TWO: Dinner Disaster

Having moved his things to the left side of the bed after losing the best of nine rock-paper-scissors, the pair had settled down, unpacked and moved into the room. Astrid had gone out to check the slopes and get a map of the runs while Hiccup had finished reading his book. By the time she was back, it was almost time for dinner so he had changed into his good dark red shirt and black jeans and then had rung down to confirm that their table. And then Astrid had emerged from the bathroom.

His jaw dropped, for she was sheathed in a lapis blue knitted dress with a bronze pendant on a long rawhide string, her dark blue tights and copper ankle boots matching the outfit. Her long blonde hair was loose over her shoulders and her lips were pink with lipstick. She stopped and looked at his shocked expression.

"Is everything okay?" she asked as he blinked.

"Um...yeah?" he answered nervously. "I mean you're beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. And I cannot believe you're going to the restaurant. With me. Even if we aren't having the 'Vintage Claret'..." She chuckled.

"You clean up pretty well yourself," she commented as she grabbed her purse and they headed downstairs. "I mean, it is New Year's Eve and I am here with a new friend in possibly the worst hotel in Dragon's Edge." She linked her arm with his and grinned. "What could possibly go wrong?"

In the couple of hours since they had headed upstairs, the Lobby had been decorated with balloons, banners and streamers, there was party music playing and Snotlout was now dressed as a waiter bearing a large tray laden with glasses of fruit juice and plates of surprisingly-appetising looking canapes. Astrid peered at them and tentatively took a mini goat's cheese and onion marmalade mini brioche while Hiccup hazarded the smoked salmon and caviar blini. Both were excellent. And then they walked to the restaurant, where a sleek woman in a black tux welcomed them, her raven hair braided over her left shoulder and green eyes welcoming.

"Welcome to the Zippleback Restaurant," she said smoothly. "Reservation in the name of…?"

"Haddock," Hiccup said firmly as the woman smiled.

"Table three," she said and grabbed two green leatherette-bound menus and led them to an excellent two-person table by the big picture window showing the slopes. "My name is Heather and I will be your server. Here are the Specials tonight." Hiccup and Astrid took their seats and both ordered the salmon and crab terrine with dill mayonnaise and wilted spinach as appetisers with steaks for their entrees-Hiccup had the peppercorn sauce while Astrid ordered Bernaise. And for dessert, Heather had recommended the Crepes d'Hiver, a black cherry and kirsch version of Crepe Suzette.

Looking around, Astrid had looked longingly at the illuminated slopes, her eyes glowing softly with happiness and in that moment, Hiccup realised he had finally met the real girl. As they sipped their champagne cocktails, Astrid had explained how her Uncle had taught her to ski, how she had been ferociously competitive and how she had gone to a ski gymnasium over in Sweden to hone her skills. And when she was able, she had joined the Ski Cross Tour and had been making waves ever since. How she had been leading the ranking this year until she was illegally taken out by her rival and had ended up sidelined with a broken wrist that had denied her the slopes until it was healed-and how desperate she was to get back on her skis and check she hadn't lost her nerve.

"I can't imagine you fearing anything," Hiccup said gallantly. She shrugged.

"Hoffersons are always know as Fearless but my parents are not happy when I risk so much on the course," she sighed. "They won't come to races because they really wanted me to go into Alpine. Notwithstanding it's faster and far more dangerous. I mean, people die doing Alpine Skiing! We just get a few breaks and concussions…"

"None of which sounds very encouraging either…" he pointed out. She sighed.

"Hiccup-I'm really good at this," she told him as Heather delivered their appetisers. "I mean in the top two or three in the entire world! And I know my career won't last forever-but while I have the chance, why shouldn't I fly? Why shouldn't I see how good I can really be? My parents want me safe-but I know I will spend my life regretting not trying. And life is too short to spend on regrets. I mean, I can do something safe once my career is over!"

He grasped her hand.

"I believe you," he said. "I mean regrets are killers, aren't they" She nodded and he felt a pang of sympathy. "And I guess your parents don't come to your races?" She shook her head, her eyes filled with regret. "And Uncle Finn?"

"Died in a car smash shortly after I won my first race," she sighed. "I want to stand on top of the podium at the end of the season with the Crystal Globe and dedicate it all to him."

