Swords and fire

Dating Expert

Hiccup Haddock, a 17-year-old student in Berk Oaks Highschool, knocked the door of the Dun'broch manor. He was wearing an olive-green knit sweater, perfectly ironed khaki pants and brown polished dressing shoes. The ensemble was tied together with a moss green bowtie and brown choppy hair parted on the side and carefully combed. He wasn't a big fan of said outfit, but he was doing this for his mom. You see, Valka Haddock belonged to a social club of utmost distinction; Berk Oaks knitting club. All the respectable women in the county belonged to the knitting club, in which they would gossip over tea, alternating houses and, well, knitting. Elinor Dun'broch, wife of Berk Oaks' banksman, was the president of the knitting club, which basically made her queen bee of the other housewives that attended. Valka, although married to Berk's mayor, had not much more power than Elinor. Why did things matter to Hiccup? Because Elinor had a daughter, just one year younger than Hiccup, and both mothers had made up their minds that their two children would be a match made in heaven.

Hiccup didn't know much about Merida Dun'Broch. They studied in the same high school, but that was about it. She was on a lower grade than him, and her circle of friends was perfectly isolated from his. She was in the female softball team, something the girls had to fight nail and tooth for, and she proved to be the prime example of a female softball player who'd be willing to fight for it. Sometimes he noticed she would come to school wearing a skirt, only to change into pants during school hours and back into the skirt by the time she went home. She also wore a black leather jacket, matching with her softball team, that read Princess embroidered on the back. She was quite the peculiar character, but he didn't know much more about her.

His mental listing of everything he knew about Merida was interrupted when the door opened, to reveal his classmate and her mother. Merida, a redheaded teenager with muscular bod and insanely curly hair, was standing there before him looking completely different from her usual self. Her hair was tucked back under a plaid ribbon wrapped around her head; she was wearing a matching green plaid dress that reassembled a Scottish tartan. Underneath the dress, she wore an impeccably white polo shirt, that matched her ankle high socks and black dressing shoes. She looked like a perfect child, the kind that Elinor, the woman standing behind her, would raise, but Hiccup sensed that that façade could only last for so long.

"Ah, Hiccup, my boy, just in time" said Elinor, "How perfectly punctual of you. I expect you to be just as punctual when bringing dear Merida back home."

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Dun'broch. It'll be my pleasure." He greeted, promptly offering his hand for Elinor to shake it, hoping she wouldn't notice the cold sweat gathering in his palms, "Is seven in the afternoon an agreeable hour?"

Elinor shook his hand while carefully examining him. He could tell she liked the outfit his mother had chosen. After a few seconds, she let go of his hand and nodded.

"Seven is perfect," she said, then turned to Merida and adjusted whatever details she could notice about her daughter's appearance, "Off you go, my dears, have fun."

And with that, Merida stepped out to the porch, next to Hiccup, and the door closed behind them. A few seconds later, Merida let out a deep breath before looking up at Hiccup.

"So, where are we off to?" She asked. Her demeanor had changed in the matter of seconds. She had gone from having a perfect posture and a polite smile, to a more relaxed poise and a curious expression.

He admired how much this girl seemed to hold back whenever her mom was present, and how her sense of self returned whenever said mother left.

"Well, I promised mom I'd take you to the soda fountain by downtown" he explained, starting to walk through the Dun'broch front yard and towards the sidewalk.