Legally Auburn (HTTYD)

Part 17

AN: Everyone this entire chapter being out so early is entirely due to (our coffee bug) Harrypanther  so give her a lot of kudos!!! Even I was surprised when I woke up from a food coma to see another chapter O_O

Chapter 17

It was like watching a movie, Hiccup thought as Clarissa tottered back to her seat, tossing her hair assuredly as she walked on. Though a good movie would have us winning by now, he added ironically as Krogan stood up and looked over to the Ushers.

"The Prosecution calls Mr. Enrique Alvares to the stand," he said.

Hiccup watched as the pool boy walked forward. He was dressed well in a fashionable better-soft caramel-coloured leather jacket, bright Hawiian shirt and beige chinos, his hair clearly gelled into place and shaved into the latest style. He looked arrogant and was pouting slightly as he took the Oath before he sat casually in the witness stand. Krogan walked forward and faced him thoughtfully.

"Mr Alvares can you elaborate on your relationship with Mr and Mrs Bludvist?" he asked clearly. Enrique leaned forward to speak into the microphone.

"I work for the Bludvists as a pool boy and I'm Mrs Bludvist's part-time lover," he said without hesitation. Krogan arched an eyebrow and he most likely wasn't the only one.

"And Mr. Bludvist was okay with that?" he asked. Enrique shrugged.

"He's the one that suggested it," he explained casually. "You know, the missus is all alone in the house most of the time. He figured if she was stepping out he might as well arrange it. They were an odd couple but they made it work." There were murmured and chuckled audible and Grimmel swept his arctic gaze across the court and banged his gavel once. Feeling like a member of a very naughty school class, Hiccup glanced over his shoulder to see the audience all looking embarrassed. Krogan paced across the court, then back.

"Can you tell me your impression of Mr. Trader?" he asked. The witness pulled a face.

"I didn't like him," he said.

"Why is that?" Krogan asked and Enrique leaned forward to the microphone immediately.

"Well, he's been around a lot and he always has this......creepy thing going on." Krogan raised an eyebrow. "It just feels like he's plotting something. And then I found him trying to feel up Clarissa...uhm... Mrs. Bludvist. I mean her husband just died. Even I knew to give her space." He shrugged.

"On the night in question, how did Mrs. Bludvist seem to you?" Krogan asked him evenly. Enrique shrugged again and pursed his lips.

"Agitated, probably. She was absent minded, like something was really bothering her. I chalked it up to nerves. I mean she just found her husband dead."

"Not the usual reaction," Astrid murmured. "You should be devastated, distraught, distressed..."

"Basically any word beginning with dis-," Hiccup suggested.

"Probably not dyspeptic," Astrid shot back and he felt his lips curl in a small smile at her quick wit.

"Or disingenuous," he added in a whisper as she smiled at his riposte. "But seriously, you can feel agitated and upset when someone dies," he pointed out quietly. "I didn't know what to do, couldn't concentrate when my Grandfather passed." She briefly rested a hand on his.

"Something really bothering her, absent-minded are not the descriptions of someone who had just lost a beloved husband," she reminded him and he nodded.

"You're right," he murmured as Krogan asked for details of the relationship. Surprisingly, Enrique became suddenly very coy, talking in generalities, though he kept stressing how active they were in the physical department and how often he and Clarissa 'got it on'. Hiccup looked at him and shook his head.