Try and Win Me Over

Merida sat in her room, her bow resting on her knees as she looked out her window. The day was bright and warm, a day where she wanted to be out exploring and practising her shooting. However her mother had forbidden it for the day. For today she was to meet her suitor, her future husband. As she sat in silence she waited patiently for her mother to arrive and bustle about her making sure she was in her finest dress and that she looked like the future Queen she was to be.

"Merida," there it was, her mothers voice. Turning her head the young girl looked at her mother who had a wide smile spread across her face. The young woman wanted to argue, she wanted to stop this meeting. She wasn't ready to be married and she wasn't sure whether she ever would be. Merida was sure that a husband would do nothing but hold her down. Confine her to the castle walls and take her bow from her.

Swallowing her emotions she slowly got to her feet, however she did not exchange words with her mother. Queen Elinor knew how her daughter felt about this meeting. It hurt Elinor to see her daughter so but with King growing older they needed to find someone for their daughter. So she did the thing any mother would do.

Sent out invitations for suitors.

When she received word back of one young eligible man, Hiccup Haddock the Third Elinor knew she had to arrange a meeting between the two.

---

Dimiri walked the cobbled streets of Paris Vlad following close behind. The two men had arrived in Paris two nights ago and were out seeing the sights, the two folk were friendly enough, nothing quite like the Russian people but similar. Scents filled the air, the warm homey scent of baking bread, the salty fresh smell of the fish markets and the sweet scents of the floral displays at ever corner.

"This is going to be great Vlad," the brown haired male nearly laughed as he wrapped his arms around his oldest friend. His dark eyes scanning the crowd as he watched the beautiful women sashay past him in a fit of giggles as they whispered french behind their hands.

[So I wasn't sure how you wanted me to start... none the less here it is ]

(That's fine! :D I'm sorry, Belle's part is a bit lacking in this one, but I'll get better with her as time goes~)

It wasn't uncommon for places to be united by marriages, but Hiccup wasn't entirely sure what to think about it when his father announced that he'd be marrying somebody at all. Unfortunately, he wasn't generally one to defy his father's decisions - except when it came to Toothless, of course, but he didn't necessarily count that because his father had no problems with dragons like Toothless now.

Was Hiccup even up for this? Was he even a right choice in this matter? He, personally, doubted it. All he was, was a Chief's son. The girl he was supposed to meet and marry was a Princess. If they were to marry, they would eventually take over as King and Queen and he wasn't entirely sure how to handle that. He hadn't even thought about taking over as Chief at home, much less King here.

Part of him wanted to get on Toothless and fly back home, but he knew better. He wanted to make his father proud and that was what he was going to do. Standing outside, he looked up at his dragon friend, patting the dragon's head. "I can do this," he murmured to himself, feeling Toothless nudge his hand as if to encourage him. At least it made him feel a bit better.

Now, all he had to do was wait for the girl, Merida, to come out - likely with her mother - or for him to be invited inside. But, then, he didn't necessarily want to go in just yet. Toothless was his only source of comfort at the moment and, if he went inside, he doubted Toothless could come along; he didn't want to be separated by his only real piece of home just yet, not when it was all he had right now.

---

Belle's father had yet another invention to show off, which she was rather proud of him for. Aside from that, she didn't have much of a reason to be in Paris, but she was definitely enjoying the sights. The lights, the people, the very energy of Paris was so different compared to the small town that she lived in. Everything about Paris made her eager to explore, eager to see everything that she could.

So, once she parted from her father to go wander on her own while he went to show others his invention, she wasted no time in looking around. The energy of Paris was almost contagious, filling her with all the wonder in the world - or, that's about as simply as she could put it, anyways.

Taking to the streets, she looked around, though she wondered if she was a bit overly curious. Though she wasn't anything like the people in Paris, considering they were such gorgeous clothes and she simply wore her usual country dress, she still wanted to meet people.

[not a trouble at all ::cute]

Elinor was just finishing the final touches on her daughters outfit, she was about to put the head piece on when Merida spoke up, "Mum please... not the head piece." Elinor looked at her daughter and saw the sadness that swirled in her beautiful blue eyes. Instantly she put the piece down and nodded her head.

"Alright dear," turning she grabbed the final item, a silver necklace with the emblem of Dunbroch slipping it over her daughters neck she allowed herself a smile at the finished piece. Her daughter looked beautiful she always had but now she looked more then beautiful she looked like a future queen.

"As pretty as a picture Lass," Merida looked up and saw her father, Fergus stood at the door a small smile on his face. Merida wanted to break down and cry she wasn't ready for this. She didn't want to be married. Taking a deep breath she swallowed everything and squared her shoulders. Elinor linked her arms with her daughter and led her out while Fergus grabbed the triplets rounding them up like sheep to get them outside to meet their visitors.

