Hiccup absently lifted his prosthetic leg to force the door of his new studio shut behind him, trusting his other leg to keep himself and the armload of art supplies he cradled from toppling to the floor. The young man’s jaw clenched as piercing complaints burst from the door’s hinges, reminding him for the fourteenth time that they were in need of replacing. Hiccup turned his head slightly, his green eyes narrowed at the rust and warping on the hinges over his shoulder. The place was old, but it had still been difficult – not to mention expensive – to procure. Regardless, the current situation was undoubtedly better than having no studio at all. Wishing he had a free hand to run through his tousle of Titian hair, Hiccup sighed and turned away from the door. As he took in the space again, the dark woods that filled it greeted him with a warmth that always brought a smile to his face; they reminded him of the forests he loved as a child.
Still lost in the past, Hiccup took a few steps and unceremoniously dumped the supplies on a table that already bore a landscape of canvases, brushes and paints. As it became apparent the stacks would hold their new additions, the man took a few steps back, until his leg met with something solid, and he stumbled. Letting out a muted cry of alarm, Hiccup’s arms windmilled, until a hand latched onto the chair that had caught his leg in the first place and steadied him. If the incident hadn’t pulled him back to reality, the subsequent “thonk” of wood hitting wood did. Bending to retrieve the fallen object, Hiccup found it to be a canvas that had been stretched onto a wooden frame, only about the size of his hand. It had the look of a finished piece, neatly stapled and cut on the back. His brows drew together as he stood to turn the canvas over – he couldn’t recall painting anything so small.