Dramatic Flair

@riidcr​ sent a [meme]:

" it's not what you think. "

     This hurt more than Hiccup wanted to admit. He’d trusted Eugene, something that wasn’t easy after Hiccup had taken the position of chief. He had to consider every threat to his people and protect them from it, so their home would never be destroyed again, so they would never have to burn a loved one struck down by an enemy. He wanted peace for Berk, and so trust was difficult. Corona had seemed like allies, and yet now that tentative relationship was on a knife’s edge.

     “Is it not?” And the hardness of his voice sounded so much like his father, not out of anger but a defensive wall to block out the hurt of perceived betrayal and the fear of a new enemy. At his side, Toothless growled in warning, sharp eyes clocking every muscle twitch. Hiccup placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder, calloused hand against scarred scales. 

                It is true      that  Eugene  had  his…      doubts  towards  Hiccup,      it  was  a  natural  thing  for  him  not  to  trust  too  quickly.        Though,      he  can’t  deny  that  the  kid  became  a  good  and  rather    close    friend  to  him.      after  all,      not  everyone  gets  to  be  a  part  of  team  awesome  that  fast.      Perhaps  Eugene  let  his  guard  down  for  that  reason,    Hiccup  and  Varian  got  along  tremendously  well.      whatever  the  reason  was,       Eugene    respected    the  chief,      who  never  missed  a  chance  to  prove  to  be  worthy  of  his  title,      it  wasn’t    lack of trust    that  made  the  captain  question  his  friend,      it  was  a  lifetime's    experience    and  the  habit  of  expecting  the    worst    from  people.     

          ❝ Coronians  do. ❞      he  remarked      ❝ Oh,      C'mon,      you  really  think  I'd  let  you    waste    money  on  these  bozos ? ❞      It  wasn’t  like  he  had  any  good  use  for  his  salary  nowadays——      an  irony  the  former  thief  chose  not  to  reflect  upon  at  the  moment——      Eugene  knew  it  was  a    temporary    solution  but  it  would  be  enough  to  buy  them  time  to  think  of  a  better  plan.      That  was  his  approach  every time,      it  never  failed,      but  he  hadn't  considered  that  it  was    different    this  time,      it  wasn’t  him  alone  that  had  to  deal  with  the  bandits,      only  a    fool    would  walk  out  of  here  when  there  is  so  much  to  be  gained.     

             Still,      Hiccup's  idea  wasn’t  guaranteed  either,      why  would  they  agree  and  waste  time  in  waiting  when  they  could  force  their  way  in  and  take  what  they  want  from  the    finest    blacksmiths  there  are ?      Eugene  was  about  to  object  and  address  that  point,        but  unfortunately  their  little  meeting  was  cut  short  with  an  impatient  swing  of  a  blade.      As  Hiccup  rushed  ahead  to  block  the  blow  Eugene  moved  back  to  grab  Varian  and  pull  him  away  from  the  clash  of  sword  and  dragon  scale.

            ❝ Hey,       assholes !      The    grown ups    were  talking  here ! ❞      he  voiced  his  anger  with  a  grumble.      Of  course  the  alchemist  was  included,    as  young  as  he  was,     he  was  far  smarter  than  to  dive  straight  into  a  fight  with    no further thought into it,      Hiccup  threw  down  his  opponent  with  little  trouble.      however,      even  with  the  unexpected  show  of  a    flaming  sword      (  which  fascinated  Eugene  as  well  )      they  still  seemed  determined  to  try  their  chances  and  fight.      Of  course  the  chief  attempted  the    peaceful approach  once  more  with  further  negotiations.      There  was  no  response  at  first  but  the  looks  in  their  eyes  told  Eugene  enough,      he  drew  his  own  sword  in  preparation,      but  he  didn’t  make  the  first  move,      waiting  for  Hiccup's  word.      ❝ Better  listen  to  the  chief  here,      fellas.      Or  a  flaming  sword  would  soon  be  the    least    of  your  concerns. ❞

     With shoulders tense, Hiccup huffed a short sigh of annoyed resignation as their opponents drew steel. He’d been hoping for an easy solution, that he could talk his way out of an altercation, but some people really were too stubborn to nicely back down when asked. Well, fine, this would just have to be the hard way.

     “Varian, would you mind--?”

     “Bubble bomb!”

     Hiccup wisely ducked at the shout, feeling the whizz of a glass bottle over his head. It shattered on the ground between Hiccup and the ruffians, but the promised bubbles made no appearance. Instead, thick plumes of smoke curled outward, quickly spreading several feet to obscure the immediate area. Even with the light of Inferno, Hiccup couldn’t see anything around him.

     “Oohhh. Wrong blue bottle.” The half-chuckled words from the alchemist made Hiccup cringe. How had he grabbed the wrong one? “I should really label these things.” Ah. That’s how.

