Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

            A cold breeze passed through the crowd standing in front of a grand theater one autumn night. A few surprised gasps and silent swears filled the air as the crowd shivered in the cold, couples huddling together and children clinging to their parents tightly, wailing about how long they had to wait in their stiff and formal outfits. A young man of about twenty-four pulled his coat collar closer to his neck, blowing out clouds of steam to kill time. A red leaf that rode the wind smacked him in the face and he blushed a color not unlike that of the leaf. He peeled the leaf off of his cheek and peeked around, making sure no one saw one of his many awkward moments, before releasing the leaf and watching it fly through the air, giving a small hiccup of embarrassment that befitted his own name.

            Hiccup, as you might have guessed our young man was called, winced and squinted as a bright light emerged from behind the large door and a rush of warm air spilled out into the streets. He heard sighs of relief and expressions of awe as people entered the theater. He brushed his long brown bangs out of his eyes, which took a few seconds to adjust to the light, before going in.

            He entered the room, looking around for just a split second, before walking to the ticketing usher, who pointed out his seat to him (“fifth row to the front, 10 seats from the left”). To the casual observer, it would be a bit odd to see a person like Hiccup so uninterested by the shimmering chandeliers and impressive sculptures that adorned the area. After all, Hiccup seemed like such an average man, what with his average height and average brown hair and lean build. The upper-class onlooker might be offended by his nonchalance, considering his worn-out coat and dull shoes that just screamed “normal.” Yet, of course, there is always something about the passerby that you will never know just from appearance.

            Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (a name that he received a lot of grief from in his childhood) was the sole heir and valued business consultant of Hooligan Entertainment Industries—a role that ended up surprising most of his acquaintances and even his father, who gladly handed Hiccup the role of head representative of his grand theater in lieu of Hiccup’s accomplishments.

            The Haddock Theatre was quite a magnificent one that, in all modesty, put the grand theater Hiccup was currently in, to shame. The Haddock Theatre had quite the reputation that would send any pompous connoisseurs of the performing arts into long boasts about the marvelous performance they saw that one time, and how they met a particular artist there before they had become famous. Perhaps that was why, as representative, Hiccup became someone hard to impress—something that made sure only the best of the best performed at the theater.

            Hiccup walked to his seat, muttering “excuse me”s and “pardon me”s as he shuffled through the feet of those already seated and found himself at his seat  and lowered himself into the soft red cushion, sighing in relief at finally being allowed to sit down in a nicely heated room after standing in the cold for about an hour. The seat to his left was empty while the seat to his right was occupied by a large woman chatting away with the man in front of her.

            Hiccup sighed, massaging his temples in exasperation at the thought of having to sit in a theater, watching a, most likely, cliché, run-of-the-mill, performance for the third time this month. Magicians really weren’t his thing. In fact, because of that, in his time as a representative (which, he noted proudly, was two years, five months, and two days) the theater had not seen a magician in years.

            However, this night was different—he had come on the recommendation of his best friend and roommate, who insisted that, despite his skepticism, this was quite the show to see. And, well, if this magician managed to impress Astrid to the point where she even bought tickets for him to watch the show, then he guessed he might as well see what all the fuss is about.

            Hiccup was pulled from his thoughts when he heard the seat next to him creak and groan as someone sat down. Hiccup’s eyes drifted to the left, trying to seem as inconspicuous as possible. A young man that looked maybe a few years older than Hiccup sat calmly in his seat, his elbows on both arm rests, his right shin resting atop his left leg in a relaxed position. He sported a sleek black suit and an ice blue tie that Hiccup thought made his eyes even more attractive than they already were. Even more shocking was the fact that the man had a head of pure white hair that showed no signs of betraying the man’s natural hair color. Hiccup had to admit that he felt a sort of immature glee that came with sitting next to someone that attractive.

            The man looked around the room with a sort of odd curiosity before he made eye contact with Hiccup, who felt a blush rise in his cheeks as he broke eye contact and looked down at his hands, which sat in his lap. Hiccup mentally berated himself for letting the awkward teenage boy in him reveal itself and just let out a small sigh, placing his elbow on his right arm rest.

            “So, I’m guessing you’re not into the whole ‘hocus pocus’ magic phenomena?”

            Hiccup felt his heart jump in surprise at the sound of the man’s low and cool voice actually addressing them after their awkward moment of mutual staring. He cleared his throat to try to regain his cool before putting on the most normal smile he could manage.

            “I guess you could say that,” Hiccup chuckled. “I’m a bit of a skeptic nowadays.”

            “I thought so—I don’t think I’ve seen you at one of this guy’s performances before,” the man said, jerking his head towards the stage. He held out his hand to Hiccup. “The name’s Jack, by the way.”

            Hiccup took Jack’s hand, which he noted was a bit colder than he thought would be normal for most humans. “I would be Hiccup,” Hiccup gave a weak smile when Jack raised an eyebrow at him. “I know, I know. It’s a long story involving a Viking ancestry—you wouldn’t want to hear it.”

            “Oh, I think I’d like to hear it someday,” Jack smirked, leaning his cheek on his right palm. Hiccup felt a terrible and uncontrollable heat rise in his neck once again as he noticed just how charming this man was.

            Was it just him, or was he leaning a bit more towards Jack than he was before?

            “Enough about that—you said you’re not really into this stuff,” Jack continued. “So what brings you here? Girlfriend dragged you?”

            Hiccup chuckled nervously. “Well, uh, no, but a friend of mine did recommend the show, so I thought I’d check it out. Humor her, so to speak,” Hiccup tore his own green eyes away from Jack’s mesmerizing blues for a minute in a futile attempt to restore his regular heartbeat. “From the way it sounds, it looks like you’re a regular of this particular magician. Perhaps even a big fan.”

            Jack laughed and his eyes glinted with a sort of mischievousness that made Hiccup’s heart skip a beat and his mind whir with an active curiosity that begged to know more about this handsome stranger.

            “I guess you could say that,” Jack smiled. “I mean, he’s no David Copperfield, but I think he’s got quite the act lined up. I’ve been to every single performance—each one is different.”

            “You don’t say,” Hiccup said, his eyes flitting in the direction of the stage for a quick moment before meeting Jack’s icy blues once again. “I don’t know… I’m still a little skeptical about all of this…”

            “Ahhh, I get you now,” Jack said, tapping his fingers to his chin, his eyebrows knitted together as he thought. “You can’t really be a professional critic—you’re much too easy to talk to for that. I’m guessing you’re one of those ‘hard-to-impress’ types.”

            Hiccup smirked, “You could even go on to say that I take pride in that.” Hiccup ran his fingers through his hair, getting his bangs out of his eyes, his fingers tracing his neck, which he noted, with surprise, was still warm to the touch despite the fact that he had become more comfortable talking to Jack. “Besides, as you said before, I’m not into the whole children’s magic show thing.” Hiccup said, leaning back in his chair, intertwining his fingers in his lap, “Making a coin disappear, pulling bunnies out of hats, pulling yards of cloth out of a once empty bag? It’s all overused and I’ve seen it before.”

            “I guess I see where you’re coming from,” Jack admitted.

            “Not to be a fun killer or anything,” Hiccup began with a slight tone of apology, “but this guy’s gonna have to do a lot to impress me—hell, he’d have to make it snow… In the theater,” Hiccup added after some consideration.

            “Well, I don’t know about that,” Jack chuckled, glancing down at an expensive looking watch on his left wrist, “but I guarantee that this will be a night to remember for you. In fact, I’ll make sure of that.”

            Hiccup opened his mouth to ask Jack what he meant when the lights suddenly went off, enveloping the theater in darkness. A hush immediately went through the crowd and a few excited whispers and giggles could be heard all around him.

            A loud boom came from the speakers and Hiccup winced, turning to the front of the room. Light blue spotlights traveled across the stage, as if in search for something before setting right in the middle of the stage.

            ‘Well, I guess I’ll have to see for myself,” Hiccup whispered to Jack, feeling slightly disappointed when he did not receive a reply.

            “Ladies and gentlemen… Please welcome the AMAZING and MYSTERIOUS—the ULTIMATE trickster and MASTER of spectacles… JAAACK FROOOST!”

            There was a loud boom as an explosion of shimmering smoke swirled around the stage. The crowd burst with excitement as a young man stepped forward, wearing a nice black suit with an ice blue tie that seemed to be a nice touch to his white hair and blue—

            If it was physically possible, Hiccup’s jaw would have dropped to the floor as he recognized the handsome stranger he was talking to just a few seconds ago. He turned his head to his left, in utter shock as he realized that the seat was empty—as if no one had even occupied it just moments before.

            “Thank you, ladies and gentlemen,” Jack bowed low as the spotlight shone on him. He flashed a brilliant smile towards the audience, which cheered and swooned in his wake. “I really must thank you from the bottom of my heart for coming here tonight, even though I’m sure some of you didn’t want to.”

            Hiccup felt his face flush as Jack’s eyes seemed to look in his direction. Perhaps he was imagining it though—he was almost directly in the middle after all.

            “However, I must kindly ask that you kindly stow away your skepticism for just a moment—and I will guarantee that this will be a night to remember. I’ll make sure of that,” Jack winked and Hiccup’s heart beat out of his chest as he realized that Jack really was looking right at him. A small smile crept onto his face and Hiccup found himself clapping along with the rest of the audience as Jack flicked his right hand and conjured a hat from thin air.

            “For my first trick, I will need a volunteer,” Jack said grandly, doffing his hat. The people around Hiccup leapt to their feet, practically begging to be a participant in Jack Frost’s show. Hiccup looked around curiously, making a mental note that Jack’s mass popularity obviously showed that he had some talent, if any. Jack feigned searching among the crowd, scratching his chin in an affected manner. It suddenly occurred to Hiccup what Jack’s master plan was and he immediately lowered himself in his seat, raising his hand to his head in a vain attempt to hide himself.

            “How about that shy gentleman in the fifth row!” Jack finally declared. “The one with the brown hair and freckles!”

            Hiccup swore silently to himself as he looked up at Jack, who’s eyes shone like a mischievous child on April Fool’s day. A woman in a brightly colored dress—his assistant, Hiccup assumed, made her way towards him, beckoning for him to go up on stage. Hiccup obliged reluctantly, his face shining crimson as he made his way to the front, taking Jack’s offered hand as he hopped onto the stage, biting his lip in embarassment.

            “Hello there good sir,” Jack took off his hat and bowed, reaching out to take Hiccup’s hand. As soon as Jack’s fingertips delicately touched his palm, Hiccup swore he heard his own heartbeat blaring in his ears. Jack led Hiccup to a chair that his assistant had brought to the center of the room and sat him down.

            “And your name is…?” Jack said, winking at Hiccup.

            Hiccup raised an eyebrow, but answered nonetheless.

            “Well. Hiccup,” Jack smiled at him, pulling a deck of cards out of his pocket, fanning them out before Hiccup’s eyes, “I’d like you to pick a card—any of them.”

            Hiccup studied the card intensely, looking for strings and attachments and any flaw that would have given away the trick of the deck and the intricate black patterns that decorated the back of each card. He peeked around Jack’s head for a moment—seeing a screen that showed Jack’s hand and cards live. Hiccup reached out hesitantly, picking a card right in the middle, his and Jack’s fingers brushing as Hiccup extracted the card.

            Jack of hearts… Hiccup said as he examined the card. How fitting.

            Jack’s brightly colored and bubbly assistant bounded over to them, taking the card from Hiccup’s hand for a moment and showing it to the crowd as Jack covered his eyes. When she handed him back his card, she seemed to search Hiccup’s face for a moment with a curious smile before hopping away.

            “Alright, Hiccup, if you would please replace the card,” Jack said, fanning his cards out once again. Hiccup made sure to hide the card somewhere in the middle, trying his best to stump the so-called “master of spectacles.”

            Jack seemed to notice Hiccup’s carefulness and smirked at him, making a huge scene of shuffling the cards many times before continuing.

            “Hiccup, have I ever mentioned that you’re quite handsome, actually,” Jack chuckled. The audience met Jack’s comment with laughter and wolf-whistling as Hiccup’s face ran crimson, swearing that even his multitude of freckles gained a chameleon-like quality at Jack’s comment. “They always say that people graced with such a skill have a rather attractive smell, wouldn’t you agree?”

            The crowd’s laughter continued and Hiccup felt himself heat up with embarassment, something that was only made worse when Jack took his hand and kneeled in front of him.

            “I’m betting,” Jack continued, “that I could find your card from your scent.”

            “What?” Hiccup spluttered inaudibly as the crowd delivered its predictable “ooooh”s and whistles. Jack brought Hiccup’s hand up and pressed his lips to the back of his hand momentarily. At the brush of Jack’s lips to his freckled hand, Hiccup suddenly felt like he was going to melt into a puddle of pure freckly embarrassment. His heart felt like it was going to hop right out of his chest onto the floor in a big heap of nervous attraction.

            Yet, Hiccup was surprised when he found that he was disappointed as Jack lowered his hand and lifted his lips away. Hiccup, who was still a bit confused by the past few seconds as well as the audience’s enthusiastic cheers watched as Jack held his cards in front of face, flipping through the cards with his fingers and taking a deep, showy sniff. Jack smiled and held up a finger to the crowd, which had become silent in anticipation, tapping the top of the deck. With a swift motion, he flipped the card over and, to Hiccup’s surprise, the Jack of Hearts at atop Jack’s deck.

            The crowd began to break into excited applause, only to be silenced once again as Jack placed the card back into Hiccup’s hand, face up.

            “Why don’t you kiss that card for me, Hic?”

            Hiccup gazed up at Jack quizzically, placing the tip of the card to his lips, before handing the card back to Jack.

            Jack flipped the card over and Hiccup’s jaw dropped when he saw a rose adorning the back of the card where the intricate black pattern used to be. The audience buzzed in appreciation as Jack placed the card back at the top and placed the entire deck in Hiccup’s hands. Jack placed his left hand under Hiccup’s and used his right hand to fan out the cards over Hiccup’s palms.

            If Hiccup wasn’t shocked by Jack’s earlier trick, he was certainly shocked now. The fanned out cards connected like an odd puzzle to form the image of a single rose that branched out across the deck. Something rounder and softer than the cards fell into Hiccup’s hand, and before he could even wonder what it was, Jack removed the deck from his hands to reveal a single, thornless, red rose that lay delicately in Hiccup’s palms.

