"Hiccup"
Hot and upcoming lead of the hit movie franchise "How To Train Your Dragon", with a nickname than will probably stick forever. He's talented, successful, incredibly charming, and only twenty-two. Better get those tissues put though ladies, because he's also taken! Hiccup lives happily with co-star and long-time girlfriend, Astrid Hofferson. And while we don't know what the third installment will bring for our Hollywood sweethearts, off screen, it looks as though we can expect a proposal in the near future!
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"Jack Frost"
We're dying to know just who the young man behind the microphone is – with a sexy voice like his, who wouldn't? Unfortunately, our favourite snowflake doesn't look to be revealing himself anytime soon, recently telling fans he is "under strict contract to keep [his] identity secret." But even without a face, he's keeping the radio industry going strong with more than two million listeners tuning into Believe everyday. And that number may be on the rise, as next week, along with his call-ins and cheesy jokes that we've come to love, Jack Frost will be doing an exclusive interview with acting star, Hiccup Haddock!
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Real eyes, realise, real lies.
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"Hiccup" Hunter Haddock
For a long time he was certain he would become another forgotten child-actor. And sometimes, that sounded like a much more enticing route to have taken.
The latter notion first occurred to Hiccup when reading over his new contract, after his first movie had become a huge hit. There was the usual public image stuff; guidelines for interviews and fan interaction, no body alterations or offensive clothing, but then-
"Maintain straight, wholesome image."
Now wholesome Hiccup could do – he hardly even swore...
The then eighteen year old was left in shock, re-reading the papers several times to make sure he'd done so correctly.
Wholesome, Hiccup could do. He rarely even swore...But straight? Well. It wasn't exactly something he went around announcing to people, but anyone there to witness his on-set kisses knew that he was quite far from it.
Even though a relationship wasn't on a list of his top priorities at the time, knowing that it couldn't ever become one if he wanted to pursue his career, left a heavy, sinking feeling in Hiccup's chest.
Not long after, fans began to speculate on a possible real-life romance between he and Astrid; the whole world apparently endeared by the movie's awkward romantic subplot. And hey, what better way to keep up straight appearances? The pair's handlers loved the idea – convenient and efficient – and drew up new contracts right away.
'Dates' (see: outings in which Astrid must constantly remind Hiccup to hold her hand and not to look so constipated when smiling) became integrated into their work life. It was kind of cool being paid to go out to lunch or shop, and it wasn't like Hiccup and Astrid didn't get along well as friends, but the brunet couldn't shake the feeling everyone could tell it was a lie.
Why else did there need to be hundreds of high definition 'sighted' pictures of them together running in every celebrity magazine?
In the beginning Astrid tried her best to console Hiccup, assuring him it was only a small part of their work and that people had bigger things to concern themselves with anyway. But that quickly evolved into her giving him the most obnoxious pet names in front of cameras to demonstrate that those who were invested in their relationship, weren't particularly difficult to satisfy.
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Jackson "Frost" Overland
Jack loved his job, really. He was certain he'd never grow tired of it. The fans were great, he got to meet some amazing people on the show, and there were few days he couldn't wear his pajamas to work. A pretty ideal job if you ask him...Before the broadcast is over, that is.
Because after Believe goes off the air, listeners move on with their day- they don't actually know him after all. Guests leave after agreeing not to disclose any information about the host – which makes it a hassle to stay in touch outside the studio- and then it's just Jack. Alone in his pajamas.
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Expectations.
Hiccup always liked to do a little research on the people who were going to interview him. Not that his management team didn't do that meticulously enough, but. Even after his reasonable time in the spotlight, the youth still got kind of nervous when thinking about publicity appearances. Now though, it was more of a response to seeing old footage of himself fumbling and laughing over his words as opposed to standing before millions of people.
His research generally entailed watching a taping of whatever program he was appearing on to get a feel for the demographic, and what answers they would most like to hear (knowing the time and place to let loose on snark was very important). Hiccup's process was much the same when his latest radio interview was confirmed.
