Oh damn, I seem to have been neglecting you guys, every single one of my stories were ignored for a whole week and now I feel sad, sorry.
Either way, I was away for a bit, firstly school is a bitch, and I no longer have access to an in school computer, probably because of me being that one guy in the school who could legitimately bring down the network given the right incentive (I'm not really joking but, while I really dislike school, who would really gain from such an attack)
Next up, I've been programming, and have devised a simple language interpreter for a feature in a minecraft mod, and a bunch of other developments with that...yeah minecraft and java aren't great, but it keeps me improving some skills
Thirdly, I've reached my eighteenth birthday, and that kept me busy for the whole of the week. Darn family being too awesome. :P
The reason I'm back is due to starting Spring Break.
Reviews:
xlight02: Thank you, shall do
Gamer Spice: Yes, however Hiccup will eventually end up the main lead, it will switch between Hiccup and Astrid depending on the song, where the other will end up background vocals for that song, but let's just say Hiccup hasn't discovered yet.
NatBlake: As I PMed to you, thanks, I really tried with those first interactions, as everything I did was experimental, and I too feel I left out the bantering during practice, seems like a great time to try doing that.
Now to Hidden Pain...
Update: I had to remove the prosthetic reference as that part of Hiccup's background is getting fixed.
Chapter 3: Hidden Pain
Hiccup woke the next morning immediately to the idea of the talent show just after his alarm blasted his mind. He heard Toothless call back, now unhappy at the persisting alarm, which had rung for five minutes while Hiccup was lost in thought. Hiccup sat up and clicked the digital clock off, to the relief of the bird. "Lazy bird" Hiccup chuckled as he held a short glare towards it.
He proceeded to get out and up to his closet, searching for his common green attire; he had lots of similar shirts and never bothered to change it up. He always wore his signature green shirt to school, and on most days wore his windbreaker. It may have helped with the beatings in schools, but the real reason he always wore it was because it was owned by his late mother, and one of the few things he cherished more than his guitar were the few things that he had of her.
He sighed wistfully, reminded for an unusual second of her, as he rushed down the stairs to prepare his breakfast. After eating, he continued his usual routine downstairs, to the bathroom, his one sided dialogue with his bird, and rushed out the door. He went through the fifteen minute walk, was in early as usual and got right to homeroom, thinking about what to do for talent show. The talent was obvious, but he could not think of a specific song, he was sure avoiding singing was best. His contemplating on the matter broke as the first bell rung and he rushed off to history. Maybe discussing with Astrid would help him reach a good conclusion.
When he got to class, he noticed Astrid in the usual seat she'd reside in, the corner of class, and went to sit next to her. She seemed to be in a bitter mood, while she was pretty good at hiding her feelings most of the time, her longer term friends always knew the signs. He could see the moment he walked in and he had his suspicions, but since she hated discussing them, he went under the false innocence. "What's wrong?" As he sat down next to her. "Nothing." She quipped, leaving Hiccup even less convinced. He raised an eyebrow while the teacher started the empty lecture. She debated bothering him.
She finally sighed in defeat against one of her friends. "My dad doesn't like me being out so late." Her conflicted half truth was still transparent to Hiccup, but he didn't push it. He always was saddened for her, he didn't know her exact predicament, but he suspected nothing good. He wished he could help her. "If it'll help we'll finish earlier." He told her, having lots of sympathy for her. "You remember about the talent show?" To which she perked up a little. "Of course, I suggested it, why would I forget?" She was wondering what kind of question was that, "What song should we do?" He said.
She thought on the answer the whole class, she knew a good few songs, and if needed, could quickly learn others. But by the end of class she had an idea in her head, a rather risky one, but something she was determined to perfect. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" She said as they packed up their bags to leave. "Huh?" Hiccup asked her, to which she replied "Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana, you know it?" She cocked her head as they walked out the room. "Yeah, I know it, who doesn't, but you sure? It isn't hard, but it's a pretty popular song and it kind of needs a singer." She nodded determinedly to her friend, now focused on her singular task to perfect that song. "I can sing it, not like Kurt obviously, but I can...it'll be fun." She smiled back at him as they walked the hallways to the next class, stopping at a corner as it's where their paths diverged. "Alright, if you think you can pull it off, we'll try it after school." They split off, getting to class.
