Hi, all, I'm back with another chapter! Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, added this story to their favorites, or followed this story. I'm really glad you all seem to be enjoying it so far! Well, here's the next chapter. A few more characters are introduced here. I hope that they all seem at least relatively in character. Also, please don't be afraid to send in criticism. I love hearing what I can improve on as much as what you liked/what worked.
One last thing that I forgot in the last chapter: Rise of the Guardians and How to Train Your Dragon belong to Dreamworks Animation. Also, specifically for this chapter, The Princess Bride belongs to Fox and MGM. I will add more disclaimers as other characters and such show up. Anyway, here's chapter two! Enjoy :)
Jack was about ready to tear his hair out.
Okay, no, he wouldn't really do that. He cared WAY too much about his carefully-groomed appearance to do something quite so heinous as that.
For real, though, these residents were driving the pair of RAs bonkers. It was now about 4:40 or so, almost all the way through the first floor meeting. They knew it was hot. They knew it was lots of boring information. They knew it sucked that this was mandatory. The guys didn't have to remind them every few seconds.
"Okay, guys, really? We are almost done," Jamie Bennett ran his hands through his messy, brown hair. He had large, expressive brown eyes and a very young-looking face. Jamie was currently a 19-year-old sophomore (exactly a year and four months younger than Jack, although one may think it was the opposite based off of their respective maturity levels, thankyouverymuch), and this was his first time as an RA. He had known Jack since they were children, and was one of Jack's residents the year before. They were an unstoppable power team, to be honest. They liked to have fun and be goofy, which often ended in pranks upon pranks being pulled on their friends, coworkers… Hell, even instructors weren't immune.
But as for right now, this whole "power team" thing just did not seem to be working for Jamie. He was stressed out and frustrated with the residents, even more so because he honestly had not known what to expect. He had moved in late last year, so he missed the first floor meetings. This was a brand-new experience for him.
Jack placed a comforting hand on his co-RA's shoulder when the chatting residents didn't listen. He lifted his fingers to his lips and whistled loudly to get the boys to pay attention for the last bit of information.
That made everyone shut up. "Now listen up," Jack stated firmly. "We are going to finish this meeting and we are going to go over to the 'Taste of Burgess' event to get food. But we are not going to do that and avoid the long lines if you all do not. Stop. Talking."
There was a moment of silence while the residents sat back in shock. A faint whisper of "I thought he was the fun one" came from the back of the lounge in which the meeting was being held, but other than that, nothing.
"Now," Jack continued, now back to his "cool RA" voice, "last thing we need to talk about is our next floor meeting. It will be held tomorrow at 6:30 in the basement lounge. As you know, your guys' keys unlock the girls' side of the floor in addition to our own side, and vice-versa. Because of that, we're going to combine the girls' side with us guys for the meeting tomorrow so you all can meet them and get to know them a little bit. So, what time are we meeting?"
The group assembled before the confident RA groaned out a collective "6:30."
"And where?" Jack continued.
"The basement." Came the answer.
"Who will also be there?"
"The girls."
Jack stared intently into the crowd of guys looking back at him. He peered at them for a moment before breaking out into a huge smile and announcing, "thanks, guys. Meeting adjourned." The residents began standing up and chatting with each other almost immediately. "If you want to walk over to 'Taste' with us, you can come this-a-way." Jack continued over the noise, raising both hands over his head and pointing toward the exit. He and Jamie began walking together in the direction indicated. "Excellent work, buddy," Jack grinned at his co.
"Back at you," Jamie returned the smile with one of his own. "Hey, Jack, residents aren't, ah, always like this, are they?"
"Yup!" Jack replied cheerfully. He stuck his hands in his pockets and whistled a merry melody while he continued walking toward the football stadium from the dorm.
"Wait… Really?" Jamie's face paled as he thought about the upcoming year. "But they don't ever…"
"Nope," Jack smiled. "You just kind of learn to roll with it."
Jamie was just about to reply when the pair heard an incredibly awkward throat-clearing coming from behind them. "Hey, guys," came the uncertain voice of Hiccup. "Mind if I, ah, join in?"
Jack's grin grew even bigger. "'Course you can! Jamie, this is Hiccup. He moved in while you were on lunch break."
