Hello! :-)

So, I was thinking... Astrid and Heather always have girl talks about their guys, which is awesome and all... but I couldn't help but wonder... did Hiccup ever talk about Astrid when she wasn't in the room? That got me thinking about him having a 'guy' talk with one of the other guys at the Edge. And of course, the only one he would do it with was his best friend, almost brother, Fishlegs.

I hope you enjoy this little one-shot! And shout-out to thepurplewriter333 for the title. Knowing me, I would've named it something like, "The Talk of Hiccup and Fishlegs About Their Girls Which Gets Very Awkward." :-) Nah, but you get the point...

Enough talk! Enjoy!

Guy Talk

Hiccup adjusted his Deathsong amber goggles. "Alright, Toothless, give me a low flame…"

The Night Fury obeyed his Rider, shooting out a small blast at the metal below. Hiccup grinned at his dragon, then affectionately rubbed his head once he had finished. "Thanks, bud… now, I just need to turn it over so you can get the other side of this axe…" Using a pair of prongs, Hiccup carefully flipped the weapon he was forming over so Toothless could heat the metal for him. As soon as it was ready, Toothless opened his mouth to fire, but he was interrupted by the door to the forge room opening.

Hiccup looked up from his work and removed his goggles to see who had entered. He smiled when he saw it was his friend, Fishlegs. "Hey, Fishlegs!" he greeted.

"Hello, Hiccup," Fishlegs replied, coming up to the table of the forge. "What are you working on?"

Hiccup waved his hand in a dismissal manner. "Oh, nothing important. Just this and that…"

Fishlegs smirked. "Oh, please. Everything you work on is important."

Chuckling, Hiccup nodded. "I guess so… well… if you must know, I'm just working on a weapon… an axe, to be precise… told you it was nothing too special…" His fingers drummed against his legs.

"Uh-huh." Fishlegs stroked the wood of the table absentmindedly. "If you don't mind me asking… why?"

Hiccup, looking flustered, scratched the back of his head, signifying he was self-conscious of the answer. "Well… I was just making it for Astrid. Just a spare axe for her in case she needed an extra… told you it was nothing important. Now, what are you doing here?"

"Oh," said Fishlegs. "Meatlug and I were also working on a special project, so I was going to work on it now. Meatlug's outside waiting. We were going to work in here, but seeing as you and Toothless are busy working at the moment, we can wait." He began to walk away towards the door, but Hiccup reached out and stopped him.

"No, no. Toothless and I can make room for our forge buddies. Can't we, bud?" he asked his dragon, who warbled in agreement. Fishlegs smiled and murmured a thanks before dashing out and letting Meatlug in. Soon, the boys were all set up on their projects and working in a comfortable silence.

"So," Fishlegs said casually after a bit. "When are you going to give the axe to Astrid?"

Hiccup gave his friend a strange look. "...when it's finished? I don't know."

Fishlegs nodded. "Right, right…" For a moment, he continued to work on his device, but then glanced back at the brunette. "...so, why, again, are you making it for her now?"

"Because she may need a spare."

"...mhm…" Fishlegs stole a glimpse at Hiccup. "Hey, Hiccup… are you and Astrid… well… are you guys…" His shoulders deflated a little as he gave up in trying to be discreet. "...together?"

Hiccup dropped his prongs on the table in surprise. "Wha- what? Together? N-no! Why- why would you think that? We're just friends. Okay, in the friend zone. Nothing more." His brow furrowed. "...why do you ask…?"

Fishlegs shrugged. "Just, lately, it's just kind of seemed… a little… you guys seem a bit closer than before… I was just wondering if something happened and I missed it."

"Well, no! Nothing- nothing happened." Hiccup was getting flustered again, his cheeks flaming up and hands playing with the fabric of his shirt. "Was there ever… was there ever even a thing? Did I miss something?"

"No, no… I was just thinking how, you know, you and Astrid had… had kissed a couple of times before," Fishlegs said, innocently feeding Meatlug another rock.

"We were just kids, Fishlegs," Hiccup murmured, straightening his goggles. "We didn't really- really know about relationships and stuff then. Those were childhood k-kisses. Now… we've all grown up, and are growing up, some faster than others. And plus…" He sighed. "Astrid doesn't seem to even want to be in a relationship. We need to try and get the Dragon Eye back, defeat Viggo, Ryker, and the Hunters… a heavy load. We don't have time to think about all of… that other stuff…"

Fishlegs nodded while motioning for Meatlug to spew lava for his project. "True… but there's only so much time we have… sometimes we don't even know if we're going to see the next sunrise… we've all faced death so many times."

Hiccup inclined his head solemnly. "I know, I know… too many brushes with death to count… and Astrid… she keeps on getting into danger, whether it's getting knocked off Stormfly, or having a deadly plague… one time… one time it may go too far to help… and I just don't know if I could bear it if she was…" He snapped back to reality. "Wait… Fishlegs… why- why are we even talking about this?"

Fishlegs' cheeks heated, and he stroked Meatlug's head uncomfortably. "Um… well, Hiccup… if I tell you something… do you promise not to laugh?"

Hiccup removed his goggles and set them down. "Have I ever?" he grinned.

"Sometimes," Fishlegs said, unamused.

Hiccup's smile faded. "Well, anyways- yes…" He nodded. "I promise. Now, what's going on?"

Fishlegs swallowed nervously as he gestured to his work. "What I'm making… well… I'm making something for Heather… but in a non-romantic-just-neighborly way, though…" Hiccup was covering his mouth to hide a giggle, and almost was doubling over. "Hey! You said you wouldn't laugh," Fishlegs accused, sulking.

