Chapter Text
Welcome to Berk – we have dragons.
It’s the first thing tourists might read, if there were any, when they enter the little town. It's safely tucked away between the looming forest, stretched out over steep hills on one side and the harsh rocky coastline on the other. Hiccup was among the few who actually cared about the worn down paintings on the older houses, or a carved dragon on a doorframe here and there. Of course, Berk's supposed dragon findings go way back to when some farmer dug up dinosaur bones in his backyard and latched onto the first possible explanation. Still, it stuck.
The locker directly overhead slammed shut and ripped him out of his thoughts. A hurried glance to the clock told Hiccup he’d be late. He raced down the emptying hallway, still bumping into people left and right. It wasn’t exactly pleasant, but he made it just in time and slipped into his seat right before Gobber closed the door with an enthusiastic clonk. The man wasn’t fit to be a teacher, about as pedagogically gifted as a horde of geese really, but after losing a leg and an arm his days as full time mechanic were counted. Besides, it wasn’t like they had substitute teachers hiding behind every corner.
“We’re doing presentations today, yer not getting outta that one lads, so buckle up and…Tuff, take that helmet off!”
“But it’s part of my role,” Tuffnut argued, dramatically pointing to his head where a full sized Viking helmet towered over sleek blonde hair. “How am I supposed to stay in character when I’m nervous? You’re killing my creativity.”
“Yeah right, youre as creative as a brick,” Ruffnut chimed in and Hiccup suppressed a deep sigh.
They couldn’t help but argue except for a few rare occasions - when they were busy setting the chemistry lab on fire for example, not that he’d mind much today. Three hours of sleep were considered torture in other countries. Maybe he could skip practice later and squeeze in a few extra hours, not that anyone would care.
“Lad, yer not even in drama club!”
“Well duh, I should be.”
“Oooh no, leadin' this bunch cost me plenny of time already, along with a good part of my grannies’ nightgowns, bless her ‘eart.”
“But-”
“Half yer dimwits haven’t even seen a proper actor in your lives-“
“My brother clearly is the shining star of our generation an-“
“ALRIGHT keep yer helmet, goddamnit,” Gobber muttered, “just shut up and get teh posters up, ayeh?”
The twins openly high-fived each other before Ruffnut pulled a crumpled green paper from her bag, lined with sharpie here and there and lacking structure altogether.
“What in heaven's name is that?”
“Our poster.”
Just like the rest of the class Hiccup eyed the paper sceptically, surprised it even survived up until now. Fishlegs shot him an amused look across the room that said the thought the exact same thing and another one when Gobber crumpled in his chair, clearly giving up after the first five minutes.
“Yer know what, I’ll give yer a C to sit back down and lemme be for the rest of the day.”
The twins high-fived each other again.
“Astrid, yer up next,” Gobber called and Hiccup automatically straightened in his seat.
She looked absolutely stunning in her pale blue shirt, blonde braid loosely thrown over one shoulder, determined as always. Snotlout actually whistled when she walked by and Hiccup had never been more ashamed to actually share blood with him. To give her credit, Astrid only rolled her eyes and delivered a flawless presentation on a topic Hiccup couldn’t remember the second she stopped talking. She was way out of his league, popular, renowned track athlete and generally a nice person and he probabaly had a crush on her ever since they started high school together. He was pretty sure she didn’t even know his name and for the better since he made an utter fool of himself in literally every extracurricular his father pushed him to pick up over the years. For sophomore year he just had to settle on football, the possibly worst choice on the planet and-
“Hiccup!” Gobber slammed the prosthetic hand down on his desk to get his attention.
Hiccup snapped back to reality. Astrid was back in her seat and mustered him with a look of utter disapproval, just like the rest of the class. Well, save for Snotlout maybe who settled on a smug grin.
“Yeah?” He blinked up at Gobbers raised eyebrow.
“Mornin’ lad, glad to see yer with us. Geddup there.”