"So this is really important to you," he realised and she nodded-and then her brows furrowed as she dipped into her appetiser.

"But you haven't had a great time either," she pointed out. "You said you had broken up with your girlfriend?" He nodded.

"Yeah," he sighed. "We had been together for eight months and I was in love with her. She was a teacher at well-but she transferred to Berk Academy over the summer while I stayed at Raven Point High." Astrid sipped her champagne and watched him. His hands were moving as he talked about the woman, how she was smart and sassy and how she had wanted him to transfer-but he was determined to stay at the public school and give the kids every chance he could. And then how he had heard rumours that she had been out on a date with someone else…from gossip in the teachers' common room.

"That's tough," she sighed. "Did she deny it?" He drained his glass.

"No," he said tonelessly. "In fact, she told me Erik was ambitious, driven, intellectual..everything I apparently was not. We argued for a couple of weeks but whatever we had was broken. So she left me for him. Two weeks ago. Not a word since. She just cut me off." He shrugged helplessly.

"So what did your family say about this?" she asked him and his shoulders slumped so she knew the answer before he gave it.

"Parents are gone," he said quietly. "Mom died in a car smash as well when I was fifteen-and Dad had a stroke when I was twenty-two. I made it to the hospital. He just told me he was pleased to see me and that his head hurt-and then he had another, fatal stroke." He shrugged.

"Well, this is depressing," she summarised honestly. "So let's make a deal, Mr Haddock. Let's forget about our woes and just for this evening-have some fun?" He looked up, his green eyes wary. "Look-you seem to be a nice guy and you're certainly a generous one, allowing a strange and very rude woman to share your room even when she tried to get you thrown out of said room. You've been polite and kind when frankly I deserved to have my ass kicked."

"True," he admitted. "But I believe you should always treat people how you want to be treated so...yeah…" Then he lifted his phone and took a picture of her. She gasped in shock. "Look, no one will believe I went to dinner with a famous sports star...let alone my unofficial Uncle…" She laughed. And then she lifted her phone, thumbed over the app and clicked a picture with a little message to her followers. He frowned. "Um...what just happened?" She smirked.

"I took a picture of the handsome young man I am having New Year's Eve dinner with," she said and turned to display the picture of Hiccup, a small smile on his face.

"Um...maybe two out of three were correct…" he mumbled but she smiled and raised her glass, which Heather had refilled.

"To friendship," she said. "To success. "To the family you choose for yourself." He raised his glass.

"And to a Happy…"

"Hiccup?" A female voice cut him off and he looked round- to see the blonde shape of his former girlfriend, Camicazi Boggs-Burglr standing just by the table, her blonde hair framing her shocked face and an exasperated look in her eyes. Hiccup's eyes widened and he stared at her, almost dropping his glass.

"C-C-Cami?" he stammered. She shook her hair.

"Yeah-me," she said. "Your girlfriend. What are you doing here? With her?"

"Um...having Dinner…" he said in a slightly dazed voice. "Why are you here, Cami?"

"Looking for my boyfriend," she said as if it was obvious.

"Really? Is he hiding somewhere here? Better check the Janitor's cupboard-he may be sharing with Snotlout," Astrid sassed. Cami glared at the poised woman.

"Excuse you and shut up!" Cami snarked. "It's none of your business!"

"Nor I think, yours," Astrid pointed out. "Since you dumped Hiccup." Glaring at the Skier, Cami turned her big blue eyes on the shocked Hiccup, who was still barely breathing.

"Hiccup? Baby? Haven't you got anything to say?" she asked plaintively.

"Um...how did you find me?" he asked. She gestured.

"You snapchatted your neighbour to check that wretched moggy of yours was okay, didn't you?" she asked a little more coldly that she had been previously. Hiccup winced: Toothless had never liked her. "I used it to track where you were-and drove up to find where my boyfriend had gotten to…"

"I'm not your boyfriend," he said painfully. "You dumped me." Cami grasped at his hand.

"Aw baby-that was just a sort of misunderstanding…" she pouted.

"You mean he dumped you," Astrid commented, swiftly chopping a piece off her steak. "Busted," she murmured under her breath.

"What was that?" Cami snapped, turning on her.

