Chapter 17

"Hiccup..... Hiccup......." Hiccup groaned as he cracked open an eye. The blurry image of Fishlegs hovering above him had his eyes snapping open.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" Hiccup shouted as he sat up and scooted further back. "What the!!!"

"Sorry to wake you Hiccup but it's morning already." Fishlegs stated. "You're supposed to help the Hoffersons today, right?"

"Shoot! Yeah!" Hiccup said as he hopped out of bed.

"Soooo........" Fishlegs mumbled.

"So?"

"How did the date go?" He then asked. "You were making a kissy face in your sleep."

"Oh My Thor!" Hiccup stopped searching for a shirt and looked at Fishlegs in a horrified manner. "I didn't say anything.... Uhm.... embarrassing, right?"

"You were mumbling something about penguins and ostriches....... And something called the Apollo?" Fishlegs told him while blushing. "Sorry, I didn't mean to listen in but I was trying to wake you."

"The date was incredible Fish," Hiccup said. "Astrid made a simulation of the New York from centuries back and we went to this thing called a Zoo."

"A zoo?" Fishlegs asked. "I heard that name somewhere before....."

"It's a place where humans kept all kinds of animals in the city." Hiccup told him. "Honestly Fish, it felt pretty real."

"How do penguins and ostriches fit in?" Fishlegs asked eagerly since he has never seen them.

"Well we fed some penguins and Astrid wanted to go ride an ostrich." Hiccup explained. "I didn't even think you could ride an ostrich."

"How did that go?" Fishlegs asked.

"That bird accelerated from 0 to 90 in seconds," Hiccup coughed as he remembered the sensation.

"Oh my!" Fishlegs' eyes widened as Hiccup quickly stepped into the little bathroom while Fishlegs remained in his bedroom to ask "And the Apollo?"

"It seemed to be a famous theatre." Hiccup said from the bathroom but his voice was a bit muffled. "AndImayhavekissedher!"

"What did you say Hiccup?" Fishlegs hadn't heard that last part well.

"I... I KISSED HER!" Hiccup shouted and Fishlegs thought he might have become embarrassed in there. True enough, Hiccup stuck his wet head out the door and looked at Fishlegs. His cheeks were slightly pink and Fishlegs supposed it wasn't all from the hot water.

"You kissed her?" Fishlegs wordlessly mouthed.

"It..... it was just on the cheek!" Hiccup quickly explained before the door was shut again.

"Okay... well..... Wow," Fishlegs didn't know what to say.

"Do you think it was too fast?" Hiccup was still blushing when he came out of the shower.

"I don't know," Fishlegs shrugged. "I've never had a girlfriend before."

"You aren't interested in anyone?" Hiccup asked as he got ready.

"Well........." Fishlegs hesitated for a moment.

"Fishlegs do you have a crush?" Hiccup teased. Fishlegs nodded but then mumbled "I doubt she likes me back."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because she has her eye on Snotlout!" Fishlegs exclaimed which caused Hiccup's brows to shoot up.

"Ruffnut! You're crushing on Ruffnut?!" He asked.

"There is just a way that that woman handles explosives," Fishlegs sighed dreamily.

"Oooookaaaayyyyy..........." Hiccup honestly had no idea what to say to that.

"Hiccup, Fishlegs, ten minute prep time remaining before you both are late." Astrid reminded them suddenly. Fishlegs jumped but Hiccup was already used to it.

"Thank you Astrid," Hiccup spoke to the room.

"Anytime Hiccup and thank you for the roses." She giggled.

"Roses?" Fishlegs asked as he followed Hiccup out. "You gave her roses during the....." he waved his hand to indicate the virtual world.

"Snotlout did mention giving flowers," Hiccup told his roommate.

"I can't believe you listened to Snotlout and it worked. You got a girlfriend." Fishlegs said in wonder. "Maybe I should try it."

"Well there is nothing wrong with telling Ruffnut how you feel," Hiccup said. "Also, I'm not exactly sure Astrid is my girlfriend. I mean, how do you even classify a relationship with a......." Hiccup drifted off there. On one hand Astrid was a machine that acted very much like a human and Hiccup forgot he was even speaking to a machine, but the very thought of an actual relationship still boggled his mind. On the other hand he likes spending time with her and would like to know her better. "Besides she just wanted to see what a date was. I don't even know if there will be another."

"Oh I definitely want another date," Astrid whispered through the device causing Hiccup to squeak. Fishlegs looked at him oddly before Hiccup tapped the side of his head. His roommate immediately understood that Astrid said something.

"Well..... Looks like I have another date," Hiccup told him as they reached their destination, the Biodome's seedbanks.

"When?" Fishlegs whispered as they stepped inside.

"Tonight,"

Fishlegs nodded as both he and Hiccup greeted Hank and Mary. The two scientists had asked for some help with cataloging the successful genetically modified plant seeds and storing them for future use.

Hiccup and Fishlegs got a quick tour of the place and were then put to work. The work was tedious and Hiccup's eyes swam a bit from all the scientific names. Fishlegs seemed to be enjoying himself though as he showed Hiccup the different types of weeds.

"I thought only fruits, vegetables and tree seeds were saved here?" Hiccup asked Mary once she came to check on them. "Why are there so many weeds? Humans don't eat them right?"

"The Biodome might be small but we are planning to go on a larger scale once experiments are completed." Mary explained. "A large ecosystem like this planet can't just thrive on fruits and vegetables. Weeds also play an important role. They are a vital counter to desertification on the open plains."

"They are?" Hiccup asked and looked confused.

