Chapter 1—The Ambitious Card

A cold breeze passed through the crowd standing in front of a grand theater one autumn night. A few surprised gasps and silent swears filled the air as the crowd shivered in the cold, couples huddling together and children clinging to their parents tightly, wailing about how long they had to wait in their stiff and formal outfits. A young man of about twenty-four pulled his coat collar closer to his neck, blowing out clouds of steam to kill time. A red leaf that rode the wind smacked him in the face and he blushed a color not unlike that of the leaf. He peeled the leaf off of his cheek and peeked around, making sure no one saw one of his many awkward moments, before releasing the leaf and watching it fly through the air, giving a small hiccup of embarrassment that befitted his own name.

Hiccup, as you might have guessed our young man was called, winced and squinted as a bright light emerged from behind the large door and a rush of warm air spilled out into the streets. He heard sighs of relief and expressions of awe as people entered the theater. He brushed his long brown bangs out of his eyes, which took a few seconds to adjust to the light, before going in.

He entered the room, looking around for just a split second, before walking to the ticketing usher, who pointed out his seat to him ("fifth row to the front, 10 seats from the left"). To the casual observer, it would be a bit odd to see a person like Hiccup so uninterested by the shimmering chandeliers and impressive sculptures that adorned the area. After all, Hiccup seemed like such an average man, what with his average height and average brown hair and lean build. The upper-class onlooker might be offended by his nonchalance, considering his worn-out coat and dull shoes that just screamed "normal." Yet, of course, there is always something about the passerby that you will never know just from appearance.

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (a name that he received a lot of grief from in his childhood) was the sole heir and valued business consultant of Hooligan Entertainment Industries—a role that ended up surprising most of his acquaintances and even his father, who gladly handed Hiccup the role of head representative of his grand theater in lieu of Hiccup's accomplishments.

The Haddock Theatre was quite a magnificent one that, in all modesty, put the grand theater Hiccup was currently in, to shame. The Haddock Theatre had quite the reputation that would send any pompous connoisseurs of the performing arts into long boasts about the marvelous performance they saw that one time, and how they met a particular artist there before they had become famous. Perhaps that was why, as representative, Hiccup became someone hard to impress—something that made sure only the best of the best performed at the theater.

Hiccup walked to his seat, muttering "excuse me"s and "pardon me"s as he shuffled through the feet of those already seated and found himself at his seat and lowered himself into the soft red cushion, sighing in relief at finally being allowed to sit down in a nicely heated room after standing in the cold for about an hour. The seat to his left was empty while the seat to his right was occupied by a large woman chatting away with the man in front of her.

Hiccup sighed, massaging his temples in exasperation at the thought of having to sit in a theater, watching a, most likely, cliché, run-of-the-mill, performance for the third time this month. Magicians really weren't his thing. In fact, because of that, in his time as a representative (which, he noted proudly, was two years, five months, and two days) the theater had not seen a magician in years.

However, this night was different—he had come on the recommendation of his best friend and roommate, who insisted that, despite his skepticism, this was quite the show to see. And, well, if this magician managed to impress Astrid to the point where she even bought tickets for him to watch the show, then he guessed he might as well see what all the fuss is about.

Hiccup was pulled from his thoughts when he heard the seat next to him creak and groan as someone sat down. Hiccup's eyes drifted to the left, trying to seem as inconspicuous as possible. A young man that looked maybe a few years older than Hiccup sat calmly in his seat, his elbows on both arm rests, his right shin resting atop his left leg in a relaxed position. He sported a sleek black suit and an ice blue tie that Hiccup thought made his eyes even more attractive than they already were. Even more shocking was the fact that the man had a head of pure white hair that showed no signs of betraying the man's natural hair color. Hiccup had to admit that he felt a sort of immature glee that came with sitting next to someone that attractive.

The man looked around the room with a sort of odd curiosity before he made eye contact with Hiccup, who felt a blush rise in his cheeks as he broke eye contact and looked down at his hands, which sat in his lap. Hiccup mentally berated himself for letting the awkward teenage boy in him reveal itself and just let out a small sigh, placing his elbow on his right arm rest.