Hiccup tried to calm himself, but he still wore a faint smile. "I'm not," he said, but it didn't even convince himself. "Look, Fishlegs… Heather's a great girl, and I think she likes you… in a purely non-romantic-just-neighborly way." He smirked, crossing his arms. "You're one of my best friends, Fishlegs. I wouldn't lie to you. If you want to make something for her… go for it. I won't judge. And if I want to give Astrid an axe," he continued, shooting a look at the husky boy. "...then I can. Without you making fun of me."

Fishlegs began to laugh. "Hey, I'm not… but I suspect the axe will be given in a purely non-romantic-just-neighborly way." Hiccup glared playfully, but joined in chuckling a second later. The two both laughed for awhile, until Fishlegs swiped his eyes and began to speak.

"Sorry, Hiccup, about all those questions… it's just… it's like you said before. We're all… growing up. It was bound to happen sometime, and now that we all have our own place… I think it is. And I just thought, since you and Astrid were kind-of-sort-of a thing a few years back, that you might know a couple of things… about- about… well… girls."

Hiccup relaxed at last. "Oh. Okay. Well, that's a relief, I thought you were trying to play matchmaker for Astrid and I… heheh… well, I, um… I don't really know too much on relationships, though, as the whole village sort of hated my until I killed the Red Death." Toothless snorted indignantly, and Hiccup, smiling, scratched the Night Fury's neck. "Sorry. We killed the Red Death. And those kisses… they were really all Astrid. I was too nervous to make a move. Girls… well, they can punch hard, so don't insult them. Or aggravate. Or really do anything to them. Just… smile and nod? They're… they're pretty complicated, from what I've gathered, one minute all happy, and the next socking my shoulder… well, I guess that's just Astrid, but still… um, er…" He scratched his head again. "Is it just me, or is this sort of awkward to talk about?"

Fishlegs chortled. "Gods, yeah, this is really awkward to talk about." The two friends laughed heartily together, and even the dragons joined in with their croons. "But, thanks, Hiccup," Fishlegs said after they had stopped chuckling. "Sorry for bringing up you and Astrid… it's none of my business, really…"

"Hey, it's okay," Hiccup assured. "It's… it's kind of been on my chest for awhile now. I've never really brought up the subject, and never planned to. I just don't really know if… if…" He suddenly seemed shy. "...do you think that Astrid even likes me back?"

The husky boy smiled. "Of course she does, Hiccup. You're one of her idols."

Hiccup shoved Fishlegs lightly. "You know that's not what I meant."

"Then what?" Fishlegs broke into a teasing grin. "What do you mean? How do you mean 'she likes you'?"

Hiccup groaned, burying his head in his hands. "Fishhlleeeeggssss… I thought you were on my side in this…"

"I am!" said Fishlegs. "It's not my fault that I don't understand what you meant by, 'does she like me back?'. I'm just asking you to make it more clear for me, your poor, simple friend. It's not that difficult, Hiccup..."

The brunette moaned again, but removed his hands from his face. "Fine… I… I just… do you... doyouthinkAstridlikesmelikeinarelationshipway?"

There was a beat of silence.

Fishlegs blinked. "What?"

Hiccup sighed mournfully. "Do. You. Think. That. Astrid. Likes. Me... in a… relationship way...?" He mumbled the last part, but Fishlegs still heard. He beamed as if that was the very thing he had been waiting to hear all day.

"Hiccup," he said. "You know I'm terrible at relationships... I'm horrible at socializing, and expressing my feelings... but I do listen. I do watch. And Astrid... you don't know how many times I've caught her looking at you... and not in a purely non-romantic-just-neighborly way."

Hiccup was too busy burning up to return the teasing.

"Alright...," Hiccup managed after a moment. "Um. Thanks."

Fishlegs was growing just as awkward. "Sure..."

Embarrassed, the friends looked away from each other.

"So...," said Hiccup at last. "What are you making for Heather?"

Fishlegs turned back to Meatlug and patted his dragon. He glanced at his project. "Oh. Well, I was making a sort of belt for her that can hold multiple weapons... knives, daggers, axes, swords... a multi-tool-belt of sorts. Except, instead of making a leather band, I'm trying to use Gronckle Iron, though it's pretty tough to make the iron flexible... Meatlug and I are trying out different things to see if they work." He shrugged. "Trial and error."

Hiccup nodded, impressed. "Clever. Well, if you need any of me and Toothless's help, we're here for you."

"Thanks," Fishlegs smiled. "Same for me and Meatlug, if you need any Gronckle Iron."

"I may take you up on that, maybe as an outer coating for the axe," Hiccup replied. "And if you decide to make more than one of those tool-belt things, let me know. It could be handy in the forge for carrying supplies, so I may buy one from you."

"Buy?" Fishlegs looked surprised. "Please. You'd get the Friend-of-Fishlegs discount."

Hiccup laughed. "Sounds good. Well... you know... good man talk." He pounded his chest in emphasis.

"Yeah." Fishlegs copied him. "Man talk."

"Man talk, yeah…"

They nodded at each other for a moment, set their jaws, then went back to working on their projects for Heather and Astrid, helping each other when they needed assistance, and just plain geeking out. If Snotlout was there, he would be making fun of them to no end.

Hours later, the boys were finished with their gifts. Fishlegs and Hiccup had cracked getting the Gronckle Iron to be flexible by mixing some different chemicals and other more softer metals together. Meanwhile, Meatlug spewed a coating of Gronckle Iron over Hiccup's axe, so it was stronger and lighter than before, though also had the balance Astrid liked. After the friends had added their finishing touches (Hiccup engraved an "A" in the axe's handle, and Fishlegs an artistic design on the belt he thought Heather might like), they cleaned up their workspace, then left to go give their gifts to their girls.

And if Hiccup had learned one thing from making that axe… well, it was that guy talk had paid off.