"Dude, I know, Jack." The younger of the pair gave his friend a look like he was an idiot. "I finished up answering some of his questions when you went to lunch, remember?"
"Oh… Heh, right…" Jack allowed his voice to trail off.
"Smooooooooth," Hiccup's tone was absolutely dripping with sarcasm.
"Oh, like I'm seeing you doing much better." Jack replied playfully. Hiccup went give him a weak punch on the shoulder, but the white-haired boy was too fast. Jack stuck his tongue out in apparent victory.
"Wow, mature." Hiccup clapped his hands in mock-applause. "Are you sure you're supposed to be the one in charge here? 'Cause I'm starting to think children are more your speed."
"Daaaaaamn," Jamie covered his mouth in surprise. "He's got you pegged, son."
Jack went to go flick Jamie's nose, but the other RA wasn't having any of that. He grabbed Jack's hand in his own. Jack, accepting the challenge, used his other hand to try to ruffle Jamie's hair. This evolved into a brief, playful scuffle before they naturally fell apart.
Jack laughed and looked back to Hiccup again. "Anyway, you're actually pretty much right. I'm a child development major. I love kids."
"Huh, that's really interesting. What can you, you know, do with that?" Hiccup, to his credit, actually seemed somewhat interested.
"I want to be a child life specialist, mainly. They basically help families that have kids who are sick and dying." Jack, a little bit uncomfortable, cleared his throat. "I mean, that, or I'd like to be a social worker. That would be cool, too. I'm also a dance minor."
"Now that," Hiccup pointed at his RA, eyes widened, "is different."
"It's because there's a bunch of cute guys in his dance classes," Jamie teased, ducking before Jack could even get close to hitting him.
"It's because I love to dance, ass-wad." Jack's voice was stern, but his smile betrayed his joking manner. "Besides, the girls really like me, so nyeh." That last word, if you can call it that, was Jack sticking out his tongue yet again at his longtime best friend.
The two were so distracted with their pretend fight that they didn't notice the look on Hiccup's face when Jamie had made his quip. It was fleeting; there one instant and gone the next. Hiccup could feel his face getting warm, and it wasn't from the heat.
By now, the trio was standing in line for food. They each got a certain number of free tickets that could then be traded in for food from area restaurants, and they were currently in line for a Japanese place. Hiccup swallowed hard, clearing his mind before asking his next question. "So, Jamie, what do you do?"
"I'm just a cultural anthro major." Jamie shrugged. "Mythology and stuff. Nothing too exciting, I guess. What about you?"
Hiccup suddenly looked a little embarrassed. "Oh, just, you know, art…" He picked at a loose thread on his wristband. "With an emphasis in metalworking and jewelry-making." This last part was muttered, rather than spoken out loud as before.
"Jewelry?" Jack tried his hardest; really he did, to hold in a laugh. "That's definitely unique!"
"Yeah, I figured there weren't enough jewelry-making Vikings. Really, though, it's not about the jewelry," Hiccup corrected, the sarcasm barely hiding his annoyance. "I actually couldn't decide between engineering and art, so I figured metalworking would be a nice compromise."
"That sounds really cool, Hiccup," Jamie shot a pointed look at his still-chuckling co-RA. "It's more than this one is doing with his life."
"Hey, I take offense to that!" Jack pushed his shoulder against Jamie's, then turned to see that they had reached the front of the line. He proceeded to order his food.
The guys continued laughing and joking with each other as they ate their sushi. They visited a few more booths, getting some frozen yogurt and such, but they were mostly occupied with their conversations. At one point, they passed a group of bizarrely-dressed students handing out flyers. Jack waved to them in a friendly manner.
"Hey, Frosty!" One of the strange-looking people called out in a tone that was mocking, but not in a mean way. It was more the kind of mocking that one would do with one's best friend. "How's the boys this year? You seduce any of them yet?"
"Shift it, 'Magenta'," Jack responded light-heartedly. The girl flipped him off with a grin and returned to the rest of the group.
Hiccup's stomach flipped. This was the second time since meeting the guy that someone had referenced the idea that Jack was playing for the other team. He shook these thoughts out of his head. What was he doing? Jack was his RA! It would be like having a crush on your boss… Who also lived in the same building as you. It was probably just a running joke or something anyway.