"So, I'm guessing you're not into the whole 'hocus pocus' magic phenomena?"

Hiccup felt his heart jump in surprise at the sound of the man's low and cool voice actually addressing them after their awkward moment of mutual staring. He cleared his throat to try to regain his cool before putting on the most normal smile he could manage.

"I guess you could say that," Hiccup chuckled. "I'm a bit of a skeptic nowadays."

"I thought so—I don't think I've seen you at one of this guy's performances before," the man said, jerking his head towards the stage. He held out his hand to Hiccup. "The name's Jack, by the way."

Hiccup took Jack's hand, which he noted was a bit colder than he thought would be normal for most humans. "I would be Hiccup," Hiccup gave a weak smile when Jack raised an eyebrow at him. "I know, I know. It's a long story involving a Viking ancestry—you wouldn't want to hear it."

"Oh, I think I'd like to hear it someday," Jack smirked, leaning his cheek on his right palm. Hiccup felt a terrible and uncontrollable heat rise in his neck once again as he noticed just how charming this man was.

Was it just him, or was he leaning a bit more towards Jack than he was before?

"Enough about that—you said you're not really into this stuff," Jack continued. "So what brings you here? Girlfriend dragged you?"

Hiccup chuckled nervously. "Well, uh, no, but a friend of mine did recommend the show, so I thought I'd check it out. Humor her, so to speak," Hiccup tore his own green eyes away from Jack's mesmerizing blues for a minute in a futile attempt to restore his regular heartbeat. "From the way it sounds, it looks like you're a regular of this particular magician. Perhaps even a big fan."

Jack laughed and his eyes glinted with a sort of mischievousness that made Hiccup's heart skip a beat and his mind whir with an active curiosity that begged to know more about this handsome stranger.

"I guess you could say that," Jack smiled. "I mean, he's no David Copperfield, but I think he's got quite the act lined up. I've been to every single performance—each one is different."

"You don't say," Hiccup said, his eyes flitting in the direction of the stage for a quick moment before meeting Jack's icy blues once again. "I don't know… I'm still a little skeptical about all of this…"

"Ahhh, I get you now," Jack said, tapping his fingers to his chin, his eyebrows knitted together as he thought. "You can't really be a professional critic—you're much too easy to talk to for that. I'm guessing you're one of those 'hard-to-impress' types."

Hiccup smirked, "You could even go on to say that I take pride in that." Hiccup ran his fingers through his hair, getting his bangs out of his eyes, his fingers tracing his neck, which he noted, with surprise, was still warm to the touch despite the fact that he had become more comfortable talking to Jack. "Besides, as you said before, I'm not into the whole children's magic show thing." Hiccup said, leaning back in his chair, intertwining his fingers in his lap, "Making a coin disappear, pulling bunnies out of hats, pulling yards of cloth out of a once empty bag? It's all overused and I've seen it before."

"I guess I see where you're coming from," Jack admitted.

"Not to be a fun killer or anything," Hiccup began with a slight tone of apology, "but this guy's gonna have to do a lot to impress me—hell, he'd have to make it snow… In the theater," Hiccup added after some consideration.

"Well, I don't know about that," Jack chuckled, glancing down at an expensive looking watch on his left wrist, "but I guarantee that this will be a night to remember for you. In fact, I'll make sure of that."

Hiccup opened his mouth to ask Jack what he meant when the lights suddenly went off, enveloping the theater in darkness. A hush immediately went through the crowd and a few excited whispers and giggles could be heard all around him.

A loud boom came from the speakers and Hiccup winced, turning to the front of the room. Light blue spotlights traveled across the stage, as if in search for something before setting right in the middle of the stage.

'Well, I guess I'll have to see for myself," Hiccup whispered to Jack, feeling slightly disappointed when he did not receive a reply.

"Ladies and gentlemen… Please welcome the AMAZING and MYSTERIOUS—the ULTIMATE trickster and MASTER of spectacles… JAAACK FROOOST!"

