Fire and the Thud [Hiccup x Reader]

All My Own Stunts

"Will you be racing?" I asked casually.

"Yep," she nodded once. I paused, inhaling a bit.

"Any chance of Hiccup racing today?" I tried. I knew that he already had plans of not showing up but I was still a bit hopeful. That hope, however, diminished with Astrid's expression and reply.

"Nah, he's barely shown up recently. I'm pretty sure he left with Toothless this morning, too," she said with a shrug. I sighed softly, nodding.

"Don't let that stop you from going, though," she added.

"Oh, it's not, trust me," I laughed slightly.

"Well, Stormfly and I have gotta go get ready. I'll see you later," she said, moving to climb atop her dragon.

"Good luck!" I said as she took off. I heard her faintly reply back before I started to walk towards the arena once again. That hadn't gone as awkwardly as I imagined.

---

"Let the race begin!" Stoick bellowed, and the arena nearly shook with the cheers. I clapped excitedly, getting pumped up just by everyone's enthusiasm.

The event seemed to be a combination of racing and games. From what I could gather, there was a point system based upon scoring sheep while they raced. I wasn't really sure who to root for, so I just cheered whenever anybody scored. The race so far seemed to be in favor of Snotlout, who had just scored his 4th sheep. The others all had scores below 3, but it was fairly close most of the time.

It hadn't been long when the others had started gaining on Snotlout, specifically the Twins, who now lead with 7. I had turned to my left to try and ask the nearest villager approximately how long the games lasted when there was suddenly an odd screeching noise echoing through the air and I was engulfed in a loud cheering around me before I could even register what was happening. I quickly glanced back to the villager next to me, following his eyes and catching a glimpse of a dark silhouette shooting through the sky before I managed to recognize it.

As soon as I did, it was like I had flown out of my seat as I swore instinctively, joining in on the deafening shouts. I watched in awe as Toothless spun and raced through the air with Hiccup on his back in ways I had been incapable of imagining prior. I didn't know if it was seconds or minutes upon their arrival, but in no time they had managed to snatch several sheep and score.

I passively heard Stoick announcing something to do with a 'black sheep', my entire attention focused on the duo. I was still taken by absolute surprise. I wasn't sure what was meant to happen, but from what I heard, this was the final part of the race.

Fishlegs had managed to catch it within the first few seconds, and the poor sheep ended up being thrown between several teenagers during the next minutes. It was then that I noticed the lack of Toothless and his rider anywhere, and pulled my eyes away from the current racers to try and locate them. Just at that moment, a shadow shot by and the sheep was stolen before I could even recognize the two again. I faintly heard Hiccup laugh victoriously as they flew to drop the sheep in their specific hole.

I screamed, throwing my hands in the air violently. At that moment I felt something smack against my palm and I glanced aside, hands shooting to cover my mouth.

"I am so sorry!" I shouted to the viking I had somehow managed to accidentally hit in my flurry of excitement. They assured me they were fine after I apologized several more times, and I finally managed to calm down and turn my attention back to the racing just as Stoick announced the winner. Naturally he said his son's name with pride, and I couldn't stop grinning.

---

"Hiccup!" I shouted, trying to catch his attention as I pushed through the crowd. He glanced around before catching sight of me, breaking into a smile.

"What happened? I thought you weren't gonna be here!" I exclaimed once I managed to reach him.

"I wasn't, but then I thought about it.. and I didn't wanna miss out on your first ever dragon racing experience so, hello, here I am," he said, bowing playfully. I felt my heart jump at his words and gave a delighted grin.

"You're so cute, sometimes," I blurted out. I almost went to apologize a hundred times, feeling incredibly embarrassed but he just laughed.

"Only sometimes?" he teased. I parted my lips to reply when my attention was captured by Astrid's appearance.

"Babe! I thought you were off with Toothless?" she exclaimed. I paused, eyebrows furrowing as her words replayed in my mind. Hiccup, however, was unaffected.

"Yeah, I know, I didn't want to disappoint (Y/N)," Hiccup explained, "Especially since she practically begged me to race yesterday."

I was too busy staring incredulously at the pair to even argue his sarcasm.

"Aw, how sweet. Well, I just wanted to tell you how amazing you and Toothless were, it seems like I've got some practicing to do with Stormfly now, so," she drifted off before pressing a kiss to his cheek, disappearing as suddenly as she had come. Hiccup called out a goodbye, and I remained silent, mentally putting everything together.

"Babe?" I repeated a couple moments later. Hiccup gave me a weird look before he seemed to understand.

"Oh, uh, yeah, she calls me that sometimes," he said a bit awkwardly. I continued to stare at him with raised eyebrows until he got the hint.

"Wait, are you serious? I haven't mentioned it yet? Wow, that's.. uh, well, I guess you've figured out already that Astrid and I are dating, so.." he waved his hand around a bit before running it through his hair. I was having trouble trying to think of something to say as it felt like my stomach dropped. This explained quite a bit.

"Could you stop looking at me like that?" he said quietly a couple moments later and I realized I had been staring at him while my thoughts were running wild.

"Oh, sorry," I murmured, shaking my head,"It's just that.."

"Just what?"

"I don't know, I never expected.. y'know, you two," I shrugged. It wasn't the whole truth but I had definitely never anticipated them getting together. I guess a lot of things changed while I was gone, more than I had previously thought.

"Trust me, none of us did," he chuckled. I stayed quiet for a couple seconds before turning to look at the entrance of the arena.

"I should get going," I piped up. He glanced at me, eyes confused.

"I have, um... my aunt," I lied, pointing towards the exit. He nodded slowly, and I felt bad for trying to get away when the whole reason he had been here was for me. However, I was having way too many awkward feelings right now to safely carry on a conversation without saying something I'd probably regret. I kept assuring myself that I had no idea why I felt like this, but a part of me knew exactly why and it was a reason I had been trying to avoid even thinking about.

I spun on my heels, starting to walk away.

"(Y/N)," Hiccup called out a couple moments later. I paused, turning to look at him. He looked concerned.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, and for a second I wondered if he had an idea of what was going on in my head, but I only nodded insistently before bidding him farewell and heading out.

I had barely made it out of the arena when I heard the sound of Hiccup and Toothless taking off, which was quickly growing familiar to me. I turned my head to watch them disappear into the clouds, and spent the remaining walk home with a feeling of guilt in my chest.
---
ah it was all fun and races and now its not. whoops

'odd screeching noise' oh my god i have no idea how to properly describe the sound toothless makes when he appears but u no exactly what im tlaking about. the eyyyyyyywrrwrwrwrwr noise. i am also just terrible at action-y scenes i am so sorry god damn why is this so difficult