"Hey everyone, welcome to the show. I hope you're all having a lovely weekend and not thinking too hard about Monday's hard work and deadlines. If you are though, don't worry. Courtesy of our guest band from last week, The Guardians, we've got their latest single to ease up and remember the fun times."
The brunet was already feeling uncertain about the fact the guy went by the name "Jack Frost" ( mostly because of the snow puns that came with it) and it wasn't helped any when the song started to play... To each their own, but it definitely wasn't Hiccup's first choice in music.
The feeling only worsened as he continued to listen; the so-called host seemed so aloof and disorganised. He accidentally left his mic on while playing another song and sung over it terribly off key, had to pause the show to pick up -what Hiccup was assuming was – the pieces of something glass he'd knocked over and broken, and went off on endless tangents with callers.
This "Jack Frost's" relationship with his callers especially bothered Hiccup.
The majority of them were girls who sounded more interested in showering his voice in compliments than listening to what it actually had to say. It was something Hiccup unfortunately could relate to; when fans took their admiration too far and saw him as a thing rather than a person, it made him terribly uncomfortable.
But unlike him, it didn't seem to bother Jack at all... And that just rubbed Hiccup all the wrong ways.
When the broadcast ended, he felt he had a pretty good idea of what to expect. Some 'hunky', incompetent dope, whose actual ability to run a radio station was given very little thought when he was hired.
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VS Reality.
They first met face to face in the small lounge by the recording booth. Hiccup was signing away the last of the legal papers by his supervisor – the place took NDA's really seriously – when Jack entered carrying several used coffee mugs.
Hiccup's eyes shot immediately to his head of stark white hair.
"Oh wow," Jack gave a laugh, "You're here early."
It was sort of hard to process that the deep voice was actually coming from the lanky youth standing before Hiccup. On voice alone he was shooting for late twenties/early thirties, but in person, the guy didn't look any older than nineteen.
"Jack...Frost?" he addressed politely, pointedly choosing not to give comment on Jack's own punctuality.
"The one and only," the taller moved quickly to the nearby sink to place the cups he was holding before returning to offer Hiccup his hand, "Well, the only one on air, at least."
They shook briefly while Hiccup noted the young man was wearing a ratty sweatshirt, and pants that had probably never seen an iron. He felt over dressed by comparison, but atthe same time satisfied that Jack wasn't resembling the jock-image he'd created in his head.
"So that must make you.. Hunter, right?" Jack asked after releasing the other's hand.
He addressed Hiccup as though he was an ordinary stranger rather than an actor with a net worth of several million dollars. It was kind of jarring, honestly.
Hiccup didn't let onto this though, simply nodding with a courtly chuckle, "Well that's what my birth certificate says, but everyone else seems very set on 'Hiccup' I'm considering changing it."
He was expecting the laugh that came from Jack. Different shows varied obviously, but Hiccup had developed a joking persona that interviewers seemed to respond well to. It wasn't entirely different from his actual sense of humour, just more conservative, less snarky and with self-depreciating remarks dialed back to mild.
"Oh yeah, I heard about that. S'pretty crazy."
"Aha, pretty crazy yes. But definitely not the most."
Jack nodded with a smile of understanding which was then followed by a brief silence.
"Um, can I.. Get you a coffee or something before we head into the studio?"
Though he probably could have gone for one, out of habit, Hiccup graciously declined.
"Oh uh, no. I'm fine, thank you."
"Well there goes trying to cover up my addiction– " Jack sighed in defeat, "I'll just grab another for myself then, and we can get started."
"Sure thing," Hiccup didn't mean to, but his response came out sounding stiff.
He watched the tall youth make his way back over to the sink. There Jack rinsed one of the mugs and switched on a nearby kettle.
Looking a little more closely, Hiccup noticed the particular cup Jack chose sported a crack in the handle, that looked to be glued back on. He absently pondered over why someone with Jack's kind of financial standing wouldn't just replace it, while reading the text on its side.
'You're Our Special Snowflake, Jack'
Oh. Fanmail.
Or, fanmug in this instance.
Suddenly the fact Jack had chosen against replacing the broken vessel was more endearing than confusing.
