Hiccup Vs. The Phone Number
A deep voice, filled with concern pulled Hiccup from the darkness as he struggled to open his eyes, blinking a lot before his room came into focus.
"Hiccup? Are you okay?"
Hiccup suddenly became aware that he was lying on the floor, his dad towering over him with an incredibly worried expression on his face.
"What...?" Hiccup didn't even know how he was going to end that sentence, he was just confused. He sat up slowly to lean on his elbows, looking around himself with a puzzled expression. Something odd happened last night, but he didn't know what it was.
"Hiccup? Hiccup! Focus. Are you hurt?" Stoick asked while kneeling in front of him, a hand on his son's shoulder.
"No? Uh, no. I don't think so."
"What's wrong, then? Are you sick?"
"What? No. I... I must have fallen asleep at my desk and then... fell out of my chair at some point during the night?" Hiccup sat up all the way and arched his back in a stretch. "I honestly don't really remember, but that sounds like something I would do."
"Yes... I guess it does." Stoick said with a slight chuckle, getting to his feet and pulling Hiccup along with him. "Didn't look very comfortable."
"It wasn't. Definitely wasn't." Hiccup replied while rolling his neck from side to side in a continuation of his stretches.
"Well, if you would stop staying up half the night drawing pictures you could sleep in your real bed."
"You make it sound so lame. I draw and I design. It's what I like to do. Am I not allowed hobbies?"
"There is a time and a place for such things. Just like there is for sleeping." Stoick stated on his way out of his son's room, "Are you going to work today? I'm leaving in 15 minutes!"
Hiccup scowled after the retreating form of his father, feeling as if his dad was dismissing the creative gifts that were so important to him. Stoick had supported Hiccup going to college, although he would have preferred it if he had majored in business or marketing instead of architecture and art. He had readily accepted him back home and provided him with a job when Hiccup's world came crumbling down that eventful day, two years ago, when Eret accused him of cheating on his midterm test and then provided false proof that he had been doing it all semester.
His professors didn't think Hiccup the type to commit such an act, but the evidence was damning. To this day there were two things that constantly nagged at his mind. What could Eret possibly hope to gain from such an elaborate scheme? And did his own father even believe him when he told him he was innocent? Stoick didn't seem to care either way, he just took it as an opportunity to try to get Hiccup to take up the family business.
Hiccup tried to shake all these thoughts from his mind as he quickly got ready for the day, dressing in his uniform black pants and white, short sleeve, button-up shirt. He quickly brushed his teeth and combed his fingers through his unruly, auburn hair. Then, on his way out of his room, decided on taking some ibuprofen for the pounding headache he just realized he had.
"Do you want to drive, or should I?" Stoick asked his son, as they walked toward a nice vehicle, blemished by the words "Nerd Herd" and a logo along each side.
"You go ahead, just stay off the 5. The cops are in a phased deployment." Hiccup said nonchalantly, as if what he said was common knowledge.
"How do you know that?" Stoick questioned with one eyebrow raised. Hiccup came to an abrupt stop, halfway to the other side of the car, a puzzled look on his face as a flurry of images came to mind.
"How did I know that?" Hiccup said with wonderment in his voice. After another pause he shook his head and glanced over at his father who now had a concerned expression on his face, "I probably heard it on the radio or on the news somewhere. Nothing to worry about."
Stoick examined Hiccup with an intense stare for a moment longer before nodding dismissively and getting into the driver's side of the car. Hiccup, not far behind, got in on the passenger's side, mind whirring with memories of the night before. He had received a cryptic message from Eret... his computer had gone black... then, what?
"...distracted today." Hiccup suddenly became aware that his father was speaking to him, "Are you sure you're all right?"
"Fine! Uh... I'm fine."
"Mmhmm..." Stoick eyed Hiccup, then turned the volume up on the radio, "They're still making a big deal about that foreign leader- Chief Mogadon, was it? He's visiting town for some summit meeting. If you ask me, he should be taking advice from us, not the other way around."
"...is expected to arrive this afternoon." A woman's voice said in a reporter's tone from the radio.
Hiccup suddenly flinched as the throbbing in his head intensified, unfamiliar images racing through his brain. Air traffic charts. Landing logs. Flight 121. The face of a CIA agent- Codename: Throk.
"That's not true, he already arrived. On a plane last night. They didn't want him ambushed by the media where he would be an easy target to potential threats." Hiccup started speaking robotically, "He was escorted by a CIA agent to a secure location."
