Hey everyone! Welcome to some, and welcome back to others :) Thanks for stopping by.

I think the story description and header and the such make everything pretty obvious, but I just want to thank Ilmazzobro for being an AMAZING Beta reader for me :) Without him this story never would have been published.

Onwards!

...

The sound of the final bell ringing was music to Hiccup's ears. After six hours cooped up in the stuffy old building he was ready to escape back to the garage at home. He walked briskly through the halls, headed first to his locker to gather the books he would need for homework that night and then to meet up with the usual group of friends he would be walking home with. As he did every day he hoped that today wouldn't be the day that the hole in the bottom of his bag would rip and render his bag useless; he didn't want to spend the time to hunt for a new one. He shoved his books into his bag with a smile at the lack of a ripping sound and had just slammed the locker door when a familiar voice rang through the hall.

"Hiccup, come on!" Astrid called over the scores of people and the near deafening levels of chatter. He spotted her and Fishlegs near the exit and wove his way through his classmates, moving quickly through the crowd with practiced ease. He only had to stop once, and it was when the only boy skinnier than Hiccup passed right in front of him. Hiccup's mind wandered for just a moment upon seeing the boy, trying to place a name to the face. Hiccup was pretty good at remembering names, and he was pretty sure that he was the only person in the grade that Hiccup didn't at least know the name of. He supposed it was because they didn't share a single class together, and the fact that they managed to do that for three years straight was actually quite shocking to Hiccup. He would really have to introduce himself officially to the boy one day soon. And actually, in retrospect, he couldn't think of anyone who was friends with the boy. Hiccup decided that he for sure would have to introduce himself to the boy in the near future. His train of thought was broken, however, when Astrid called, "Hurry up!"

The trio stepped outside together, and Hiccup took a deep breath of the cool April air. The snow had finally finished melting with the help of the recent rain, but today the Canadian air was crisp and there was not a cloud in the sky. The sun shone bright but it offered no heat. They walked in silence for a moment or so before Hiccup piped up to start the conversation, right as they left school property.

"So that kid in our grade that's even skinnier than I am, either of you two know his name?"

"Oh yeah, I think it's Jake or something," Fishlegs contributed, trying to remember if that was right.

"Actually it's Jack," Astrid corrected. "Close though. Why do you ask?"

"No reason," Hiccup responded. "Just curious. I don't think I've ever met him."

"He's actually pretty quiet," Fishlegs added. "I don't really think I've ever seen him hanging around with anyone." That sentence confirmed Hiccup's suspicions and solidified the feeling that he would have to find a way to introduce himself to the boy sooner rather than later. But it did raise his curiosity; how could the boy not have any friends at school?

Hiccup thought over the whole situation, wondering why that may be. Perhaps the boy's reputation as a loner was his downfall, making people think he was trouble and staying away? Then again, there were people in the school that had no problem hanging around with trouble. In the end he decided not to dwell on it at the present moment.

"Alright guys, I'll see you tomorrow," Astrid said as she took a sudden left onto her street. She waved goodbye before taking off in a jog, and the boys waved back as they continued their trek.

"So, Hiccup, what do I have to do to get you to play World of Warcraft with me?"

Hiccup laughed, as he always did. This had become nearly a daily question, always asked after Astrid left since Fishlegs knew Astrid's opinions on video games. He simply fended off Fishlegs' questions and pleas with his usual excuses and explanations for another block, until Fishlegs as well was forced to bid him goodbye and turn right.

Now that Hiccup was alone, he picked up the pace. He only had three more blocks to go before his street, and he was really excited to get back to his workshop. Well technically it was a table in the garage where he kept his tools, but it sounded a lot cooler to call it a workshop than a tool bench. Some would call it work, but Hiccup enjoyed tinkering and coming up with new toy ideas for his father's business. It was like a hobby to him. Plus he had come up with an idea earlier that day in class for how to fix the moving parts on an action figure, and he wanted to make sure he got home and fixed it before he forgot what he wanted to do.

Hiccup turned left on the street and glanced up the row of houses. The area that he walked through most of the way home was normally one or two car garage brick homes, but his street was an exception. It stood out like a sore thumb, with the houses made of a brick, stone, and stucco combination and three to four car garages facing the street. He never understood just why the small enclave of wealthier families was located there, but at least he would always be able to know his own street quickly and easily. Hiccup saw his own stone and stucco house approaching, the four car garage looming over the driveway. It was actually perfect, with his mom, dad, and Aster each having a spot for their cars and his workbench having its own.

