck!”, his usually verbose vocabulary failing him at the moment. You don’t blame him, as all you can think about is the cock-head pounding all the way up to your guts.

Nyryym shoves your legs into your chest and over his shoulders, leaning down to press his chest against yours. A long tongue laps up more wayward tears, grunting and moaning with each hump. A bulbous base rubs against your entrance, wholly unfamiliar but not at all unpleasant. That buzzing self-lubricant gushes from Nyrymm’s tip, slickening up your insides and tightening that knot in your stomach. It threatens to snap with each precise thrust, pinpointed for your most sensitive areas.

“Take it, take it, take it-” Nyryym babbles, still lathering you with sloppy licks and desperate kisses. That bulb at the base of his cock is beginning to push harder and harder against your hole, the self lubricant giving it more stretch thsn you thiught possible. You feel so clsoe to the limit, thats when Nyryym grabs your thighs and bends them towards your chest, putting you in a full mating press.

“Yesss.” He slurs, lovestruck eyed watching his cock go in and iut of you. “So close, dear, so close. You can do it.”

You’re already shaking your head, entirely confident you can’t do it, whatever it is, but Nyryym grabs your chin and holds you still.

“Yes, you can. I know you can.”

And even your addled brain can figure it out, the stretch of Norm's bulge now half sinking into you. Your legs twitch, that knot tearing at the seams.

“Yes, yes, yes!” Nyryym’s shouts, eyes rolling back as he feels you clench as tight as you can around him. You don’t realize it but you’re screaming, moaning in pleasure as your orgasm hits you. As it does, that bulge slides right into you, sending a cataclysm of overstimulation as Nyryyms climaxes, hot spurts of cum easily overflowing and spilling out of your spent hole.

Your hips burn, stretched beyond their limit with your calves still thrown over Nyryym’s shoulders. His dick, still hard, pulses hot and heavy inside of you. Nyryym’s breath rolls down your neck, his muzzle snuggled into your neck. Cum drips down your ass, the tingle buzzing down your skin.

“What a good pet.” Nyryym pants, pressing a soft kiss to your neck. “You did so good, very good.” Another kiss. Another twitch inside you. “I’m so happy I found you.”

You fall asleep to that; sweet words and gentle pets. A soft embrace for their soft pet.

#my writing #reader insert #monster x reader #gender neutral reader #dragon x reader

[theold-ultraviolence]

Patch

Modern!Aemond Targaryen x reader

Summary: Aemond and you come across a one-eyed puppy at the farmer's market. // Words: 1k// A/N: Besties, this is just pure self-indulgent, tooth-rotting fluff. Listen, I know I have many wips, but it's been raining like crazy and I've had this soft scenario in my head for days. Hope this isn't too OC lol.

The light drizzle falling outside your window was the perfect excuse for you and Aemond to stay the whole Sunday in bed. Your partner was just too warm and comfy, with his long limbs tangled around you under the covers.   

Plus, he’d never been one to turn down an offer to stay in bed – being the major home-body that he is – which is why it’s beyond you, why he gets up from the bed and shakes you insistently, urging you to get dressed so you could carry on with your regular weekend plans of going down to the farmer’s market for breakfast.

He throws your coat on the bed while you sit there rubbing the sleepiness from your eyes, before reluctantly doing as he wishes.  

Although you couldn’t really complain, when the rain also gives you the chance stay close to him under the black umbrella that he holds in one hand, while his other is tightly linked with yours, walking through the endless booths and tents of the market.

He’d gotten you parfaits with fruit before indulging in a couple of croissants that were all the right kinds of buttery and fluffy, with hot drinks to warm up from the cold weather. 

Whatever resistance you’d had completely washed away, much like the dirt on the cobblestone paths thanks to the rain that was now beginning to subside. 

With your full bellies and content hearts, you keep wandering around, arm in arm, when suddenly something makes Aemond halt in his step. 

First thing you register is a bout of barking, turning to find a puppy biting Aemond’s ankle before standing on his hind legs to rest paw at Aemond’s pants.

