To avoid the accidental sharing of vital intel with the enemy, Elsa and Jack were not allowed any significant one-on-one time during their switched-up week. The couple could barely talk for two seconds before a member of the surveillance team was dragging either of them to the opposite side of the campus. It shouldn't be so bad, seeing as they had spent years loathing each other, but the explicit prohibition only made the other's absence more perceptible. After all, it was human nature to crave what one couldn't get.

One concession, however, was made, and, in an unexpected change of heart, the couple was allowed a little time together the next time they were granted permission to leave campus. And so, Saturday arrived, and along with it, their long-awaited date.

The boys had very dutifully escorted Elsa throughout the day, and albeit that being undeniably fun in its own weird and unpredictable way, she would do anything for a quiet cup of tea and maybe some comforting cake.

"Where were you guys supposed to meet again?" Hiccup asked as their group strolled on the sidewalk.

"By the main square," replied Elsa.

Wilbur smirked. "You sure you wanna ditch us for that jackass, Elsa?"

"Someone's gotta keep him company."

"Aw, you're too good for him," Hiro mocked, rolling his eyes.

Elsa looked down, blushing. "I wouldn't say that."

"I would," Wilbur countered, stepping closer to Elsa and giving the girl a quick wink. "Smart, cute, ingenious… I love Jack with my soul, but you're wasted on a moron like him."

"Watch it, dude," Andy warned, grabbing the other boy's collar and pulling him back. "Someone's not gonna like you making a move on their girlfriend."

"Yeah? What's he gonna do? Bat his eyelashes at me?"

As the conversation continued, the teens reached the square and huddled by the statue in the middle of it.

"I don't think Frost is here yet," Hiro commented as he looked around the area.

"He said he was already on his way," Elsa said but fished out her phone to check for any new messages just in case.

"Want us to wait with you?"

Elsa chuckled behind a hand. "I thought you boys would be thrilled to be excused from babysitting me."

"Nobody thinks that, Elsa," Hiccup chided with a frown. "We're friends."

"Besides, we wouldn't want to miss the big romantic reunion, would we?" Wilbur added, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"... I feel like I should make you leave."

"Don't think too hard about it, Elsa."

"The day Your Majesty stops overthinking things is the day I start shooting beams from my fingertips," an unexpected voice said from somewhere behind the statue of Thaddeus Burgess.

"Wouldn't that be a sight to see?" Hiro mumbled, crossing his arms as the newcomer came into view.

"How long were you there?" Elsa asked, arching one eyebrow upward.

"Long enough."

"Could've made your presence known sooner then, mister," Wilbur chided, gesturing with his finger in front of the silverhead's nose. "Shame on you for making this lovely maiden wait."

"Get your finger out of my face, or I'll show you where you can shove it, dipshit," Jack grumbled through gritted teeth.

Grinning widely, Wilbur stage-whispered, "Not in front of all these people, naughty boy."

"Gonna ignore you now, William."

Wilbur sucked in a breath, feigning hurt. "Is that how you treat one of the few people who can actually stand the real jerk you are?"

"I'm a real catch, that's what I am."

"You're also very modest," Elsa added, rolling her eyes.

"You too, Brutus?" Jack grumbled, burying his hands deeper inside his pockets.

Chuckling, Elsa looped her hands through his arm and gently tugged on it in an attempt to appease him. Jack, in response, locked eyes with her and tilted his head down until their noses touched, and she smiled. The rest of the group, however, took no time to react to the affectionate gesture, and their giddy cheering made Elsa immediately pull back, dropping her hands to the side of her body and stepping away from her boyfriend as her cheeks predictably blushed crimson.

To save the poor girl from her embarrassment, a grinning Andy started ushering the other boys to their feet whilst sending amused glances in Elsa's direction. He said, "I think that's our cue to leave."

"Aw, what about embarrassing Frost in front of his girlfriend?" Hiro whined with one raised eyebrow.

"I'm pretty sure that one was extensively covered already," the blonde retorted.

"Oh, trust us," Hiccup said with a snort. "You saw nothing yet—"

"Okay. You're leaving." Jack's eyes narrowed as he met each of the boys' gazes one by one. "Now."

"Fine. But just so you know, we're doing this as a favor to Elsa," Wilbur announced, winking at the girl.

Jack groaned. "Can you stop flirting with my girlfriend?"

"Threatened, aren't we?"

"You're inhaling too much hair gel fumes if you think you're a threat to me."

Looking dismayed, Wilbur clicked his tongue as he turned to the blonde. "See what you're signing up for, Elsa?"

