Alright! This is a long chapter! But I hope you guys like it. It takes place right after the previous chapter so um..yeah.
Warning: There is some swearing in this chapter. You have been warned. :)
Another flashback chapter. EHH! :D So um- I don't know what else to say other than...ENJOY! XD
Hiccup hung up the phone and ran into the garage. He put his prosthetic and his tools away quickly. He ran into the back parking lot and got into the green and rusted tow truck. As he turned the key and engaged the engine, he spotted a large hoodie in the passenger seat.
Gobber must have left it from the last time he drove this. He grabbed the hoodie and threw it on. He revved the engine and headed to Astrid's house. He rounded the corner and saw Astrid waiting next to the run down Ford. He drove past her house and backed up into the driveway. Once Astrid indicated that he was close enough he put the truck in park and cut the engine.
Before he hopped out, he flung the hood over his head to cover his face. He closed the door quietly and ran up to meet Astrid.
"Alright," Hiccup whispered. "Let's hook this hunk of metal up quickly and get out of here."
"Agreed," Astrid nodded.
Within minutes, the car was hooked up, Astrid had hopped into the passenger seat and Hiccup was driving back to the auto shop, pulling back the hood as he began to drive off. The two rode in silence for the couple of minutes it took to get back to the shop.
"Alright," Hiccup sighed as he pulled up beside the garage. "Let's see the damage." He released the car and with the help of Astrid, pushed the car into the garage.
"Thank you Hiccup," Astrid smiled. "I honestly thought Gobber would be working."
"It's fine," Hiccup reassured. "We were in and out of there quickly. I don't think anyone saw us."
"Besides," Astrid giggled. "No one would recognize you in that baggy sweater. Did you get that just for undercover jobs?"
Hiccup looked down at himself and realized how ridiculous he looked. He was swimming in the sweater. The end reached his knees, the sleeves hung inches off of his arms, and the entire thing looked like a giant deflated balloon on him.
"Ah-hahaha- no," Hiccup laughed slightly. "It's not mine. It's Gobber's. I found it in the truck." He grabbed the ends of the sweater and flung it over his head to reveal his blue jumper. "That's more like it."
"There's the Hiccup I know," Astrid smiled weakly.
"Now let's see," Hiccup rubbed his hands together. He popped the hood and looked inside. His eyes went wide in disbelief and smiled nervously at Astrid. "Any particular reason why he needs it by tomorrow morning?"
Astrid went ridged. Her face went slack while her eyes went was wide as saucers. "Oh-um-he needs it for work. He's going out of town," she lied.
"Ok then," Hiccup nodded. He knew she wasn't telling the truth. He figured there was a more…severe reason but he wasn't going to pry it out of her.
"Why?" Astrid asked nervously.
"Well, from what I can see already," Hiccup sighed. "This is going to take a long time to fix. Even after you started for me."
"Really? What did he do-wait! How did you know I tried fixing it already?" Astrid asked.
"I can see it. I know what your work looks like," Hiccup motioned at the engine. "Besides, you have grease on your hands."
Astrid lifted her hands slightly to see the smudges on her palms and a layer under finger nails. "Oh. Right."
"But what you did was really good and it would have fixed the car if it wasn't for the main problem."
Her cheeks turned a slight pink at the compliment. "I did learn for the best you know." She punched him lightly on the shoulder as she continued to smile. "So what is the main problem?"
"Haven't the foggiest," Hiccup scratched his head.
"Wait. What?"
"No idea what is wrong," Hiccup squatted to look closer at the engine. "That's what's going to take the most time."
"God! I hate my father!" Astrid clenched her fist. "He tells me to fix the car by morning but fucks it up so badly that it takes your evening away!" Hiccup watched her as she vented to him and she noticed his starring eyes. She took a calming breath and unclenched her fists. "Sorry about the language. It just isn't fair to you."
"Or to you," Hiccup added. "Why would he tell you to fix the car? Why didn't he bring it himself?" Hiccup walked over to the wall and pressed a button to raise the car.
Astrid was glad Hiccup's back was turned for she rocked nervously as she wrung her hands to come up with an answer. "He had another meeting tonight," she lied. "He had to leave immediately if he was going to make it on time by foot."
"Ah," Hiccup nodded. "Well, make yourself comfortable. It's going to be a while."