"Desertification happens mostly because of drought, deforestation or inappropriate agriculture." Mary started explaining. "If weeds, trees or any other plants are removed then the soil is vulnerable to erosion. Their roots are what hold it all together." Hiccup nodded as he and Fishlegs went back to work. Mary walked over to one of the seed banks and took out a sample to show them. "Some weeds are actually useful to humans. This is Jasminum polyanthum or Jasmine. It's great to make tea out of."

"Dr. Hofferson, what is tea?" Fishlegs asked suddenly. Hiccup was also frowning as he didn't know either. Mary actually looked horrified at the boys before she called out to her husband "HANK GET YOUR BEHIND IN HERE!"

"WHY? DID YOU BLOW SOMETHING UP?"

"NO!"

"IS SOMETHING MELTING?!"

"NO!!!" Mary shouted back. "THESE BOYS DON'T KNOW WHAT TEA IS!" There was a clatter from the other room that separated the offices and workstations from the actual seedbanks.

"Astrid what is going on?" Hiccup asked as he watched Hank nearly kick open the door while holding a kettle.

Astrid laughed in his ear before saying "Drs. Hofferson are tea nuts. You are in for probably a very long lecture now on tea. I also have four hours of footage of them giving this same lecture to Dr. Bludvist if you are interested."

"Hiccup......." Fishlegs leaned over to whisper "is it too late to run?"

Several hours later Hiccup and Fishlegs managed to excuse themselves from the laboratory. They were on their way to the Mess hall when Fishlegs spotted the twins further ahead. They were still on janitor duty and were probably driving Mildew mad.

"Hiccup, why don't you go ahead. I think...... I think I might tell Ruffnut now before I lose all my nerves." Fishlegs explained. Hiccup looked at his roommate and saw him looking already quite nervous. He nodded and went on ahead but not before wishing Fish good luck.

"It seems love is in the air," Astrid spoke into the device as Hiccup reached the Mess hall. There was already a line forming and he quickly grabbed a tray. Astrid's observation did hold some truth as Hiccup observed quite a few couples sitting at smaller tables. There wasn't much time for romance while traveling through a desert, but now that the Berkians had settled down here a lot of them seemed to be pairing up. "Historical records show that there existed a holiday meant to celebrate love." Astrid spoke as Hiccup followed the line.

"Really?" Hiccup asked. "Do you know how that happened?" He tried to speak quietly as the person behind him gave him a weird look. Hiccup supposed he would look a bit like a loon for talking to himself.

"It was originally celebrated on the 14th of February but gradually lost meaning after the Midas drug was made public." Astrid explained. "Saint Valentine's day or the Feast of Saint Valentine was named after Saint Valentine of Rome and was a day primarily associated with martyrdom until the 18th century when its association to romantic love became popular. Further information on this day is not available."

"That's all quite interesting though," Hiccup mumbled quietly as he left the line and sought out a table. He spotted Snotlout and Tuffnut at one table along with a smaller boy he recognized as Gustav. He took a seat at the table and then spotted Ruffnut and Fishlegs entering. Neither were looking at each other and once they had grabbed their food and joined the group at the table Tuffnut asked "Where did you disappear to sis?"

"No.... Nowhere" Ruffnut answered too quickly and then viciously bit into her apple. Fishlegs was quiet and when Hiccup gave him an inquiring look he mouthed 'later'.

"So Snotlout, what are we doing later?" Gustav asked as he looked at the rest of the group. So far Hiccup hadn't figured out why the kid was suddenly there.

"Yo little man, don't you usually sit with your friends?" Tuffnut was the one to ask the question on everyone's minds.

"Yeah......" Gustav mumbled "But they don't want me sitting with them anymore. So I'm hanging out with Snotlout now."

"What happened?" Hiccup now asked with a frown. From what he knew, Gustav and his two friends were as thick as thieves.

"I don't want to say," Gustav mumbled while keeping his head down and then also went back to eating. Somewhat uncomfortable silence now reigned but that wasn't the icing on the cake. In walked Stoick himself and Hiccup stared at his father. Usually the man took his lunch while he continued working so it was quite rare to see him in the Mess hall. Hiccup must have stared for too long because Stoick spotted him and made his way over.

"Oh crap," Hiccup groaned which caused the others to look up as well.

"Hiccup can we talk?" Stoick asked a bit uncomfortable as he stared at his son.

"Anything you have to say, you can say in front of them Chief." Hiccup stated as his eyes narrowed. He thought he saw Stoick flinch a bit when he called him Chief.

"Hiccup..... Son..... I just wanted to say I'm sorry." Stoick started to apologize. "I didn't mean what I said and....." Hiccup suddenly held up a hand silencing his father. The room grew quiet as no one had actually ever dared to even try that.

"I'm going to stop you right there," Hiccup stated. "You trying to apologize is a start, but lying isn't going to make me forgive you anytime soon."

"Son.... I....I....." Hiccup held up his hand again and several Berkians sucked in their breaths in wonder. "You did in fact mean everything you said to me." Hiccup stated as he stood up, never breaking eye contact with his father "Lying about it now isn't going to change anything." he then turned to the others and said "I'll see you guys later. I just lost my appetite." before excusing himself from the table.

"I'll go after him," Ruffnut mumbled, shooting Stoick a glare, before heading out of the Mess hall, trying to catch up to Hiccup.

Gustav, being the kid that he was, didn't sugarcoat his words and said quite loudly "Wow, that apology sucked." while Snotlout was trying to shush him.AN: (Tries to hide devil horns with sunhat but fails as horns poke through hat) Next update will be Thursday. (Mumbles "Just a bit more and then the real fun can start")

AN2: On a sadder note: The Giraffe has joined the Endangered species list as of last week. :(