There was a loud boom as an explosion of shimmering smoke swirled around the stage. The crowd burst with excitement as a young man stepped forward, wearing a nice black suit with an ice blue tie that seemed to be a nice touch to his white hair and blue—

If it was physically possible, Hiccup's jaw would have dropped to the floor as he recognized the handsome stranger he was talking to just a few seconds ago. He turned his head to his left, in utter shock as he realized that the seat was empty—as if no one had even occupied it just moments before.

"Thank you, ladies and gentlemen," Jack bowed low as the spotlight shone on him. He flashed a brilliant smile towards the audience, which cheered and swooned in his wake. "I really must thank you from the bottom of my heart for coming here tonight, even though I'm sure some of you didn't want to."

Hiccup felt his face flush as Jack's eyes seemed to look in his direction. Perhaps he was imagining it though—he was almost directly in the middle after all.

"However, I must kindly ask that you kindly stow away your skepticism for just a moment—and I will guarantee that this will be a night to remember. I'll make sure of that," Jack winked and Hiccup's heart beat out of his chest as he realized that Jack really was looking right at him. A small smile crept onto his face and Hiccup found himself clapping along with the rest of the audience as Jack flicked his right hand and conjured a hat from thin air.

"For my first trick, I will need a volunteer," Jack said grandly, doffing his hat. The people around Hiccup leapt to their feet, practically begging to be a participant in Jack Frost's show. Hiccup looked around curiously, making a mental note that Jack's mass popularity obviously showed that he had some talent, if any. Jack feigned searching among the crowd, scratching his chin in an affected manner. It suddenly occurred to Hiccup what Jack's master plan was and he immediately lowered himself in his seat, raising his hand to his head in a vain attempt to hide himself.

"How about that shy gentleman in the fifth row!" Jack finally declared. "The one with the brown hair and freckles!"

Hiccup swore silently to himself as he looked up at Jack, who's eyes shone like a mischievous child on April Fool's day. A woman in a brightly colored dress—his assistant, Hiccup assumed, made her way towards him, beckoning for him to go up on stage. Hiccup obliged reluctantly, his face shining crimson as he made his way to the front, taking Jack's offered hand as he hopped onto the stage, biting his lip in embarassment.

"Hello there good sir," Jack took off his hat and bowed, reaching out to take Hiccup's hand. As soon as Jack's fingertips delicately touched his palm, Hiccup swore he heard his own heartbeat blaring in his ears. Jack led Hiccup to a chair that his assistant had brought to the center of the room and sat him down.

"And your name is…?" Jack said, winking at Hiccup.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow, but answered nonetheless.

"Well. Hiccup," Jack smiled at him, pulling a deck of cards out of his pocket, fanning them out before Hiccup's eyes, "I'd like you to pick a card—any of them."

Hiccup studied the card intensely, looking for strings and attachments and any flaw that would have given away the trick of the deck and the intricate black patterns that decorated the back of each card. He peeked around Jack's head for a moment—seeing a screen that showed Jack's hand and cards live. Hiccup reached out hesitantly, picking a card right in the middle, his and Jack's fingers brushing as Hiccup extracted the card.

Jack of hearts… Hiccup said as he examined the card. How fitting.

Jack's brightly colored and bubbly assistant bounded over to them, taking the card from Hiccup's hand for a moment and showing it to the crowd as Jack covered his eyes. When she handed him back his card, she seemed to search Hiccup's face for a moment with a curious smile before hopping away.

"Alright, Hiccup, if you would please replace the card," Jack said, fanning his cards out once again. Hiccup made sure to hide the card somewhere in the middle, trying his best to stump the so-called "master of spectacles."

Jack seemed to notice Hiccup's carefulness and smirked at him, making a huge scene of shuffling the cards many times before continuing.

"Hiccup, have I ever mentioned that you're quite handsome, actually," Jack chuckled. The audience met Jack's comment with laughter and wolf-whistling as Hiccup's face ran crimson, swearing that even his multitude of freckles gained a chameleon-like quality at Jack's comment. "They always say that people graced with such a skill have a rather attractive smell, wouldn't you agree?"

The crowd's laughter continued and Hiccup felt himself heat up with embarassment, something that was only made worse when Jack took his hand and kneeled in front of him.

"I'm betting," Jack continued, "that I could find your card from your scent."

