Apocryphal Gallery

by Just Call Me Endy

I guess if there's one thing I've learned, it's that we all have our images to hide behind. It's like inviting someone into a museum to look at all of the pretty paintings of fake people, because it's not often that you meet someone who wants to take the picture down and look past the lies at what's waiting behind it. And that includes yourself.

2. Hard Lining

Hey there, back again wth a new chapter of word vomit. Hope you enjoy. Also, my apologies to anyone who didn't go to school in the U.S., and thus might be confused by aspects of the school system.

And a big thanks to all of my reviewers thus far. Your words made me feel very nice.

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Chapter 2: Hard Lining

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The frigidity that hung in the air like a damp cloth was actually something of a welcome reprieve, breathed in gratefully by the boy with the sapphire eyes and messy white hair. The strands that wove together to form disheveled spikes seemed to stick out much more prominently in the dark of night, the coldness in the air adding to the stability of their appearance. He had been half concerned that he might get looked at weirdly for his choice of hairstyle in this somewhat small town, but when the train had finally docked and they were greeted by some rather burly men whose images exuded 'rugged', he only noticed small looks of intrigue before they seemed to direct their attention to his father.

He sat on the steps of the train car now, staring up at the silver disc of the moon with Mary cuddled up against his side. Between the warmth emanating from the open door of the passenger car behind him, and the warmth of his sister beside him, the cold that greeted him from the front created a rather pleasant combination, relaxing him and allowing him to dip himself into reverie.

North had seemed to be in quite the rush to get them all out of their previous home as quickly as possible, honoring his word when he said he'd get them to their new residence within the day. Not that Jack could truly blame him. After all, the man seemed to be just as excited about the prospect of finally having a permanent home as Jack and Mary themselves were. Of course, Jack wasn't quite so sure that he was as excited as he truly should have been. And it wasn't merely because the town seemed so small and quiet (after all, it was late, so quiet was to be expected). But try as he might, he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that something would go wrong, that this wouldn't last. His eyes scanned the surface of the moon as if in question, but he didn't expect to find an answer. After all, it was the moon. What was it supposed to tell him?

"Mmm, Jack," Mary mumbled beside him, and he immediately turned a fond smile down at her sleep-deprived eyes. The poor girl was trying her hardest to stay awake. "Do you think we'll be happy here?" she asked drowsily, her grip on his arm tightening.

He nodded. "I do. I mean, I hope so, but I think it's pretty likely," he replied with a chuckle as he ruffled the girl's hair softly. "You heard North on the way over here – he told us all about the cool culture these guys have. It'll be fun, right?"

She nodded mutely.

"And we did look all that stuff up, and it all seems pretty cool, right?" he added by way of reassurance, referencing the bit of internet searching they had attempted with the train's spotty on-board internet. "And look at the sky, Mary," he urged the sleepy girl, nudging her head up. "Look at the moon, and all the stars. How long has it been since we were in a place where we could see them so clearly?"

Mary giggled to herself, shaking her head as she looked down and rested once again against her brother's side. "Jack, you're silly. You don't need to worry about how much I'll like it here." She angled her face upward then, soft eyes looking at Jack's imploringly. "I'll be okay. It's just… you haven't stopped seeming worried since we started the trip, Jack. I guess what I meant to say was… do you think you'll be happy here?"

Oh. Well, that question caught him a little off-guard. He swallowed and laughed nervously. "Of course, Mary. I'm happy anywhere you're happy." He then proceeded to hug the girl close, pinching her nose a little (earning a smack from now-flailing limbs), laughing more heartily as he did.

She giggled a bit in response as she pulled away, but didn't seem completely satisfied with that answer. Much to her brother's relief, though, she let it go. Instead, she looked off in another direction, where North was talking animatedly with one of the big fellows that had greeted them, a man with a huge red beard that rivaled her own father's, with hair that was knotted into a tight braid behind his head. He had come here to welcome them to the town, which she thought was nice, especially considering how late it was when they finally got here.

In fact, she was pretty sure that this was the latest she'd been allowed to stay up in a long time. It was well after midnight, after all, and a ten-year-old girl needed her beauty rest! Or so her dad had always told her. She smiled as she watched both of their beards shake about as they talked and even laughed a bit. The red-bearded man had brought another person with him, another man who was extremely interesting-looking – he had a peg leg, and a fake hand that he could switch out to other hands, and he also had a long, long mustache that was braided like the other man's hair. Mary found herself wondering if all the grownups in this town looked like that. If they did, she was worried she might not be able to contain her giggles.

Jack, meanwhile, was merely relieved that she seemed content to let the subject drop between them. He shouldn't have been surprised that she brought it up, and honestly it made him feel guilty with himself. He shouldn't have his kid sister worrying about him. It was supposed to be the other way around. He repressed the urge to sigh, knowing that would just draw further attention from her, and instead focused on watching the shapes that the clouds of his breath formed in the air, finding it to be a pleasant distraction.

"Oi, Stoick!" called the man with the blond, braided mustache as he hobbled over to the other man, making Jack's eyes widen as he noticed the multitudes of baggage he seemed to be hoisting effortlessly over his shoulders. "You wanna give me a hand with this or no?" he asked, somewhat sarcastically, though the volume of his voice died down a bit as he neared the man and Jack's father, their conversation once again falling out of earshot. However, based on the gestures North was making, Jack could only assume he was probably insisting that they could unload their own bags from the train.

But the other man – Stoick? – waved his hands at that, seeming to insist that he and his friend handle it. And it was with that that the conversation finally ceased, with Stoick following his friend to collect whatever bags remained. But seriously, there couldn't have been very many left. Jack was pretty confident that the peg-legged man had probably been bearing more than half the contents of their apartment on his back. It was amazing.

His thoughts were pulled back to his approaching father when he cleared his throat, seeming to be in good spirits.

"How are my sleepy ducks, eh?" he asked, clapping his hands together and rubbing them a bit.

Mary gave him an exhausted smile. "So, so sleepy," she replied.

"You could have slept on the train." North spoke in a mock-admonishing tone, wagging his finger for effect.

"But then I would have missed everything!" she replied, whining in an equally mocking fashion.

North chuckled warmly as he kneeled down to scoop her up, pulling her from Jack's side and rubbing his nose against hers while muttering some fond words in that native tongue of his that Jack had never been able to learn. Jack smiled at the display.

"So who were those guys?" he asked.

"Ah! That was Stoick Haddock and Gobber Bork." North spoke the names with a curious twerk of his lips. Jack couldn't blame him. They were pretty odd names, as far as he was concerned. "Stoick is mayor of this town," North went on to explain, causing Jack's eyes to widen a bit. "He came to greet us with his friend, and we spoke of getting arrangements in order. They are taking our things to the house now."

Jack laughed a bit. "Mayor, huh? I thought they were just some kind of welcoming party or something like that. Huh. Must not have too much going on if the mayor himself has the free time to visit every new arrival," the boy joked.

But North gave him just the slightest of disapproving looks at the remark. "Not at all, Jack. Stoick says he cares about town with all his heart! He feels he must always ensure that its people are made happy, and does not believe that good mayor overlooks even smallest of new arrivals."

Ah, well… huh, that actually sounded a little nobler. "Well… that's pretty cool then, yeah," Jack muttered back, sighing.

North shook his head fondly. "Relax Jack, it was mere misunderstanding. Now then!" he raised one arm skyward, the other still cradling the half-dozing Mary near his chest. "We follow Stoick to house, and get you two to bed! You need your rest so that tomorrow, we can start to settle in!"

This seemed to rouse Mary a bit as she pulled away from her bed in her father's chest, staring at him earnestly. "Does that mean we won't be going to school?" she asked, seeming rather downtrodden.

This sentiment seemed to confuse North, and he gave the girl a bemused smile. "Do you mean you want to go to school?"

Mary nodded adamantly. "Yeah! I want to go and start meeting new people as soon as possible," she said, seeming to turn on the puppy eyes and wasting no time in arresting North in her gaze.

North wasn't quite sure how to respond. He glanced at his wrist then, pulling back a heavy red sleeve with black, furry trim to glance at a watch and take note of the hour. Jack could see him mentally weighing the pros and cons of Mary's request, and he finally settled his gaze questioningly on his adoptive son.

Jack looked back, not sure what to say, until Mary also shot him a look, something that was both imploring and worrying. Jack offered North a weak smile. "Yeah, I'm with Mary. I wanna go to school too."

Oh, how he didn't really want to say that. He sort of wanted to spend tomorrow goofing off; exploring this new town, seeing what he could get up to here. School wasn't really at the top of his priorities at the moment. But, if it was what Mary wanted…

"You two know you will have to get up very early for registration, yes?" North asked, though his tone indicated he didn't really have much fight in him.

Mary nodded at him again, this time excitedly. "That's okay! I can get up early! And so can Jack! Right, Jack?"

Jack nodded again, giving her a grin. "Right. I mean who do you think you're talking to? I don't need sleep."

The family shared a laugh, North conceding at this point. "Very well. All the more reason to get you two to bed then! Time for sleeeeeep!" he carried that last word, his voice dipping an octave as if to convey the importance of the notion.

Mary laughed ecstatically as the large man twirled her about before settling on carrying her under his arm, the little girl letting her body hang limply from his large hand as they made their way towards an awaiting cab, where an awaiting driver stood silently and patiently.