When Hiccup arrived at the bottom of the patterned concrete driveway he looked over at the front door, but ended up walking up to the garage door instead. He didn't really have a need to toss his bag inside and the sound of the garage door opening would alert his mother that he was home. He punched the numbers to open the proper door into the keypad to the right of the fourth garage door, and as the door slowly lifted he glanced to his right.

At the intersection six houses down, along the main road Hiccup had just used to walk home from school, Hiccup spotted the route 6 bus pulling up to the stop. The bus came straight from his school, but Hiccup never took it. He was determined to make sure that even though he had a prosthetic it wouldn't change his life dramatically. Astrid and Fishlegs had tried insisting and offered to take the bus with him, but Hiccup just wouldn't do it. He didn't feel like he needed to, and the he didn't feel like the walk put any additional strain on his leg since it really wasn't that long. He would only use it on days when his leg caused him a lot of pain.

Turning back to the now fully opened garage, he stepped inside and took a deep breath. He had become accustomed to the smell of rubber and gasoline fumes, and it had become something of a comfort for him. Hiccup placed his bag on the ground next to his workstation and got out the tools he needed. He found the action figure he was looking for already on his desk, and he got to work instantly. He used the smallest screwdriver he had to open the back of the toy and had only just started messing with the internal mechanisms when he heard the door that led directly into the house from the garage open and close.

"Hiccup my boy! You're home!"

"Hey dad," Hiccup responded without even looking up. He could recognize that jolly voice and thick Russian accent from a kilometre away, which is probably how far the man's voice could carry. Hiccup always laughed to himself wondering how no one in the house had gone deaf from how loud the man's voice was. "I got home a few minutes ago."

"And you didn't even come in to say hello?"

"I had an idea to improve this action figure and I didn't want to lose it," Hiccup explained as his father walked closer to him.

"Oh?" North asked with a legitimate sense of curiosity. "And what is that?" Hiccup entered into a two minute long explanation that was highly technical, and his father followed along with every word, every motion of his hand, and every change he suggested. "That's brilliant!" North exclaimed after Hiccup was finished. "I'm so proud of you! I'd better watch out, you might get better than me at this soon!"

"No, I'm not that good," Hiccup retorted.

"Don't demean yourself Hiccup," North scolded gently while smiling. "You are very good and I am very proud. You have learned well."

"Maybe," Hiccup conceded. "But you'll always be the master of coming up with the toy ideas."

"This is true," North laughed. "Do you remember your last idea for toy? It…"

"That's enough," Hiccup interrupted rather loudly, a small blush forming from the embarrassment of the memory. He did not need to be reminded of that embarrassing failure. He was pretty sure that being covered in paint and several bruises for over a week was sufficient enough punishment to not need to be reminded about it. North continued to chuckle as he sat down at his own workbench next to Hiccup's and pulled out something of his own to work on.

"So, Hiccup, I haven't asked yet, how was school today?"

"It was alright. Crunch time before exams, you know. Crushing loads of schoolwork, love it."

"And yet somehow you have time to work on this?" North asked, smirking once more and cocking an eyebrow.

"This is different. This is my relaxation time."

"Work is relaxing? What a work ethic!"

"Well this work is relaxing," Hiccup clarified. "It's interesting. It's fun."

"But, as you said, exams are soon! Summer is coming. What do you want to do then, when summer finally comes, hm?"

"Dunno. I haven't really thought that far ahead," Hiccup admitted, followed by a quick, "Aha!" before he returned the back covering onto the action figure. "Now if this worked properly, his motions should be smoother than before."

North set down what he was doing to watch Hiccup place the toy upright and push the button that made it move. Sure enough, the motions were smoother and actually quieter as well.

"Well done Hiccup!" the man yelled as he picked up his son and swung him around. Hiccup couldn't help but laugh, struggling to keep his balance when he was finally released from his father's massive arms. It was a miracle he hadn't been crushed by the man yet. How was his father so well built but he himself was so skinny? Clearly genetics hadn't been fair to him; Aster must've gotten all the good genes affecting stature in the family. But then again, Aster wasn't even close to that large either. Perhaps cookies played more of a roll in North's size than Hiccup had originally suspected, even if he was eating fewer of them than he had been before.

"Everything ok out here?" came a voice from the house once more. With the deafening sound of North's voice just moments earlier Hiccup barely heard it, but his mother's voice always found its way through. When the boys looked over they found Toothiana standing in the door with a confused look on her face. "I thought I heard yelling out here."

"Everything's fine mom," Hiccup laughed, bringing a smile to her face. "How were things at the office today? Did you get mad at any more kids for not flossing? Scare any kids with those nasty fake teeth?"

