"Just because you're the prince, doesn't mean I have to like you"

"I don't like me because I'm the prince"

Those words seemed like ages ago, they were in fact a very long time ago, but they were still in Hiccup's mind, remembering the day she had seen him watching from his window, the way he had almost fallen out of said window when she nodded towards him. Nothing had changed in a way, she was still the definition of grace, he still had to be saved by her, but now he was no longer embarrassed to be caught watching her practice. The way his ears would turn red would say otherwise, but now instead of a scowl, she would give him a wave and a smile before returning to work.

How many heads had he seen her cut off dummies? He had tried counting, but lost track after about a year in. How many times had she come to save him? Whether it be when he accidentally caught his room on fire with a creation of his, or when he had managed to fall down the stairs, still not used to the prosthetic and she had caught him before he managed to lose the other leg.

But right now, his knight was resting against him, both resting after the long ride to their favorite spot in the kingdom.

"You let me win that time" Astrid had pouted.

"You won, fair and square"

"You know I hate it when you do that"

"I know"

She never held back, even if he was the prince, a quick punch to the arm, a little hip check, but always followed by a chaste kiss.

Hiccup knew his favorite thing about her was the way she never wanted special treatment, not allowing other to treat her differently now that she had relations with the prince.

"Why are we here?" Her question pulled him out of his thoughts. She had known something was weird as soon as he showed up and asked to go riding, wearing some of his nicest princely garb.

"Why so nosy all of a sudden?" He asked with a smile. She could tell something was wrong, but couldn't exactly place it.

"Hiccup"

"I just wanted to spend time with you-" The way he smiled, the way he rubbed the back of his neck, something else was going on. She gave him a quick pinch, trying to get her point across.

"I know something's up, don't deny it, you even brought Toothless." She said, pointing to the cat that was sleeping next to them.

"He likes to feel the wind in his mane, ok?" Hiccup said, picking up the black cat and holding him near his face.

"You put him in his weird little fancy collar" Oh, the nice collar. He knew he shouldn't have, but Toothless wanted to look his best for this.

"He wanted to look his best for what's about to happen" Hiccup explained, before setting Toothless down and his hand going to his pocket. Astrid was too thrown off to even see where his hand went.

"What's going to happen?" she asked urgently.

"Well, this was supposed to be a surprise, but you're too smart for me" Hiccup said with a shrug, moving to be on his knees. She was still on her knees, but really, she should have been sitting down to be ready. His good knee rose up and he was on one knee, holding her hands in his larger ones.

"Oh no…." She breathed.

"Oh yes, you got me-" Hiccup said, but a smile was ruining his sarcasm.

"No- no- nonononono-"

"Astrid Hofferson-"

"Nonononono-"

"Will you privilege me-"

She wasn't even making sounds at this point, only shaking her head.

"By, not only being my knight right now… but being my knight in shining armor for the rest of my life?"

"That was so bad" She was crying, he hadn't expected her to cry, but she was, letting go of his hands to fan herself.

"That's why I said it…" He smiled at her and took one of her hands as the other covered her mouth "Will you marry me?" he put the ring in her hand, and her eyes watered even more.

Before he knew it, he was on his back, Astrid on top of him.

"That was perfect" She sniffed, her arms wrapped around his neck. She kissed him and his arms wrapped around her waist before breaking the kiss.

"That's a yes, right?" He asked.

"Yes- Yes" She nodded and he opened her hand, taking the ring and slipping it onto her finger for her and she was on top of him again before he knew it, though Toothless made sure to congratulate both by crawling in between them.

~(+)~(+)~(+)~

Snotlout was the first to hear them arrive, standing guard right by the stables. He remained emotionless, standing with a seriousness that made it seem like he wasn't only five foot four. This had taken years of practice, and even then, he would talk to the other guards who would ignore him. Hiccup on the other hand, didn't care; he didn't care what the guards did as long as the castle was safe. Hiccup had decided the guards remained so silent and unmoving as a way to reflect the king, which he didn't know whether his father knew that or not. It was slightly intimidating at first, though it was interesting to watch them. One time Toothless peed on one of the guards boots and he did nothing, not even acting like it had happened, yet the same guard had helped a small boy find his mother at one of the many balls.