Jack took one last cursory glance at the moon, his expression belying doubt and concern, before he heaved the sigh he had been holding back, and then followed his father and sister to the car.

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Anna Zabek released a graceless yawn that was rather at odds with her appearance, chin resting listlessly on her fist as she propped herself against the large meeting table. Of course it only took her a second to remember where she was, and to realize that every eye in the faculty chamber was now on her. She gave them a sheepish smile in apology.

"Ms. Zabek, I do apologize if the proceedings of this meeting are not to your liking," the principal spoke, his mouth pressed into a thin line. "But I would dearly appreciate it if I could hold your attention for just a moment longer."

"Sorry," she replied nervously, elegant brows arcing in apology as she straightened herself up. The principal then proceeded to resume his discussion on the upcoming academic exams of importance, changes that were being made to various schedules, changes to fund allocation starting on the following semester (Anna reminded herself that she really needed to make sure the arts department pulled its weight if she wanted to avoid a spending cut), and other such affairs.

It wasn't that Anna was bored with the meeting – no, on the contrary, she considered herself to be something of a workaholic, really. She certainly had no qualms with doubling, or even tripling up on the classes she taught. Of course, she hardly had a choice considering that most of the other teachers had no interest in teaching the classes she handled. Sure, she could always ask the principal to appoint one of the other teachers to teaching one of her subjects if she ever felt too overwhelmed, but she would be damned if she was just going to let someone teach a subject that they themselves had no interest in. It would be unfair to the students! So, that basically left her handling three different subjects for five out of six periods, every day. Her and her principles…

But in any case, she simply found that she was incredibly tired this morning. This was probably thanks to being up late into the night, obsessively catching up with the reading she herself had assigned to her students for English – hey! She had been occupied with other matters the past couple of days! – and didn't want to look like a fool in front of them. Besides, she had already used the common academic fallback of putting on a movie once already this week. She couldn't do it again. That would just be unprofessional!

Aaaaand she really needed to snap herself back to full awareness, because apparently the meeting was now over and the teachers were all beginning to stand, stretch, and exit the faculty chamber to face the day. Anna hastily stood, collecting her papers and preparing to leave along with them.

"Ms. Zabek, if you could please stay behind a moment?"

Oh boy. Oh no. She was in trouble, she must be in trouble. The principal never asked her to hang back after a meeting!

She straightened her back and turned to face the man, smiling sweetly. "Yes sir?"

"Relax, Zabek, I'm not about to chew you out," he replied with a roll of his eyes. Anna did visibly relax, however, seeming immediately relieved. "I just wanted to inform you that you're getting a new student today."

"Oh, I am?" she asked, curiosity piqued. "Today? Why such short notice?"

The principal shrugged. "His family just moved into town last night, and his father was apparently so eager to get him into school as quickly as possible that they arrived early this morning for registration on the spot. He's getting your class for Homeroom, so I thought you could have one of your students show him around."

Oh. Oooooooh. A new student, from outside Berk, and therefore probably in possession of a more varied field of interests than most of the students here. A new student not knowing anyone, and probably in need of a friend. A friend who, perhaps, doesn't have many friends for himself?

Anna smiled. "I know just the student."

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Hiccup stabbed at his breakfast of pancakes and sausage lethargically, unable to appreciate the warm, inviting aroma they exuded. His brow was furrowed in the same disconcerted expression it had seemed to be stuck in since Tuesday afternoon, and his normally rich green eyes appeared dull, and empty.

Next to him, his father was wearing his own downcast expression, though unlike his son he was at least eating his meal, albeit slowly. Stoick chanced a glance over, sighed, and cleared his throat. "You've been very quiet since Tuesday, Hiccup."

Hiccup stopped poking the sausage links.

"Did something else happen that I should know about?" Stoick asked.

Hiccup's breath caught in his throat. Oh, yeah, no dad, nothing at all, except for the fact that I told the old man to die. And then he did! No, that was surely something Stoick didn't need to be troubled with, right? Hiccup shook his head.

"Is Mildew's death really troubling you that much?" Stoick asked, legitimate curiosity in his tone. "I know it isn't wise to speak ill of the dead, but I never had the impression you cared for him much."

Hiccup didn't know what to say to that. Of course Mildew's death troubled him. Hiccup was convincing himself more and more with each passing hour that it had been his fault. He had killed Mildew, all because he couldn't hold back his stupid voice. He was honestly surprised that Gobber and Phlegma hadn't told Stoick themselves what had happened yet.

Stoick sighed, irritability mixing with worry and sympathy. "You've almost seemed sick these past couple of days, Hiccup. It isn't good. You need to tell me what's on your mind."

The boy finally looked up from his plate, eyes fixed on his father as he opened his mouth, seemingly prepared to speak. Stoick looked hopeful for a moment, until he simply shut his mouth and turned away, his grip on his fork tightening and causing his knuckles to turn white.

Stoick grunted in exasperation before abruptly standing from the table, his meal unfinished for once. "I've got to go to work," he mentioned gruffly, haphazardly setting his plate next to the sink and gathering his things. "The new station manager arrived here last night, by the way," he added, though he doubted his son would care. "Have a good day at school."

Hiccup nodded and waved, mumbling a "Have a good day," as his father left, the door almost slamming behind him. If it were possible at this point, the exchange would have left him feeling even lousier, but as it stood he was already far too preoccupied with the grief of responsibility he felt for Mildew, as well as the self-loathing that came with the fact that he was relieved that Mildew hadn't had the chance to tell Stoick what Hiccup had said to him before he kicked the bucket.

A nudge at his leg snapped his attention to the large, black cat which eyed him curiously. Hiccup gave him a weak smile. "I really am a horrible person, aren't I, Toothless?" he asked, almost amused at himself.

Toothless hopped onto his lap and rubbed himself against the boy's chest, as if to reassure his human. 'You're beating yourself up too much over this,' it almost seemed to convey. Hiccup paid less attention to the implied message and more attention to the fact that Toothless was shedding his black fur all over his light green cargo pants. He picked the cat up off of his lap and set him down on the tiled floor, rising from his seat to dispose of his meal as well.

"Sorry, bud. Just not in a great mood," he told Toothless, who seemed mildly put off at having been brushed aside like that.

Hiccup left the house without saying another word.

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"I just- I don't know what to do, Gobber," Stoick lamented as he hung his head over the tavern counter, his vast beard giving it a mild dusting. "I already find it hard enough to talk to him and now he just clams up completely, won't tell me a thing. I can tell something's wrong with him, but how am I supposed to do something about that if I don't know what?"

Gobber was busying himself by cleaning out a large mug, the item held in a clamp-like prosthetic while his working hand minded the scrubbing. "You know Stoick, ah'm not the boy's mother," Gobber replied casually. "Ye can't just come runnin' to me with every problem you have with 'im."

"I know that!" Stoick replied harshly, pounding his fist on the counter. Gobber paid it no mind. "But his actual mother is gone, Gobber, just in case you need remindin', and you're the only one I know who he seems to actually talk to!"

"Eh, he tells me a lot less than you might think," Gobber responded. "Seems to me Phlegma knows more'n'I do."

"Aye, ye know enough," Phlegma cut in, returning from one of her deliveries to collect more steaming mugs that Gobber had prepared for her. "Besides, does it surprise you? The boy needs a proper feminine influence in his life."

"And that 'proper feminine influence' would be you?" Gobber asked with a smirk. "Color me surprised…"

She immediately dealt the man a powerful smack to the back of his head. "One more remark like that, Gobber…!"

Gobber placed his wash rag down, rubbing at the back of his head and glaring. "Aye would ye look at that? Brutalized by my own employees! What kind'f establishment am I supposed to be runnin' here?"

On any other day, Stoick may have found all of this rather humorous, but today he was not quite in the mood for the antics. "Gobber, please focus," he stated exasperatedly. "Are you sure you don't know anything? Did he say anything to either of you when he dropped off the package on Tuesday?" At this, Gobber and Phlegma exchanged wary glances, and Stoick's eyes immediately narrowed. "You do know something. Out with it!"

Gobber glanced away and released a very mild sigh. "Heccup may have said somethin' to Mildew while he was pickin' up the package. Somethin' I'm sure he's probably regrettin' in light of what happened."

Okay, now they were getting somewhere. "Well, what was it?"

"He told the old man to drop dead."

Stoick's eyes widened and he was immediately set upon by stress, a touch of sadness, and dread. "No…"

"Afraid so, Stoick," Gobber nodded at him, a sad look in his own eyes. " 'Parently, Mildew went off on his guns as usual and ended up, eh… well, he said some negative things about your wife," the man explained, watching as Stoick placed his face in his hands, breathing out slowly. "Heccup wouldn't stand for it, and he said what he did."

"And now he probably feels responsible," Stoick finished for him, dejectedly. "Just like he felt responsible for... Of course, I should have seen the signs." He looked up imploringly at the two of them then, seeming to be at a loss. "What am I supposed to do, then?"

"You can be there for him, Stoick," Phlegma responded, nodding as if it were the simplest thing.

"If I knew how to do that, I wouldn't have so much trouble with him!"

"Oh, by Odin's beard…" the woman sighed, quite clearly fed up with this. "Just reassure him, Stoick! Let'im know it'll be okay, comfort 'im! You've got to still remember how to do that, doncha?" she asked him incredulously. "And it'd probably help if you could try'n'bond with him over the things he's interested in for once."

