Here's the next chapter. :D
If anyone is curious, how they look in the present timeline is how they look in Race to the Edge. The yard in high school so they're 17-18-ish.
ENJOY! XD
Hiccup smiled as he handed a cone to the little girl. "Enjoy." The girl smiled up at him and hopped in excitement as she began to eat the frozen treat.
He liked working in Gobber's Ice Cream Forge. It had a pleasant atmosphere, nice people, a rewarding feeling, and not to mention some of the best ice cream ever. There were the regulars that came in everyday and talked with him when he was free. There were newbies who had just discovered the shop and fell in love with it quite quickly. Here, Hiccup observed the positive side of people.
Hiccup went to the back to retrieve the recent costumer's order. When he came back, he almost had a heart attack. Through the door, entered Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Fishlegs, Snotlout, and Astrid.
"Here's your ice cream ma'am," Hiccup smiled politely. "Enjoy."
Hiccup's attention was once again grabbed by the group of teens as they sat in a corner booth. He was terrified that Astrid would see him, and she did. He watched her get up and walk towards the counter, making eye contact with him.
The second their eyes met, their faces drained of color. She can't be here. I can't be here. Shit if he finds out then… Hiccup turned and went into the back. He walked up to the girl in the back. "Hey Carol. Can you watch the front for a second? I need to deal with something in storage."
"Sure," she smiled. She dried her hands and walked to the front, taking Astrid's order immediately. Next to him, the machine came to life with the order for the entire group. He sighed and began to make the orders, all the while remembering the first time he and Astrid hung out at the shop.
"My name is Hiccup," he said, answering the girl's question.
The blond girl cocked an eyebrow and looked at him in doubt. "Hiccup? As in the involuntary reflex?"
Hiccup blinked twice in shock. "Uh. Yeah."
"You seemed shocked that I knew that?" the girl observed. She crossed her arms over her chest as she asked, "Did you think I was stupid?"
"No! No!" Hiccup quickly said as they moved forward in the line. "It's just that most people refer to it as mistake or runt."
"Really?" the girl asked confused. "They went with the harder definitions of a hiccup instead of the obvious one? Their minds must be in overdrive or something."
Hiccup laughed. "You're pretty funny yourself." He sighed sadly. "No, they just know me well."
"I don't understand."
"You will probably find out soon." They moved up again in the line as the two stood in awkward silence. "So," Hiccup suddenly blurted out making the girl jump. "you have my name but I don't have yours."
"Oh," the girl said and smiled apologetically. "My name is Astrid."
Hiccup immediately liked the name. "Astrid?"
"Yeah. Is something wrong with it?"
"No. It's very pretty," Hiccup said. He looked at Astrid who was smiling at him.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome," Hiccup smiled back. "Did you know that an astrid is a flower? Or that in Norse it means Divine Beauty? Or that…" he looked at Astrid who stared at him neutrally. "Sorry. My nerdy side is showing."
"I like it when you ramble," she said. Hiccup smiled in appreciation at her. "So…um…if it isn't a touchy subject…how did you get the name Hiccup?"
"Oh. Um. It's not touchy or anything. Apparently, my mother couldn't think of a name for me and neither could my father. They said they called me Hiccup because from the moment I was born I wouldn't stop hiccupping. Mom just decided to call me Hiccup for that reason. She says that the moment they named me, I stopped hiccupping."
Astrid laughed heartily. "That's a funny story."
"I know you don't believe it but-"
"No," Astrid interrupted. "It's too farfetched to be made up. I believe that's what happened."
Hiccup smiled that she believed it. No one else has. They just think I'm trying to come up with a different reason for my name besides runt. "What's your name's story?"
"My mom's favorite flowers are astrids. So she named me Astrid."
"So you already knew the flower fact," Hiccup said sheepishly. "Well, I probably look like a fool."
"No. Most people don't know that astrids are flowers. Well more of asters but that sounded like a guy name so my mother with something more girlish. I'm glad someone else besides my family knows that fact."
