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Hiccup enjoyed his job at the bookstore - it helped that he could read as many books as he wanted, even getting an in store discount to go along with it. He did a lot of people watching throughout the day, like the person with the dyed hair that seemed to change every week, or the old man that would ask for help picking out books for his wife. Hiccup loved the stories that they would tell him; there were so many stories out there that he could indulge in.
There was one man in particular that Hiccup thoroughly enjoyed speaking to. Viggo, Viggo Grimborn. Hiccup had yet to meet anyone like that man; he was so intelligent, Hiccup could spend hours just engaging in vigorous conversation with him. But Hiccup only ever saw him at the bookstore - he had to live in the same city, or at least a neighboring one, because he seemed to come in every week or so. It was more odd when he wouldn’t come in on the same Thursday afternoon - always at 3:30 P.M. It was like clockwork how that man worked.
Hiccup had taken to cleaning the store a bit more before he showed up, making sure that everything was tidy and that he himself was presentable. His fellow employees had started to realize what Hiccup was doing. Every time they would tease him before Viggo showed up, his face would turn bright red. The first time one of his coworkers had said something that made Hiccup’s cheeks flare up in that scarlet red colour he had had to explain to Viggo that it was just the heat.
It was October.
Hiccup had gotten used to the teasing though, it wasn’t like it was true. He just wanted to make a good impression on the other man. Though it wasn’t much of an impression anymore now that they had been speaking for nearly half a year. Only on Thursday, always at three. Viggo usually stayed for an hour or two - it wasn’t like they spent hours upon hours together - though he desperately wished that he did.
Hiccup yeared for a time that they could meet outside of the bookstore, but he never managed to build up the confidence to do so: that caused an influx of teasing as well.
The bell above the door rang; Hiccup’s eyes shot up from his book - The Portrait of Dorian Gray. It was quite intriguing and he would have been slightly upset to have to put it down had he not seen who the figure in the doorway was. “Viggo!”
The man smiled at him, he was dressed so perfectly - neatly pressed shirts and pants, a tie done up in an exquisite manner. Seeing someone like Viggo walk into a bookstore that was - no better word - a mess was certainly a sight. He must have truly liked the store for him to keep coming back, even if he did stick out from the rest of the distress.
“Hiccup, my dear, it's good to finally see you again.” Hiccup nearly melted into a puddle, ‘my dear’, he just adored the way that Viggo said that: Hiccup was his dear.
He closed up his book, pushing it off to the side, he’d catch up later. “What are you looking for today?” He tried to keep up a confident smile, it didn’t work all that much.
Viggo held his coat jacket in his hand, he didn’t immediately turn to the shelves like he typically did. “Well, I’m looking for something a bit different.”
Hiccup’s brow raised, “Oh, what kind of genre?”
Viggo leaned against the other side of the counter, “It isn’t really a book, I was thinking maybe we can go for a drink after your shift lets out.”
Oh, oh shit that really was different.
Hiccup scratched the back of his head, “I don’t really drink, maybe coffee?”
Viggo smiled up at him, “Sounds perfect.” They locked eyes for a moment before a ringing came from Viggo’s pocket, “Damn, I hate to cut this short, but,” he looked around the counter, easily finding a pen and some scratch paper, “Here’s my number, we can arrange a time to go out together.”
And with that he left, Hiccup picked up the sticky note; he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It was actually Viggo’s number, he had Viggo’s number!
“Hiccup!”
A shout from the backroom pulled him back to his senses; his shift couldn’t end sooner.