A/N: HTTYD FANDOM! I'M NOT DEAD. I've just been doing a lot of writing for the Miraculous Ladybug fandom, and haven't focused on my HTTYD fanfiction for a while. Not to worry. The new season is out next week, and I'll have loads of writing to do! Did you guys see that trailer? I FEEL SOOO GOOODDD! :D
Anyway, this was my Secret Odin gift to boggled-senseless on Tumblr. It's a little late.. Or a lot late... Hehe. In case you didn't know, my username there is dragontrainer013. Enjoy!
"Up a little, left," Hiccup instructed as Fishlegs hovered around on Meatlug placing decorations on the Snoggletog trees. "Perfect!" Meatlug landed beside Hiccup.
"It looks great, Chief!" Fishlegs grinned. "Told you it would be fine!"
Snotlout jumped off Hookfang who had landed not far behind them. He placed a beefy arm around the Chief's shoulders. "It looks fine, but I bet I could've done it WAY better!" He smirked.
Hiccup chortled. "If you're so sure about that, I'll let you take over next year. As long as the village approves, which I doubt they will," he retorted. It was the first Snoggletog without Stoick, and Hiccup had been nervous about putting up the Snoggletog decorations without his father's guidance. Putting up the decorations had never been his primary concern since the dragons came about. The other riders had done everything they could to reassure Hiccup that he would be fine, and that everyone would help out. As they had promised, everything was moving along swimmingly.
He poked his head around the tree, looking for the blonde Viking and her dragon helping him to lead the tree decorating. He found her standing atop Stormfly putting up a shield. He smiled at her graceful landing on the snow-covered ground before turning around to the Thorston twins who had been arguing about who got to put up the next shield. He sighed and walked over to break up the fight before it escalated.
Despite not giving him any indication, Astrid had noticed him discretely watching her. She directed another Viking to take over before making her way around the Snoggletog tree, only to find her Chief breaking up yet another fight between the twins. She casually leaned against her dragon waiting for him to turn back around. When he did, she smirked.
"No matter how many fights you break up, there will always be more," she remarked.
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Can't argue with you there, but at least I can delay the total destruction of the village another day," he replied with a chuckle. That earned him a light punch in the shoulder.
Astrid turned on her heel to head back to the tree, her braid flipping over her shoulder. "Come on, Hiccup. We're nearly done!"
Hiccup stared after her, shaking his head. He shifted his eyes to the tree, which wasn't even halfway completed. Nearly done? Yeah, right. He knew he had a good reason to be nervous. Snoggletog was in two days, and they were way behind schedule. He also knew she was saying that to try to make him feel better about it. He appreciated it, he really did, but it did next to nothing to calm his nerves. Taking a deep breath, he continued leading others through the decorating.
Astrid knew they weren't done yet, not by a long shot. She wanted to find a way to take his mind off things though, help him relax a little. Gods knew he needed it. She glanced down at the snow surrounding her and an idea popped into her head. She grinned mischievously, causing Stormfly to squawk and tilt her head concernedly. Astrid patted her dragon's nose as she bent down to scoop up a handful of snow to shape into a decent-sized snowball.
Just as she was about to throw it, she caught Toothless' eye. He eyed her curiously, silently asking her what in Thor's name she was up to. She gestured to Hiccup, and realization dawned on the dragon. He merely rolled his eyes with a huff and plopped back down on the ground. She shrugged and took her aim.
She threw the snowball, and it hit Hiccup square in the back of his head. He stumbled forward, wincing at the sudden burst of ice and cold water running down the back of his neck. Hiccup looked around, first at Toothless, who seemed to be taking a nap, then at the twins, who, surprisingly, were actually making an effort to decorate. He watched the other riders for any hints that they had thrown the snowball, but none seemed to have done it. He decided that it had to be a stray snowball from a snowball fight amongst a group of kids before turning back to the decorations.
