After returning from their fabulous city trip, Andy had snuck out, claiming to have unfinished Student Council duties to take care of, leaving the remaining boys to lock themselves up in the bathroom so Hiccup could assess the metamorphosis he had undergone. The auburn-haired guy had had the prestigious opportunity of being on the receiving end of one of Jack's good deeds. This time, a moment of bright fashionista inspiration.

In Jack's opinion, all Hiccup really needed was a little bit of confidence, and the quickest way of getting that, the silverhead thought, was going through a makeover. If his friend looked confident, he would eventually feel confident. Fake it till you make it, as someone once said. Once Hiccup felt confident and showed the world what an amazing guy he was behind all his insecurities and clumsiness, not even Miss Bombshell Astrid Hofferson would be able to turn his one-legged buddy down.

At some point down the road, the boys started to have too much fun, and they ended up going astray with Hiccup's transformation. Jack was sure that when they did a movie about their lives, Hiccup would have one of those 'hot girl makeover' montages, and it would be awesome.

Hiccup's hair had been the first victim. Some hydrating and trimming, then a couple of dreads to honor his Viking heritage, and then Hiccup was lectured about all the products and procedures that were being applied to his hair, and their roles in turning his crazy, wild mop of hair into a roguishly disarrayed hairstyle. Then, they got Hiccup's ear pierced—something that, according to Jack, would help frame Hiccup's face, and would also give him a rocking, modern look. Jack tried to give him a tattoo while they were at it, but Andy intervened against it... Then, they went outfit shopping, when Hiccup discovered the appropriate sizes to his clothes; he was gifted a new pleasant, yet subtle cologne, and a shiny new silver chain hung around his neck. At last, returning to the Academy, Jack helped Hiccup perfect his confident walk.

Sitting on the bathroom's sink countertop with his back against the wall, Jack watched as Hiccup fought his hair in the mirror, throwing his hair from one side to the other like he could make his hair go back to the way it was before if he wished hard enough.

"You look fine, Hics," Jack said with a roll of eyes.

Jack felt like for the past hour, he and Andy had done nothing but continuously encourage Hiccup, using every wording possible to remind the auburn-haired guy that he looked great, and that the whole makeover was just a minor update to his pre-existing awesomeness. And Jack wasn't lying, Hiccup was great, the rest of the world just hadn't realized that yet. But his patience was limited, and he was getting pretty tired of repeating himself.

"Why did I agree to do this?" Hiccup whined glaring at his own reflection.

"Because Astrid wouldn't come close to you, let alone touch you with a ten-feet pole," Jack said with contempt. "Now, maybe you'll look interesting enough to have a full conversation with her."

Hiccup let out a snort and threw his head back. "Yeah, of course. Because this"—He gestured to all of him—"is totally gonna work."

"I have a fair understanding of the female mind, okay, Third?" Jack jumped off his spot. "Girls like me. I'm irresistible. You know that." He took a look at himself in the mirror to fix his hair. "Now straighten up and get your ass out of this fucking bathroom," he ordered with a stiff look and his arms crossed. "I'm getting claustrophobic locked up in here."

Hiccup sighed as Jack went to clasp him on the shoulder.

"Showtime, big guy."

"So where were you and your dumb friends this afternoon, Andrew?" Astrid asked casually, chin resting on intertwined fingers.

"Uh…" Andy's fingers froze in mid-air as kept his eyes glued to the computer screen in front of him. "Hiccup wasn't feeling well, so Jack and I decided to keep him company." That wasn't a lie at all, he concluded proudly. Like Jack liked to say, they weren't in trouble as long as they didn't get caught breaking the rules.

"Really?" Violet asked with an eyebrow raised. "He didn't look so bad when Astrid dumped him again during lunch break."

"Don't you have anything else to do, Violet?" Astrid asked with a glare directed at the brunette. "Why are you here anyway? You're not even part of the Student Council."

Violet could frequently be found in their room, now that he thought about it. As the three of the members had to actually work there, Violet would stay, keeping them company and... being herself. Every once in a blue moon, she'd do something useful. That wasn't one of those days, it seemed, as the brunette kept lying on the couch, too entertained with her phone to help them out.

"Elsa, would you be so kind as to remind your co-worker of this room's terms of use?" Violet calmly asked, not moving from her comfortable position on the couch.

"Just because this is our office, it doesn't mean it is for our use only. So anyone can stay here when at least one of the current Student Council members are inside," Elsa stated with a crease in between her brows.

"See?" Violet mocked, receiving a roll of eyes from Astrid in response.

"Anyone can stay here as long as it doesn't interrupt our work, though," Elsa added, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples.

"Come on," Violet whined, throwing her head back to stare at the ceiling. "It's almost winter break, there can't be that much work left for you all to be so serious."

