The Girl
That night Hiccup hardly slept. He tossed and turned endlessly trying to rid himself of the memory of almost kissing Merida. He couldn't believe that he had almost done that. Finally after a few hours of the scene replaying infinitely over in his mind he got some sleep. It didn't last long however as Toothless soon nudged him to go flying. With a groan he got out of bed and dressed before saddling up Toothless and going flying.
In the sky and with the cool breeze rushing past him, Hiccup collected his thoughts. He liked Merida. He had realized this some time ago since his stay in the castle, but their encounter last night confirmed it. Despite knowing how he felt for some time, Hiccup refused to act on it. The initial reason being that he still had feeling for Astrid. But Hiccup came to terms with that fact that he may never see her again. He decided that he didn't want to be alone for the rest of his life pining after her so he had decided that he would try to meet a girl someday. Then the reasons shifted to fear that Merida simply wouldn't feel the same. Merida constantly referred to Hiccup as not only her best friend, but her first, and so he thought that she simply wouldn't seem him in any other light. The other reason was he couldn't shake the feeling that pursuing Merida would be betraying the king and queen's hospitality. They had allowed him, an outsider, into their homes out of the kindness of their hearts. It just felt wrong to think of wanting to become something more with the princess.
Oh yeah. And then there was the fact that Merida was the princess. She was royalty. One day she would be expected to marry a lord or at least a man of great means and status. Both of which Hiccup was neither. While he was a Viking chief's son, while in this land he was nothing. What could he possibly have to offer her?
Sighing to himself he directed Toothless back to the castle. After landing and getting Toothless his breakfast, he left his companion to freshen up for the day. He had a day off today. He wondered what he should do with it. After washing himself he plopped down on his bed and stared at the ceiling and contemplated what he should do. He didn't feel like speaking to Merida just yet. Not after last night. Once again flashing back to the events of last night he remembered the other girl he had an encounter with last night.
Fiona. He remembered the girl with a fond smile. She was very pretty he thought. He supposed he could go see her. She had told him where she worked after all. Why would she tell him that unless she wanted him to come see her? Unless she was just stating a fact to be polite. That seemed a little absurd. Why would you just tell a stranger that? Thinking it over, he decided he would go see her.
Getting up and walking to his wardrobe he put on a blue silk tunic that had been given to him by the monarchs. Over it he decided to wear his personal kilt with his unique tartan that the queen had given him. Then he slipped on his pants (no matter how much he liked the Scotts clothing; he never felt comfortable without pants) and his boot. Looking in a small mirror he check his face and hair. Nodding in satisfaction he placed the mirror down and turned to his bed.
"Hey Sharpshot I'm heading into town. Wanna come?" Hiccup asked the small lump on the bed.
The lump wriggled before the small dragon crawled out from underneath the blankets and flew over to land on Hiccup's shoulder. Smiling, he scratched the Terror underneath the chin and walked out of his room. Coming down the stairs and into the main hall he saw the queen in her usual seat going over some papers.
"Morning your majesty," Hiccup greeted.
Looking up from her papers the queen smiled and took in his appearance, "Good morning Hiccup. I must say lad you look quite handsome."
Rubbing the back of his head shyly at her compliment he explained, "Thanks your majesty. I'm going in to town to see…well…there was this girl last night." Hiccup started to turn red at remembering Fiona.
"Oh you mean the lass you were dancing with last night. Going to call on her then?" she asked inquisitively.
"Umm. Yeah. I mean…we seemed to get along, and I have a day off, so I thought I might go say hi…or something," Hiccup stuttered while fiddling with his hands.
"Well alright dear. Have a good time," the queen said before turning back to her papers.
"Yes ma'am. I will do that," Hiccup said with a nervous smile before exiting the double doors of the main hall.
The queen was happy for Hiccup. The lad was terribly shy around women. It was funny that he didn't seem to notice the effect he had on them. Almost all the maid staff were quite attracted to him. The younger staff would even fix themselves up and adjust their bosoms whenever the young man passed by. A young lass might be just the thing he needed to overcome his nervousness around them. A lass might also be a good reason for the lad to stay. Suddenly she heard the doors open and turned to see Hiccup enter. She watched as he came over with his head down and pulled up a chair next to her.
