a is for apology

-o-

On the battlefield, Fearless Astrid Hofferson had stared into Death's eyes without flinching, but now, standing before the Clubhouse doors, she felt an unfamiliar nervousness churning within her belly.

It was all Hiccup's fault, of course. He had always had a way of explaining and reframing things in a way that made her head spin ... but heart would have to admit the correctness in his words. As much as she didn't want to have this particular conversation, she couldn't ignore the fact that once again, she had been exposed to a new perspective and there was a clear call to action that she needed to fulfill. With a sigh, Astrid entered the Clubhouse and warily eyed the viking sitting inside.

Snotlout looked up and scowled. "Oh, it's you. Come to finish up the job? Or just gloat at your handiwork?"

"No," Astrid shot back haughtily, though it wasn't entirely true. An evil little part of her did indeed enjoy the sight of his injuries, courtesty of her own bloodied fists. She observed that Snotlout's arms were peppered with purple and green bruises, and how both of his swollen eyes had blossomed darkly. But then her gaze caught on the ugly gash above his collarbone and counted how many stitches that Fishlegs had needed to make to sew it back together. At that sight, Astrid was filled with shame once again.

"Peace offering," she finally muttered. presenting the small chunk of iceberg she had reluctantly collected and flown back to the Edge in waterproofed yakskin. Snotlout winced when she dropped it on the table beside him, but did accept the cloth-wrapped handful of ice shavings she prepared for him a few moments later. He surveyed it suspiciously--well, as suspiciously as he could out of two black eyes--before pressing it gently against his forehead.

"What's your game, Astrid? You're creeping me out."

Astrid growled in irritation but restrained herself.

"I don't HAVE a game, Snotlout," she retorted. The next part was harder, but she fumbled to get it out before losing her nerve, or her temper, again.

"I'm coming to...apologize to you. I was... excessive...this morning, and hurt you much more badly than you deserved."

Snotlout's mouth dropped open in shock at this admission, but Astrid still pressed forward. "I...I'm still...upset...at what you said to me, but that doesn't excuse my behavior. I definitely overreacted and I'm sorry."

A heavy silence fell upon the room.

"Wow," Snotlout said finally. "That must have taken a lot out of you, Hofferson."

"Don't," Astrid warned, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Don't make this worse. For either of us."

"Hey, you already kicked the crud out of me today including almost LITERALLY chopping my head off with that damn axe of yours. I am NOT interested in making things any worse right now."

Another awkward silence loomed, though this one was less tense. Snotlout repositioned his icepack with a heavy sigh.

"For what it's worth, I accept your apology," he said lightly, looking anywhere but her direction. "I maybe...went a little too far in the teasing department this morning. I didn't think it would hurt your feelings but...well, I'm sorry too, okay?"

"Thanks Snotlout," Astrid whispered. Even though much of the awkward tenseness between them had faded after their apologies, she was still troubled by how much Snotlout's earlier taunting had actually affected her. He was right. A year or two ago, those words wouldn't have hurt her feelings one bit. The peace with dragons had changed so many things about what she thought her future would look like, and it was increasingly clear that she needed to take the time to evaluate her feelings and plans instead of blindly reacting.

Once again, Snotlout inturrupted her troubled thoughts.

"Seriously, Astrid, don't beat yourself up over it. You know better than anyone else how resilient I am" He paused in a half-hearted attempt at flexing. "Besides, even if you have changed your mind about getting married someday, we both know a Hofferson and a Jorgensen would never work out."

Despite herself, Astrid smiled.

"Finally, something we can agree on!" she exclaimed, stopping herself just short of slapping Snotlout's shoulder in camraderie. He winced and shook his head.

"Well, that's about as much sappy, touchy-feely stuff I can handle for one day," Snotlout. "If you wanna talk about your feelings some more, go talk to Fishlegs or Hiccup. I'm out of here though," Snotlout said, grabbing the rest of the ice and rising from his seat with a groan. He limped out the door, leaving Astrid alone with to mull over what had just happened.

Astrid was still sitting there when a different viking entered the Clubhouse a few moments later.

"I saw him leave and was hoping you could run through a few things with on the plan proposal," Hiccup said, his arms filled with parchment.

"Absolutely," Astrid answered, helping him unravel maps and diagrams with a practiced effeciency. They had been spending more and more time together lately plotting Viggo's defeat, and Hiccup was planning to present the finalized version to his father in the coming weeks. Of course, she was well aware that her expertise in battle strategies wasn't the reason that Hiccup had come.

"So..." Hiccup prompted gently. Astrid sighed.

"We both apologized and everything's better."

"Everything?" he prodded. She nodded silently, pointedly avoiding his gaze. Hiccup's hands stilled and his brow furrowed in concern. Eventually, she had no choice but to look up and face his piercing green eyes.

"Astrid, I trust you when you say things are fine between you and Snotlout now. But whatever happened...I can tell it's still under your skin. Are you still sure you don't want to tell me what he said?"

Unbidden, the conversation at the docks replayed in her mind; Trader Johan offering her some ridiculous marriage and family etiquette book for ladies and Snotlout's derisive reply...

Hahaha, look somewhere else old man, Astrid isn't interested in babies or boys. It's a good thing she's a decent shieldmaiden, because no self respecting viking would ever want her as a wife anyways, amiright? Seriously, Astrid, getting married, having kids? Never gonna happen...

"I don't want to talk about it," she answered succinctly. "Besides, it's less about what he said and more about how I reacted that I guess...I still need some time to process."

She took his hand and squeezed it lightly, aware that not long ago she might have kissed his cheek instead. "When I am ready, I promise I'll talk about it with you, okay? I'm sorry I worried you."

Hiccup smiled and squeezed back. The flock of butterlies in Astrid's stomach swarmed chaotically.

"No need to apologize, Milady," he replied lightly. "I'll be here whenever you're ready,"

-o-

A/N: This chapter took longer than expected, but I couldn't shake the prompt! The Astrid/Snotlout dynamic is interesting to me, but hard to capture. I wanted something more introspective than the undivulged insult in Snotlout's Angels, and of course had to add somr fluffy Hiccstrid at the end. Don't forget to r/r!