"Next," Gobber hollered. Hiccup and Astrid walked up to the counter. "Oh! Hey Hiccup. Didn't expect to see you today." He looked at Astrid. "Who's your friend?"
"Gobber. This is Astrid," Hiccup introduced. "Astrid. Gobber."
"Hello sir," Astrid said.
"There's no sir around her lass. Just call me Gobber," he corrected. "I haven't seen you here before."
"She's new," Hiccup said. "I'm just showing her around."
"Well! Welcome to Berk!"
"Thanks," Astrid smiled.
"So what will it be you two?"
"You go ahead," Hiccup said. "I'm still deciding."
Astrid looked at all of the flavors. There were so many and a few she never thought couldn't exist. Pistachio? Really? "I'll go with Rocky Road."
"Alright. How about you Hiccup?"
"I'll go with Mint Chocolate Chip."
"Mint and Rocky Road," Gobber said as he moved to the back. A few seconds later he came back with two cones and handed them to Hiccup and Astrid.
Astrid moved her hand to her pocket to retrieve money to pay him. "How much?"
"Nu uh," Gobber shook his head. "First time here and new to town, it's on the house." He saw Hiccup reaching into his pocket and quickly said, "You too. Your father gave me too much last time. It's also on the house."
Hiccup paused and looked at Gobber in uncertainty. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. Now go and eat the ice cream before it melts."
"Thank you," Astrid smiled.
Hiccup led her to one of the tables by the window and they sat down.
"So, it seems like you know Gobber pretty well," Astrid said.
"He's a friend of the family," Hiccup shrugged.
"Do you come here a lot?"
"No. Maybe once a month. Sometime two. Mom likes the ice cream."
"He said your father gave him too much. What does that mean?"
"Dad doesn't like it when Gobber comps us so when he's over, he slips money into his wallet. Dad thinks he's being sly but Gobber always knows it's him and continues to comp us for the money. It's an endless cycle."
"Sound like you guys are close."
"Yeah," Hiccup smiled remembering the nights when Gobber comes over for dinner and other stuff. "So what brings you to Berk?"
"I don't know," Astrid shrugged. "My dad said something about a new job or what not. He never tells us any details he just 'hey pack your things we're moving.'"
"And I thought my dad was hard to read sometimes," Hiccup said. "Are you happy with the move though? I mean besides having to leave everything behind."
"I was very angry at first but then got excited. I like new things sometimes. It's good to have change every once in a while or you get bored out of your mind."
"So, no worries about coming to Berk?"
"I had one but after meeting you, I don't think that will be a problem."
Hiccup did a double take. "I solved a problem and didn't cause one? I think hell just froze over."
Astrid laughed again. "Why do you think you cause problems?"
"I'm kind of a klutz. I seem to trip over nothing. Every time I try to help with something, it ends up breaking or something. I have quite a reputation."
"I haven't seen you trip once since I met you," Astrid pointed out.
Hiccup's eyes went wide with surprise. "You're right. Wow, this is a record. You must be my lucky charm or something."
"I'm anything but lucky," Astrid smiled. "But maybe this place will be good for me. So far, I've had a pretty good new start."
Hiccup raised his cone. The ice cream had been eaten down past the top of the cone on both of theirs during their chatting. "Here's to a new start."
Astrid smiled and raised her cone. "To a new start."
The two hit each other's cones as if they were toasting with glasses. They looked at each other then laughed at their silly movement.
"Well," a voice said behind Hiccup. Hiccup stopped laughing, his eyes went wide, and his face fell into fear. "If it isn't the mistake having fun."
"And with a girl," another said.
Astrid looked around Hiccup and watched as two older boys walk up to them. They didn't look like they were more than a year older than them but they were already big in height.
"Who's your friend?" the red head asked. Hiccup didn't answer right away and he got mad. "Answer me!" he said forcefully as he turned Hiccup towards him.
"You didn't give me a chance to answer Dagur," Hiccup said.
"He gave you plenty of time," the heavy set boy with black hair stated.
"You gave him a second," Astrid said.
"You be quiet," the dark haired boy said. "Dagur is talking with the mistake."
"I'll ask you again," Dagur seethed. "Who's your friend?"
