Ruffnut's Baking Company - Sunday Morning - 7:52am
Hiccup got off of his bike and left it on the hook in the parking lot, walking through the door into the main restaurant. The black and white checkerboard floor was nearly reflective due to the cleanliness, and the entirely black tables were empty since the restaurant wasn't open until 9am.
He went to the main counter, which had a glass casing for an assortment of rich, delicate cakes and biscuits of all kinds, and waited for the waitress to come out. When she did, she flicked back her dark hair and said "oh, Hiccup, hey! Oh, thank Gods..."
"Hi, Heather." Hiccup said, before adding "how are you?"
"Oh, pretty good, thanks."
"Great. So... how's, uh... you-know-who?" Hiccup asked, his eyes motioning briefly in the direction of the kitchen behind Heather. She opened her mouth to answer, only to tense suddenly with one eye shut as they heard Ruffnut's voice shouting from the kitchen.
"HEATHER! Heather, this food's here! Pick it up right now!"
"Sure thing, Ruff!" Heather called back, exhaling as she looked back at Hiccup and said "she's having a bad day..."
"Is she ever having a good one?" Hiccup snarked before Ruffnut shouted again. "HEATHER!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming... Gods..." Heather groaned under her breath as she went into the kitchen. She came back holding a plate with soggy, undercooked food on it, both her and Hiccup smirking at the sight of it.
"Snacks for the meeting, huh?" Hiccup asked with an eyebrow raised. Heather nodded awkwardly as she put the plate on the tray and went around the counter to put it on a table in the middle of the empty dining area.
"On a more important note..." she then said. "How's your you-know-who?"
"She's doing great. Well, last night, she asked about putting this place on Flightmares... again."
"Well, why don't you just let her do it, then?" Heather asked. "I know for a fact, that I'd love to meet the Astrid Hofferson. I've been a fan of her shows for years. In fact, my brother Dagur was actually on Helheim's Kitchen last night..."
"Wait, Dagur? Really?" Hiccup said. "How'd he do?"
Helheim's Kitchen - The Previous Night...
After the service was finished, all of the contestants were standing huddled together with Astrid standing on the other end of the room. "Okay... okay, who am I gonna talk about first? Eeny... meeny... miney... Dagur... step forward, please."
"Yes, chef!" Dagur shouted as he stood in front of the group.
"You know, Dagur, um..." Astrid pinched the bridge of her nose, before adding "with what you've done tonight, and your ambitions... you do, seriously, surprise me..."
"Wow, thank... thank you so much, Chef." Dagur suddenly said as he sighed in relief. "I was really hoping you'd see that. I... I give it all I got. Give it 110%."
"Alright, first of all: don't interrupt me..." Astrid scowled with an eyebrow raised. "And second of all: you surprise me... with how shit you are."
"Oh, okay..." Dagur suddenly dialed down his mood and got back in line. "Sorry, chef..."
"Well..." Heather struggled to answer Hiccup's question, before smirking as she said "let's just say he was honoured to have the opportunity."
"Was that the voice of Hiccup Haddock I heard just then?" a familiar voice shouted, prompting Hiccup to grin as he turned to see the messy blonde haired girl step out of the kitchen and stand behind the counter to see him. He had to tilt his head down a bit to look her in the eyes, since she was about a head shorter than he was, and he said "hey Cami... still haven't quit yet, huh?"
"Believe it or not, I was actually considering it this time." Camicazi said sarcastically, before adding "I was on my way to ransack my locker this morning... maybe even leave a turd in you-know-who's desk... but then Heather told me that Ruff was calling you in and I decided to hold off on my resignation letter just to see what would happen..."
"Really getting that bad around here, huh?"
"No. Of course not." Cami scoffed, before breaking a moment's silence with "it's worse. But you're pretty good at talking sense into her, Hiccup... well, for a boy, at least..."
"HEATHER, DID YOU CHECK THAT THERE WERE ENOUGH NAPKINS IN THE DISPENSER?!" a male voice said as Tuffnut suddenly came out of the kitchen. His eyes widened a bit and his tone became more calm as he said "oh hi, Hiccup. You got my sister's email?"
"Oh no, I just thought I'd drop in to see my favourite clients." Hiccup snarked, before adding "yes, Tuff. I got the email. I assume your sister's here too."
"Yeah, she'll be round in a minute. Look, Hiccup, just between us... and Heather... and Cami... my sister's not been happy with recent turns of events. And I think you being here is some reassurance that she really needs..."
"Great." Hiccup scoffed. "I'll keep that in mind..."
8:05am
Since the restaurant was still about an hour from opening, the five of them were sitting at the circular table that Heather had laid the snacks on. Only the twins dared to actually touch the soggy, revolting looking food on the tray, with Hiccup, Cami and Heather all looking in mild disgust at the sight of it.
"Okay, so..." Hiccup said as he opened his briefcase and pulled out his laptop. He opened it to show the restaurant's financial information, turning it around for the others to see. "To put it as bluntly and as honestly as possible, Ruff... this place's money is in the toilet."
"By any chance, is this because of those frozen assets after the whole Johann fraud thing?" Ruffnut asked, desperate for some consolation. "Because I thought it was a little fucking unfair that we didn't get a refund for those shares after he got taken down."
"Well, that's probably a reason. But looking at the stats for the last six months, Ruff, the money the restaurant's earning is only barely half the stuff that you guys are actually spending on it."
"Meaning?" Ruffnut now had her arms crossed with an impatient look on her face. Hiccup sighed, before saying "you're bombing, Ruff."
"Well, that's not my fault. This is just because of a bunch of sexist, fucking haters online. You know, like that all-female Dragonbusters reboot."
