His steps were full of confidence as he headed towards his dormitory, a rucksack slung across his back, pushing an overflowing trolley. He wasn't about to take multiple trips, so he found the nearest trolley, loaded up his stuff, and was now pushing it through the center of campus, only stopping to smile at a girl or two.
"Hey"
The blonde looked at him, a slight sneer on her face which grew as he winked.
"Keep walking" She demanded, crossing her arms. He shrugged and carried on, making sure to watch the blonde pony tail move back and forth as she went in the other direction.
The boy grumbled as he pushed the trolley into the dormitory. He audibly groaned as he saw the out of order sign on the elevator, and he wasn't about to ask if there was another one. Cracking his neck and rolling his shoulders, he readied himself for the challenge.
He puffed, and pushed while he lugged the trolley up the stairwell, not noticing the stares from students. The wheels hit even ground on his floor, and he was pushing on again, not caring who he ran into or over.
A broad smile was on his face as he opened the door to his room, immediately dropping his bags in the doorway.
"Hey" He huffed, slightly out of breath from his hike, looking at the bleach blonde who was dangerously leaning back in his chair. Blondie had his feet propped up on the desk with his headphones snuggly over his ears. A slammed door was loud enough to surprise the blonde and his chair tipped over, sending him crashing to the floor. To his surprise, blondie was on his feet in seconds, pulling the headphones to his neck as if the fall had been nothing.
"Duuude, you got me- woah, what do you eat? Straight up protein? Wow." Blondie spoke as he walked over to the buff pug that was standing in his doorway, and finished by poking his arm muscle. "I'm Tuffnut- you can call me Tuff."
"Snotlout" Snotlout held out a hand to Tuffnut, and proceeded to crush his roommates rough fingers. To his surprise, Tuffnut didn't react the way people normally do. Instead of pulling his hand back with a howl, he squeezed back, revealing the surprising amount of strength he had in his thin frame.
"Nice handshake, you work out? I couldn't get into it." Tuffnut said with the wave of his hand, returning to his chair.
"What do you do then? You have to do something." Snotlout asked, crossing his arms.
"Surf, skate, whatever gets the heart pounding. You don't get that from picking up different pieces of metal, sometimes you gotta do" Tuffnut kicked open the mini fridge that the room came with to reveal a row of beers.
"How did you-" Snotlout began only to be interrupted by Tuffnut's hand.
"Don't question my methods, you just gotta do" Tuffnut smiled, crossing his arms as he leaned in his chair again.
Snotlout nodded, a smile forming on his face. He liked how this guy worked.
"Too bad I forgot a bottle opener." Tuffnut muttered. It wasn't like it was the end of the world, but having an RA come in here with the place smelling like beer from clumsily opening the bottles isn't want he wanted.
Snotlout pulled out his keys to reveal a bottle opener. Tuffnut held out his fist which Snotlout immediately punched.
"How much can you lift- never mind, the more important question is can you lift me, cause if you could throw me when I need you to, that would be sick."
"What?" Snotlout asked, kicking the door closed before taking the beer Tuffnut was handing to him.
"Lots of parties this weekend, not just the freshman welcome shit, like the real thing, and sometimes you gotta break in to have fun, so, you in?" Tuffnut asked.
Snotlout furrowed his thick eyebrows, taking a good look at this guy. He seemed to be wearing swim trunks and a tank top while his long blonde hair held back with a headband. This guy seemed to be full of all sorts of weird. A stoner mastermind was what came to mind.
"Parties?" Snotlout asked
"Hell yeah"
"… I'm in." Tuffnut smiled happily and rubbed his hands together, ready to tell his sister about their new recruit.
"How long have you been here?" Snotlout asked, looking at the boxes on one of the bed.
"A few hours, I can't remember when I got here-"
"Then unpack." Snotlout wasn't about to have his new bachelor pad be sullied by unpacked boxes. Tuffnut groaned loudly, and didn't move.
"Everything's just gonna go back in the boxes at the end of the year."
Snotlout responded by kicking the chair over, Tuffnut still sitting on it.
"I hear what you're saying… but maybe you could use your words, mini hulk." Tuffnut put the tips of his fingers together, almost like a therapist, while still laying on the floor. Snotlout rolled his eyes before his bottle cap hit him straight in the forehead.
"You wanna be like that?" Snotlout asked, rubbing his head before picking it up. Tuffnut jumped from the floor, and grabbed one of his pillows to block the projectile before it hit him.
~(+)~(+)~(+)~
Astrid stretched and refilled her water bottle one last time before she returned to her dorm room. Everything had been set up, everything was in order when she left, but that was not the case when she returned.
"You got some pretty nice stuff." Astrid paused, staring at the girl who was going through her belongings.
"Uhm- could you maybe not do that?" Astrid asked, walking over to the girl and taking the book bag out of her hands.
"Not a sharer, huh?" The girl asked before she fell onto her bed.
