9. A Little Change

The Night Fury and the child romped through the fields for what felt like hours, while the Night Fury’s rider and the child’s mother made conversation underneath the tree. Stilted, and awkward, but still pleasant conversation.

Soon though, it was time for Pepa to leave. She had other things to attend to. Of course, Antonio had to go with her.

Embracing the dragon in one last hug, the curly haired boy waved goodbye to his new friend. Promising he’d visit at the forge soon. Toothless crooned his farewell. Hiccup waved to the boy and his mother as they both set off for town, and he didn’t miss the small rainbow that appeared over her head.

The teen was quite pleased. Despite the near disastrous circumstances of their arrival, it seemed more and more people grew to like them as the days went on. He hoped by the time they left this magical place, the village would view them as friends, and not freaks.

His wishful thinking was cut short by the sound of heavy steps. He turned to see the mighty Luisa, stomping her way up the hill. A multitude of Donkeys being held on her shoulders. Not an unusual sight for the people of the Encanto, but Hiccup couldn’t help but snicker.

Hearing the much smaller boy’s chortles, she ceased her clomping and faced him. She was wary of him, but after hearing of his various kind acts, she decided to at least treat the boy amicably. She still kept her distance from the dragon, though. She would never admit this to anyone, but she’s had several nightmares about that thing.

All that aside, she had a mission.

Cutting straight to the chase, having too much on her plate for anything else, she spoke. “Morning, Hiccup. Mirabel was looking for you.” Without waiting for his response, she resumed her uphill climb.

A bit stunned at the pace of the interaction, she was coming, speaking, and leaving in less than a minute, the boy called for Toothless. And together the two made their way back to the forge. Toothless was conspicuously more relaxed.

All that running must’ve tired him out.

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After dropping his dragon off at the forge, Hiccup went into town in search of Mirabel. Opting to ask around, instead of aimlessly wandering. He still didn’t know the town’s layout by heart.

He couldn’t help but notice that of the few villagers he asked, only some of them regarded him with suspicion. He was greeted quite warmly by the others. Ironically, the boy reacted worse to being treated kindly. Stuttering and staggering away, disoriented. He knew some people were starting to turn around on him, thanks to his good-willed antics over the last few days, but this was quite a lot to process.

Being treated as anything but a walking disaster was still new to him.

With the assistance of Senor Osvaldo, including another round of being pleasantly insulted on things he didn’t even know he was insecure about, he had found Mirabel. She was standing in front of a small building with clothing visible through its windows. Fancy lettering Hiccup couldn’t decipher spelling the shop’s name.

He approached as she waved him over. “Hiccup, there you are! I didn’t see you yesterday.”  The boy shrugged his response. “You don’t have to spend all your time with me, I’m sure you’re busy.” He didn’t catch the wince the girl made as her smile briefly faltered. “Yeah…busy...”

Her mood picked up, and she continued her prodding. “You’ve definitely been busy, though! Making those pictures for Antonio, entire suits of armor for my dad?” He tried to brush her off, honestly not viewing those feats as particularly big deals. “It wasn’t anything special, really…” She wasn’t having it. She brought her hand to her chin in mock thought. “What was it you said? ‘Helping people is what the Encanto is all about!’?” She assumed a bow-legged stance, and wobbled her shoulders about as she attempted to mimic him.

He was so embarrassed by her nasally impression of him, he had to hide his blushing face behind his hands.

“I took that line from you!” He shouted, exclamation muffled by his own appendages. “That just means I’m rubbing off on you!” Mirabel chuckled at how flustered her companion was, but finally decided to stop teasing him.

“Alright! Antonio’s gift ceremony is tomorrow, and no offense Hiccup, but you’ve been wearing the same thing for days and it’s really starting to smell.” The teen lifted his sleeve to his arm and took a whiff.

Yeah, that was foul. He knew why he didn’t notice it, though. Growing up around Vikings gives you a high stench tolerance.

“Okay, you’re right about the clothes. But should I even come to the gift ceremony? That’s kind of a community thing, and I’m not really…”

His sentence trailed off as he noticed the deadpan look she was giving him. “Antonio literally asked if you’d be there. He was afraid you wouldn’t be able to, since you’re from outside the Encanto. You’re coming.” There was no room for debate, so he didn’t even bother.