"I said-cheaters never prosper," she replied more loudly. "You cheated on him-and now the guy you cheated with doesn't want you. Maybe he realises you aren't loyal so you aren't worth keeping…" Cami grabbed her glass and splashed it straight in Astrid's face.

"So what does that make you?" she sneered. "A cheap substitute? Look at you? Blonde and blue eyes! How pathetic is it that my loser boyfriend seeks out an almost exact copy-though a bit flat in the chest department…" Astrid's fists clenched but she gritted her teeth and choked back what she wanted to say-because the girl was so wrong she was ridiculous.

"Nope-it makes me the fool," Hiccup said quietly. "A fool for believing you were serious about me and a fool for even listening to you. Astrid is right-you dumped me and you're only back to give me a second chance because you're terrified to start the New Year alone. Even though you were happy to leave me dumped and hurting when you saw a better option…" Cami smiled at him and fluttered her eyelashes.

"Hiccy Baby-you know you want me," she told him. "I mean, you're so sweet and loving...you can afford to give a silly girl who made a mistake a second chance, can't you? Baby?"

"No," he said quietly as she stared at him. "I can't trust you, Cami. I-I loved you...and you broke my heart. But to turn up and expect to snap your fingers and for everything to just be okay again is insulting to me and to you."

"And I never expected you to be cheating on me with this skank!" Cami sneered.

"You can't cheat when you're unattached," Astrid said.

"No one asked you, blondie," Cami sneered. Astrid reached up, grabbed her hair and slammed her face into her plate, hauling her up covered in gravy, mash and Sauce Bearnaise.

"And he turned you down," Astrid pointed out. Cami lunged at her but the skier swayed sideways and landed a firm punch that slammed Cami back into a completely innocent ornamental fern that found itself suddenly squashed. Cursing and flailing around, a large husky blond man in a host's black tux and pants wearing a badge saying FISHLEGS came and helped her up.

"Get off of me!" Cami spat. The man eeped and backed off.

"I'm sorry-how can we help you?" he asked politely.

"I want you to throw that woman out!" Cami announced dramatically. "She attacked me!"

"Actually-you attacked her first," Hiccup pointed out. "And you insulted her."

"Well, she's a cheap…" Cami snarled but there were gasps and murmurs. Astrid looked around.

"They know me," she murmured and Hiccup blushed. "Who am I, guys?"

"Astrid Hofferson!" a sneering female voice announced and Astrid's head snapped round to see a tall, elegant woman with long raven hair walking up with a very buff and handsome dark-haired man on her arm. Hiccup leaned closer, his eyes confused.

"Who is she?" he asked. "I take it she's not a fan?" Astrid ground her teeth.

"Felicia Dampf-Nudel, my main rival on the Tour," she growled.

"And the person who took you out in that race?" Hiccup guessed. Astrid nodded.

"What are you doing in this dive, Astrid?" Felicia asked, her sneering grey gaze sweeping over the restaurant, which was clean, nicely decorated with a Christmas tree, fairy lights and HAPPY NEW YEAR banners and filled with diners having a good meal.

"I was quietly enjoying eating dinner with my friend until some crazy bitch tried to get my date to get back with her and some uber-bitch walked by and started talking to me," she said honestly. Felicia gave a sympathetic sigh.

"Poor Asty," she said. "Your life is such a drama. Your coach dies after your first win, your boyfriend decides I'm a better bet, you almost fall and miss out on the Olympic Gold and you're just leading the Tour when you have an accident…"

Astrid snorted.

"When you shoved me on the rollers so I flew off at the 180 degree corner," Astrid growled. "Funny how you weren't red-carded for that!" Felicia gave a sly smirk.

"I guess the race jury didn't want to lose the two top stars in the Tour for an extended period-you to injury and me to suspension," she retorted. "Though I was relegated in the Final to Fourth."

"While I missed four weeks," Astrid snapped. "Hardly fair." Felicia smirked.

"Well, whatcha gonna do?" she sneered. "I took you out and now I'm two hundred points ahead in the Tour with only three races remaining. Bad luck, Hoff-looks like you're gonna fail again." Astrid frowned.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Felicia smirked, emboldened by the other girl's uncertain expression.

"Well, you know that Katrin, Magda and I worked as a team to block you and take you down in the Olympics?" she scoffed. Astrid pressed her lips together in a thin line, her eyes flashing with fury. Team tactics were against the rules-but this was clearly a pre-planned manoeuvre to ensure that Astrid had no chance at getting the Olympic medal her hard work deserved.