The puppy barks and barks and jumps like an unstoppable ball of energy all over Aemond, making him all flustered and frozen for the sudden attention – before he kneels down, chuckling as the puppy immediately attacks Aemond’s face with kisses. 

An old man sitting on the sidewalk laughs at the sight; he’s in a heavy raincoat, sitting with a cardboard box of puppies by his side.

“This is the first time he’s ever run up to someone!” He calls to you both with a gruff voice. “He normally recoils from strangers and is so quiet. I’ve never seen that little fella this excited.” 

Aemond chuckles while trying not to fall back from how aggressive the puppy is with his affections – he scoops his small body up in his arms and rocks him as if he was a little baby – and that’s when he notices.

His heart sinks at the sight of the puppy’s missing eye – the same one that Aemond lacked, and that he covered with an eyepatch.    

You realize just a second later, heart forming a tight fist within your chest.

The puppy’s got the face of a little angel, looking up at Aemond as if he was his whole world, with his big, glistening black eye and his tongue out. His fur is short, but so soft looking and a little bit curly, and is the color of salt and pepper – race unknown. 

 “What happened to him?” You ask the man, as you kneel beside Aemond and the pup. 

“I found him and the rest of the pups abandoned in an alley. It was his crying that got my attention in the first place. I took him and his siblings to the vet but it was too late for the little one. The rest are a lively group but him – he’s always been really quiet. Doesn’t like playing with the rest and gets anxious around strangers.” 

A hopeful smile rises in the man’s lips when he sees just how loving the puppy is being with Aemond. 

Aemond merely smirks back shyly, before looking back down at the tiny baby in his arms, who’s paws were wiggling up in the air as if he was running, with his tongue out as if he was grinning with glee from Aemond scratching his tummy.

“Yes, I think I can relate to this one.” He murmurs a little brokenly, but only you can hear the change of pitch in his tone. 

When he’d confided the story of his own missing eye to you, you’d embraced him tightly, and had carefully kissed the scar that now traversed his left cheek.

All his life he’d been heavily bullied by his own family. His brother and cousins teased him about an array of mindless things that you could never comprehend, and at last, when he got the courage to defend himself, he’d been hurt. Pushed down to the gravel by his young nephew Luke, face landing right on a spiky rock as he fell. 

It’s part of the reason why he’s so quiet and reserved. Why his trust isn't given easily.

When you’d first met him in college  – you’d been instantly attracted to him, no doubt, but you couldn’t deny how intimidating he was. Soon you realized that he was simply desperate for affection, without a clue as to how to ask for it, or give it. But with consistency, time, a lot of patience and even more love and devotion, you’d found out just what an enormous heart Aemond had locked away within him, and you considered yourself immensely fortunate to be the one to care for it. 

With an arm around Aemond, you ask the man “Are they up for adoption?” to which he nods. “How much for him?” 

The owner shakes his head, brows furrowing earnestly as he looks up at the young pup, “Nothing at all. I just ask that he gets taken care of properly, gets his shots at the vet and goes to a loving home. I’d love to be sent photos to see how the little one is doing.” 

He gazes at the three of you with nothing but heartfelt gratitude pouring from his eyes, as he stands up to go kneel beside Aemond, and give the puppy one final pet. 

“Does he have a name?” Aemond asks – smiling as the pup clings to his shoulders, vigorously licking his cheeks and neck and nose, every lasting inch of Aemond’s face that he can reach. 

“Nah, not yet. But I call him Patch because of the little tuft of black hair that he has on the spot of his missing eye. Looks like an eye-patch.”

The three of you chuckle, and Aemond leans back to look at his new son, with his thumbs caressing the puppy’s cheeks and ears lovingly.  

“Patch.” Aemond softly repeats to himself, testing the name on his tongue and making the puppy bark enthusiastically. 

“You think he’ll get along with Vaghar?” You ask, referring to Aemond’s great dane. An old lady that had been with him ever since his accident – who’d been his one and only friend until you came into the picture. 

Aemond's face illuminates with a smile so big and bright like you’d never seen before on – the kind of smile that reveals those handsome dimples on his face that are otherwise hidden. “She was the only one to comfort me back then, I don’t think she’ll have a problem with Patch. After all, this little one and I are alike in many ways, it would seem.” 