Finally, she led him into the building. It was a small clothing store. With various forms of apparel lined up along the walls, and some on display in the windows. Smaller items could be found on stands near the corners. The woman behind the desk cheerily waved to Mirabel, Hiccup guess she came in here a lot.

Mirabel gestured to the building they were both in. “Okay, pick out whatever you want!” The boy wringed his hands together while eyeballing the floor. “I uh…I-I don’t have any money.”  She pulled out a small but hefty pouch from her pocket, and its contents clinked around noisily. “Don’t worry about it, it’s on me!”

Hiccup turned to the bespectacled girl in shock. Upon seeing his look, she giggled and replied. “Not to brag or anything, but the Madrigals? We’re doing alright.” She urged him to pick something already, so he perused the shop’s wares.

He noticed none of the clothes here were really built for cold weather, but then Hiccup considered the climate and realized that shouldn’t come as a surprise. He had been feeling sweatier recently, excluding the various nerve-racking situations he frequently found himself in.

He eventually settled on a white button-up shirt, a beige pair of shorts, vermillion sandals, and a baggy striped ruana. It was separated into three colors, with the top stripe being a peach-like shade. The middle stripe being a red orange, and the bottom stripe was burnt sienna in color.

…And some new undies.

Upon exiting the small changing room, his new get-up was met with great approval from both Mirabel and the store’s owner. Though he wasn’t entirely sure if the older woman meant it, or was just trying to make a sale.

Looking in the mirror, and trying a few experimental turns, Hiccup had to admit. He didn’t look too shabby. And his new outfit already felt way better in this hot weather, his poor feet had been in those stuffy boots for too long.

As Mirabel paid the woman, Hiccup called for her attention. “Listen, I’ll repay you for this. I promise.” She seemed off put by how serious he was being. “I told you, Hiccup. It’s on me!” Soon enough, a sly smile wormed its way onto her face. “You can repay me by going to Antonio’s gift ceremony tomorrow, and having a good time!” Her smile grew more sheepish. “And…maybe tell Abuela I’ve been doing a good job as your guide?”

He was about to answer earnestly, but he spotted an opportunity that he had to take.

He put his hand to his chin in mock thought. “Hmm, I dunno.  How would I rate your job performance...?” She could tell he was joking, but she groaned at his teasing. “Hiccup…”

He kept the act going. “I’m thinking a…two, maybe three out of ten.” She took on an overly-exaggerated look of offense. “THREE!? I’m a five out of ten at least!” He didn’t seem convinced. “Woops, talking back to your client. That loses you five points. You’re looking at minus-two right now.” He put his hands on his hips and sighed with phony exasperation. “You know what? I’m not gonna leave a good review.”

The two glared at each other, one in pretend anger and one in pretend haughtiness.

Before busting out with laughter.

They giggled with a childish glee, not caring who saw them.  Hiccup chortling so hard he knocked a stand over. The store-owner moved to pick it back up, but Hiccup insisted doing so himself. Mirabel was coughing and wheezing now, holding on to her pained stomach while silently guffawing. Hurting after witnessing Hiccup’s fall.

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The two left the clothing store, Hiccup holding onto his old (and very stinky) tunic. The two had said their goodbyes, the scrawny boy thanking his guide profusely for the clothes, and he was on the road to the forge. He stopped when he heard her call.

“Hiccup!”

He turned around to see the girl running towards him. Curly dark hair bouncing and flowing in the breeze. When she stopped, after a moment to catch her breath, she held her hand out.

“Give me your ruana!” He looked down at the article of clothing in question. “Uh…why?” She shook her expectant hand in his face. “Just give it!” He flinched at her commanding tone, and complied.

It took him a bit to properly lift it over his head. She thanked him as she took it, before adding “I’ll give it back tomorrow, just trust me!” And she then headed in the opposite direction. Presumably for Casita.

Hiccup was half convinced she took it, with the promise of returning it tomorrow, just so he’d have a reason to go to the gift ceremony. He shrugged, figuring he was going anyway. So she was just wasting her time.

He sauntered back to the forge, for once enjoying the weather in his new clothes. And wondered just what tomorrow would bring.