"So all that barging and elbowing was deliberate?" she checked and Felicia grinned.

"Katrin sacrificed her chance at the gold so I could get it and she got the silver when she overtook you when Magda mistimed her flight," she revealed smugly. "You were never meant to finish. You were meant to be taken out halfway down by Katrin whacking you with her ski stick so you crashed so I got gold, Katrin silver and Magda bronze. You ruined our plan-and our deal…"

"Deal?" Hiccup murmured as the woman turned her smug expression on him.

"Oh, you have definitely traded down, Hoff," she sneered. "This is a pathetic specimen." She pulled a pouty face. "Poor Hoff. Loser in the Olympics, loser in the Tour and loser in love. Is this the best you can get?"

Furious, Astrid leaned forward, grabbed Hiccup by the front of his shirt and pressed her lips hard against his. It was only meant to be a demonstration-but as she felt Hiccup gently kiss her back, her eyes fluttered closed and she felt a warmth blossom in her chest. Eyes finally fluttering open, she pulled back, a small smile tilting her lips.

"Oh, he's very good indeed," she commented as she sat back down, taking in Felicia's furious expression.

"Get off my boyfriend!" Cami yelled, throwing herself at Astrid, who ducked back. "He's MINE...OOF!" The enraged blonde skidded across the table and carried the tablecloth and all the food, condiments and drinks straight into Felicia and her companion, splattering them all in wine, gravy, sauce, mash and fries. Astrid sat back, seeing the two women and the man-the Moguls skiier Thuggory Carnaby who Astrid had gone out with briefly before he dumped her for Felicia-in a pile on the floor. Felicia was trying to throw Cami off and the blonde was furiously scrapping with her while Astrid was trying not to laugh. Their meal was ruined but it was almost worth it to see the people who had ruined their meal making such a spectacle of themselves. She had noted that many of the patrons-who had smiled at her as she had walked in and who were clearly fans of Berk's finest winter sports star-filming the confrontation on their phones.

"Get OFF me!" Felicia yelled.

"Hiccup, baby-you know you're meant to be with me, right?" Cami pleaded, trying to appeal to him. But he shook his head.

"Um...you told me that you didn't want to be with me, that I lacked ambition, that I wasn't good enough for you," he told her, his lips still tingling from the kiss. Somehow, the fact that Astrid Hofferson-who apparently was a big star (though he hadn't realised that) but who was definitely a beautiful, smart and sassy woman-had kissed him gave him a little more confidence.

"I didn't mean…" she gabbled, clawing at Felicia as she tried to get up and wipe the gravy from her face. Hiccup opened his texts.

"You are just a loser. You won't amount of anything. Can't waste any more time on you," he read. "Erik is such a great guy-why can't you be like him? Really, you just aren't good enough for me." He swiped the screen again, blinking. "Or maybe 'You're just not the right guy for me. You want to waste your life in a scabby public school while I deserve much better than you. Erik is going to give that to me.' What part of that implies I am ever meant to be with you, Cami?" His voice had hardened but Astrid could see he was deeply hurt. "You broke my heart by cheating on me, dumping me for the other guy and telling me I was worthless. Sorry- I just can't take you back."

"You're pathetic!" she spat, suddenly enraged that her advances had been rejected.

"No-what's pathetic is that I thought we were in love-but that you cheated on me, dumped me, broke my heart and when things don't work out, you imagine I will just come running when you snap your fingers." His voice had risen. "I'm worth more than that, Cami! I'm worth...worth...Astrid!" he said suddenly and grabbed Astrid's shoulders and pulled her forward and pressed a fierce kiss onto her lips. She immediately kissed him back, her hands rising to tangle in his auburn hair before they finally sat back down, both breathing hard.

"Wow," Astrid murmured.

"You worthless…" Cami began.

"...loser…" Felicia finished as she finally scrambled to her feet.

"Better than a cheater," Astrid told her smugly, her pulse still galloping from the unexpected kiss. "And I'm looking at two of them, both caught out and pathetic." Felicia dusted herself down and tried to regain her dignity, which was difficult as she was smeared with peppercorn sauce and gravy.

