Fire and the Thud [Hiccup x Reader]

All My Own Stunts

After his introduction of Toothless, Hiccup and I had been spending some time in the forest over the next week. It was mainly because of the fact nobody seemed to venture into it so we didn't have any distractions and could freely catch up on each other's lives. This specific day, Hiccup had been teaching me about how the village generally got along with the dragons now living within.

"So have you been to dragon racing yet?" Hiccup asked as he leaned against a particularly large rock.

"Dragon racing?" I repeated, unsure of what he was referring to.

"Yeah, it's basically the only pastime this tribe has now," he laughed slightly. I shook my head.

"You should watch it one day. I think they're doing a race tomorrow, actually," he added, looking at me.

"It definitely sounds interesting. Where do they do it?" I asked.

"Do you remember the arena where they used to hold dragon training?" he said, turning his focus upon the trees, presumably toward where the arena was. I murmured an affirmation, following his gaze.

"Well, they race over there now," he continued, nodding his head in the direction.

"Tomorrow, you said?" I asked.

"Mhm," he replied absentmindedly. I watched him as he seemed to zone out, and couldn't help smiling with a hint of confusion.

"You okay?" I asked. He blinked a couple times before glancing my way with a nod.

"So will you be racing tomorrow? I mean, it's probably an obvious question but.." I shrugged.

"Actually, I won't be," he said sheepishly. My eyebrows raised slightly as I stared at him.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Oh, well, me and Toothless tend to go off flying for a couple days and tomorrow is one of those times," he explained. I felt a bit disappointed that he wouldn't be there but I reminded myself that I had tons more dragon races to attend that he could be in. I suddenly got an idea, but argued with myself about whether it was a good one or not.

"Do you think I could come along?" I said slowly, testing the water before glancing at Hiccup. I could already see my answer in his expression and bit my lip, turning my attention to the ground.

"Um.. it's kind of something Toothless and I just do, I'm sorry. Maybe next time?" he tried but I laughed slightly, shaking my head.

"It's okay, I figured," I assured him.

"You should still go watch tomorrow," he offered. I nodded silently, still focused on the ground and he groaned.

"Aw, come on, now you're making me feel bad," he muttered playfully. I tried to fight a smile to keep the atmosphere for a bit longer but I was really bad at doing that around him.
---

I managed to wake up early enough the next morning so that I could arrive at the arena about half an hour before the race was suppose to start. It was a bit nerve-wracking since I'd never actually been to anything like this before. Even from a distance I could tell the arena already held many people sat inside, and I had a feeling this entire place filled up when the racing started.

I had been making my way through the village when I caught sight of a familiar blonde with a blue dragon. I bit my lip, considering a thought for a moment before deciding to head over.

"Hi, Astrid," I called out. She turned and gave me a small smile.

"Hey (Y/N), planning on watching the race?" she replied. I nodded, smiling back.