"Alright then, I'm all set. You ready to get started, 'Hiccup'?"
The actor blinked, registering the other was now in front of him. Before answering, he spared a glance back to his supervisor nearby who was still busily going over papers. They gave a nod of a approval in his direction before turning back to their work.
"Sounds good to me, aha."
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The Interview – Preparation
Everything was a lot more informal than what Hiccup was used to. The pre-show usually took a lot more organising; discussing questions that will (and can) be asked, hair, make-up (though those were a bit of a given), occasionally a brief rehearsal. Whereas with Jack, not moments after Hiccup sat himself in the guest chair, the former was already making the preparations to go on air.
"I like it to feel genuine, you know?" Jack explained while one of his staff was setting Hiccup up with the necessary equipment for the broadcast.
"Right."
The brunet watched as the other leaned forward to adjust something on his switchboard, and then their eyes met. Jack grinned.
"And it's kinda fun watching people squirm."
Hiccup made an effort to still himself, "Well I don't know how much of that I can promise, ha. I've had a little practice at this sort of thing."
His tone was polite enough that it didn't deter Jack's amusement. The white haired man finished the last of his adjustments and then sat himself in his own chair beside Hiccup's.
"In that case, I'll do a quick sound check and we'll get going then, yeah?"
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The Interview
The broadcast began with a song that Hiccup recognized from when he listened in the week before. Next to him Jack was both quietly mouthing and what appeared to be dancing (as best one could in a swivel chair – so more like bopping) along to the lyrics. He also seemed entirely unaware he was doing so.
Something about experiencing it in person made it significantly more tolerable.
There wasn't much time to contemplate it however, Jack's hand soon reaching for a dial that slowly faded the music out.
"Hello, and happy Wednesday everyone; you're listening to Believe. I'm gonna cut the songs short today, because -as most of you know- I've got a very special guest in the studio with me."
Hiccup watched as Jack's own gaze drifted from his microphone to a sticky note below several switches. He couldn't quite make out what it read, but there were numerous dot points scrawled on it.
"So please welcome the actor whose latest performance left us without a leg to stand on: the one and only, Hiccup!"
Apparently Jack's puns weren't restricted to things snow-related.
But Hiccup pushed aside an honest reaction to this discovery for a controlled laugh, "I'm flattered, really. But I think you'll find I've still got one left."
Again as Jack spoke his eyes flicked briefly back to the sticky note, "Right of course, still kicking...For now. As I understand there's a third movie on its way?"
"That's right," Hiccup silently congratulated himself for not reacting , "Not for a while yet though."
"And, all joking aside," Jack turned to the brunet, playful expression replaced with curiosity, "What was it like working with a prosthetic?"
The sudden tone shift threw Hiccup a little bit, but he recovered quickly enough that it probably wasn't noticeable to anybody listening.
"Oh, well. It was definitely one of the more challenging things I had to do," Out of habit, his gaze shifted away from the host's and to the wall in front of him, "I mean obviously it's all just smoke and mirrors; I can't actually speak on behalf of amputees..."
Hiccup spoke at a fairly quick pace. There was a short pause after he stopped – intended for Jack to go straight into the next question, as seemed pretty standard interview practice.
But it didn't come.
The actor turned back to Jack, who simply responded with a small nod, almost like he was prompting him to continue.
"..Really?"
The way he spoke took a moment for Hiccup to place; it wasn't a tone he often heard. Jack sounded genuinely interested in what he had to say - and not in a way that he had something to personally gain from the information.
"U-uh yeah. I did get to work with two absolutely brilliant coaches who were though. Amputees I mean," Hiccup made an effort to speak a little more slowly this time, "Without all their patience and hard work, I really don't think the movie would have been anywhere near as good."
"Wow," Jack was still nodding slowly, now with a wide smile, "It must've been quite the experience, then."
"It really was."
There was a fondness in Hiccup's voice that wasn't there before, having forgotten briefly about maintaining his formal demeanor to revisit on-set memories. Jack seemed to pick up on this; he couldn't be sure what specifically put the smile on the brunet's face, but stayed quiet for a moment to allow him to indulge.