"So what you gonna do about it?" she scoffed. "You can't do anything!"

"Except maybe enjoy what people say when all these diners post their videos of your confession?" she suggested as Felicia stared at her and then looked around frantically, suddenly realising what had happened. People were already uploading what they had filmed to the internet and there was a definite excited hubbub in the restaurant.

"STOP LOOKING AT ME!" Felicia shouted as cameras turned back to her and then she turned to the smirking Astrid. "YOU! You did this!" Astrid blinked.

"Excuse me?" she asked. "I think you came up to me while I was having a quiet meal with a friend and started shooting her mouth off." She leaned forward. "Word of advice, Felicia: if you wanna go round cheating on the Tour and in the Olympics and illegally taking out competitors, don't announce what you did in front of a packed restaurant!"

"I-I…" Felicia gabbled. Astrid shook her head and tutted.

"I'm sure the IOC and FIS won't be happy to hear about your conduct," she added. "Bringing the sport into disrepute, maybe?" Her phone pinged and she lifted the device to smile. "And the vid is already going viral."

"AAGH!" Felicia screamed and threw herself at Astrid, carrying the blonde to the ground. Astrid found the other woman pulling at her hair and she punched directly up, The dark-haired woman flew back into her companion, who grabbed her and tried to calm her down-but she yelled and lunged at Astrid again. As Astrid tensed, Hiccup grabbed Felicia and shoved her back.

"I think you better go," he said sternly.

"Hey-get off of her!" Thuggory snapped and punched out at Hiccup. The blow glanced off his chin and he sat down, blinking. Astrid scrambled up and threw herself onto the man, bearing him to the ground.

"Leave him alone!" she yelled. Thuggory blinked as she punched him across the face. He shoved her back and scrambled up but she punched him again,, sending him spinning back into the husky host, Fishlegs. Heather was there was well as a powerfully dressed man in Chef whites with cropped carrot red hair, stubbly beard and with claw tattoos over his left eye. The whites were embroidered with the words 'Dagur-Head Chef' and the man's green eyes narrowed as he saw Thuggory surge forward, his fist raised to punch Astrid, who had just punched his nose again. Dagur the Chef made to intercept but Hiccup gave a yell and threw himself onto Thuggory, punching the handsome man in the face. Cami, who was being restrained by a kindly-looking Fishlegs burst into tears.

"You never fought anyone for me!" she wailed. "This just isn't fair!" Thuggory punched Hiccup and he landed across the table, winded. With a roar, Dagur the Chef flung himself into the fight and swiftly took down the skier while Heather restrained Felicia in a very professional arm-lock. Her green eyes twinkled as she glanced at the Chef, who had Thuggory pinned.

"Well, brother-looks like this wasn't such a change from being in the riot police after all!" she grinned. Dagur grinned back.

"No-this is much more fun, sister!" he replied happily as he lifted the man completely off the ground and hauled him to the door. There were cheers, whoops and more filming as Astrid clambered up and hurried over to Hiccup. They could still hear Cami wailing and cursing as she was dragged away.

"Are you okay?" she asked in a concerned voice as he looked up, his chin bruised and eyes shocked.

"Um...yes...yes, I think I am," he said in a shocked voice as she helped him sit down. "Wow. I don't think I've ever been in a fight. Um...until now…" Then he looked over at Astrid. "Are you okay? You punched her with your bad hand…" She blinked and then looked at her right wrist. It had been instinctive and she hadn't felt a thing. She absently rolled her wrist.

"It's fine," she said and her face lit with relief. "It's fine!" Hiccup chuckled.

"I suspect that's the first time Felicia has done you a favour?" he guessed and she nodded.

"Oh, that's for sure," she admitted. And then she smiled. "Why did you kiss me?" He blushed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Ah-aha...you noticed that, did you?" he said self-consciously. "Um...it was just...you kissed me!" He paused and stared into her wide blue eyes, amused and confident. "Why did you kiss me?"

"Because she insulted you," Astrid said simply. "She was horrible about you when you had been so kind and generous to me when I had been so mean to you. You shared your room even though you didn't have to. And you listened to me moan and complain and then you told me your story and when you said my name...it was…"

"Special," Hiccup murmured. "Thor, I said that aloud, didn't I? Ooops,..." She chuckled.

