"So you're telling me he didn't even go in for a kiss? I'm not sure if that's classy or if he's a dweeb," Astrid said with a teasing lilt.

"Oh gosh, I don't know Astrid! A super cute man making sure I was comfortable and happy the whole night not pressing me for a kiss? There must be something wrong with him."

Hiccup's level of dryness was roughly that of the Mojave.

He called Astrid after classes the next day to catch her up. He had already mentioned to Anna how well the date had gone. She had gushed over how happy she was for Hiccup and told him to bring his date around sometime if things keep going well. 'Maybe I could switch one of your projects to a portrait of him. That, or you could just do it for fun.' She had said with a wink. Hiccup could only nervously chuckle and rub the back of his head and weakly say 'Yeah, maybe…'

"Well it's clear there is something incredibly wrong with him – he willingly chose to go on a date with you."

"Thanks Astrid, I always appreciate your unyielding love and support."

"You had better, Hiccup. I'm a real Angel."

"Yep. The kind that comes with wings but not with a halo."

"Nice. Anyways, when are you seeing him next?"

"Sometime this week I'm thinking. Whenever I have a free night. And don't you immediately jump on the fact that I used the word 'night' as an excuse to say I will sleep with him. That's a no-go."

"You know me too well Hiccup. Okay, I gotta get ready for work now. Good luck with your next date and I'm both proud of you and happy for you Hiccup. Remember that."

Hiccup smiled. "Thanks, Astrid, and same to you. Good luck at work and I'll talk to you soon."

"Peace, loser," Astrid said and immediately hung up.

Hiccup sighed and then chuckled. I don't think I could ask for a better friend.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hiccup walked out of the shower Tuesday morning to a text from Jack.

'So Hiccup, it has officially been at least 24 hours and you still haven't invited me on our next date. I'm not only shocked but offended. Ps, I'm not being clingy, I just want to know what you are doing all hours of the day, every day of the week and I also require a list of everyone you speak to, including professors.'

'Good morning to you too, Jack' Hiccup responded, ignoring the obvious false offense Jack displayed.

'What do you mean? Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?' 'Don't you quote Tolkien to me, Frostbite. Good morning, O talkative one.'

'Good morning Hiccup. So about that date… ; )'

'Well, I was planning on inviting you over later this week or this weekend so we could spend more than just a few hours together after class, but I guess I'll throw away my plans to appease your nagging. Are you free tonight?'

'I'm not nagging! I just wanted to see you again, you sassy loser.'

'Call me a loser again and I'll have to stick to my original plan.'

'Dick : P'

Hiccup slid his hand down his face in exasperation.

'Technically you didn't call me a loser so I guess I'll let that one slide. I'm done with class by 3:45 today if you do want to come over.'

'Heck yeah I do! I'm done at 5:10 if that works for you.'

'Sure. Gives me enough time to get dinner and snacks started. Make your way over once classes are done.'

'Great. See you later, Hiccey ; )'

'I reserve the right to cancel anytime, Frosty.'

'If you were going to you already would have.'

Hiccup could feel the challenge waft off that text. 'That or I'll just poison your dinner. Want to keep playing this game?'

'And you call me a murderer?'

Hiccup decided to just leave it there. Dramatic suspense and all that.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

3:45 rolled around quickly and Hiccup made his way home as fast as possible. He began getting everything ready for the night.

Jack texted right at 5:10 telling Hiccup he'd be there within 15 minutes. Checking over his cooking, Hiccup nodded, happy with how everything was coming. He sat down at a chair near the door and Toothless hopped up on the armrest, looking for some attention.

"Hey bud, you're going to get to meet Jack today. Are you excited?"

Toothless just continued mashing his face into Hiccup's hand, looking for more scratching.

"I'll take that as an 'I don't care.' Well, just be nice to him, okay? I like this guy and I would be angry with you if you scared him off."

Toothless meowed a little and met Hiccup's eyes. His tail flicked once before he hopped off the chair to go lay down somewhere else.

Hiccup waited a few more minutes until there was a knock on his door. He launched up and walked to the door, brushing the cat hair off his shirt. He took a steadying breath before opening the door with a smile.

"Hey loser!" Jack immediately said with a grin.

Hiccup returned the grin and promptly shut the door. "I told you not to call me a loser!" Hiccup yelled through the door.

"Hey, I was just trying to be funny!" Jack yelled back.

Hiccup opened the door again, "Emphasis on trying. Now don't say anything until you get in here or I'm shutting you out for real this time."