            The crowd was roaring with glee at Jack’s first trick to the point where they were standing up and clapping with such eagerness that one would think all of their hands would fall of simultaneously. Jack pulled Hiccup up to his feet and they bowed together, Hiccup still in slight shock and quite bashful as Jack’s assistant led him off the stage and back to his seat.

            Jack was still revelling in the applause from his first trick when Hiccup sat down. Hiccup twirled the rose’s stem in his fingers, looking at it over and over again. He could almost feel the curious glances that were aimed his way, but he didn’t care. A small smile rose to his lips as he pressed the rose against them, before placing it back in his lap and looking back up at the charming man at the front of the stage.

            The night continued with Jack pulling some rather amazing stunts—turning his hat into a dove, making his assistant disappear, making large stone statues float, and sending flocks of beautiful hummingbirds over the heads of the audience. It was a night of amazement and Hiccup, in all his skeptism, had found himself in a state of childish wonder and curiosity, clapping along with the rest of the crowd after Jack performed a trick, and finding himself smiling every time Jack seemed to make eye contact with him.

            Yet, after what seemed like a fantastically short time, the show ended with Jack giving yet another low bow and thanking the audience for their attention before disappearing behind a cloud of blue smoke. There was a generous applause for Jack and eventually the audience began shuffling out of their seats. Hiccup was one of the last to leave, as he sort of sat there, staring blankly at the red rose, wondering how he would get Jack’s contact information for a job offer… or perhaps something else…

            “Excuse me, sir?”

            Hiccup was pulled away from his ponderings by a smooth female voice. He turned to see Jack’s assistant standing right next to him. Now that Hiccup was not preoccupied with the hustle and bustle of the show, he got to examine her a bit more closely. Her hair was a shocking array of yellows, greens, and blues and her dress seemed just as bright to match the color of the hair. Something about her reminded Hiccup strongly of a hummingbirds colorful plummage.

            “I’m glad you stayed back for a bit,” she smiled. “Jack actually requested to see you backstage.”

            Hiccup felt a moment of euphoria at this statement. “Really? Oh, then I’ll just…” Hiccup scrambled to his feet a bit clumsily. The woman laughed at his floundering and Hiccup felt just a teeny bit embarassed.

            “If you’d just follow me,” she smiled at him, leading him through the seats and to a door that lead to the backstage area. Hiccup had to adjust to the bright lights of the back hallway, which was quite blinding compared to the dim mood-lighting of the theater. “By the way, I’m Toothiana. You can call me Tooth, though,” she finally said as they weaved through theater employees who were packing up the equipment from the night’s show. For a minute, Hiccup was about to make a comment about her odd name, but thought better of it when he remembered his own.

            “I’m Hiccup,” he introduced himself a bit awkwardly. A moment of silence enveloped them and Hiccup suddenly felt that the backstage area was a lot bigger than he would imagine. “So… Tooth… Are you and Jack dating or something?”

            Tooth stopped in her tracks and Hiccup almost crashed into her. He felt a lump in his throat, afraid that he had offended her in some way. When he opened his mouth to apologize, he was cut off by the sound of loud, uncontrollable laughter.

            “Oh, heavens no!” Tooth finally said, wiping a tear from her eye from all of her laughter. “If anything, Jack is more like a younger brother to me. I just make sure he doesn’t step out of line—he tends to get carried away with all the fun he has sometimes, you know?” A mischievous glint shone in her eye that made Hiccup’s oddly nervous. “Why do you ask?”

            “Oh, er—no reason,” Hiccup said hastily, mentally slapping himself for sounding so suspicious.

            “Hm… That’s too bad,” Tooth sighed and gave a theatrical shrug before continuing their walk. “He really couldn’t take his eyes off of you today.”

            Hiccup’s heart seemed to be doing a multitude of cartwheels that day and Hiccup laughed sheepishly, pulling a bit at the green tie that hung around his neck. “Y-you think so?”

            Tooth just looked back at him and smiled before stopping in front of a door. She reached her hand out to turn the doorknob as Hiccup carefully stuck his rose into his pocket. Tooth held the door open for Hiccup, who peeked inside to see the white-haired magician standing in front of a mirror, his back facing the door, slicking back his hair, winking at himself.

            When Jack saw Hiccup and Tooth giggling in the mirror, he gave a bit of a jump before turning around hastily and giving them an embarassed smile, his entire suave magician façade fading away just a bit. Hiccup couldn’t help but find that absolutely adorable—something that brought a small smile to his face no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

            “Oh, uh, hey there, Hiccup,” Jack said, attempting to lean against the wall cooly as Hiccup stepped into the room, only to misjudge the distance from his shoulder to the wall and almost tip over. He cast an accusatory look at Tooth, who was convulsing with giggles. “You know, knocking would’ve been a good idea.”

            “It probably would have,” Tooth said, wiping a tear, “but this was way better.”

            Jack frowned at her as she closed the door on her way out. “I’ll leave you two to yourselves. Hiccup, if he offers you a can of peanuts, don’t open it.” Jack groaned at her as the door clicked closed and the two of them were left alone.

            “So, Hiccup, what’d you think of the show?” Jack asked as Hiccup walked towards him. “Still skeptical about magic?”

            “Well, I guess it was… alright,” Hiccup said, feigning boredom.

            “Aw, Hic, you’re killin’ me here,” Jack sat down in the wheeled chair in front of the vanity, motioning for Hiccup to take a seat in the short couch next to the vanity.

            Hiccup chuckled, taking his seat. “Okay, I admit it—I was pretty impressed. Although, I have to tell you that you almost killed me with that stunt you pulled at the beginning.”

            “But you were such a natural on stage!” Jack said, rolling his chair in Hiccup’s direction, propping his arm on his knee and resting his head in his hand. “I’d even go to say that you’ve been around stages your whole life!”

            Hiccup laughed, mostly at the irony of Jack’s statement.

            “Either way, I guess you could say I’m really glad you enjoyed it in the end,” Jack said, suddenly becoming a bit sheepish. Hiccup noted the blush rising to Jack’s face with a smile.

            “I really did,” Hiccup laughed. “I have to thank you for this experience, but I don’t know if I’ll be impressed by another magician ever again after seeing all of that.”

            “Aww, but the simple tricks are the best kind,” Jack insisted. His eyes suddenly seemed to light up and he kicked back in his chair, rolling towards his vanity and grabbing a deck of cards placed conveniently on the side, before rolling back towards Hiccup. He made a great show of shuffling the cards in every impressive way imaginable before fanning them out in his hands before Hiccup’s eyes. “Pick any card, handsome.”

            Hiccup raised an eyebrow at Jack, but reached out for a card nonetheless. A two of spades looked back at him and Hiccup studied the card intently, peeking back up at Jack, who had covered his eyes with his other hand, and smiling as he placed the card back into the middle.

            At the feeling of the cards shifting, Jack looked back and smiled, shoving the deck back together before doing a simple shuffle.

            “I think my smell’s already worn off with how much you’re shuffling that thing,” Hiccup smirked, referencing Jack’s past trick.

            Jack smiled back at him proudly. “By now, I think I can tell which card is yours just because of your lingering touch.”

            “Oh, how romantic,” Hiccup said, faking a swoon. Jack laughed and ceased his shuffling, placing two fingers at the top of the deck and sliding the card out. He took a look at it and smirked before handing it to Hiccup. “I believe this was your card?”

            Hiccup took the card, which was undoubtably the two of spades, from him and examined it. Of course, he was a bit impressed that Jack had gotten his card, but that wasn’t what surprised Hiccup. What got his attention was a note in the margin of the cards in black pen.

            You. Me. Dinner and a movie?

            Hiccup bit his lip as yet another bashful smile worked its ways onto his lips (he was practically a smiling fool this entire evening) as he peeked up at Jack, who’s smirk had evolved into a nervous yet hopeful smile that Hiccup found rather endearing. In fact, Jack’s wide range of emotions was something to behold.

            “You’re right—the simple tricks are pretty charming,” Hiccup said coolly, finally letting his smile slip onto his lips without a fight. He felt a wave of heat drowning him in his effort to keep cool while, at the same time, being absolutely and completely flattered. “I-I’d love to.”

            “Great!” Jack sighed in relief. He then quickly tried to compose himself and coughed into his hand. “I mean uh, awesome! Maybe you could give me your number and I’ll call you tomorrow.”

            “Yeah sure,” Hiccup said, pulling a pen out of his pocket. “Do you have a…?”

            Jack rolled back to the vanity to retrieve yet another card, which he handed to Hiccup. “Just write it on the top.”

            Hiccup looked down at the card, the Joker, and gazed back up at Jack in surprise. “Are you sure?”

            “Yeah, no one ever uses the Joker cards anyway.”

            Hiccup shrugged and jotted down his number, handing the card back to Jack. Jack pocketed the card eagerly and opened his mouth to say something when he was interrupted by the sound of the door swinging open.

            Tooth poked her head through, a frown plastered on her brightly-colored face. “Jack, Satan-manager is coming in five minutes—you might want to rap this up.”

            Jack’s excited expression quickly turned into one of disappointment as he got up. His eyebrows were furrowed in thought and Hiccup thought he saw Jack mutter something bitterly under his breath.

            “Well, I guess I should go then,” Hiccup got up, seeing the urgency in this particular encounter. “It was nice meeting you, Jack.”

            Jack seemed to be snapped back to life and he quickly donned his winning smile once again. “Yeah, you too, Hic. I’ll call you tomorrow?”

            “That would be great,” Hiccup said. He followed Tooth out the door and left the theater breathlessly.

            During the walk to his car and the drive home, Hiccup wore an unreadable expression. Someone would guess that he was incredibly focused at first glance—a thought that would be immediately abandoned as Hiccup almost hit several trashcans as he pulled into his apartment building’s parking lot. Hiccup got out of the car and creeping into his apartment quietly, making sure not to wake Astrid. He slowly turned his bedroom doorknob and slipped in, apologizing to his cat, who meowed grumpily as Hiccup slipped into his bed.

            Hiccup lay there for two minutes, his cat snoring just to the side of his bed. Then he rolled onto his side, pressed his pillow into his face, and smiled like a smitten fool.

Chapter Text

            “So? How did it go?”

            Hiccup jumped in surprise at the query, looking over his shoulder to see Astrid, who had quietly entered the kitchen as he was humming disconcertedly, sipping her coffee with a curious expression. He suddenly became aware of the dreamy expression plastered on his face and coughed into his hand, attempting (in vain) to put on a more normal morning expression.

            “Oh, you know,” Hiccup answered, “it was alright.”

            Astrid smirked and placed her mug on the counter. “Oh c’mon, Hiccup—I’ve known you long enough to know that you never wake up with a big, dumb smile on your face.”

            “Hey—it’s not dumb,” Hiccup objected as he grabbed a carton of milk from the refrigerator. Astrid rolled her eyes in response.

            “Yeah, yeah—get to the details, Haddock,” Astrid yawned.

            “Okay, it… was pretty incredible,’ Hiccup admitted, failing to suppress a sigh.

            Astrid chuckled and reached over to punch Hiccup in the arm playfully. “See, what did I tell you?” Astrid said with a pleased smirk. “So are you gonna book him?”

            Hiccup froze in the middle of pouring milk into his cereal and silence fell for a quick second.

            Astrid crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at him.

            “Well, I mean,” Hiccup chuckled, “I… I didn’t really get a contact number, you see? I mean… I sort of just gave him my personal number, but not for the reason you thought I would.”

            Astrid gave him a confused look as Hiccup grabbed a spoon from the cupboard. “Wait, what? Then what’s going on…?”

            Hiccup scratched his neck in embarrassment. “Well, okay—so maybe I was a bit distracted during the—“

            “Oh,” Astrid interrupted with a mischievous grin as she grabbed Hiccup’s spoon right from his hand. “I see what’s happening here.”

            “W-what?” Hiccup face became bright red with embarrassment as he avoided eye contact, reaching out for his bowl of cereal, which Astrid promptly moved when he came close.

            “You,” Astrid said with knowing glint in her eye as she pressed the spoon against her bottom lip thoughtfully. “You like him, don’t you, Hiccup?”

            “Who me?” Hiccup spluttered as his eyes darted frantically around the room. He felt sweat roll down his neck as his ears began to heat up in his awkwardness. “No way, I mean, this is strictly,” Hiccup coughed into his hand and regained some sort of composure, “strictly for business purposes. I mean, if he calls me on my cell phone right now, I’ll just let it ring and save the number… You know,” Hiccup’s gaze became bashful for a quick second as he gave his reasoning some more thought, “for business stuff.”

            “Really?” Astrid said, obviously trying to control the urge to laugh as she lifted Hiccup’s cereal bowl in her hands and began spooning some into her mouth.

            “Yeah,” Hiccup said firmly. “Try me.”

            As if on cue, Hiccup’s phone began ringing loudly from his bedroom. The two roommates stared at each other, Astrid with an amused look and Hiccup with one of complete and utter embarrassment as he cursed Jack’s timing. Hiccup let the phone ring for a minute, obviously having a hard time resisting the urge to run into his room and answer the phone. He rocked back and forth on his feet as Astrid ate his cereal with a triumphant smile.

            “Just get the phone, Hiccup.”

            He didn’t need to be told twice.

            “He—Hello?” Hiccup said as he tried to catch his breath from running into his bedroom as fast as he could.

            “Hey, Hiccup?” Jack’s voice made Hiccup’s heart skip a beat. “Are you okay? You don’t sound too hot.”

            Hiccup felt himself blush in embarrassment and he took a deep breath, regaining his cool. “Yeah, yeah, just a little out of breath.”

            “Oh, okay cool,” Jack said. “So… Um, about that date…”

            “Yeah?’ Hiccup replied, trying his best not to sound too hopeful.

            “I, uh,” Jack stuttered, sounding rather nervous from the other end. “I, er—I heard about this really great restaurant downtown that’s really good and I was,” Jack cleared his throat, “I was wondering if we could have dinner there tomorrow night. You know—if that’s alright with you,” Jack added hastily.

            “Yeah!” Hiccup said a little bit too eagerly for his liking. “Yeah—I’d like that a lot, actually.”

