Hiccup sucked in a deep breath and shoved against the door to Gobber's forge, his arms full of leather strips. His good foot slipped and he half-collapsed onto the ground, only to stop short as a broad, scaly head placed itself perfectly under him.
"Thanks, buddy," Hiccup sighed, pushing himself off of Toothless and looking at the mess around him, "Great…." He stooped to gather the leather up again and found a fair-skinned hand beside his own.
"Need help?" Astrid asked, a bright smile on her face. Hiccup went from fair and freckled to bright red in the span of a few seconds.
"I- Hi, Astrid, hi! Hello…."
"Are you alright?" Astrid looked at him more closely, Toothless peering around her to proceed with the same inspection.
"Fine! Why wouldn't I be fine?" Hiccup scrambled to his feet, leather in hand, "I'll talk to you later, okay? I have to get these- uh… Yeah, I'll see you later." And he disappeared into the forge.
"He hasn't done that to me since we were fifteen," Astrid sighed, crossing her arms and looking down at Toothless, "And he chooses now to freak out for some reason? See if you can talk some sense into him, alright? It's not like I'm going to bite him…"
Toothless snorted and stalked after his friend into the forge, normally square pupils at determined slits. Astrid smiled as the last of that black tail swished out of sight and turned back towards the path that led to the lower terraces of the village.
"Is she gone?" Hiccup hissed to the dragon that had just stuck his head inside Hiccup's small workroom. Toothless responded with a confused croon, making Hiccup sigh and slump onto his stool.
"What?"
Toothless made another confused croon and squeezed into the room, barely fitting. He fixed Hiccup with a hard stare that demanded an explanation.
"Don't give me that look," Hiccup countered, "If you were trying to impress a lady dragon, you'd be feeling the same."
Toothless' ears came up and the confusion deepened to a whole new degree. Astrid and Hiccup had been doing that dance for years now. Why was Hiccup so nervous all of a sudden?
"For the love of…. Okay, look," Hiccup tilted his stool so that he was leaning against the wall and sighed, "With us humans, we bond for life. With one…. mate. With me so far?"
Toothless gave an affirmative nod and plopped down on his belly, his attention fully on Hiccup.
"So, there's that. But there's a much more complicated bit that comes before it. The male has to indicate that he would be interested in bonding for the rest of his life with that female."
Toothless fixed him with a stare that pointed out that Hiccup had been pretty much doing this for years.
"Now comes the not so easy part," Hiccup gave his best friend a miserable stare, "The male has to word it so that she knows he's been thinking about it. And then she has to accept. That's the thing. Astrid has to…. well, agree. But I don't-"
Toothless interrupted by nipping at Hiccup's good foot and giving him an indignant snort, pointing out that he really didn't think that Hiccup had anything to worry about.
"And you would figure that how?" The man asked, glowering into Toothless' yellow-green eyes, "What would you know about human females?"
Toothless heaved a heavy sigh and gathered a small ball of flame into the back of his throat, then effectively shot off the legs of Hiccup's stool, dumping said person straight into his grasp. Toothless laid a heavy leg across Hiccup's middle and glared into the man's bright green eyes.
"That was totally uncalled for-!" Hiccup was interrupted as Toothless let out a fierce growl. The dragon edged his claws into Hiccup's shirt, making sure that his point was made with a glare that asked if he was clear.
"Crystal clear…." Hiccup said quietly, knowing that Toothless wouldn't hurt him perminantly, but wasn't about to take any chances.
With a satisfied rumble, Toothless edged off of his friend and gave him enough space to let Hiccup place his hands on Toothless' head and push himself up.
"I'll ask her tomorrow, maybe…. Right now-"
Toothless' growl had returned, and in higher ferocity.
"Um…. Tonight, then?"
It still wasn't enough to satisfy the Night Fury. The dragon took a nip at Hiccup's leg, making him dodge towards the door. Another nip sent him out of it and into the main forge.
"Okay! Okay! I'll ask her now!" Hiccup stumbled against an anvil. He caught something out of the corner of his eye and dove to his left, just missing Gobber's hammer as it came down where his head had been.
"Well, innacha a lucky one today?" The smith said with sickening cheerfulness, "And who will you be askin' what?"
"Nothing," Hiccup muttered, pushing himself to his feet, "Do you need help with that?" He indicated Gobber's freshly made mold for spearheads. Gobber raised an eyebrow at Toothless' irritated growl.
"And what are you dodgin' that ye'r beast wants done so badly?"
"Nothing!" Hiccup protested, having trouble hiding his reddening face in the light from the fire. Toothless' growl gained some strength.