Jack complied and entered the threshold. He took off his shoes and followed Hiccup into the living room, eyeing up the apartment. The living room was decently large, furnished with a comfortable looking chair and couch that faced a TV. Bookshelves were behind that section and filled to the brim with not only books but small statues of various things. A small hallway lead to what he was guessing was Hiccup's bedroom and a bathroom. All in all, a nice place for a college kid, especially for a single bedroom apartment.

"So what do you have in store for us tonight, Hiccup?"

"Well, I have some pizza dough that's about done rising so we can top those and bake them, then I was going to put on a movie. Any objections?"

Jack eyed Hiccup. A smear of flour occupied a place on Hiccup's cheek just below the eye. He wore comfortably loose jeans and a deep maroon tee. He looked good.

"None from my side, I think that sounds fantastic. But first…" Jack trailed off while approaching Hiccup.

Hiccup flinched backwards slightly due to Jack's closeness and froze when he lifted a hand to his face.

Jack gently wiped the flour from Hiccup's face, grinning at how worried the brunette looked at their closeness. "You had some flour on your cheek," Jack said softly. He let his hand linger on Hiccup's reddening cheek for a moment more before lowering his hand and gesturing towards the countertop. "Shall we?"

Hiccup blinked a few times, cleared his throat lightly, then said, "Uh, yeah. What toppings do you want?"

Hiccup listed off what he had while pulling out all the ingredients he had prepared earlier. Jack lingered behind Hiccup, spoke up when he heard something good, and watched Hiccup move around the kitchen with practiced ease. When it came time to spread the dough out on the pans, Hiccup made Jack participate.

"So you just want to keep pressing it gently outward, trying not to tear the dough. Go slow and be gentle."

Jack mimicked Hiccup's actions but quickly found that it was harder than it looked to keep the dough spread out while not tearing it. It just kept bouncing back into place like elastic. Hiccup noticed these struggles and sidestepped next to Jack.

"Here, let me help." He placed his hands on top of Jack's. "You want to spread your fingers as you push outwards, it helps it stretch. And you have to use just the right amount of force." He pushed Jack's hands into the dough and spread his fingers, Jack mirroring him. Once Jack got the hang of it, Hiccup took his hands away and grinned. He loved teaching people how to cook.

As soon as Jack finished spreading the dough, he turned to Hiccup with an odd smirk on his face. He held up his hand. "Let me see your hand Hiccup."

Hiccup shot Jack an odd look. "Uh, why?"

"I've just never met someone with bigger hands than me is all. I'm curious." The odd grin was still on his face.

Hiccup complied, holding his hand flat against Jack's. Hiccup's was slightly larger in all aspects.

"Did you know that the span between the tip of the pointer finger and the tip of the thumb is an accurate representation of how big that person's dick is?" Jack spouted with a mirthfully mischievous grin on his face.

Hiccup was dumbstruck. He gaped at the white-haired man, in sheer awe. He slowly withdrew his hand before covering his face with both. "What…. In the HELL Jack?!" Hiccup said slowly, confused as shit. "Where did that COME from?" He laughed awkwardly as Jack just beamed.

"Just a fun fact!" Jack exclaimed lighly before turning back to his pizza, grabbing a few ingredients.

"I can't believe that just happened," Hiccup said with disbelief.

"Always expect the unexpected around me Hicceyyy~," Jack trilled.

Hiccup jabbed Jack in his side, making the shorter man yelp and jump. "Well then always expect me to retaliate in some way, Jackie."

"I'll be looking forward to it," Jack said sassily while giving Hiccup a quick, dark look and wagging his eyebrows.

"Who the hell even are you and why did I let you in my apartment."

"Well you invited me in so I might even be a vampire. Who knows! Stay tuned to figure it out."

"Alright Edward Cullen, take it down a notch and finish your damn pizza" Hiccup with a smirk and finality. I can't believe this whole conversation just happened…

They finished topping their pizzas while bantering lightly. After popping them in the oven they plopped themselves on the couch.

"So what are you going to have us watch?" Jack asked.

"I'm leaning towards Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist because it's my favorite movie of all time."

"Never heard of it."

"Yep, we're watching it immediately. You need to be enlightened."

Hiccup opened his laptop, connected it to the TV, and played the movie.

They watched in silence on opposite ends of the couch, Jack splayed out a little and Hiccup sitting mostly upright, a little stiffly. About 20 minutes into the movie a timer dinged in the kitchen, signifying the pizza being done. Hiccup got up quickly to check on the food and Jack took note of his mildly nervous demeanor.

