Dragon Treasure: Apology(rough draft), a DreamWorks' How to Train Your Dragon fanfic by Raberba girl
A/N: Takes place eight years after the main story.
o.o.o
Since Hiccup was in the country for a seminar, he called up Seth and arranged to meet with him and his wife for dinner.
"By the way," Hiccup added before he hung up, "just a heads up, I was planning to bring along a guest, unless you or Jennifer have any objection."
"Hah, as if I'd ever object to seeing Toothless!"
"Oh, not Toothless, I meant-" Hiccup had been thinking of his dragon's presence as a given. "I mean, he is coming, but I meant someone else. My fiancée, actually."
"Oh! No, sure, that's cool; I didn't know you were engaged! Congrats. Hey, speaking of guests, I happen to have invited one along as well. You don't mind, do you?"
"How much does he know? Or, she, whatever."
"He knows everything."
"...Oh."
"No worries, Hiccup. Trust me, it'll be fine."
Hiccup did trust Seth, at least for this sort of thing. "All right. I'll see you tomorrow at 8:00, then?"
"Yup. Marta's, right?"
"Obviously."
o.o.o.o.o
Marta's restaurant was the only one where Toothless was welcome. Hiccup still had to wait in the van until he'd called Marta and gotten the go-ahead, at which point he and Astrid sneaked Toothless through a back door where Marta was waiting for them. It probably wouldn't be good for business if the customers knew that there was a dragon dining in the same building.
The woman greeted them warmly, hugging both Hiccup and Astrid. Toothless was excited to see her, and she looked happy as she cuddled and baby-talked at the dragon. "Room is ready," Marta finally said, ushering them toward the special events room. "You are first ones here, I will bring appe-tize for you."
"Thanks, Marta."
Seth and Jennifer didn't keep them waiting long. As soon as they entered, Toothless eagerly loped over to them, and was greeted by Seth with affectionate enthusiasm. Jennifer smiled, but kept her distance on her husband's other side. "And this must be the fiancée!" Seth exclaimed when he straightened up again.
"Astrid Hofferson," she introduced herself, holding out a hand to shake. "It's nice to meet you."
"Likewise." With a quick wink at Hiccup, Seth introduced Jennifer to Astrid, and the group made their way back to the table, chattering amicably.
Seth's guest was late. They were already starting on their meal when the door opened and a young man stepped inside. Toothless immediately growled and moved in front of Hiccup, which was alarming. The newcomer froze as soon as he set eyes on the dragon.
"Heeey, there you are!" Seth called cheerfully. "I was just starting to think you wouldn't make it."
"What's he doing here?" Jennifer hissed.
"Ssshh, Jen, it's all right," Seth said soothingly. "He wanted to meet Hiccup, and I thought he deserved the chance."
"The dragon's here?" the young man said weakly.
Hiccup thought he looked vaguely familiar, but couldn't place him. "Toothless, Hush." The dragon laid his head in Hiccup's lap, still glaring.
"Hiccup," Seth said, watching him, "this is Eret Hunter."
"What?!" At Hiccup's alarm, Toothless straightened back up and flared his wings; Astrid, recognizing the name, stood up and set a hand on the back of her fiancé's chair, leaning over him protectively.
"Junior," the young man burst out. "Eret Hunter Junior. I'm...I'm the son, not him."
"Toothless, Hush," Hiccup murmured unhappily, starting to stroke the dragon's scales to soothe himself.
"I won't stay long," Eret said quickly. "I just...I talked to Sasheena a few months ago, and Kieran wouldn't- I mean, Jacob wouldn't see me, and I've met these two already, and...well, you're always in Kenya, and the few times you're here, it just doesn't seem right to approach you when you're-"
"What do you want?" Astrid snapped.
"I just wanted to apologize." Eret's eyes were full of pain. "I wanted to tell you that I had nothing, absolutely nothing to do with my father - he abandoned me when I was five years old, and I never heard from him again until eight years ago when the news came out. But I still wanted to look you in the face and apologize on his behalf, because I know he's not sorry for what he's done but someone should be."
There was a long pause, then Hiccup said quietly, "Come and sit down, there's a place for you." He indicated the setting for Seth's guest.
"No, I- No, I have to go, I just wanted-"
Hiccup stood up and approached. Eret licked his lips nervously and backed up a step. Hiccup set a hand on his shoulder and said, "I wouldn't want the same name as a person like that, either. But you are not him, and you've done nothing to be sorry for or ashamed of." He glanced at Toothless, then, to Eret's alarm, nuzzled the man gently.
Toothless relaxed and padded closer to nudge Eret's hip.
"What is he doing?!" Eret squeaked, clutching at Hiccup as if trying to stop himself from swatting the dragon away.
"He's marking you. Don't worry, he won't hurt you, he's just deciding that you're probably not a threat." Toothless was busily rubbing scent, too subtle for humans to detect without a DO-graph, onto Eret's clothing. "I bet he could tell when you walked in that you're closely related to Hunter - biologically, anyway - and he knew that Hunter was a threat, so he associates your family scent with danger. But he can tell that you're not angry at us and he can see that you haven't tried to hurt us, so this is his way of changing his mind."
Toothless yawned and ambled back to the table, dropping into a casual sprawl at Astrid's feet.
"Come on," Hiccup said gently, tugging Eret toward his chair.
"I...well, I- suppose I could stay for just a little while..."
o.o.o
Author's Notes: I realized belatedly that it might be considered insulting to refer to the entire continent rather than the specific country. ^^; Fixed it in this vignette (small homage to my favorite dragon book), though I haven't yet in previous chapters.
So, yes, Hiccup actually does start dating someone and ends up in a serious relationship with her - AFTER he's a little older and has had some time to heal.