"What?" Hiccup spluttered inaudibly as the crowd delivered its predictable "ooooh"s and whistles. Jack brought Hiccup's hand up and pressed his lips to the back of his hand momentarily. At the brush of Jack's lips to his freckled hand, Hiccup suddenly felt like he was going to melt into a puddle of pure freckly embarrassment. His heart felt like it was going to hop right out of his chest onto the floor in a big heap of nervous attraction.

Yet, Hiccup was surprised when he found that he was disappointed as Jack lowered his hand and lifted his lips away. Hiccup, who was still a bit confused by the past few seconds as well as the audience's enthusiastic cheers watched as Jack held his cards in front of face, flipping through the cards with his fingers and taking a deep, showy sniff. Jack smiled and held up a finger to the crowd, which had become silent in anticipation, tapping the top of the deck. With a swift motion, he flipped the card over and, to Hiccup's surprise, the Jack of Hearts at atop Jack's deck.

The crowd began to break into excited applause, only to be silenced once again as Jack placed the card back into Hiccup's hand, face up.

"Why don't you kiss that card for me, Hic?"

Hiccup gazed up at Jack quizzically, placing the tip of the card to his lips, before handing the card back to Jack.

Jack flipped the card over and Hiccup's jaw dropped when he saw a rose adorning the back of the card where the intricate black pattern used to be. The audience buzzed in appreciation as Jack placed the card back at the top and placed the entire deck in Hiccup's hands. Jack placed his left hand under Hiccup's and used his right hand to fan out the cards over Hiccup's palms.

If Hiccup wasn't shocked by Jack's earlier trick, he was certainly shocked now. The fanned out cards connected like an odd puzzle to form the image of a single rose that branched out across the deck. Something rounder and softer than the cards fell into Hiccup's hand, and before he could even wonder what it was, Jack removed the deck from his hands to reveal a single, thornless, red rose that lay delicately in Hiccup's palms.

The crowd was roaring with glee at Jack's first trick to the point where they were standing up and clapping with such eagerness that one would think all of their hands would fall of simultaneously. Jack pulled Hiccup up to his feet and they bowed together, Hiccup still in slight shock and quite bashful as Jack's assistant led him off the stage and back to his seat.

Jack was still revelling in the applause from his first trick when Hiccup sat down. Hiccup twirled the rose's stem in his fingers, looking at it over and over again. He could almost feel the curious glances that were aimed his way, but he didn't care. A small smile rose to his lips as he pressed the rose against them, before placing it back in his lap and looking back up at the charming man at the front of the stage.

The night continued with Jack pulling some rather amazing stunts—turning his hat into a dove, making his assistant disappear, making large stone statues float, and sending flocks of beautiful hummingbirds over the heads of the audience. It was a night of amazement and Hiccup, in all his skeptism, had found himself in a state of childish wonder and curiosity, clapping along with the rest of the crowd after Jack performed a trick, and finding himself smiling every time Jack seemed to make eye contact with him.

Yet, after what seemed like a fantastically short time, the show ended with Jack giving yet another low bow and thanking the audience for their attention before disappearing behind a cloud of blue smoke. There was a generous applause for Jack and eventually the audience began shuffling out of their seats. Hiccup was one of the last to leave, as he sort of sat there, staring blankly at the red rose, wondering how he would get Jack's contact information for a job offer… or perhaps something else…

"Excuse me, sir?"

Hiccup was pulled away from his ponderings by a smooth female voice. He turned to see Jack's assistant standing right next to him. Now that Hiccup was not preoccupied with the hustle and bustle of the show, he got to examine her a bit more closely. Her hair was a shocking array of yellows, greens, and blues and her dress seemed just as bright to match the color of the hair. Something about her reminded Hiccup strongly of a hummingbirds colorful plummage.

"I'm glad you stayed back for a bit," she smiled. "Jack actually requested to see you backstage."

Hiccup felt a moment of euphoria at this statement. "Really? Oh, then I'll just…" Hiccup scrambled to his feet a bit clumsily. The woman laughed at his floundering and Hiccup felt just a teeny bit embarassed.