"This movie is fantastic so far, Hiccup. Beautifully awkward."

"I'm glad you're liking it," Hiccup said while slicing the pizzas, "All Michael Cera movies seem to follow the same trend of awkward, dry, cliché or nerdy humor. It's a spectacular sub-genre."

Jack got up and made his way to the kitchen, "Way to make movies sound so dry with your technical terms, Hiccey."

Hiccup shot a dry look at Jack who simply winked in response.

They plated their pizza and went back to the couch. Jack immediately took a bite of pizza. "FUCK!" He exclaimed through his mouthful of pizza. He panted a bit before swallowing. "That was hot!"

"Well no shit you goof! It just got out of the oven, what did you expect?" Hiccup said incredulously.

"Oh hush, it's not my fault you made me wait so long for food. I haven't eaten since the last time I ate!"

"What wisdom you speak. I'm in the presence of a philosopher."

Jack stuck out his tongue and took another bite of pizza without breaking eye contact with Hiccup. "You gotta hurt for what you love," he said with pizza filling his mouth.

"You really are crazy, aren't you Jack?"

"Crazy about pizza, music, and a certain brown-haired cutie," he winked.

Hiccup blushed and was unsure of what to say, so he took a bite of pizza himself. It too was still extremely hot but he refused to show that it hurt. He hit play on the movie while they continued to eat.

They sat in roughly the same way as before, Jack looking comfortable and Hiccup slightly stiff.

Jack decided enough was enough and paused the movie. Hiccup looked at him, slightly confused.

"You doing alright, Hiccup? You look nervous."

Hiccup blushed and looked at his hands, which were clenched together lightly. He took a steadying breath before saying, "I've just never had a guy I like over before and I don't quite know how to act, okay? I'm nervous…. To be completely honest."

Jack smiled slightly and warmly. "That's totally okay Hiccup, I didn't know. I'm not gonna pressure you into anything you don't want to do and don't feel obligated to do… well, anything, really."

Hiccup blushed before blurting, "Can we cuddle a little? I'd like that."

Jack's smile broadened, "Sure, Hic. I'd like that too." He reached over, grabbed Hiccup, and pulled him in front of himself. Jack wrapped his arm around Hiccup's torso and stuck a leg between his. "Better?"

Hiccup wiggled in a little closer and nodded. He reached out and resumed the movie.

They remained much like this until the movie was over.

Hiccup sat up and stretched. "You want to watch another movie? It is 8 so I'd understand if you'd like to head out also."

"If you'd let me stay, I would love to watch another movie. Can I choose next?"

"Sure, it's only fair," Hiccup said with a smirk. He started leaning towards the computer when Jack caught his shoulder.

"One thing first," he said quickly, pulling Hiccup back.

Hiccup looked at him questioningly.

"Can I kiss you?"

Hiccup instantly blushed and froze for a second before nodding.

Jack sat up and they both leaned in. They closed their eyes as their lips met. They kissed slowly and softly for a few moments before Jack pulled away and grinned cutely, enjoying the beautiful blushing man in front of him. He wordlessly leaned in again and they continued kissing for a few more moments, just enjoying the feeling of being so close to the other.

Hiccup wrapped an arm around Jack's back to pull closer together. Jack followed his lead and did the same. They allowed their hands to wander over the other's back, exploring muscles, shoulder blades, and gently placing fingers in the valleys between ribs. Fingers began lacing through brown and white hair as their kisses grew playfully passionate. Jack lead that trend by biting Hiccup's bottom lip and lightly pulling, making Hiccup gasp quietly. Jack passed his tongue over Hiccup's trapped lip before letting it free and pulling Hiccup's head in and kissing him long and hard. There was an ebb and flow between these nips and forceful kisses and lighter, fluttering kisses. They didn't speak or make much noise, they just did what felt right.

Hiccup eventually lifted slightly off Jack, putting a pause to their kissing. He stared into Jack's slightly reddened eyes and took in the spectacular man in front of him. His now tousled white hair and his pale skin, lightly spotted with hints of freckles. Damn. This is incredible… Hiccup smiled and laid back down on top of Jack, just holding him. Jack squeezed Hiccup in a tight hug in return.

"Thank you," Jack whispered into Hiccup's ear.

"For what?"

"For putting up with me, for feeding me, for showing me Nick and Norah, and especially for allowing me to kiss you."