Luckily, all of these thoughts passed through Hiccup's head in seconds, making the pause seem more like he was waiting for the girl to get out of earshot. "Friends of yours?" He asked.
"Yeah…" Jack stretched out the word as he considered his response. "They're just… I do some stuff with them sometimes. Like, hang out and… Movies and stuff. Nothing important."
Hiccup looked questioningly toward the two RAs.
"Hey, don't ask me," Jamie put his hands up defensively. "Jack will tell you if it becomes important."
Hiccup wasn't satisfied with that answer, but it would do for now. "So what else is there to do tonight?" He asked, changing the subject in what he hoped was a natural way.
"First off, we've got the block party," Jamie started, only to be interrupted by Jack.
"There's a movie tonight!" The white-haired boy exclaimed with a cheer. "They're showing The Princess Bride after the party." He did a little dance of happiness.
"Oh, I like that movie," Hiccup grinned. He hated to admit it, but Jack looked kind of cute doing his dance, even if it was a little stupid.
"That's because it's a piece of cinematic genius." Jack answered without skipping a beat of his dance. "It's a classic."
Jamie rolled his eyes, smiling as he shoved Jack a little. "Ignore Mr. Movie Buff here. He gets like this."
"You're just jealous that I have these sweet dance moves and basically know everything. You wish you got the girls like I do." Jack looked over at his co-RA a smug grin coloring his features.
"Please, Frost, I have an awesome body and this," Jamie gestured to his face, "going for me. Plus, girls don't like guys who spend more time on their appearance than they do."
"Oh, yeah? Well, I don't know how you managed to miss this, but I'm fun, charming, and probably a perfect 10 because of spending so much time on my looks." Jack shot his crooked smile over at his co again as he gestured to his body.
"Yeah, yeah, okay. What do you think, Hiccup?" Jamie turned to look at the resident. "Who's more of a catch, me or this one?"
Hiccup froze as the RAs both tried to "win" by posing and looking at him with what they deemed their "sexy faces". "Well- I mean, I just…" He looked quickly from side to side. "You guys like sports?" Jack and Jamie gave him a funny look. "I… Don't know why I asked that. I don't like sports. Or play them, really. Nah, I wouldn't do well with a coach or team. They wouldn't know what to do with all… this."
Jack laughed to break the silence. "Dude, if you don't feel comfortable with that kind of joke, just say something. We won't be offended or anything."
"No, no, I mean, it's just that back in Berk, we just… don't talk about… that… stuff." Hiccup avoided eye contact, a slight blush forming on his cheeks. "Like, even if it's joking. We just… Don't."
Jack had a strange look on his face, one that Hiccup couldn't identify, but just as he was opening up his mouth to speak, he was interrupted by a high-pitched, female scream. "Jaaaaaaaaaack!" The voice cried out.
The boys turned toward the source of the voice to see a petite woman with a very unique, pixie-cut hairdo. No, really, this hair was ridiculous. It was dyed at least four different colors that Hiccup could distinguish, but they also combined in places to create new and different shades. Her eyes were another standout feature. They were blue naturally, but she wore violet contacts to make them pop even more. That, along with her pink eyeshadow and long, fake lashes, really made her eyes the main focus of her face.
The woman, whose nametag read "Ana Fisher", was also wearing the blue staff shirt, but instead of the jeans that the boys were wearing, she had on a floaty, feathered skirt and knee-high striped socks with blue, high heeled ankle boots (not that they did much; she was still shorter than the guys). To complete the outfit, she wore long, yellow feather earrings in the first holes, gold studs ringing the entire rest of her ears, and golden bracelets on each wrist. She ran over to the three guys with a speed, agility, and grace that Hiccup had never seen before, especially from someone wearing such high heels (seriously, they had to be 5 inches tall, at least!). She actually reminded Hiccup a lot of a hummingbird with her small stature and the way she almost flitted about.
"Tooth!" Jack reached out with one arm to accept the hug that was coming from Ana. Leaving his arm draped around the small woman's shoulders, he grinned and buried a kiss in her hair. Hiccup would be lying if he said that his heart didn't sink a little bit. "How was move-in?"
