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Hiccup is so not a Viking (hiccup_) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2014-08-01 17:22:00

Who: Hiccup and Astrid.
What: Meeting up after years of Astrid being mean to him.
When: Afternoon of 7/20/14
Where: Cafe
Rating/Warnings: TBD
Status: Complete



Astrid hadn’t been sure what prompted inviting Hiccup out. It’s not like they were good friends back in the day - they barely talked, and when they did, it was Astrid telling him that getting in her way was not a good idea. She’d been cold and distant than anything else.

But life had a funny way of bringing people back together. Coffee, or whatever else that could be found remotely interesting, didn’t hurt. And if they were attending the same college campus, it wouldn’t hurt to be friendly, right?

She seemed to have hit off well with him when she didn’t even know he was Hiccup, so there was that.

She’d wash the grime of the day’s work, dressed up casually but still nice, and waited kind of awkwardly in the cafe. Astrid wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, but she was there, waiting, chewing on the straw of her iced coffee.

The world was an extremely tiny place and Hiccup couldn’t believe that the Astrid from his youth was on the same network as him and that they would both be going to the same college in a couple months. When she invited him out to coffee he couldn’t help but shake his head - what did a guy do for a first “reunion” with someone from his long distant past? He had gotten himself in too deep and he couldn’t stand her up because he did not need a black eye on the first day of school.

So, he redressed himself in something that wasn’t a paint spattered t-shirt and decided to look presentable. With his prosthetic in place he grabbed his wallet and called out to his parents that he would be back. Another bonus of being back in the real world was getting a handicapped equipped car. He let his GPS give him directions to the shop and once there he parked in the front and then began the walk into the shop. Would he recognize her? His eyes surveyed the scene before spotting a blonde and a goofy grin appeared on his face. Yup. Had to be her.

It was when their eyes met that Astrid almost spit her coffee out.

It wasn’t the classiest thing to do when you meet someone again, no. She wiped her mouth and luckily none of it really got on her shirt, but crap, talk about embarrassing. It was strange how easily recognizable he was and at the same time, he looked completely different. He’d been the awkward lanky kid that didn’t have much going for him back in the day, but puberty had something else in mind.

Something else entirely.

Astrid waved him down, trying not to look as sheepish and awkward as she felt. “Uh, hi.”

The goofy grin only grew when he watched her reaction. He got that a few times from the recent relatives they had reconnected with after so many years away. He knew that he looked different from when he was a child, but it never really connected with him that he could possibly be more “attractive” to other people. It helped that you weren’t constantly hit on or commented on when you lived in out in the wilderness.

Hiccup raised his hand and moved through the cafe over to her table before grabbing a car and sitting down in it. It was only up close that he took a moment to study her - she looked basically the same, but she had grown up and she looked really pretty now. A small flush appeared on his cheeks as he reached up to brush some hair out of his face, “Hey.”

“Sorry about that,” she said and swallowed uncomfortably, but once she settled, the awkwardness eventually went away. “Drink, uh. Went down the wrong tube.”

Yeah. That was a valid excuse, right?

“Long time no see, huh? Heard you were one with the land.”

"No worries. It happens. At least you didn't choke," he pointed out with a sideways smile before chuckling at her comment about one with the land, "That"s me. I can help you survive basically any outdoor scenario in 1,000 ways to die. What about you?"

He had talked about himself on the net, but he wasn't sure what she had gotten up during their time apart. For all he knew she could be married with five kids.

His time away sounded a lot more interesting. Astrid found herself feeling almost...jealous? Sure, she traveled around a lot because of her family, but there’s something about his way of traveling just felt more...freeing. “Working at a veterinary clinic. Cleaning kennels and helping the docs. My parents went to Alaska, soooo...I decided to stay here. And do the whole college thing.”

“You just decided not to go with them? Huh, good for you. Alaska is kind of boring and you can’t get the latest on celebrity gossip there. And there’s all that darkness you get up there,” Hiccup couldn’t help but grin a little as he rambled, “You would like the terrain though, but you’ve probably made a good decision to stay here. And a veterinary clinic? Sounds like fun. Is that what you want to do for a career?”