"Ok. Soooo…in the two seconds I was outside, something occurred to me," Hiccup paused to take a breath. "I have absolutely NO idea how to call on a women. I mean sure I had a girlfriend back on Berk, but she was the one who made all the advances. But I'm sure Scottish girls expect the guys to make the advances and first moves. But me, I got no moves. My move is to try not to trip over myself. Was this a stupid thing for me to even consider? Yeah it was wasn't it? I'm just gonna forget the whole thing and go up—" Hiccup's rambling was stopped when Elinor reach out to grab his shoulder.
"Calm down dear," the queen said calmly.
Hiccup nodded and took a breath through the nose. Then he released it and nodded to Elinor.
"Now then," Elinor began while putting the papers down on the table. "Calling on a lass isn't that difficult dear. I'll give you some advice," the queen offered.
Sighing in relief Hiccup grabbed the queen's hands in gratitude, "Oh gods THANK YOU.""
The queen chuckled lightly before clearing her throat and straightening herself up. "The first thing you need Hiccup, is confidence. Women like confidence. But make sure your confidence doesn't become arrogance. Remember, confidence not arrogance," the queen said firmly.
"Oh that is good," Hiccup said with wide eyes as he took the advice to heart.
"The next thing you need to do is show that you're truly interested in her. Ask her things about herself. Her life, her family, her plans for the futures, things like that."
Hiccup nodded. Genius. Hiccup thought to himself. The queen was truly brilliant.
"Be charming and funny. Women like a man who can make them laugh," the queen said with a smile.
Hiccup nodded in understanding.
"Oh and always remember Hiccup, be yourself," she said while squeezing his hand lightly. Hiccup was a great lad. She knew that that girl was going to adore him if he followed her advice.
Hiccup took all the things the queen said into consideration. It all seemed like sound advice. The queen wouldn't steer him wrong. Smiling he stood up and made his way to the door. Before he exited he called out a thank you to the queen and left.
The queen watched him go with a smile. Returning back to the letters she had been reviewing she silently wished the young man luck.
Walking through the town, Hiccup was aware of the stares directed at him. Or more specifically, Sharpshot perched on his shoulder. The crowd was always amazed at seeing a dragon. The sight never seemed to get old. He never brought Toothless into town though. His very presence spooked the animals and the people were terrified of him whenever he flew over the town.
Somewhere in the distance he heard a shout, "HA I KNEW IT! YOU ALL THOUGHT AH WAS DAFT! BUT I KNEW!"
Hiccup just kept walking. Wonder what that was about? He thought to himself. Making his way to the bread shop he repeated the queen's advice through his head. Confidence not Arrogance. Ask about her. Be funny. Be yourself. With the bread shop in site he saw Fiona on the other side of the counter. She was speaking to customers and exchanging their gold for loafs of bread and other things they made. She was wearing a simple tan dress and a baker's apron.
Suddenly overcome with nervousness Hiccup turned on his heel and started to walk back to the castle. Stopping a few feet into his walk he stomped his foot, clenched his hand, and turned around to walk back. Seeing her once again he immediately whirled around and started walking away. Then he stopped and ran a hand through his hair. Get it together Hiccup. It's just a girl. Taking a deep breath he steeled himself, turned around, and marched to the bread shop. Reaching the counter, Fiona had her back to him as she was rearranging something in the shop.
"Hello. Can I get some Lucky Tatties please?" Hiccup asked to get her attention.
"No problem. You can have twelve for a reasonable value of—," the girl stopped mid-sentence as she turned around and stared wide eyed at Hiccup.
"Hello there," Hiccup said with a shy smile.
Fiona blushed a deep red and looked down and her feet. Fiddling with the end of her apron she looked up nervously. "Hello. Ah-Ah didn't think you would come," she said quietly.
"Well lucky for you I love Lucky Tatties," Hiccup joked. The girl smiled and chuckled lightly along with him. "But really, I was hoping to see you. I was hoping we could walk around and maybe talk a little. If you're not too busy that is."
