By Amanda Pizzolatto (alias Aurora Mandeville)
Word Count: 1481
Rating: G
Summary: Merida and Hiccup help their friend Callum set up at Dragon Con. (Starring characters from Pixar’s Brave, How to Train Your Dragon, The Dragon Prince, and Zak Storm.)
Hiccup watched the redhead help Callum put up his booth. She had pulled her unruly curls back into a ponytail and her aqua blouse really made her blue eyes pop. Hiccup couldn’t help but stare at her; she was just so pretty. He was interrupted by Callum’s stepbrother, Ezran, and Merida’s three brothers as they played a bit loudly with Ezran’s pet frog and the triplets’ pet lizards close by.
“No, no, no,” said Merida as she straightened out one of Callum’s pictures, bringing Hiccup’s attention back to her. “You should have this one front and center; it’s your most famous piece!”
“Yeah, but,” began Callum as Merida brought out a giant poster of a scene from the anime Dragon Drive. Reiji and Chibi are front and center, with Chibi’s true form towering behind them. Hiccup could see why it had become a hit, it was such a good drawing. Merida then pulled out Callum’s other big hit, a picture of the two meech dragons from Dragon Keeper Chronicles. That one was Hiccup’s personal favorite, though the Dragon Drive one was a close second, as not much art had been produced of the series and Hiccup had often longed to see someone else’s interpretation of the two humanlike meeches.
“You should listen to Merida,” quipped Ezran, “she’s usually right.” The triplets glanced up from their lizards and nodded in unison. Hiccup smirked as he leaned against a pillar, still watching the whole thing. Ezran was correct; Merida was usually right.
“Thank you, Ezran,” said Merida.
“You’re welcome,” he replied before returning to play with the triplets.
Merida glanced at Callum.
Callum threw his hands up. “Alright, alright, you win, we’ll put that front and center.”
“Thank you,” said Merida as she quickly positioned the Dragon Drive piece.
The Dragon Keeper Chronicles piece went right next to it. Callum patted it lovingly. Hiccup smiled. That was also Callum’s favorite piece; the Dragon Keeper Chronicles was his favorite series.
“So . . . are you actually going to help, or are you going to stare at the fair Merida until you start drooling?”
Hiccup yelped and turned around to see Merida’s personal bodyguard and best friend, Rayla, looking at him with a slight tease of a smile on her face. “W-well, um,” stammered Hiccup as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Y-you know how Merida gets about these things. It’s best to stay out of her way.” He chuckled nervously.
“It’s also nice to have some help too, you know,” came Merida’s voice.
Hiccup turned to glance at her. She had her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. Callum waved at Hiccup from behind her. Hiccup grinned sheepishly as he waved back.
“So, are you going to help?” asked Rayla.
“Uh . . .”
“Hiccup!”
Hiccup let out a soft breath as he turned towards the newcomers. “Hey Zak, Cece! You made it!”
Zak Storm came forward and shook Hiccup’s hand. “Well, yeah, wouldn’t want to miss this!”
“Nice costume, Cece!” said Merida.
“Thanks!’ replied Cece as she twirled her trident.
“Who are you supposed to be?” asked Rayla.
“I’m Mera. Zak was supposed to be Aquaman, so imagine my surprise when he shows up as Jack Sparrow,” stated Cece as she shot Zak a glare.
“This isn’t Jack Sparrow, just a regular pirate costume. And I swear, my Aquaman suit got warped by my dad! Ugh, I’ll show you when we get back to my place.”
“That trident is cool, though,” remarked Rayla.
Cece grinned. “Thanks.”
Zak let out a breath as he turned to Hiccup. “So, man, excited about your first booth at Dragon Con?” He paused as he glanced at the booth. “Whoa man, I didn’t think you would take them literally! This is Dragon Con, but other fantasy creatures are welcome!”
Callum placed his hands on his hips. “Yeah, well, I like drawing dragons, so deal with it.”
“I already do,” quipped Zak as he pointed at Hiccup. “Why haven’t you two started the Dragon Drawing Club?”
“Because it would be just the two of us?” said Callum slowly.
“Basically,” said Hiccup with a shrug.
“Hey, wait, where’s your art, Hiccup?” asked Cece as she looked closer at the table.
“I, uh . . .”