"You sure you two want to do that, I see an eighty percent chance of something bad happening, I really don't want to get beat for ruining a song lots of people love." Felix said, concerned for his safety due to the fanatics of Nirvana, he suspected there were a good few. "It won't be an issue, and as long as no one brings up the Courtney Love, I doubt they'll care." Hiccup told his friend, knowing just as well that most people who were that fanatic of Nirvana were probably a bit old for a high school talent show. "Trust me Fishlegs, it won't be an issue, we'll have fun, relax." Felix looked up at his friend with a conflicted scowl. "I resent that nickname," and huffed a sigh in smidge of defeat "but alright, if you and Astrid think we can do it, I'll play Dave Grohl. Though I definitely don't have the hair for it." They shared a chuckle at the crack of his bleach-like hair.
They had gotten setup ready to play and decided that to start practice maybe they best start slow, and see Astrid's attempts at singing along. Both the boys knew Astrid was pretty good as singing, she had been singled out for a couple parts in the chorus, her first year she spent in the drama's musical she had handled two long solos, to which the school had made the freshman watch, not that it was too bad. That earned her a reputation for her vocals.
The they got into the song, playing off seriously first, and just before they were to cut from the intro into the vocals, Hiccup cut them all off. "Should we really take this so serious? It's not like they were ever that serious." As he was the most relaxed guy of the group. "We obviously can't be like Nirvana, but I don't think playing real serious is any better." His statement found some solace in both Felix and Astrid, though reluctantly, they started the song from the beginning with less rigidity. As they passed into the small interlude to the vocals, they jumped in, and Astrid cut in.
"Load up on guns, bring your friends.
It's fun to lose and to pretend
She's over bored and self assured
Oh no, I know a dirty word"
She continued, trying to just sing the verses more relaxed, and coming to the chorus hard but not raspy, trying to play it more melodic than the original song. For her higher voice, it worked well enough, knowing full well if she tried to sing it close to Kurt it would piss off some fans and probably ruin the song. She continued the song keeping her vocals a bit more relaxed than she usually sang. After about an hour of trying her own style, feeling rather proud, hoping to avoid insulted fans, of her twists she did as a cover, they ended the session earlier than Felix expected, hours before their usual time as they started to enjoy goofing off occasionally in the song.
"Wait, why are we stopping?" He asked, curious when they were all obviously having a good time. "Is something up?" Hiccup looked over before walking in front of the set. "Astrid's dad isn't 'happy'," air quoting happy as he whispered it "with her being out so late, so I'm taking her home early." As they starting pack up, Felix went to the side of Astrid. "Hey Astrid" he said a timidly "You...uh, sounded good...like really good, I...m um...looking forward to playing with you" His stuttering pinned him easily, and she knew what was wrong "Why are you so nervous around me Fishlegs? It's not like I'm gonna kill ya" She smirked, finishing her pack and went up the stairs to wait for Hiccup. "Yeah...wait..." The gears in his head started turning "Shit! Astrid..." And in a span of five seconds he went from nervous to confused to upset because of that comment. "Astrid-" as he rushed up his stairs. "Don't worry, I'll not let it slip, I'm good at secrets." She grinned. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop."
