New RBC Opening Night - 18:45pm

Astrid sat in front of the bathroom mirror as she applied some light eye shadow and lipstick to her face. She had a simple blue sleeveless shirt and jeans on with her favourite bracelets hanging off her forearms. She wasn't working in the kitchen herself yet and decided to make herself look a little more presentable than usual.

"Astrid, are you absolutely sure you want me there tonight?" Hiccup called from outside the bathroom. Astrid scoffed, saying "hey, you're the one who told me not to pull out. You're not letting me have all the shit..."

"Hm... well, whatever you say, milady..." Hiccup sighed sarcastically as he opened the door with Toothless in his arms, allowing Astrid to see the green long-sleeved shirt he was wearing under a red opened short-sleeved-shirt. When he saw what she was wearing, he went wide-eyed briefly, before saying "man, you look awesome..."

"Aw, thanks babe..."

"Ugh... I don't look tacky, do I?"

"Hiccup, come on... you look absolutely dashing..." Astrid said, a humorous yet still genuinely encouraging tone in her voice as she kissed him on the lips with a smile before she added "your Mom's definitely coming here, right?"

"Yeah, she texted. Should be here in about five minutes..."

"Great..." Astrid nodded as she stroked Toothless' chin, before looking back at Hiccup and saying "come on... let's get over there..."

In the last season finale, Chef Hofferson was tasked with saving Ruffnut's Baking Company, owned by twin siblings Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston.

19:05pm

"Hey, Chef!" was the first thing the couple heard as they got out of the car and walked across the parking lot to where Tuffnut was standing in the doorway. Neither Hiccup or Astrid were accommodating for him in any way, both of them giving blunt nods to Tuffnut as Hiccup held the door open for Astrid and then followed her in.

But after observing the unstable behaviour and organisation of the twins and the inhumane treatment of their staff, Chef Hofferson walked away for the first time in Kitchen Flightmares history.

"There they are! Just the guys I wanted to see!" Ruffnut shrieked excitedly as she saw Hiccup and Astrid enter. She ran over expecting a hug, only to freeze in her tracks as Astrid put out her hand for a shake, bluntly saying "hello, Ruff..."

"Oh... okay..." Ruffnut slowly took the hand and shook it awkwardly, turning to Hiccup with a smile only for him to remain stone-faced in return. "So... I'll show you guys to your table, huh?"

"Thanks." Astrid scoffed.

"Great. Shall we...?"

ASTRID: So yeah... I'm back. And it's either because I'm not a quitter, or I'm just too stupid to know when to leave well enough alone. But, you know, whatever the reason, I'm... ugh... I'm giving these guys another shot...

As Ruffnut went back into the kitchen, Astrid and Hiccup sat on opposite ends on Table 12. As Hiccup sighed in relief and got out his phone, Astrid looked at the thick, leather-backed booths that surrounded each table instead of chairs. She scowled in disgust, before looking around at the rest of the restaurant's interior.

It was smaller and simpler than the original RBC, with Tables 1-13 being lined side-by-side against the wall left to the door and 14-20 being scattered across the rest of the restaurant in front of the corner. The circular lights installed across the ceiling were dim, which only made the dull, matt black floor and walls more noticeable. The wall behind Hiccup was the only exception, being white and covered in antique paintings from the 70s by artists no one likely would have heard of.

"Ugh... just when I thought this place couldn't look any more like a fucking strip joint..." she scoffed under her breath, before noticing Hiccup smiling as he typed something on his phone. When he pressed Send, he put the phone away and said "that was Mom. She's there now."

"Oh. Good." Astrid said, feeling slightly calmer. "So... you sure she's okay watching Toothless?"

"Yeah, sure. She loves animals." Hiccup chuckled to himself. "Remember her owl?"

"Oh! Oh-ho, yeah!" Astrid was laughing as she recalled the first time she had seen Valka's pet. "What was his name again? Uh... Stormcutter?"