Stoick raised a brow questioningly at her, the concept of bonding with his son being one that had long since become foreign to him. He felt as though there was something more she wanted to say, something she very quickly debated with herself over, but she plucked up her tray again and excused herself to go and help the customers.

Gobber watched her go with an expectant expression, as if he too had been waiting for her to share something new. Turning his attention back to Stoick, he clapped the man on the shoulder and gave it a light rub. "Ah, buck up, friend. You know what's botherin' him now, so all ye need to do is talk to him about it, eh? Come on, don't give me that look, it isn't as hard as you think it is."

Stoick nodded. "You're right. I'll have a talk with him. Tonight." He spoke surely but mostly to himself, as if trying to ingrain it firmly in his head. He wouldn't back out of this.

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Hiccup sometimes wondered if he was literally the only person in his neighborhood that walked to school. It seemed to him like the walk was always a lot emptier on the first leg of the trip than it should have been. Did he always just get an early start? Or was everyone else just so lazy that they took the bus? He assumed it was probably the latter, considering that not everyone found the bus to be suffocating, uncomfortable, or noisy. He shrugged. It didn't really matter. Walking by himself always allowed him plenty of time for thought, which normally he'd enjoy. But right now? He could really use the distraction of having other people around. Which is precisely why he was looking forward to seeing Astrid today. She had been heavily occupied yesterday, and the two hadn't had much time to talk since Tuesday. As he neared the park where the two met up every morning, he found himself hoping she might be able to snap him out of this funk he was in.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem that that was in the cards today. The park came into view quickly enough, with its many snow-topped trees, finely-trimmed grasses, benches, and the fine, stilled pond that occupied its center looking particularly fetching with this current atmosphere. Unfortunately, there was no sign of Astrid. Hiccup tugged his phone from one of his many pockets, checking the time, only to see that it was well past the time when Astrid should have normally been waiting for him here.

He sighed. "She must be busy again. That coach of hers has been running her ragged…" he mumbled, dejected. He stood near 'their tree' for a while longer, just in case, but eventually determined that she wasn't likely to be showing up anytime soon. He turned, prepared to leave, until a bit of motion caught his eye.

He glanced up and across the respectably large expanse of water that made up the pond, and his eyes settled on a boy, whose most immediately striking feature appeared to be a head of white, spiky hair. Hiccup blinked. Well you didn't see that every day. The boy didn't appear to notice him yet, seemingly too occupied with staring into the glassy waters. Hiccup squinted a bit to try and get a better look at him, but he was a bit too far away for it, and Hiccup certainly wasn't about to go traveling all the way around the length of the pond just to reach the other side and gawk at some stranger.

It was then that the boy glanced up, his eyes trained on Hiccup and causing the brunette to feel a touch of embarrassment. Oh, great Hiccup, some stranger just caught you staring at him, that isn't weird at all. He rolled his eyes at himself, contemplating the idea of immediately disembarking as the stranger stood. It seemed that the white-haired boy beat him to the punch, as he turned and continued to head down the path on the opposite end of the park. However, Hiccup noted that his gaze seemed to linger, somewhat curiously, on Hiccup as he departed. Their eyes held a brief moment of contact, despite the distance, before the boy finally turned away and tossed a wave over his shoulder, as if in afterthought.

Hiccup quirked his lips to the side. That was odd. He had certainly never seen that guy around before. Hiccup didn't exactly make a point of remembering every face in Berk, of course, but white hair was something he might think would stick out in his memory. Not to mention he'd never seen anyone else at this park so early in the morning, other than Astrid and–

Again his attention was drawn to some motion, this time from very nearby. He snapped his head to the right, leaping back in surprise as he saw an old woman sitting on the park bench that he had been standing beside. She was looking at him with an amused smile on her lips.

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, Gothi. It's just you…" He patted his chest a bit, chuckling. "You startled me. Uh, how long have you been there?"

The woman cocked her head to the side at him and shrugged. Hiccup guessed she had been there a little while.

"Hah, here the whole time, huh? You really are quiet… But uh, why are you here? I've never seen you here in the morning before. Isn't it cold for you?" he inquired.

Gothi gave him a small smile and simply gestured to him, before patting the seat beside her.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow and gave her a disbelieving smile. "Were you… waiting here for me?"

She rolled her eyes, amused, and nodded. Hiccup decided he'd accept her invitation and sit. This was actually a good thing, now that he thought about it. He had needed someone to talk to, and while he hadn't been expecting to see Gothi here, she was definitely a welcome sight. After all, it wouldn't be the first time Hiccup had relied on her to offer him an ear. In actuality, he had relayed his woes to this mute old woman many, many times in the past. He wasn't sure what about her invited him in the way it did, but he suspected it might have something to do with his sense of security in knowing she couldn't go and blab all of his personal issues to other people if she ever felt so inclined to do so.

Not that she ever did, as far as he could tell. In fact, Hiccup was usually fairly certain that she didn't actually need to be told anything at all, most times. The woman had this strange tendency to just… know things, it seemed. Well, even so, he never quite felt like making it easy for her.

"Soooooooo," he started, drumming his fingers on his thighs. "What can I, uh, do for you?"

The look she sent him was very much what he might liken to 'Are you serious?'

He chuckled. "You know, it's not like I always have some sob story to-"

She gave him another incredulous look and he sighed.

"So uh… I guess you'd like me to tell you what's on my mind?" His tone was tentative. The woman merely nodded. "Alright, well… you heard about Mildew, right?" Again, she nodded. "I… I saw him. You know, on the day that it happened. And I kind of feel like I'm responsible," he murmured as that sense of dread crept back into his voice. "See, I… I lost my temper with him. And I told him to drop dead. Then when I got out of school, I found out that that's exactly what he ended up doing."

His words seemed to mildly trouble Gothi, who stroked her chin a bit.

"A-and… Gothi, I don't know what to do. The guilt has been tearing me up and I… I even had the inhumanity to feel relieved when I first found out he had died, Gothi. How, how is that any kind of okay?"

He felt the woman rest a hand on his shoulder, some of the tension loosening under the touch. He turned to look at her, all of his despair evident on his facial features. Before he could say any more, however, the mute old woman held up a hand for silence, and then brought it to his chest. She tapped her index finger against the boy's heart, and then clenched her fist, her eyes meeting his in sadness.

She then turned away and pulled forth what looked like the shell of a peanut from a small bag she kept next to her. She held the shell up for Hiccup to see before swiftly closing her fist around it, smashing the shell into bits, an audible crack resounding from the action.

"I… I'm not sure I understand your meaning." He chose not to question why she kept a supply of peanut shells on her person.

Rolling her eyes, the woman stood from the bench and kneeled down toward the ground, her finger dipping into the snow there as she began to draw. Hiccup followed her example, getting off of the bench and stooping to see her drawing. She had drawn a heart in the snow, along with a crude frowning face that sat on top of it, before point again to Hiccup.

"My… heart is sad?"

Her lips pulled to the side in thought, as if debating his choice of words, but she nodded, deciding it was an acceptable interpretation.

"Well… Yeah, I guess it is. But why wouldn't it be? I mean, I already told you that I-"

She was shaking her head now. Quickly setting to work, she scribbled the word 'Mildew' above the sad heart, and when Hiccup looked at her questioningly, she shook her head and scribbled the name out in a flurry of slush. Then, below the sad heart, she wrote the word 'mother', circling it for emphasis.

Hiccup's eyes widened as he finally understood. "You're saying… I'm sad that Mildew died, but. It's more because… my mother…"

She nodded. Hiccup went silent as he contemplated the validity of that. Perhaps he hadn't been facing it, but he believed she was right – his last words to Mildew and the sickening guilt he was feeling… While valid, it was likely rooted in the memories of his mother. Back then, he had felt the same way, hadn't he? He felt a stinging in his eyes, but held it back. He didn't need to start crying in front of Gothi.

"Okay, so…" he started, a light treble in his voice. "What should I do then? I mean, regardless of where it comes from, I still said something I shouldn't have, and I still feel terrible about it."

Gothi stood then, giving him a soft smile as she pulled him to his feet and led him to the edge of the pond. She gestured at their reflections, staring back at them clearly in the still waters. She then stared at her own, and gave it a very firm nod. In one hand, she held a piece of string (Hiccup, once again, chose not to question where she had gotten it from, as she always seemed to have an odd assortment of items on her person). The string was tied in a loose knot, but as the woman nodded to her own reflection, she pulled lightly at the ends of the knot and caused it to come unraveled, a single, straight, dangling piece. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, I…" Hiccup thought he understood what she was getting at. "I just… need to accept what I did? And that's supposed to make it all better." His tone was nothing short of sarcastic as he gave the woman an incredulous stare. But she met it with her own and gave him another tilt of her head. "Gothi, you make the concept of forgiveness sound ridiculously easy."

It was her turn to give him a sassy look; her lips curled at the corner and one her eyebrows reaching for her hairline, as if to say 'isn't it, though?'