His stomach dropped.
“Umm, why exactly…?”
“Boy what have yer been doing all day, counting sheep? Yer presentation on uhh,” Gobber walked back to his desk and flicked through a few pages until his face lit up when he found the right entry. “On Viking culture in Berk.”
“Oh, y-yeah, no I knew that,” Hiccup stammered as he slowly left his seat, mind reeling to come up with a plausible excuse why he had to leave.
He was in fact utterly unprepared, even though it was the topic his father blabbered on about every time they talked for more than a few minutes, something about them being descendants from an old Viking bloodline, taking responsibility, honor and all the other nonsense and of course, Gobber knew. Feigning a sudden headache wouldn’t work either, so he’d just have to improvise. Hiccup straightened his shoulders and walked up to the blackboard with all the confidence he could muster. Following an instinct, he grabbed the closest piece of chalk and scribbled down his heading.
“So, uh, Vikings. I bet you all knew these rusty northmen had a fair bit of culture in them, more than you’d think actually.”
Fishlegs nodded along enthusiastically and Hiccup took a deep breath, ready to bullshit his way through. It wasn’t the first time something like this worked and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.
“And-“
The high pitched whirring of the fire alarm drowned out his next sentence. Hiccup sagged forward in relief. They couldn’t have chosen a better time to continue the series of endless fire drills and if it was a real one this time even better. Not that he liked to see Berk burn, or his father’s disappointed expression when literally everyone else was more helpful in extinguishing the fires, but it got him out of class and practice and for now that would have to be enough. Not that everything about being a firefighter in training was bad, he really enjoyed the whole technical aspect of it, but to get there he had to push past instructors who were used to beefy teens like Snotlout. Maybe that fact that Snotlout and half the school went to that training too was what made it worse, but unlike them he didn't really get a choice.
Gobber looked furious, trying to keep the illusion of order while cursing the idiot that had the audacity to hold a drill, in his class of all classes. The twins were the first to storm out into the hallway, followed closely by Snotlout.
“Don’t think I’m letting yer off the hook so easy, Hiccup,” Gobber grumbled on as he walked past.
“Although your kindness is greatly appreciated, Gobber.”
“Yeah yeah, don’t test me lad.”
Fishlegs pushed him out after the others before he talked himself into more trouble. Hiccup yawned.
“You just can’t help it, can you?” Fishlegs hissed.
“Just a bit of sarcasm, nothing he can’t handle.”
“Okay now I’m sure you have a death wish. Y-you didn’t even bring a presentation and…Hiccup how much did you sleep last night?”
“Enough to be awake right now,” he waved off nonchalantly and suppressed another yawn. “You don’t need to worry about me Fishlegs, I can take care of myself.”
“Too bad I’m your friend and I am worried about you, that’s what I do.”
They were interrupted by Gobber yelling at the class to get their sorry butts outside, happy to reinforce the drill aspect now that he'd come to terms with it. Fishlegs pulled his dark red hoodie tighter and frowned at the thick clouds above, typical for late April.
“There’s nothing you need to worry about, promise,” Hiccup added just as the first tiny raindrop hit his cheek.
“I’m so going to catch a cold,” Fishlegs muttered under his breath before he turned his attention back to Hiccup.
Then, his gaze shifted and he looked right behind his friend with slightly widened eyes, giving Hiccup a precious few seconds to brace himself. Sure enough, rough arms pushed him aside and he barely managed to keep his balance. Dogsbreath walzed through like a force of nature, closely followed by Snotlout who couldn’t help but shove him again. They seemed to share a braincell, a very very crippled one in Hiccup's opinion and meant trouble whenever they hung around together. Which was all the time really, making school a minefield for him. Fishlegs almost leapt in joy when they saw they didn’t share much classes with each other, unlike last year, but the two of them appeared pretty determined to make their life hell nonetheless. Last year they actually set Fishlegs workbooks on fire and Hiccup didn’t blame his friend that he made himself scarce now.