            There wasn’t too much to do today, much to Hiccup’s relief, since he figured that he could just sit in his office and think about what to wear to his date today. At the moment, he looked rather relaxed in comparison to the internal nervousness he was feeling. His left fingers flicked a pen up his desk, letting it roll back down, and flicking it again. His laptop was sitting in front of him and Google was open on the search “ways you can mess up a first date.” Hiccup rested his head in his right hand, and his elbow was propped up on the desk as he stared at Astrid with an annoyed expression.

            “Alright, I know you’re excited in more ways than one about your date with Mister Magic and all,” Astrid said, propping her feet on his desk in front of him and crossing her arms, “but I don’t see where you’re going with all this ‘hush hush’ business.”

            “Like I said before,” Hiccup replied in exasperation, “I’ve got this completely under control, alright? My plan is basically foolproof.”

            “Yeah, uh huh,” Astrid said with an unconvinced tone as she slid her feet of the desk and leaned forward. “Okay, let’s get this straight.” Astrid pressed her palms against the table and frowned at him. “So first you went to the performance and gave him his number and everything—not to offer him a show. Then, you go on a date and you still keep the theater business under wraps. And… that’s it,” Astrid leaned back and crossed her arms. “That’s the entire plan and I have no idea where you’re going with it. The fact of the matter is—this theater could use a show like Jack’s and you’re not exactly helping.”

            Hiccup felt himself twitch a bit at Astrid’s criticism, but to be fair, she had always been brutally honest. He sighed and knit his fingers together in front of him, trying to keep a stern expression (and failing). “Look, Astrid, just trust me—I know what I’m doing, okay?”

            “Hiccup,” she said with a more sympathetic tone, “I know this is important to you, I mean I understand that you’re worried that he’d, I don’t know, use your status to get himself famous or something,” Astrid said with a sigh, “but maybe you should think about the theater, you know? Jack’s got a good act and we don’t want to lose him or something.”

            “I’m—“ Hiccup began to object, He leaned back and took a deep breath. “Alright, alright. What if… what if I tell him after everything—you know, regardless of if things turn out well or not.”

            Astrid raised her eyebrows at him before tapping her finger to her chin. “Alright, I can allow a compromise,” she said, although she didn’t sound too convinced.

            Hiccup gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, Astrid—if something comes up, then I’d be more urgent about this, but we’ve got months of acts booked. There’s no rush.”

            Hiccup’s office door swung open, slamming against the wall to reveal a frantic-looking employee. Hiccup and Astrid jumped at the sudden sound stared at the man with wide, curious eyes. The man gulped. “Mr. Haddock, the singer booked for next Thursday night cancelled.” There was a moment of silence before the employee added, “That’s the same night your father is coming to evaluate your management.”

            Hiccup gazed at mirror, giving his reflection a stern glare as he straightened his tie. After spending what seemed like countless hours fixing his hair and having Astrid criticize every outfit he came out with, he felt that he had finally been satisfied (Astrid had given up complaining about an hour ago and proceeded to retreat to her room to finish her work).

            Hiccup sighed and retreated to the living room, where he plopped down on the couch and began flipping through the TV channels aimlessly. His mind wandered and his fingers drummed against the arm rest. He began to relax a bit as he listened to the sound of the clock tick from the kitchen and he laid his head back.

            He began to figure that, maybe, he was just freaking out for no reasons. After all, he was a “big-time business man” and being so nervous about something as trivial as a date was absolutely ridiculous. After all, over the years, Hiccup has had dinner with people famous beyond belief and learned to negotiate with those who used to be able to stare him down. A date with a magician, no matter how attractive or charming that magician may be, was nothing.

            That was unless, perhaps, Hiccup was dressed too formally for the occasion.

            Hiccup jerked straight up, his eyes wide in horror as he looked down at his outfit. Jack did say that they were going to a nice restaurant after all, so the obvious course of action would have been to dress semi-formally—vest, tie, and everything. However, was it possible that even semi-formal was too formal?

            The freckly young man’s moment of panic was interrupted when Astrid’s bedroom door creaked open. She rubbed her eyes with a sleepy expression, her hair disheveled and her right cheek stained with ink, suggesting that she had fallen asleep on the paperwork.

            “Hiccup,” she began with a yawn as she rubbed her cheek with faint disinterest, “I think that’s your date lighting up my entire room with his headlights pulling into the parking lot.”

            Hiccup left to his feet, straightening out his clothes and frantically patting down his hair. He threw Astrid a panicked look and the girl smirked at him. “Relax—you look decent enough,” she said, crossing her arms.

            “Wow, thanks—that’s all I ever wanted to look in my life. ‘Decent,’” Hiccup said, adjusting his collar nervously. He jumped at the sound of the speaker buzzing, his heart beating out of his chest as Astrid walked over to the speaker.

            “Hello?” she answered calmly.

            “Hey, uh,” Jack’s voice, slightly muffled by the buzzing of the speaker, stammered. Hiccup could practically hear his own heart beating in his ears in his nervousness. “I’m here for Hiccup,” Jack continued, “I-Is he ready?”

            Astrid glanced over at Hiccup with an amused expression. “As ready as he’ll ever be,” Astrid answered. “Just sit tight. He’ll be down in a minute,” she released the button and watched as Hiccup darted around the room frantically, muttering under his breath as he reached for his keys and cell phone. He stood in front of the door, his arms straight against his side and took a deep breath.

            “It’s just a stupid date, Haddock,” he muttered to himself, balling his fists. “You’ve got this.” Hiccup looked up with a determined expression on his face as he twisted the door knob and walked out the door.

            There was a moment of silence as Astrid listened to Hiccup’s footsteps march down the hall. Her eyes flickered over to the couch, where she saw a brown wallet laying on the couch.

            “You forgot your wallet,” she called as she heard footsteps approaching the door, which swung open as Hiccup marched through, a sheepish look on his face.

            “I forgot my wallet,” he explained.

            “Mhmm,” Astrid nodded, jerking her head towards the couch. Hiccup shuffled awkwardly to the couch, pulling his wallet out from between the cushions, and stuffing it into his pocket. There was a moment of silence as they both stood still. Astrid sighed, rolling her eyes, before making a fist and raising her arm in front of her. “You’ve got this,” she reminded him firmly.

Chapter Text

When Hiccup came downstairs to meet Jack in the lobby, his dignity still somewhat in one piece, he felt his heart fluttering when he saw Jack standing at the gate. He was adorned in a white button-up, a black vest, and a familiar blue tie that brought a comforted smile to Hiccup’s face (that added to the relief Hiccup felt when he found that he wasn’t overdressed at all). Although the outfit wasn’t exactly tight, it was enough to allow Hiccup to quietly admire how lean Jack’s body looked as he ran a hand through his messy white hair and looked at his phone.

Hiccup walked quietly up to the other man, who seemed rather preoccupied with his phone, even when Hiccup was standing a foot away from him. He raised an eyebrow in curiosity before shaking his head—prying on a first date is a bad idea, after all. So instead, he pressed his fist to his mouth and awkwardly cleared his throat.

Jack jumped in surprise, fumbling with his phone and jamming it into his pocket before smiling sheepishly at the brown-haired man, who wore an expression of pure amusement. 
“Oh, I, uh—" Jack looked at his feet in embarrassment, scratching his neck as his prominent ears became tinged with pink. “Hey."

“Hey," Hiccup echoed as he stifled his laughter, his previous nervousness dissolving with every second.

“Sorry about that," Jack apologized, shuffling his feet as he looked back up at Hiccup. “I was just answering some important texts."

“Don’t worry about it," Hiccup said, resisting the urge to ask how a person like Jack could read text messages with such a serious expression.

Jack chuckled and his abashed expression quickly flickered to a cool and calm smile at a pace that surprised Hiccup. “Shall we…?" Jack said coolly as he held the gate open.

Hiccup pushed his moment of shock from his head and returned the smile, walking through the gates. They walked to Jack’s car and exchanged some polite, yet rather constrained conversation during the drive and Hiccup couldn’t help but feel mildly uncomfortable. Whenever the conversation fell, Hiccup noticed that Jack’s eyes held a stern expression as they were enveloped in silence. He couldn’t help but feel that Jack’s current expression totally contrasted against Hiccup’s first impression of him. However, Hiccup pushed the thought away, figuring that Jack might just be one of those very serious drivers, and cleared his throat.

“So, Jack,” Hiccup began awkwardly, “I mean, I know you’re a performing magician and all, but what do you do when, you know, you don’t have a performance?”

Jack seemed to be startled, as if just remembering that Hiccup was in the car with him. An unfitting smile stretched on Jack’s lips as he attempted to clear the heavy aura. “Actually, I don’t really do anything,” Jack chuckled. “I mean, normally I just plan some new tricks and stuff and my manager will call and tell me to get some work done, so I don’t do much else,” Jack looked a bit dazed before his eyes flickered quickly to Hiccup as they approached a stoplight. “How about you?”

“Oh, I work in the entertainment industry,” Hiccup answered without thinking.

“Aha! I knew you seemed at home on a stage,” Jack said with a seemingly triumphant smile.

“Oh no—it’s actually not like that at all,” Hiccup said hastily.

“Oh,” Jack frowned. “What do you do then?”

“Oh, you know,” Hiccup grimaced, scratching his neck. Come on, Hiccup, you’re going to have to do this eventually at some point, Hiccup reasoned with himself.

“I just have a run-of-the-mill office job,” Hiccup finally said, folding his hands in his lap and looking down at them. “I just do some paperwork and stuff—you know how it is.”

Well, he wasn’t lying.

A silence fell over them and Hiccup felt a chill run up his spine as the car slowly came to a stop in front of a red traffic light. The previous heavy aura had returned and a dark look cast a shadow on Jack’s face. Hiccup raised an eyebrow at him.

“Jack?” he called tentatively. “Are you alright?”

“Y-yeah,” Jack said, his eyes flickering back and forth as the light turned green. “I just, uh…” Jack sighed. “Do you mind if we walk a bit?” he asked, jerking his head to the left.

“Uh, no,” Hiccup blinked in confusion. “Not at all.”

They both sat, absolutely speechless. Hiccup played with his thumbs anxiously, a question buzzing in his mind that he dared not to ask. The muffled sound of the cars passing filled the silence and the lights before them seemed to flash brighter with every passing moment as the sun set. Eventually they pulled into a parking lot next to the park.

“We just have to walk through this park across the street to get to the restaurant,” Jack said nodding at the trees to their left. He gave Hiccup an apologetic smile. “Sorry—the other lot was full.”

Hiccup returned the smile as he flung his seatbelt from his waist. “No, it’s alright—I understand.”

They made their way across the crosswalk and into the crowd of trees, Hiccup walking slightly behind Jack as he led the way. They pushed through a path of trees and Hiccup sighed. Their conversation was… lacking, to say the least. Actually scratch that—their conversation was basically nonexistent. If he had known that his “exciting” date would end up like this, he would’ve stayed home.

Hiccup stared at Jack’s back disconcertedly as they walked through the grass. Questions buzzed in his brain like a swarm of bees as he watched the white-haired man. He was mysterious, Hiccup observed, maybe too mysterious. He wondered how he could be so different compared to when he met him at the performance last night.

Lost in his thoughts, Hiccup didn’t think to walk carefully. To be fair, it was a wonder how he hadn’t tripped when they first entered the forest, what with all of the roots and branches scattered on the grass, not to mention the fact that it had been getting rather dark. So, to no one’s surprise but Hiccup’s, his foot snagged on an odd root that hooked over the ground. Hiccup barely had time to register what was happening as he lurched forward and everything in front of him blurred. He thought he saw Jack turn just before he landed face first in the grass, his nose crushed between his head and the ground.

Of all things that Hiccup imagined his lips might be meeting today, the dirt was definitely not one of them.

“Woah, are you okay?” Jack asked, offering his hand and obviously trying to cover up his laughter.

Hiccup groaned and rolled his eyes, taking Jack’s hand and letting himself be pulled up. He dusted himself off and sighed when he looked down at his clothes. Astrid was going to have a ball when he came home.

“Yeah, I think I might’ve seen my life flash before my eyes,” Hiccup said with a shrug as he fixed his tie, “but you know no big deal.”

“Sorry, this place is sort of riddled with traps,” Jack said, picking a leaf out of Hiccup’s disheveled hair. “We should probably be more careful.”

“That probably would’ve been useful a few minutes ago,” hiccup said, looking to the side and dusting off a shoulder in an attempt to hide the blush that rose to his cheeks.

“Well, hey, now you know,” Jack chuckled. “We can’t have you falling for anyone else except me for the rest of the night, can we?”

Hiccup bit his lower lip in a vain attempt to stop a smile before bursting out in laughter. His arms held his sides as he leaned over. “That… That was terrible. Why did you even try?”

“Aw, c’mon it made you laugh,” Jack said, a wide smile on his face as he looked at Hiccup with teasing blue eyes.

“I only laughed because it was so terrible,” Hiccup smirked.

“Oh, you wound me, Hiccup,” Jack said, holding a hand over his heart. “These wounds are pretty fatal—I might die.”

“Damn, then I’d have to eat dinner alone. Won’t that be a shame,” Hiccup said, shaking his head.

“With some luck, I might be able to make it to the restaurant and you could eat with my corpse.”

“I guess it’ll have to do,” Hiccup said with a shrug.

“Well, let’s test our luck then, shall we?” Jack smirked, jerking his thumb behind him. When Hiccup squinted he could see the streetlights illuminating the sidewalks just a few yards away. He smiled and walked aside Jack, their pace matched and their conversation light. Their hands brushed against each other as they wormed themselves through close trees and helped each other over some rather cumbersome obstacles—they might as well have been hiking with all the rogue forestry.

However, as Hiccup stepped over the last stump and landed on the sidewalk, he couldn’t help but sigh in relief as Jack pointed out the restaurant. It seemed like an extremely extravagant place (which is saying something, considering how many restaurants Hiccup had been to for business affairs). It was two stories tall with a balcony for outdoor seating. Twenty-foot tall columns decorated the entrance along with a fountain and a few rather interesting statues. Hiccup had to admit it almost put his prized theater to shame.

