"We have our one annual holiday...we call it, Snoggletog" ~Hiccup
"My ears are still ringing," groaned Tuffnut.
Ruffnut held her head, "Make it stop…" she moaned.
The teens had been stuck in the Great Hall listening to drunk Viking's caroling in yet another Snoggletog Eve celebration…
Snotlout huffed, "It's the same thing every year," he said, "First we have a feast—which is great—until the adults have their drinking contests and then they start torturing us with their off key singing," he moaned.
Fishlegs rubbed his face, "I just wish it wasn't always the same thing every year…" he sighed.
Astrid gasped, "I know! Why don't we start a new tradition, just for us?!" she exclaimed, receiving murmurs from the other teens.
Astrid looked towards Hiccup for some help, "Oh! Err…Astrid's right! Something new would be nice," he said.
"Unless it's Yaknog," Snotlout muttered under his breath.
"What did you say?" threatened Astrid.
Snotlout cowered away, "…Nothing," he said sheepishly as the twins snickered.
Hiccup released his breath, "So…what were you thinking of Astrid?" he asked.
Astrid's eyes lit up, "Well I was thinking…what if we exchanged gifts with each other? Except we do it so that no one knows who has who," she said triumphantly.
"…Ohh! So we just—wait, what?" asked Tuffnut.
Astrid sighed, "We put our names on a piece of paper, then we put them in a container of some sort, and then you give a gift to the person that is on the sheet of paper that you pick," she explained.
The twins stared at her with their eyebrows scrunched together, "JUST BRING ME SOME PAPER, A CONTAINER, AND SOME CHARCOAL!" she hollered.
The twins recoiled and ran towards their house, "…Well, that's one way to get them to do something," Hiccup chuckled.
Astrid blushed and looked down just as the twins came back-out of breath. The held up a sheet of paper and a small piece of charcoal, looking somewhat pleased with themselves.
Astrid lifted her gaze, "…We still need something to put it in," she said.
Ruffnut grabbed Tuffnut's helmet and threw it to Astrid. Tuffnut glared at her, "Why don't you use your own helmet!" he grumbled, reaching for her helmet. Ruffnut smirked and tossed Astrid the rest of the materials, ignoring her brother's menacing glare-which had absolutely no effect.
Astrid thanked her, "I'm going to write all of our names down and put them in this…container," she said, gesturing to Tuffnut's helmet.
Tuffnut huffed and folded his arms as Astrid placed the paper into his helmet. She shook the helmet a few times—just to make sure the names were scrambled enough—and held the helmet out towards Ruffnut, "Go ahead, Ruff," she grinned.
Ruffnut looked at the helmet as if she was trying to see through the paper, "Ruff!" Astrid breathed.
Ruffnut held up her hands, "I'm going, I'm going…sheesh," she said, digging her hands into the helmet. She quickly pulled one out and scanned the paper, her mouth automatically forming a little "o" in surprise.
"Tuffnut," said Astrid, stepping in front of the male twin.
Tuffnut glared daggers at his sister—who was still staring at her paper—before reaching in and shuffling the papers around. He pulled out the one from the bottom and opened it up. He looked at it, frowned, and tried putting it back, "Sorry Tuff," said Astrid, "You can't switch unless you get yourself," she said.
"But...I got myself!" he said smugly.
"Are you sure?" asked Astrid, raising her eyebrows.
Tuffnut nodded smugly, "Let me see," said Astrid.
Tuffnut's face fell, "…Uh…well…you see…ugh, fine," he huffed, throwing it at her.
Astrid expertly caught it and read the name. She bit her lip and handed it back to Tuffnut, "Read it again Tuff," she chuckled. Tuffnut angrily stomped his foot onto the ground as Astrid moved on towards Fishlegs, who was excitedly bouncing up and down. However, the moment he read the name on his paper, he froze and his face went blank.
Astrid passed Fishlegs and held the helmet out to Snotlout, "If you insist…beautiful," he wooed.
Astrid grit her teeth, "Just pick one," she grumbled.
Snotlout's sly grin vanished the moment he read the name. His face contorted into an expression of horror and disbelief as he started muttering curses to himself. Astrid stared at him before moving onto Hiccup, who was eying the last two papers nervously.
Astrid sheepishly grinned as Hiccup cautiously picked his sheet of paper. He slowly opened it…and breathed out a sigh of relief. Astrid looked down at the last sheet of paper and picked it up. She opened it and scrunched up her face, wondering what in the name of Thor could she possibly get for this…interesting person.
Astrid threw Tuffnut back his helmet—which fell to the ground and made a large dent—as the teens awkwardly eyed one another before Astrid spoke again, "There are three days until Snoggletog, meaning that we have only two days to get our gift," she explained.
Hiccup stepped forwards, "…Because of the—holiday, classes will be canceled until the day after Snoggletog," he announced.
"-We can exchange our gifts in the academy before the Snoggletog celebration," added Astrid.
The teens agreed and departed—some knew exactly where they were going, but everyone else…well, not so much.
This was much harder to write then I expected…but here it is!
*Who do you think got whom?
Next Chapter:
-Would you like me to go in depth with how each teen got/made their gift? Or would you rather I just went straight to the gift-swap?
(If I do go in depth, then would you like to know who got whom at the beginning of the next chapter? Or should I wait a little?)
Happy Holidays!