"Oh, it went great, Jack! All of the girls are super nice. They're so wonderful! Hi, Jamie!" She hardly seemed to take a breath during this spiel. Jamie smiled and gave a small wave. "And who's this guy?"
"That's Hiccup," Jack offered, never taking that damned hand off of Ana's shoulders. "He's one of our residents. Hiccup, this is Ana. She's one of the girls' side RAs."
"You can call me Tooth, everyone does." Ana smiled brightly at the brunette. "If you ever need anything, these boys are two of the best RAs you can hope for. But if you need a woman's touch, I am always available. I'm right on the other side of the hall, room 335. It's in the short hallway. This year is going to be so much fun!"
Hiccup could only blink at the speed this woman was speaking with. She seemed like she could continue talking forever if someone let her. "Um, hi," he finally responded. "I'll definitely keep that in mind."
Suddenly, Ana let out another ear-piercing shriek. "Oh my god," she screamed, "Your teeth are so cute! Can I see?" Without waiting for permission, Ana leapt forward and was about to stick her fingers in Hiccup's mouth when Jack caught her by the back of her shirt.
"Tooth, you can't touch the residents, remember?" He tugged her back over to his side with a chuckle. "Don't be weird, either."
Ana swatted the white-haired RA's shoulder before giggling a bit to herself. Hiccup couldn't help but notice that Jack had let her actually make contact with the shoulder and didn't even try to get out of her way. "Oops, I almost forgot. I love teeth," Ana explained to Hiccup. "Yours are just too adorable!"
"Is it too late to change dorms?" Hiccup asked dryly, with a raised eyebrow.
Ana looked back at him with the most wounded facial expression he could imagine. Her arms dropped to dangle by her side. "I'm sorry…" She said. "Please don't move to another hall just because of me."
"Kidding, Kidding!" Hiccup held his hands up defensively. "I was just kidding. It's, ah, it's kinda' what I do."
"Oh, good!" Ana looked visibly relieved. She resumed her previous stance of casually hugging Jack. "I've scared people off before. I just keep forgetting not everyone has the same affinity for teeth that I do!"
"Or the same level of weird." Jamie smirked at the woman. "She almost scared me away last year. Oh man, you should have seen when she met Jack over here though. She flipped out."
Ana giggled. "Can I help it? His teeth are perfect! Come on, show us those pearly whites." She cooed.
Jack laughed bashfully, as if blowing it off, but did as Ana had asked anyway and smiled (at the ground, but it was still a smile). She clapped her hands and squealed a little bit.
"Aren't they just perfect?" She gushed to Hiccup.
"They're, um, nice?" Hiccup responded. "Very… White." This answer seemed to please Ana, who giggled her pleasure. This brought her back to looking at Jack. They locked gazes and smiled at each other fondly. "So, it's cool that you guys are allowed to date." Hiccup said, breaking the moment. "You know, being coworkers and all."
The three RAs immediately burst into laughter. Jamie had the worst of it. He just couldn't control himself. "Jack and Tooth? Dating? That's just too-" He couldn't even finish his sentence; he was laughing too hard.
"We are not dating," Ana laughed, delighted. "I'm glad you think I could reel in a hottie like Jack, though!"
Jack was at least trying to remain serious, though his eyes still twinkled with glee. "Ah, give yourself some credit, Ana. You could get any guy you want and you know it. Anyway, Hiccup, it's an honest mistake. A hilarious one, but, ya' know, honest."
Ana giggled again. "Yeah, like I'm even Jack's type anyway."
"Hey, you are charming, funny, and beautiful." Jack planted another kiss on Ana's head. "Way I see it, you're exactly my type."
"Oh, you flatter me, you charmer," Ana responded, grinning wider and hugging Jack again. She rested her head on his chest. "Too funny, though."
"Okay, okay, I made a mistake." Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Can we move on now?"
"Actually," Jamie said, looking down at his phone, "it's pretty much almost time for the block party. You guys wanna' walk over together?"
"Ooh, that sounds like fun!" Ana agreed, pulling Jack's arm and leading him in the direction of the block party. "Come on, Hiccup!" She called backwards. "I want a free tee shirt!"
The quartet headed off on their merry way to visit the block party, and Hiccup was left with another unwelcome twinge of hope that maybe, just maybe, he might have a chance with his RA.