Astrid walked over to the workbench and sat on the stool. She scolded herself for lying to Hiccup but she had too. She hated the taste in her mouth and she ran her tongue over the roof of her mouth to rid herself of it, but to no avail.
"You can turn the radio on if you want," Hiccup motioned to the stereo. "Or my iPod. It's in my jacket pocket."
"Ok," Astrid smiled. She got up and walked over to the stereo and turned it on. Even as the music played a cheerful melody, she still felt dirty about everything.
She, instead, decided to focus on Hiccup. He was under her car with a light, focusing on trying to figure out what was wrong. She wriggled in her seat as she watched him. She loved watching him. It was her secret obsession. She just liked the way his tongue stuck out, the way his brow furrowed, how the muscles moved in his neck. It was just a marvelous sight for her and brought her great joy.
She shook her head out of her thoughts when he suddenly went ridged and snapped his neck towards the door. He stood there for a second and shrugged his shoulders as if trying to rid himself of a chill before he went back to the car.
Hiccup could feel her eyes on him, but he didn't care. He didn't mind. In a way, he liked the feeling. He could always tell if her eyes were on him because of that warm feeling he got in his chest. But that warmness he felt couldn't block out the thoughts going through his mind. He wanted to tell her that he knew, he wanted her to know that she could trust him with that information but he kept quiet. He felt that soon he should tell her that he knew to protect her but-
He snapped his head toward the door. That eerie feeling overpowered everything. A chill ran down his spine and he moved his shoulders to shake it off. He hated feeling that. In fact, he'd been feeling it for several days now. Maybe I should tell dad. No no. He'll panic and not give me a moment's rest. He has enough on his mind with campaigning. The last thing he needs is to worry about me.
Hiccup went back to the car and continued the search for the problem. It seemed like forever, but he finally figured it out. "Hey Astrid," Hiccup called as he turned around.
Astrid jolted awake from sleeping on her hand. She looked around dazed, blinking her eyes repeatedly to remove the tiredness. "Huh? What?"
Hiccup immediately felt guilty. "Sorry. I didn't know you had fallen asleep."
"No, no I didn't," Astrid stretched. "I was in that 'hearing and seeing everything before you fall asleep' state. What's up?"
"I found the problem."
"Oh good," Astrid sighed. "How bad is it?"
"Not that bad," Hiccup lied.
"Liar." Astrid hopped off the stool. "How bad is it?" She crossed her arms and popped her hip out to indicate she was serious for the truth.
"Bad," Hiccup sighed. "It will definitely take a looonng time to fix."
"Well," Astrid tossed her head to the left to move her bangs out of the way. "Let me help you. You can teach me along the way so I can fix it if something like this happens again."
"Ok," Hiccup smiled. "There's an extra jumper in the office."
Hiccup watched as Astrid turned and entered the office to retrieve the jumper. He smiled as he went over to the tools and collected the ones he needed. He loved it when Astrid hung out with him, no matter how dangerous it was. It was like the two of them shared this love of pushing their luck. It was fun yet ominous.
"Alright," Astrid spoke. "Where do you want me to start?"
Hiccup looked over his shoulder and looked at her. He smiled brightly at her appearance. Even in a greased jumper, she was the most beautiful thing to him. "Well, I'm going to need you right next to me the entire time so just under the car is fine."
The two walked towards the car and began to work on it together.
"Do you think we really need to get jobs?" Ruff asked as she walked down the hallway.
Tuffnut shrugged. "I don't know. I do think that life will be easier if we start saving now."
"Yeah I guess," Ruff nodded.
"I'll miss taking lunch money from dad's wallet," Tuff wiped a fake tear from his eye.
"Me too!" Ruff wailed overdramatically. She flung herself at Tuff and hung on him as she 'cried'. He quickly joined in and added to the big scene.
The two quickly got confused looks from the other students in the hallway but not one came forward to see if anything was wrong.
"What the hell?" Snotlout ran up to them.
"What are you two doing?" Astrid yawned.
"What's wrong?" Fishlegs asked.
"Oh nothing," the two popped up in unison. Their distraught postures replaces by a normal and happy stance.
The others looked at each other in confusion. "So what wasn't wrong?" Astrid asked.
"We were discussing that we should look for jobs and reminisced how we would miss stealing money from our parents," Tuff smiled.
"You two are weird," Fishlegs cocked an eyebrow.