"...how?" Stoick began, a look of pure confusion on his face as he pulled into his manager's parking spot, seemingly on autopilot, as all of his attention was on his son. Hiccup sat still next to him, his eyes growing wide as he realized what he had just said, what he had seen, what he somehow just knew.
The car was silent as Stoick put the vehicle in park and shut it off. He turned in his seat to look at Hiccup with an analyzing gaze.
"Hiccup... I don't know..." Stoick wasn't even sure what to say, "Where did you hear all of that?"
"...radio...?"
"I was listening to the same thing you were. None of that was mentioned."
"I... it... that... what I mean is..." Hiccup stumbled over his words, "That is what I would do. You know? Tell everyone one thing, plan something else... for safety."
"Are you sure you are okay? I can take you back home. Put in a good word with the boss, get you a couple days off." Stoick said with a wink before his face softened and he took on a gentler tone, "I know yesterday was hard for you. And I apologize for trying to force you to be more social. It's just that... I worry about you. You've spent the last two years dwelling on one bad experience. You avoid people. You're unmotivated. You act as if you are just going through the motions of day-to-day life. You used to have such passion."
"Dad..." Hiccup continued to stare straight ahead, through the windshield. His face gave away nothing about what he was feeling. Stoick wore a look of empathy, ready to hear what his troubled son had to say. "Your employees are waving at us from the door. You need to go let them in."
Stoick startled, glancing out the window to see a mixed group of people in uniform green polos or white button-up shirts, impatiently waiting to be let into the store. Looking back at Hiccup he asked, "Do you want to take the car back home?"
"No thanks. I'm already here." Still not much emotion in his voice.
"Promise me you'll let me know if you aren't feeling well."
"Dad." Hiccup's tone started to become frustrated.
"Promise me." Stoick said firmly. Hiccup unbuckled his seat belt in a flurry, opened the car door, and climbed out. Then he stuck his head back into the car to look at his dad, a serious expression on his face.
"I'm fine. The party yesterday was great. Everything's great. Let's go to work." With that said, he slammed the door shut and walked over to join the other employees.
—
"So what was that all about?" Snotlout asked, following Hiccup around the circular space of the Nerd Herd station, in the middle of the store, as he set up the desk for the day.
"What do you mean?" Hiccup asked as he booted up the computers and organized things around the desk to his preference.
"You and uncle Stoick. It looked like you two were arguing."
"We weren't."
Snotlout was about to ask more questions when a group of Nerds walked over to the counter.
"So, what's the agenda today boss-man?" Tuffnut asked, leaning casually against the rounded, Nerd Herd counter. Hiccup walked over to a chair, sat down, and opened up a chart on the computer, scrolling through it.
"An old woman needs help setting up her new computer..." Hiccup wrote the address down on a form, secured it to a clipboard, and handed it to Fishlegs. "I'll have you handle that one, Fish. Old people like you."
"No problem. Thanks Hiccup!" Fishlegs said as he departed with his task.
"What about the rest of us?" Ruffnut asked.
"We don't have anymore call outs scheduled for today. So join the sales crew on the floor and I'll radio you over if I need help at the desk."
"Boring." Tuffnut remarked as he and his twin sister started to walk away.
"Do not cause any trouble!" Hiccup called after them, "Or scare the customers!"
"That's a lost cause dude." Snotlout said lazily, "They're the floor supervisor's problem now anyway."
"That's not how it works." Hiccup turned in his swivel chair to look at Snotlout, who stood behind him, "Don't you have somewhere to be?"
"We don't open for another five minutes." Snotlout walked around the counter to the opposite side of Hiccup, then leaned against it, arms folded and resting on the flat surface. "Now. What's going on with you and your dad? Is he trying to get you to take an assistant manager position again?"
"No, and besides, we already have an assistant manager."
"Who was only hired because you went away to college! It's about time you took your rightful place."
"I can't replace Dagur as assistant manager simply because my dad owns the place. That would be nepotism."
"What does an ice cream flavor have to do with this?" Hiccup rolled his eyes at his cousin, "If we had a second assistant manager then Dagur wouldn't have to be here all the time! Imagine how fun our shifts would be if you were left in charge! That would be awesome."
"Really? Because I would run a pretty tight ship and I'd make you do all the heavy lifting. Literally. You can go back to stocking."
"Or, I can sit on my butt all day at this desk, and say nonsense into the phone, like you do."
"Oh, you think you are worthy enough to answer this phone? I don't even let Ruff or Tuff touch this thing. Impatient customers call this phone to get assistance with computer related problems. It's where we convince them to hire us to come out and help them. The Nerd Herd would sputter and die if you were in charge of answering it."
