Can I remember where this idea came from? Can I bats.
But ssomeone suggested this and I figured hey a one shot I've never done before. I've a cousin who works at a stables, so I based it off of what she told me.
I don't think anything in this is inherently modern, but it's not canon!verse either?
Horse-riding. Hiccstrid-ish. Pre-Hiccstrid, if you will.
-HTTYD-
"Do we have to do this?"
Astrid glared at her friend, who was tugging self-consciously at her flannel shirt. They didn't really flatter anybody in the chest department unless the boobs were so big the fabric strained.
"I told Justin I can ride a horse. So I need to learn!"
"Can't you just tell him you're rusty? How the Hel does he ride a horse anyway? He's not called Fishlegs for nothing."
Heather shrugged, flexing her legs in brand new cowgirl boots. Any excuse to drag the shopping-averse Astrid on a mission for new clothes. As she never intended to return to the stables, Astrid had chafed at the notion of splashing out on things she would only wear once. Heather had paid for her boots as a bribe, and Astrid already owned hardy trousers. They could get riding helmets at the riding place. Still, she didn't especially want to be there.
"No. And I don't know, maybe he's developed a special technique."
"I have a feeling that's not the technique you're interested in."
Heather laughed, looking around the stables grounds from over the high fence they hadn't been allowed into yet.
"Look at that one!"
She was pointing to a sleek, admittedly quite handsome black horse, which was being tended to by a woman taller than it who was brushing the silky-looking mane.
"Yeah but that's not the sort beginners ride."
"Quite right. Is one of you Heather, by any chance?"
Heather raised her hand slightly, and Astrid was suddenly happier to be there as she turned toward the source of the voice. Tall and slim in green flannel and brown riding trousers, the stranger had the prettiest green eyes Astrid had ever seen. His shaggy shoulder-length hair looked brown until it caught the sun, light showing it up as a rich autumnal red.
"I'm Hiccup. Yes, that's my real name. You booked a lesson today, right?"
"Yeah. For me and Astrid."
Hiccup held his hand out to shake each in turn, and Astrid felt callouses on his palms as she gripped his warm hand. Presumably that happened with riding. He gave them both a once over, and Astrid returned the favour. It was only fair, right?
"Well, you'll do for beginner lessons. Welcome to Haddocks Horses, lets get you signed in and geared up. Then we'll introduce you to your horses."
Astrid still didn't really want to do this, but if she had to for Heather, at least there was a good view. Hiccup bade them to wait a second, crossing a fenced square to untangle someone from their reigns as they'd apparently been bucked off their horse. He came back chuckling to himself.
"Don't mind Scott. Believe it or not, he works here. Ok, sign here... and then go pick out gloves and helmets from over there. Make sure it fits."
Astrid eyed the helmets warily, already sensing chronic helmet hair.
"You're not wearing a helmet."
He grinned, probably having dealt with reluctant first timers before.
"I'm not riding, I'll be leading one of you. First lessons always a reign-led trot."
Sighing to herself, Astrid picked out a helmet and tried it on. It slid around a little, so she went down one and found a better fit. A teenage boy who introduced himself as "A-Gustav!" promised all the gloves were clean. Astrid was dubious, but at least they weren't caked in horse crap. Geared up, the two were led out to where two rather tall horses waited.
"Mom! You working or playing with Cloudjumper all day?"
Even if not told, Astrid could have guessed the two were related. The lithe woman who had been brushing the black horse earlier was now to be seen rubbing the nose of a pretty stocky greyish-white horse, who looked dappled with orange in the sunlight. She had his hair colour, eye colour. Their face shape and posture was similar too.
"Cloudjumper?"
Heather asked, watching the woman Hiccup called mom slip through a high gate, making her way toward them.
"Born to jump, that horse. Don't worry, these" he indicated the two waiting "are Clydesdale horses. Also known as draft horses, and they might look big but they are calm and used to beginners. Astrid, meet Storm. Heather, meet Razor. Come on, don't be shy."
He coaxed both closer, encouraged them to gently interact with their horses. Astrid supposed they were quite cute, with their bay-white colouring and long, glossy manes. She faced up to big brown eyes, feeling surprisingly at ease. Hiccup and his mother were completely at ease with the animals, checking their saddles and reins and bits, warning them not to get behind a horse they don't know as the two did exactly that.