"Any particular highlights?"
Even with the wait, Hiccup was still noticeably surprised when Jack's words came.
"Oh uh-" the freckled youth stopped himself to right his posture that had slackened, "Do you mean with the coaches, or just the film making in general?"
"Either or," Jack shrugged in reply, making no such effort to keep up a semblance of professionalism.
Even in the studio he treated the conversation as though it was with a good friend, and not an exclusive interview being broadcast to millions of listeners across the world.
"Both if you want," he added shortly after, smiling.
This time when Hiccup answered – indecisively, as he really couldn't just pick one definitive moment about either experience – he made an effort not to let his eyes stray back to the wall.
Bound by contract, the things Hiccup could say were still restricted, but as the conversation wore on, how he said them became a lot more relaxed. The added freedom of a radio interview was a contributor for sure, but there was something else too. A certain fair-haired presenter who the actor may have been a little quick to judge..
Jack's puns were still undeniably insufferable (the source -Hiccup discovered – being the sticky note from earlier), but there was something about his casual demeanour that created a very comfortable atmosphere to be in. Something that didn't quite translate when Hiccup was simply a listener.
Currently he found himself laughing – honest to the Gods, unrestrained laughing - with the host while trying to recreate an outtake that didn't make it onto the DVD.
"My sympathies go out to everyone who had to work with you," Jack teased, wishing to have been there to see the mishap himself. Mostly because Hiccup's hand gestures were absolutely rubbish ( he made sure his listeners were aware of this).
"Certainly not going to watch that scene the same way ever again."
"Well, you asked."
"It's sort of my job. Are you blaming me for my choice in livelihood?"
"I never said that."
The friendly banter carried on for a short while, until Jack brought up the call-in aspect of the show.
"So usually we have a topic that people call in to discuss," he explained, "And today-"
"The 'topic' is me?" Hiccup interrupted, eyebrows rising.
"That's right. You're catching on quickly," Jack chuckled, giving Hiccup a look reminiscent of the one he sported when teasing him several minutes ago (in response to which, the brunet rolled his eyes).
"So are you up for it?"
Hiccup suddenly became a little unsure, apparently not catching on as quickly as it seemed, "Like, me answering the calls?"
His public image was very important, and as such, questions -even from fans - were always filtered through.
"Well actually. I figured things might get a tad hectic if we opened the lines while you were on the show."
"Oh. Right."
"But, over the last few days the listeners and I started putting together a list of questions that they agreed on, to ask you."
Hiccup let out a breath of relief, and realised it was pretty silly to have been worried at all. The way Jack's station ran things was significantly more relaxed than Hiccup's own management team. But even so, there had to have been behind-the-scenes negotiations between them before the interview could even happen at all.
"Which are all family-friendly of course," Jack added with a chuckle, confirming Hiccup's thoughts.
'Family-friendly' was basically code for no talk of money, politics, or religion. Not to mention it also limited the really uncomfortable personal questions the more...enthusiastic fans felt they had the right to ask– so everyone wins.
"Well, I don't want to disappoint," Hiccup finally answered.
"Great! Let me just pull them up-" Jack turned to the monitor on his other side, opening what Hiccup assumed was a list – he didn't really look for long, instead turning to look at the wall in front of him.
All the thoughts about management and his image reminded the youth he could probably do to settle some. He'd let himself stray from his usually polite 'public-self' a bit too much – a side effect of being around Jack Frost, apparently.
"Alright, first one: 'does he-" Jack interrupted himself with a snort, clearly amused by what he read.
Hiccup turned back to the monitor, curious.
"So apparently this one is actually for me," the host managed through an amused laugh, "It says, 'does Hiccup have even more freckles up close?'."
The freckled youth in question withheld a mildly disturbed 'wow'.
This wasn't the first time his sun-kissed skin became a topic of discussion. Oh no, it was kind of a thing amongst the fans (of which, his handlers had no issue indulging them in).
Questions about any pre-scene rituals he might have to prepare himself when acting? Not allowed. Mass media speculation about just how many freckles he has on his butt? Entirely appropriate. Feel free to ask him about it.