"Does this possibly have somethin' to do with Astrid?" Gobber asked slyly, "Because I was hearin' a rumor around that one of the other boys was out to ask her somethin' tonight."
"Like what?" Hiccup's head shot up, green eyes narrowed fiercely, "Who's asking her what?"
"I don't know, it was just a rumor heard by my passing ear, tha's all." Gobber pretended to wipe the sweat off his face so he could hide his grin. Five years since he had become a hero hadn't done Hiccup much good for his self-esteem around Astrid, no matter how blatantly obvious she had made it that she liked him. Hiccup had sprouted like a weed, but hadn't managed to bulk out like his father had at his age. He remained slender and lanky; an awkward shape among all the other Vikings of Berk. But it only benefitted his partnership with Toothless, who had reached a larger size and would be able to maintain the speeds a Night Fury could with a lighter rider.
Gobber snorted and gave the dragon a look.
"I think I understand, and you're right. 'E best be getting on the job, am I right?"
Toothless snorted and went back to glowering at Hiccup, who was glaring at both the smith and the dragon.
"So, you've recruited him now, too? Is that it? What's next? My fath- You know what, we're not going there." Hiccup hobbled over to an empty table and hoisted himself onto it so he could sit.
"Hiccup, I wouldn't go against the dragon for long. I distinctly recall someone once telling me that they're very headstrong and opinionated beasts."
Toothless agreed with a low growl.
"Now, about what words you may be havin' with our pretty young Astrid-"
"Okay! Okay! I'm leaving! I'm gone!" Hiccup threw himself off of the table and stalked out of the forge. Toothless gave Gobber a gratified look, then trotted out after the young man, trying not to knock too many things over in his wake.
"Do you really have to recruit everyone you know will bully me into this?" Hiccup asked Toothless as they walked up the ramp towards the top of the guard tower. Toothless gave him an exhasperated sigh and went on ahead, leaving Hiccup in the middle of the ramp.
"Hopeless reptile…." Hiccup grumbled, only to get a glower over a black wing that asked who the true hopeless one was.
"Yeah, yeah…." Hiccup followed the dragon up to the top of the tower, staring wistfully at the sky. Toothless caught his stare and edged a little closer, pressing a side against Hiccup's leg. Hiccup looked down and smiled when Toothless jerked a head towards the sky.
"You got it, Bud." Hiccup said, throwing a leg with ease over the dragon's back. Toothless gave him a moment to slide on his harness and throw the iron rings onto the hooks before shoving off the ground with a vicious kick that shot them into the sky.
Astrid ambled around the village, mind rolling with thoughts of Hiccup's strange attitude that morning. He'd been completely fine for years. He hadn't been anxious at all in being sweet and thoughtful. He'd know exactly when to ask if she wanted to talk, or rather, shut up and race her across the sky instead. He'd surprise her every now and then with flowers she knew grew only on the top of Berk's highest peak. He'd open doors for her and offer her his cloak if she was even the slightest bit cold. And now he was acting like they were fifteen again and she was the most terrifying thing on the island.
Astrid shuffled to her house where her Nadder was dozing in the light of the sun. She dropped down next to it and slung an arm over the creature's neck, scratching at the dry scales. The sky-blue dragon produced a contented hum and leaned into her touch.
"Why are boys so weird?" She asked it, "I thought they grew out of this sort of thing." When the only response the dragon could give her was a continuing of its hum, she smiled and leaned against it, letting the sun bathe her as well with its warming light.
Astrid opened her eyes when she heard a defiant roar from above her, followed by Hiccup's yelled protests. She jumped when Toothless came crashing to the ground in front of her, having some sort of argument with the rider on his back.
"What is wrong with you- Oh. Hi, Astrid."
"Hello, Hiccup," Astrid smiled sweetly, "Nice day for a ride?"
Hiccup shook his wind-swept auburn hair out of his face and gave her that shy, awkward grin of his. "The winds higher up are a bit rough, but if you feel like skimming the water, it's a smooth breeze from here to the Gate. Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Because you're looking at me funny too," Astrid said, raising an eyebrow, "Care to tell me why?"
"Ahhh…. Hey!" Hiccup yelled as Toothless gave him a vicious shake that popped him off his seat, "Ow!" Hiccup looked up and sighed in frustration. Toothless had been a little careless and managed to take Hiccup's replacement foot with him.
"Oh dear…." Astrid said with a smile at the beet-red Hiccup.
"Well, that's not embarrassing at all." Hiccup grumbled, tugging his foot out of its lock on Toothless' saddle and trying to fix it back onto his leg.