---

Dimitri was lost in the world of beautiful women and delicate smells when he noticed a certain brown haired beauty walking through the streets, she wore a kind smile as she greeted each of the locals. She wasn't dressed the same as these women. She wore a simpler dress. Blue with a white apron. Weaving through the bodies the brown haired man walked toward her however when a carriage was pulled past him he lost sight of her.

Turning he scanned the crowd until he saw her again this time he wasn't going to lose her, quickly he walked toward her. However was stopped when a large bulky man appeared. Black hair, red shirt, brown pants, boots with a gun slung over his back. From the way he was standing and talking to the young woman the two obviously knew each other. From the looks of it she was not happy to see him.

[ had to add in Gaston ]

(Okay! :) )

In hopes of calming his nerves, Hiccup kept close to Toothless, his eyes watching the doors to the castle. Silently, he wondered if he could just get on Toothless, fly away and disappear forever from this place and his duties to his father. But that definitely wasn't allowed, he realized; not if he wanted to stay with his father at all. Heaving a sigh, he leaned back against Toothless, feeling, admittedly, defeated.

"I can do this, can't I?" he asked, mostly to himself, though he felt the nudge from Toothless that was likely the dragon's attempt at assuring him that everything would be okay. More than anything, though, it reminded him that he wasn't alone, that Toothless was going to be with him through this. Having Toothless there at his side was definitely something that he needed to keep reminding himself of; maybe it would help him manage to process all of this, somehow. "Thanks, Toothless."

Offering a small smile to the dragon, he watched it nod before Toothless' ears perked and he turned his attention to the castle, too. Following Toothless' gaze, Hiccup could see that the doors were opening and he breathed out, mentally preparing himself.

---

Of course Belle wasn't going to be able to enjoy herself fully on this trip. With a sigh, she figured it should have probably been expected; Gaston definitely was a persistent brute, that was for sure. "You shouldn't be here, Gaston," she said calmly, keeping her tone as pleasant and polite as she could manage to. She wasn't one to be outright rude, after all - well, except for when she called him primeval, but he didn't even know what that meant. It was almost as though the man just didn't bother with anything aside from hunting and chasing her.

Despite her words, though, Gaston seemed rather happy to be there - or was that just because he was so certain that he could win her over? "Nonsense, Belle. I can't let a girl like you wander around alone, especially with your crazy father," the man declared, which earned him a frown from her. "Don't speak about my father that way," she reminded, recalling how she had told him and his friend that several times back home.

Seeing that he wasn't going to leave her alone, she attempted to brush past him, only for him to take it upon himself to follow her. "Come now, Belle, you know it's true," he said, his tone showing that he thought his words held no consequence.

(Awesome! :D )

The draw bridge on the castle dropped and Merida gasped at the sight in front of her. The one thing that caught her attention the most was the black, sleek dragon that stood beside a young brown haired man. Turning the red head looked at both her parents who both looked as surprised as she felt. However their surprise and slight fear was snapped away when the triplets raced toward the new people laughing and shoving one and other.

Elinor was about to shout but Merida went into protective mode and raced after the three fiery haired boys grabbing each of them before looking up and seeing the looks on the visitors faces. Laughing awkwardly she let go of their hands before whispering harshly in their ears to return to their mother and father.

All three of them poked their tongue at her and she had to fight the urge to return the gesture instead she smiled at them but her eyes sparkled with mischief and she watched them race back to their parents.

"Lord Stoick," it was Fergus who spoke first walking toward the burly man as two of the triplets sat in his arms and hung onto his shirt the closer they got to the dragon. Elinor held another who was moving around unaffected by the dragon in front of him. "My wife, Queen Elinor, my daughter Merida and my three sons Harris, Hubert and Hamish." he introduced.

---

Dimitri slowly advanced toward the brunette listening to the conversation at hand. Quickly he slipped himself wrapping his arm around her and acting as if he knew the beauty. "My darling I am terribly sorry. Have you been waiting long?" he asked looking at her kindly and shooting her a loving smile. He could feel Vlad's eyes burning into his back but at the moment he didn't care.

"A Russian!" the brute snarled causing Dimitri to turn and look at him, the way his lip curled back in disgust caused the brown haired male to simmer with anger. "Belle, what is this?" Before the young woman could speak he spoke for her.

"Obviously you are blind if you have to ask what this is. I am meeting my lover today in Paris. My darling Belle I am so sorry that my last letter didn't arrive, I do not know what happened with the post. However I am so glad that you came to meet me," he continued the lie hoping she would play along, he was only trying to get her away from the male that was causing her discomfort.

