Disguise: Chapter 3

Oh my god, finally. Here it is. Chapter 3. Sweet god almighty.

I don’t own HTTYD or Brave. *ships Mericcup so hard*

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Merida woke up at 9 am. She had been wanting to wake up that late for so long. It was always ‘Wake up at 7, Merida’ in her old home. She had a smile on her face. It was so satisfying to wake up at such time. Just glorious.

The redhead sat up and checked beneath her bunker. Empty, just as she thought. Hiccup was a morning person; an early bird. He had already gone out to make breakfast for them (which is already on the table), and went out again to check on the old man and his wife.

The cat was already awake too, but it could barely move normally. It sat by the window, looking outside. Whatever it was staring at, it was a mystery to Merida. She proceeded to taking a bath before Hiccup would return. She has never taken a bath this quick before. If she didn't cut her hair, it would be twice as difficult to dry. Even in dressing up, her movements were urgent. When she had finally had her boots on, Hiccup was back.

First, she heard him call out to her then talk to the cat.

Merida cleared her throat “Coming!”

Her voice as a man sounded like she has just started puberty. A bit high like a child, a male child but acceptable as a teen’s. All those puppet plays had use after all.

Another day of freedom, She thought as she inhaled.

The first thing she saw was Hiccup petting the black cat, who seemed to be pleased with it judging by its soft purring. The lad’s green eyes turned to her “I’m coming to the train station today, you wanna come along?”

“We’re going to work there?” she asked as she walked towards the table then sat down to eat her breakfast.

“Yep.” He nodded smilingly. His fingers were lightly scratching the cat’s back. “This cat likes stomach rubs.” Hiccup chuckled “He’s fun to pet.”

Merida was properly putting butter on her bread, the way she was taught in her old home. Her head lifted from its tilting to look at the feline who was looking back at her while Hiccup scratched its spine. It was either this cat disliked her or was just staring at her to confirm its fondness of her.

“..Can we keep him?” Hiccup suddenly asked.

She was munching when he asked the question. The redhead shrugged lightly “If yoo want. It’s yer home efter a’.”

“I don’t want to be rude by just adopting it without your consent, Mark.” He looked at her. “This is your home too.”

This man is really thoughtful, she thought. “I don’t mind. It would be nice to have a pet.” A curt smirk curved her lips. “Whot wull ye name ‘im?”

Hiccup’s hand went to the back of his head and scratched it sheepishly “I’ve actually tried coming up with a few while you were asleep in case you agree to adopting him. I’ve observed him and wanted to give him names that describe him at the least.” His cheeks grew noticeably pinkish.

“Let’s hear the names then.” Merida was cool with it. She bit largely on her bread and butter as she waited for him to mention the names.

“I was t-thinking about Shadow, Night, Obsidian...” Hiccup went on with the names that mainly described the cat’s color. “Also, Lucky--” The cat seemed to make a disgusted face. Merida saw it and laughed. Hiccup’s face turned red. “--a-and Toothless.”

Not much reaction; just a blink.

“Toothless?” Merida repeated, bewildered.

Hiccup nodded slightly, shy about the name he had come up with. “..H-he’s missing a tooth so I-I thought ‘maybe Toothless can be a name’.” He swallowed, his throat feeling dry. “S-so what do you think I should name him?” Hiccup tried to maintain a default expression--even with just a little smile-- but failed miserably. His face was so hot and red, he was sweating.

She studied him. Sweating temple, trembling hands, shaking shoulders. Was he really that intimidated of her? Merida made a small lopsided smile “Toothless is nice. It’s unique too.” her statement made Hiccup look at her. It was his turn to be bewildered. “W-what? R-really? I mean, you don’t mind at all? Y-you don’t have to like it. Y-you can say what you want to name him. After all, you helped him too.” After all that stammering, he cleared his throat out of embarrassment.

“No, really.” She said, chuckling. Merida bit on her bread once more. “Toothless is okay.” With one final bite, she was done with breakfast.

It only took Hiccup a moment to regain himself back to his professional self and grabbed his toolbox. “Let’s go so we can finish early.” Merida didn’t lose another second to follow his lead. Toothless followed them outside and sat just in front of the door when they closed it.