Hiccup was about to retort, but the words died in his throat just before he could speak them, and he found himself looking at his reflection again. A slight breeze had ruffled the surface in bare traces, and his own image wobbled slightly at the edges, returning his uncertain look. He could feel Gothi rubbing his back. So he just had to… forgive himself. Just like that. Put it behind him and move on. Gothi really did make it seem so easy. And Hiccup honestly thought maybe she was on to something. After all, he had forgiven people before. He never really considered himself to be the type to hold a grudge, after all. And yet… forgiving himself. That one was always something that eluded him. Try as he might, there were certain shortcomings that he had never been able to stop dwelling on, no matter how much he wished he could. At most, he'd been able to push them to the back of his mind so that they didn't occupy his thoughts all the time, but…

Gothi gave him a hopeful look. "I guess… I'll try, Gothi. I mean, I don't really know where to start as far as going about it, but, I mean… if it's really that simple…"

She placed a finger to her lips, appearing to be in pensive thought. After a moment, however, she gave him a satisfied look, and nodded.

In spite of himself, Hiccup chuckled. "I feel like you know something else but aren't telling me. Of course, that's not exactly new, considering it's, well, you," he joked, making a few animated hand gestures as he spoke.

Gothi laughed a breathy, noiseless laugh, seemingly pleased at seeing that the boy was already starting to return to his normal demeanor.

"Well… haha, thanks, Gothi. I think I really needed this." He smiled at her softly, still quite obviously not over his troubles, but having been significantly helped along it seemed. "I think I should really get going, though. I'm probably going to be late at this rate…"

The old woman raised a finger then, halting his departure as she clearly had one more thing to show to him. She turned back to the pond, reaching down and collecting a small bit of snow in her hand. She held the snow up for Hiccup to see clearly.

"Er… yes, Gothi, that would be snow. It's very nice."

The short woman gave him a light whack on the back, shaking her head in amusement as she then tossed the snow into the pond. As it made contact with the water's surface, the mostly undisturbed pond finally came to life with a body of ripples that spread outward in a broad, circular fashion. It was at this point that Gothi grabbed Hiccup's hand and squeezed as she pointed at the ripples with her other hand, as if to emphasize the importance of the point she was making.

"Ahhhh, uhm. Okay, so, ripples." She yanked on his arm. "Ow! Okay, okay, uh…" He tried to look closely, attempting to decipher the woman's riddles. The ripples continued to spread, rolling across his reflection, as he simply stared. "I'm sorry, Gothi, I'm just not getting it."

Sighing, Old Gothi released Hiccup's hand and immediately began shoving him off toward the path leading out of the park.

"Whoa, wha, wait, so you're just giving up? That's – ah! Stop shoving – that's unlike you."

The woman finally stopped prodding him as they arrived at the entrance, Hiccup now standing once again on the sidewalk. She gave him a knowing smirk before shaking her head, conveying how hopeless she clearly thought him to be.

Hiccup responded with a wry smile. "Well, thank you, I guess, for another confusing session of pseudo-therapy. I am very sorry that I couldn't understand you, but alas, I am but a lowly Hiccup, and could not hope to ever comprehend your mighty not-words of wisdom." He made a gallant display of bowing as if in concession, and when the woman raised her hand at him in mock threat, he laughed slightly and turned away, jogging off toward school.

.

---

.

Hiccup found it to be nothing short of miraculous that he had managed to make it to first period on time, even having a few minutes to spare, in spite of his holdup at the park. But sure enough, the classroom was still being filled by the time he arrived and took his seat, no one seeming to be in a great hurry, much to his pleasure.

He settled into his desk, trying not to let his mind dwell too much on Gothi's latest batch of riddles so that he could be better prepared for the day. Something told him that Anna was going to be ready to strike back with a vengeance today, after the little movie debacle yesterday (Hiccup could tell she just hadn't been prepared for her own assigned reading).

But speaking of the bouncy woman, she was glancing up from some paperwork on her desk now, which had apparently had her rather engrossed until just a moment ago, and noticed Hiccup's presence in her classroom. A smile lit up her face and Hiccup braced himself for whatever she was about to come at him with. It wasn't that he minded the woman's excitement at all, not really. It's just that he tended to find that dealing with so much excitement so early in the morning usually took some mental preparation for someone like him. And this woman seemed to have a habit of collecting important pieces of news, which she always felt the need to share with Hiccup.

She flitted over to his desk quickly, setting her hands on the wooden surface and leaning forward a tad to meet Hiccup's eyes, which were now directed upward from his slouched position to meet her lustrous blue irises. Hiccup wondered sometimes if she wore lenses to color her eyes at all, because he swore that the blues of her eyes were so vivid that they almost looked purple sometimes.

"Uh… hey there, Ms. Zabek. What's up?"

"Well, Hiccup, I am glad you asked!" she stated happily, not minding propriety too much at the moment, as class had yet to start and most of the students in the classroom weren't paying them any mind. "See, I was told by the principal this morning that our humble little school is getting a new student. And, since he's getting our class as Homeroom, I was asked if I could find someone to show him around."

"Oh… Is, is that right?" Hiccup knew where this was going and wasn't sure if he was thrilled with the idea.

"It is indeed. So, I have decided to designate you, Hiccup, as the student who will show our new friend around. Sound good?"

"That depends. Do I have a choice?"

Anna gave him a coy smirk. "Nope."

"Then in that case, yes, it sounds fantastic," Hiccup replied with his typical dry sarcasm.

Anna simply shook her head at him and giggled. "Oh lighten up, Hiccup, I'm sure you'll get along just great." And with that, she turned to head back to her own desk as more students milled into the classroom, the clock ticking down to the start of class.

Hiccup gave himself a moment to consider the information, wondering briefly who on earth would want to move to a dead-end town like Berk (you know, other than Anna). However, the pieces clicked themselves together pretty quickly. He remembered what his dad had said earlier that morning about the station manager having already arrived in town. And then in another moment of clarity, now that his mind was free of other pressing distractions, he realized that the boy he had seen this morning at the park was, in all likelihood, the very same student he would be showing around.

The class bell rang then just as Anna stepped outside the classroom, her eyes drawn to something in the hall. Hiccup adjusted his position in his chair so that he could crane his neck a bit and look outside the open door. Yep, suspicions confirmed. Anna stood out in the hallway, conversing with one of the principal's secretaries, who was standing beside a boy who looked about Hiccup's age. A boy with a familiar head of spiky white hair.

For a split second, Hiccup was pretty sure the boy had looked directly at him again, much like he had this morning, their eyes locking for the barest of instances before he diverted his gaze to something else. Hiccup once again got the same weird notion in his mind that he had felt from their earlier pseudo-encounter. The guy certainly did seem odd.

It was only another moment before the secretary excused herself and Anna stepped back into the classroom, the new student trailing behind her. She stopped him in front of her desk, turning to face the class and clasping her hands together. The boy stood beside her, shuffling his feet a little awkwardly, clearly feeling as though he was in an unwanted spotlight. However, Hiccup noted the faint trace of a smirk that seemed to be trying to surface as the guy observed the classroom, his eyes filled with intrigue.

"Class, we have ourselves a new student! Isn't that great?" the teacher asked with a smile. "This is Jackson Overland, and he will be joining us for the remainder of our school year."

"Ah, actually, if you could just call me Jack, that'd be great," he spoke up from beside her, and Hiccup was impressed that he was lacking a great deal in timidity, giving the teacher a toothy grin.

However, much to his surprise (and the amusement of the class), Anna immediately gasped upon seeing his smile, her hands moving like lightning as her index fingers hooked into his cheeks, spreading them a bit as she peered into his mouth.

"Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed, sounding more amazed than any other time Hiccup had seen her do this (which, sadly, was quite a few times). "Your teeth are so white! And straight! And I don't see even one cavity or filling!"

Jack was very evidently in distress, his eyes wide and arms flailing as he looked around the classroom frantically, trying to figure out what was happening to him. However, only giggles from some of the students greeted his hapless attempts at finding help, all of them clearly used to this display. "Aaaaaaaah, I- mih zavek, wha'are you gooing?" he attempted to ask as best he could with a pair of fingers in his mouth.

But the woman did not seem to notice, as she was now rambling to herself. "My goodness, you must floss at least five times a day, and oooh, I'll bet you don't skimp costs on toothpaste and mouth wash, ahhhhh, look at those incisors!"

Finally taking pity on the boy, Hiccup swallowed a laugh and spoke up. "Ms. Zabek. You're doing it again."

The boy's voice seemed to snap the woman out of whatever trance she had been in, and she very quickly pulled her hands back to herself, eyes wide and a vibrant shade of pink tinting her cheeks. "Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry, Jackson! I-ah-I, uhm,"

The class was laughing now as she sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, mumbling apologies.

Jack was still quite perplexed at the woman's unusual behavior. He couldn't honestly say he'd ever had a teacher stick her fingers in his mouth before. He coughed a couple times, looking away from her. "Yeah, uhm, no problem, I guess?" He supposed he should feel complimented? I mean, he clearly had awesome teeth, right? "And it's, uh, Jack."

"Right, right, sorry Jack," she mumbled. Hoo boy, if any of the other teachers had been here to see that… "Ahem! Well, uhm, everyone, please do your best to make Jack feel welcome! Er, Jack, why don't you take that empty seat back there for now? I'll figure out a permanent place for you tomorrow," she instructed awkwardly, not meeting her student's eyes.

Jack nodded, giving her a slightly amused smile, before following her direction. As he stepped through the aisle to his directed seat, though, Hiccup once again noted how he locked eyes with him, seemingly intent on staring at him as he walked past. As the boy neared, Hiccup could see now that his eyes were a rather striking crystal blue color, and they seemed, if anything, to encourage Hiccup into staring right back at them.