"What can I say?" She sighed, stepping closer so her arm could brush against his. "I'm rather fond of this one."

With a satisfied smirk on his face, he nudged her. "Why, thank you, Your Majesty."

"And… we're out." Hiccup hooked one arm around Hiro's neck and the other around Wilbur's and, after sending one last smirk the couple's way, steered the boys out of the square.

"Enjoy your date," Andy said as he followed the others.

"See you back in prison." As his friends disappeared, he surreptitiously took Elsa's hand and started leading her in the opposite direction. "So how's your week been, Your Majesty?"

"I was told not to answer that," she replied matter-of-factly.

"Well, that doesn't sound suspicious at all," he mocked, shaking his head. "Can you at least share something about your day then?"

"Let's see…" Elsa looked up at the sky as she recollected the day's sequence of events. "We had lunch together—if you can call that mountain of fat and grease you boys usually eat food; I watched your friends putting their competitive eating techniques to the test, which was… an experience of a lifetime; we went to the arcade, where I was given a widely vast and only somewhat dubious lecture on the history of video games… which reminds me, Wilbur wanted me to tell you, among some things I would rather not repeat, that he beat your score in some shooting game."

"He beat me in Hero's Duty?" he mumbled, crestfallen.

"I think so."

He shrugged. "Whatever. He won't be on top for long."

"And I guess that about covers it," she said then tugged on his hand. "You?"

"Hm… It was brought to my attention how arduous it is to look pretty all the time."

"And here I was assuming that your natural good looks would take care of that one for you," she mocked, clicking her tongue.

"If only. Girls stuff is expensive," he sighed as he theatrically ran a hand through his hair, a deliberate gesture to direct her attention to his manicured navy blue nails, which admittedly did look good on him.

"I'm pretty sure that's against the school's dress code," Elsa deadpanned.

"Who's gonna bust me? You?" He laughed.

"And?" she huffed, shaking her head. "What else did you do?"

"I was conned into buying cupcakes for the Student Council girls because apparently, that's something you normally do—or so they claimed. And I don't even like those stupid gentrified sprinkled things."

"They work so hard. What's wrong with treating them to something nice every once in a while?"

"You're spoiling them, Your Majesty."

"If that's how you think, I suppose I shouldn't offer you a treat then?" Elsa asked, her voice taking a challenging tone.

He smirked and let his eyes drift to her lips. "Depends on what you have in mind."

"Well, I was suggesting we go find something to eat," she mumbled, looking away. "You, on the other hand, are probably having some very depraved ideas right now."

"What makes you think that?"

"Your face for starters."

"Not true, but since you apparently have me all figured out…" Jack abruptly stopped and tugged her back, pulling her into his arms. Her mouth opened, but before she could utter her protests, he kissed her, lips lingering on hers with longing for maybe a little too long for a public place.

Cheeks burning and heartbeat increasing, she put her hands on his chest and pointedly pulled back. With an arched eyebrow, she teased, "You were saying?"

"Whatever do you mean, Elsa?" he wondered, blinking innocently as they resumed their walk.

She rolled her eyes. "I will leave you here, you know."

Jack chuckled, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "So, food?"

"Sure. Any suggestions?" Elsa regretted her words as soon as she saw the wide grin on the silverhead's face. Her face had barely had time to go back to its normal coloring and one look from him was enough to make her flush again. "Shut up."

"I didn't say anything."

"You didn't have to."

"That's not really fair now, is it?" he mused, his eyes not hiding his amusement at her reactions.

"You're an idiot."

"Thanks."

"It wasn't a compliment..."

Having Elsa as one of their crew members sure made things easier. It was like her organization rubbed off on the rest of the team and her commanding prowess was enough to keep their plans on track. There were no sudden changes in the schedule nor unnecessary fumbling around, which also meant that they now had an entire afternoon of lying low ahead of them before the grand finale.

Not to attract even more unwanted attention, the gang decided to kill time in the Robotics Club room, and Hiccup, having lost at rock paper scissors had been tasked with procuring them all beverages.

"Finally! What took you so long?" Violet asked upon his return.

"It's like somebody forgot the gates of hell open out there," Hiccup grunted as he struggled with the cans of soda in his arms. Carefully putting everything down on a free table, he glanced at Hiro and Wilbur in the middle of a heated match of ping pong and shouted, "Boys, come get your drinks!"

"What was that about the gates of hell being open?" Elsa asked when Hiccup handed her a can of iced tea, contained apprehension written on her face.

