Hiccup hated feasts.

They were pompous and frivolous and full of unnecessary traditions and rules and mannerisms.

And dress codes.

He just barely fought off a scowl as he fidgeted with the clasp of his cape- deep maroon red with simple black filigree along the left shoulder, signalling his new-found status as a Roman legionnaire. He spotted Aeliana's sideways glance as she noticed his movement, a brief hint of a smirk at his expense. He almost rolled his eyes.

But he couldn't.

Because he was on display right now, Jael at his right and Verlin his left. He wished, briefly, that for once he'd be able to visit the capitol without spending the majority of his time at some parade or stuck-up party.

But no, being appointed legionnaire was a celebration and a great honour and deserved momentous festivity and extreme expenses that were entirely unnecessary that went towards a ridiculous feast purely made for up-starts and rich-folk to flaunt the latest fashions- all this explained in a monologue that had gone on for some time, now, from Detrius and Fillian, the first legion's Praetors who were therefore hosting the event. Although that last part may not have been apart of the speech.

Realistically, Detrius and Fillian weren't bad soldiers or people, but they were from some of those rich-folk and consequently liked to follow traditions to a T.

Moreover, their shared speech was causing him to stand, in full armour, stock still and at attention, for a good hour under the afternoon sun.

They finally finished up their speech, pausing to bask in the thunderous applause of the fraction of people living in the roman capitol who had got here fast enough to stand in the main city-square. Hiccup didn't know how they could project their voices across such a wide area, but they made do.

The platform he stood on with his fellow soldiers held their respective Praetors, standing on the other end. Detrius and Fillian gestured them over and stood back from the edge as Aeliana and Charlotte came forward. their dragons were nearby. Toothless was probably napping. Spike, Atticus' Nadder was likely running around and playing with Ex and Plode, the twins' Zippleback. Caeris, Charlotte's Razorwhip, was probably also napping. And who knew what Aeliana's Monstrous Nightmare Sparks was doing.

Aeliana stood in front of Hiccup and Verlin, Charlotte in front of Jael. Hiccup fumbled through the whole process of saluting and clasping forearms and taking the red linen scarf with the roman empire's insignia and tying it under the shoulder armour with the symbol visible where it belonged, awkwardly accepting his helmet back from Aeliana. If it was any consolidation his friends seemed to be just as awkward as him, if a little less tense.

And then they stood side by side and absorbed the applause of the crowd and Detrius and Fillian welcomed them as well and finally they walked off the stage.

Three years living in Rome and Hiccup was already a legionnaire.

The idea was almost hilarious to him. He could barely hold a sword not long ago and now he was throwing people in the dirt in seconds. He'd sped through strategy faster than any of his fellow trainees, and Latin was far easier to properly learn than he'd expected. He'd went on only enough campaigns to count on his fingers, but even still he'd been called into the barracks meeting room three months ago and Aeliana had announced, happily, that he was being promoted.

Atticus was thrilled, he credited it to his expert swordsmanship lessons. Something Hiccup would admit he was grateful for. Atticus was only a year older than him, but his family had taught him since he could hold a sword. To catch up Hiccup hadn't got over four hours rest since he'd started training, and they usually weren't consecutive. But it was worth it.

And now he was celebrating the fruits of his labour as he and his friends flew to their favourite spot near their barracks. The feast they'd been required to attend was great, but the real fun didn't start till they left the capitol and got back to their legions' assigned province. He'd spent the day dealing with the rest of the fourth and the fifth, which was extremely emotionally draining. They had their own little shindig, which was better than the feast. Jael got smash-faced drunk and Verlin and Atticus weren't much better. The rest of them were only mildly tipsy, which was good because they could make sure the twins didn't fall off their dragon- Ex and Plode the Monstrous Zippleback- as they flew up to the cliff face they'd decided to have their own separate picnic at for the night.

The first thing they did when they landed was remove their helmets and armour. They'd been provided to wear them for the day's celebrations, showing off the new legionnaire trappings, Atticus, Charlotte and Aeliana wearing theirs in support.

Hiccup was thankful that he was a dragon rider and thus didn't have to wear the usual uniform. Instead he wore a flight-suit with armouring and a full-face covering helmet to block the wind. His friends wearing a similar-such thing. Since Hiccup had joined Rome he'd passed on all his knowledge of dragon training. An entire cohort had been added to every legion just for riders and plenty of soldiers had found their own dragon companions and fought alongside them.

But the fact that his uniform was less bulky and hot didn't stop him from being immensely relieved when he could finally remove the main armouring. Atticus earned a laugh from everyone as he stripped off his under tunic and replaced it with a shorter shirt, then flopped dramatically in the grass.

"move you sad-sack," Charlotte grumbled, nudging him with her foot. Once he rolled over she tossed down the blanket they'd brought and Aeliana sat the food basket on top.

The spot they had was a small little bit of clearing at the edge of the cliff. Trees surrounded them on all sides and the cliff edge was flat enough to not give them all vertigo sitting so close. It was only big enough for all six of them and their dragons to fit without lying on top of each other- although they didn't usually have too many qualms against such a thing- and the dragons liked to curl up at the tree-line in between the roots.

Jael walked to the edge and plonked down inches away from the drop, Charlotte pulled her by the shoulder to the middle of the blanket.

"you're not falling of the bloody mountain today," she chuckled at Jael's annoyed look and poking tongue.

"so any other day will suffice?" she slurred, legs crossed over Atticus's.

Verlin settled next to Atticus, hands folding under his head. Charlotte sat down next to the basket, Aeliana lay down at her feet, resting her head on her legs. She got a disapproving glance from Charlotte for it, but she made a face and just settled in cosier.

Hiccup plonked himself down next to Verlin, staying sitting up. Verlin hooked his arm around his shoulders and pulled him to the ground. Hiccup laughed. He didn't find it particularly funny, but laughter seemed the easiest reaction when he was with these people. It just happed, whether something called for it or not.

Also he'd had a couple drinks, but who was blaming alcohol?