However, the moment was only that: a moment. It took no more than a couple seconds for Jack to break the staring contest and turn his face back toward the back of the classroom, where his seat awaited. Hiccup shook his head and fixed his eyes back toward Anna, who was already through with roll call and was beginning her lesson in earnest, clearly eager to get her embarrassing incident behind her.

.

---

.

"Aaaaaalright, and there's one for you, too." Anna finished writing the note with a flourish, admiring her penmanship before handing it over to Jack.

He and Hiccup were presently standing before the teacher's desk, the classroom now empty save for the three of them, as Anna had asked that they stay behind a moment. She had then proceeded to write a couple of excusal notes that would permit Hiccup and Jack to roam the campus freely.

"Alright, Hiccup, you know the drill?" she asked the boy with a smile, her large earrings swaying almost hypnotically as she turned her attention to him.

"Yeah, I just need to show him around campus, right?"

"Mmhm, make sure he knows where all of his classes are, too. Jack, you have your schedule?" she asked of the white-haired teen, looking at him now.

He nodded, pulling the slightly crumpled piece of paper from the front pocket of the blue hoodie he wore. "Yeah, right here."

"Alright then. Those notes I wrote you will excuse you for as long as you need to be, so don't be afraid to take your time in showing him around, Hiccup." Her eyes then narrowed slightly as she adopted a warning tone. "But also, don't think this means you can just goof off and use my note as an excuse."

Hiccup nodded, amused. "Right. Don't rush, but don't dillydally, gotcha."

"Glad you understand. Now, you two get going! I've got to make some preparations for my other classes." The woman waved her hand at them, causing her bracelets to jingle as she shooed them out, Hiccup and Jack taking the cue to make their exit.

As soon as the two had gotten into the hallway, Hiccup immediately felt more than a little awkward. After all, this was still someone he didn't know at all, and the limit of their interactions thus far had been extended bouts of weird eye contact. Still, he figured he ought to break the ice somehow…

"Hiccup, right?" Or, the other guy could beat him to the punch again, okay.

Hiccup looked at him as they began walking in no particular direction. "Ah, yep. And you're Jack."

"Sure am," he replied with a mild chuckle that rumbled low in his throat, clearly finding something about this situation amusing.

"Yes, well. Nice to officially meet you, Jack," Hiccup stated with a slow nod, smiling a touch because the amusement was a little infectious.

"Yeah, I guess it's less creepy this way than to be silently stared at from across a pond, right?"

At that Hiccup found himself bursting out into quiet chuckles before he could stop himself. The observation itself was a little amusing, sure, but it was more in the way that Jack had phrased it, his tone of voice, that had been particularly funny to him. "Ahaha, yeah, right."

Looking to both sides almost conspiratorially, Jack leaned a little closer to Hiccup, confusion on his face. "So what's the deal with that teacher? It isn't every day that I have someone shove their fingers down my throat."

This caused Hiccup to stifle more laughs at the boy's expense. "That's Ms. Zabek for you. As I understand it, her parents are both accomplished orthodontists, and while she went ahead and majored in art in college, she's apparently had a fascination with teeth ever since she was a child growing up. Apparently the tooth fairy was her hero," the brunette explained, watching as Jack nodded along. He still probably thought she was weird.

"You said she majored in art?"

"Yeah, but she teaches English and Home Ec, too. Kind of married to her work, I guess."

Jack nodded once again, and the two seemed to fall back into a brief silence as they paced the halls. Not one to let it last, however, Jack spoke up again with a jovial, inviting tone.

"So, Hiccup, huh? Kind of an unusual name, if you don't mind my saying so," Jack observed as he raised his arms behind his head in a rather careless display, almost maintaining a superior air about him.

Hiccup rolled his eyes at that. "Yeah, well, you're not really from around here, so I guess you'd think so. It's sort of a Viking thing."

"Viking? So those stories I heard about this place being founded by Vikings are true?"

Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "You heard stories?"

"From my dad, who heard it from his boss. I may have done a little digging on the internet, too," he added with a somewhat roguish smirk.

Hiccup returned the smirk, though his held a touch of 'you're amusing'. "Well yeah, that's what I hear. I mean, I don't really have any proof of that, mind you, it's all basically assumed. But I mean, my dad and all the generations before him seem pretty committed to the culture, so, my best guess is that it's probably true, with or without historical evidence."

Jack hummed a bit, thoughtful for a moment. "Yeah, I guess I'd probably be inclined to agree with you. The people I've seen so far do certainly look the part, haha. Still though, naming a kid Hiccup seems silly all the same."

"Yes, well, rest assured that you're not the only one who gets a laugh out of it."

"Hey, hey!" Jack responded immediately, raising his hands disarmingly. "I wasn't really making fun of it. I dunno, it kinda suits you I think."

Hiccup gave him a blank stare, his mouth slightly crooked. "It suits me?"

Jack nodded and chuckled again. "Yep. I look at you and I think 'does that look like an Edgar? James maybe? Nah. How about Mark? Nope. Hiccup? Ah, yeah, that one fits.'"

Hiccup regarded the boy with an odd expression as small laughs bubbled up again. "That's an interesting observation you've made, there."

"Yeah, I'm pretty good at that."

Before discussion could move any further into the territory of his name, Hiccup snatched the schedule from Jack's hand, shaking his head at the teen's surprise while his eyes scanned over the classes. "Alright, so, you've just been to your first period, so I assume you can remember where that is."

Jack nodded. "Yeah, I've done this moving around thing a lot, so my memory has kinda had to adapt to learning new school layouts pretty quickly."

Interesting knowledge to tap into later. "Alright. You've got algebra for seco- wait, really? Just algebra?"

Jack stared at him, confused.

"What grade are you in, Jack?"

"Uh, eleventh. Same as you, Hiccup, come on."

"Yeah, so, why is an eleventh grade high school student only taking algebra 1? I mean, you should have gotten past geometry by now."

"…Yeeeeeeah, well, suffice to say math isn't really my best subject, alright?"

Hiccup smirked at him. "So you're number retarded."

"Hey!"

"Moving on." Hiccup ignored the protest, incredibly amused with himself as Jack seemed to pout at him. "You've got US History for third. Ah, fun, everyone's favorite, time-wasting class…"

"What? Dude, no, history is interesting."

"Well yeah, it can be. But I've never honestly felt all that compelled by the history of the states. I mean we only have a few standout events. Plus, you'll find that most of the people here don't give two licks about any history that doesn't pertain to this town somehow, or to our Viking ancestors," Hiccup clarified, his hands moving in wide gestures to emphasize his various points.

Jack found the behavior funny. "Ya know, you move your hands around a lot when you talk."

"Yes, thank you for pointing that out." Hiccup returned his attention to the slip of paper, now more conscious of his movements (though he wouldn't admit that). "Fourth is mythology, huh?" He glanced upward. "You interested in that stuff?"

Jack nodded proudly. "Sure am. Mythology is interesting for the same reason History is, and the two usually go together, you know? Couldn't think of a better elective to take."

Hiccup nodded. "Understandable. Anyway, we have our lunch period after fourth. Then for fifth you've got film production – oh, hey, you've got that one with me."

"I do?" Jack asked, perking up a bit. "Cool. Good to know there'll be at least one person I know in there."

Hiccup wanted to smile at that, but thought it might be a little weird. Still, he definitely appreciated the sentiment. They'd only just met, but Jack was being perfectly amiable, and the fact that he seemed happy to have a class with Hiccup was a bit endearing, he'd admit. It was certainly a nice change of pace from most of the people in this school. "Yeah, guess we have at least one similar taste," he sort of let slip out. Gah, no Hiccup, don't say that, you'll seem too eager to be buddy-buddy.

Jack, however, just smiled at him. "Well yeah, who doesn't like TV and movies?"

"Well, pretty much no one our age, sure. But most people aren't really interested in making TV or movies."

"I guess that's true," Jack nodded in agreement, as though just realizing that information for the first time.

"Aaaand for sixth, you've got phys ed, huh? Guess you got your science credits out of the way already?"

Jack hummed a quick affirmation. "Yeah, the last couple high schools I was at only required a couple years of it, and I got those done in Freshman and Sophomore year. PE is a pretty easy filler class, too, so I guess the second half of my day is gonna be pretty easy on me with just that and a couple electives, huh?"

"Seems like it, sure." Hiccup decided not to mention that he'd opted to get his Physical Education credits out of the way early, much the same as Jack had with science, so that he could avoid having to take it in his latter high school years. You know, when all of the other kids would be even bigger than they were before and he would be even more ridiculously overshadowed. "I've got chemistry for sixth, myself. Haven't done all of my science credits yet."

"Cool, cool," Jack agreed absently, looking around the empty hallways. "So, where do I go for my second class?"

"Ah, right, this way." Hiccup turned on his heel, heading in the opposite direction and bade Jack follow him. The walk was silent for all of ten seconds before he decided to speak up again. "So you've implied a couple of times now that you move around a lot?"

He swore he saw Jack's shoulders twitch a fraction, just for a second, but the teen made no other indication of discomfort as he answered. "Yeah. My dad, he's the new station manager here, you know?"