     Shifting dirt snapped Hiccup’s attention back to his front; he braced Inferno in time for the strike that came down at him. The fire made him easily visible, forcing him to a disadvantage. This close, he could see his opponent clearly, the single woman of the bunch snarling at him. He glared right back, running through his options in his head. Igniting the zippleback gas in Inferno would alert Toothless and others that help was needed, but it posed to high a risk of hurting Eugene and Varian.

             This was not going to end well,    Eugene knew that from the start.    It was not the first time he dealt with the likes of them   nor will it be his last either.    He can’t say he and his friends were going up against a   fair   fight,    but being fair is a   non existing   concept for bandits and thieves.    He was no longer a thief and despite his past making him qualified to take the captain’s position he had to follow the rules…    To some extent.    For all he knew If they were going to start a fight he was ready to make them   regret   ever coming here.   

           Unfortunately not everyone seemed to agree on that course of action    (  and by everyone he only meant Hiccup  )   the kid had been far too nice for a chief.    Though,    it wasn’t up to Eugene to make the decision.    This was Hiccup’s home after all,    and they all chose him for a reason he doesn’t quite   understand   just yet,    however it was enough to keep his mouth shut for the time being.    ❝ Save them for later. ❞    he whispered to Varian,    knowing full well they’re going to need them when they run out of options.    He dismisses the scientist’s frustration as well to see how Hiccup was going to handle the negotiation…    Which lead to further more   disappointment.  

        ❝ Uno momento ! ❞    he interrupted    ❝ Forget that offer,    we’ll get back to ya. ❞    stepping forward,    he wrapped an arm around his friend’s shoulder to pull him back for a word    ❝ Kid,    are you outta your mind ? ❞    he whispered a little loud but not too loud    ❝ We want to get rid of the threat not make it   worse !    You think they’ll just take the weapons and leave ?    Hell no,    they’ll kill   you   first.    Look,    those are   bandits   were dealing with here,    they just wanna take what they can so let’s give them something that’ll convince them to walk away and   hopefully   not wreak havoc,    okey ? ❞    a pause    ❝ I say we give'em money,    they’ll waste most of it on booze and gambling.    I know because those are the kinda people I used to work with—    and to be fair that’s not how i deal with them but if you wanna go all peaceful and nice about it then that’s the right way to go,    you gotta trust me. ❞

     Hiccup frowned, stiffening under Eugene’s touch. He was used to people questioning him, not believing in him, or being downright disparaging. Granted, things were more stable for him now than they had been when he was younger, but being a twenty-one year old chief wasn’t a walk in the park. It had come at the price of his father’s life, and severe damage and injury to his home and the people living there. 

     “Berk doesn’t use money. We trade goods and services,” Hiccup grumbled, keeping his voice quiet enough not to be easily overheard. It wasn’t hard to parse what Eugene thought of him; on the contrary, though, Hiccup was far from inexperienced with danger. He’d come across plenty of psychopaths in the last six years, and also plenty of people who weren’t cruel but desperate.

     “I wasn’t actually going to let them walk away with refurbished weapons” he sighed. “I just wanted to disarm them.” He really wanted to know how they’d been sneaking around Berk’s back half without being spotted by the patrols of dragon riders too. They must have arrived on a small enough ship or boat that it could be hidden and then made their way into the thick forest. He needed to know so he could fix the lapse in security. 

     “Great idea,” Varian interrupted, pointing behind Hiccup and Eugene. “But...”

     Whatever patience the thieves had seemed to be gone. Hiccup planted himself in front of the young alchemist and raised his arm to block the blade that came swinging at him. It scraped off the dragon scale gauntlet harmlessly, surprising Hiccup’s attacker enough that he could kick the man backward and draw his own blade. A quick flick of his thumb and the weapon ignited in hungry flames. He could feel Varian staring and knew he’d be explaining Inferno to the brilliant kid later.

@riidcr​ sent a [meme]:

i encourage violence. //gimme team chaos CIEBFIHD

     “Wha-- No.”

     “Yeah.”

     “No!”

     Sometimes Hiccup wondered how Eugene kept the position of authority he had, especially when the man was hyping up a group of volatile people. Hiccup had to snag Varian’s wrist before the kid threw whatever vial he’d just grabbed from his belt. He took a breath and leveled Varian with his best I’m-a-chief-and-you-have-to-listen-to-me stare. After a moment, Hiccup was given an eye roll and a grumble of something he chose to ignore. 

     He gave the same stare to Eugene and then let go of Varian, turning to face the-- pirates? No, bandits fit better; they weren’t at sea. Three against five with the odds against them. Toothless had stayed behind with Cass and Rapunzel and Hiccup was starting to regret parting with his friend. Still, it was absolutely necessary he knew he and Eugene could handle themselves in a fight. It was Varian that Hiccup was worried about. The kid was smart but Hiccup hadn’t seen any kind of combat from him and couldn’t judge if he’d need protecting or not.

                             ❝ We can do this. You and me. As one. ❞