“We’ll be back, bud.” He smiled at the feline and waved at it before heading the way to the train station.

Ever since electricity was founded and used, many companies have been looking for the right people who knew their way around the technology. The station needed that with their new train carts that were almost done. What they needed was someone who could install the lights in it, and Hiccup was the man for the job.

The electrician and his apprentice arrived at the busy station. The carts weren’t on the rails yet but after his work, they were ready to be added. Hiccup and Merida made their way to the new carts, where a large team of hardworking men were helping each other with assembling the final knick knacks and checking and rechecking everything.

The leader of the workers saw Hiccup and greeted him with a smile. His breath smelled of cigar. The moment he opened his mouth and exhaled through them, Merida had to fight the urge to not scowl and act like she didn’t smell anything at all. Her eyes slowly rolled to Hiccup. He didn’t even look fazed at all. He was still smiling!

“The lamps are already in the carts. You’ll find them in a crate. We have limited supplies right now, but I hope it would do.” the man gestured to the first of the three new carts. He spotted Merida and smirked at her then at Hiccup. There was something about him that made Merida feel uncomfortable. He didn’t say anything and left. She looked at Hiccup and he didn’t seem suspicious. Not one bit.

Maybe it’s just me, she thought, shrugging off the awkward feeling.

The master and apprentice made their way to the first cart. It wasn’t hard to miss the crate. It was the only one there, along with a few coils of wires and a small stepladder. They went to work, doing the nearest lamp first. Hiccup taught Merida some more about wiring: Precautions, how to install and remove, how to test them out and what the wrong ways would be. For the first cart, he was the one who did the wirings and installation first, just to get her used to seeing what to do.

On Merida’s part, she attentively listened and nodded every once in a while to reassure him that she was indeed listening carefully to his words. He kept reminding her to turn off the power before holding the copper wires, and much more, use a pair of pliers on it. It would electrocute her. She swallowed a bit at this, mentally knocking herself with reminders to turn the power off every time.

On the other side of the cart, she joined Hiccup. They slowly did the wiring first before attaching anything to it. Lucky for the both of them, the redhead was a fast learner. She was able to do the other rooms separate from him to make the work faster. In the afternoon, they were beginning on the second cart. It was already evening and they were still doing their work in the second cart with flashlights in their mouths. 9 PM came and the shift was over. They have done one cart and a half done with wires. By tomorrow, they would be done with everything.

Dirt and some oil stained their skins and shirts, sweat soaked the backs of their tops and beads of the salty liquid formed on their foreheads. Merida had never worked so hard like that. Her life in her parents’ mansion were truly much more light weight than this. But no matter how difficult this was, she wasn’t going to come back and follow every thing her mother said to her.

The duo took their things and partially cleaned themselves before going out. As they walked home, they heard a few ladies and some men drinking in the streets talk about an aristocrat heiress missing from her home.

“Maybe she was kidnapped!” One lady blurted out with a voice just a bit louder than a whisper.

This made Merida turn her head to them. The news has finally spread.

“She’s probably murdered now, or held for ransom, since she’s an heir to a rich clan.” Another speculated.

Merida fought the urge to roll her eyes out. Had they known she was a skilled fencer and gunslinger, they wouldn’t think immediately about that.

“Yes! And I heard she was going to marry a charming, rich young man that was heir to a brewing company.” The third lady said, adding more excitement to their gossiping.

“Oh, she’s so lucky to have a rich husband!”

This time, Merida couldn’t help but groan, but quietly enough for them not to hear. It surprised her to hear Hiccup speak once they were a safe distance away from the gossipers.

“It must be nice to have all the money that you need.” He said with a faint smile. She turned her head to him, but tilted down a bit, “What?”

“You know, being born rich and getting married to a person just as rich, or even richer than you. It must be such a good life. Nothing troubles you.” He had this slightly dreamy look in his eyes.

Merida shrugged, pretending not to know and that she was just speculating, “But they’re juist as human as us so, ah doubt they’re problem-free.”

“I don’t see how they could be as problematic as us people on the lower social class. They have money to solve almost everything for them.”