Fiona blushed deeply before saying, "One moment please." With that she walked to the back of the shop. After a few moments she came back with a boy a few years younger than her and walked to the side of the shop before exiting the door and coming around to front to where Hiccup was waiting.
She looked down when he turned to face her. He noticed that she was holding something in her hand. Lifting up a small sack, she quietly said, "Some Lucky Tatties. On the house."
He smiled and accepted them. "Why thank you milady."
She blushed at what he called her. Looking up, she smiled and then her eyes widened as she glanced to the thing sitting on his shoulder.
Hiccup noticed her gaze shift to Sharpshot and spoke up, "Oh yeah. This is Sharpshot. I brought him along. Don't worry he's nice." He said to reassure her.
She took a step closer and continued to gaze in wonder at the creature from myth. "Ah've never seen them up close before. Ah've seen you walking around with this one, but to see it up close. It's amazing," she breathed.
Sharpshot chirped in appreciation at her compliment and raised his head up high.
"Do you want to touch him?" Hiccup asked.
"May I?" she asked already reaching her hand up.
He nodded and she slowly inched her hand forward nervously. When she was within a few inches of Sharpshot she paused and waited with trembling hand. Sharpshot decided to make it easier on the girl and pressed his snout into her palm and purred. She smiled and then scratched the Terror on the chin, much to his delight.
"He likes you," he told her with a smile.
She smiled back. Dropping her hand, she thanked him and blushed.
He smiled and nodded. Then he dismissed Sharpshot, ordering him to return to the castle. The Terror complied and chirped a goodbye to Fiona before taking off and flying in the direction of the castle. Fiona watched him fly off with amazement before turning back to Hiccup.
"So…how about we take a walk up to the castle and I show you my other dragon," he offered. He hoped that she would like Toothless as well. Plus, the walk up to the castle would give them time to talk. He noticed Fiona blush a deep shade of red suddenly. She brought her hands to her cheeks in an attempt to hide her face. Before Hiccup could inquire as to what was wrong she spoke.
"Oh um…that is…ah do like you Hiccup. But ah'm not quite ready for things like that. Ah was hoping to save myself for marriage. You ken?" She stammered out while fiddling with her hands.
Hiccup stood there confused as to what she was referring. When it dawned on him, he frantically said, "Oh no I didn't mean that. I meant the dragon that I fly around on."
Fiona blushed in embarrassment before replying, "Oh ok. Sure, that would be lovely."
Hiccup nodded before offering his arm for her to take. She hesitated but accepted and hooked her arm around his as he led her to the castle.
"So Fiona, tell me about yourself. How old are you for starters?"
"I'm 18 sir," Fiona replied.
"Ok. Tell me about your family?"
"I have three brothers and one sister. One of my brothers and my sister are older while the other two brothers are younger."
"And your family owns the bread shop?"
"Yes. Been in the family for years," she said fondly. "We supply the whole village with our bread," she added with pride.
"That's cool. I've never been good at baking. Funny because at what point I seriously thought of being a bread making Viking," he joked. To his delight she laughed. She seemed to be enjoying his company. He noticed her body language seemed less tense.
"What about you sir? How old are you?" She said looking up to him.
"You can just call me Hiccup you know. I'm 20," he informed her.
"Ok then Hiccup. I heard that you were from a place called Bark?" She asked unsure.
"It's Berk. Yeah it's a small island very far from here."
"Oh ok. Do you like Dunbroch?" She asked, curious.
"It pretty nice. The land is beautiful, the people are friendly, and it's nice to be relatively average sized instead of puny," he said with a grin.
She laughed lightly and asked another question. This went on for a while as they made their way up to the castle. They got to know each other, talking about their families, their experiences, their hobbies, and their interests. Hiccup even gave her the shortened version on how he met Toothless and lost his foot. She listened and was amazed with him. As they continued to talk, he led her to the practice grounds, where he assumed Toothless would be at the time. Walking onto the grounds with his attention focused on Fiona he was surprised when she suddenly stopped. With her gaze focused on something ahead of them she yelped and ducked behind him. Looking forward he smiled when he saw it was Toothless walking towards them.
