A/N: I'll be honest with you. I don't know if I'm any good at writing humor. I tried my best with this chapter, but ultimately the point of this story when I started it was fluff, so I apologise if this isn't funny. Hope you still enjoy it.
Hiccup sat in his desk, his mind racing. Outside, a snowstorm was raging, the sky was white and it was impossible to see what lay a metre in front of you. However, he was glad for that: no one would venture out in this weather, which meant it was highly unlikely that anyone would come here and discover the strange spectacle that was Astrid, who was currently in the middle of licking herself (so far, she'd kept to her arms and torso, which was lucky; if she went lower... his cheeks blushed at the thought). Toothless was resting close by, though he was looking away from her, as if he knew he had to respect her privacy in that moment.
As soon as Hiccup had realised what was going on, he'd run to the book, hoping to find some way of returning her to normal, but that hope was crushed when he learned that, apparently, removing the effects of something that had happened under hypnosis was far more complicated than the original process, which was why it wasn't explained in the book. He'd understood then that he should probably bring Astrid to Gothi; the village elder had experience on the matter and would know what to do. The problem, however, was that, since Astrid believed herself to be a dragon, she'd most likely try to fly and wouldn't accept riding on Stormfly's back, or even going with him on Toothless. He imagined her crawling on the deck of his hut, jumping on all fours again and again and wondering why she couldn't take off. The thought made him snort with amusement, although his predicament was far from funny right now.
A soft bump against his leg snapped him back to reality, and he found Astrid looking up at him from the floor with hopeful eyes. He sighed and began caressing her head; her purring filled the room. Curiosity got the best of him, and his hand began going lower, until he rubbed her neck just below her ear. The second he did that, she fell by his feet. It was such a weird sight: the mighty Astrid Hofferson, who was always so tough, reduced to a purring mess on the floor. He really hoped Snotlout wouldn't find her like this. Not just because of what he might do, but because, should the girl find out, she'd definitely kill him, and Hiccup as well for letting Snotlout see her like that.
There was a sudden weight on his lap, and he found she'd placed her head on his thighs, still giving him that wide-eyed look. He'd never even imagined she was capable of putting on a puppy face, yet here she was, doing exactly that, and he found he was unable to resist it, so he started caressing her tresses again. As he did, it occurred to him that, in the last hour, he'd probably been touching her hair way more than it was appropriate for friends, but it was just impossible to stop himself when she was practically begging him for it. He knew it wasn't really her, but it didn't matter as he ran his fingers through those soft, blond locks. Or at least the ones he could reach, given that most of her hair was held back in her braid. For just an instant, he thought of letting it loose, before he scolded himself for even coming up with that. Astrid was his friend; he couldn't do that to her. Of course, a small part of him mused, if he one day ended up marrying her, he would get to see and touch all of those golden locks... but that was no more than wishful thinking.
"What are we going to do, bud?" Toothless looked up at him and warbled softly. "We can't leave now, but tomorrow we need to be able to get her to Gothi somehow. She probably won't be able to ride Stormfly..." He trailed off as he realised he'd forgotten something vital. "Stormfly! She's probably worried sick about Astrid! Can you go to her, bud? Let her know she's alright?" His dragon rumbled, then got to his feet. Hiccup started to get up when he noticed the girl's head was still on his lap. She drew back when she helped him get up, warbling disappointedly. "It's okay", he reassured her. "I'm not leaving you." She seemed to brighten at that, and part of him couldn't help feeling proud that she wanted him to stay with her.
He walked to the door and unlocked it so that Toothless could get out and go to Astrid's hut. It really had been a good idea to place it within walking distance of his. He watched his dragon go for a few seconds, then closed the door to stop the cold from getting in. When he turned around, he found she was staring attentively at something by his feet (well, foot). Looking down, he saw a bit of snow had come in. She crawled towards the little mountain and sniffed it for a few seconds. Then, getting some of it in her mouth, she threw her head back, swallowing with a bob he'd heard many times before, but never from the throat of a human.
"You must be hungry." She looked up and cooed at him. "There's some fish over here, let me get it." Her eyebrows rose at his words, and he suspected her ears would've probably perked up, if she'd been able to move them.
He walked to a corner of the hut, where he kept some snacks for Toothless, and settled on some smoked salmon. It was one of his dragon's favourites; maybe she'd enjoy it as well. He grabbed the basket and pushed it, making its contents drop to the floor. Astrid purred and then happily run (or rather, moved as fast as one can when you're moving on all fours) towards the food.
He should've seen it coming, of course. Dragons didn't use their paws to eat, after all. She lowered her mouth to the fish, just like she'd done with the snow, and tried to swallow it whole, which made her start choking. Hiccup immediately crouched behind her and slapped her back with as much force as he could, trying to help her get it out. After a few seconds, she managed to get the fish, still whole, out of her system. She looked down at it and made a disappointed noise.
"Don't worry", he reassured her. Getting up, he went to his chest and grabbed his knife, then proceeded to cut the fish to pieces. He was going to drop them on the floor by her, but then another idea occurred to him. He tossed the piece of fish in the air and, as he expected, Astrid jumped forward and caught it with her teeth before it hit the floor. Repeating the motion, he successfully fed her most of the salmon contained in the basket. (Toothless wouldn't be happy about that.)