"Of course," North responded. "Have you met your mother? That's her favourite part of her job!" Hiccup and North both laughed as Toothiana put her hands on her hips with a slight frown.

"Nicholas Saint-North I will give you a root canal if you don't smarten up," Toothiana scolded. That silenced North instantly and Hiccup attempted to hold his remaining chuckles in. "Now finish up in here, dinner is in twenty minutes."

"What are we having?" Hiccup asked as he reached for his bag and started making his way inside.

"Fish. Pan fried Haddock to be specific. Your favourite," Toothiana smiled. Hiccup smiled and doubled his pace, sprinting up the stairs to get ready for dinner and to make sure Toothless wouldn't be jumping on the table when he smelled the fish again. They all loved the cat, but there were times when he pushed his luck. North and Toothiana only smiled and shook their heads at his enthusiasm.

...

Hiccup walked out of his room, freshly changed out of his school clothes. He shut the door to make sure Toothless couldn't make it to the kitchen, and he knew he would have to make it up to the cat later. He was headed downstairs to set the table, but at the top of the stairs he was forced to stop when Aster blocked his path.

"What's up shorty?" Aster cracked in his Australian accent. He did a year of high school there and even now in his third year of university he still hadn't dropped the accent. Oddly enough it seemed to fit him though, at least in Hiccup's opinion.

"Not much old man. Your hair get even greyer?" Hiccup retorted with practiced ease. While to an outsider their verbal shots may have seemed offensive or insulting in nature, the siblings knew it was just playful banter. It had gotten to a point where if one of them didn't insult the other at least once a day it meant that something was probably wrong.

"At least my hair isn't my only good physical quality."

"At least I don't have to rely on physical qualities to find something good about myself."

"At least I'm not adopted."

"You sure? I'm not sure someone with an ugly mug like yours has this family's genetics."

When no response came to mind quickly Aster wrapped his arms around his brother's shoulders and placed him in a headlock, causing both of them to burst into laughter. After a thorough noogie the pair headed downstairs, making their way into the kitchen to set the table. It was just like every day: Hiccup got the plates, Aster got the cutlery.

"So Bunny," Hiccup started before Aster interrupted.

"Hiccup come on you know I don't like that name."

"Oh come on, it's not that bad! And it makes sense since you want to be a vet and the first animal you helped was a bunny. Plus you do have abnormally large ears." Hiccup smiled at the last line, but the look on Aster's face told Hiccup to drop it.

Aster was the only one in the family that didn't go by their nickname more than their real one, which was odd because Hiccup definitely had it worst. He supposed he just hadn't been forceful enough in telling people not to use it. Hiccup got his because he had a major case of the hiccups when he was brought home from the hospital, but everyone else had a cool or normal reason for theirs: North had been to the North Pole (plus it was his last name), Toothiana was a dentist, and Sandy always looked like he was about to fall asleep.

"Anyways, how were classes today?" Hiccup finally asked.

"Classes were fine. It was just the bloody train. They only run eight of those things a day, you think they could run on time at least! Got delayed half an hour and my mate missed his bus connection because of it."

"Stupid transit in this city; remind me not to go to university downtown."

"Assuming you get into university," Aster retorted with a wink. Hiccup was racking his brain for a comeback but before he could say anything, Sandy walked into the room.

"Hey Sandy, how was work?" Hiccup asked aloud while simultaneously signing the same words. Sandy was only mute, not deaf, but Hiccup found it had helped him learn ASL to sign what he said as well as say it. Even after he had become fluent he had never dropped the habit.

'Good thanks. Only three people asked me what a Somnologist was.' Sandy signed with a silent laugh at the end. He took his place at the table and as if on cue, Toothiana walked into the room with dinner on a platter. North walked in just a moment later.

"Sandy, brother! I haven't seen you all day! How are you?" North boomed as he wrapped the much smaller man in a mildly awkward hug. Sandy simply laughed silently and gave a small thumbs up. At this rate North was going to make Sandy deaf.

"Alright everyone, dig in," Toothiana beckoned as she set the platter down and took her own place at the table. Almost instantly the table was filled with the sound of cutlery scraping on plates and chatter among family while the air filled with the scent of the warm meal. As Hiccup put a bite of fish in his mouth and withdrew from the conversation just momentarily, he took the opportunity to look around the table at all of his family members. He definitely appreciated just how lucky he was to have such an amazing family unit, and he knew he wouldn't change it for the world.

...

And that's Chapter 1! There are many more to come so please follow/favourite to see more! And as always I truly appreciate reviews :) If you don't like this story, feel free to not follow/fave and go throw rotten fruit at Ilmazzobro XD

Remember, to me no reviews = no readers = don't bother continuing!