Hiccup squeezed Jack as best as he could in response and then added, "Thank you for coming over, dealing with me, and for being my first real kiss."

Jack lifted Hiccup slightly so he could see his face, "This was your first kiss?" Jack was astonished.

Hiccup seemed slightly sheepish, "Yeah, I've never actually kissed a guy… willingly before."

"What do you mean?"

"I… I'd prefer not to talk about it. I'll just say you were the first person to ask permission to kiss me before you did. So I count you as my first real kiss."

Jack pulled Hiccup flush against him again, holding him tight. "I'm honored to be your first real kiss Hiccup."

Hiccup hummed warmly and smiled into Jack's shoulder, breathing in his scent.

"Wanna turn on that next movie and keep cuddling?"

Hiccup nodded.

Jack decided they would watch Easy A next, to Hiccup's mutual delight.

They continued to cuddle and occasionally kiss during the movie. By the end Hiccup was nearly asleep.

"Would you like me to leave soon so you could get to bed Hiccup?"

Hiccup paused.

"Only if you want to go. You can stay… if you like," Hiccup said cautiously.

"I would love to stay the night if you'd let me. I didn't bring any PJs though."

"You can borrow some of mine, you should fit. Just no funny business tonight, okay?"

Jack chuckled. "No funny business, I promise. Not on the second date. Just cuddling and kissing and sleep."

Hiccup nodded, "That sounds nice."

They got up and made their way to Hiccup's room where Hiccup grabbed a pair of sweatpants and an oversize t-shirt. "Will these do?"

"They'll do," Jack said with a smirk. "Thanks Hiccey." He leaned in to give Hiccup a peck but jumped back as Hiccup grabbed his sides and tickled him, yelping as he did so. "Hey!"

"I keep telling you not to call me Hiccey. Now I have to start punishing you," Hiccup retorted.

Jack nodded his head a bit, "Yeah, that's pretty much fair. And worth the risk."

"You have been warned. Now," Hiccup made his way across the hall into the bathroom, digging around before producing a new toothbrush, "You can use this if you'd like. I'll leave you to change."

Hiccup went back into his room and changed into his night clothes while Jack did the same in the bathroom. Hiccup took his turn in the bathroom after Jack before entering his room and closing his door. He sat down on his bed and looked at Jack who sat next to him. "Well, now you get to learn another one of my secrets."

"What do you mea- oh," Jack started and then stopped speaking as Hiccup pulled up his pant leg, revealing his prosthetic.

"Yep. I lost the lower part of my leg years ago… that also is a story for another time," Hiccup explained while taking apart his prosthetic leg and then sliding off his liner and sock, revealing his stump. Jack simply watched, a bit dumbstruck. Hiccup looked up at him, a worried expression on his face, "Does this bother you at all?" He asked nervously.

"N… no. I'm just a little surprised is all. I had no clue you had a prosthetic." Jack chuckled nervously, "I absolutely did not expect that. Okay. Wow. So, I have to ask. Can I, well, touch it?" Jack looked a little shocked that he had said that.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Hiccup responded a little awkwardly.

"Not, like, now! That's not what I meant. I didn't mean that I wanted to grope your…" -Jack was obviously searching for the right word to say, it was clear on his face - a face Hiccup had seen often and grown accustomed to over the years, so he supplied, "Stump."

"Right. Stump. Okay. Well I just mean is it okay to ever touch it. I didn't know if you were okay with that or if it was a no-go-zone or if it could somehow hurt you-"

Hiccup cut off Jack's flustered and cutely concerned rambling with a sudden kiss. Jack stiffened, but then relaxed into the kiss. Hiccup slowly pulled back, "Jack, it's totally fine. If anything, I'm glad you cared enough to ask. And, yes. It's absolutely okay if you touch it. It won't hurt and I don't mind," he finished with a small smile.

Jack visibly calmed. "Alright, I'm sorry if I was sudden with any of that. I asked out of impulse to be completely honest."

"Like I said, Jack. I'm glad you asked. Now let's get to bed," Hiccup said as he pushed Jack down on the bed.

"Fine then Mr Bossy," Jack faux pouted. He scooted onto the bed more. "Do you want the wall or closer to the room?"

"I'll take the wall. But you can be big spoon again."

"Deal."

They cuddled up after Hiccup flipped off the light.

"Goodnight Jack."

"Goodnight Hic. Sweet dreams," Jack said and kissed the back of Hiccup's neck.

They fell asleep to the sound of the other's breathing.