Admittedly, Hiccup was a little amused with the way the three little boys rushed out towards Toothless, though it didn't surprise him that the others were a bit more wary of the dragon. Some people had never seen one before, he constantly reminded himself, though he hoped it wouldn't upset Toothless. "Oh, you don't have to call me 'Lord'," he assured quickly, feeling a bit awkward with the title.

But, he supposed he should get used to it. People all around here would probably call him that all the time and he tried not to cringe at the thought of it. Instead, he distracted himself with stroking Toothless' head and nodded. "You can just call me Hiccup. And, this is my good pal, Toothless. Don't worry, though, he won't hurt you."

He grinned as if to reaffirm his words and Toothless looked at him before the dragon nudged him forward, closer towards Merida; clearly, the dragon knew what was going on and was trying to get Hiccup to socialize more with the girl he was supposed to marry eventually. "Merida, is it? Do you prefer titles or just 'Merida'?" Hiccup asked, making sure to avoid rambling.

---

Blinking with surprise and confusion, Belle looked up to the stranger as she listened to him. It wasn't at all something that she expected to happen, for a stranger to come and pretend that they were lovers just to get Gaston away - or, she assumed that was the reasoning behind it all. For all she knew, this man could be a bit out of it.

Still, he was helping her and she saw no reason to not go along with his little lie. "Oh, it's no problem," she assured him, offering a grateful smile towards him. "I had planned to come sooner, but my father insisted I wait for him to join me." She could practically feel Gaston's glare and she hoped the lie was working.

"Belle, what on earth are you doing with this man? He's clearly weak, a fool, if you ask me," Gaston said immediately, trying to regain Belle's attention, but Belle just waved Gaston off.

"Gaston, I never asked you, did I? Now, please leave so that I can enjoy my time with him," she hummed out, still smiling.

Merida couldn't help the warm blush that spread across her cheeks when the brown haired male was nudged closer to her, quickly her light eyes flicked down to the dragon and she was positive she saw it smiling. When Hiccup spoke she looked up paying attention to his words and locking her eyes with his.

"Merida is fine," she admitted truthfully, the young woman had never been fond of being called Princess, she preferred to be called by her real name and not the title she was born into. Smiling she looked down at the creature that was looking up at the two. It's bright green eyes darting between the two.

"May I... Ah..." she went to reach out her hand, she was certain she heard her father begin to object.

---

Dimitri smiled at the brunette before turning his attention to the beast that stood in front of him. He saw the mans face redden with anger before spluttering and spinning to walk away realising that there was nothing left for him to say. A laugh left the males lips as he watched him storm away. He gave a gentle nod when he turned back which caused him to growl and turn back around.

"Well that was exciting," he admitted happily as he looked down at the young woman.

@ momentai.

Hiccup nodded when she assured him that her name was alright for him to call her by. At least he didn’t have to be too formal here – at least with her, anyways, – which was a complete relief, given that he didn’t normally have to be formal in the first place. It would probably be more than a little embarrassing if he tried enough for it to be noticeable that he didn’t know how to be fully formal.

Seeing her reach her hand out to Toothless, though, he turned his attention to the dragon, who sniffed Merida’s hand with curiosity. “Yeah, you can. I think he seems curious about you, anyways,” he told her before he turned to her with a broad grin, “If you want, we can go for a ride on him at some point?”

---

Belle only let herself relax when Gaston was far enough away that she couldn’t even see him anymore. Letting out a small sigh of relief, she looked up to the man after hearing him speak and offered a small smile and a nod in agreement. “It was exciting,” she agreed quietly before glancing back to the direction that Gaston had left. Letting herself relax fully, her smile turned into a grin.

Holding her hand out to him, she quirked a brow. “I’m Belle, by the way. Though, you already know that, apparently,” she hummed out before she offered a small smile. “Thanks for your help.”

@ momentai.
[hey there. So It's been a while, I am so sorry but muse up and left again, so over it but I have finally found her ]

Merida watched the black creature as it smelled her hand getting accustomed to her scent before nudging his head into her palm, a smile spread across her face at how at ease he was with her so easily. Looking up she locked eyes with the green eyed male and smiled.

"Really? I would love to..." Merida knew her mother would no approve of such activities but the red head was curious as to what it would be like riding a dragon considering she had only heard tales of them. But now before her stood a real live breathing dragon and it was allowing her to touch him.

---

Dimitri looked down at the brunette's hand, she was obviously going for a shake but being the gentleman that he was, he took her hand before pressing his lips to the back of it. "Pleasure to properly meet you Belle," he smiled letting go of her hand, "As for helping you it was no trouble. Who was he anyway? He looked like a brute of a man." Dimitri looked up to find the raven haired man was eyeing him from a distance, he nodded his head in acknowledgement causing the male to bristle before storming off further.

@ momentai.
Hey hey are you still interested in this role-play?