"Just checking their shoes" Hiccup had noticed her looking at him suspiciously "before they ride. Storm has a habit of losing them, don't you?"
"How do they lose shoes? Aren't they nailed on?"
The horse whinnied lightly, calming when Hiccup rubbed her nose.
Hiccup shook his head. His hair went with it, continuing to move of it's own accord when his head stilled.
"You can nail them on safely without hurting them, but we use glue ons to be certain. Ok, Storm is all good. Mom, you alright with Heather?"
Valka, as the woman introduced herself to Heather, seemed as knowledgeable as her son. But it wasn't her ass in tight riding trousers Astrid wanted to check out. Damn, did horse riding do that or was he just naturally gifted with a great ass?
"Alright. Are you ready to saddle up, or do you two want more time to chat?"
Astrid watched him with the horse, soothing and stroking, even placing his head against the long nose with a smile. It was sweet how he obviously cared so deeply for the animal.
"Do you have a horse?"
"Yep. Toothless over there" he gestured to the big black horse "is my best friend."
"Toothless?"
"Had trouble with his deciduous teeth, and the nickname stuck. He used to be called Night Fury, but honestly he's a total dope. Toothless suits him better."
She smiled as Hiccup talked about the horse, a fond and serene expression taking over his face as he looked toward the paddock his own horse resided in. Eventually, his gaze turned back to Astrid and Storm, patting the horse gently.
"I've ridden Storm myself and she's very well-behaved, I promise."
The horse was too tall for Astrid to mount without a little help, but Hiccup was patient and steady as he guided her up until she was safely saddled, feeling surreal and vaguely uncomfortable at the position. Hiccup gently touched her calf as he checked she had the right purchase in the stirrups, correcting one slightly.
"Takes a little getting used to, I know but try not to squeeze your legs too hard or Storm will think you want to go faster. And for your first ride, you don't."
It was strange to be seated so high up, looking down at the cute tall horse-rider. Astrid wondered if he had a cowboy hat. She tried to relax her thighs slightly, turned and saw Heather having her posture corrected by Valka.
"Ok. Back straight. Any imbalance in your posture will carry through to the horse" Astrid tried to straighten up more "yep, that's good. Alright. I'm gonna lead today, if you need to stop just tighten the reins and me and Storm will feel it."
Astrid nodded, trying not to slouch or squeeze her legs or fall off as Hiccup clicked his tongue, gently pulled the reins and the beast below her started to move. She tried not to tug the reins, felt the horse's pace stutter once or twice. Hiccup waved off her stammered apology, not realising until now how difficult it was to not do it wrong somehow.
"I fell off loads of times when I was learning to ride. That's why sensible people take lessons."
"Didn't you?"
"Eventually. My mom said I had to wait til I was bigger if I wanted to ride something bigger than a Shetland, but me being a stubborn Haddock... I did not listen."
His voice wavered for a second but it was gone right after, and Astrid was too busy trying to stay on the horse to push him for more information. After a few minutes, she felt her body respond to the horses patience and the correct position felt a little easier. Hiccup kept up a commentary, promising Astrid she was doing very well as they circled the paddock. It was then she noticed Heather was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Heather?"
"Mom took her to the next paddock. Razor likes to be in front, so if she saw saw you and Storm she would speed up trying to race. These two are our best beginner horses, just not together."
Astrid began to actually enjoy the ride, relaxing as she realised the horse wasn't about to rear up and buck her off. She found herself dismayed when Hiccup stumbled, stopped and instructed the horse to still. Astrid tightened on the reins, watching him lean against a fence and clutch his knee.
"What's wrong?"
"It's nothing. Old riding injury that acts up. Eret! Come finish up with Astrid?"
A broad, tattooed guy wearing a flannel vest (was flannel mandatory, she wondered) and brown bottoms hopped a fence, tapped Hiccup on the shoulder.
"You gonna be able to walk back?"
"In a minute. These two are almost done, take them back to the stable and dismount."
"You got it buddy. Hi Astrid, I'm Eret. Storm, don't give me that look, I have to see other horses."
Bemused, Astrid watched as Hiccup's face grew taut with pain, pale as he leant into the fence and slid down to sit on a little sticky-out bit. It looked purpose built for sitting, but Astrid thought it looked a little out of place amongst otherwise perfectly square enclosures.