"Someone takes this job a little too seriously. How sad, that the most important thing in your life is answering a dumb phone." Snotlout mocked.
"As far as you are concerned, this phone is Mjolnir and you are unworthy to lift it."
"What's mule-near?"
"You know, Thor's hammer?" Hiccup stood up, lifted the phone, and held it high, talking in a deep voice, "Whoever be so worthy may lift Thor's mighty hammer!"
"Ahem."
Hiccup jumped, scrambling with the land-line phone until it clattered onto the desk, then looked up at a beautiful, blond woman with bright blue eyes, her hair in a thick braid. She stood at the counter, waiting patiently, amusement in her eyes.
"Oh hey, looks like we're open." Snotlout commented.
"Am I interrupting?" The blond woman asked.
"That was... just some Norse mythology." Hiccup said dumbly.
" 'Cause that makes it better." She joked with a smirk.
"Sorry! Uh, I'm Hiccup, that's Snotlout." Hiccup introduced, flustered.
"Wow. Quite the names you got there."
"My parents tried to use reverse psychology, hoped I wouldn't live up to my name. Snotlout here was named after his parent's first impressions when they saw his face for the first time." Hiccup replied.
"And I am totally living up to my name." Snotlout rolled with it. The girl looked back and forth between them, enjoying the banter.
"Anyway, how can I help you? Um...?" He gestured helplessly, realizing that he didn't know what to call her.
"Astrid." The blue-eyed beauty introduced herself, "And you can help me by taking a look at my phone."
Hiccup took the phone from her, suddenly all business. The screen was frozen on the menu screen. He tried to open up a few apps, but nothing happened.
"When is the last time you updated this?" Hiccup asked, still looking down at the phone.
"Uh... never? Is that a thing?"
"Um, yeah. So every once in a while the company will make an update available to fix bugs and other software issues." Hiccup explained while sitting back down, opening a drawer full of various, carefully organized phone cords, and choosing one. "They can be really annoying, but if you don't update after a while the phone can start getting glitchy. I'll just plug this into my computer and try to load that update for you."
"Will I lose any important data from my phone? I have some photos on there that I don't want to lose."
"No, but you might notice some changes. I swear these stupid companies like to change the format of their software just so that you get confused. Like the play button for your music being at the top of the screen and then suddenly it's at the bottom."
Astrid gave a soft chuckle, "They must like messing with our minds."
Hiccup glanced up at her, reminded of the weird thing going on in his head since he woke up. They met each other's eyes and stared for an intense moment, until the computer made a noise.
Breaking eye contact, Hiccup looked down to see her phone screen go from black to a lit up home screen, no longer frozen. "Looks like it worked." Hiccup unplugged the phone, stood up, and handed it over to Astrid, who started pressing buttons on the screen to test it out.
"Wow, you Nerds are good." She said, giving him a grateful smile.
"Hiccup is like, the Nerd Master. He's the best Nerd I've ever met." Snotlout butted in, having watched the whole exchange.
"High praise." Astrid, again, gave Hiccup a sweet smile. Hiccup blushed, returning her look with a cute half-smile.
"Hiccup! Hiccup!" Their moment was ruined as Tuffnut came racing over, all heads turning in his direction.
"Not now mutton-head!" Snotlout tried to interfere and keep Hiccup and Astrid away from any interruptions, but Tuffnut persisted.
"It's an emergency!" Ruffnut came running up behind her brother, a customer's laptop in hand.
"What? What is it?" Hiccup walked away from Astrid to oversee the situation. The laptop was set in front of him on the counter and the frantic customer started rambling.
"I got this e-mail with a link and I clicked on it and my computer has been going crazy ever since. I can't do anything to stop it!" The customer was freaking out.
"That is one serious virus." Hiccup stated, looking at the laptop screen with a little bit of awe. "Let me try something..."
He pressed a few keys on the keyboard until the screen went black and green HTML code scrolled across it. "Okay, so... I can get rid of the virus, but you will lose everything. I mean everything will be gone. It will go back to its factory settings."
"Yeah, yeah okay. The most important stuff is backed up on an external hard drive. Saving the laptop is worth losing a few files. I can't afford another one as nice as this one." The customer replied, wide eyed and hopeful.
"Tuff, get the necessary forms for the customer." Hiccup commanded then turned back to the man to explain company policy, "I just have to have you fill out some forms saying we aren't liable for your losses..."