"Her name is Astrid," Hiccup said.
"Ooh. Astrid," Dagur hummed as he let Hiccup's shirt go. "A nice name." He turned to Astrid as he got close to her and got in her face. "Now what are you doing with him?"
"I don't have to explain myself to you," Astrid said confidently.
"Ooh! You're feisty," Dagur said. He turned to the dark haired boy and smiled mischievously. "But we can fix that now can't we Bobby?"
"Sure can," Bobby said as he cracked his knuckles.
"So," Dagur said turning back to Astrid. "Answer my question. I don't want to harm your pretty face."
"Don't you even think about touching her," Hiccup said as he got up and pulled Dagur away from Astrid. Dagur looked at Hiccup with an unbelievable expression which quickly turned into a scowl. Oh, why do I keep getting myself into these situations?
"Did you just touch me?" Dagur asked as he took a step towards Hiccup.
Hiccup took a step back in fear but ran into an obstacle. He turned to see that he had run into Bobby who quickly kept him in place by grabbing onto his arms. Dagur continued to step forward in a menacing way.
"Did you just touch me?" Dagur asked again, towering over Hiccup's small form.
"Yes," Hiccup said quietly.
"Do you know what happens when mistakes touch me?"
Astrid watched as the scene progressed. She had never seen something like this. She didn't know what to do. She really didn't want to get into a fight the first day she was in Berk but she knew that wouldn't happen when Dagur raised his hand into a fist and Hiccup flinched in expectation.
Dagur raised his hand to strike Hiccup. "I make them regret the day they were born!"
Hiccup closed his eyes and prepared for the blow which would follow but it never came. Dagur went to swing but couldn't move his arm. He looked back to see a small hand gripping tightly around his wrist.
"You hit him and I'll make you regret the day you were born," Astrid said sternly.
Behind Bobby, Hiccup heard someone get out of their seat and run around the wall to the counter.
Dagur looked at Astrid in surprise then smiled wickedly. "You have no idea who you're dealing with girl. I can bring you great pain. Just ask the mistake."
"You don't know who you're dealing with and his name is Hiccup."
Dagur pulled his arm out of her grasp and turned to her. He raised himself to his full height, which was a half a foot taller than Astrid but she wasn't intimidated.
"I'd like to see you try and stop me from hurting you or the mistake," Dagur sneered. He raised a fist and swung at Astrid.
"No!" Hiccup yelled as he struggled against Bobby's grip.
Astrid dodged the swing and grabbed Dagur's wrist and Judo flipped him on his back. She then placed a foot on his chest and bent down slightly towards Dagur's body.
"As I said, you don't know who you're dealing with." Astrid looked up at Bobby and threatened, "If you don't let him go, you'll end up like your friend."
Bobby quickly let Hiccup go. Well, more like pushed him towards Astrid making him stumble. Astrid moved her foot off of Dagur to catch Hiccup before he hit the table. Meantime, Dagur slowly and painfully got up off the floor.
"I suggest you get out of here before I break one of your bones," Astrid sneered at them. Dagur and Bobby turned on their heels and ran out of the ice cream shop.
"Wow,' Hiccup said. "I've never seen them exit anywhere so fast."
"Are you ok?" Astrid asked.
"Yeah," Hiccup said embarrassed. He released himself from Astrid's grip as to straighten his shirt. "Thanks to you. You saved me from a black eye."
"You mean he's hit you before?"
"Yeah. I'm sort of used to it by now."
"And he hasn't gotten in trouble?"
"Once by the school principle so now he keeps it outside of school."
"Your parents don't do anything about it?"
"They tell his parents but they are pretty much nonexistent. They don't care."
"What's going on?" Gobber asked as he rounded the corner.
"They were about to get into a fight," a dark haired boy said.
"Astrid and Hiccup?" Gobber asked confused.
"No," the boy said. "There were two other boys."
"Who?"
"Dagur and Bobby I think their names were," Astrid said.
"Where are they?" Gobber asked, his face scowling in anger.
"Astrid scared them off," Hiccup explained.