"Actually, Vi," Andy started as he smiled at her, "we sort of have a good amount of things to sort out before we get to go home."

Violet returned his look and rolled her eyes. "Come to think of it, you didn't answer the question, Andy," she said with a triumphant smirk. "Where were you?"

Andy froze for a second. He really hoped that with the flow of the conversation, they'd forget about that first question. Well, thank you, Violet. "What do you mean? I was in my room," Andy said, trying to sound nonchalant. He didn't dare to raise his eyes to check whether or not the girls bought that.

"Uh-huh…" Astrid narrowed her eyes at the guy. "And you want us to believe that you three spent the whole afternoon locked in your room doing what, exactly?"

"Playing video games?" Andy suggested, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, right."

"Why don't we leave it at that?" Elsa suggested with a sigh. "It's not like they were causing others trouble by not attending their classes. And I'm sure they are well-aware of their actions by now." The girl put the papers in front of her together and stood up. "I'm gonna hand over these documents to the headmaster. It's almost dinner time, so you guys can go ahead without me. We can finish the rest of the paperwork tomorrow."

Andy watched from the corner of his eyes as Elsa made her way to the door and with a hand on the doorknob.

"And Andy," she called looking at him from over her shoulder. "Let's not kid ourselves: we all know you three were out of campus today."

Was that a threat? A warning? Should he be worried? Or was she just teasing him? Andy didn't know what to think, and before he could even think of an excuse, Elsa had already shut the door behind her.

Laughing merrily, Violet shook her head. "Dude, she's so pissed at you."

Having waited for Elsa to return from Headmaster North's office, the three Student Council's members, plus Violet, found themselves running a bit late for dinner. On their way to the cafeteria, Astrid and Violet continued to tease Andy about their illegal activities, his denials only making the girls tease him even more. They kept throwing wild guesses at why the boys would have left campus that afternoon, but they were completely unprepared for the truth.

The truth slapped them in the face as soon as they spotted an unexpected duo apparently waiting for them outside of the refectory.

"What the hell happened to him?" an incredibly shocked Astrid asked as soon as she recognized the pair ahead.

"Video games, huh?" Violet nudged Andy on his ribs. She let out a loud laugh as she took a good look at The New Hiccup. "It's more like you three spent the day playing makeup."

Andy didn't say anything, occupying himself with soothing the injured spot on his abdomen instead.

Throwing his arms in the air, Jack pushed himself off the wall and scrutinized the group with his eyes. "About time, people! What took you so long?"

"Something called work, Frost," Astrid snarled, crossing her arms.

"As melodious as your voice is, Hofferson, I wasn't really talking to you," Jack said, looking from the blonde to the only guy in the group. "So, Davis, what took you so long?"

"Frost…" Andy started with a warning tone.

The silverhead shrugged. "Fine. I'm not here to fight today."

"We were waiting for you to have dinner," Hiccup explained, his head sagging between his shoulders.

"Together," Jack added.

"I think that's a brilliant idea," Violet agreed with a smirk and a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Both Elsa and Astrid turned to look at her, Elsa moving so fast that her neck cracked. "Do you now?" Elsa asked.

"Don't be so close-minded, Elsa dear." Violet looked at them with an expression of utter disappointment. "Anyways, I suppose we should give these two"—she gestured to Astrid and then to Hiccup—"a few minutes alone."

"Why would I want to be alone with him?" Astrid asked, but her contemptuous words didn't seem to be heard.

"You totally read my mind, Violet," Jack stated, his eyes immediately lighting up.

"You gotta be kidding me—" Elsa muttered under a heavy sigh.

"Oh, for the love of God—" Andy groaned at the same time. He looked at the blonde, and she looked at her, and the pair shared a moment of silent commiseration.

There was no doubt that Violet and Jack would come up with dangerous schemes in the future if they started to get along. They shared a weird sense of humor and failed to weigh their actions according to the principles of common sense. Which also meant that they had a good disposition to getting in trouble in spite of their more reasonable friends.

To top it off, it seemed like both of them had some secret agenda to see something playing off between Astrid and Hiccup.

"Sweet," Violet grabbed Elsa by the arm and dragged her to the refectory's doors. "Come on, El."

"You too, Andrew." Jack pulled Andy with him. "We'll save you lovebirds your seats."

Jack winked at a blushing Hiccup, and before any of the misfortunate targets could complain, Astrid and Hiccup were left alone in the empty corridor.

Glaring at the closed doors, Astrid hissed. "What the hell just happened?"

"Just so you know, I didn't plan this," Hiccup mumbled, staring at his shoes.

"Nah, Violet was a big part of it too."