As they walked inside, Hiccup noted with wide-eyed awe that the interior of the restaurant was no disappointment. Several crystal chandeliers hung from the ceilings, illuminating the room full of people who were obviously dressed in their best. They were led in a surprisingly short time to a small table adorned in a white table cloth right next to a large aquarium of tropical fish. Hiccup made a mental note to come here with Astrid some day.

He peeked over his menu at Jack to catch the other man sporting a satisfied grin. Jack placed his menu on the table and smirked when he caught Hiccup looking over at him.

“So, what do you think?” Jack said, leaning back on the back two legs of his chair. “Nice place, right?”

Hiccup placed his menu lightly on the table and suppressed a grin. “It’s satisfactory,” Hiccup said, suppressing a grin and trying to keep a dull expression. He saw the smile on Jack’s face falter for a minute. “I’m kidding,” Hiccup said quickly. “It’s actually a pretty cool place, but I’ve never heard of it.”

“It just opened a few months ago,” Jack said, giving the waiter a quick thank-you as he filled their glasses. “I’m good friends with the owner—he doesn’t say much, but he’s a great chef.”

Hiccup nodded as he peaked through his menu again, Jack giving him suggestions and licking his lips every time they got to something on the list that was really good. Hiccup couldn’t help but follow suit as he looked at all the pictures of probably the finest food in the country. However, eventually he settled on his meal and they ordered their dinner, holding light conversations that contrasted greatly to the stinted conversations they held in the car.

“So, Hiccup—I’ve got a question for you.”

Hiccup looked up from his food and raised an eyebrow. “I thought we were already asking questions.”

“Well, this one’s sort of… out of the blue, I guess you can say,” Jack explained. Hiccup smiled and nodded for him to go ahead, lifting his glass to his lips.

“Alright, so,” Jack began, leaning forward slightly, “what brought you to my show yesterday?”

Hiccup froze, the wine glass still pressed against his lips. His brain seemed to whir as he pressed his lips together in thought.

“Well, it’s just like I said before,” Hiccup said as calmly as he could manage. “My friend bought me a ticket and I thought I might as well humor her.”

Jack tilted his head slightly. “Well, I guess, but you never actually go to something you dislike unless someone actually dragged you there, you know?”

“I-I suppose you’re right,” Hiccup said, quickly lifting his glass to his lips again and taking a drink.

Did he really want to tell Jack about all of this now? When he considered it, this was probably a pretty appropriate time to mention it, but something in the back of his mind kept throwing excuses at him. It was simply too early into the date—it would ruin the atmosphere. He really was enjoying this date, after all, what if the genuineness of the conversation suddenly disappeared? He’s had it happen before. Hiccup had learned at a young age that people will do anything to achieve their goals.

Yet, somehow, Astrid’s voice seemed to worm into his thoughts, nagging him and scolding him for delaying the inevitable. After all, the situation was pretty urgent and Hiccup was never exactly a procrastinator. There was no point in starting now.

“A-actually,” Hiccup stammered, running a hand through his hair, I—“

“Excuse me, are you Jack Frost? The magician?”

Hiccup almost sighed in relief when he looked up to see a middle-aged woman holding the hand of an excited-looking small girl, who he guessed to be her daughter. However, despite the well-timed diversion, Hiccup couldn’t help but feel that a bit irritated at the sudden interruption.

“Uh, yeah,” Jack said disconcertedly. He moved a hand over his mouth very quickly and his look of confusion was quickly turned into a smile. “Yes, that’s me.”

“Sorry to bother you,” the woman said with a grimace, “but my husband and I took my daughter to see your show last night and she was absolutely blown away. This may sound like a strange request, but could you show her a quick trick?”

Hiccup watched a kind smile play on Jack’s lips. Hiccup rested his face on his palm as he watched Jack kneel onto the floor in front of the little girl.

“Sure,” the white-haired man said. The girl’s eyes seemed to sparkle as she giggled in excitement and Jack’s smile grew wider. “What’s your name?”

“Jenna!” the girl squeaked.

“Jenna?” Jack repeated. The girl nodded and he chuckled. “That’s a pretty name you’ve got there, Jenna. Do you believe in magic, Jenna?” She nodded again. “That’s good—only the best believe.” Jack tapped his chin with his finger in an affected manner. “You don’t happen to have a coin, do you, Jenna?”

The little girl nodded eagerly, her hair bouncing as she reached into the pocket of her dress, pulling out a game token. Hiccup’s lips curved into a smile as he watched Jack take the large gold coin in amusement and interest.

“Perfect,” Jack said as the girl pressed the coin into his palm. Hiccup raised his eyebrows as he watched Jack roll the coin over the back of his fingers with ease. The girl’s mouth formed an O as she clapped her hands in amusement. Jack smiled as he rolled the coin back into his palm.

“Alright, Jenna,” Jack began, “on a count of three, I’m going to make this coin disappear. Are you ready? One, two…” Jack closed his palm, “Three!”

Hiccup watched in amusement as the white-haired magician very obviously moved his hand behind his back, pretending to be very impressed with himself as the girl giggled.

“Ta-da!” Jack said grandly as the girl shook her head between her laughter. “What are you talking about? It’s gone!”

“No…” the girl laughed, pointing the arm he hid behind his back.

Jack sighed theatrically and brought his palm back, opening it to show that the coin was still there. “Alright, you caught me,” Jack said in mock surrender. “You’re too smart for that—let’s try this again.”

Hiccup smiled as Jack made a fist with his left hand and placed the gold coin on the back of it.

“For sure this time,” Jack assured her. “I’m going to count to three. Ready, Jenna?” The girl’s head bobbed up and down in glee. “Alright, here we go,” Jack positioned his right hand in a snapping position over his left fist. “One… Two…” Jack paused for a second before smiling widely. “Three.”

Jack snapped his fingers and moved his right hand away from his fist to reveal his bare fist. The girl’s eyes darted in surprise from Jack’s fist to his open right palm and clapped in appreciation. Hiccup found himself doing the same.

“Thank you, thank you very much,” Jack said, making a small bow by nodding his head and holding his left hand near his chest. “Now, I wonder where your coin is—you want it back, don’t you?” The girl nodded eagerly and Jack laughed. “Don’t worry; I know exactly where it is.” Hiccup watched as Jack reached behind the girl’s right ear and pulled out the large gold coin. The girl gasped and felt her ear before taking the coin back from him. She clapped enthusiastically as Jack got back up to his feet.

Hiccup lips were still frozen in a small smile as he watched Jack and the girl’s mother exchange “thank you’s” and “no problem’s” before the mother ushered away her eager daughter, who gave him a cheery thank you and a wave before they disappeared into the crowd. It was the simplest trick in the book—even Hiccup knew it, yet there was something charming about the way Jack’s eyes, normally full of mischief and curiosity, softened when he spoke to the little girl. Jack had a proud smile on his face as he sat back down and Hiccup couldn’t help but lean forward when Jack looked back at him.

“Impressive,” Hiccup said simply, “you really have a way with words, you know? It really sets up the trick.”

Jack grinned at Hiccup’s compliment. “Haha, thanks for noticing—I practiced with my sister when I was younger.”

Hiccup tilted his head in curiosity. “Really? How long have you been into magic?”

“Oh man,” Jack leaned back and his eyes flickered upwards. “You know, I’m not really sure. I’ve been doing it ever since I was a kid—eight at the very latest.”

Hiccup raised his eyebrows. At eight years old Hiccup had barely been able to lift a textbook, let alone embark on a career that his father didn’t believe he could achieve in the first place. “Eight?” Hiccup repeated. “That’s pretty young.”

Jack laughed sheepishly. “Yeah. You see, when I was a little kid, I was always running around, playing pranks on people, causing mischief, seeing what limits I could push—basically being a little shit all of the time. My parents figured that if I was going to be a little trickster, I might as well have a safe outlet so they bought me this magic kit.” Jack leaned back in his chair, looking up as he seemed to be reminiscing. “I was instantly hooked—I’d practice the tricks every night and collect magic books and perform them for my family. I never grew out of it and I just kept at it and, well,” Jack looked back at Hiccup, an open grin on his face, “here I am.”

Hiccup caught himself smiling along with Jack—after all how could he help it?  The way Jack seemed so pleased when he spoke about magic—the way his smile seemed so soft and his eyes seemed brighter made Hiccup’s heartbeat accelerate. Hiccup couldn’t help but admire Jack’s passion and enthusiasm, not to mention the fact that Jack’s grin made him melt.

“Wow,” Hiccup finally managed to breathe. “That’s… that’s incredible. Most people would’ve given up by now.”

“Well,” Jack sighed and returned to poking his food with his fork, “it’s been a really long road, I’ve got to admit. I’ve thought about giving up a few times, too. But,” Jack took a deep breath, “I guess I figured that I’ve come this far, you know? I want to get all the way to the top—even if I die trying.”

There was a pause before Jack gave Hiccup an apologetic grimace. “Sorry, you probably don’t really care about this stuff.”

“No,” Hiccup told him quickly. “No, I actually get where you’re coming from,” Hiccup said with a reassuring smile. “For the longest time since I was a kid, I’ve been working pretty hard to prove myself,” Hiccup sighed, regretting his awkward words as they escaped from his lips. “I mean, I was on the verge of just throwing away all of my progress at some point, too. So… I really do get what you’re saying.”

Hiccup felt himself blush furiously as he lowered his eyes, focusing on his plate as he shoveled a forkful of food into his mouth in a desperate attempt to cover up his embarrassment. Nice job, Hiccup. ‘I really do get what you’re saying’—you’re a regular Casanova. You’ve got the cheesiness part down perfectly.

“You know, Hiccup,” he looked up to see Jack giving him a pleased grin. “You’re a really cool guy,” Jack said, “I’d even say you’re frosty.”

Hiccup groaned and rolled his eyes, despite the fact that he was smiling. “You know, if you keep it up with the puns, I’m going to have second thoughts about going out with you again.”

Jack smirked and leaned forward, reaching over to hold Hiccup’s hand. “Are you saying you’d come with me on a second date?”

            The rest of their date proceeded rather nicely and Hiccup felt himself growing more comfortable around Jack at a surprising rate. When they left the restaurant, Jack insisted on leading Hiccup hand-in-hand through the park’s obstacle course of trees, to which Hiccup “reluctantly” agreed. The entire time they trudged through the rogue branches and stumps, Hiccup found himself laughing at Jack’s stupid jokes and statements about Jack being the brave knight who was leading the prince through the treacherous tendencies of the woodlands.

            When they got into the car, they both fell into a lethargic, yet comfortable silence. Neither of them feeling the need to entertain the other with conversation as they drove into the night. Hiccup looked out the window at the bright lights that they passed, his mind always wandering back to Jack, a small smile creeping to his lips every time it did.

            Hiccup couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed when they arrived at his apartment. Jack insisted on walking him from the parking lot to the gates and Hiccup agreed. Their stroll was rather silent, aside from a few cats that awoke in surprise as they walked by, with Hiccup leading the way, peeking over his shoulder at Jack every once in a while. They arrived at the gates and Hiccup turned, rocking back and forth awkwardly.

            “Well, here we are,” Hiccup stated simply, resisting the urge to smack himself in the head for not thinking of something more charming to say.

            “Yup,” Jack agreed, looking at the floor. They were silent for a moment before Jack spoke again. “You know, Hic, you never answered my question.”

            Hiccup looked up at Jack, perplexed. “What?”

            “Remember how I asked you why you went to my show yesterday night?”

            Hiccup’s mind caught up with the moment and he thought he felt a bead of sweat roll down his neck. “Oh,” Hiccup said, looking down, “that question. Well, to be completely honest…”

            Time froze for Hiccup as arguments ran through his mind. He was going to have to tell Jack at some point and now was as good of a time as ever. There was no extremely awkward air between them and Hiccup had become more comfortable around the blue-eyed performer. He admired his passion and enjoyed the aura of Jack’s enthusiasm. At this point, Hiccup had to admit that saying that he “liked” him was a bit of an understatement. He really understood Jack’s perseverance and knew what it was like to be in Jack’s shoes—ready to do anything to achieve an important goal. He knew it all too well.

            In fact, that was what scared him.

            Hiccup scratched the back of his neck, his eyes darting towards the ground. “I went because my friend, the one who bought my tickets, was supposed to go with me,” Hiccup lied, “b-but she fell ill at the last minute and didn’t want me to waste the money she spent on the tickets. So… that’s what happened,” Hiccup concluded, hoping his lie was sufficient enough.

            When he looked back at Jack, he only saw him nodding, as if in understanding. If there was anything on Jack’s face that showed disbelief in his simple story, Hiccup couldn’t see it. Perhaps it was just because it was too dark for Hiccup to make out too much, but it seemed that Jack believed him.

            “That makes sense,” Jack nodded. There was a pause again. “You know, I really enjoyed today,” Jack finally said.

            Hiccup smiled, “I did, too, actually.” He ran a hand through his hair and grinned, “Thanks for tonight. I’d… I’d really like to do this again.”

            Hiccup thought he saw Jack’s face light up in the dark. “How’s tomorrow?” Jack said eagerly.

            Hiccup snorted (unattractively, he might add). “Someone’s pretty eager,” Hiccup smirked.

            “What can I say? I can’t get enough of you, Hic,” Jack returned the smirk. Hiccup’s face warmed up as Jack took his hands once again.

            “In that case, I guess I’ll have to see if I can squeeze you in for an appointment,” Hiccup frowned, faking a nonchalant shrug. “I’ll probably call you.”

            Jack laughed, “I guess that’s better than nothing.”

            Hiccup joined into the laughter just before silence found them again. Hiccup had learned something new today—silence had many different forms, and he wouldn’t be surprised if he had met them all today. This final moment of noiselessness was a peculiar one—it seemed far too familiar, yet Hiccup couldn’t really place his finger on what it was.

            Then he noticed, with a furious blush, that he was moving closer to Jack. Their faces were just inches apart and Hiccup felt himself panicking. He really couldn’t be doing this, could he? Despite everything, they have only known each other for a day.

            Hiccup caught himself before he got too far and moved his head to the side, quickly placing his lips on Jack’s cheek before moving away from him. He untangled his hands from Jack’s and backed away.

            “I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” Hiccup called to him as he opened the gate.

            Jack had a hand pressed against his cheek and a smirk on his lips. “Deal.”

