"You named your dragon Spike?" Astrid frowned angrily at the boy beside her.
"Yeah. Do you have a problem with that?"
"No!" Hiccup held his hands up in front of himself as if the gesture would somehow protect him from her anger. "It's just—"
"Don't tell me you put hours of thought and contemplation into his name." She pointed at the large black dragon who's head suddenly perked up. "Toothless." She looked over and was rewarded with a big gummy grin. "He's toothless. Spike." She pointed to the blue dragon's tail. "He shoots spikes."
Hiccup laughed and Astrid loved the sound of it. It was a real laugh, the kind that made you wonder if the giggling party was ever going to stop long enough to breathe. She smiled a bit even though she was annoyed that he was laughing at something she said. Hiccup sighed and leaned over resting his hands on his knees as he hung his head.
"It's not that." Hiccup shook his head causing his shiny auburn hair to swish back and forth. Astrid balled her hands into fists at her sides resisting the urge to run her hands through it. "Spike is a really good name." He finally stood back up and Astrid folded her arms across her chest.
"What's so funny then?"
"Well . . ." Hiccup glanced behind him at the two dragons lying happily in the sunlight. He was rubbing his arm in a nervous and slightly obnoxious way. Keeping his eyes on the dragons he shuffled closer. Much closer. So close he was almost touching her, she stiffened and willed every muscle in her body not to move.
"What?" She hissed.
"I just . . . it's . . . it's a girl dragon. I thought you knew."
"What!" Toothless jumped to his feet at her outburst, Spike merely tilted her head and glanced curiously at Astrid with one eye. "You're a girl?" She asked.
Her dragon tilted her head to the other side then settled back down in her small spot of sunshine. "It's a girl?" She asked Hiccup. He nodded toward Toothless who glanced over at the Blue Nadder then back at Astrid, bobbing his head in what looked like a nod. She stood with arms still crossed, brows furrowed, and her gaze still fixed on Toothless.
The black dragon glanced nervously from Spike to Hiccup to Astrid, before crouching down and crawling over to Hiccup's side.
"Um Astrid?" The warm breath against her ear was enough to snap her out of her thoughtful trance.
"Are any of the other dragons girls?" She asked as she turned to looked at Hiccup.
"I think Fishlegs' Gronkle is a girl." Astrid snorted.
"Well that thing is stupider than Snotlout. I'm still calling her Spike." She announced as she walked toward her dragon. She placed her hand on the Nadder's snout and turned back to look at Hiccup. "She needs a tough name if she's going to be surrounded by a bunch of boys." Spike opened one eye and looked up at Astrid.
"I guess." Hiccup said quietly.
"You just have to prove that you're the tough one." She told her dragon. "That should be pretty easy unless those two try to go off and save the world again." She glanced over at Hiccup and Spike's one open eye followed. Toothless whimpered, crept behind Hiccup, and placed his nose against the thin teen's back. "Good Girl." Astrid said proudly.
"It's okay Toothless, she's not going to hurt you." Hiccup said calmly.
"Are you talking about me or Spike?" She walked back over to where Hiccup and Toothless stood and patted their heads. "I mean, sure I like you, but I make no guarantees about her." Spike let out a puff of air and closed her eye.