"Why you evil little-" He started to whisper when Hiccup shoved passed him clumsily. "So'll drop Astrid off and walk home, keys on the table?" He inquired as he went to fetch the keys while Astrid was now waiting outside. "Dude, now she knows that dumb nickname, which by the way, I still resent." Pulling Hiccup in as if he was surrounded in crowd, whispering into his ear. All Hiccup did was grin at him, growing to a slight chuckle. "Don't worry, Fishlegs, it's a sign of friendship, I doubt she'd start using it otherwise" And 'Fishlegs' just sighed "Fine, I'll concede to it, I just really hope neither of you spread it around." Hiccup walked to the door. "Don't worry about it, I know for a fact neither of us would spill such a worthy secret, and hey, if you don't get annoyed, it'll probably be easier to drop." He shrugged out the door. Though Felix was never really much of a jokester, he never really asked Hiccup to stop calling him it, in his mind, it was somewhat nice, but he'd never admit it.
The next several days were spent between jokingly practicing the cover, messing around, generally goofing off. After Hiccup reminded them to loosen up a bit, they eventually listened, and the time spent seemed shorter than it was. It was disheartened them that was how time had been, but it was a common to believe that enjoyment always sped the passage, or as the newly dubbed Fishlegs said "Entertainment had an inverse effect on time." But to all of them, it was nice to finally have something to unwind to, especially when nothing happened during April. Eventually they become loose enough to talk to each other about their problems, things that bugged them in life or were just unsatisfying.
"I don't know honestly, I feel like my dad is just too ignorant to my life. I know he cares, but it's hard to really believe that when he rarely stays a moment at the house, it's like he doesn't want to be home." Hiccup trailed on, general practice had concluded for the day, and they found just being pals was a better interest than just goofing off the whole time "I don't know, maybe I'm crazy, or stupid, but I'd swear he wants to avoid me." He concluded, looking more resentful than upset, pouting for his conflicted feelings of his screwed up family. After his mother died, things were never the same, and his reeling mind reminded him every day. "That's a hard feeling, missing your dad, does he even bother?" Felix asked, not knowing any non-awkward way to continue. "Yeah he tr-well I think he tries, he pushes for me to work hard in school sometimes and he's not happy if he thinks I'm wasting time, but he's so rarely home he might as well not be home at all." Hiccup stated rather blunt as his mates listened intently. "Yeah..." Astrid started to trail, staring into space. She so rarely chimed in on the "Feels" session as she called it, often staring blankly when Felix and Hiccup talked about dad problems. When they did get her talking, she talked a bit about her mother being scared before sealing her mouth back up.
Hiccup finally had what he perceived as a full picture of her biggest problems, but he still couldn't help her. He wanted to, and he suspected Felix, now being her friend too, did as well, but until she willing release herself from the tight control she put in place, they were stuck. It saddened him to no end. But he was happy he could at least bring joy to her by musical expression, even if she was struck by family before.
So I let Toothless become less prominent in this chapter, don't worry, he'll probably become more prominent again in the next one, and he will eventually he got some more "screen time" as they say.
Now what I really like to say is I feel this chapter has just created three great backgrounds to follow for the characters, most especially Astrid, but Hiccup's as well (Felix/Fishlegs will get expansion)
Also, you might want to put a few suspicions on Astrid, I already alluded about her.
I also hope the interactions were better, I'm actually pushing the do even more.
And guess what? The talent show is up next, and I have a lot I plan to do with that, I'll either write a two to four thousand more words than usual or I'll split it into two thousand word chapters, probably the latter option.
Anyway, I hope my versions are not too OOC (I know Astrid is probably way less then she should, but you will see examples of Astrid truly being Astrid next chapter, I promise)
Also, Nirvana fans, I am one too, and don't get mad at me please, I know no one can really do Kurt and I'm purposely stating here and now, as I stated when Astrid suggested the idea, that Kurt can not be copied, it is a cover of her own style, so please don't attack me. (I know the regular fan probably won't, this is for those "super-fan" people, please, I mean no insults or disgraces anywhere)
And now I feel I'm rambling, so I'll leave you with "I hoped you really liked my AU characters" and of course point out if you liked this, fav and follow as it benefits both of us (it shows both me and other people that this could be read and you can keep track of it of course) and whether you liked or hated it, give me a review, as it tells me what I did well or not.