            Hiccup jogged all the way back to his apartment, feeling jumpy as he dove under the covers—not even attempting to be quiet as he was distracted by his own thoughts. He groaned and buried his face in his pillow as a final thought came to his mind before he fell asleep.

Chapter Text

There was always something that Hiccup found to despise about every morning. Sometimes it was the fact that it was too cold outside of his fort of pillows and blankets to be alive. Other times it was because he was too groggy to think straight, resulting in a disgusting mess of breakfast preparations as he stumbled around in the kitchen. Today, it was because someone had the bright idea to call his phone and stir him from his ephemeral slumber.

Hiccup groaned and pulled his covers over his head stubbornly. He sighed in relief when the sound muffled, closing his eyes once again to return to his peaceful sleep.

Apparently, the world seemed to have it out for the lanky brunet today, Hiccup concluded, as Toothless began meowing loudly. The large, black cat pounced onto Hiccup’s side, batting at Hiccup’s shoulder as if insisting that Hiccup get up and do something about that terrible sound coming from the little glowing box (and perhaps fix his breakfast while he was at it).

“Alright, alright, I’m up," Hiccup mumbled, his eyes barely open as his hand wandered around for his phone. Hiccup pressed the phone to his ear, rolling onto his back to let Toothless sit on his stomach. “Hello?" he yawned as he scratched the back of the accursed feline’s ears.

“Hiccup? What time do you think it is?" Astrid’s voice came from the other end of the line, stern as usual.

Hiccup knitted his eyebrows together and squinted at the clock sitting atop his night stand. “It’s eleven-thirty,” Hiccup replied blankly for a minute.

Silence filled the conversation and Hiccup froze. Toothless, who was enjoying a nice scratch gave Hiccup a confused glance, pawing at his still hand to insist that Hiccup continue his petting. As you can imagine, the cat was terribly disappointed when his freckled human sat up, his green eyes wide and his mouth slightly agape. “It’s eleven-thirty,” he repeated, dropping his phone onto his mattress as he flung his covers aside. Toothless, the poor cat, rolled off the bed and hissed.

“Sorry, Toothless!” Hiccup called back as he threw off his shirt in a rush. The brunet stomped around his bedroom, slipping off his pants and grabbing a clean shirt from the closet.

“Hiccup? Are you still there?”

“Uh, I—“ Hiccup hopped towards the phone that lay on the floor, only to misstep and fall flat on his face. He could almost hear his pajama pants, which still hung around his ankles, laughing at him in their personified glory. He kicked off the traitorous trousers, grumbling bitterly to himself before jabbing the speaker button on his phone. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes. Is my dad there yet?”

“No, but he said he’d be here in five minutes.”

Hiccup groaned, massaging the bridge of his nose as he got up. “Alright, could you stall for me? ’I'll be there as soon as I can.”

“Don’t hurt yourself.”

“Too late,” Hiccup answered bitterly as he flicked his phone onto his bed and pulled on his shirt a pair of pants, slinging a tie around his shoulders as he walked into the bathroom.

In the hustle and bustle of his morning, Hiccup couldn’t help but be brought back to the thoughts of his rather restless night as he glared at the heavy bags under his eyes. It was a night to remember—riddled with mixed feelings of foolish, heart-thumping glee from his date and extreme, stomach-churning guilt from, well, everything else. He had been turning in his bed, trying to convince himself that everything would be okay and to go the hell to sleep. By the time it was 2 AM, Hiccup had given up on counting sheep and started counting the number of things he did wrong last night.

Hiccup balanced his toothbrush between his teeth as his nimble fingers occupied themselves with his shirt buttons, his mind whirring and clicking like turning gears. If he reasoned well enough, Hiccup figured that technically he wasn’t lying to anyone. After all, Astrid did buy Hiccup a ticket and insist that he go and maybe she was feeling a bit under the weather two days ago (he supposed it was totally possible). Also, he hadn’t really said anything to Astrid, yet. So he wasn’t really lying to anyone.

Yet, Hiccup thought bitterly as he spat out his toothpaste. He massaged the bridge of his nose, leaning on the counter as he took a deep breath. It wasn’t that hard—it really shouldn’t be. He could just go to work today and tell Astrid the truth when she asked. Then, the next time he met up with Jack, he could tell him the truth. See? A piece of cake.

Hiccup sighed and decided that, being as pressed for time as he was, now wasn’t really a good time to think about it. It was however, a perfectly opportune time to put on some goddamn pants.

Yes, pants would be so nice right now.

And so Hiccup proceeded with his hasty morning routine, throwing on clothes and frantically stuffing his possessions in his pocket as he slammed the door behind him. He tried to smooth down his bed head (a fruitless attempt) as he stepped into his car, turning on the engine as he stuffed a granola bar into his mouth.

Hiccup drove as fast as he legally could, even succumbing to fits of road rage that he almost never resorted to in traffic. As he pulled into town, he cursed the lack of parking spaces available, making a mental note to put up a “theater parking only sign.” Hiccup ended up parking two blocks away and was forced to speed walk as quickly as possible down the street. As he approached the final crosswalk, he tucked his papers under his arm and picked at his disheveled outfit, which was tucked in odd places and wrinkled where it shouldn’t.

The brunet smoothed down his tie as he walked through the doors and was promptly greeted by Astrid, who took the papers from under his arm.

“Busy night?” she asked, her lips quivering as she tried to hide a smirk.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Hiccup spluttered as she led the way to his office. An obvious lie, of course, and they both knew it, but Hiccup wanted to avoid the subject. “Why didn’t you wake me?” he demanded instead as they ascended the stairs, their feet shuffling on the ornately designed carpet.

“I didn’t think you’d be late,” she argued, making a sharp turn and nimbly dodging an intern. “Plus, I didn’t want to risk the chance of walking into you and Frost or something.”

“Well, I— Sorry!” Hiccup apologized as he collided into another intern. “I wasn’t sleeping with him! I mean, the farthest I got was kissing him on the cheek,” he admitted sheepishly.

“Well, how was I supposed to know that?” Astrid retorted in frustration, before turning on her heel in front of his door. Hiccup stumbled on his feet, barely catching himself before he could bump into her. “‘A kiss on the cheek?’” Astrid echoed incredulously as she turned the handle.  “What are you, twelve?”

“Hey, I didn’t want to rush things,” Hiccup said defensively as Astrid set the papers down on his desk.

“Well, I guess that’s not rushing things if you’re planning on going at a snails’ pace,” Astrid scoffed. “At least give him one on the lips or something.”

“Alright, well maybe I’ll do that tonight,” Hiccup sighed. “Then, will you get off my back about this?”

“Tonight?” she paused and raised an eyebrow. “Wow, that’s fast.”

“Yeah, but I can’t say that I’m against it or anything,” he muttered, his eyes dropping to his feet and a hand rubbing his neck, eager to get off the subject. He watched her as she cleared of his desk (as in, literally cleared; she shoved all of his papers off the desk and they landed with a loud thump and she kicked them under the surface—Hiccup had never been one to keep a clean work space), hoping that she wouldn’t bring up Jack again.

“Alright then, back to business,” Astrid began, stepping in front of him. “Your dad and Mr. Jorgenson should be here any minute now to talk about Thursday. I’m hoping you talked to Jack because it’d be a real shame not to have him perform for them.”
Hiccup felt his blood run cold and he gulped, the guilt and pressure from last night rushing back into him all at once. What was he thinking, of course she would bring up Jack—he was the part of the game plan now. Hiccup took a deep breath. If he was ever going to do this, now was as good of a time as ever.

“Actually,” he began, “I—”

“You’ve got something in your teeth.”

Hiccup blinked, taken aback. “What?”

“There’s something in your teeth,” Astrid repeated with a grimace. “Right there.”

Hiccup sighed in exasperation,  running his tongue over a row of crooked choppers as he cursed Astrid’s timing. “Did I get it?”

“No, it’s still…” Astrid raised a finger, and began digging through her pockets for her phone. She raised it to his face, the camera. Hiccup bared his teeth into the camera, squinting as he examined himself. Everything seemed to be in order—green eyes, freckles, and all.

But no damn mysterious substance stuck in his teeth.

“I don’t see anything,” Hiccup observed with a frown.

“It’s on the side ,” Astrid insisted, casting a nervous glance at the doors. “Hurry up, they’re going to be here any minute now.”

“Astrid, I swear to God, I don’t see anything.”

“Alright fine, if you want to have this meeting with a purple thing stuck in your teeth, have it your way!”

“Okay, okay, fine!” Hiccup stretched his mouth open with a finger, grimacing into the camera. “I swear I don’t—“

“I see the prized heir of the Hooligan Entertainment Industries is as professional as ever.”

Hiccup and Astrid froze, the horrified expressions on their face mirrored each other as they turned towards the door. Sure enough, there they were—the CEO in all his disappointed glory. the Vice President with the most amused look on his face, and one of the board of directors, who wore the worst smirk on his face as he continued in his croaky voice. “‘The future of the company is in good hands.’ Isn’t that what you said Stoick?”

Of course, Mildew would show up with Stoick and Gobber for the meeting without further notice. After all, this morning was just a world of misfortune for the poor, freckled brunet. Why would it stop there?

Hiccup quickly swiped his tongue over his teeth one last time and finally found the traitorous object that had suddenly decided to attach itself to his teeth. It was a god damn raisin peel.

“Everyone, uh,” Hiccup gave Astrid a sideways glance.

“Mr. Haddock,” she quickly interrupted, going forward to shake their hands. “We were just wondering when you would arrive. If you could all just take a seat over there, we’ll get started immediately.” Astrid motioned towards the sitting area to the side of Hiccup’s office. “Just give me a quick moment.” She returned to Hiccup and gave him a questioning look.

“Did you know Mildew was going to be here?” she asked quietly, crossing her arms as her eyes darted to the snide-looking old man.

“Astrid, I didn’t even know I had a raisin in my teeth five minutes ago,” Hiccup whispered. “If you didn’t know it, then I obviously didn’t either.”

Astrid frowned, biting her lip as her eyes fell to the ground. Her brow furrowed and her fingers drummed along her arm. “This isn’t looking good, Hiccup.”

The brunet blinked, completely taken aback. “What are you talking about?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. “I mean, I know Mildew’s sort of a pain in the ass,” he said with a sideways glance, “but I’ve dealt with him before—hell, I got this job because I’ve dealt with him before.”

“No, Hiccup you don’t understand,” Astrid whispered insistently. “He hates you. As in, he absolutely loathes you.”

“I thought he hated everyone,” Hiccup said with a shrug.

“Well, yes he does,” Astrid admitted, “but especially you. Remember when you first joined the company? Do you remember what he had been campaigning to get shut down?”

“The theater?” Hiccup answered. Something sparked in Hiccup’s brain and his eyes widened. He smacked his forehead. “’The theater,’” he repeated. “Of course!”

“Hello you two, I’d like to get started today if possible,” Mildew called, shaking his head and turning to Gobber. “What did I tell you about the management of this place?”

“Oh, you’ve told us a lot of things,” Hiccup heard Gobber say. “None of which we really asked for.”

“Right, sorry!” Astrid replied, walking past Hiccup and taking a seat on the couch. Hiccup promptly followed suit, watching as Astrid flipped through a couple pages on a clipboard that had been set on the coffee table. Hiccup folded his hands in his lap, his mind constantly buzzing as he watched the three older men. His eyes fell on Mildew and he narrowed his eyes in thought. What could he possibly be thinking?

The scrawny old man’s eyes met Hiccup’s and the brunet quickly averted his gaze, catching Mildew’s snide smirk from the corner of his eye.

Astrid cleared her throat and all attention returned to the blonde woman. “As you’ve asked me about before, Mr. Haddock,” Astrid said, continuing from a conversation of which Hiccup had never heard the beginning, “I looked into our numbers as of the last few years.”

“And what did you find?” Stoick asked, a slight desperateness in his voice that surprised Hiccup. His father knotted his hands together in his lap and leaned forward, his large eyebrows knit together. “Anything… different?”

Hiccup caught Astrid cast a quick glance at him before her eyes darted back down to her clipboard. She pushed a lose strand of blonde hair behind her ear. “Well,” she said, her voice wavering a bit, “the amount we made this season is… decent. However, it’s pretty clear that we haven’t met expectations yet,” she said, biting her lip. “Nevertheless, it’s only the beginning of the season,” Astrid added quickly. “Plus, more money comes in during the winter than in autumn—I think it’s very likely that we could meet our goal—“

“What a bunch of nonsense,” came the interrupting croaky voice. Mildew  glared at the two juniors on the opposite couch, a sneer somewhat evident under his gray mustache-beard set. “You’ve said that last time as well! How are we supposed deal with this every time?”

“We went beyond expectations last time,” Astrid insisted firmly, her blue eyes daring her senior to challenge her. “Which is why I say that we give it more time again—I’m sure we can repeat our success.”

“Isn’t that a problem though? Repeating your success?” Mildew asked, clearly unfazed by Astrid’s fierce expression. “I’ve been hearing a lot of things from the mainstream lately,” he stated, “and I can assure you that many of my sources claim that our little representative over here has been bringing in the same old acts—it’s getting… bland.” Mildew threw Hiccup an accusing glare.

The so-addressed young man clenched his fists in frustration, gritting his teeth. He knew Astrid was right—that Mildew had a special spot for Hiccup in that bottomless pit of misplaced hatred that he called a heart. It was plainly obvious from the moment Hiccup had saved the theater from being shut down two years ago. What Mildew had to gain from Hiccup’s failures was absolutely beyond the auburn-haired representative, who had been enjoying about a year away from the board member’s fault-finding glare and bitter scowl. Although, being completely honest, a lot of what Mildew did didn’t seem to affect the man directly at all—maybe he just enjoyed the authority he had in the company.

“I disagree entirely. We’ve only been going uphill,” Hiccup insisted, leaning forward. “Sure, we have some repeat performances, but what do you expect? People enjoy these performers!”

“And on what grounds are you making that claim?” he sneered. “Because I actually have it on official word of mouth from several of our benefactors that the theater management is just running the poor thing to the ground.”