"Yeah, I kind of figured," Hiccup replied, glad to have that information confirmed, even if it was a little obvious at this point. "You guys just got in last night then, right?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah, pretty late too. But anyhow, my dad's work has had him moving us around a lot over the years. See, he's basically super qualified and experienced with the company, because he used to take jobs filling in for managers across the country all the time." He tossed a sideways glance at Hiccup as they walked. "Most places where Eclipsing Rail has stations have multiple managers, right? And they step down all the time, so he'd just take transfers wherever he was needed, to fill in till permanent replacements could be trained. He loved it, said he got to see a ton of places that way."

"So, you've basically been taken along for the ride every time he took a transfer?"

"Nah, not quite," Jack said, shrugging. "See that was before he adopted me and my sister."

"Oh, you're adopted?"

"Yep." Jack replied, and Hiccup was mildly surprised to see that he had no qualms revealing such information. He'd always heard that adoption could be a pretty sensitive subject for most people, but Jack apparently thought differently. "He got us pretty young, and because of that he wanted to stop moving around and whatnot. And that worked for a while. But then I guess some years back, a whole bunch of people left the company at once, and he ended up being needed big time. So, even though he wanted to stay in one place, he ended up getting transferred, and it's been like that ever since."

"Wow. That sounds pretty rough." Hiccup's response held a touch of sympathy, as well as a bit more surprise that Jack was telling him what he imagined must be a slightly personal story so soon.

But the teen merely shrugged and grinned. "Nah, not really. I mean, like him I've gotten to see a bunch of cool places and meet a bunch of cool people because of that, you know? Man, the places I've been, you don't even know."

And just like that, now Hiccup was a little envious. The only places he'd ever seen outside of Berk and the few surrounding towns were on the internet. "So, I guess you'll probably only be here for a little while, then?"

"Actually, supposedly not," Jack replied. "The last place we were stationed was actually in New York, where the main office for ER is located. And my dad heard about the position that opened here and asked to fill it right away. Since this place only has a single manager position, thanks to its size, his thinking is that the company won't be able to move him anymore, since they can't afford to leave this place without someone to manage it. So we're supposed to be staying here permanently."

Ouch. Now Hiccup just felt sorry for the guy. All that traveling around to cool, exotic places, only for him to end up stuck here? That was rough. Still, Jack didn't seem to be particularly upset by it, so Hiccup decided he wouldn't try to rain on his parade by telling him how awful he thought this town was.

"So, is the hair natural?" he asked jokingly, trying to change the subject.

Jack snickered. "Pft, what do you think?"

"I'll take that as a no." Hiccup gave him a lopsided grin. "It's pretty unique though. I haven't seen very many people who dye their hair or anything like that, and when they do it's usually not such an unusual color. I think as far as oddly-colored hair goes, it's just pretty much you and Anna."

"Hey, it's not that odd, is it?" Jack asked somewhat self-consciously, glancing up at his white locks.

Hiccup smirked. "Nah. It 'suits you'. I look at you and I think 'Hm, that Jack guy, how would he look with black hair? No? How about red? Nah, that isn't it. Blonde? Close, but no. What about white? Ah yes, that's the ticket.'"

Jack stared at Hiccup for a couple moments, a small grin breaking onto his face as he laughed quietly. " 'That's an interesting observation you've made there.'" he parroted back at the brunet.

This of course caused the both of them to devolve into a small fit of giggles. Hiccup had decided quite assuredly at this point that he liked this Jack character. He was fun. After Jack got his laughter under control, he perked back up as if remembering something and stared at Hiccup. "Who's Anna?" he queried.

"Oh, sorry. Ms. Zabek. She likes to talk to me a lot outside of class, so I kind of have a habit of calling her by name."

"Ahhhh, getting personal with teacher, hm? Didn't take you for that kind of guy, Hiccup," Jack teased, wagging his eyebrows suggestively at the boy.

"Pf-NO, not like that, come on," Hiccup stammered back, immediately flustered by the implication.

Jack merely laughed into his hand. "Yeah yeah, whatever you say."

The loud sound of a door being firmly shut a bit further up the hall reminded Hiccup that there were classes in session, and that the teacher who had just closed that door was probably getting annoyed with the level of noise the two were making in the hall. He coughed. "We should probably lower our voices a bit."

"Yeah, wouldn't want the rest of the classes hearing all about your sordid affair with Ms. Zabek."

If looks could stab, Jack would be full of daggers right now.

With the conversation and lollygagging put on hold for now, it didn't take much longer after that for Hiccup to show Jack where his various classrooms would be located, keeping his explanation of the school's layout as concise as possible and giving the white-haired teen small quizzes here and there about the information he was supplied with.

"And here is your locker bay," Hiccup stated, drawing his tour to a close as the two of them arrived in one of the many locker-lined hallways of the school. "Your locker is number 1300, down there," he explained, gesturing down the hall. "The fact that mine is in the next hall over only proves my point that schools intentionally put lockers as far away from the student's first period as possible."

Jack glanced over at him. "Oh, yours is in the next hall? Which one is it?"

Hiccup gave him a narrowed eye. "Why do you wanna know that?" he asked, wary.

"Well it certainly isn't so that I can leave pranks in it or anything."

Hiccup turned away. "Right well, you should have your combination, so I'll leave you to that, and then you can get to your next class."

Jack pouted at him, mumbling something about him being a 'poor sport'.

Hiccup turned to walk away, but hesitated for a moment, turning to look back at Jack who was eyeing the little slip that had his combination written on it. "Oh, and uh, Jack?"

He turned his gaze upward. "Hm?"

"Uh, you remember where the cafeteria is, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, er." He rubbed the back of his neck. "If you want, you can sit with me and my friends at lunch. You know, till you make your own friends and all."

Jack took a moment to digest the invitation before bobbing his head slowly, as if unsure, a light smile playing at his lips. "Er, yeah, that would be cool."

Hiccup cleared his throat, not sure as to why he was feeling so awkward about having asked. It was just a lunch invitation, what was the big deal? "Alright, yeah, good. So uh, guess I'll see you at lunch then."

"Yeah, see you." Jack raised his hand partially in a lazy wave, his eyes very obviously resting on the lockers around him, or the floor, or anywhere that wasn't Hiccup. Jeez, and why was he getting all awkward now? This whole situation was just weird.

Rather than say anything else about it, Hiccup just nodded quickly and turned away, heading for what remained of his second period class. He shook his head a bit in an attempt to clear his suddenly muddled head.

.

---

.

Hiccup scanned the seemingly endless sea of faces as he entered the cafeteria, feeling unreasonably nervous as he did so. Jack was probably fine, Hiccup had shown him around very thoroughly, and he highly doubted that he would forget where the cafeteria was. Still, he couldn't help but worry about the prospect that the white-haired boy had somehow managed to lose his way and wouldn't show up.

Hiccup already had his tray of food in hand, and at the moment was just standing around and waiting, probably looking foolish as students made their way around him to find tables. Even so, he wasn't about to just go and find his friends so soon. He had given Jack an invitation, after all, and it would be rude if he wasn't around when the boy finally showed up. Sure enough, his patience paid off when he spotted Jack stepping into the spacious dining area, looking around in apparent wonder at how different it seemed when it was actually filled with people. He had a tray of food in his own hands, though Hiccup noticed that his selection was pretty sparse. Either he wasn't a big eater, or he just didn't like the food.

Either seemed plausible.

Hiccup took a breath and stepped over to him, crossing the distance of a couple dozen or so feet that separated them and got the boy's attention with a simple "Hey."

Jack snapped out of his apparent daze and turned toward the brunette, smiling in recognition. "Hey there Hiccup. You here to pick me up? That's awfully gentlemanly of you."

Hiccup rolled his eyes at the implicative comment. "Yeah, I'm a regular Casanova. Come on." He gestured over his shoulder with a jerk of his chin and began to walk off, Jack following close behind.

"So what are your friends like?" Jack asked from behind him.

"How am I supposed to answer that?" Hiccup replied, perplexed. He never did find it easy to describe someone in a short sentence. He always felt like there was too much to anyone for that to work. "Nice, I guess? You'll meet them soon anyway."

Jack chose not to question him further as they weaved their way through bodies that were almost all taller than his companion, and Jack was beginning to finally understand the apparent nature of Viking bodies. He had an inch or so on Hiccup, he could tell, but he still felt small by comparison. Most of the girls were around Hiccup's height or taller, too, so it wasn't just the guys who shot up, apparently. There were, of course, a few people here and there who were shorter than the both of them, but they seemed to make up for that by being much… well, wider. In the muscly sense.

It made him wonder how Hiccup managed to be both shorter and, from the looks of him at least, slighter in frame than Jack was. Oddball Viking? Maybe.

It didn't take very long for the duo to arrive at Hiccup's preferred lunch table, and as soon as Astrid laid eyes on him she was immediately apologizing. "Oh, Hiccup, there you are. Sorry I wasn't at our spot this morning, I know I've been busy a lot, but we've got a competition coming up in-… who's this?" The girl suddenly cut herself off mid-sentence as she noticed the boy following behind Hiccup.

Across the table from her, Fishlegs had already noticed him and was giving him a welcoming smile, though he waited for Hiccup to make the introduction.

"Guys, this is Jack." Hiccup nodded at the boy. "He's new here, just got in last night. His dad's the new station manager for Berk."

"Oh!" Astrid seemed pleased to hear this, giving him a smile. Jack noted, however, that the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "Well, glad to have you aboard then."