As she finished, he sat on the floor and watched her, wondering how she'd feel about not being able to eat by herself. Suddenly, she began choking, but before he could try to get up and help her, she regurgitated some of the fish she'd just eaten. Hiccup didn't understand at first, but when she sat back and looked down, then at him, he understood. Gods, he was going to have to do that again, wasn't he? As if once hadn't been enough. He took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself, then took some of the pieces in his hand (trying not to cringe) and swallowed. It had to be said, Astrid's spit was far less disgusting than Toothless' had been. Most likely, he thought, because it was more like his own. It then occurred to Hiccup that something similar (minus the fish) happened during prolonged kissing. It sounded kind of gross when he thought about it, but judging by the enthusiasm with which couples did it, it clearly wasn't when you were in the situation. He couldn't help thinking about his own experience with the matter. When Astrid had kissed him, it had always been brief, but he'd definitely enjoyed it. Maybe one day they'd get to kiss longer... He blushed at the thought.
The sound of Toothless bumping his head against the door brought him out of his embarrassment. Opening the door, he let the Night Fury in, then closed it and turned to his dragon friend. (Toothless, not Astrid).
"Thanks for that, bud". He cooed in response, then went up to Astrid, noticing the fish on the floor and giving his rider an accusatory glare.
"Hey, don't be like that, bud! It was just one time!" Not entirely satisfied, Toothless grunted, then started eating. Astrid, meanwhile, walked up to his forge, staring at it curiously.
"You want to see that working? Bud, turn it on." His dragon turned away from his food and shot a blast at the coals, lighting them. After looking at the flames with fascination for a few seconds, the Viking girl raised herself up until she was kneeling. She seemed to take a deep breath, and then she suddenly fell back on her hands, wheezing as she did. For a second, Hiccup thought she was somehow still choking, but then she made a disappointed noise, and once again she got up before going back down, wheezing. Only then did he understand that she was trying to breathe fire.
"Uh... Astrid..." The teen turned to look at him, confusion evident in her eyes. He realised that she'd actually reacted to her name. Interesting. "You... you can't do that... It's, um..." He failed to find a reasonable explanation for why a dragon would suddenly lose its firepower, but he didn't need to, because it seemed that she somehow understood what was happening. She looked at him sadly, until Toothless – who'd been eating in the corner during that time- came up to her and rubbed his head against hers. He made a series of noises that Hiccup couldn't begin to comprehend, but apparently Astrid did, because she made other noises in reply.
After that, the male rider went to work in the forge, thinking about how he could get his friend to Berk, while the Night Fury and the girl played together, chasing each other (Astrid was surprisingly fast on her feet and hands) in the confined space of Hiccup's hut, "talking" all the time, and the sadness in her eyes seemed to diminish somehow. He really wished Stormfly was here (the Nadder would definitely enjoy playing with her rider that way), but they couldn't bring her here if they had to keep Astrid's presence in his place a secret.
At one point, he went to his chest and started moving things around, trying to find a tool he needed, when he stumbled upon a little bag that made him realise the solution to his problem was a very simple one. How hadn't he thought of that before? He opened the bag and spilled part of its contents in his hand. It was his supply of dragon nip, the one he kept in case the dragons needed to be calmed down somehow. The smell of it quickly filled the whole place, and soon both dragon and Viking-believing-herself-to-be-a-dragon collapsed on the floor, rumbling. He smiled. This should be easy, he thought. He'd just have to make sure Toothless wasn't affected by the herb while flying, and he could get her to Berk. Maybe he should make her a tea.
Not long after, he decided to go to bed. The weirdness of this whole situation was getting to him, and it'd be good to escape it, if only for a few hours. Besides, they'd have to leave early tomorrow if they didn't want to be seen. Hopefully, Gothi would be able to help them. He yawned and bade the other two good night, before curling up in his bed. As he saw Toothless make his customary fire circle, he looked at Astrid and wondered if he should find her a place, but it seemed his dragon had already thought of that, for the girl went and curled up next to him, resting her head against Toothless' tail. Satisfied, he turned off the lamp and went to sleep.
Hiccup jumped upright in the middle of the night, confused. The snow had abated and the sky would definitely be clear by the following morning, which was great since they couldn't take off in the middle of a storm, but now lightning and thunder had taken the place of snow. Not that it mattered; they would also be gone by tomorrow. He heard a soft whimper and noticed Astrid by his bed, looking miserably at the lights dancing in the sky. She made the noise again, and he understood this was what had made him wake up. For whatever reason, she seemed to be afraid of the storm. (He was struck with the irony that her dragon was called Stormfly and yet she was afraid of storms, at least when she was like this.)
"It's OK, Astrid" he told her quietly, so as not to disturb Toothless, who was still sleeping nearby. "Does it scare you?" Her cooing was enough of an answer. Unsure what to do, he began caressing her hair, since she clearly liked that. She hummed in response, and then to his surprise climbed on his bed. He scooted backwards towards the wall so she could have some more space, but she just followed him until her body was caging him against the wall. Once she'd found a comfortable position, she looked up as if expecting something. He began petting her hair again, and she sank her head against his chest and began to rumble. After a while, the sound stopped, and he knew she'd found sleep again.
Now, however, he was the one finding it difficult to rest. He couldn't, not with her so close to him; his heart was hammering against his chest, so much so he was surprised Astrid could sleep when she was right next to it, and his mind was busy trying to catalogue how he felt about this situation. Part of him, the same part that had imagined getting to see her loose hair, was thinking about how nice it would be to go to bed like this every night, delighted by the warmth of her body seeping into his, and urged him to put his arms around her and see if that was even better. This suggestion, though, was being argued against by the other part of him, which was going through what might happen if anyone found them like this, and demanded that he get separated from her. In the end, he simply didn't do anything; his mind eventually calmed down, and he drifted off to sleep with Astrid curled up against him.
A/N: The next chapter will be the last. I don't know exactly when I'm going to upload it, but it should be up by Friday. Thanks for reading!