"If you'd just follow me," she smiled at him, leading him through the seats and to a door that lead to the backstage area. Hiccup had to adjust to the bright lights of the back hallway, which was quite blinding compared to the dim mood-lighting of the theater. "By the way, I'm Toothiana. You can call me Tooth, though," she finally said as they weaved through theater employees who were packing up the equipment from the night's show. For a minute, Hiccup was about to make a comment about her odd name, but thought better of it when he remembered his own.

"I'm Hiccup," he introduced himself a bit awkwardly. A moment of silence enveloped them and Hiccup suddenly felt that the backstage area was a lot bigger than he would imagine. "So… Tooth… Are you and Jack dating or something?"

Tooth stopped in her tracks and Hiccup almost crashed into her. He felt a lump in his throat, afraid that he had offended her in some way. When he opened his mouth to apologize, he was cut off by the sound of loud, uncontrollable laughter.

"Oh, heavens no!" Tooth finally said, wiping a tear from her eye from all of her laughter. "If anything, Jack is more like a younger brother to me. I just make sure he doesn't step out of line—he tends to get carried away with all the fun he has sometimes, you know?" A mischievous glint shone in her eye that made Hiccup's oddly nervous. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, er—no reason," Hiccup said hastily, mentally slapping himself for sounding so suspicious.

"Hm… That's too bad," Tooth sighed and gave a theatrical shrug before continuing their walk. "He really couldn't take his eyes off of you today."

Hiccup's heart seemed to be doing a multitude of cartwheels that day and Hiccup laughed sheepishly, pulling a bit at the green tie that hung around his neck. "Y-you think so?"

Tooth just looked back at him and smiled before stopping in front of a door. She reached her hand out to turn the doorknob as Hiccup carefully stuck his rose into his pocket. Tooth held the door open for Hiccup, who peeked inside to see the white-haired magician standing in front of a mirror, his back facing the door, slicking back his hair, winking at himself.

When Jack saw Hiccup and Tooth giggling in the mirror, he gave a bit of a jump before turning around hastily and giving them an embarassed smile, his entire suave magician façade fading away just a bit. Hiccup couldn't help but find that absolutely adorable—something that brought a small smile to his face no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

"Oh, uh, hey there, Hiccup," Jack said, attempting to lean against the wall cooly as Hiccup stepped into the room, only to misjudge the distance from his shoulder to the wall and almost tip over. He cast an accusatory look at Tooth, who was convulsing with giggles. "You know, knocking would've been a good idea."

"It probably would have," Tooth said, wiping a tear, "but this was way better."

Jack frowned at her as she closed the door on her way out. "I'll leave you two to yourselves. Hiccup, if he offers you a can of peanuts, don't open it." Jack groaned at her as the door clicked closed and the two of them were left alone.

"So, Hiccup, what'd you think of the show?" Jack asked as Hiccup walked towards him. "Still skeptical about magic?"

"Well, I guess it was… alright," Hiccup said, feigning boredom.

"Aw, Hic, you're killin' me here," Jack sat down in the wheeled chair in front of the vanity, motioning for Hiccup to take a seat in the short couch next to the vanity.

Hiccup chuckled, taking his seat. "Okay, I admit it—I was pretty impressed. Although, I have to tell you that you almost killed me with that stunt you pulled at the beginning."

"But you were such a natural on stage!" Jack said, rolling his chair in Hiccup's direction, propping his arm on his knee and resting his head in his hand. "I'd even go to say that you've been around stages your whole life!"

Hiccup laughed, mostly at the irony of Jack's statement.

"Either way, I guess you could say I'm really glad you enjoyed it in the end," Jack said, suddenly becoming a bit sheepish. Hiccup noted the blush rising to Jack's face with a smile.

"I really did," Hiccup laughed. "I have to thank you for this experience, but I don't know if I'll be impressed by another magician ever again after seeing all of that."

"Aww, but the simple tricks are the best kind," Jack insisted. His eyes suddenly seemed to light up and he kicked back in his chair, rolling towards his vanity and grabbing a deck of cards placed conveniently on the side, before rolling back towards Hiccup. He made a great show of shuffling the cards in every impressive way imaginable before fanning them out in his hands before Hiccup's eyes. "Pick any card, handsome."