"What did you do?!" Snotlout yelled, cocking an eyebrow as the two got off their horses, both having red eyes.

Astrid smiled smugly and held out her hand.

"Damn" Snotlout muttered. Leave it to a prince to be able to afford something like that. Gold band with two rubies and a diamond sitting snugly between them. Very modest compared to other royal engagement rings, but still enough to make Snotlout a little jealous. If he were prince, those jewels would be ten times those sizes.

"Normally a princess marries her knight" He said, giving Hiccup a smirk.

"And all the princesses I know, aren't into short knights" Astrid shot back and Snotlout grunted.

"C'mon, let's go tell your dad!" Astrid said suddenly, pulling on Hiccups arm. She wanted to see how this would go over, though Stoick had given her his overenthusiastic blessing when they told him they would like to begin a courtship.

Snotlout rolled his eyes as the two strolled away, deciding a break would be exactly what he needed.

He had barely made it to the kitchen, making sure to smile at all the maids, who gave him an indignant look as they passed, when the king's voice practically shook the castle.

"WE MUST CELEBRATE- IMMEDIATELY!" Snotlout stopped. He was always one for a good party. Plenty of young ladies, plenty of drinks, it'd be nice as long as he wasn't on duty. With a smirk, he walked towards the king's study, where he knew the sound had come from, and listened, trying to decide if he had enough time to buy new dress clothes.

"Dad- we don't have to-" Hiccup said, though Snotlout knew it wouldn't do anything. This was what Stoick had been waiting for.

"No! I've already had all the letters written-" Stoick replied.

"What?"

"I knew it would happen sometimes! You always have to be prepared-"

"Dad- really, there's no need for a big party right now-"

"You're right, I was thinking about maybe a ball? In a month or two?"

"Your majesty-" Astrid attempted to cut in.

"We can have a masquerade! And it's not just about you two you know- you have no idea how offended some of the other kings would get if they knew you were engaged and didn't invite them-" Stoick was out the door and Snotlout jumped into a march, heading in the opposite direction.

"Snotlout!" The short knight froze in his position. He slowly turned around; expecting a scowl but instead was met with the cheery face of Stoick.

"Get your father! Hiccup, go get Gobber- Astrid, my dear, help me plan" Before the two boys could react, Astrid was walking away with the king, him offering her his arm as they went.

"How come she gets to plan?" Snotlout asked.

"Would you like to?" Hiccup shot back, feeling relieved that he didn't have to think about the party.

"I want to make sure there'll be enough meade for me" Snotlout said, putting a hand on his chest.

"Don't worry, they'll have at least an entire pint for you- that should be enough" Snotlout glared at him.

"Compared to your thimble full-" Hiccup was surprised Snotlout could come up with something like that. Toothless swished his tail, curling around Hiccup's false leg.

"Your insults have increased ten fold, you small little man you." Hiccup said with his most regal tone, patting Snotlout on the back.

"You are still an ass" Snotlout replied with an awful regalness, practically knocking the wind out of Hiccup before marching away.

As he marched, he felt two claws stick into his boots.

Hiccup laughed as Snotlout jumped on one leg, trying to shake the cat lose.

"If you weren't the prince's kitty- Hookfang would have a nice chew toy" Snotlout growled, shaking the cat off him.

"Hookfang's scared of Toothless" Hiccup caught up to them and Toothless sat, raising his chin. He looked more imperial than the real royalty at this point.

"He's working on it" Snotlout spat back. What good is a guard dog that's scared of a stupid cat? Especially a cat that only had three legs.

"Right-" Hiccup said, rolling his eyes. "I bet I can get Gobber before you get your dad" He knew exactly how to rile Snotlout up, but they both needed a good bit of competition.

Snotlout opened his mouth to say something before running off with a cackle. Just as Hiccup thought. Hiccup chuckled and shook his head as he heard a crash and walked to the kitchen where he knew Gobber would be.