"Hey bud. I thought you'd be here," he said smiling and greeting his best friend.
Toothless warbled at him in greeting and noticed the stranger hiding behind Hiccup. It was a female he noticed when she peeked out from behind Hiccup. When she saw him she squeaked in fear and hid behind Hiccup again. Curious, he walked around Hiccup to get a closer look at the girl. When she saw him again she quickly went to Hiccup's other side and clutched him tightly. Toothless was amused at the girl's reaction and kept trying to come around to look at her; causing her to cling to Hiccup and keep circling around him.
Hiccup recognized Toothless was doing this on purpose and spoke up, "Ok bud that's enough. You're scaring her," he said chastising the dragon.
Toothless huffed in disappointment at his fun being ruined, but complied and sat on his haunches in front of Hiccup.
Hiccup turned to address the girl behind him, "Hey it's alright Fiona. Toothless won't hurt you."
Fiona peeked out nervously from behind Hiccup to look at the dragon. It was sitting on its haunches and didn't look ready to attack. Then it opened it mouth and smiled at her. With its big round eyes and gummy smile, it looked almost cute she thought. Gaining confidence she stepped out from behind Hiccup and stood next to him.
Hiccup looked to the girl and was glad she wasn't as scared. "A lot of people are scared of him the first time. As long as you don't present yourself as a threat you'll be fine," he said to reassure her. When she nodded in understanding he decided to take it a step further. "Want to touch him?"
She turned her gaze up to him and stared wide eyed. "Really?" She asked in excitement.
He nodded and held out his hand, motioning her to go ahead. Slowly and nervously she took a step towards Toothless and raised her arm. She was trembling with excitement and fear at being able to touch such a creature. She had seen him flying over the village many times and was always curious about him. She stretched out her arm, not entirely sure what would happen. This creature had single handedly fought off the raiders as she had been told. It could probably easily kill her without a second thought. Keeping her arm outstretched she stopped and waited.
Toothless, sensing her apprehension stepped forward to meet her hand.
When the dragon stepped forward, she almost jumped back in fright. But Hiccup had said that he wouldn't harm her and she trusted him. When its snout met her hand and she felt him rumble against her palm, she smiled wider than she ever had in her life. She laughed, absolutely giddy and began to rub the dragon on its head.
Toothless liked this new girl. She seemed nice and was eager to scratch him like he liked.
Hiccup saw the girl fall in love with Toothless and smiled. How could she not? Toothless was absolutely amazing. "I don't suppose you'd want to go flying on him?" He offered.
She stood straight up and whirled around to face him. Her mouth was agape as she seemed to be trying to form coherent words, but nothing was coming out. Finally she closed her mouth and gave an excited nod.
Hiccup smiled and walked over to Toothless. His companion sensed his intention and lowered himself to the ground. Hiccup mounted and slipped his foot into the stirrup. Then he offered a hand to Fiona.
She accepted it and jumped on. Then she grabbed Hiccup around the middle and pressed herself against his back.
Hiccup stiffened and blushed lightly at the feeling of her. She was….bigger in the front then he was used to. The thought made him shudder. Shaking his head to dispel the thought he turned slightly to ask if she was prepared. "Ready?"
Fiona swallowed and considered getting off the dragon. What would her father say? Was this crazy? Who would've thought that she would be about to fly on a real life dragon? Steeling herself she gave an affirmative nod. Seeing Hiccup's smile she felt at ease.
Smiling, he gave Toothless the go ahead and he complied. Leaping into the air, he felt Fiona's grip tighten and her give a wordless shout before settling down for the ride as they levelled out. He heard her gasp behind him and he smiled. This was a usual reaction he had become accustomed to by now.
He turned to look at the girl. She was smiling and looking all around as they flew over the castle and to the forests. He really liked her. And no one would stop him from pursuing her. He decided he would see where this relationship would go. With any luck, it might even make his feeling for Merida fade away. He really hoped it would.