“That’s a load of—“ Astrid caught herself as the four men gazed at her with wide eyes. Hiccup watched with a silent sigh of relief as Astrid coughed into her hand. “Honestly, I find your claims groundless,” Astrid said smoothly. “Hiccup and I also have it on excellent authority that we’ve been met with significantly positive ratings for each performance—repeated or not.” There was a moment of silence within the group and Hiccup had to hand it to Astrid that this nicely timed pause really did add to the effect as he watched Mildew’s face contort and redden. “It’s pretty clear here that one of us is lying,” Astrid concluded coolly.

“Are you accusing me of fraud, Ms. Hofferson?” Mildew growled.

“I don’t know, am I?” Astrid answered, rising a bit in her seat.

Astrid and Mildew held each other’s challenging glares before Mildew turned to Stoick and Gobber with an incredulous expression. “This was the type of insubordination I was talking about!” he proclaimed. “How can you even think of leaving the company in the hands of these two when they can barely show any respect to their superiors?”

“I don’t know—when are you going to start acting like you deserve it?” Hiccup refuted coolly, despite his clenched fist.

“That’s enough,” Stoick said in his booming voice before Mildew could say anymore. His expression was stern and his eyes held a scolding gaze that Hiccup was all too familiar with when he was younger. “Accusing each other isn’t going to help this company—we have more important problems right now than your personal vendettas.”

Astrid and Hiccup looked down at their feet sheepishly, then giving each other a sideways glance like ashamed children who were silenced by a disappointed parent. Mildew glowered at them and crossed his arms indignantly.

“We do have some written complaints, Astrid,” Stoick continued, clearing his throat. “We’ve received a few words expressing slight disappointment here and there, but not as much as Mr. Mildew implied,” Stoick folded his hands in his lap. “I believe the sentiment was more aimed towards the… caliber of the performances as of late.”

Hiccup had to stop himself from gulping as all eyes were back on him (no pressure or anything, he thought to himself). His eyebrows furrowed and he cast his eyes downward, bringing a knuckle to his lip as he thought.

He was absolutely perplexed, lost for words, puzzled, confused—every synonym in the book. There was no way this was happening—after all Hiccup was sure to be as strict as possible with his evaluations as well as speak to some common visitors of the theater—there was no way this was true.

“If we just keep going back and forth about who’s right and who’s wrong, we’ll be sitting here for ages,” Gobber interrupted Hiccup’s thoughts as he pulled attention away from the freckly young man. “Why don’t we just evaluate it for ourselves instead? We were going to watch a performance on Thursday anyway. Why don’t we have the whole board come and judge for themselves?”

            Hiccup’s stomach did a flip as he remembered his mistake from last night. It took all he had to prevent himself from burying his face in his hands in shame.

            “Gobber, half of the board will be in Europe on business on Thursday,” Stoick reminded him.

            He shrugged, scratching his blond beard with nonchalance. “We can do with what we have.”

            “And what, go easy on them?” Mildew argued. “We need to go on a day when the entire board can be here—say, the twenty-fifth of this month.”

            “The twenty-fifth?” Astrid repeated, flipping open a small book, her eyes darting frantically around the page before looking back up at them with a quizzical expression. “That’s a Sunday. Not only that, it’s the company’s founding anniversary, which is normally a company-wide holiday.”

            “What?” Mildew sneered at her. “Is it that hard to open the theater on a holiday? Or do you have something to worry about?”

            “We’ve got nothing to hide,” Hiccup insisted, glaring back at him.

            “Then it’s settled,” Mildew folded his hands in his lap and wore a smug expression that made Hiccup want to scowl. “Stoick?”

            Stoick cast the three a wary glance before nodding slowly. “Sounds good. Do you think you can find people to work overtime that day?”

            “I’m positive,” Astrid answered.

            “Well then, now that that’s settled,” Gobber hopped to his feet, his peg leg creaking a bit from the weight. He stretched his arms and yawned loudly. “The tension in here’s so thick I could cut it with my Swiss army hand and I’m starved.”

            “Right, we should get going,” Stoick agreed. Everyone exchanged handshakes and a few wary glances and, much to Hiccup’s relief, they were gone within five minutes.

            Hiccup slumped in his chair, massaging the bridge of his nose and groaning in irritation. Astrid jotted something down in her book before shaking her head.

            “He was trying to catch us off-guard,” she muttered. “Well, I can find people to work that day no problem, but as for the performance…” Astrid snapped her book shut so loudly that Hiccup jumped in his seat. “I’d actually really like Jack to perform that day—magicians are brand new to the theater and he’d definitely impress them and get Mildew off of our backs. Did you already make official plans for Thursday or anything?”

            “Well, uh,” Hiccup ran a hand through his hair, panicking internally as he searched for something to say. ‘I mean, I didn’t make any official plans or anything… I mean, I could just change the date, no problem.”

            Well, Hiccup thought, I’m not really lying.

            “Perfect,” Astrid sighed with relief. “You know, Hiccup, I thought you’d avoid asking him or something, but I’m glad you’re on top of things. That really gets the board’s visit off my chest.”

            “Yeah, well,” Hiccup laughed nervously. “Well, you know me—Mr. Get-The-Job-Done.”

            “If you say so,” Astrid said, getting up as she gathered her papers. “I’m going to go talk to some people—I’ll be back in an hour or so.”

            “Yeah, okay,” Hiccup replied quickly, practically jumping to his feet. “I’ll join you for lunch then.”

            Astrid raised an eyebrow at his sudden burst of energy, but seemed to brush it off without a comment. “Alright,” she said simply before slipping out the door.

            Hiccup was alone at last. He stood in place, staring down at the coffee table with a blank expression. The room was completely still, aside from Hiccup’s occasional shifting. The sounds of the traffic outside filled the silence and sometimes a leaf would hit a window on its mostly gentle descent towards the ground.

            “God dammit!” Hiccup swore loudly, pulling at his hair and dragging a hand down his freckled face in pure frustration. It really shouldn’t have been this hard to tell the truth, so why couldn’t he?

            It wasn’t as if everything he wanted with Jack would just crumble to the ground and break into a million pieces if he asked Jack to perform. Right?

            Right, Hiccup answered himself, it’s not that hard. This time—this time for sure—

            Hiccup’s thoughts and words of encouragement were interrupted as his phone rang in his pocket, making him jump in surprise. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw Jack’s name flashing at the front. His heart seemed to stop beating and all motivation he’d had just a few moments ago had been drained from him as he stared in utter shock.

Chapter Text

            The first snowfall of the season was light and much of a disappointment to the local children, who hoped desperately for a day off, but Hiccup was thankful, as he navigated the sidewalks, kicking the half-inch of snow to the side, that the ice wasn’t bad enough to cause him to slip yet. The autumn leaves that dappled the ground with their warm reds and yellows were raked away into the gutters and the trees sat barren. Hiccup had watched with a nervous expression and an uneasy laugh as the proverbial winged clock was tossed across his line of sight, realizing the horror of his impending fate as the twenty-fifth loomed closer.

            So, no—he hadn’t said anything to Jack yet. Or Astrid, for that matter.

            He was so fucked.

            It wasn’t that he hadn’t tried to tell them, of course. It was just that he had mistimed his revelations and was always interrupted by either a change of mood or some unexpected comments, or at least that’s what he told himself. He would do it eventually, he told himself. After all, the fate of his career depended on it.

            However, for some inexplicable reason, all feelings of urgency or any warnings from a worried conscience were practically nonexistent as Hiccup boarded a ferris wheel with Jack that night at the mid-autumn fair, pouting like a child.

            “So, Hic, if you get scared, you can always hug me or something—I won’t mind,” Jack joked as he slipped into his seat.

            “I’m pretty sure that won’t be necessary,” Hiccup replied bitterly, sliding away from him.

            The wheel turned and the happy couple began their ascent. Jack frowned. “Okay, Hiccup—something’s obviously bothering you. Can you just tell me what’s up?”

            “Who, me? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

            “C’mon, Hic,” Jack said, leaning closer.

            “Well, it definitely wasn’t the fact that you spent about a good half of our date showing off or anything,” Hiccup said, rolling his eyes.

            A silence fell between them as the ferris wheel hissed to a stop. They swung in awkward silence and Hiccup was hit with a wave of embarrassment. What was he, fifteen? He really was making a big deal out of nothing.

            The wheel turned again and Jack offered a grimace. “Sorry, I didn’t realize it bothered you.”

            Hiccup heaved a sigh, running a hand through his hair sheepishly. “I mean, I know pleasing your audience is important to you and your tricks are still amazing, but I was planning on dating you today,” he said. “Not your adoring fans.”

            “I’m sorry, Hic,” Jack said, reaching out intertwine their fingers. “Don’t be mad at me. No more showing off, I promise.”

            Hiccup gave him a sideways glance, but didn’t pull away. “You sure you can handle that, Frosty?”

            “C’mon, would I ever trick you?”

            Hiccup raised an eyebrow and smirked.

            “Okay, no but really,” Jack said, taking Hiccup’s hands. “I promise—the rest of the night will be just us.”

            Hiccup scoffed, but relented nonetheless. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to trust you for now, Frostbutt.” He scooted closer and leaned into his shoulder. He felt Jack’s body relax as the young man sighed in relief. The ferris wheel squeaked and moaned as it came to another stop and their bench swung haphazardly at wheel’s peak. He felt Jack’s cold hand tightening on his for a brief moment and his body going stiff.

            “Jack,” Hiccup began. There was no response, but he continued. “Jack, are you afraid of heights?”

            “Who, me? Afraid of a little 100 foot drop?” Jack said, his voice uneasy. “No way.” The wheel squeaked and they lurched forward a bit. Jack’s grip became so tight that Hiccup winced. As the seat steadied and Jack relaxed a bit, Hiccup mind buzzed with questions—questions that he knew Jack had a knack for avoiding, like why he would go on a ferris wheel when he was ever so slightly afraid of heights.

            “Sorry.”

            “Hey, it’s alright, just don’t look down,” Hiccup reminded him gently, feeling rather useless in this moment. After all, the only fears he was really familiar with were death and crushing disappointment.

            “That’s the plan,” Jack said as he looked up, leaning his head against Hiccup’s. “But you know, this really is where you get the best view.”

            Hiccup followed Jack’s gaze. The sky that night, was a little too perfect to be true for a cold mid-November. A few grey clouds dotted the dark blue sky, but they were well out of the couple’s line of sight. The stars were twinkling in the night sky and were only outshone by the full moon, which basked them in its cold light.

            “What, of the moon?” Hiccup asked.

            “Yeah,” Jack laughed. “I mean, this is going to sound so stupid, but when I was a kid, I always heard stories about the man in the moon. So whenever I felt scared or lost, I would just look at the moon and it was just really comforting, you know?

            “And actually, it was so difficult starting up that whenever I thought of giving up, I’d sit out and look at the moon and it just seemed to get rid of all my worries,” Jack sighed. “I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to get so emotional.”

            “No,” Hiccup said quickly. “I know what you mean.”

            Jack laughed and ruffled Hiccup’s hair a bit. “To be honest though,” he continued. “I haven’t needed to look up as often any more—especially since I’ve met you.”

            Hiccup stared up at the moon, in all of its shining glory. His breath formed smoke as it mixed in the cold air and he thought about Jack’s hand on his and their fingers intertwined. Hiccup leaned in closer, and he knew that he understood Jack completely. Maybe, he thought, for this particular moment, he could turn away from everything that was happening and everything he had to deal with. Maybe he could put his mind at ease. Maybe everything would be okay.

            “You know, Hiccup,” Jack said suddenly. “I’m really glad I can be honest with you, you know?”

            Well, so much for that.

            Hiccup gave him a nervous laugh and, if it wasn’t such a cold night, he was positive his hand would have been clammy and his face sweaty. Maybe this was the perfect opportunity though. Maybe this was a really big hint and prod from the gods themselves.

            “Jack,” Hiccup began, his voice shaking. “Jack, I—“

            The ferris wheel moved with a horrible lurch and Jack released Hiccup’s hand, clutching the handlebars with all his might. Hiccup mentally cursed whatever ungodly force was working against him. This was really not the time for anything was it?

            When they did get off that horrible wheel (with Hiccup making a mental note about Jack and high swings), it had become late and the two had agreed to go back. On the bright side, they were both in agreement that Jack’s car was much warmer than the cold air outside. After a car ride filled with terrible jokes and relishing in the warmth of the heater, they arrived at Hiccup’s apartment building.

            “Thanks for today,” Hiccup said as Jack parked. “It was really great and,” Hiccup trailed off. “Thank you for sharing with me.”

            “No, thanks for being cool with me and not getting weirded out or anything,” Jack said sheepishly. “Oh! Sorry, but didn’t you want to say something to me when we were on that ferris-death trap?”

            Hiccup looked at Jack, his throat dry. “Well, I—“ he stopped in his tracks as the voice in the back of his head nagged him again and again. He really wasn’t ready for this, but he should get it over with right?

            “I, um,’ Hiccup gazed at Jack, taking in that curious, but eager look in his bright blue eyes, the way the moonlight fell on his pale skin. He distracted himself in the way his hair seemed to shine and the way the moonlight seemed to outline these odd pale freckles that dabbled his face, barely visible. He was hit with Jack’s incredible beauty sort of suddenly and he was left gaping.

“I was wondering,” Hiccup said slowly, “if… you’d like to stay the night.”

***

            The following morning was bliss. It was a mixture of bleary confusion and disbelief. Hiccup woke up with a small smile on his face when he felt Jack’s arms around him. This was definitely nice. Probably the best thing he had woken up to in months. Hiccup was about one hundred percent sure he could get used to this.

            That was until he realized he had heard Astrid walking around in the living room. Hiccup sat up with a start, slamming his hands to his face.

            “I’m so screwed,” he muttered to himself as he felt Jack stir next to him.

            “Well, good morning to you, too, Sunshine,” Jack yawned, stretching and rolling his neck in a way that was so terribly attractive that Hiccup was sure it was illegal.

            “Nothing, it’s just,” Hiccup cast a sideways glance at the door, “my roommate’s up and she’s probably in a bad mood… She’s sort of grumpy.”

            “Oh, ‘Astrid,’ right?” Jack gave him a quizzical look. “Didn’t you say she was cool?”

            “Sh-she is!” Hiccup said quickly. “She’s just, uh, stressed out from work right now and… I didn’t tell her you were coming over, so…”

            “Oh, okay,” Jack said, a quizzical look on his face. “I guess I should leave then.”