"Cloudjumper..."

"Right... right... so... you still think this is a good idea?"

"Well if it's not... just remember that I'm here for you, Astrid..." Hiccup affectionately took her hand as they exchanged a warm smile.

TUFFNUT: Well, I think it's great that Chef Hofferson is giving us another chance. When she sees the huge improvements we've made since last time, I'm pretty certain she's gonna give us her seal of approval.

"Um... Chef Hofferson..." a voice timidly said, prompting both Hiccup and Astrid to look up at the chef. "Oh, uh... Eli, right?"

"It's Eret, actually..." he said nervously, but the couple remained friendly as they each shook his hand. "I just came to tell you both that I'm planning to do my absolute best tonight... I mean, well, I know you both have a bad experience with the owners... but I'm hoping that I don't contribute to that in any way."

"Well, your best is all you can do..." Astrid said warmly, prompting Eret to grin a bit as he said "right... so, the waitress will bring the menus over in a minute, and I'll be in the kitchen if you need me..."

"Great." Hiccup said as Eret left, looking to Astrid and saying "well, he seems pretty nice..."

"I guess... but I'm assuming he's desperate for employment if he works for these guys..." Astrid snarked.

ERET: I think it's a tremendous honour to get to work with or for the Astrid Hofferson. I've never actually watched this Flightmares show before, but apparently she walked out of this owners' previous business, so at the very least, if there's a problem with this place, it's probably a lot less likely to be me...

"Ah, the much abuséd servants have come crawling back..." Hiccup snarked as Heather and Cami came over. Heather didn't say anything, audibly huffing and puffing in frustration as she walked down to Table 1 and began putting two menus on each table. Cami chuckled nervously, saying "hey, guys... you came back too, I see..."

"Uh-huh. Already having second thoughts..." Astrid snarked, but she held Hiccup's hand tight and said in a softer tone "but I'm not letting anyone down..."

Hiccup smiled at her, before looking at Cami and saying "so how are you guys feeling about this?"

"Well..." Cami shot a brief glance at Heather, before saying "she's still pretty mad, but overa..."

"Mad? Who's mad? Are you guys mad? Cause I know I'm not mad. Ha ha! Why in the world would I wanna be mad right now?" Heather snarked aggressively as she finished putting the menus on the empty Table 13 and stormed back over to the kitchen.

HEATHER: About a week ago, I had to be told that my six months of fundraising and hard work had to be flushed down the toilet because, in an impossibly bizarre quote-unquote "coincidence", my old employers decided to buy the restaurant I was trying to buy. And they also personally want me working for them again...

"Hi Heather..." Tuffnut said as she passed him, but Heather simply scoffed with a scowl on her face as she shoved past him and went into the kitchen.

HEATHER: So yeah... I am pretty mad...

19:28pm

"Alright, everybody. I'd just like your attention, please!" Ruffnut was speaking through a tinny-sounding megaphone as she stood in the centre of the Dining Area. There were some audible groans as everyone turned to look at her, particularly from Cami, Heather and Eret.

"I know it's been a bumpy ride to where we are now... and we've had our fair share of... well, let's just call them ups and downs..."

"HAA!" Cami suddenly snorted out an incredibly loud laugh, before she froze with her hand over her mouth as Ruffnut shot an embarrassed yet furious glare at her. Ruffnut took a deep breath, before going back to the megaphone and saying "but... here we are now... and no one is more surprised... or more proud, than I am... so in one minute, when those doors open and the customers come in, I want you all to stand proud, and strong, and we'll work together to resurrect the dream of the new, and improved, Ruffnut's Baking Company!"

As Ruffnut walked back behind the counter and everyone went back to their positions, Hiccup scoffed as he looked at Astrid and said "so... you think she wrote that down, or was it just off the top of her head?"

Coming up... Chef Hofferson observes the opening night service of the New RBC...