"That we are!" Ruff high fived her brother.
"You two? A job? Please not together," Snotlout held his hands together, praying that his plea would come true.
"What did you have in mind?" Astrid yawned again.
The twins looked at each other and then shrugged at the group. "Not a clue," Ruff responded.
"Well, I think you should figure that out before you start applying."
"I agree with Astrid," Fishlegs spoke. "Based on the job you're applying for, your resume should match-"
"Yeah I might have cared," Tuff interrupted.
"But now…" Ruff rocked her hand back and forth to indicate uncertainty.
"Come on guys," Astrid sighed. "He was only trying to help."
"We know," Ruff smiled. "We just love messing with him."
"Well, maybe we can help you guys out," Snotlout said. "We'll regroup at the end of the day with ideas that might fit you two."
"Not a bad idea," Astrid nodded.
Tuff glanced over Astrid's shoulder and noticed something. His mind was in deep thought, not hearing what the others had just suggested. "I'll see you guys after school. I have something to deal with."
Tuff took off from the group, leaving them to watch in confusion as he walked off. "What does he have to deal with?" Fishlegs asked.
"I don't know," Ruff shrugged. "He may be my twin but I can't read his mind."
Just then the warning bell rang and the group separated to go to their respective classes. Astrid and Ruff walked together in silence. Ruff could see Astrid's eyes were drooping and tired, but she made it more apparent when she yawned again.
"Late night doing something huh?"
Astrid jumped slightly at Ruff's sentence. Her eyes darted and she gave a nervous laugh. "What?"
"You're ubber tired. You were up late last night weren't you?"
"Yeah."
"Homework? If that's the case, you need to complain that there is too much homework and that it should be banned from schools."
Astrid cocked an amused eyebrow at her blonde friend. "You're not concerned about my wellbeing. You just want an excuse to start a 'ban on homework' petition."
"That's not true," Ruff gasped. "I am curious about what you did last night." Ruff then smiled and leaned in close to Astrid. "But I am starting a petition." Astrid rolled her eyes as her friend. "So why were you up late last night? Romance?"
Ruff nudged Astrid playfully, causing her to blush. "No. No romance. I was up trying to get my dad's car to work."
Ruff's face fell and she stopped walking. "What?"
"Yep," Astrid nodded. "Nothing exciting."
"Why didn't your dad take it to a shop?" Ruffnut sighed in disgust. "Your dad can be so uncaring at times." Ruff entered the classroom still shaking her head in disbelief.
"You have no idea," Astrid mumbled.
Hiccup shook his head for the twentieth time that day to keep himself awake. He and Astrid had been working on that stupid car until 3 AM. Even after all of that, they still had to complete their homework. Luckily for him, it was easy but Astrid had some difficult assignment due in less than five hours. He stayed up with her on Skype to keep her company and to help her out if need be.
He was anxious for the day to end so he could go home and sleep but he still had football practice to attend to. Oh man! I hope Astrid can survive practice today. Gothi has a rigorous practice day today…of all days.
He shook his head again as he opened his locker and grabbed the books needed for his last class. Behind him, a couple of freshmen were chatting about a documentary she had seen earlier that week.
"No I'm serious," the female exclaimed. "It was so cool! It talked about some of the most amazing creatures ever!"
"Like what?" the boy scoffed. "Lions and tigers and bears? OH MY!"
Hiccup grinned slightly at the reference.
"Yes, it had that but it also had animals like the snow tiger, panthers, seals, draco lizards and so much more."
"Huh," the boy nodded. "Sounds interesting. Maybe you could show it to me someday."
"That's why I told you about it," the girl giggled. "You said you wanted to be a zoo caretaker or something. I think you'll like the draco the best."
"You know," the boy said. "I've always wanted an exotic animal as a pet. A tiger would be awesome!"
Hiccup smiled and frowned as he walked to his class. The two students talking brought up some happy memories but painful ones as well. I used to have exotic animals as pets when mom was- He couldn't bring himself to finish the thought. It was years ago but it still hurt. Still, memories flooded back from a happier time.
Hiccup looked at the two large animals he had to take on a walk. I can't handle both. Especially with one that's unpredictable. I'm going to need help. Hiccup thought of someone he could ask. His mom was away on a house call and his dad was on the phone with someone about work and it sounded important.