“Nope, not as a career choice, no,” Astrid said, quickly shaking her head. She wasn’t all that keen to tell him her troubles with the parental unit - that was a little too heavy for a first meet up after so long. “It holds me over. Pays my apartment. Ideally, I’d like to be a professional viking, but, but closest I could get were Scandinavian Studies.” She grinned a little. “I took what I could get.”

“I’m going to do that as a minor! My massive Viking parents decided it would be good if I did something like that to get a better grasp on our history. I also think my dad wants me to embrace that and go into what he does for a living,” Hiccup assumed that she remembered his dad and knew what he was doing while he was away in the woods. It was hard to go around to certain places without people stopping him and wanting to talk about his dad, “You would make a great professional viking though. I bet you could find a way to do it.”

Oh, yes. Hard to forget the giant that Hiccup’s father was. Her parents, on the other hand, didn’t care very much for him - he was often criticized and picked apart for no reason by them - but Astrid always thought they might have just been a bit envious.

“Looks like I’ll be seeing you in classes too, then.” Which didn’t seem too bad, right? She had some friends going to the same school but none she really overlapped curriculums with. “And thanks for the vote of confidence, I guess? I mean, wouldn’t you just want to drink mead and eat meat all day after riding into battle?”

“I must say that doesn’t seem like a horrible way to end a day. I don’t think Vikings would really let me into their battle, but you never know,” he made a gesture to his leg. He was fairly certain that he would have been left for dead if they had been living in Viking times. He still wouldn’t even consider himself skilled enough to go into battle either, but he certainly wasn’t the scrawny thing he used to be as a kid, “So, what else have you been up to? Did you stay in the old place for High School and all that? How is everyone else?”

That motioning to the leg caught her eye, and she glanced to the limb - which she assumed to be the prosthetic - for a second before glancing back. “Stayed in there ‘til graduation. Everyone else is around and about, trying to figure life outside of getting stoned in the parking lot and the likes. You know. Post-high school dilemmas and such.”

Astrid glanced at the leg again, and sighed.

“Okay. I’m dying to know. I know. I’m a huge jerk.”

“I’m not surprised that you want to know. But I don’t think I’m going to tell you yet,” he gave her a mysterious smile as he got out of the chair, “It’s our first meeting since we were kids. How about I get to know you better to see if you’re worthy of that information. But for now I’m going to grab a drink, be right back.” He continued to smile at her as he walked off towards the counter to order an iced coffee. He didn’t like talking about the accident and he wasn’t sure if Astrid really need to know that information right away. Besides, this was payback for all the times she was mean to him as a kid.

Well played, Hiccup. Well played.

Although Astrid felt like a bigger jerk when that confession came out, so she kind of sunk in her seat and gave her straw a pretty harsh chewing. He had a point. Not like he was going to relay that kind of personal information to someone who was never close to him to begin with.

What if he’s traumatized? What if it was some horrible freakish accident that he had to go to therapy for?

Astrid face-palmed. “I’m an asshole,” she said out loud, to no one in particular.

After placing his order he stepped off to the side and used the time to study Astrid. He could see that she felt about about asking about his leg and he felt a little bad about not telling her, but he still didn’t like discussing that sort of thing out in public much. Finally his name was called and he grabbed his drink before going back over to her.

“You okay?” he questioned as he moved to sit in the chair once again and lifted the cup to his mouth with a raise of his eyebrow. She looked so different and just like he remembered her at the same time. It was strange and he could feel something stirring in the pit of his stomach.

“I’m fine,” she said quickly, trying to perk up and not let the fact that she felt guilty show. She straightened up, put on her best grin, and placed her arms on the table. “But I think you owe me some stories about your adventures in the wild. Seen any Big Foots?”

Astrid found it almost bizarre her sudden interest in the guy. Maybe it was the nostalgia of it - just having someone she knew before, even if she didn’t talk to him much - and figuring out what he’d been up to. Maybe it was the mystery behind the prosthetic.

Maybe it had to do what a damn good job puberty had done over the years.

All of the above, Astrid decided.

“Oh god, you could just watch my Dad’s show to see our adventures in the wild. There was a lot of stupid things I had to help do and I’m really good at setting up and taking down a camp in under 10 minutes. I didn’t see any Big Foots, but we did run into groups every once and a while that were out looking for them,” Hiccup had to roll his eyes at the mention of those people. They were absolutely insane sometimes and he didn’t understand how people could truly think that Big Foot was real.