"So there wasn't a fight?"
"Thanks to Astrid, not like before," Hiccup said.
"Well," Gobber sighed. "Thank you Astrid." He turned to the dark haired boy and said gratefully, "Thank you Gustav for coming to get me."
"No problem," Gustav smiled and went back to his seat.
"I'm so sorry about those two," Gobber said. "Are you two ok?"
"I'm fine," Astrid said.
"Yeah," Hiccup nodded.
Gobber nodded satisfied. He then shook his head in annoyance, "What a way to welcome you to Berk." Gobber turned and walked back to his customers.
Hiccup turned to Astrid and smiled weakly. He avoided eye contact as he spoke. "So yeah. Um…I'm sure you'll want to be as far away from me as possible after that."
Astrid laughed. "And here I thought you wouldn't want to be around me."
Hiccup looked at her puzzled. "Why?"
"Because I flipped a boy bigger than me," she said nervously. "I figured you'd see me as terrifying and run like every other person who's seen me do something like that."
"In honesty," Hiccup said. "It would be opposite. I'd never leave you side."
They looked at each other for a moment then broke out laughing again. The mood was no longer thick enough that you could cut it with a knife and was now back to a free and comfortable atmosphere.
"We should probably go," Hiccup said. "I have to get back for dinner."
Astrid looked at the clock on the wall and her heart jumped at the time. "It's 4:30? I need to get back too. I promised mom I'd be back by 5."
Astrid and Hiccup left the shop and headed down Main Street toward Chieftain Street. Before they got very far, a question nagged at the back of Astrid's mind that refused to stay down.
"Why did Dagur call you a mistake?" Astrid asked. She watched as his face fall and squirmed uncomfortably. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry. I wouldn't tell a stranger something like that either."
"No, it's fine," Hiccup said. "I just don't like it when he calls me that."
"You don't have to tell me."
"It's funny," Hiccup said. "I'm very comfortable telling you even though I've only known you for a short while. Is that weird?"
"Yes and no."
"Dagur calls me that because his family believes that only the strong will survive. They believe that those who are small and weak shouldn't exist. Dagur sees me as a mistake to humanity."
"That's horrible," Astrid said. "His family's messed up."
Hiccup rolled his eyes and nodded, "Tell me about it."
As they entered their street and walked towards their houses, Astrid's mom came out to retrieve something out of the car.
"Well…um…here we are," Hiccup said. "Berk's a pretty small place. It'll get even smaller the longer you're here."
"Thanks for the tour Hiccup," Astrid said. "See you around." She walked across the street waving to Hiccup and he waved back.
"See you!" he called and entered his leafy covered walkway.
Hiccup slide the tray to Carol who in turn handed it to Astrid. The two of them made eye contact for a split second, Astrid smiling gently at him.
He walked back into the back area, waiting for her to rejoin her group. He sighed, relieved that the close encounter was avoided. He looked around the corner, intending to commence work in the front when he saw her walking back up to the counter.
He slinked back into hiding, wondering why she was coming back. Did I mess up an order? He went through himself making the ice cream, trying to remember if he forgot something. I can't remember but knowing my luck, I did.
"Hiccup," Carol interrupted.
Hiccup jumped, knocking over a stack of napkins. "Aggh! Carol!" he held his heart. "What?" he asked calmly.
"A customer wanted me to give you this tip," she held out a five dollar bill.
"Um..ok," Hiccup smiled uncertainly. "Thanks. I'll split it with you."
Carol smiled brightly. "You are too kind Hiccup."
Hiccup smiled and motioned with his head back to the front. "You can take over for a while if you want."
"That's ok," Carol shook her head. "I like washing dishes."
Hiccup nodded as she walked past him. He looked at the five and rubbed it between his fingers. To him something felt off about it. It felt thicker than a normal five. He unfolded the bill to see a small piece of paper folded in the middle.
Sorry. Cove? 10?
Hiccup smiled as he put the paper in his pocket. He walked back to the front counter just as the group of teens exited the shop.
I hope you guys understood the difference between the flashback and the current story. I just feel like it can be confusing at times.
