Work Text:
Arendelle Bakery wasn’t exactly the oldest shop on Dream Street. In fact by Anna’s recollection it had only been around for about 5 years or so when her family moved in from out of town to set up a new life here. This little corner of the world they heard so much about through the whispers of friends and hear says. The idea that Dream Street was indeed a magical place full of some of the kindest people you’d ever meet made an optimist like her positively thrilled to start a new chapter of her life, especially working in the family bakery.
From the moment the doors opened, Arendelle Bakery was a surprise hit with the residents of Dream Street. Everything from Cookies to Cakes, to Anna’s special Hot Chocolate became quite the treats of choice for the wanderer who was led by their nose into the shop. Thankfully, on this afternoon, Anna was being blessed by a relatively slow day, with a slight rainstorm outside. She could swear she heard a violin playing from somewhere above whenever she’d venture onto the loading dock to receive some more deliveries of flour, but the insanity of running a normally packed bakery often kept her from dwelling on it. Not that it was uncommon to hear music on the streets. On the contrary, you’d be hard pressed to find someone not humming a melodic tune on a walk down the worn stone paths. Something about it just made everything flow better.
Her hands kneaded the dough for some of their kringla cookies, expertly folding them into picture perfect pretzel shapes as the small radio continued to play in the background. Every so often Anna would lose herself, immersed in her art and the notes until she found that she too couldn’t resist singing.
"But if I know you, I'll know what you doooo....you'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream...." she sang, albeit slightly loud and a tad off key, while she was expertly rolling the dough and laying it one of the many baking sheets that lined the counter. Among the sheets were snowman cookies Olaf had removed from the oven, with the shorter man happily spreading some icing to give them their snow like appearance. He hummed along with her singing, feet shuffling this way and that as he was ought to do. Inspecting his work, the young man gave a wide grin, carefully scooping out each of the cookies and letting the icing settle before placing them on display for the guests coming in. Anna cast a glance over, and let out a small giggle, “They look great Olaf. Can you see if Kristoff came back with another delivery in the back? I could swear I heard him pull up just a second ago…”
The young man gave her a toothy grin, saluting her before marching out the back, leaving the front in relative peace save for the radio. That’s when the jingle of the door bell caught her attention, to see a young man scrambling in and practically tripping over his prosthetic foot. The only way he managed to avoid planting his face into the ornate floor was through a lucky save on her part, reaching over the counter to grab at his vest. With a heave, she managed to keep him steady and pulled him against the pay area, letting out a breath, “Whoa! Are you ok si-“
Her words promptly died in her throat when those green eyes met with her blue. Oh no. It was him. At once, all sense of thought promptly clocked out and left for the day, leaving her face stunned and looking like a computer that was constantly buffering.
This wasn’t the first time she saw Haymish “Hiccup” Haddock III. The mechanics shop was one of the biggest businesses on Dream Street, headed by Stoick and his Business Partner Gobber. They handled everything from vehicles to air conditioning, thanks in no small part to Stoick’s son. Haymish was an odd one to be sure. When she first saw him, he was little more than a walking toothpick at 15, roughly the same age as Anna when Iduna and Agnarr moved with their children to Dream Street, but a well placed growth spurt soon had the young mechanic shooting up to a full 6’1! The pair had occasionally exchanged words and looks before, but never have they ever been in the same room alone for a period of time.
Clearing her throat, she put on a bright smile, hoping to hide the bit of panic that was causing her heart to ram against her ribcage, “Ah! H-Hey Hiccup! Didn’t expect to see you here!”
The young man raised an eyebrow, “Really? Could have sworn we called to put in our order a few hours ago…”
Anna almost slapped herself in the face. Oh no, the bulk order, of COURSE! She had taken the call personally and wrote down each and every item. How could she have forgotten!?
“Oh yes yes! Um…gimme a sec!” she blushed in embarrassment, while Hiccup nervously scratched the back of his neck. There was an audible flap and a soft meow, causing Hiccup to look down at a familiar black cat, sporting a red collar as it brushed against his leg.
“Toothless! Don’t tell me you’re begging for treats again…” Hiccup admonished, kneeling down to gently scratch him under the chin. The feline let out a soft purr, arching his head up to give his owner better access to it. He looked up as Anna had come back with quite a few boxes of different sweets. She let out a soft grunt, placing them on the counter before wiping her brow with one hand, leaving an adorable white streak of flour on there.
“Aw don’t be too hard on him. Toothless is just a big old sweetheart.” She hummed, peering over the counter to see those bright green eyes peer up at her and offer the most adorable meow she had ever heard. Toothless often liked to wander about, and it was no surprise Arendelle Bakery was his favorite. One because of the warm atmosphere, and two because Anna spoiled him rotten.
She clapped the boxes with one hand, smirking triumphantly, “Okay! So 2 boxes of Kringla, another 2 boxes of snowman cookies, with a nice sponge cake to top it all off!”
Hiccup couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm, an act that brought a flush to her cheeks, “Ok! Yeah, I think that’s everyth-“
“Wait!!!” Anna gasped, before rushing to the counter and working the different machines. Hiccup raised an eyebrow as steam wafted up from behind the barrier, before she emerged with a piping hot cup in one hand, and a spoonful of caramel in the other.
“Busy as usual huh?” he asked awkwardly, trying to lean on the counter and come off less clumsy and dorky than he already did. But judging from the look on Toothless’ face he couldn’t have failed harder.
Anna gave a small shrug, settling cup and spoon down to adjust and slide the boxes into some easy to carry bags, “We’ve had worse. Almost panicked when we forgot to cut some bread, but I just used the family sword to do it. Gods know it’s clean enough. But honestly it’s nothing we can’t handle around here! I’m sure you have way more complicated stuff back in your shop!”
“Yeah I mean we just had to reconfigure a custom engine- wait a sword?!” he yelped, before noticing the pristine blade hanging on the wall behind her. While it looked fairly cumbersome, he wasn’t exactly doubting her ability to lift it.
With practiced precision, she drizzled just the right amount of caramel into the drink, before plopping 3 soft marshmallows into it. Clapping the lid on, she slid the cup forward, “One Hot cocoa with caramel drizzle. Your..um…usual order…”
Now it was Hiccup’s turn to flush, grabbing the cup and fishing for his card, “Perfect…uhm..Anna?”
She froze as she was tapping in the correct sequence for the payment, “Yeah?” she asked.
He took a sip of the hot drink, hoping the liquid would inspire SOME amount of courage in him, “I was wondering…that is if you aren’t busy and all….maybe stopping by the shop this weekend? I’m sure the team wants to thank you in person for all the work you do…then maybe we could grab something to eat? I heard about a restaurant a few blocks down that’s perfect.”
The pair were the picture perfect image of awkward mumbles and flushed skin, but as Anna rang out the engineer, she gave a sweet smile, “I think..that would be amazing Hiccup. Sure…meet you at 5?”
Hiccup felt a weight being lifted off his shoulders, a dumb grin plastered all over his face, “Sounds perfect…”