He then thought of someone and smiled. He ran out of the house and across the street, carefully, to Astrid's house. Unbeknownst to him, Astrid saw him from her window and headed downstairs.
Hiccup rang the doorbell and waited for an answer, which came rather quickly. When the door opened, a tall muscular man with slick black hair and beady brown eyes stared down at him. He was a little shorter than his dad but he wasn't intimidated by him. When you live with a man that's six foot five, adults of a similar size aren't that scary.
"What?" the man asked bluntly.
"Um, I was wondering if Astrid's home."
"You're the boy across the street. Um sneeze or something," Harold purposefully said.
Hiccup's shoulders slumped a little. "No, it's Hiccup sir."
Harold cocked an eyebrow and asked, "Are you an athlete?"
Hiccup darted his eyes in uncertainty of the question. That's a bit random. "Um…no."
"Then Astrid's not here," Harold said as he slammed the door in Hiccup's face.
Hiccup blinked a few times in shock. He was used to being rejected but this was weird. He had never had a parent treat him like a piece of garbage or a no body. It was a strange feeling that fell over him.
Hiccup down cast his eyes and hung his head in sadness as he turned and walked back to his house. Behind him, Astrid could be heard running down the stairs. An argument ensued between Astrid and her father with Astrid running out the door toward Hiccup in a frustrated mood.
"Hiccup!" Astrid called.
Hiccup turned, surprised to hear his name be called by her. He gave her a bright smile. "Hi Astrid."
"Hey," Astrid said as she stopped next to him. "Sorry about my dad. That was wrong."
"It's okay. I'm used to it."
"But by parents? I don't think so." Astrid shook her head in anger at what her father did to Hiccup. "It was just wrong. Anyway," Astrid changed her mood quickly and smiled at him. "What's up?"
"What do you mean?"
"You came over for a reason right?"
"Oh, right," Hiccup smiled sheepishly. "Yeah. Kind of forgot. Um…" Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck in doubt as he asked her. "I need to walk my mom's animals and I need help. I can usually handle it but the new one she brought is unpredictable. I don't know if I could handle two large animals."
Astrid nodded and shrugged. "Sure. Why not? It'll be fun to hang out with you even if it means walking some dogs."
"Well, they're not exactly dogs."
"Whatever. It sounds more fun than what I was doing."
Hiccup and Astrid walked across the street. Astrid expected to go through the front yard jungle again and through the house but Hiccup led her around the house to the back gate.
"Wait. We're going straight into your backyard?"
"Yeah," Hiccup nodded. "They're outdoor animals and I don't want to risk them breaking anything inside."
"Oh. Ok."
"Oh, and if you like the front yard, you'll love the backyard."
"Is it less jungle-y?"
"The opposite," Hiccup smiled. He opened the gate and entered the backyard.
The moment Astrid entered the backyard, she had to push aside a branch to get through. Hiccup pushed aside more branches and held them back for Astrid as they continued to the backyard. Astrid was definitely surprised by how much more vegetation there was compared to the front.
Hiccup held back a branch and smiled as he said, "Welcome to the backyard."
Astrid walked past Hiccup and gasped at what she saw. It was like a mini forest. The trees had all grown into each other creating a thick canopy over the yard and the house. Birds and monkeys flew from tree branch to tree branch. In the corner, there was a small pond that was occupied by a variety of fish and aquatic animals. There were turtles, sea gulls, crabs, and even a sea lion.
Astrid just gaped at the sight. She was frozen in awe and wonder at such a sight. Hiccup stood next to her and looked at his backyard as well. He was never tired of seeing it this way but seeing it through Astrid's eyes, he saw his backyard with new wonder.
"It's like you have your own zoo. Your own ecosystem," Astrid smiled.
"Yep," Hiccup nodded. "It's always an adventure out here."
Hiccup walked around her to the other side of the yard and Astrid absentmindedly followed, still dazed. Hiccup bent down and began to fill bowls with water as Astrid looked around a bit. He knew there was nothing dangerous and therefore didn't fear she would get hurt.
Astrid walked toward the pond and watched the fish swim around. There were orange fish, pink fish, red fish, brown fish, blue fish and many more in between. She was surprised when the sea lion came up to her and barked in her face. She wasn't sure what it wanted and put her hands up, not wanting to threaten it. The sea lion, though, nudged at her hand. Astrid quickly understood and began to pet it, which the sea lion enjoyed considerably until the sea gull bugged him and he went to deal with it.