The sound of Aemond’s laughter is one you want to keep forever, as he stands up, bringing Patch up in his arms and giving him a kiss on his delicate head. 

You thank the man on behalf of the two of you, then exchange phone numbers to keep in touch and send him updates on the puppy. 

Later that night, when the three of you are cuddled up in bed watching a movie whilst Vaghar slept in her own bed downstairs, you realized that maybe this was fated all along. You were meant to carry out your Sunday plans, regardless of a little rain. 

For Aemond was meant to cross paths with a little angel of his own, in the form of a loving puppy to keep softening up all of his hard edges. 

And rainy days, from now on, it wouldn't ever be gray and daunting as long as you had your very own patch of sunshine to keep you company.

#aemond targaryen #aemond targaryen fanfiction #aemond targaryen x reader #aemond targaryen x you #modern!aemond #gender neutral reader #hotd #house of the dragon #reader insert fanfiction #my writing #ewan mitchell

[boundinparchment]

Sand and Shells

In which you receive a gift from a friend, who may be more than he seems.

Pure Neuvillette fluff. Dedicated to @surveyycorps because otters are adorable.

Sometimes, you came to this beach outside the city to think. Not always the same time and not always the same day of the week, but nonetheless, it was a ritual. Rain or shine, this was your spot.

You removed your shoes, settled onto the sand, and stuck your feet in the water. Like always. Work was particularly difficult right now; you needed solutions to problems, not short-term fixes, and it was impossible to think at your desk. Especially when the tension and frustration was so thick, you would need a claymore to cut through it. Your supervisor answered to the Chief Justice and you had a feeling that perhaps certain things were being hidden to save face.

As if that would spare a dismissal or a lawsuit.

The Court didn’t take anything lightly, especially clerical errors from poor management.

Resting your cheek on your knee, you stared off into the distance, watching the sun on the ripples of water. It was quiet out this way. The occasional otter, a school of fish, or some crabs but otherwise, you were entirely unbothered.

That was, until you made eye contact with an otter nearby. It tilted its head, watching you. In its paws, a pink shell. Probably lunch.

You gave a small smile and waved. Otters were always fun to watch, especially in their true element underwater, where they glided and flipped and soared. To your surprise, the otter tilted its head in the other direction and gave a distinct chirp before it darted off.

Guess these guys aren’t too used to human company, you thought.

You shifted, clearing your head further and running your fingers through the sand. So lost in thought, you didn’t hear the putter patter of paws on sand nor the chirp; you jumped when you saw the flash of blue and white as a shell was laid at your feet. The otter squeaked but remained close by, watching you on hind legs.

It wasn’t scared after all…

In fact, its eyes were different too. Not inky black at all but silver and purple…more like a melusine…

“Is this for me?” you asked, picking up the shell. “Thank you. I ate already though. You should have it.”

The otter shook its head. When you didn’t open it, it took out a rock from a fur pocket and brought it over.

“If you insist…”

Prying open the shell, you didn’t see the typical meat at all, but rather a pearl, black as night. Pearls themselves were rare out here, let alone those of different color. You plucked it out carefully and marveled at its iridescence.

You smiled and looked back at the otter. Clearly it wanted approval. It understand human speech, to some extent. How odd.

“Thank you. It’s very pretty. I’ll keep it safe. Take your rock back, you need that.”

Offering the stone in the flat of your hand, the otter took it and tucked it back into its pocket. With a chirp and a squeak, it walked away back towards the water; it looked back once and waved before departing back smoothly into the lake.

What an odd little fellow.

You held up the pearl again. There was a jeweler on the way back to your office. Rings would get in the way…a necklace, then. Why let such a beautiful pearl go to waste?

Weeks later, upon a surprise inspection, your supervisor was fired. Chief Justice Neuvillette would, to the best of his schedule, oversee the transition. He spent time getting to know names and faces, and when he came to you, your heart stopped.

His eyes were always so captivating but…surely…

“Black pearls are quite rare. The jeweler did a lovely job…they’re difficult to work with.”