Hiccup tried his best to dismiss any feelings of resentment, assuring himself that the majority of his fans were lovely and that this question was most likely, just innocent curiosity.
"Well uh," Jack swiveled in his seat to face the boy, making a show of (playfully) looking the him up and down, "I don't know if it's more – in a movie about dragons it's not really the first thing you think about but –," Hiccup smiled at that comment, "- I can confirm that he's got quite the collection."
Jack sounded strangely pleased with his final assessment. There was a small silence where his blue eyes lingered, and Hiccup cast his own gaze downwards with a shaky chuckle.
W-weird.
"Y-you say it like I had some sort of choice in the matter," the brunet managed after a moment, realising he'd yet to verbally respond.
Jack merely laughed back, having returned to face the computer screen, "This next one's for you."
"Oh darn," Hiccup snapped his fingers, weakly feigning disappointment in attempt to refocus his thoughts where they needed to be.
" It asks: 'Was the flying suit uncomfortable?'"
Good. That was a good, distracting question. Hiccup actually laughed, in fact.
"Um, well. Not as uncomfortable as I thought it would be when I first saw it," he began, while Jack spun back to face him, "Though I don't think it'd be my first choice in attire on any occasion."
"Not even for flying?"
Hiccup shook his head vigorously, "Definitely not for flying."
"Oh?"
"I mean, it's a beautifully crafted costume, but it was also incredibly restrictive when doing flying scenes. I'm sure the 'real' Hiccup would have resolved that issue, but the costume itself felt very impractical."
Jack smiled, finding it amusing that the actor's response sort of sounded like something the 'real' Hiccup would say.
"Anything you would have done to improve upon it?"
"Not constructing the majority of it out of heavy leather comes to mind. And a little less busy, maybe."
The swiftness of the boy's response – like it wasn't the first time he'd given thought to improving the suit – only increased Jack's amusement.
"Well, you've heard it from the man himself, everybody," he said, "Now we know."
The questions continued on normally after that. They were all fairly standard, but with Jack's habit to have Hiccup elaborate on them, they didn't feel so repetitive.
'If you weren't acting, where would you be?' Hiccup answered, "Probably in a bakery," which lead to the pair discussing their favourite pastries, and then agreeing that getting their hands on some doughnuts after the broadcast, would not be a bad idea.
'What kind of role would you like to play next?' became a debate over whether or not anyone could in fact take Hiccup seriously as a villain. Hiccup made a great effort to be offended that someone would even question his ability, but in the end, had to reluctantly admit that it probably wouldn't go so well.
And 'Who did you most enjoy working with?' - "Toothless, of course."- lead to the hilarious discovery that they did indeed have stand-ins for all the CGI dragons, of which Hiccup spent a lot of time on the backs of.
"Alright, there's one more here," Jack still wasn't done laughing, but after a quick glance at the time, he knew he'd need to wrap up the interview soon.
Questioning Hiccup as to why he most enjoyed working with people he had to clamber all over, would have to wait for another time.
"And it says..?" the older prompted, watching Jack's eyes scan the screen.
The latter looked a little confused and a different kind of smile tugged at his lips. Hiccup couldn't properly place it, but it was off.
"Well, it's another one for me," he said, carefree voice not matching his expression.
"Oh?"
"Yep."
"..And?"
"It says," Jack looked uncomfortable, but somehow stopped it from coming through in his laugh. "'Jack, how soft is Hiccup's hair?'"
Oh management.
"Wow," Hiccup gave an amused scoff (the beauty of being an actor), briefly letting his head loll back to face the ceiling, "They've really got you jumping through hoops, huh?"
"A few here and there, haha."
When he faced Jack again, the host looked apologetic..And, empathetic almost. Whatever it was, Hiccup thought quickly to correct it.
"I actually get this one a lot," he says (and he does, phrased in the exact way that provokes for awkward hand-in-hair-contact), "Keep telling people its all the work of my stylist, but the fixation remains."
While speaking, Hiccup leaned his head forward in invitation. Jack found himself both surprised and relieved.