Merida walked through the hall of the castle in search of her best friend. After their encounter last night Merida chalked up their almost kiss to too much wine. Hiccup and she were just friends after all nothing more. Still not finding her friend she went to the great hall and was greeted to her family having lunch.
"Mum, have you seen Hiccup anywhere?" she asked her mother.
"Oh yes dear. Hiccup went into town to call on a young lass," Elinor said with a smile. She hoped her advice had worked.
Merida took in her mother's answer with a blank face. Then she burst out laughing. She laughed so hard she started snorting and clutching her stomach. Wiping away a tear she said, "Oh good one mum. Hiccup call on a lass," she paused to look at her mother and was surprised to see she wasn't indicating she was joking. "You're serious?" she asked incredulously.
"Yes dear," Elinor said matter of factly.
"Well ah say good on him. That young lass was a bonnie thing. She'll be good for the lad," Fergus said with a smile.
The queen nodded in agreement and resumed her meal.
Merida took in all the information with skepticism. Hiccup trying to court a girl? It was almost absurd. He was terrified of women from what she observed. From what she could gather, he seemed to have a thing for blondes, given that she would catch him staring at them when they walked through town together. She vaguely remember Hiccup mentioning that his lass from Berk, Astrid, was a blonde and attributed his preference to that. Sometimes when Hiccup would space out and stare at a girl while she was talking to her friends or going about her business, and then said girl would look in his direction, he would quickly hide behind a corner, jump behind some barrels, or when nothing was available, use Merida's great mane of hair as an impromptu barrier. She remembered one incident that ended in a disaster when Hiccup attempted to approach a girl.
Flashback
"Hiccup, why don't you just go talk to her?" Merida said with an exasperated sigh.
Hiccup remained silent as he peeked over the barely he was currently crouched behind to look at a girl with dirty blond hair a few yards away. She was chatting with her friends and looking oh so pretty.
"You're being ridiculous," Merida said with her hands on her hips.
"You're being ridiculous," Hiccup shot back lamely. He knew she was right, but still.
"You've fought dragons for bloody sake. She's just a girl," Merida relied rubbing her forehead and praying for patience at her friend's silliness.
"I'd rather face a hundred Red Deaths. Dragon are easy. All they will do is set you on fire and eat you at the worst. Girls will make you feel bad and kill you on the inside," Hiccup replied with a hint of sarcasm.
"Just try. What the worst that can happen?" Merida said in encouragement.
Mulling over her argument, Hiccup made a decision. Taking a breath he stood up and walked around the barrels, passed his friend, and approached the girl. With a thin layer of sweat forming on his brow and his heart beating rapidly in his chest he slowly made his way over to the girl. Coming up behind her he cleared his throat to get her attention. Pausing in her conversation, she turned around to face him and offered him a friendly smile. Taking a small breath he tried to sound as casual as he could, "Hello there. I'm Hiccup," he greeted.
Still smiling the girl returned a greeting, "Hello sir. Something I can help you with?" she asked while cocking her head to the side inquisitively.
Swallowing, Hiccup reached out his arm to lean on a nearby water barely to his left before answering, "Well you see, I just wanted to—," but Hiccup's answer was cut short as everything went wrong.
After pressing his weight on the barrel and leaning to the left, the cover slid off causing Hiccup to stumble to the side and knock his head against the barrel. The force of his head hitting the barely caused water to splash out and soak his head and shirt. The girl and her friend gasped in shock. Attempting to get up and walk away with his remaining dignity intact, Hiccup failed to notice a man walking by with a sack of flour. Bumping into the man hard, the man proceeded to accidentally drop the sack of flour onto Hiccup's head. And maybe because Loki felt like a laugh that day, the sack burst open on him, covering his whole body in flour. Standing there and feeling absolutely mortified, Hiccup's only silver lining was that the flour was covering up the intense tomato red blush he was sporting in embarrassment.
As the girls and everyone around him attempted their best to suppress fits of laughter at the poor young man's expense, and the man carrying the flour gave Hiccup an apology, Hiccup slowly turned around and made his way back to the castle. With his head down he walked past Merida and scowled at her as he saw her hands over mouth and trying her best not to laugh.