“I saw some really cool animals out in the wild, so that’s always a bonus. It really wasn’t that glamorous though,” he had to continually point that out to people because a lot of days just sucked due to bad weather conditions or being in a terrible hot area. He was more than happy to be back in society now.

“At least when the apocalypse comes, you’ll be prepared,” Astrid pointed out. “But, I’m sure having functional plumbing and electricity is something nice to come back to.” She could see herself camping for a few days, but for years was a completely different story. “Where do you live, anyway? Close by?”

Curious. Just in case. You know. There was a time in the future she needed to come over.

“That is very true. I can help figure out what is useful and what is a waste of space in your knapsack,” He agreed with a soft chuckle and took a sip from his drink. The idea of being able to survive if there was a apocalypse wasn’t something he would have fathomed when he was younger, but he had definitely been molded over the years with his father, “And yeah, I will never knock plumbing or electricity ever again. And we live in Fullerton. I’ll probably move on campus once school starts though because I want to try being independent for once.”

“What about you?” she already had her own apartment, but he was curious as to if it was a mystical place that he would ever get to see in the future.

“Costa Mesa, and literally a hop away from Santa Ana. And really close to the beach. Not on the beach, but still close enough.” Her kingdom for an apartment right on the beach, but of course, being frugal with money was pretty important when it came to end’s meet. “Haven’t really enjoyed it though. I need to, since school’s around the corner and I’ll have no life soon, but…”

Astrid wrinkled her nose in hesitance, but then just finally asked.

“We can do a mini beach trip?”

Hiccup enjoyed watching her expressions. Her face was very expressive and he was a little surprised to see that moment of hesitation before she asked about the beach trip. She seemed so different from the little girl who spoke her mind and talked with her fists. It was a little unnerving to have her be somewhat cautious around him and he hoped she was trying to treat him like he was a fragile person because he might kick her in the shin if that was the case.

“I’d really like that,” he admitted aloud before a bit of a blush blossomed on his cheeks. He was a little surprised at how quickly he answered that. God, being around cute girls was so awkward now since he was completely out of practice.

Astrid went silent after that, but there was an idea brewing. An idea that was forming every moment her grin grew.

“I’m free. And I have a car.” She motioned over to the junky Volkswagen Beetle outside, with the bad yellow paint job. Her fingers tapped the table-top to help contain the growing excitement. “Wanna go? Now? You can finish the coffee in the car.”

They did say they would find something more interesting to do today.

“Um, sure?” His eyebrows raised in surprise when Astrid decided they should go jump in her car and apparently start this beach party now. He honestly had nothing else to do today, so maybe it wasn’t a terrible idea to go with her.

It was hard to resist her when she got that smile on her face and he took another sip of his drink before getting up, “Alright, let’s go then. Why the hell not.”

Astrid fished for her car keys and led him to her car, a bounce in every single step she took. “The worse that could happen is stepping on a jellyfish.” She unlocked her car and got it. “And if I pick you up and toss you to the waves, it’s not personal.”

Hiccup held carefully onto his coffee as he watched her bouncing to her car. Yeah, this was definitely going to be an interesting trip to the beach, “Well, at least let me take my leg off first, alright? I wasn’t prepared for this so if this leg gets wet then I’m screwed. But if you ask nicely then I may let you do it.” He had to at least warn her about that because the last thing he needed was to ruin his leg with ocean water and his parents would probably kill him.

Oh.

Astrid didn’t even think about it. She didn’t know much about prosthetics and what could and couldn’t damage it, so now she almost questioned the entire beach adventure.

“Well, we don’t have to get in the water. Walk on the sand, hang out.” She shrugged, leaning back against the car seat. She gave him a grin. “But if you’re up for the wave tossing, leg or no leg, I’m game with that too.”

“Hey now, don’t let my wonder leg ruin your plans. It’s not a big deal. I’m a real boy,” he commented back when he saw the play of emotions over her face. Using a prosthetic put a kink in many plans, but he really didn’t let it bother him much anymore. He just didn’t want it to ruin her idea. He sunk into the seat and looked back over at her with a smile, “We’ll see when we get there. Now, take me to the beach, Astrid.”

Astrid slipped on a pair of sunglasses and turned on the radio. “Roger that. Let’s pretend we’re riding in style.”