Hiccup and Astrid were laying out in the cove. It was one of those rare days in Berk were it was sunny and your clothes felt almost dry. The sun's rays cast a glow on their faces as Toothless caught fish in the stream. Hiccup was almost asleep, Astrid's head on his shoulder.
"Hiccup?" she whispered softly, opening her eyes and looking up at him. Hiccup stirred slightly, disturbed from slipping off into a peaceful slumber.
He raised his head and looked sleepily down at her. "Yes?" he asked quietly, the splashes of Toothless grabbing fish being the only other sounds.
Astrid fiddled with the buttons on his best, thinking over what she was going to ask him. It seemed quite odd to be thinking so deep on such a lazy afternoon like today.
"Are you scared to be the heir of the Hooligan tribe?"
Hiccup looked a little caught off guard and the both of them sat up. He looked much more awake now.
"Uh, I mean I guess I haven't really thought about it before. You know…guess just trying to survive now," he said with a shrug of his shoulders.
In truth Hiccup really hadn't thought about it all that much. He knew he was going to be leader one day but he would worry about it when that day came.
Astrid nodded slightly, refusing to look Hiccup in the eye. Instead she stared at his leg, wishing he didn't have to deal with the burden of it.
"…I'm scared for you," she whispered. It wasn't like Astrid to get emotional or attached. In fact this was one of the only times she'd been like this.
Hiccup's eyes widened and he looked a little shocked. He gazed over to Toothless who was happily munching away on a mackerel he found.
"Well I…what's there to be afraid of?" he asked.
Astrid shrugged. "You know everyone wants a big tough Viking that is strong and a great leader-"
Hiccup rolled his eyes. "You mean like Snotlout?"
A pink blush creeped across Astrid's cheeks.
"I didn't mean it like that," she mumbled, clearly embarrassed. "I just meant that you've got to be big and powerful to fit the image…and you're kind of small and skinny-" Hiccup was about to protest, "-but you have logic and creativity on your side. I'm just saying you've got big shoes to fill."
Astrid fell quiet as Hiccup stared at her, trying to figure out how to respond to that. She'd always been rather blunt when pointing out his flaws though Astrid had tried to be gentler since they'd started going out.
Toothless had stopped hunting fish and was staring at the two of them, a fish tail hanging out of his mouth.
Hiccup frowned slightly. "I know I'm not the most ideal leader but I do hope that no one will get fed up with me and kick me out of the tribe." He sighed slightly. "Actually if I had any kind of strategy it'd not be to appear powerful but to turn this tribe in a more logical direction. No one seems to have common sense around here."
Astrid smiled slightly, staring down at her skirt before looking up at Hiccup. "Well at least you have a plan. Sometimes I worry about you…and how you'll run the tribe."
Hiccup nodded, giving her a small smile. He wanted to grab her hand, but Hiccup was always very hesitant about doing anything couple-like with Astrid.
"Yeah, now how long it'll take to convince everyone running into battle without thinking first is not the way to go…that'll be the hard part," he said.
She chuckled. "Good luck, you'll definitely need it."
"Thanks," Hiccup said, finally gaining enough courage to take her hand in his.
"No problem," Astrid whispered, squeezing his hand. She leaned in and pressed her smooth lips to his chapped ones. It was a short kiss and she pulled back a little too soon for Hiccup's liking.
Toothless blinked, staring at the two of them kiss with his green dragon eyes. He trotted up to them and sat down right at their feet.
Astrid and Hiccup turned from each other and looked at Toothless. The dragon and Vikings stared at each other a few moments before bursting into laughter. Toothless' laughter sounded like little snarls and his nostrils puffed out smoke.
It felt so good to just laugh after that serious discussion even if the animal didn't know what was being said.
Toothless whacked his tail on the ground and stirred up dust and rocks. He accidentally smacked Hiccup on the head.
Astrid started laughing so hard she fell over. Hiccup rubbed the back of his head, scowling. For once he thought he would get a kiss without being slapped. Soon he was laughing again with Astrid and Toothless.
It was nice just to be careless and not worry about the future. Hiccup's future as heir of the Hooligans.