As the customer filled out a few forms, Hiccup got to work resetting the laptop. It was a process and took about fifteen minutes, the customer annoyingly pestering him with questions the whole time.
"Okay. That should do it. Your laptop is back to its original settings." Hiccup smiled at the customer reassuringly. "I recommend not opening any emails sent from unknown sources. I have a pamphlet I can give you about identifying scam emails and viruses."
"Oh, thank you so much! This laptop is my life. I'm a student and I rely on this thing for everything. I couldn't afford a new one, I've already accumulated so much student debt as it is." The guy thanked Hiccup profusely, "I really shouldn't have been so stupid. I thought the email looked a little suspicious."
"Do you mind telling me what the email was for and what they were advertising? That way I can warn others to avoid it. That was one nasty virus. It wiped out the whole computer. I almost thought it was unsalvageable." Hiccup inquired, curious.
"Uh... well. It's kind of embarrassing." The young man fidgeted, Hiccup gave him a reassuring look, "It was for this dating website called 'Romantic Flight' and it was offering me six months free and a decent discount. I clicked on the link and it took me to a website, then my computer crashed and went crazy. It was dumb, I can't believe I fell for it, but I'm at school all the time and I never meet people..."
"Hey, don't worry about it." Hiccup comforted, "You got your laptop back with minimal losses. Now you know better."
"Thanks." The customer smiled back, finally calm after the whole ordeal.
"Now, you may be interested in some anti-virus software..." Tuffnut lead the man away to peruse the merchandise.
Hiccup took a deep breath, relaxing back in his chair, "Spend all day on my butt, spouting nonsense into the phone, yeah Snotlout, my job is completely stress-free."
"Speaking of phones you dork." Hiccup spun around in his chair as Snotlout's voice startled him from his thoughts. "She left."
"Oh. Right. Astrid." Hiccup couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, he had taken a liking to the blond woman.
"But, she left this business card here. With her number on it." Snotlout held up a card and Hiccup got up from his seat and walked over to the other end of the Nerd Herd station where Snotlout stood on the other side of the counter. "She probably left it for me, but I'll let you have this one."
Hiccup took the card and looked at it. Astrid Hofferson- Personal Trainer: 555-8963.
"Well, if I know me, I won't ever call her." Hiccup stated, a little defeated.
"Oh come on! You guys were making googly eyes at each other. I was sensing some serious vibes between you two."
"Who was making googly eyes?" Another voice joined the conversation.
"Gobber, don't you ever work?" Hiccup said in response as Gobber hobbled over to the desk.
"No, he spends all of his time here, distracting my employees." Stoick joined the group, a friendly look on his face.
"Why should I stick around my store when I've got my own employees doing all the work for me?" Gobber asked, referring to his little home furnishings store just a short walk away from the Buy More.
"Because people from all over come to your store personally, to buy your handcrafted tables, chairs, and whatever else you build." Hiccup answered.
"I'm down two limbs, they'll understand if I get a little help."
"I think the two-limbed woods crafter is part of the appeal for them." Hiccup responded.
"Then I'll raise the price and tell them I made it myself. Which I do, I just have a few employees doing the sanding and polishing." Gobber justified, "Speaking of employees. You're a talented artist. What would it take to get you to leave this dump and come work for me instead?"
Hiccup gave his father an amused look, "Not much."
"Very funny." Stoick said with a straight face, "But I'm willing to share. How about you get him on Tuesdays and Thursdays?"
"That's fine with me, so long as I get him for the two weeks before Christmas. That's my busiest time of year."
"That's also a busy time of year for the Buy More."
"You've got plenty of people who can run a desk, there is only one Hiccup."
"What is happening?" Hiccup interrupted.
"Who wants to negotiate for Snotlout?" Snotlout raised his hand and looked around at the group eagerly.
"No one." The other three answered at the same time, before bursting into friendly laughter.
"Anyway, I came over to see if you were still planning on joining me at the Great Hall bar tonight, Stoick." Gobber turned to address his friend.
"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot." Stoick replied, "I'll go with you, Hiccup can take the car home."
"That is, unless you feel like joining us?" Gobber inquired.
"Thanks but... I'd rather just go home. I'm not much of a drinker anyway." Hiccup declined, looking a little uncomfortable at the attention.
"This works out great. Hiccup will have the car, he can call that girl, and pick her up for a date." Snotlout announced, Hiccup immediately shooting him a deadly glare.
"What girl?" Stoick asked in surprise.
"So you were the one making googly eyes." Gobber brought back up.