“We were just trying to get him to put it out,” remarked Rayla, “when you two showed up. I think he wants Merida to set it up because he likes how she does things, not just because he has a super huge crush on her.”
Hiccup blushed and let out a little squeak as Rayla shot him a knowing glance. Ezran and the triplets began to giggle.
“Well, what are you waiting for? We’ve got like what, ten minutes before Dragon Con officially starts?” said Zak as he glanced at his watch.
“What, really?” blurted Hiccup as he pulled Zak’s arm towards him so he could see the watch. “Holy smokes, you’re right!”
“Uh, yeah, I know,” muttered Zak as he pulled his arm out of Hiccup’s hand. Hiccup rushed to his portfolio and began taking out art. Ten minutes later, as the crowd began rolling in, the teens were sitting almost breathless behind the booth.
“We made it,” muttered Callum between gasps.
“Just barely,” said Rayla. “We would have been done earlier if we didn’t have lover boy here fawning over his crush.”
Hiccup chuckled nervously.
“So, Hiccup, when are you going to ask her out?” Ezran asked.
“Uh, ah, um, I-I d-don’t know,” stammered Hiccup. “I don’t even know if she’ll say yes!”
“I’m right here, you know,” said Merida, glaring at him from her chair right next to him.
Hiccup grinned sheepishly before letting out a sigh. “I know, I know, but you’re so awesome, and I’m so lame. I can’t even ask you out properly!”
One of Merida’s brothers chuckled. “Should we tell him, Merida?”
“Hamish!” hissed Merida.
“How can you tell which one is which?” asked Callum.
“Tell me what?’ asked Hiccup at the same time, but everyone was taken off guard when Merida pulled him in for a kiss.
Cece and Rayla recovered first from their surprise and whooped as Merida drew back from the kiss, blushing. Callum and Zak continued to stare in shock while the younger children burst out laughing.
“Merida’s face is as red as her hair!” blurted Hubert as he rolled on the floor.
“So’s Hiccup’s face!” blurted Hamish between chuckles.
Rayla turned towards the four. “Alright, you four, enough.”
“Y-you, you like me back?” Hiccup finally muttered.
Rayla spoke up as Merida’s head sank a little lower. “She’s been crushing on you for months.” She then stood up and pulled Merida to her feet, and then offered a hand to Hiccup.
“Uh, uh, Rayla, what are you doing?” asked Merida as Rayla pushed them to the other side of the booth.
“What does it look like? You two go enjoy Dragon Con with Zak and Cece. Callum and I can hold down the fort.”
“What?” blurted Callum. “We’ve got the DunBroch triplets, how can we hold down anything?”
“Ezran and I can handle them,” remarked Rayla before shooting them a glance. She looked at Callum. “You can handle the booth.”
“I guess that’s better than having to deal with the mischievous trio,” said Callum with a sigh.
“Great! We’re all set. You four go enjoy the Dragon Con,” said Rayla as she pushed the two couples away from the booth.
“Uh, uh, but . . .” began Hiccup.
“You’re sure you’ve got this?” asked Merida.
“Sure, if anything goes wrong, Callum and I have your number. We’ll text you if something happens, and we’ll call if they do something like, say, start burning the building down.”
“Somehow, that doesn’t make me feel better,’ quipped Callum, shooting an uneasy look at the triplets. The three merely grinned at him. He chuckled nervously before glancing helplessly at Merida and Hiccup.
Hiccup could only shrug before Rayla pushed them away and said, “We’ve got this. Go enjoy yourselves!”
Hiccup began to protest when Merida wrapped her arm around his. He glanced at her, and the two smiled warmly with slight blushes on their cheeks.
He glanced back at Rayla and mouthed the word ‘thanks’ before saying out loud, “Good luck! Don’t lose your head, Callum!”
“Ha! It’s more likely than you think,” retorted Callum.
“Don’t worry, Ezran and I will save it,” replied Rayla.
Callum groaned and dropped his head on the booth. “It’s going to be a long day,” he mumbled.
Merida snickered. “Let’s go,” she said as she pulled on Hiccup’s arm. They followed Zak and Cece further into the crowd gathering for Dragon Con. But all Hiccup could think about was that Merida liked him back, and maybe, just maybe, they could go out on a real date soon.
(Characters are from Zak Storm, How to Train Your Dragon, Brave, and The Dragon Prince, with special mention of Dragon Drive and The DRagon Keeper Chronicles)