            “Y-yeah, sorry,” Hiccup stuttered, scrambling to his feet to grab the clothes they had thrown into a pile last night. “A-are these yours or--?”

            “I think those are yours, I don’t own dragon boxers,” Jack answered with an amused look.

            There was a shuffling of feet and clothing as they were dressed and muttered apologies as Hiccup realized that the sweater he had just put on wasn’t his (Jack said he could keep it).

            Hiccup prayed that Astrid would be gone when he opened his bedroom door slightly, peeking around it to check the path to the doorway. The coast was clear and Hiccup could feel a small part of the weight in his chest being lifted.

            “Alright, I think she’s sleeping,” he said to Jack. “We just have to be… as quiet as possible.”

            They stepped quietly out of the room and shuffled towards the door, Hiccup looking extremely focused while Jack just simply looked rather amused. They were doing pretty well so far—no trips or stumbles or bumps that would have made Hiccup’s heart stop. Nothing to disturb the peace or to disturb Astrid, who was probably in her room, seeing as how the chain on the door was in place. Hiccup sighed as he put a hand on the door handle.

            “Good morning, Hiccup,” said Astrid from the couch. “Were you going to introduce me to our guest?”

            There is a certain horrible consequence of being caught in a web of lies that every schemer, thief, and scammer despises. That looming responsibility that comes with piling the fallacies like jenga blocks, trying to be careful so that the charade doesn’t tumble down on you. Hiccup had realized this days before when he had told Astrid that ‘of course he asked Jack already, what was he, a procrastinator?’ and when he told Jack ‘yeah, you see my roommate’s just a bit uptight about guests, but she’s cool’.” At this point, telling the truth would only create turmoil and confusion, not to mention the fact that, despite his clumsiness and utter horror, he was still relishing in a bit of that post-sex euphoria from last night.

            In short, Hiccup decided that now was really a time to lie.

            “Well,” Hiccup began uneasily, “he’s—“

            “Just kidding, I know who you are,” Astrid smiled, approaching the two and extending a hand towards Jack. “You’re Jack Frost, right? The magician?”

            “That’s me,” Jack shot her one of his dazzling, pearly-white smiles, shaking her hand.

            “I’m Astrid, Hiccup’s roommate,” Astrid said. “I’m actually a pretty big fan. Your performances are really incredible.”

            So far so good. Hiccup relaxed a bit. Maybe he was just over worrying about this. Maybe they won’t—

            “Thank you,” Jack seemed to beam under her praise, just as Hiccup had seen him do every time he impressed someone with his tricks. “Sorry if I’m being frank, but I’ve expected a very different impression after Hiccup told me you’d be upset after working so late.”

            Astrid gave him a confused look. “Working late? I haven’t been—“

            “Of course you have!” Hiccup interrupted quickly, laughing uneasily and giving Astrid a jab with his bony elbow. “She’s so modest, you know, but I’m always seeing her working.” Hiccup gave her a light punch in the arm. “What a trooper.”

            “Right, you work with the Hooligans,” Jack said. “Hiccup told me that you’re pretty high up in their ranks—you must be really incredible.”

            “Yeah well, I do what I can,” Astrid laughs. “I mean, I’m not underselling myself, but I really got to say, we owe our success to Hic—“

            “—kory, North Carolina,” Hiccup said, a bit too loudly. “There’s a theater up there, right? You told me something about them doing pretty well. How about that?”

            Hiccup could feel Astrid’s stare on him and he gulped as he watched her expression from one of confusion to one of frustration. Her eyebrows furrowed before she looked back at Jack.

            “Well,” Astrid said slowly, “I’ll be looking forward to seeing you next—“

            “—time you come over,” Hiccup added, his voice even as dread washed over him like a tidal wave. “Or whenever,” he added halfheartedly.

            Jack gave him a confused look. “Alright then, I’ll text you.” Jack leaned forward and pressed a kiss on Hiccup’s lips and for that split second Hiccup could feel his heart beating like a drum. However, when all was done and Jack had slipped out of the doorway and down the hall. Astrid had turned on him with complete anger in her eyes. Even despite the fact that she was slightly shorter than him, she seemed to loom over him.

            “Hiccup,” she said, her voice frighteningly steady, “I want you to answer me honestly. Did you talk to Jack about performing at the theater?”

            Hiccup looked away, running a hand through his hair as he sighed. “No.”

            “Why the hell didn’t you?” Astrid scolded, she pressed her hands against her face and took a deep breath in some attempt at keeping calm. “Do you even realize how important this is for the both of us? And how close the 25^th is?”

            “Look, I’m an idiot, but I’m not stupid, alright?” Hiccup said, finally meeting her gaze. “Look—I’ve been trying to get to it for ages and I didn’t want to lie to you, but I just—things came up and—“

            “What?” Astrid asked in frustration. “What could have possibly come up that would have prevented you in trying to save our jobs?”

            “I was scared!” Hiccup said, his voice shaky, but his eyes still locked with Astrid’s. He looked away for a moment and brought a hand up to his eyes, sighing and leaning against the door. “I’m scared, alright? I mean, look at me,” Hiccup gestured to himself. “I don’t know what the hell attracted Jack to me in the first place—he could leave in a moment’s notice without looking back and he’ll be fine. What if he just starts using me after he finds out who I am? What if things aren’t, you know, real?”

            Hiccup slumped against the wall and slid to the floor. “But you know, what if he already knows about me? What if he’s using me and when he gets what he wants, he’ll kick me to the curb.” Hiccup rested his head on his knees. “I know this sounds completely stupid, but I really like him, Astrid.”

           There was a moment of silence before Hiccup heard Astrid sit down next to him and felt her head rest on his shoulder.

            “Why didn’t you tell me anything?” she finally asked.

            Hiccup lifted his head. “It sounded really stupid in my head and it still sounded stupid when it came out of my mouth just now,” Hiccup said bitterly.

            “I don’t care if it sounds stupid, Hiccup,” Astrid said, her voice gentle. “I just care that you’re happy and I guess I’m just kind of upset you didn’t tell me.”

            He hadn’t thought of that before. All this time, when Astrid was asking him how Jack was and how she was always looking out for him, it never occurred to him that, by keeping things bottled up, he was hurting her. After all, she really was his best friend—the fact that he ever thought not telling her about this was a sensible option suddenly seemed absolutely moronic.

            Hiccup grimaced. “Sorry.”

            Astrid lifted her head and gave him a small smile. “As long as you get it,” she said. “Hey, if you really don’t want to tell him—I can always do ask him to perform instead. Then he’ll never be the wiser.”

            Hiccup shook his head and leaned back against the wall. “No, if I’m going to be with Jack I’m not going to keep this lie going—it’s not fair to either of us. I’ll ask him.”

            Astrid grinned, elbowing Hiccup’s side and ruffling his hair. “Look at you, Hiccup—all grown up and ready for a real relationship.”

            Hiccup smiled, batting Astrid’s hand away. “Yeah yeah, you raised me well and all that.”

            Astrid chuckled and they sat there for another second of silence. She smirked and then nudged Hiccup. “So, fun night?”

            “Oh, shut up.”

Chapter Text

            There was only so much one could do while waiting for your date to arrive at your restaurant, as Hiccup had discovered. He couldn’t use his phone too much, because he’d look like a bored, conceited asshole. He couldn’t play with the utensils or fiddle with the napkins because he’d look like a child. He couldn’t draw or write because there were no materials at his disposal, and obviously he couldn’t talk to someone unless he wanted to annoy the waiter. And so, as Hiccup sat at the restaurant, fidgeting in his nice suit, staring at the menu for what seemed like hours and playing with the cuffs on his sleeve, he began to feel anxiety bubbling inside of him like boiling water.

            Jack wasn’t even that late. In all honesty, Hiccup had gotten to the restaurant ten minutes early and it was only about five minutes past their agreed meeting time. However, it just so happened that Hiccup was a terrible ball of nerves and, for some terrible and utterly cruel reason, anticipation just made the wait worse.

            So basically, whoever said “patience is a virtue” was an idiot.

            Hiccup had spent the past two days mentally preparing himself to tell Jack the truth, and this time, he was going to do it. After all, he had an impending deadline ahead of him, and despite Astrid’s reassurances and gentle pushes, he could see that the weight of his issues were large enough to crush the both of them. Of course, it wasn’t like he didn’t know this before; it was just more daunting now and definitely needed to be dealt with now more than ever.

            However, in his mind Hiccup had had two terrible weights hovering over him the entire time like he was in an old cartoon. Each one dangled over him by gnarly ropes that wrapped around him from opposite ends, binding him and keeping him still in the spotlight. The crowd was hushed and curious, his mind was buzzing with anticipation—and Hiccup’s next move was to decide which rope to cut first.

            The sound of footsteps approaching him pulled him from his thoughts and he looked up, ready to tell the waiter that he’d order in “just a second.”

            However, instead of a sympathetic waiter, a certain white-haired magician stood at their table, clad in a black button-up, gray pants, and a blue tie that had been tied rather unevenly. Jack sat down at their table with an apologetic grimace. “Sorry about that, did you wait long?”

            Hiccup hastily shoved the crumpled napkins off the table and gave him what he could pass off as a regular smile but was probably just an awkward grimace. “What? Who, me? No, I just got here,” he lied.

            Jack nodded distractedly, thanking the waiter as he handed him a menu, and tugged at his tie.

            Hiccup raised an eyebrow as Jack scoured the menu, his pale fingers tapping rather anxiously on the table and his leg bouncing up and down. He couldn’t help but notice the fact that Jack didn’t make any clever jabs at Hiccup’s obvious lie or the fact that Jack hadn’t really looked at him in the two minutes since he had arrived.  There was no greeting kiss, hug—not even a business handshake or a simple wave.  Jack, who normally could talk Hiccup’s ear off on their dates had fallen silent, and Hiccup was only greeted by the sound of other people chatting in the background, glasses clinking together, and a soft piano refrain.

            “The pasta section looks pretty good,” Hiccup began.

            Jack looked up, his eyes wide like a frightened rabbit. He blinked when his eyes met Hiccup’s. “Oh, is it?” he said distractedly. “I, uh—haven’t really…”

            Hiccup leaned forward, closing his menu. “Jack,” he started, his voice even, “is everything okay?”

            “Wh-what?” Jack stammered. “Of course, I mean—“

            The magician paused, his eyebrows knitting together before an exasperated sigh. “Okay, no,” he said, running a hand through his white hair. He returned Hiccup’s concern with a worried look. “Look, Hiccup,” Jack began. “I need to tell you something.”

            The look in Jack’s eyes made Hiccup’s heart skip a beat, however the young auburn-haired man kept his expression even and calm.  Today was just going to be a day full of surprises, wasn’t it?

            “O-okay,” Hiccup said, “but I have to tell—“

            “Well,” a low voice distracted the couple from each other and Hiccup almost jumped in surprise. The two looked up to see a tall, thin, dark-haired man in a black suit. His eyebrows were sparse and his skin was almost sickly pale. He had a grin spread upon his face that could be described almost as maliciously mischievous and Hiccup decided that he looked like the clichéd movie villain in every sense.

            “I’m so sorry I’m late,” he said , taking a seat as a waiter brought one over for him, his long fingers lacing together. As he gave Jack and Hiccup a calculating glance. He gave them a look of mock shock. “Don’t tell me you weren’t expecting me?” he said as he turned to face Hiccup. “I’m so terribly sorry,” the man said to Hiccup, each word escaping his thin lips sending shivers down Hiccup’s spine.. “I just assumed that Mr. Frost here would introduce me to someone like—“

            “Hiccup,” Jack interrupted a bit loudly, his uneasy glance suddenly switching to a stern gaze that scared even Hiccup.  “Hiccup, this is Mr. Pitch Black—my manager,” Jack continued. “Mr. Black, please meet Hiccup Haddock—my partner.”

            There was a pause as Jack and Mr. Black exchanged looks that Hiccup just couldn’t place before the other man extended a hand to Hiccup, who took in tentatively. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Mr. Haddock,” he said, giving Hiccup a knowing glance that sent a horrible realization to Hiccup immediately—he knew.

            “I-it’s nice to meet you as well,” Hiccup replied as Mr. Black opened his menu. “ I-I didn’t realize you’d be joining us tonight.”

            “Yes, I must apologize for interrupting your… arrangement,” the man said his eyes moving quickly between Jack and Hiccup., “but unfortunately, I have quite a bit to talk to you about.”

            Hiccup’s mind whirred and stirred, thoughts running through his head as he watched the looks exchanged between Jack and his manager. He noted Jack’s bit lip and his hand clenched on the table. He noted their conversation and Mr. Black’s cool and calculating look after they had placed their orders and, as the manager’s mouth opened, a light bulb flickered on in Hiccup’s brain and a horrible sense of realization hit him.

            Hiccup hopped to his feet suddenly, bumping the table slightly with his knees as he did so. He opened his mouth, which had become rather dry, as he searched for an excuse. Jack and his manager stared at Hiccup in confusion before his excuse spilled out of his mouth quickly and barely understandable.

            “Ihavetogotothebathroom,” Hiccup excused himself, walking quickly to the men’s bathroom as his realization washed over him like some horrible wave.

            At this point, there was no doubt about the fact that Jack had known.

            Hiccup’s breath caught in his throat as he looked into the bathroom mirror, the lights beaming down on him harshly.  Questions as plentiful as the freckles that dotted his face ran through his face and his face was etched with worries. Hiccup clutched the fabric in front of his chest with a hand, feeling his heart beat like a horrible drum. Another hand fell to the wet marble of the sinks, the cold sending a shiver up his spine that didn’t help his situation in the least.

            What did this mean for him? Hiccup asked himself frantically. What if this changed things for him and Jack—he would become nothing more than an opportunity for the performer. What if this was why Jack had been so odd? Was he upset with him? Did he dislike him? The last thing Hiccup wanted was for Jack to hate him, especially after finding out that Hiccup himself had fallen in love with the charming magician.

            Hiccup ran a hand through his hair. “God dammit,” he muttered, wondering what to do from here on, concerns still hopping through his mind like frantic bunnies and his stomach churning.