"Oh my-, Astrid, no, did you seriously just make a train pun?" Hiccup deadpanned at the girl.

Her eyes widened a fraction as she covered her mouth, but then chuckled moments later. "Aha, wow, I guess I did."

Fishlegs snickered a bit too before holding out one large hand to Jack. "Nice to meet you Jack. That's Astrid, and I'm Fishlegs."

Jack smirked at the moniker and shifted the balance of his tray onto one hand, using the other to accept the handshake. "Nice to meet you guys." He then proceeded to sit himself down next to the rather large-framed boy, while Hiccup took his usual seat next to Astrid. "So, Fishlegs huh? Is that another Viking name?" he asked both of the eponymous boy as well as Hiccup and Astrid.

"Well, his real name is Frodi," Astrid replied. "But yeah, it's kind of a Viking thing. See, in the old days, Vikings would give their kids scary or unappealing names to discourage trolls and goblins from stealing them when they were born. We may live in the modern age now, but the tradition is still kind of upheld."

"Everyone gets a sort of normal name when they're born," Fishlegs cut in. "But the parents usually come up with a nickname not long afterward and start just using that."

"So you know, if we ever get out of town, the people of any other place we go to won't have to see something embarrassing on our State ID cards," Hiccup added, sounding like he was lacking in appreciation for the concept.

"Huh… that's actually kinda cool," Jack mused. "So you kind of get like, two names. One that you can go by anywhere else and one that the people here know you by. It's neat."

"Haha, yeah, but some people don't go for it," Fishlegs went on, gesturing to Astrid. "Like her. As soon as she was old enough to talk, she wouldn't let her parents call her by her nickname anymore."

"Oh? What was it?" Jack asked, sounding interested.

"She won't tell us," Hiccup replied, smirking. "And she says she never will."

"My parents are sworn to secrecy about it," Astrid huffed. "So don't bother asking them, either."

Jack laughed. "Well I don't even know your parents, so I don't think you have to worry about that."

"Well, you might meet them is all," Astrid responded nonchalantly. "I mean, if you're gonna be hanging around us, it's an eventual inevitability. My folks can be busybodies about who my friends are."

Jack blinked a couple of times at this while the girl simply went about eating her meal as though she hadn't said anything unusual. "Friends, huh…" he mumbled, just barely loudly enough for Fishlegs to hear. The larger boy smiled, but didn't mention it. A new idea then planted itself in Jack's head as he looked up at Hiccup, smiling. "So then what's your real name? Or did your parents actually name you Hiccup?"

Hiccup didn't look like he'd been expecting the question, and his face seemed to drop when it was asked. Jack could see the change and immediately felt like he had done something wrong, especially when Astrid's expression turned into one of mild concern when she looked at Hiccup, but Fishlegs came to his rescue.

"Psh, as if any of us would even know," he joked good-naturedly. "I don't think Hiccup himself can even remember being called anything else."

Hiccup forced a chuckle. "Ahaha, yeah, it's just been Hiccup for as long as I can remember."

Jack felt like they weren't telling him something, but he let it go. After all, he had only just met these people. He shouldn't consider himself privy to their private details.

"You know Jack, you have pretty cool-looking hair," Astrid brought up suddenly, leaning forward on one arm as if to get a better look. "Definitely helps you stand out. I don't think we'll have any trouble finding you in a crowd."

Jack smiled back at her. "Well then I guess I know I'm safe if I ever get lost."

"You might want to sob a little, just in case," Hiccup added, seemingly back to his normal mood. "Astrid and I are trained to respond to the sound of crying thanks to Fishlegs here."

Fishlegs immediately looked exasperated. "Okay, I cried one time, come on guys!"

Astrid snickered into her hand. "Fishlegs who are you trying to kid? You cry all the time. Like when you're scared."

"Or apprehensive," Hiccup added.

"Or worried."

"Or paranoid."

"Or-"

"Okay, we get it," he replied quickly, seemingly adamant in his desire to make them stop. He then cast a cursory glance at Jack before aiming his face down at his food. "So much for first impressions…"

Jack gave the boy a sympathetic smile, equal parts surprised and pleased to learn that someone so large (and who looked like they could tear Jack in half if they wanted to) could still be so sensitive. He patted his arm. "Hey, don't worry about it Fishlegs. I don't think any less of you for it or anything. It's pretty cool, actually."

Fishlegs perked up at that, giving him a grateful smile. "Really?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah, of course. Everyone should be in touch with their feelings, right?"

Astrid's gaze, which Jack noted had been a little icy in spite of her friendliness thus far, seemed to noticeably soften at that. Not entirely, of course, but noticeably all the same. Jack couldn't quite get a read on this girl. She seemed friendly, and yet a tiny bit… hostile? No, not quite that far. But something about her definitely seemed to give him the impression that he was being tested or something. He wasn't sure if anyone else noticed it, however, as Hiccup wasn't acting at all out of the ordinary.

"Anyway," Jack said, picking the conversation back up. "You're actually only the second person to mention my hair, Astrid. Hiccup mentioned it this morning, but for all his claims that it's so unusual, I haven't really had anyone else say anything so far. At most, I guess I've gotten a couple weird looks, but that's it."

"Well, it is unusual," she replied conversationally. "But, it doesn't surprise me that no one would say anything about it. Not a lot of people around here dye their hair much, but the culture has been evolving over the years, I guess. So when it happens, people don't really feel a need to bring it up, I guess?" she shrugged, deciding that her explanation was probably accurate.

Hiccup smiled and nodded at that. "Yeah, she does have a point. I mean, I dunno if you've encountered it much yet, but most of the adults in town have some pretty thick accents. But that seems like it's dying off with our generation. I don't think I've met a single person our age who talks like that."

"Hahaha, yeah, I've encountered some accents," Jack replied through laughs. "Oh man you guys don't even know how much I wanted to laugh during my last class. Like seriously, I didn't even know Scottish accents could get that thick! And I thought my dad's accent was something."

"Your dad has an accent?" Hiccup asked.

Jack smiled. "Russian."

"That's exotic," Fishlegs stated with heavy intrigue. "So are you Russian then? You don't really look Russian."

Jack shook his head. "Nah, me and my sister are adopted."

"Ah, well that would explain that." Fishlegs seemed to accept that answer with much less interest than Hiccup had.

The conversation persisted from there, jumping off of the personal information wagon and moving over to more average topics of discussion, such as school functions, complaints about classes, etcetera. Hiccup could tell that Astrid probably wanted to talk to him about something, whether that something be the showcase or whatever it was that had been bothering Hiccup since Tuesday, but she opted not to say anything in light of their current company. Likewise, Hiccup refrained from bringing up the dog show Astrid had apparently entered, in spite of his actual interest in asking about it.

Fishlegs was currently in the middle of regaling them with something or other he had read in one of his botany books, but as if drawn by some unseen force to ruin a good time, Hiccup could see Snotlout and the twins approaching from a few tables over, their expressions mildly curious.

"Oh boy, incoming…" Hiccup muttered, causing Fishlegs to stop talking and look behind him just as the trio approached.

"So!" Snotlout spoke up as he neared, placing his hands on his hips as he looked Jack up and down. "Who's the new kid, Hiccup?"

Jack's brow immediately wrinkled, not liking the tone of this guy's voice.

Hiccup maintained a rather blasé expression. "You could just ask him yourself, Snotlout, he's right there."

"What's with your hair?" Tuffnut spoke up suddenly, his eyes narrowing in scrutinization at it. "I've never seen somebody with hair like that."

"I guess it's more interesting than they gave it credit for, then," Jack responded observationally.

"Well, of course it is, it's really weird. How does that even happen?" Tuffnut asked, seeming confused.

Over on the other end of the table, Ruffnut had apparently not been paying attention to her brother and her friend, holding some kind of separate conversation with Astrid, until she suddenly sighed and cut in. "Ugh, you're such an idiot," she admonished mildly. "It's dyed, Tuffnut."

"Oh," Tuffnut responded, before immediately glaring at his sister. "Yeah well I could have figured that out!"

"But were you going to?" Astrid asked blandly, exchanging a glance with Ruff.

"Maybe!"

"Okay, guys, shut up, come on." Snotlout patted Tuff's back absently. "Now come on, who is this guy?"

Jack grunted. "Hiccup just said you could just ask me, dude. And it's Jack."

Snotlout turned his attention more fully on the teen now, his expression indicating his less-than-pleased status at the apparent show of disrespect. "Yeah, well, I didn't ask you, I asked them."

"So what?"

"So that means I didn't want to hear from you, new guy." Snotlout's glare intensified as he leaned closer, making to get into the smaller teen's face.

"Well that's a little too bad, because you're hearing from me now." Jack didn't seem like he was intent on backing down, and he slowly began rising from his seat.

However, before the situation could escalate Hiccup immediately stood first, laying a hand on Snotlout's shoulder. "Hey, hey, come oooon, Snotlout," he started, nervous laughter in his voice. "You don't want to start some big scene in the middle of lunch, do you? I mean, ah, think, think of the game! Yeah, this Saturday, remember? Wouldn't want to get in some kind of trouble so close to game day and get suspended or something, right?"

Snotlout shrugged Hiccup's hand off and let out an angry sigh, as if to say 'Yeah, whatever.'