Astrid stood up and turned around back to Hiccup. She was about to say something when she froze in fear. In front of her, behind Hiccup, was a large white tiger. She'd seen pictures but to see one in real life? That's a bit scary. The tiger's gaze was on Hiccup and looking at him intensely.
"Hiccup!" Astrid whispered frantically.
"Yeah?" Hiccup asked without turning around. He was almost done filling up a large bowl of water.
"I don't want to alarm you but there's a large white tiger starring at you."
Hiccup turned around after turning the faucet off and looked at the tiger in the eyes. Astrid thought for sure that the tiger was going to attack but what happened instead confused her.
"There you are," Hiccup smiled. The tiger licked him over and over again. "Oh! Ok. You know that I'm not a cub. At least yours. You don't need to do that." Hiccup lowered the large bowl on the floor. "Here you go."
The tiger lowered his head and began to drink from the bowl as Hiccup looked up and saw Astrid's confused and terrified expression. He quickly made the connection and explained.
"You don't have to fear him. He's a big softy. Aren't you boy?" Hiccup asked getting smacked in the face with his tail. "I'm feeling the love." Astrid cracked a smile at the light hearted antics. "This is Cloudjumper. My mom's pet."
Astrid blinked a few times and shook her head. "Your mom's what?"
"Pet. The snow tiger."
"Pet? How can she have a snow tiger as a pet?"
"Well, he's more of a permanent patient," Hiccup said as he walked towards the back of the yard. "He won't let anyone except my mom touch him for medical treatment so the board just suggested he stay here. He's like a big dog."
Astrid took her eyes off of Cloudjumper as Hiccup moved and didn't see that Cloudjumper had walked right up to her. She didn't notice he was there until she felt the whiskers touch her skin.
"Ah!" Astrid yelped as she jumped back.
"It's ok," Hiccup reassured. He was quickly by Astrid's side. "He's just getting to know you. Here, put out your hand. Like this." Hiccup reached his hand out to Cloudjumper with his palm face down and flat. Cloudjumper looked at it and closed the gap between them.
Astrid followed Hiccup's example but still unsure. Her hand shook slightly as she waited for the tiger to either bite it or do what he did with Hiccup.
"You know," Hiccup said trying to reassure her. "He's more afraid of you than you are of him. He sees you a threat to his home. Just relax and show that you're not here to harm him."
He's more afraid of you. He's more afraid of you. I'm not here to harm you. I'm a friend. Astrid thought to herself over and over again. She closed her eyes and calmed herself, stopping her shaking. It seemed like an eternity to her but she finally felt the soft fur under her fingers. She opened her eyes and saw the white head of Cloudjumper resting in her palm.
"Incredible," Astrid laughed.
"He's a big sweetheart when he knows you," Hiccup said. He turned around to see that Cloudjumper began to nuzzle her to the ground making Astrid laugh heartily. "And he makes my point for me."
"So we're taking him for a walk?" Astrid asked finally getting up from under Cloudjumper.
"Yes. He always comes. But it's not him that I need help with. It's them," Hiccup gestured to his right.
Astrid gasped and jumped behind Hiccup. In front of them, was a full grown black panther with piercing brown eyes. It wasn't in a cage but it did have a leash tied to its collar and a pole. However, the leash was long enough for it to roam freely. It didn't seem too pleased with Astrid's presence and Astrid was afraid it was going to pounce on her.
To the right of it, under a bushel of leaves, there was a tiger. Not a snow tiger like Cloudjumper but a normal orange and black tiger. She couldn't see it well because it was hiding but she was still afraid of it.
"When you said your mom's animals, I figured a German Sheppard not a panther and tiger," Astrid murmured into his ear. She wasn't one to be afraid. She was taught to never be afraid… of people. But exotic animals? That was another thing.
"I tried to tell you they weren't dogs."
"Yeah no kidding. They're going to eat us!"
"No they're not," Hiccup smiled. "Bagheera has been here for several weeks. He's pretty calm. Raja on the other hand," Hiccup gestured to the hidden tiger. "He's only been here for a few days."
"Wait," Astrid said remembering the day his mom came back. "He's what your mother brought back?"
"Yep."
"And we're taking these two for a walk?"
"You don't have to if you don't want to," Hiccup reassured her. He didn't want her to do anything she wasn't comfortable with.