            The bathroom door suddenly swung open and another man walked in, almost scaring Hiccup enough to make him jump and pulling him back to the real world. The young auburn-haired man lowered his head and made his way out of the dimly-lit bathroom and into the bright and inappropriately soothing atmosphere of the restaurant. Hiccup wondered how everyone in the room could look so serene when his world seemed to be crumbling around him. However, the calm helped him relearn how to breathe and his worries, which had weighed on him like a boulder began to chip away as he walked back towards his table.

            Hiccup began to realize just how frazzled his brain was by the past ten minutes that, as he wandered the huge restaurant, he found himself utterly lost, muttering “excuse me’s” and “pardon me’s” as he slipped between waiters and chairs. When he saw a head of snow white hair peeking out from slightly behind a corner, he felt a wave of mixed relief and horrible foreboding.

            Hiccup took a deep breath and straightened his back and walked towards the end of the corner.

            “—wasting our valuable time!”

            Hiccup froze as Jack’s manager’s voice rang throughout the room, turning some curious heads. He heard the voice of a waiter ask them if everything was alright only to get a hasty “it’s fine,” from Mr. Black.

            “Calm down,” he heard Jack say, his voice oddly steady considering the situation. “I told you—I’ve got this under control.”

            “You know, Frost,” Black said, his voice close to a growl, “as much as I’d love to believe you, it’s been a month already and we haven’t got a show in the Haddock Theater, have we?”

            Hiccup felt his heart stop as the conversation came to a pause. He pressed his back against the wall, his hands clenched into a fist.

            “Look,” Jack continued after a pregnant pause, “he’s like putty in my hands—alright?”

            “Are you sure about that,” Black said darkly. “Are you sure it’s not you that’s bending to his whim?”

            “I—I don’t—“

            “After all,” he continued, ignoring Jack’s objections, “you’ve been… dating for an entire month now. He hasn’t mentioned the fact that he even works for the industry and, as far as I’m concerned, you haven’t been very diligent in your work, have you?” There was a pause and Hiccup could only imagine the smirk on the manager’s face. “It sounds to me like you think you’ve fallen in love, Mr. Frost.”

            Hiccup bit his lip, his heart pounding as he awaited Jack’s response. He ignored the odd stares he received from the restaurant goers who noticed him slinking against the wall and his nails dug further into his palm with each second of silence.

            “Well, you’re wrong, then,” Jack said, his voice cold. “This is all just business.”

            “I certainly hope so,” Black said. “After all, I don’t know why you’d waste any further time with something as temporary as childish puppy love when you are to be leaving this town soon anyway.”

            “I know,” Jack muttered, his voice barely audible.

            “Now, Jack,” he continued, his voice taking on a tone so terribly sweet that it made Hiccup sick to his stomach, “you know I don’t do this to be cruel.” Hiccup heard the sounds of chairs shuffling across the carpet. “I’m only concerned about the state of our—I mean, your—well-being,” Pitch said. “Why would you waste your time pining after someone who would never return your feelings as you are—childish, immature, and attention-seeking.”

            “I know.”

            “You’ve got a big future ahead of you, Jack,” Black continued, backing away from table and into Hiccup’s line of vision. Hiccup pressed his back against the wall again, holding his breath as he tried to stay out of sight. “I’m just trying to help you—you know.”

            “I get it, I get it,” Jack said.

            Jack’s manager threw his coat over his shoulders, his long fingers fixing the collar. If another word was exchanged between the two, Hiccup didn’t notice. He felt detached from the world around him, and he felt a pain in his chest that rivaled no other. His fists unclenched, leaving nail marks embedded in his palms.

            In the back of Hiccup’s mind, he had sometimes wondered how he would feel if he were to be betrayed by his lover. Considering himself, he always thought he’d just be dejected or heartbroken and, initially, he had felt numb as he heard each confession spill from Jack’s lips—each word coming from his voice sounding bitter and cruel. However, now, as he peeled himself from the wall and walked back to his seat, his eyes cast downward and his fingers curling and uncurling, he only felt anger.

            When he had sat down and looked back up at Jack, somehow the other man had managed to put on wide smile as he dug into his dinner. Hiccup felt his stomach churn as he picked up his fork and poked at his food absentmindedly.

            “My manager had to leave before you came back, but the bill is on me so don’t worry about it,” Jack said, his voice inappropriately chipper given Hiccup’s demeanor. In fact, Jack didn’t happen to notice Hiccup’s harsh glare at all since he had come back—a fact that made him furious.

            “So,” Hiccup began, trying to keep his voice from shaking, “why didn’t you tell me you were going to leave soon?”

            Hiccup looked up to see the performer frozen in his spot, his hand still holding his fork that had been making its way to his mouth, which was slightly agape. He saw something flash before wide, ice-blue eyes before Jack set his fork down. He looked up at Hiccup, failing to meet his eyes, biting his lip.

            “How much did you hear?” Jack asked, his voice wavering ever so slightly.

            “From ‘waste of our time.’”

            Jack looked at Hiccup, his mouth gaping open as he searched for something to say, as Hiccup returned his look with a cold stare that the auburn-haired man himself was surprised he could pull off, given the circumstances. In fact, Hiccup felt that even the most gentle of emotional nudges could cause tears to brim in his eyes at any moment—waterworks threatened to start and his nose began to stuff up. He could feel a lump in his throat and the air in his lungs crying to be set free along with every horrible accusation he wanted to throw at the magician. However, that would be unprofessional, wouldn’t it?

            And in the end, he supposed that this was all their relationship had come to.

            How very fitting it was for them to end up like this—a magician trying to please the critic, searching every corner of their mind for a trick—something clever, charming, or miraculous.  Jack’s nimble fingers curled and uncurled themselves on the table cloth and his eyes wandered helplessly.  The audience was hushed, curiosity gnawing at him, but the critic found himself unimpressed.

            “Y-you probably misheard—“

            “’Misheard’ what?” Hiccup said, his voice rising a bit. “The part about you knowing what I work for from the first moment? Or are you talking about the fact that you were using our relationship to gain favors from me?” Hiccup became louder with each word that fell from his lips and he started to stand, pushing his chair back. “Oh, maybe you’re talking about the part where you considered our relationship as ‘just business’ for a month now? Because I’m pretty sure I didn’t misunderstand that.”

            Hiccup was panting at the end of his rant, his eyes darted around loudly at the other restaurant patrons who had gone silent and started to stare at them. Even though Hiccup was much too angry to feel embarrassed at this point, he wasn’t an asshole, so he sat back in his chair and slid forward, crossing his arms and shooting Jack piercing glares.

            Jack ran a hand through his hair and rested it on his neck, avoiding Hiccup’s gaze. “Okay,” he muttered slowly, “maybe you didn’t mishear that.”

            “Jack, I’m not kidding around!” Hiccup said impatiently. “Did you think that this whole lie was going to end as neatly as one of your magic tricks?”

            “Hiccup, I only said that to get my manager off my back,” Jack said, finally returning Hiccup’s gaze. “I mean—yeah, I started out with different motives, but I swear it’s different now!” Blue eyes bore into green and Hiccup almost flinched. “Hiccup, I really like you.”

            Hiccup’s heart skipped a beat and, for that single, fleeting moment, he was inclined to believe him. He wanted to give into how genuine Jack’s voice seemed to sound and to let it all go.

            Hiccup gulped, regaining his composure. “Is this another one of your tricks?” Hiccup said, his voice wavering. “How do I not know that you aren’t just saying that to stay in my favor?”

            “Hiccup—“

            “Oh, wow,” Hiccup said, smiling almost maniacally as he leaned back, running a hand through his hair. “You know what, that explains so much.”

            “What are you—“

            “I mean, do you know just how much you were showing off during our dates?” Hiccup said. “You know, at first I thought you just had a really big ego, but I guess you were just trying to impress a client the entire time.”

            Jack’s look of concern darkened and his pale fingers curled into his palm on top of the table. Hiccup returned his glare, crossing his arms.

            “Well, I guess you can color me impressed,” Hiccup taunted. “I don’t think I know of any other performer who can keep up such a lie for so long.”

            “So, what?” Jack said, his voice low. “You’re calling me a liar now?”

            “Who, me?” Hiccup said. “Why would I call you that—I mean it’s not like you built our relationship out of some ambitious farce or something.”

            “What about you then?” Jack said, his palms pressed on the table, ice blue eyes blazing. “You’ve been lying to me about yourself for the past month, too, but I’m the liar?”

            Hiccup’s eyes widened and his mouth opened for a retort that he couldn’t find. Jack was right, after all, Hiccup realized. He had been so afraid of Jack turning on him this entire time that he had hid away details of his life that would have revealed him—how ironically that turned out.

            Hiccup’s throat ran dry along with his wit and he coughed. “My actions don’t make you any less of a liar.”

            “And it doesn’t make you less of a liar either,” Jack shot back.

            “Look, I-I have my reasons, alright?” Hiccup stammered, uncrossing his eyes and rising in his seat himself, determined not to let Jack intimidate him.

            “Well, maybe you could’ve shared them with me?” Jack snarled. “Oh, wait, you don’t share anything with me.”

            “I’m not required to share every detail of my life with you, Jack—it’s unprofessional,” Hiccup said coldly. “You wanted to do business, didn’t you?”

            “Can you stop turning this back on me—I’m not the only one making a mistake here,” Jack replied impatiently. “Besides, you know what, at least my motives were actually productive—I wouldn’t have talked to someone like you in the first place if—“

            Silence fell over the two as Jack’s eyes widened. The pale hands that had balled the tablecloth into its fists clapped over his mouths and he sat back down, looking back at his lap. Hiccup’s heart felt like it was being wrenched out of his chest and he bit his lip, feeling tears began to well up in his eyes.

            “Th-that wasn’t what I meant,” Jack finally said feebly as Hiccup rose from his seat.

            “No, it’s fine,” Hiccup said coldly, looking away from the magician. “I forgot that the amazing Jack Frost had better options.”

            “Hic, wait—“

            “Yeah, you know what, don’t call me that,” Hiccup spat, turning from the table before Jack could see the tears rolling down his eyes. As he stomped out of the restaurant, his head hunched over and his eyes staring blankly at the sidewalk in front of him, somehow maneuvering through the early evening crowd. The blaring of car horns and loud passing conversations became background noise to the thoughts that ran through his brain,

            One of those thoughts was that that entire situation could have probably gone better.

            Hiccup sniffed loudly, wiping his round nose on his suit sleeve. He was completely aware that his future self would be furious with him for making a mess of such an expensive jacket, but he pushed the thought from his mind. There were more pressing things, after all, than snot on pricey fabric.

            He wasn’t sure why he was so surprised at the turnout of his and Jack’s relationship, after all. Hiccup had known that his actions had spelled out disaster from the first moment he realized that he could eventually just become a tool for Jack’s success. People have tried to pull that trick on Hiccup before, but somehow he had deluded himself that Jack would be different. In a way, Jack had been different, for he had managed to delude Hiccup with his bright smile and charming words for long enough to make the auburn-haired young man fall in love with him before Hiccup could notice.

            This confused Hiccup quite a bit—after all, people had come close before, almost gaining his trust before he noticed their attempt. His radar was never off and, when they had been revealed, it had never hurt him more than a slight pang that made him mourn for a second about a potential friendship or relationship.

            Well, that was until now—for as Hiccup glanced around him at a street that had become nearly empty, his heart aching horribly and tears blurring his sight, he realized he had parked on the other side of the block.

            Hiccup ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath, the air filling his lungs feeling like some amazing painkiller. He rubbed his eyes, wondering for a moment if he should go back and pay his part of the bill.

            Well, Jack did say he would pay this time, so Hiccup decided the magician may as well eat his words.

---

 

            “Do you think he hates you now?” Astrid asked.

            Hiccup pulled his covers around his knees again, his face neutral as he stared at the glowing TV, which was playing some sort of old black-and-white movie about a cheating man who had been killed by his wife (he found it rather fitting in a way). Astrid sat in the couch cushion next to him, wrapped in her own comforter, and letting him lean against her.

            “Well, if he didn’t before he most likely does now,” Hiccup answered bitterly, reaching out to grab popcorn from the bowl on the coffee table.

            “He’s right there, you idiot, why can’t—ugh, these oldies are horrible,” Astrid complained, throwing popcorn at the screen. Hiccup felt her shrug before she continued. “You guys are kind of horrible, too, so I guess it makes sense.”

            “Yeah, I really needed you to remind me of that,” Hiccup grumbled, burying his face in his blankets.

            “Hey, you two both messed up big time—I’m just telling it like it is,” Astrid said. The screen flashed different shades of gray before them as the two fell silent. Hiccup barely understood the course of the movie beyond a wild goose chase that had occurred within the first five minutes. Now it appeared that the main character found himself in the clutches of some sort of manipulative villain.

            “Do you hate him?” Astrid asked after a while, tossing some popcorn in her mouth.

            Hiccup opened his mouth, ready to utter an expected “yes.” But his mouth ran dry again. He sighed, tired of lies and deceit and just ran a hand through his hair, pulling his covers to his face.

            “I wish I could,” Hiccup muttered, burying his face in his knees. “It’d make my life a lot easier.”

            “Well, I guess that’s what they call the burden of being human,” Astrid sighed, leaning her head on the covers over Hiccup’s shoulder.

            A loud, low-quality wailing erupted from the TV as a woman onscreen crumpled to her feet, covering her face in her hands as she cried. Astrid glared at the screen pointedly. “Oh, stop feeling sorry for yourself, moron,” she scolded the character.

            Hiccup sighed, looking back up at the screen. “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he muttered.

            “What was that?”

            “Nothing, I just,” Hiccup bit his lip and wrapped his arms around his legs. “I think I’ll go talk to Jack and his manager tomorrow—do you have the address to their office?”

            “Yeah, but are you sure?” Astrid asked, removing her head from his shoulder to give him a concerned look. “I can do it for you if you want, you know.”

            “It’s fine, it’s fine,” Hiccup said, closing his eyes. “You said it yourself—I messed up and I’m not going to get over all of this by dooming the company.”

            The black-and-white display on the TV suddenly flashed bright neon colors as the movie cut to a commercial break. A commercial for the Haddock Theater played—the one that Hiccup had always thought was terrible, but passed the board anyway. Astrid’s head found its way back to Hiccup’s shoulder and she reached around to give him a comforting pat on the back.

            “If it makes you feel any better,” she said as the commercial ended. “I don’t think he hates you either.”