"Hmmm…" Hiccup looked at his nails, trying to figure out the best way to euphemize what he had just witnessed outside. "Let's just say that we are not the only ones having fun with Jack being in charge this week."

"How so?"

Hiccup shrugged, trying to convey nonchalance. "I mean, nothing new for us. But I do think someone let the animals out of their cages, which… smells like a brewing disaster."

"Kids are getting bold," Hiro grumbled as he plopped down on the couch and grabbed a soda.

"To think that not so long ago the commoners trembled in our presence..." Wilbur added with an exhausted sigh.

Violet let out a snort. "Now, look at the school's so-called legends: hiding inside playing ping pong while the rest of the school go berserk."

"You know I can kick you out, right?" Hiro snarled.

"You wouldn't."

"Keep pushing me and I will."

"I must agree with Violet," Elsa intervened with a chuckle. "You boys certainly mellowed out over the years."

"You sure you're not the one who became more lenient about our shenanigans, Miss Elsa?" Wilbur asked, smirking.

Hiccup leaned back and laughed, not even trying to hide his amusement. "Boy, I wonder what could've changed your mind."

"What are you implying, Hiccup?" Elsa asked, voice eerily composed, jaw set, and that intimidating thing that made any sane person think twice before crossing the girl glistening in her eyes. "And do watch what you're saying next, or you'll see just how lenient I've become."

"Uh…" Hiccup immediately straightened up, glancing at the other boys for help but finding no solace in the fact that they seemed to be facing similar stages of fright. "I would like to plead the Fifth, Your Honor."

Wilbur nodded. "Good call."

The blonde chuckled, and Violet joined her friend, shaking her head disapprovingly at the boys.

"Take notes, gentlemen. That's how you really rule the school."

With time, Astrid had developed methods to cope with pent-up stress and murderous urges. Some were more effective than others. Some were more straining. Punching a sandbag until catharsis happened ranked fairly high on her list, and so, punching she did. She did so much punching in fact, that her limbs went numb, and by the time she realized she might have pushed herself too hard, there was no energy left to take another step. Which was why she ended up sprawled on the floor, sweaty and panting, and with an arm thrown over her eyes once the ceiling lights became too harsh to keep glaring at.

"Jesus, are you dead?"

Astrid grunted but didn't move otherwise.

She heard him limping in her direction, and when the steps stopped, felt a nudge to her leg.

"What are you doing on the floor?"

"I'm taking a break," she grumbled.

"And you couldn't find anywhere more comfortable than the floor to lie down?"

"It was the closest."

"Fair," Hiccup sighed as he sat cross-legged on the floor next to her.

Astrid shifted her arm off her eyes so she could peek at him for a second. "I thought we agreed you weren't supposed to come inside while I was working out."

"Couldn't hear any masochist noises so I figured it was safe to check on you. Was not expecting to find you dropped dead on the floor though."

She groaned, pushing herself to sit up so she could glower at him. "I'm still mad at you, you know."

Hiccup tilted his head to the side and chuckled. "And why's that?"

"Because thanks to you, I smelled like wet fur the entire day!" Astrid swung her arm in a wide arc, hitting him square in the shoulder.

"Whu—why?" Hiccup whined, hunching over and rubbing his injury. "Mind explaining how the hell that could've been in any way my fault?"

"Your and your stupid friends' stupidity is contagious and is making the rest of the student body act like brainless idiots."

"Harsh."

Ignoring him, she continued, "If it wasn't for Frost and his bet, none of this would be happening!"

"I think you're overestimating us a little." Hiccup leaned back languidly and looked at her, amused. "Kids will do dumb stuff regardless. You can't blame us for how our species evolved."

"Or how it didn't."

Grinning cheekily, Hiccup got up and offered the blonde a hand. "Come on, let's go eat. It'll make you feel better."

"I'm not hungry," Astrid grumbled, swatting his hand away.

"Uh-huh…"

"I'm not," the girl emphasized, ignoring her stomach growling as if it wanted to be a part of the conversation.

From the corner of her eyes, she saw Hiccup walking to the bench, slinging her bag over her shoulder and making his way back to her. He stopped, held his hand out again, wiggling his fingers. "Would you like me to carry you, milady?"

She rolled her eyes. "Do I look like I wanna see you snapping your fucking spine in half?"

"Aw, you're cute when you care."

Taking advantage of Astrid's momentary bafflement, and also showing off his unexpected upper body strength, Hiccup took her hands, pulling her up easily and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Shut up," the blonde grumbled, grudgingly letting him lead her to the gym's doors.

"Love you too, babe..."