"I said I would, I just wasn't expecting…this."
"You just gestured to everything," Hiccup cocked an eyebrow.
"Yeah I did," Astrid nodded confidently. "I've heard of backyards being junkyards but personal zoos? No way. It's not something people come across every day." Astrid walked out from behind Hiccup a little braver. If he can live with them in his backyard every day, I can handle walking one for an afternoon. I might even enjoy it. "So which one am I taking?"
"Bagheera. He's used to the walks and won't be that jumpy. I'll take Raja. He hasn't been on one of these yet."
"Ok," Astrid said. "Do I do what I did with Cloudjumper? The hand thing to get him to trust me?"
"Yeah."
"Ok," Astrid sighed. She looked at the black panther and he looked uncertainly back at her. "It's ok," she talked smoothly. "I'm a friend. I'm here to give you some-" Astrid was cut off by the sudden touch of Bagheera's head. Astrid smiled as she undid the leash from the pole. "We're ready," Astrid said as she turned around.
Hiccup didn't have Raja on a leash yet. In fact, it seemed as if he just got it and was now trying to get Raja to come out. "It's ok boy. You know me. I'm your pal Hiccup. You know I'm not going to hurt you. I'm a friend. Come on out Raja."
Astrid watched as Hiccup used his magic on him. She gasped as Raja came out and revealed his full beauty to the world. He was a fire orange with dark black stripes that encased his body and face giving him a dangerous beauty.
"He's beautiful," Astrid whispered.
"I know," Hiccup smiled as he put the leash on Raja's collar. He began to walk towards the back gate with Astrid following when he stopped and turned around. "You coming Cloudjumper?"
Astrid turned to see the snow tiger stride up to them and walk in sync with them. "Doesn't he need a leash too? Isn't he going to run?"
"He never does," Hiccup explained. "He just stays with us. I guess my mom's tamed him too well."
"I guess so."
Hiccup and Astrid began to walk around the block, which they went around several times. Astrid had a little trouble with Bagheera at first but quickly got used to him. Raja was a skittish as a new born cat. He jumped at every sound, cowered at people who were nowhere near him, and tried to dart every time a car went by but Hiccup masterfully was able to calm him down every time and he quickly began to calm down as well. The last few times around the block were smooth sailing.
"So," Astrid started as they neared Hiccup's home after the last time around. "Bagheera and Raja? As in the names of the panther and tiger in the Disney movies?"
"Yeah," Hiccup blushed and rubbed the back of his neck.
He seems to do that every time he's nervous or embarrassed. Might come in handy later. Astrid thought as she listened to Hiccup's explanation.
"Mom was at first just a simple vet but then she started to get the exotic animals. We thought that Cloudjumper would be the only case but soon everyone started to request her and send her exotic animals because she did such a good job with Cloudjumper. During that time she was getting swamped with them, I was at the age where every kid was watching Disney."
"Yeah. I went through that as well until my dad said I was too old for them."
"Well, my mom got this blue bird that looked like Zazu from The Lion King and I called it Zazu. I guess in a way I started it. She then decided to make a list of every animal and their names so that if she got one of those animals, she would already have a name. It's been whittled down considerably but it's still long."
"So what names have been used?"
"Um, Baloo. Sebastian. Mufasa. Jiminy. Scuttle, who comes back occasionally. Mushu. Kanga and Roo. Kuzco. Timon. Pascel. There were many more but I don't remember them all. And now we have Raja and Bagheera."
"Does your mom not like coming up with names?" Astrid asked curiously.
"It's not that. It's just that, well, she's not good with coming up with names. It took weeks and seeing Cloudjumper play in the snow to come up with his name. And besides, look at my name. Not even my dad could think of something."
Astrid laughed and Hiccup joined her. "You've got a point. Not the best name but I think it suits you. I can't see you with a normal name like Scott or something."
"Yeah, me neither."
Just as Hiccup and Astrid entered the backyard with Raja, Cloudjumper, and Bagheera, a car pulled up into the driveway. Hiccup unleashed Raja who went to get a drink and ate some food before he went back to his spot under the leaves while Astrid hooked Bagheera back to the pole.
"I'm going to feed the other animals real quick then I'll take you back," Hiccup said.
"I'll help. What can I do?" Astrid asked. I really don't want to go back yet. Dad might still be in a bad mood.