“You were pretty embarrassing out there,” Snotlout sneered just loud enough so Gobber wouldn’t hear.
“Yeah, well, I wasn’t finished,” Hiccup replied slowly and tried to retreat towards the next best group of students.
Dogsbreath cornered him.
“Snot says you’re a hopeless case.”
“Because he is a hopeless case Dogsbreath, look at him. Am I right Useless?”
“You don’t even know how to spell hopeless, Snot.”
His cousin replied with a swift elbow to the ribs that looked much more playful than it felt.
“We’ll see if you’re so witty after practice,” he spat.
Much to Hiccups relief the teachers finished counting all the students from their class in record time today and soon, they were good to go back inside. Snotlout flashed a last ominous grin at him before he joined the fleeting crowd, now that everybody noticed it would start pouring within the next few minutes. Dogsbreath effectively cleared a path for them since he outweighed most of the other students and probably half the teachers too.
“That went well,” Hiccup muttered dryly.
Fishlegs reappeared at his side and they half-heartedly joined the brawl, knowing they were likely to be soaked by the time they got inside.
xXx
Hiccup practically stumbled through the front door later that day. It was more of an evening actually and he was absolutely drained, tired, hungry and in desperate need of a shower. Football practice had been an absolute nightmare, just as he expected and for some reason he’d thought it was a good idea to squeeze in a few hours in the garage before he finished off his other duties and went home.
Gobbers’ old workshop seemed to be the only place in Berk where he could actually enjoy some peace and quiet, work on a project here and there and not disappoint his father even further. Stoick seemed so determined to mold him into a spitting image of his own youth, big, strong, great at any sport he picked up and even better at making friends and so entirely not like Hiccup that he wanted to take the closest pan and hammer some sense back into his father’s thick supposedly Viking skull. Instead, he settled for a yawn and cursed the man's career choice once again. He just had to lead this town and constantly pressure his son to be presentable for the public eye.
“You’re late,” Stoick boomed.
Hiccup sighed and trotted to join his father at the dinner table. As always, he was in working mode, one eye glued to the news while he surveyed his stew with the other. Leftovers from yesterday, the pinnacle of his father’s cooking skills even though they took turns, given they were actually both home to share a meal.
“C’mon you need to eat if you ever want to gain some weight before the game next month.”
“Suuure,” Hiccup answered, too exhausted to argue that he most definitely wouldn’t play against the Meatheads if he could help it. Or even worse, the Berserkers the game after. Or ever since Snotlout made sure he stayed benched for the whole season, not that he disagreed. Hiccup grabbed a plate. Behind them the TV showed yet another picture of a burning house, the third this month and Stoick grumbled. It was just a matter of time until someone got seriously injured.
“Damn arsonists, I swear their days are numbered.”
“Find out anything new?” Hiccup asked casually. He made sure he didn’t sound too eager.
“Nah, been searching the whole night and not a single trace apart from a few pesky tire marks. We know their camp is ‘round here somewhere, but it’s near impossible to actually find someone.”
Hiccup already knew his father spent most of his time out on the roads yesterday, which was part of the reason he got so little sleep last night.
“Wellll, I’m sure if anyone can find them it’s you.”
“Damn right I can. Enough of that, where have you been running around again?”
“Umm Gobbers?”
“Not strolling through the city late at night or putting holes in walls with modified fire extinguishers again?”
“Father, that was once-“
“Just making sure, just making sure. Can’t have you out there making trouble when it’s dangerous already.”
“Yeahhh,” Hiccup replied, “I wouldn’t dream of heading out.”
“Good, good, just stay put until I’ve taken care of everything.”
The phone rang and Hiccup used the welcome distraction to finish eating and hurry to his room upstairs. When he fell into bed an hour later he couldn’t help but wonder how long he had until someone found out he was hiding something.