"Well, this is certainly a different break," she commented. "I expected a quiet evening. Maybe early to bed and not even seeing in the New Year-and instead I have the most enlightening meal, a completely unexpected confession and two extremely good kisses."

"While I was coming here to run away from what happened and just try to get some space...and while my problems followed me, I ended up sharing an amazing meal with you and...wow..." His emerald eyes were shining with surprise and happiness and she smiled.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO OUR RESTAURANT?"

The twin concierges/owners were standing at the entrance, their hands clamped to their heads and looking distraught. They marched up to the pair who were clearly the epicentre of the chaos and glared at them.

"YOU! You...wreckers..." Tuffnut accused them, stabbing a dramatic finger in their direction. "You Sir...Madam...have ruined the evening!" Astrid folded her arms.

"Actually, it was ruined when someone let his ex-girlfriend and my rival in here...and I don't think either had reservations…" she said. The twins shared a look and then glanced at the stocky shape who was watching from the entrance with an 'oops' expression on his face..

"SNOTLOUT?" Ruffnut growled. "Did you let some people in who didn't have reservations?" The man suddenly looked shiftly.

"Well, they wanted to go and speak with their friends who they had seen sitting in the window and it's New Year's Eve so I guessed it couldn't do any harm…" he said in a rush. The concierges shared a look and grabbed him by the arms.

"You muttonhead!" Ruffnut growled. "You've caused a complete disaster…"

"Which we will sort out," Heather offered, walking forward. Dagur and Fishlegs walked behind her, carrying a large gas burner and a huge frying pan. "Okay-for those guests who were involved in the chaos-especially Miss Hofferson and Mister Haddock, we will provide the Chef's speciality-Crepes d'Hiver!" They put the burner down by Hiccup and Astrid's table and Heather walked up with a tray of crepes, bottles of spirits and butter and kirsch-infused black cherries. Hiccup looked up at the bottles and then leaned over to Astrid, who had grabbed her chair and pulled it round to sit at his side.

"Does that look like a lot of alcohol to you?" he asked in a low voice as Dagur lit the burner and melted the butter. He expertly poured in a huge slug of brandy, an even larger slug of Kirsch and the extremely alcoholic-smelling black cherries. Astrid nodded and the pair edged their chairs back from the table.

"Yup," she murmured. Dagur slid the crepes into the pan. Fishlegs was leading a sing-song of the other diners, who had all been served bottles of champagne. The pop of corks and the fizz of the drink was being mixed in with a variety of familiar Berkian songs. Heather drifted over to stand by Fishlegs.

"Are you sure this is the best idea?" she murmured. "This is supposed to be a high class restaurant…" Fishlegs shrugged.

"I work in the spa and also provide daycare for the kids-if we ever have any staying," he reminded her. "You asked me to try to get the other guests happy after the scene-and alcohol works really well." He jerked his head towards Dagur. "I would be more worried about your brother and his concoction. He usually sets the kitchen on fire when he makes it. And he's really gone heavy on the booze…" Heather saw Dagur grin to the room and flick open the lighter...and as she looked, she could see the shimmer of alcohol above the overfull pan.

"Dagur…" she yelled, waving and trying to stop him but in that moment, the alcohol caught and a huge orange fireball engulfed the Chef, the pan and scorched the roof. Hiccup and Astrid dived for the floor as the fallout swept over the remains of their table and the HAPPY NEW YEAR! banners caught fire. The guests and looked up, screamed and grabbed their free drinks before they stampeded for the door, flattening Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut. Dagur staggered back, his eyebrows completed scorched off and his face blackened and as Astrid glanced over at Hiccup, the sprinklers cut in and the whole room was drenched .

Astrid looked into Hiccup's eyes and started giggling.

"Okay...so we haven't finished our entrees and the restaurant has caught fire so maybe we could head out and get something?" she suggested and he crawled with her to the door, both drenched.

"I think that would be safest," he admitted as he glanced out the picture windows. "It may be minus ten but compared to inside here, it's the safest place!" The slopes were lit by headlights and the lower drag-lifts were working. People had gone out and were tobogganing and snowboarding down the nursery slopes while a DJ was settling up and a hot dog and Mulled Wine stand seemed to be doing good business. Sharing a glance, they dashed out of the deluge and headed upstairs.