"Here, let me help." Astrid scooted over so that she was next to him and rolled up his pant leg so that she could see what she was doing.
"You don't have to-"
"Shush." Astrid took his artificial foot from him and lined it up so that it would be on straight and gave his leg a tug.
"Ouch!"
"Don't be such a sissy," Astrid teased, "You might be doing this for me one day."
"I hope not!" Hiccup protested, "It's not exactly fun!"
"I'd believe it. Must give you cold feet at night."
"Not to say anything about what it's like in the winter…." Hiccup grumbled.
"Ha!"
Hiccup jumped, his eyes shooting to Astrid's sky blue ones.
"Um…"
"You started talking to me like a normal person again," Astrid proclaimed proudly, "I was beginning to think you were hiding from me."
"Hi-hiding? Why would I do that?"
"Exactly what I'd like to know."
"Oh, I wasn't- Hey!" Hiccup protested as Toothless butted him with his broad head.
"What's he not telling me?" Astrid asked the black dragon, who glared daggers at Hiccup and gave an angry snort.
"It's nothing!" Hiccup protested, throwing himself to his feet, "I just forgot to… Right, I'll- uh, I'll see you later!" He turned and tried to march off, Toothless giving a forlorn croon to his back.
"Um, okay…. I'll see you later then." Astrid said, heart falling a little. She smiled weakly when Toothless curled up at her side, indicating the dragon would be with her until Hiccup changed his mind and came back. She heard his footsteps cease, then a conflicted pacing back and forth before he returned, his face so deep a red that his freckles were out of sight.
"Um, Astrid?"
"Yes, Hiccup?"
"Can I, uh, can I ask you something?" He cleared his throat and held out a hand to help her up. She took it and let him pull her to her feet.
"Didn't you ask me something just now?"
"Ha ha, very funny," Hiccup sighed, "I meant something a little more serious."
Astrid's stomach dropped and she stared into his eyes, stifling all questions and giving him her full attention. It had been almost a year ago that he had managed to whisper those three short words under the dark sky, sending chills down her spine. If he meant a serious talk, it was serious.
"Um, so… I know that-" Hiccup was interrupted as Toothless gave him a hard nudge, "I know that I'm a bit difficult to put up with- Okay, Toothless, stop," Hiccup dodged his dragon's most recent attempt to give him another nudge and returned his gaze to her, "Astrid?"
"Yes?"
"Would you…. Would-"
"Can't even cough the words up, Hiccup? And how many years were you with me in the forge?" Gobber asked, appearing from around the corner of Astrid's house.
"Why don't we just call out the whole village now?" Hiccup protested, "I'll even go up to the speaking platform! Just to make sure the whole island can hear me!"
"Ah-hem," Gobber whacked the back of Hiccup's head with his good hand, "Now, how about you take our young Astrid's hand again?" Hiccup swallowed and offered his hand, which Astrid took without hesitation.
"Astrid."
"Yes, Gobber?" Somehow, the romance had leaked out of the moment…..
"What Hiccup means to say, is that, despite his clumsiness and inability to say anything important,"
"Thank you, Gobber." Hiccup hissed, his red hue holding strong.
"And his strange inventions, and stranger way of looking at things….,"
"Gobber, seriously-"
"Would you be willing to put up with that," Gobber raised an eyebrow at Toothless, who was pacing restlessly while giving him pointed stares, "And a zealous Night Fury, for the rest of your life?"
"I have been so far, haven't I?" Astrid asked, wincing as soon as she said it. She knew, somehow, she'd made things worse.
"Well, he means a little more-"
"Thank you, Gobber, you've done enough damage." Hiccup interrupted, green eyes narrowed. Toothless snorted and Gobber made his exit, a sly grin on his face.
"Oh gods…." Hiccup rubbed his face with both hands.
"Is something wrong?" Astrid asked, glancing at Toothless, who was pressing up against Hiccup's side, as if to give him strength. Hiccup took a deep breath and took Astrid's hand with both of his.
"Before I lose what little nerve I have left…..," He mumbled before clearing his throat, "Astrid, would you be willing to put up with me for the rest of your life as…. as your-" Hiccup would never finish that sentence as Astrid socked him hard on the arm.
"That's for not asking sooner." She said, sky blue eyes narrowed. Hiccup's bewildered stare was interrupted as she tugged him into a kiss that left his insides like warm water.
"Um…."
"That means 'yes'," She whispered, "Now, why don't we go have a talk with your dad?"
"I like the sound of that…." Hiccup managed to stumble out, giving her another awkward grin. Astrid smiled and laced her fingers with his as they started up the sloping hill towards the Great Hall.