Astrid giggled after Hiccup had given up looking for the culprit who had attacked him. She had done her best to appear totally innocent, and it had worked! Stormfly nudged her and kicked at the snow. Astrid laughed again and scooped up another snowball to throw at the Chief. This time, he twirled around, but once again, she put up her innocent façade. She glanced at him just as his eyes trailed to her, and smiled and waved. He returned the gesture with a nervous grin after a moment's hesitation. He sighed and turned back around only to be hit by yet another snowball.
"Alright, who did that?" He exclaimed as he spun around on his heel to search in the general direction the snowball had come from. Nobody around him seemed to be guilty, but he knew that it had to be one of the other dragon riders. There was nowhere for anyone else to hide in that part of the village, and the rest of the Berkians knew not to push him over the edge when he was already feeling more stressed than ever. His eyes landed on his Night Fury, who had been rudely woken up from his nap by his rider.
They stared each other down for a moment before Toothless rolled his eyes again and pointed his tail in the direction of one very innocent-looking Astrid Hofferson.
Of course. Who else could it have been?
Nobody else he knew, except his own dragon, would attack him with snowballs when he was on such a tight deadline.
He sighed before packing a handful of snow into a snowball. He threw it at her. It hit her shoulder pad, bursting into tiny bits of snow that covered her braid and fell on her shirt, melting and wetting the fabric. She shivered at the sudden burst of cold.
She spun around to glare at her leader, who looked around and shrugged before going back to the tree. Toothless caught a glimpse of her deadpan look and hid his face under his wing. Smart dragon.
She brushed the snow off her armor. "Oh, it's on, Haddock."
Hiccup yelped and dodged the next snowball, hiding behind the tree. It hit Toothless instead, the Night Fury choosing to curl up tighter with his tail wrapped around him. Hiccup watched the shield maiden advance towards him. Now or never.
His face broke out in a grin as he booked it out from behind the tree, throwing a handful of snowballs at her. A bunch of them missed and hit the other riders and a few Berkians walking by. Each of them turned to glare, but they all softened and laughed at the highly amusing sight of their Chief being chased around by Astrid Hofferson, both laughing hysterically and pummeling each other with snowballs. Most of the snowballs missed, as expected since neither of them stopped running through their whole snowball fight.
He didn't know how long he'd been at it with her, but he realized as Stormfly joined in the chase, throwing snow all over, that he had forgotten all about his worries of getting the village ready for Snoggletog in time. Astrid had been trying to help him loosen up the whole time. Now as he continued alternating between pelting her with snowballs and dodging incoming ones, he realized he didn't want to stop. He had every intention of running around freely tossing snowballs around with the love of his life and their dragons. Or rather, her dragon. He paused in his tracks only to have Astrid crash right into him, sending them both tumbling to the ground. He looked up with a groan, Astrid pulling herself off of him and helping him up. He dusted the snow off his flight suit, glancing around the village for his dragon.
He found Toothless peacefully napping beside the forge, the heat from within the building keeping him warm despite the frigid winter air. Hiccup breathed a laugh and walked over to him, picking up some snow.
"Toothless, why aren't you joining in?" He called out, tossing the newly formed snowball up and down.
Toothless cracked an eye open, huffed and turned away from his rider as if to say "No thanks." The next moment, he was hit by a snowball.
Toothless growled and stalked over to Hiccup, watching him with the most deadpan expression ever. Hiccup stood his ground.
He only tried to run when he realized that Toothless had lifted up an entire pile of snow with his tail. He lifted it above Hiccup's head and dumped it on him, effectively burying him in snow. Hiccup poked his head out of the mound of snow and heard Astrid roaring with laughter.
"Useless reptile," Hiccup muttered under his breath before shivering and calling out to Astrid. "Very funny, Milady!"
She laughed even harder. "It most definitely is!"
He tried to glare but felt the corners of his lips turning upwards. "Happy Snoggletog," he chuckled, shaking the snow off himself.
She punched him lightly in the shoulder, shaking her head. "Happy Snoggletog, Chief."