Hiccup raised an eyebrow at Jack, but reached out for a card nonetheless. A two of spades looked back at him and Hiccup studied the card intently, peeking back up at Jack, who had covered his eyes with his other hand, and smiling as he placed the card back into the middle.

At the feeling of the cards shifting, Jack looked back and smiled, shoving the deck back together before doing a simple shuffle.

"I think my smell's already worn off with how much you're shuffling that thing," Hiccup smirked, referencing Jack's past trick.

Jack smiled back at him proudly. "By now, I think I can tell which card is yours just because of your lingering touch."

"Oh, how romantic," Hiccup said, faking a swoon. Jack laughed and ceased his shuffling, placing two fingers at the top of the deck and sliding the card out. He took a look at it and smirked before handing it to Hiccup. "I believe this was your card?"

Hiccup took the card, which was undoubtably the two of spades, from him and examined it. Of course, he was a bit impressed that Jack had gotten his card, but that wasn't what surprised Hiccup. What got his attention was a note in the margin of the cards in black pen.

You. Me. Dinner and a movie?

Hiccup bit his lip as yet another bashful smile worked its ways onto his lips (he was practically a smiling fool this entire evening) as he peeked up at Jack, who's smirk had evolved into a nervous yet hopeful smile that Hiccup found rather endearing. In fact, Jack's wide range of emotions was something to behold.

"You're right—the simple tricks are pretty charming," Hiccup said coolly, finally letting his smile slip onto his lips without a fight. He felt a wave of heat drowning him in his effort to keep cool while, at the same time, being absolutely and completely flattered. "I-I'd love to."

"Great!" Jack sighed in relief. He then quickly tried to compose himself and coughed into his hand. "I mean uh, awesome! Maybe you could give me your number and I'll call you tomorrow."

"Yeah sure," Hiccup said, pulling a pen out of his pocket. "Do you have a…?"

Jack rolled back to the vanity to retrieve yet another card, which he handed to Hiccup. "Just write it on the top."

Hiccup looked down at the card, the Joker, and gazed back up at Jack in surprise. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, no one ever uses the Joker cards anyway."

Hiccup shrugged and jotted down his number, handing the card back to Jack. Jack pocketed the card eagerly and opened his mouth to say something when he was interrupted by the sound of the door swinging open.

Tooth poked her head through, a frown plastered on her brightly-colored face. "Jack, Satan-manager is coming in five minutes—you might want to rap this up."

Jack's excited expression quickly turned into one of disappointment as he got up. His eyebrows were furrowed in thought and Hiccup thought he saw Jack mutter something bitterly under his breath.

"Well, I guess I should go then," Hiccup got up, seeing the urgency in this particular encounter. "It was nice meeting you, Jack."

Jack seemed to be snapped back to life and he quickly donned his winning smile once again. "Yeah, you too, Hic. I'll call you tomorrow?"

"That would be great," Hiccup said. He followed Tooth out the door and left the theater breathlessly.

During the walk to his car and the drive home, Hiccup wore an unreadable expression. Someone would guess that he was incredibly focused at first glance—a thought that would be immediately abandoned as Hiccup almost hit several trashcans as he pulled into his apartment building's parking lot. Hiccup got out of the car and creeping into his apartment quietly, making sure not to wake Astrid. He slowly turned his bedroom doorknob and slipped in, apologizing to his cat, who meowed grumpily as Hiccup slipped into his bed.

Hiccup lay there for two minutes, his cat snoring just to the side of his bed. Then he rolled onto his side, pressed his pillow into his face, and smiled like a smitten fool.

A/N:I was supposed to be working on another fic but then this plot bunny popped up and, well, we know how that turned out. I can't see this fic being that long anyway? Maybe... five to seven chapters. I mean I know where I'm going with this I'm just too lazy to outline it for now uwu

Also forget building up to a relationship in 10 chapters-that shit's for good writers. :'D

If any of you noticed before, I'm really not sure if I should change this rating or not, so I guess I'll decide that later (with prior warning for you innocent types of course).

Either way, thank you so much for reading! I'd appreciate it ever so much if you'd leave a review! Hugs and kisses~