"I'm a woman, and I still thought that movie was crap." Cami cut in, Hiccup looking at her and shaking his head quickly as if to say without words: please don't start a fight, Cami. My sanity can only go so far with the twins...
Hiccup then turned back to the twins, saying "look, I just think that, haters aside, the restaurant just isn't appealing to anybody."
"What do you suggest we do then?" Tuffnut said. Hiccup was about to suggest shutting the whole place down, only for Heather to say "it needs a makeover. From a professional."
"Heather, please don't..." Hiccup said in a tone that was practically begging her not to tell the twins the truth. His pleas were all for nought when Cami said "yeah, why don't we get in Astrid Hofferson? I mean, she and Hiccup have been dating for the last year, she's basically a call away."
"And the truth comes out... Hooray..." Hiccup sighed with little emotion as Tuff and Ruff's jaws dropped. Cami, having realised what she said, put her hand to her mouth and said "oh my Gods. Hiccup, I'm so sorry. I... I didn't mean..."
"You've been fucking a celebrity chef for a year and you didn't fucking tell me!" Ruffnut snapped, suddenly a lot more angry than before. "I'll fucking kill you, you scrawny little..."
"Take it easy, sis. Take it easy..." Tuffnut said as he held her back, sitting her back down in her seat. He then turned to Hiccup and said "how the Hell did you even meet Astrid Hofferson anyway?"
"Ugh..." Hiccup scoffed. "Well, remember when I told you guys my mom owns a restaurant downtown from here?"
Kitchen Flightmares - Season 1, Episode 10 - "Stoick's Place"
With the restaurant on the verge of success, Chef Valka is insisting on reverting back to her old ways, and Astrid has reached her breaking point.
Valka stood quietly next to the pantry, waiting for Astrid to come over and talk to her. When Astrid finally arrived, she was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed and an unamused look on her face. Clearly, she didn't want to waste time talking to Valka about this.
Valka sighed, saying "ah, Astrid. Thanks for coming to talk to me. I just think th..."
"You've stopped caring, haven't you?" Astrid suddenly interrupted, a sour tone in her voice.
Valka was a bit put off by this, before saying "what? No. I j..."
"Get straight to the fucking answer."
"Well, no. I'm just telling you how i..."
"Get straight to the fucking answer."
"Okay..."
"Good."
"Okay..." Valka said as she took a deep breath, before saying "if I'll be honest with you, Astrid... I don't think your menu is better than mine..."
"Pft... oh my Gods..." Astrid scoffed as she put her palm over her mouth and looked slightly away from Valka, as if trying to hide a slightly annoyed chuckle.
"What? No... no, don't be like that, Astrid. I just th..."
"You're a jackass. You know that?" Astrid suddenly said back. "You're just a total jackass."
"Well, I'll have you know my food was voted best in... in... in Berk County..."
"What?!" Astrid suddenly shouted out, confused as to why Valka considered this important. The customers dining began to hear the conversation as Valka continued trying to talk while Astrid continued trying to shut her up.
"Alright, just hold on, Val... Val, hold on! Hold on, hold on, hold on, let me finish..."
"But you're the one interru..."
"Don't play the fucking victim like that, you listen to me!" Astrid suddenly snapped, before pointing to the door leading to the rest of the restaurant. "You ran a shithole of a kitchen! And if you think I'm ever gonna let your employees work in a kitchen like that again, you can go fuck yourself!"
Hiccup and the other workers in the kitchen looked up with dread on their faces as they heard Astrid say "so why don't you just fuck off?!
Valka was growing impatient as she said "to be honest, I think your kitchen's boring..."
"And who the fuck are you to tell me how to run a kitchen when you work like a PIG?!
"I don't wo..."
"FUCKING PIG!"
"Oh yes, of course. Big words, big mou...
"You are so full of shit!" Astrid's face was turning a bright shade of red as she added "why don't you open your eyes and have a good fucking look around at how successful this place is gonna be now?!"
"If you're not happy, Astrid, then you're welcome to le..."
"I AM FUCKING HAPPY!"
"Well, you're still welcome to leave."
"GO FUCK YOURSELF!"
"Alright, be my gue..."
"Ugh... I gotta get some air before I fucking kill you! Gods..." Astrid snapped as she began to walk out.
"It's still my fucking kitchen, Astrid!"
"IF IT IS YOUR FUCKING KITCHEN, CLEAN IT, YOU LAZY CUNT!" Astrid spat out before storming out of the kitchen and slamming the door behind her.
"She's literally the only person my mother has ever lost an argument with... believe me, I know..." Hiccup said. "But she turned it around, somehow... and so, after that, we just, kinda... hit it off, y'know?"
"Well, can you call her in or not?" Ruffnut snapped again. Heather said "yeah, he can, Ruff. He can. She's actually been asking him to put RBC on her Kitchen Flightmares show. Right, Hiccup?"
"Well, she did, yeah, bu..."
"It's settled, then." Ruffnut suddenly perked up, now sweeter and cheerier than a clown at the circus as she said "we'll put this place on Flightmares. Ooh, great. Gods, Hiccup, I just knew you'd have the solution. You always do. Oh boy, I gotta get this place ready!"
As Ruffnut left and went into the kitchen, Tuffnut put both his thumbs up and said "thanks, Hiccup!" as he followed his sister into the kitchen. Heather said "dammit, Cami. Why'd you have to tell her that?"
"Heather, it's okay. It's okay..." Hiccup said. "It's fine."
Cami sighed, before saying "sorry, Hiccup... I just... well, I really wanna meet her, y'know?"
"Yep. I know." Hiccup sighed as he put his palm to his face. "I just don't know if she can fix this place..."
"Fix it? Fuck that." Cami said. "I just wanna see your girlfriend go apeshit on those two."
"Yeah, well... you probably won't be disappointed..."