Silently, Astrid wondered if things were always gonna be that way from that point on. Would her friends go out of their ways to make her interact with Hiccup? And what type of results would they expect from those interactions? Should Astrid do something about it? Would Hiccup stop if she pretended she couldn't see him standing there all awkward and embarrassed? Astrid narrowed her eyes and stared at the source of all her frustrations.

"You look different," she said casually.

"What?" Hiccup's head snapped up as if her voice had taken him out of a trance. "Oh, yeah… uh…"

"Did you lose weight?" Astrid stepped closer to him and looked directly at his face, carefully observing the little changes in his appearance. Her eyes landed on the shining stud on his ear. God, did he really get his ear pierced? Why was he trying to look more peacocky? Somebody should have a talk with him about all that peacocking...

"What? No!" Hiccup puffed his chest and gestured at himself. "I mean, look at all this raw Vikingness!"

She rolled her eyes. "Sure. What are those things?" Astrid stretched her arm to touch one of the dreads Hiccup had on his hair. "Are they real?"

"Ow!" Hiccup flinched at the sudden pull on his scalp. "Yes, these are real." He put a hand over Astrid's and carefully moved it away from his hair. "And it hurts. A lot, for the record."

"Sorry." Astrid looked down at their hands. "Who said you could touch me?"

Hiccup let go of her hand immediately, and Astrid watched the color rising to his face.

He cleared his throat. "In my defense, you started it—you touched me first!"

Astrid shrugged. "And then you cried."

"No, I didn't," Hiccup denied defensively. "There was dust in my eyes. I was tearing, which is a natural reaction of the body." He pouted at her. "Two completely different situations, milady."

"Whatever you say, tough guy," Astrid agreed, her voice adopting a soft, condescending tone like she was talking to a little baby. "You keep telling yourself that."

"It's true!" he unsuccessfully tried to convince her.

"And I have a pet dragon hidden under my bed," she teased.

"Really?" He looked at her with bright eyes. "Mythological creatures are, like, one of my guilty pleasures."

She kept staring straight at him back. "You're such a nerd," she stated and turned on her heels to get to the refectory.

"Wait up!" Hiccup followed after her, a goofy grin splattered across his face.

"What's with this sudden image change anyway?"

"Nothing really." Hiccup shrugged nonchalantly. "What do you think about it?"

"You look ridiculous," she said without a second thought... And she realized her mistake as soon as she took a glimpse of Hiccup. S he watched him breaking right in front of her. His previously bright and sparkly eyes seemed void of life, his jaw remained half-open, his hands shook, and all the child-like wonder that emanated from him had died. And the guilt train hit her hard. And she felt it like a jab straight to her chest.

"... You okay?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Hiccup mumbled, not meeting her eyes.

"Maybe I was too hard on you. If this"—she gestured up and down at him—"is who you wanna be, then… it's alright. You shouldn't worry about shit people say as long as you're satisfied with it. Embrace your true self and all that crap, right?" She gave him an awkward smile.

"The truth is… I don't know who I am," he said in a low, shaky voice. "Jack said I should do it, and I just rolled with it. And now, look at me!" Hic cup laughed, but there was no humor in his laugh. "God, I'm so ridiculous."

"Okay, stop that." Astrid grabbed him by the cheeks and forced him to look at her. "You feel insecure, I get it. And that's fine, Hiccup." Her eyes narrowed. "You wanna go peacocking around? Be my guest—"

"Peacocking around—"

She silenced him with a glare. "The thing is... nobody expects you to have all the answers at once. What you're searching for is already in here." With her free hand, she pointed at his chest, right at his heart. "Don't worry if... it takes some... time... to find it..."

Astrid lost track of the stream of words coming out of her mouth as she grew conscious of their sudden proximity. The roughness of his chin pricked the palm of one of her hands, whereas, with the other, she felt the irregular rising and falling of his chest. She chanced a glance at him, and she found Hiccup paralyzed, wide eyes staring at the hand she still had over his shirt.

Quickly withdrawing both her hands and keeping them at the side of her body, she cleared her throat. "And… what I'm searching for is in there," Astrid said, recovering from whatever just happened between them and pointing at the tall closed refectory double doors. "Whatever self-discovery bullshit you want to go through can wait probably until I have a goddamn steak."

She was almost at the door when she realized she couldn't hear Hiccup's steps behind her.

"You coming, or not?" Astrid asked looking over her shoulder at the still petrified guy behind her.

Taken out of his stupor, Hiccup shakily nodded. "Y-yeah. Right behind you."

As Hiccup met her at the door and gave her a shy, weak smile, Astrid concluded that he would have no problems figuring things out on his own. And he would have plenty of time to figure things out later.

For now, dinner was a good enough start as any.