True, she thought, and she couldn’t deny such a fact. If something went wrong, all they had to do was pay or bribe every time, and that led them to their money problem, and to her problem of getting married to someone she didn’t even know, because she was a tool, an instrument, to getting their riches back.

Hiccup watched her as she looked aimlessly ahead, thinking deeply. He wondered what was bothering her but decided not to ask as it may cause discomfort between them. After all, they haven’t known each other for that long. Asking her would be a nosy act.

Not too long, they arrived, and just outside their house was Toothless on the barrels by the window. He seemed to be not tired at all.

“Hey, bud.” Hiccup greeted with a happy grin, despite the exhausting day. Merida greeted with a small tired smile. “Ye haven’t been scratching the walls, have yoo?” she smirked at the cat who meowed and purred at them, moving its tail in delight to see them.

“Let’s go in. I bet you’re hungry.” He said, opening the door then turning on the light. He directly went to get a small plate and a fish from the small storage crate filled with ice, while Merida prepared to take a quick shower. The group of three ate together that night and went to bed earlier than yesterday because of exhaustion.

Just before falling asleep, they had a small conversation.

“Why do you think the heiress disappeared? Do you think she’s kidnapped?” He asked her from below.

If only he could see her face right now, he would have a hint that she knew what happened. Merida deadpanned and rolled her eyes heavily with sarcasm, “Nah. I would think she ran away.”

This confused and intrigued Hiccup. “Ran away? Why do you think that?” he sounded a bit disbelieved. Why would someone with everything anyone could ask for run away? It just didn’t make sense.

“Family problems or something. Maybe she doesn’t like the guy she’d marry, or juist feels locked up in their glorious mansion.” She was trying her best not to sound too sarcastic.

Hiccup slightly leaned to the side to look at her “You think she doesn’t like the guy? Who wouldn’t like a rich man?”

“I wouldn’t.” Merida replied with such a stern, annoyed voice that it kind of confused Hiccup. It didn’t take long for Merida to realize what she just said. “I mean..” she swallowed quietly, “If I wurr a girl, ah wouldn’t like a rich man. Sure it’s nice, but ah wouldn’t initially go for it.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t know ‘im. If I do, ah might give ‘im a chance, but knowing these rich folks? Nah.” She snorted, “They wouldn’t care if they knew that person or not as long as they have power an’ money.”

“Hmm..” he hummed thoughtfully, “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I wouldn’t want to be stuck with someone I don’t even know well for the rest of eternity, and learn that they’re the kind I don’t like. But.. you know, the gold is what I really need right now...”

She understood. Anyone in this social status would. He wanted to uplift his family and that was good. He was willing to sacrifice the rest of his lifetime just to make his folks have better life at their old age. She has been in the high status and it really did make the trick of pampering her entire family. But to her, there was more to life than just riches.

“I guess it is what we need right now, but.. I think what we really need are things that can’t be stolen. Like experiences, knowledge, wisdom. Whot’s the point of living if we can’t do the things we want to?”

“Those can be done after getting rich.” He replied, but she wasn’t having any of it. She was going to tell him how awful and ridiculous it was to have a life run by inanimate objects like silver, gold and diamonds, but she couldn’t. He might find out.

“I guess. I still would prefer happiness over riches.” And with that, she closed her eyes.

Hiccup couldn’t fathom the difference between happiness and riches. Couldn’t these riches buy happiness? He was going to speak his mind but decided against it, since he was feeling that the discussion would only lead to an argument, so he turned to his side and closed his eyes, imagining the things he would do when he has acquired all the gold and diamonds he needed. Imagination turned into dreams and both of them slept soundly, tucked in their blankets to rest for another exhausting day at the station.

END

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OMG FINALLY DONE. UGHH THIS IS FOR MERICCUP WEEK. It's not as long as the previous one but.. UGHGHG YESSSS. I was going to wait for Mericcup week but, SCREW IT. YOU GUYS DESERVE A CHAPTER AFTER ALMOST A MONTH OF NOT UPDATING

More Mericcup interaction! And whoaa, guess the news has spread. I wonder what’s going to happen?