"Oh really?" he chuckled, feeling thankful for Hiccup's efforts and extending his hands to the locks in front of him.
The contact was light, and really only Jack's fingertips. But there was enough sound made between them that it wouldn't be obvious to listeners.
"My compliments go out to your stylist – and my condolences of course, because they technically had to work with you too,"
"Very funny."
"Well I thought s-" Jack had gone to withdraw his hands from Hiccup's (admittedly rather silky) strands, when something caught his eye.
"Is that a braid?"
"Oh, that?" Hiccup titled his head back up, hand reaching for said braid as he nodded sheepishly, "Yeah."
Jack brought his arms back to his sides while waiting for a further explanation.
"I have a bit of a bet going with Astrid – My uh. Girlfriend," he supplied, still struggling to make the word sound natural, "To see how long I can stand to keep it in."
"And how long has it been so far?" Jack asked, playfully intrigued.
"Uhm," Hiccup had to think a moment, aloud, "We started filming...Ten months ago so, yeah. About ten – nearly eleven – months now?"
"That's certainly an achievement," Jack chortled and Hiccup humoured him with a bow, "Is there a prize?"
"If I make it through the third movie with it still intact, I get to write our speech for the premier."
"And.. If if it comes out before 'Dragons 3'?"
"..She gets to pick the dress I wear to it."
Jack looked at Hiccup in disbelief. The brunet's expression didn't falter, and then Jack was in stitches.
"Oh wow. T-that. That is some serious trust r-right there!"
Hiccup feebly attempted to defend himself, but pretty well knew it was useless before he'd begun.
"I hope she picks something flattering!"
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Separate Ways.
"That was.. Surprisingly fun," Hiccup admitted after Jack signed off.
He was shamelessly teasing; his polite pretenses forgotten.
"Surprisingly?" Jack repeated, feigning offense while pulling his headphones to hang around his neck.
The presenter was aware of the attitude shift, but didn't see a reason to comment.
"Well I mean, it is still work."
This sated Jack enough to drop the theatrics, instead nodding with a smile, "True."
They fell into silence for a moment, while Jack readjusted several things on his switchboard. It wasn't uncomfortable by any means, but Hiccup couldn't help but feel he had more to say. Like, this shouldn't be where it came to an end. Because despite his tone, Hiccup did have fun. It was probably the most he'd enjoyed a publicity appearance since that one kids-award program with the crazy obstacle course and wading pool full of jello.
A vastly different kind of enjoyment, but still.
Rising to his feet, Hiccup prepared to say something. He wasn't sure what, just some sort of friendly gesture, an 'I'd be down with doing this again' kind of thing.
That was appropriate enough to say, right?
Unfortunately he was interrupted by a knocking on the studio door; the thought never to be properly formed. His supervisor made herself known, leaning into view through the large inner window. Lingering closely behind her was also a member of his security team, looking impatient.
He turned back to Jack briefly, finding that they'd caught his attention also.
"Uh.. That's me," Hiccup said, shuffling reluctantly towards the door.
"Busy day ahead?" Jack chuckled, straightening up before moving to open it for him.
"Ha, yeah."
He had a 'date' to be seen with Astrid down by some big name clothing store, and some preliminary script-reads later that day.
"Well, thanks for coming," Jack smiled, one hand poised at the door knob while the other was offered to shake.
Hiccup took it with his own, and their eyes locked for a moment.
"I. Yeah," he nodded vigorously, "Thank you also."
Those were his last (and decidedly not as eloquent as he would have liked) words to Jack. After the door was opened, his supervisor immediately began running through his schedule whilst ushering him toward's the exit.
Hiccup only managed one glance back, and by then the radio host was already returning to the recording booth. This wasn't the first case of a hasty departure by any means. They happened all the time in fact. But, this was the first he'd ever felt guilty about it.
Jack on the other hand, had become quite good at not allowing this sort of thing to affect him. The shift of atmosphere was still very abrupt, but he knew well by now that, there wasn't really another option for him to choose. Every guest that stepped into his studio would have to leave again. They lead busy lives that didn't have a whole lot of time to include him in.
And Hiccup was no exception.