Official
(rough draft)
A Dreamworks' How to Train Your Dragon fanfic by Raberba girl
Summary: Snotlout and the others learn that Hiccup & Astrid's relationship is now official.
o.o.o
Astrid was so used to fending off Snotlout's pathetic attempts to woo her that she could do it in her sleep by now.
"You know there's room for two on Hookfang's saddle, right?" Snotlout said with a suggestive smirk as the teens were wrapping up dragon training for the day. "Well, heh, it'll be a tight squeeze, but so much the better, right?" His fat fingers slid across her skin.
Astrid was in the process of grimacing in disgust and reaching up to break her harasser's arm when something unexpected happened.
Hiccup's voice was mild as he said, "You maybe wanna take your hands off my girlfriend, Snotlout?"
Everyone stared at him for a minute. Hiccup gazed back at them with a very small smile, glancing sideways at them as he absently caressed Toothless. Astrid felt a little breathless and fluttery; the others all looked shocked.
"Your what?" Snotlout finally burst out in a snorting laugh.
"I knew it," Fishlegs whispered to himself, looking both excited at being right and disappointed at losing the battle for the most desired female in their generation.
Hiccup's eyes were now all for his dragon. "Hey, Toothless, I have a girlfriend now~" he cooed softly. Toothless warbled with pleasure as the boy's fingers scratched under his chin and behind his head plates. "Did you know, that, huh? Did you know that~?"
Astrid wasn't sure whether to be delighted that Hiccup was openly declaring his relationship with her to the whole group, or exasperated that he was insecure enough to bury it in the much safer affection he had for his dragon.
"I didn't know that," Tuffnut remarked with very mild interest. "Did you know that?" he asked his sister.
"Duh, she kissed him and stuff."
"Oh yeah..."
"Technically, a celebratory kiss after a traumatic event or during a holiday isn't necessarily proof of an official relationship," Fishlegs started, but nobody was listening to him.
"Astrid Hofferson isn't your girlfriend," Snotlout scoffed at Hiccup. Then he turned an ingratiating smile on Astrid and said, "Right? You can do way better than this toothpick. Case in point." He flexed his muscles.
Astrid rolled her eyes. "He is my boyfriend, and you'd better listen when he says to keep your dirty paws off me."
"Or what?" Snotlout taunted. "Hiccup's gonna fight me to defend his territory? I'd like to see the little runt tr- OOOOWWW!"
Astrid stepped back in satisfaction, her hand still curled into a fist.
"The territory thing is totally the other way around," Ruffnut cackled.
"Just out of curiosity," Fishlegs ventured, a little wistfully, "was it the Red Death thing? That, you know...won you over?"
"It was the 'Hiccup is a better man than I ever gave him credit for' thing," Astrid said shortly. She suspected that Hiccup happened to dip his head at that moment so that his longish hair could hide the color of his face.
"She called Hiccup a 'man,'" Tuffnut laughed. He paused. "Wait, so does that make me a man? 'Cause teeeechnically I just turned 15, so I'm an adult now, but Hiccup's the only one who's killed a dragon, buuuuut now we don't kill dragons anymore, so if there's no more rite of passage - I'M GONNA BE A KID FOREVER?!"
Everyone except Ruffnut had long since started tuning him out. "Hiccup's not supposed to be anyone's boyfriend!" Snotlout was insisting, angry now. "I mean, can you even SEE him ordering a woman around? I CAN'T, that's for sure!"
Astrid didn't even have words for such stupidity.
"So that's the standard?" Hiccup sounded amused, but the expression on his face was a little odd when Astrid glanced at him. "Can you honestly see Astrid Hofferson letting anyone order her around, much less me?"
"She won't even come if you call her! Now, if it was me-"
"Woman, get your shapely backside over here now." Hiccup's tone was teasing enough that he wouldn't lose face if Astrid blew him off, which everyone was clearly expecting her to do.
Astrid lifted her chin. She would come when Hiccup called her, him only, because he was hers. She sashayed over to her boyfriend and loomed over him, one hand planted on the dragon behind him as if to wall him in, the other coming to rest rather low on his waist. Hiccup had shrunk back into Toothless at her close proximity, shoulders slouched, eyes wide, his expression a mix of apprehension and exhilaration. Toothless sniffed at both of them curiously. "Well, darling," Astrid murmured in what she hoped was a sultry tone, "I'm here. What are you going to do with me?"
She could hear the others in the background, Snotlout yelling, Fishlegs exclaiming, the twins laughing, but she no longer cared about them.
Without a word, Hiccup reached up, gently tugged the hair tie off her braid, then started running his fingers through her hair to unplait it. Astrid realized with a shock that she couldn't remember a male ever touching her hair in such a way before, that she would have attacked anyone else who tried. Yet the feel of Hiccup's hands in her hair and on her scalp was unexpectedly, deliciously intimate. Seized with a sudden appetite, she dipped her head to work her lips and teeth against his neck.
"A-Astrid-!"
Toothless apparently lost interest and moved away, sending the humans who'd been braced against him toppling downward. The thought flashed through Astrid's mind that Hiccup wore no protective clothing like she did; if he hit the ground as hard as she knew he would, unable to catch himself and with her weight on top of him-
She twisted so she hit the ground a split second before he did, taking the brunt of the impact with her armor. Her arms had instinctively wrapped around him, her hands protectively cupping the back of his head.
"Astrid!" Hiccup gasped.
"I'm fine." She hoisted herself back to her feet and did a few stretches to test her body. Her hip was slightly sore, but otherwise she felt fine. "Hiccup?"
"Are you okay?!"
"Of course. You're the one I'm worried about." She shoved up his sleeve so she could check his arm for injury, grinning a little at his yelp. Then she grabbed his tunic as if intending to yank it free of his belt and push it up, knowing he would stop her but kind of wishing he wouldn't.
"Astrid!" Sure enough, he was struggling to keep his tunic tucked in.
"Is it still 'love on the battlefield~' if this isn't a battlefield?" Ruffnut wondered inanely in the background.
She was nearly drowned out by Snotlout, who was yelling some very annoying things. Astrid whirled on him. "How about this," she snapped. "I'll kiss Hiccup every time you say something stupid right now, until you finally get the hint and go away. Or until he'll have to ask for my hand in marriage in order to save my honor, whichever comes first." She heard Hiccup make a shaky exclamation in the background.
"This is just a, a- a phase, isn't it! Because of the stupid Red Death! I'll be waiting, Astrid; when you get tired of the hiccup and I save Berk, I'll be-! AAHH, STOP IT!"
Astrid dragged her lips away from Hiccup's just long enough to whisper, "I lost track. How many stupid comments was that?"
"Keep talking, Snotlout," Hiccup called dreamily, and tugged Astrid closer again to press his lips to hers.
"YOU GUYS ARE GONNA MAKE ME PUKE!"
o.o.o
Author's Notes: Me being me, I decided to OCD over my headcanon for HiccStrid's relationship (like, mapping out how I think it should have developed between HTTYD1 and HTTYD2). So this is sort of like a standalone sequel to Inadequate.
I think that the twins should still be 14 at this point in the timeline, but I needed them to have a recent birthday for the sake of the plot. *sweatdrop* Please just ignore it as one of the many discrepancies between my fics.
I'm starting to think that, for me, trying to write pure HiccStrid is the same as trying to write Xion/Vanitas in the KH fandom was...I love it in theory and in certain fanworks by other people, but I can't seem to get it right myself. :/