"I just don't like random people going through my stuff without my permission." Astrid replied, returning her book bag to her desk.
"That's why you don't leave anything out, trust me, I know- I have a brother and let me tell you, if it ain't hidden, it ain't safe." The girl pointed her finger at Astrid, as if she was teaching her a valuable lesson. Astrid glanced around to see the girl was going against what she was preaching. Clothes sloppily stuffed into drawers, her bed terribly made with shoes sticking out from under it, this was going to be rough.
"I'm Ruffnut, where are you from?" Ruffnut asked, sitting up on her bed. Astrid took in her tan complexion, bleach blonde hair, and partially shaved head. She had to be coastal.
"I'm Astrid, and California… Northern California."
"No way, dude! South Cali! That's crazy." Ruffnut exclaimed. Astrid nodded before retrieving her shower bag. It was just a little bag with shampoo, conditioner, whatever was necessary. God knows she needed it, especially after moving in and working out.
"I'm gonna just… take a quick shower." Astrid quickly moved to the shower after grabbing a towel, and Ruffnut watched her go. This was going to take some work.
For every two dorm rooms, there was one bathroom connecting them, which consisted of a toilet, a shower and two sinks. Astrid peered into the bathroom, noting the closed door that lead to their neighbors room.
She saw that a single bottle of body wash was by the sink, and she could tell it was her roommates. She was not the ideal roommate. Messy, and loud… perhaps this was something that would become more endearing rather than obnoxious.
A commotion from above made Astrid pause. The sound of running, and cursing, followed by bouts of laughter. She rolled her eyes, with a smirk on her face as she turned on the water. At least someone was having fun. With a sigh, she turned on the water and let the stress of the day and the future be washed away.
~(+)~(+)~(+)~
"What the- Did you hear that?" Hiccup asked, pausing the video game.
"It was just gettin' to the good-" Fishlegs began to complain only to stop after a huge crash. The two looked at one another before they decided to investigate.
"I already met one of the guys in here, he seemed nice enough." Hiccup said, watching his new friend knock on the door where the noise was coming from.
There was another crash, when a short man answered, red in the face with a series of welts all over him.
His eyes went wide, and Hiccup took a step back.
"Hey, long time, no-" Snotlout began, only to have the bottle cap bounce off the back of his head.
Hiccup watched his cousin rub the back of his head, sending a string of curses back into the room while the blonde laughed somewhere in the background.
"What can I do for you?" Snotlout asked smugly, looking at his scrawny cousin.
"You're making a bit of a racket, if you would keep it down, that would be-" Fishlegs began.
"Why should we?" Snotlout asked, glaring at the larger student. Fishlegs looked a little bit surprised that he would get such a response, and took a moment to think about what he would say, only for Hiccup to interject.
"How can you have already made such a huge mess?" Hiccup asked, looking past Snotlout. The room was a disaster; boxes were everywhere, the desks were overturned, and the blonde was holding a desk chair up like a shield. He waved at the two of them, rather enthusiastically.
"Why don't you try minding your own business?" Snotlout asked, crossing his arms while leaning against the doorframe.
"We just asked for a little bit of quiet-" Fishlegs huffed.
"Relax, cowboy. You hear that, Tuff? No more bottle cap." Snotlout said back into the room, which was followed by Tuffnut whining.
"Maybe you could take it outside, it'd be more like ultimate… bottle cap?" Hiccup offered, trying to play peace keeper. Snotlout had a knack of picking fights, and he didn't want his roommate to get into an argument with him the first day.
Snotlout jumped at the idea, and was out the door, Tuffnut hot on his heals.
"Catch you later! Try not to nerd the place up!" Snotlout called down the hall. One last snicker from the two of them and they were gone.
"I think I'm going to go for a walk." Fishlegs after a moment. "Just for a stretch, I haven't looked around yet"
"I'm going to do some work." That was a lie, in reality Hiccup wanted to lay down so he could process having his cousin right next door. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad? He was trying to stay positive.
"Have fun!" Fishlegs smiled cheerfully, watching Hiccup duck back into their room. He slowly walked down the hall, wondering how the rest of the year would go having those two as neighbors. Sharing a bathroom with them? Living next to them? His nerves already seemed to be plucked. He shook his head as he headed down the stairs. Perhaps they wouldn't be so bad?
He was so caught up in his thoughts, he almost didn't see the girl coming up the stairs.
"Oh- I'm so sorry!" He exclaimed after bumping into her, holding her shoulder so she wouldn't fall.
"No problem, sweetie. Where you from? That accent is adorable!" She smiled, looking him up and down before turning out onto the first floor. Fishlegs watched her walk, effortlessly leaving in some dangerously high cork wedges. Before he could continue, he watched several boys, arms laden with bags, climb the stairs in a line, like ants following their queen.
While he continued his descent to the ground floor, she confidently strutted to her room.