"Where is he?" Snotlout complained, "I want to go to the party!" he whined.
Today was the New Year's Eve celebration, but Hiccup had asked the teens to meet him at the academy first…
"He probably has a perfectly good reason for wanting to meet us here," said Astrid.
Snotlout scowled, just as Hiccup came rushing in, "Sorry I'm late guys," he said, stumbling slightly, "I just had to finish this up," he said, holding up a large book.
"What are you doing with the Book of Dragons?" asked Tuffnut.
Hiccup dropped the book to his side, "This is not the Book of Dragons! This book is about us!" he said.
Now the teens were interested, "What do you mean, about us?" asked Ruffnut, "Where'd you get it?" she asked.
"I wrote it," he said.
Astrid gasped in realization, "So that's what you were doing when you said you had something else to do," she said.
"Yeah…" Hiccup said sheepishly.
"Can we read it?!" Fishlegs asked.
"…Don't you guys want to go to the party?" Hiccup asked innocently.
"No way!" they protested.
"Okay, okay…sheesh," Hiccup said, "Toothless, can you give us some light, bud?" he asked.
Toothless crooned and shot a plasma blast against the wall, illuminating the academy.
"How about our very first lesson?" he chuckled as he opened the page, with everyone looking over his shoulder.
…
After he finished reading, everyone—except Snotlout—was rolling around on the floor laughing.
"It wasn't funny!" Snotlout protested.
"Yes it was!" the twins said, clutching their stomachs.
Snotlout scowled, "Come on Snotlout," said Hiccup, "Have a sense of humor! …Hookfang agrees, don't you boy?" he asked.
Hookfang nodded his head and shot a blast of fire…unfortunately landing on Snotlout's behind. Snotlout screeched, ran to the nearest water supply, and jumped—
"Ah," he sighed, "Sweet relief."
"Opps, I almost forgot to add something!" Hiccup said, slyly drawing Snotlout sitting in the water bucket.
Snotlout clumsily hopped out and scrambled over to the teens, muttering under his breath, "So, what's next," he asked, pushing himself in between Fishlegs and Tuffnut.
"Let's see," Hiccup said, "…Aha!" he laughed, "Fishlegs, you remember your… 'flaming squirrel', right?" he asked.
Fishlegs face palmed, "I know, I know…it was a Typhoomerang…" he sighed.
"Hey, remember how BIG Torch got when we saw him again?" said Ruffnut.
"Uh, duh!" said Tuffnut, "I trained him, remember?" he said, poking at her helmet.
"Well of course I remember!" Ruffnut shouted, shoving him away.
Tuffnut scowled and put his helmet back in place before elbowing her sister in the stomach. Ruffnut gagged and prepared to punch him back when—
"Guys!" Hiccup yelled, "Can't you do that later?" he asked.
The twins relaxed, "…She started it," Tuffnut muttered.
Hiccup rolled his eyes and flipped the page, "Oh Thor…Alvin and Dagur," he muttered.
"At least we got our hand signals down," said Astrid, trying to lighten up the mood.
Hiccup chuckled, "Dagur really got the surprise of a lifetime…didn't he?"
The teens nodded in agreement as Hiccup flipped the page, "Oh look, the interrogations!" he said.
The teens groaned, "Not those again," Tuffnut wheezed.
"Those were horrible," said Ruffnut.
"Tell me about it," added Fishlegs.
Hiccup looked at them, "Oh come on, they weren't that bad," he said.
"But they were very realistic," said Astrid, poking him in the shoulder.
Hiccup rubbed his shoulder and flipped past a few pages, "Oh, here!" he said, "Remember the Gronkle Iron fiasco?" Hiccup asked, shaking his prosthetic.
Fishlegs rubbed his forehead, "Too much Fury…" he muttered under his breath.
"And what about the—" Hiccup paused.
"The…?" asked Tuffnut.
"…Screaming Death," Hiccup finished.
Tuffnut shuddered, "Eh, not as awesome as I thought it was going to be…" he said, Ruffnut nodded in agreement.
Hiccup nodded in his head, "It was definitely not awesome," he said, quickly flipping past the section, "…Ah, the Flightmare," he said, glancing at Astrid.
"Ha, 'Fearless' Finn Hofferson," Snotlout mocked.
Astrid reared back and struck him under the chin, "Don't you DARE talk about my Uncle that way!" she screamed.
"Back off Snotlout," said Fishlegs.
"If you know what's good for you," Tuffnut added.
"Fine, fine…touchy subject, I know," he said, "…Uh, can I get up now?" he asked; Astrid sighed and removed her boot from his chest.
Hiccup sucked in his breath and closed the book, "So…what were your favorite memories of this year?" he asked, "…Fish?"
Fishlegs swallowed, "Well…" he said timidly, "Maybe it was when I got to see a Changewing up close…or maybe it was when I saved Dragon Island and Berk…or maybe—"
"We get it Fishlegs," huffed Snotlout.
"What about you, Snotlout?" Hiccup asked, raising his eyebrow.
Snotlout opened his mouth to speak,
"—What about when he started crying because Hookfang almost died?" Tuffnut cut in.
Snotlout glared at him, "That was just dust!" he yelled.
The twins snickered, "My favorite moment of this year was…" said Snotlout, looking down, "…When I won the Thawfest games!" he exclaimed smugly.
Hiccup cleared his throat and Toothless growled.
"..What?" asked Snotlout.
"Snotlout, I think it's about time you knew…" said Astrid.
"That I knew what?" he asked.
Astrid glanced at Hiccup, "Hiccup threw the competition," she said.
Snotlout stared laughing, "Oh please, you can't be—" he stopped, "You're serious?" he asked, staring at the teens in shock.
They all nodded their heads, causing Snotlout to blush fuchsia.
Hiccup shook his head and turned to the twins, "What about you guys?" he asked.
"Whispering Death!" Tuffnut cheered.
"Fire Eaters!" yelled Ruffnut.
"Screaming Death!" Tuffnut shot back.
"Guys!" Hiccup yelled—again-, "Those are all very…interesting things…" he said.
"We know," they said, knocking their helmets together.
Hiccup chuckled, "…Astrid?" he asked.
She sighed, "There are so many," she said, "But this is definitely one of them," she said, kissing him lightly on the lips.
Hiccup sat back in a daze, "…Don't get too used to it," she said, punching him in the shoulder.
Hiccup's smile grew even wider, revealing his crooked teeth. Astrid chuckled and pushed him lightly, "What about you? Mister 'Dragon Trainer'?" she asked.
Hiccup snapped out of it, "Just being friends with all of you guys and the dragons," he said, "…And also being able to talk to my dad," he muttered under his breath.
He shook his head and revealed another book from his satchel, "Geez, I didn't even remember that we did all this stuff," said Tuffnut, eyeing the new book.
Hiccup laughed, "This book is for the upcoming year," he said, opening the new book to reveal a single drawing—containing all of them with their dragons, "This year is almost over," he said, flipping the book to a blank page, "Next year, let's see if we can write an even better story."
Happy New Year!
~CeCdancer