First day of class. I've got this. I've been working so hard to achieve this. I made it this far.

Those were the thoughts streaming through Henry 'Hiccup' Horrendous Haddock the III's head as he hefted his old, beaten, backpack up higher on his shoulder. Hiccup was setting foot, for the very first time, on to Berk University's campus. The school was a small institute as far as universities go. The College of Engineering, however, was well known throughout the archipelago as well as the science program. Hiccup couldn't believe he got in.

Given his circumstances, he had a reason be miffed. Hiccup had a rough time trying to achieve his goals. Now he has a part time job as a cashier at the Forge, a local garage, lives on campus in a freshmen dorm (with an admittedly quirky roommate), and is taking fifteen hours of college course work in the degree program of his dreams. How did he land himself in such a wonderful spot in life? He wasn't sure. Perhaps there was some sort of deity up there that may like him after all.

Nah. Hiccup abandoned that thought quickly. Why would a god take favor in me now? If a god liked me, he would have helped me out a lot sooner. No, it must be luck that brought me here. And hard work.

The young student gave a firm nod before limping to his first class. He was thankful that his dorm was so close to the science building. Then again, the campus was small; all the buildings were fairly close to his dormitory building. Hiccup was grateful he didn't have to walk far and that there were benches along the way so he could rest his leg if necessary. His prosthetic was a bit old and no longer fit properly often causing him pain and discomfort. He was currently saving up for a new one.

Hiccup walked into class and sat in a middle row, off to the side. He was fairly early but there were already a few students sitting in various places around the room. No one spoke. Everyone merely played on their phone or computer. Hiccup longed for his own computer where he could do his school work and create his own designs for a new prosthetic. That would have to wait until after he got his textbooks. For now, he could use the computers in the library.

As time went on more and more students arrived. The professor arrived twelve minutes late much to the annoyance of the rest of Hiccup's classmates. If the professor was late by fifteen minutes, the class would be considered cancelled according to campus rules and students could leave. Hiccup, however, was relieved and happy to be finally participating in something he enjoyed: learning. He would have liked to have taken a class that involved lab work but he had to take this lecture class as a prerequisite. The class carried on with more grumbles as the professor went over the syllabus and class expectations. The class ended three hours later and the students were released. They were expected to be on time at nine in the morning every Monday.

Hiccup had three more classes to attend, all of which were only an hour and a half long and held three days a week instead of just one. His day went on similarly in each class until he finished at half past six o'clock. He had one more eight o'clock class Tuesday mornings that also lasted three hours. He wasn't looking forward to Tuesday's class as the subject matter was not something he excelled in: English literature and writing. He couldn't wait for his freshmen courses to be finished and out of the way.

After eating a bit at the cafeteria Hiccup made his way back to his dorm. He wanted to get back to his sketchbook and release a bit of anxiety before he went to sleep. He decided he would work on his homework for an hour or so tomorrow after his 8am and before he had to go to work. He wasn't sure if his roommate was in or not. He hoped he wasn't. He wasn't very social and while he knew he would eventually have to socialize with him, he hoped to put off any kind of interaction as long as possible.

Frederick Ingerman, or Fishlegs as he introduces himself for reasons unknown, was not yet back from his own studies once Hiccup got back to his room. He was again grateful for the privacy and decided to take off his prosthetic left leg and massage the residual limb. He knew that eventually Fishlegs would have to see the stump eventually, but he'd like to put that interaction off as long as possible. He was self-conscious about his disability and he hated that there weren't enough normal dorm rooms for the rest of the student body. He would have preferred to have the handicap accessible room all to himself but Fishlegs was a late entry and was assigned Hiccup as his roommate.

Fishlegs doesn't even have a handicap, thought Hiccup bitterly. He was pretty certain that he was the only handicap student in the building and while he was guaranteed a handicap room, every other on-campus resident filled in every empty bed in every room, handicap accessible or not.

The auburn-haired boy left the prosthesis laying on the floor by his bed while he sat on top of his covers with his sketchbook in hand. He began sketching out faces he could remember from the day. He drew brief sketches of his professors and was working on a more detailed drawing of his roommate when said roommate finally entered an hour later.

Fishlegs scuffled about dumping his backpack and laptop on his bed and began searching for his charger when he spotted Hiccup's prosthesis laying on the floor. From their brief introduction that morning upon Fishlegs' late arrival they hardly had time before classes started to get to know each other. Fishlegs paused in his search his mouth forming a small 'o' shape. He then looked up to see his roommate with one whole right leg dangling over the side of the bed while wearing an intense, focused expression on his face looking at a sketchbook.

Stating what was quite obvious Fishlegs said "you only have one leg," as if this was news for everyone in the room.

Hiccup looked up at the husky blonde student and rolled his eyes. "We are s-staying in a handicap accessible r-room Fish. And m-my crutches are leaning in the c-corner along with m-my wheelchair like they have b-b-been since you've moved your s-stuff in this m-morning." He gestured to the equipment in the corner of the small room.

Fishlegs gave a slight nod giving a silent "ah" of understanding. He moved to continue his search and says distractedly "So, I figure we should get to know each other a bit more since, you know, we're spending the next two semesters together."

Hiccup rolled his eyes a second time and went back to his drawing. "W-What would you l-llike to know?" he asks. He didn't know why he was being so difficult. He supposed it was because his handicap had been revealed a little too soon for his liking.

Fishlegs bent down to look under his bed and gave a small "Yes!" In victory upon finding his charger. He began plugging in his laptop as he asks "Are you a freshman?"

Hiccup bit down on his tongue when he wanted to state the obvious fact that they were in a dorm meant for freshmen but after thinking about the question he thought that there could be a few sophomores still choosing to live on campus. "Yes. You?" He responded.

"Sophomore," answered Fishlegs. He now sat on his bed facing his roommate while starting up the laptop. "Major?"

"B-Biomechanical Engineering." Hiccup appreciated the one-word responses. He wasn't yet ready to socialize yet and didn't want to have to explain himself. Also, his stutter got worse the longer he had to talk making conversation a bit more frustrating.

Fishlegs seemed to have other ideas. "That's cool. What's your reason behind that decision?" He regretted the decision to ask such a question when he saw his roommate give an annoyed glare to him and then down at his missing left leg. "Ah." He nodded and looked back down to his computer. He then ventured into a topic that was a bit of a touchy subject for the amputee, "H-How did you... you know, lose it?"

Said amputee dropped his sketchbook into his lap with an exasperated sigh. "I'd rather n-not talk about it," he responded irritably. He gripped his pencil tighter staring down at his lap.

"Sorry." Fishlegs muttered. He looked back down once again to his laptop.

There was silence that ran for a few moments as Hiccup picked up his sketchbook once more. He calmed a bit before asking "W-What are you m-majoring in?"

Fishlegs gave a small smile while continuing to type on his computer. "Biomechanical Engineering."