You swallowed and pressed your fingers to the pearl, cold against your skin.

“It‘s from a friend. I doubt I’ll ever meet them again, so I wear it to remember them.”

“Ah. Then they’re quite lucky to have someone as thoughtful as you.”

You would remember that smile, soft and genuine, for days to come.

#neuvillette #gender neutral reader #neuvilette x reader #neuvillette x gn reader #yes yes hydro dragon allegations but also: otter

[witchthewriter]

𝐁𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐑𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐧𝐲𝐫𝐚 𝐓𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐲𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞

⤷ gender neutral, ambiguous race, and any size reader. Requests are open, thank you for reading!  

a/n: I didn’t specify if reader was Targaryen, but reader is of the blood of Old Valyria as they have their own dragon. 

ᴹᵃˢᵗᵉʳˡᶤˢᵗ | ᴹᵃˢᵗᵉʳˡᶤˢᵗ ᴵᴵ  

𝑺𝑭𝑾🌿

・Your wedding was a traditional one, from Old Valyria. The sharing of blood (cut each other’s lips with a fine blade of dragonglass), the drinking of special wine. 

・You both wore the traditional wedding gowns of Old Valyria; white tinged with red that blended to the bodice 

・Rhaenyra knew she was going to marry you the moment you met. But you did not have the same opinion of her. You thought she was haughty and much too hot-headed. 

・And yet, over time you got to know her. You got to know the real Rhaenyra. 

・Your relationship started as a best friends with benefits. It was a secret; sneaking into one another’s rooms and trying not to get caught in the mornings.

・No one was supposed to know but some started to figure it out - Rhaenyra still had the mindset that she was royalty and nothing bad could happen to her. It was an arrogance that Alicent was right about - but every royal has it.

・It wasn’t until you had been sent home that Rhaenyra changed

・In those years you were gone, and where you found Silverwing, Rhaenyra cut a deal with her father.

・Since you had bonded with the mighty and gracious Silvering, the King saw you in a different light. But all he wanted was the best for his daughter. 

・With you having your own dragon, the beautiful mount Silverwing, who was originally bonded to the Good Queen Alysanne. She was known as one of the greatest Targaryen Queens ever to exist and brought about a lot of good change, specifically for women in Westeros. 

・For you to have bonded with Silverwing, she had to see you as worthy. Very worthy. And as a person who was destined for greatness. 

・So, the King knew this as well. Viserys understood how important it was that he keep you close to the council. Because this solidified the fact that you were going to do amazing things. 

・And that meant he had to physically have you close as well. 

・He allowed you back into King’s Landing, to Dragonstone, to anywhere near his daughter

・And your relationship grew.  

・So much so that you had a hidden wedding on Dragonstone, where Viserys named Rhaenyra, Princess of Dragonstone (a great honour). Which gave you a whole castle to do as you pleased. 

・Including secretly getting married. 

・You adore her hair. The length, the colour, the braids the servants create. You got a particularly skilled servant to teach you how to do them

・And then you surprised Rhaenyra by brushing and braiding her hair the next day. She was so happy that she couldn’t stop smiling. 

・You have your own cute relationship with Syrax. Although it’s forbidden for bonded dragon riders to ride other dragons, that doesn’t mean you can’t form a connection with another dragon. 

・Sassy, fierce but affectionate - that’s how you see Syrax.

・And since Silverwing was such an open-minded, gracious and kind dragon (the kindest one there ever was), she never minds when you talk to Syrax

・You never liked the thought of keeping Silverwing in the Dragonpit whenever you visited King’s Landing. But Rhaenyra promised you that nothing would happen. (Not that she couldn’t take care of herself, but you didn’t like knowing that men with pointy spears might hurt her)

・You had a strong bond with your dragon, and it was almost like whenever one of you got hurt, the other could feel it. You wondered if Good Queen Alysanne felt it as well?

𝑰𝒇 𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝑭𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒆/𝑭𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒆 𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈:

・Then your marriage between Rhaenyra and yourself is hidden

・Everyone thinks you’re just really good friends 

・And Alicent was very jealous of the relationship between the two of you. It’s what she wanted. 