"What did you mean about Storm and other horses?"
"Oh. I broke her in, so she's always a bit jealous when she sees me with other horses. Here we go... ok, whoa girl. That's good."
Eret helped Astrid slide down from the horses back, and she realised why they made her stop when it felt too soon on the horse. She was sore.
"Ow."
"Yeah. That walk cowboys do in movies isn't just for show. You'll get used to it if you ride more."
"Eret? Where's Hiccup?"
Eret pointed Valka out, back to where they had left Hiccup.
"His leg was hurting. You go, I'll help her down."
Valka thanked him, zipped past to go find her son as Eret helped Heather down, started to remove the gear the horses were wearing. Which reminded Astrid; she could take off her helmet. Heather followed suit, both shaking out their flattened hair and hobbling slightly toward each other.
"How do people do this all the time?"
"Practice, I guess. Thanks for talking me into it."
Heather looked up from rubbing a tense thigh, surprised.
"You had fun?"
Astrid glanced toward where Valka was helping Hiccup as he visibly limped toward a building nearby.
"Something like that."
Eret had obviously been eavesdropping, though perhaps not intentionally as he was taking care of the horses, and chuckled before inviting himself over to their conversation holding reins and a bit.
"He's single, if you're interested. Well, unless you'll get jealous of the horses like his ex."
Astrid shrugged, eyes turning back to Storm as she was fed and watered, a skinny guy with long blond hair appearing from nowhere with a brush for the horse.
"Hey Tuff. Let 'em eat first, then you can groom them."
Observing the two men, Astrid wondered... then decided it was none of her business what those cowboys got up to. Tuff wasn't wearing flannel, she noted. He looked almost out of place if not for how he visibly cared for the horses, taking care not to interrupt their watering.
Seeing the two girls hadn't left yet, Eret offered to introduce them to the other horses around the stables. There were quite a few, especially for the small amount of staff that Astrid had seen.
"How come you have some that aren't for riding?"
"Those are rescues. They come here to get better, then depending on how they recover they'll either get rehomed or stay here. Some people stable their horses here, and about a dozen are H and Val's own. That's Belch, Tuff's horse over there trying to stick his head sideways into the food trough."
Astrid spied Hiccup coming over, limp still noticeable but he seemed to be in considerably less pain than before.
"So, did you two enjoy your lesson?"
"Aside from the cowboy waddle, it was great."
He laughed at Heather, eyes sliding back to Astrid and before either could say anything, Heather and Eret made themselves scarce. Hiccup turned to where they'd all but run to, then back to Astrid again.
"Something I missed? Do I smell bad?"
"No" Astrid glared in Heather's direction for rushing her, throwing her off her game "they knew I wanted to ask you out."
There. She said it. Hiccup was momentarily stunned speechless.
"O-oh. Wow. I uh..."
Astrid suddenly realised she might have been mis-reading the signals, and backtracked quickly.
"You can just say you're not interested."
"What!? No! I mean. You surprised me. I've never been asked out at work before. Or ever, really. I-I would love to!"
He was so vehement and genuine Astrid knew he was serious, though she was surprised at how he could be so at ease with big strong creatures that could kick, then apparently terrified of a girl.
"But... I ought to tell you something first."
Astrid frowned in thought, turning over many possibilities.
"What?"
"My injury... it was pretty bad."
He knelt down, lifted his trouser leg with some difficulty. It took a second but Astrid realised what the shiny, unnatural skin-tone meant.
"Prosthetic leg?"
"Y-yeah. It's ok if you changed your mind."
"What? Are you kidding? You think that bothers me."
Hiccup straightened up, shrugging.
"Some people can't handle it."
"Well, I for one want to hear the story. Perhaps over a drink and something cremated on a cooking fire. Sound good?"
Hiccup nodded, hesitant smile breaching his face again.
"Sounds great."
"You are going to be able to hold a conversation with me, right? Even though I don't have four legs and a tail?"
He rolled his eyes, a little confidence starting to show now Astrid wasn't put off by his leg.
"You know, riding horses isn't the only thing I think about."
-HTTYD-
Blah. This seemed like a great idea when I started it. Well... I'm apparently a bad judge of my work. I leave it to you readers.