"Um…ok. In that shed are some bowls. Can you get those while a get the food?"
"Sure."
Astrid went into the shed and looked for the bowls. As she looked, she heard the back door open.
"Hi there Cloudjumper!" a feminine voice exclaimed. "How are you?"
"Hi mom," Hiccup said.
"Sorry I left you like that son but Vanessa was having trouble with her cats again. Said they kept throwing up."
"Are they ok?" Hiccup asked concerned.
"They will be. Vanessa left out a can of meat and they ate it. I gave them something to ease their sickness."
"Did she forget or something?"
"Probably. How did the walk go? Were you able to handle Bagheera and Raja alright?"
"Yeah we did. The walk was-"
"We?" Valka asked confused. "Who's we?"
"Hi Valka," Astrid said as she walked out with the stack of bowls in her arms.
Valka stared dumbfounded at Astrid as she placed the bowls down and Hiccup began to put food in them. "You helped walk them?"
"Yeah. I thought they were going to be dogs at first but quickly saw that it wasn't the case."
"Hiccup," Valka said with a tinge of fear in her voice. "Did you ask her parents if it was ok?"
"Um..no," Hiccup answered confused.
Valka sighed and bent down to look at Hiccup sternly. "What if she got hurt?"
"But we've never got hurt. I figured Astrid would be ok."
"We're used to this kind of thing. You're used to it because you've grown up with it. She hasn't." Valka turned to Astrid and smiled. "I'm sorry if you were scared in anyway."
Astrid shrugged and smiled. "I'm fine. Besides, it was fun. I've never seen a snow tiger, or a tiger for that matter, so close before. They are really nice."
"I'm glad you had such a positive experience," Valka smiled. She then turned back to Hiccup. "Next time you want to ask someone to help you, ask their parent's permission first. Just for future reference."
"I'm sorry mom," Hiccup bowed his head.
Astrid saw Hiccup's sudden saddened mood and gesture. She felt sorry for him. He doesn't like disappointing his parents. Wish I could say the same thing for my dad.
Valka grabbed his chin and raised it up so that their eyes met again. "I'm not angry with you. You've never invited someone over before. Well, maybe you have and they've said no but the point is this has never happened before. Just next time you ask her over, ask her parents first."
"Ok," Hiccup smiled.
Valka stood up and looked at Astrid again. "Thanks for helping Hiccup. I was so worried he wouldn't be able to handle it with Raja. I have a hard time sometimes with the new ones."
"Really? Because Raja was like putty in Hiccup's hands," Astrid said.
Valka turned to Hiccup, who's back was turned to them scooping out food. Unbeknownst to them, he was blushing a bright red at Astrid's words. "Really?"
"Yeah."
"When you two are done, come on inside," Valka smiled. "I'll get you a snack."
Valka went inside as Hiccup and Astrid continued feeding the animals. In a few minutes they were done and Hiccup led her inside. Astrid looked around as she followed Hiccup. On the walls, there were pictures of Stoick, Valka and Hiccup through the years. Interesting. Hiccup hasn't changed much.
Astrid walked past a door that was opened a crack and saw Stoick sitting behind a desk. Through the crack, she could hear that he was having a heated conversation with someone on the phone. She brushed it off, not really caring for adult problems.
The further in she went she saw cases of trophies, a mixture of football and academic achievements. Also in display cases there were framed pieces of paper that held a great deal of personal accomplishment.
Astrid entered the kitchen, which was just like hers and probably everybody else's in the neighborhood. Astrid followed Hiccup to one of the bar stools and sat next to him as his mother walked back and forth from cabinet to cabinet. She then walked over to the fridge and opened it. She went to grab something but then stopped and looked at Astrid.
"You're not lactose intolerant are you?" she asked.
"Nope," Astrid shook her head. "I'm fine with regular milk."
"Ok. Just didn't want to get you sick."
Valka closed the door and Astrid saw several pictures on the fridge of animals. Probably her past vet animals. She then saw some hand drawn ones that were quite good. Those look like they were drawn by someone my age. Maybe Hiccup drew them.
Astrid was about to ask when a plate of cookies and milk were placed in front of the three of them. Yes, Valka joined them at the bar. Guess I'll have to ask about them later.
"So," Valka smiled at Astrid. "Tell us a little about your life in the big city."