After walking a few yards away from her and towards the castle, she caught up with him and attempted to console him.
"Hiccup, that wasn't that bad," she lied. Poorly.
Hiccup stopped walking a whirled around to face her. "Not that bad? The only way that could have gone worse is if I had been set on fire. THIS is why I don't talk to women," Hiccup said while gesturing to his state.
They walked the rest of the way back to the castle in silence. As they entered and the king and queen took sight of Hiccup's state, they inquired as to what happened. Ducking his head Hiccup ascended the stairs before calling out, "I tried talking to a woman," before making his way to his room and not appearing for the rest of the day.
Merida later explained what happened and the monarchs felt bad for the young lad. Hiccup wouldn't go into town for almost three weeks after that incident.
Hiccup had eventually gotten over that embarrassment but was as adamant as ever about not talking to women. With a shrug Merida took her seat and began to eat. If Hiccup found a lass that made him happy, good for him. She would support him in his decisions.
Merida paused as she noticed a strange sensation that seemed to bubble up within her. It seemed to be squeezing her heart slightly and making her appetite wane.
She decided she would have to meet this girl. As his best friend she had to make sure she was good enough for Hiccup right? It was only natural after all.
Yep. Good for him.
After hours of flying, Hiccup decided it was time to take Fiona home. The sun was setting and he was sure that her parents must be wondering where there daughter was. They also might not approve of having their daughter on the back of a dragon either, but that ship sailed a while ago. Hiccup looked over his shoulder at the smiling girl and reflected in the day.
She loved flying. She screamed and hollered all through the first couple of minutes. Then he flew as a more leisurely pace for a while before setting down and a grassy hill and sharing the Lucky Tatties. They were delicious, Hiccup thought as he ate. They were the best Lucky Tatties he'd ever had in his opinion. When he told Fiona so, she beamed with pride and her smile made his heart skip a beat.
Deciding to land in the village, Toothless touched down right outside of her house. He ignored the gasps and the frightened stairs of the townsfolk as he dismounted and lifted Fiona off of Toothless before setting her down. She blushed at his chivalry and thanked him.
They looked in each other's eyes for a few moments in silence, unsure of what to say. Hiccup decided to break the silence by saying, "Well Fiona, today was fun. I won't be free for the next few day, but I was hoping I could see you again. If that's alright with you," Hiccup said nervously.
She smiled at him before answering, "Yes Hiccup that would be lovely…Well…goodnight," she stuttered, quickly adding the last bit. Turning around she abruptly stopped. Then looking in Hiccup's eyes she stepped toward him. She smiled as his eyes got a little wide at her close proximity. Then leaning in and standing on her tip toes she gave him a quick peck on the lips. Flushing red, she stepped back and giggled at his goofy crooked grin. With a quick goodbye to Toothless she walked inside her house and disappeared.
Hiccup stood there smiling after her. He couldn't wipe his smile off his face. It's like it was stuck that way. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Toothless smiling at him with an amused expression. Trying to hide his smile he pushed at his friend's head before saying, "What are you looking at reptile?"
Toothless warbled in laughter before crouching down, indicating for Hiccup to climb on so they could return to the castle. He was happy for his rider. This female was nice and seemed to make Hiccup happy. Anyone who could do that was ok with Toothless.
Mounting Toothless, the pair took off. On their way to the castle Hiccup still had that damned smile on his face. Once there he ran into the queen and she noticed his expression.
"So how did it go then?" she asked.
"It went great your majesty. Your advice worked like a charm," Hiccup answered with gratefulness evident in his voice.
With a smile the queen nodded before continuing on with her business. With that, Hiccup decided to go to bed. Plopping down on his bed he went over the day's events with a smile. Fiona was great. He could definitely see something happening with her. Plus, he hadn't thought about Merida at all while with her.
He groaned slightly at realizing that he had thought about not thinking about Merida.
This might be harder than I thought, he sighed mentally. Still, today had been a good day. He couldn't wait to see Fiona again.
Hey every body. Sorry for the late update. Just been decompressing from school and working on my other fanfic.