Out of the corner of his eye, Hiccup could see Astrid's fists clenched, shoulders tightened, ready to spring into action immediately. Ruffnut was looking between her and Snotlout, as though contemplating which side she'd choose if it came down to it.

Snotlout breathed out a shallow breath, standing straight again and closing his eyes in a careless fashion. "Well, guess I got my answer then. Alright Jack, since you're so set on sticking around here, let me just say," the boy turned away from the table, beginning to walk away. "Enjoy your social suicide! And also, watch your back." He mentioned that last part with noticeably more hardness in his tone.

Tuffnut still seemed to be rather enraptured in staring at Jack's hair, as if it held some deep mystery for him to unravel, but gave up when he noticed Snotlout leaving. He sighed and turned to follow him. Ruffnut muttered a "Later," to Astrid as she joined them.

"Jeez, what was that all about?" Jack asked, perplexed.

"That was Hiccup's cousin," Astrid answered, still glaring a bit. "He seems to make it a point to come around every couple days or so just to mess with Hiccup. Although I guess today you wound up in his crosshairs."

Jack raised an eyebrow at Hiccup. "Cousin?"

The brunet nodded, breathing out in exasperation. "Snorri "Snotlout" Jorgenson. His dad is my dad's brother, but they had a fight or something a long time ago, and now they kind of feud. I guess that feud carried over to his son."

"Yeah! Snotlout's dad even changed his last name!" Fishlegs added, apparently always finding that bit of information interesting.

"Oh, so you guys don't have the same last name?" Jack asked the green-eyed boy, who shook his head.

"Nah, mine's Haddock."

Jack stuck his lip off to the side, trying to remember where he had heard that name before, but shrugged it off. "So then who're the twins?"

"Ruffnut and Tuffnut." Astrid told him. "And those are their actual names, by the way, not nicknames. Their parents are something else."

Jack laughed at that. "Which is which?"

"Tuff's the boy, Ruff's the girl."

"So are you and Ruffnut friends then?" Jack asked. "She didn't really seem to be a part of that whole thing."

Astrid shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. She's alright to talk to, and seems to like me just fine. But I don't know that I'd really call her a friend. Not so long as she hangs out with Snotlout, at least."

"I think she only does it because Tuffnut does." Fishlegs shrugged.

"That's kind of a dumb reason, if so."

"I don't know about that," Jack interjected, looking thoughtful. "Family ties can be pretty strong. Especially between siblings, you know?" Astrid sent him an intrigued look, and he immediately decided to change the subject. "Anyway, so, uh, 'social suicide'?" he asked.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Fishlegs waved a hand dismissively, chuckling. "I mean hey, Astrid and I hang out with Hiccup all the time and we still have… decent, social lives. So it's not total social suicide!"

Hiccup's lips flat lined as he gave Fishlegs an unamused look. "Thank you, Fishlegs, for that charming observation."

Jack was giggling. "So you're the unpopular guy, huh? I guess I could have figured…" His expression gave away the teasing nature of his words, and Hiccup smirked half-heartedly.

Astrid's eyes seemed to soften further, at this point, and she gave Hiccup a soft punch to the shoulder. "Hey so, we're still on for Saturday, right?"

Hiccup nodded. "Yep. I mean, I kind of have to be there, so that's mostly dependent on you showing up."

"Don't worry, I'll be there," she assured.

At Jack's confused expression, Hiccup stammered a couple times and waved his hands before extrapolating. "Don't get any ideas; we're not going on a date or anything."

The teen across from him smirked. "How do you know that's what I was thinking?"

"I could see it on your face," Hiccup answered soundly. "Anyway, I'm on the film crew for the football game this Saturday. Our film production class does a biweekly news report on the school's monitors, and covering sports events is one of the things we do. Astrid's just going to be keeping me company in the stands while I film, since I kind of hate those things."

"Oooooh," Jack replied with dawning understanding. "That's really cool! My old schools never did anything like that. Think I'll get to do that kind of stuff?"

Hiccup shrugged. "Well, if you're interested, you could always just tell our teacher. He's always looking for volunteers for events."

"Oh, wait," Fishlegs leaned in, connecting the dots. "Is he in your film class, Hiccup?"

"Yeah, I saw it on his schedule this morning when I was showing him around."

"Hey, that's cool." Fishlegs smiled warmly. "Now you have someone to share an extracurricular with! Wish I had someone like that…"

Hiccup chuckled. "Hey, buck up, me and Astrid said we'd take Home Ec with you after the break, didn't we?"

Fishlegs nodded at that. "Yep, and I can't wait!"

"Jack, do you know about the elective shift?" Astrid asked the boy.

"Uuuuuuuhhh…"

"I'll take that as a no," she smirked, entertained by the reaction. "Basically, after the winter break, students can shift one of their electives to another class, if it's available."

"Yep," Hiccup affirmed. "The school doesn't like to divert much after-school attention to non-sports-related extracurriculars, so the elective shift is kind of the faculty's lazy method of making sure students get to take multiple different elective courses without wasting school money on said after-school programs."

"Huh. Well, it's still pretty neat," Jack mused. "Different than what I'm used to. But cool. So, you guys are all gonna switch to Home Ec?"

Astrid nodded. "Fifth period is universally an elective period for all students, so that's the one that gets shifted, if you choose to do it."

"Wish I'd known that earlier," Jack mumbled, considering the notion of switching out of film production later. "When is the break?"

"About a week before Christmas."

Jack snapped his fingers. If he decided to switch out, that meant he didn't have very long to enjoy film production beforehand. "Ah well, I'll think about all that when the time comes," he said, mostly to himself.

Fishlegs chose to pick the conversation back up at that point, returning to his previously interrupted topic. All the while, Hiccup surreptitiously watched Jack with curiosity. He hadn't even had his first experience with film production class yet. Was he already entertaining the idea of following them on the elective shift, just to be with them? The notion left Hiccup feeling mildly mystified, and when Jack happened to glance over at him and met his stare, Hiccup looked away quickly, feeling that odd notion returning to him again.

Something must have really been wrong with him today.

.

---

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"So how was film with Jack?"

Hiccup and Astrid made their way down the front steps of the school building, mixing themselves in with the throng of departing students at the completion of yet another school day.

"It was alright, not really that different than usual. He introduced himself to the class, Mr. Mulch filled him in on upcoming events, let him know he could participate if he wanted. He seemed pretty enthusiastic about it. But after that it was pretty much business as usual, other than me helping him out with some of the equipment he was unfamiliar with."

"Uh-huh," Astrid replied, far too slowly for Hiccup's liking. Her tone seemed to imply that she wasn't saying something.

" 'Uh-huh'? Something you'd care to share, Astrid?"

"Not really. Anyway, I'm glad we can talk finally. I've been wondering how you're doing," she changed the subject quickly. "And also, about why I wasn't around this morning-"

"Hey, Hiccup!"

The two both turned to face the calling voice, seeing Jack making his way down the steps and jogging up to them. "Hey Astrid," he greeted, receiving a quick smile in return. "Uhm, so, hope I'm not interrupting or anything, but, I was actually wondering, Hiccup. Do you think you could maybe show me around town, too? You know, show me the places of interest and whatnot? I think it'd probably be better than just wandering around blindly," he explained, almost timidly, which seemed rather off for him based on the personality he'd displayed all day today. It reminded Hiccup of how he had reacted to the lunch invitation earlier that morning.

"Ah…" Hiccup glanced at Astrid questioningly.

Hiccup was positive that she quickly glanced between the two of them, but the motion had been so rapid that he doubted it'd do any good to try and call her on it. She then gave him a soft smile. "Actually Hiccup, I do need to be getting home, anyway. Kinda forgot, I've got some stuff I need to do, plus there's that thing with Stormfly I need to handle. I'll talk to you later, alright?"

And without waiting for his affirmation, she turned and jogged off, waving over her shoulder at the two. Hiccup found her behavior incredibly suspicious as he stared after her, biting down on his lip softly and squinting, trying to guess at what Astrid's game was.

He felt a buzz in his pocket, and immediately pulled his phone out, seeing he had a text waiting for him.

'I'll just call you later. Have fun. :)'

More suspicious by the minute. He grumbled lowly to himself and tucked the phone away, turning to see Jack giving him a curious look. Sighing, he allowed himself a small smile. "Alright, well, guess I'm showing you around then, Jack."

This caused the white-haired boy to grin widely, his frosty blues seeming to light up. "Awesome!"

Hiccup released a couple small laughs, charmed at the boy's enthusiasm. "So, what kind of place would you like to see first?" he asked with amused curiosity.

Jack seemed to ponder that question for a long moment, curling a finger under his chin dramatically and smirking again in that roguish fashion that always made Hiccup suspect he had something up his sleeve. "I'm kind of hungry. Where can I get something to eat?"

Hiccup returned with a bemused look. "Didn't we just have lunch a couple hours ago?"

"Yeah, but Hiccup, come on. That food was awful."

Hiccup conceded that point. "Yeeeeah, I guess it is pretty awful. Well, alright then." Hiccup then turned, feeling a bit theatrical as he waved his arm at the streets that lay before them. "Follow me, my ward, and I shall leadeth thee to the finest dining thine eyes hath ever beheld!"

Jack chortled behind him as Hiccup led him toward Gobber's.

.

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And that was that. I feel like this one was more boring? But ah well, story's gotta move. Anyway, as usual, reviews are appreciated.