・So the tension between the Blacks and the Greens grew even more (while you were away - you had been gone a long time. 10 years, and in those years Rhaenyra had her sons with Harwin)

・Laenor knew of your relationship and was happy to play along as the husband in official events 

・You have a different relationship with each of Rhaenyra’s sons. With Jace, it’s a tad stiff, since he’s caught on to the truth. But you’ve asked him if he wanted to meet Silverwing and have a fly with you. The first few times he denied, and Rhaenyra was so upset. 

・But after making him laugh and standing up for him in front of his cousins, he grew warmer to you. 

・And then he agreed and it solidified your relationship with Jace as protector. 

・With Luke, that boy was the sweetest thing to ever exist. He brought both you and Rhaenyra flowers. And often asked to see Silverwing. Even though all three boys had dragons of their own, none were trained like yours. Who was absolutely brilliant with other people. 

・Silverwing is actually a very social dragon and loves to be in conversations and to be doted over. 

・Oh and she absolutely adores being petted, to the point that she has a favourite spot to be rubbed. 

・And little Joffrey, oh he was so young when you first met him. He sees you already as another mother, even if you haven’t said to think of you as that. 

・You had said to the boys - I will always be there for you. I will protect you no matter what, and whatever problems you have, you can come to me. 

𝑰𝒇 𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝑴𝒂𝒍𝒆/𝑴𝒂𝒍𝒆𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈:

・Then as the same as above, when you were sent away, it was for a long long time. 

・Rhaenyra had her three boys with Harwin, but his place was effectively taken by you when he died. 

・You weren’t like Criston Cole, where you had to have a true marriage to Rhaenyra. You were happy being her ... side piece. 

・But Laenor could see how happy Rhaenyra was with you, how you two would be the perfect King and Queen of Westeros. 

・So, he asked Rhaenyra to help him run away with his lover and make it look like he had been killed. 

・She agreed, only because she loved you so much. 

・When you had heard, you were shocked. Shocked that you weren’t consulted or included. That they had lied to you. 

     “I’m telling you now, though!” 

“But you were sneaking behind my back. And now your aunt has no children!” 

・It took a few days but you forgave her. Only because you realised how far she would go to have you. As her King. 

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒏𝒈:

Give Me All Your Love by Alabama Shakes

𝑹𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔:

"You wear the pants in this relationship" (You say to Rhaenyra) x "oh I wish, I cannot control you at all" (She replies back)

Two damaged, vulnerable people, swearing to each other no matter what 

Accidental confession during heat of the moment/fight.

𝑹𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝑷𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆  

Undying Loyalty

𝑵𝑺𝑭𝑾 🔞 no one under 18 read past this point!

・Your wedding night was like any other - you had been entranced with each other from the very first time you met. 

・Secretly meeting in each other’s bedrooms since you were 18, you knew one another’s bodies well. 

・You knew what the other liked, what names you liked to be called and how you lusted to be touched 

・Rhaenyra liked to be both dominant and submissive; letting you take control, biting her neck as she rode you, doing what she was told, waiting for your commands. 

・And other times she liked to pull your hair and hear her name shouted from your mouth 

・She loves to rut against your body, any part of your body. Especially if you’ve been in a fight, and she wants to make it up to you or wants you to make it up to her. 

・Rhaenyra loves her nipples played with - especially them being sucked and nibbled on. She has the most glorious pink, puffy breasts that you day dream about often. 

・They’re the same colour as her lips, as well as her cunt. On some days you’ll back her against the wall in your bedrooms and widen her legs and pull up her dress

・Once your mouth connects with her sex, she melts and all the worries fade away

#witch the writer #witch the writer's headcanons #being married to rhaenyra #rhaenyra targaryen #rhaenyra headcanons #rhaenyra targaryen headcanons #house of the dragon #hotd #hotd headcanons #hotd x reader #rhaenyra x reader #gender neutral reader #inclusive reader #house of the dragon x reader #married headcanons #witchthewriter #headcanons #reader insert #would include #theme song #relationship tropes #sfw #sfw headcanons