"No! It's nothing. Shut up Snotlout!"
"She gave you her number!"
"She left a business card. For all I know she thinks I need to bulk up and wants to be my personal trainer." Hiccup reasoned, holding out the card for everyone to see.
"Personal trainer, huh?" Gobber wiggled his eyebrows at Hiccup, receiving the deadly glare for his efforts.
"She left you her card, with her number, after flirting with you as you fixed her phone. She's into you." Snotlout confirmed, Stoick and Gobber nodded in agreement.
"I'll think about it. Okay?" Hiccup tried to pacify them.
"Mmmhmm. Thinking is the only thing you'll do." Gobber gave him a look, "Take a chance, it might lead somewhere."
"Gobber's right." Stoick agreed.
"Fine, but not tonight. I'll probably consider doing it tomorrow, maybe."
"Wow. That's convincing." Snotlout sassed.
—
"So, you do have you're own place right? Because I swear more than half the time you are following me or my dad home like a lost puppy. Except puppies are cute." Hiccup teased as he walked toward the front door of his and his father's home.
"Don't be stupid. Of course I do, you've been there." Snotlout replied, trailing behind his taller cousin, "But someone has to instill confidence in you so you'll call that girl."
"This again? You spent all of dinner, along with Ruff, Tuff, and surprisingly, Fishlegs, telling me to call her." Hiccup rolled his eyes in exasperation, opening the front door with his key, "You should have followed one of them home."
"What can I say, I spent a lot of my childhood he-" Snotlout was cut off as Hiccup flipped on a light, revealing a masked figure in all black standing on the other side of the living room, a laptop in hand.
Hiccup and Snotlout stood frozen in the entranceway, surprised expressions on their faces before Hiccup snapped out of it, "Hey! That's my laptop!"
Hiccup ran forward, not giving much thought to his actions, but before he reached the person in black, it tossed the laptop at him. Hiccup caught it on instinct and came to an abrupt stop, surprised by the burglar's actions. In his moment of hesitation the guy dropped down and swept Hiccup's feet out from under him, causing him to land hard on his back and lose his breath.
"I got you Hiccup!" Snotlout grabbed a broom that was leaning against a wall and ran at the burglar who was prying the laptop from a stunned Hiccup. As the broom came down in an arc, the black figure raised the laptop up like a shield in an effort at defense.
"No!" Hiccup cried in dismay at his shattered laptop, as shards of plastic came flying in his direction. The intruder dropped the remaining pieces of the laptop, shoved Snotlout to the ground next to Hiccup, and bolted out the open front door.
Hiccup leapt to his feet in pursuit, but as he ran around the door's entranceway he immediately bumped into a solid figure and ended up back on the ground with an "Oof."
"Hiccup?" Stoick stood over his son, a startled look on his face. A confused Gobber raising an eyebrow, at his side.
"Did you get him?" Snotlout raced outside, eyes wide and looking all around before landing on the scene in front of him.
"Get who?" Stoick asked.
"There was someone in the house. They were trying to steal my laptop." Hiccup answered as he stood up and brushed himself off.
"What?!" Stoick pushed past them into the house and saw the mess on the floor. He pulled out his phone and was about to dial a number when Hiccup came in behind him.
"Dad, what are you doing?"
"Calling the cops."
"Dad, don't. What could they do anyway? The guy wore a mask, we have no description. They didn't manage to steal anything anyway." He looked down at his laptop and let out a resigned sigh.
"We didn't see anyone out there." Gobber added.
Stoick put his phone away with an irritated puff of breath then looked at Hiccup and Snotlout, "Are you two alright?"
"We're fine." Hiccup answered.
"Most exciting thing to ever happen to me." Snotlout stated.
"The only casualty is my laptop." Hiccup bent over and picked up the damaged computer, "I doubt I can salvage anything from it. Why would someone want my laptop anyway?"
"It was a nice laptop, probably worth something." Stoick said.
"Of all the stuff in the house though, this was the only thing they were after." Hiccup said thoughtfully.
"You caught them in the act, maybe they didn't get the chance to take anything else." Gobber suggested.
"Let's just get this cleaned up. We can look at some new laptops for you tomorrow." Stoick took charge.
"Okay..." Hiccup didn't look convinced. He wondered if this incident had anything to do with the message from Eret. His life had certainly taken a turn for the weird in the past 24 hours.
—
(A/N: Thanks for reading! I appreciate all the follows/faves and the reviews.
Guest: HTTYD and "Chuck" have a lot of parallels, don't they? It's like this story was asking to be written.)