Disclaimer: I don't own anything of these characters! No money is given for these chapters!
Thank you to everyone who Reviewed, Favorited, Followed and read.
Enjoy the Hiccstrid! :)
Confrontation
Astrid was tempted to call in sick the next day. It wasn't a preposterous idea, given she'd left early to 'see the doctor' yesterday. She'd packed up most her her clothes, but she still had boxes to fill for the kitchen and for other miscellaneous junk she had collected over the years. Those empty boxes taunted her from her perch in the kitchen, where she sat with cups of tea trying to convince herself for five minutes that she still had time. She even considered going for a run around the block, but dismissed it as soon as she looked through the dark windows. Running at night wasn't altogether safe.
But she didn't, and she trudged unhappily through the reception doors with the chill of the morning still clinging to her hair, making the ends brittle and hard. She had slept in and missed the handover, and had to call ahead and apologise for being an hour late.
Upon seeing her, Gothi waved and picked up a phone. Not feeling up to deciphering the silent woman's unique sign language, she slipped past her into the office, sighing at the warmth. The park had excellent heating – as well as a small kettle she had managed to borrow from the canteen. Unlimited, free hot drinks made her day.
As usual, she began her day with making herself some coffee and surfing the web for a new place – one bedroom flats, flat-shares, student accommodation...no one was selling halfway through the year. She even browsed Gumtree, but winced after the first advert proclaimed an older man looking for a young female to live with.
No to that.
About half an hour after her arrival, the door behind her opened and a familiar clanking entered the room. Astrid clicked off the website and spun to face him, feeling apprehensive. She hadn't seen him since he stormed out a couple days ago.
"Hiccup." She nodded firmly. And then really looked at him.
He wasn't wearing his ranger suit. He had a plaid shirt and jeans on, as well as different boots to hide his prosthetic. She noted that he clearly hadn't been sleeping well, made obvious by the dark circles under his eyes. His unruly hair matched the days worth of stubble on his chin. But the nervous smile gracing his features contradicted his tired appearance and made her equally anxious in turn.
"Hi, Astrid." He sounded somewhat strangled. "May I sit?"
Oh gods. This is it.
"Go ahead. You're the boss." Astrid peered through her hair as she pretended to fuss with her braid. Hiccup seemed uneasy, and kept fidgeting with his hands while one leg bounced up an down in an agitated pattern. She doggedly focused on untangling her braid and re-braiding the soft strands, waiting for him to speak.
"So...how are you?"
Her fingers yanked harshly on her hair, making her wince. "I'm fine." Astrid wondered if this was standard for firing employees. Normal conversation, then BAM! No more job. She took a deep breath and tackled the situation with her usual brusque manner.
"Look. Hiccup, I appreciate you telling me this in person." She focused on the clock on the wall above his head. "But I already know. In fact, I think it's a good idea."
Hiccup gaped at her. "You...you already know? How?" His leg tripled in speed, if possible. A metal squeak started accompanying the quick movement.
Astrid rolled her eyes. "It's obvious." Reverting back to warrior Astrid made it easier to deal with the crippling panic that was starting to claw out of her chest. "I'm fine with it. Just tell me when you want me out of here." At his noise of confusion, she gave him a solid nod and gave in to her temptation to place her hand on his knee, making it stop bouncing. "It's fine." She repeated.
To her surprise, Hiccup's hand ever so gently grazed her own. She glanced up to bright green eyes; close, too close to her own. Astrid had never seen so many different flecks of colours in his eyes before; having never been that close to inspect them. They were unique galaxies of multicoloured mint, trained solely on her with a focus that caught her breath. In that one second her breathing faltered, stuttering on its way back into her body.
"Astrid." She had never heard a gentler tone. "I'm not firing you."
She blinked. "What?"
As if coming back to her senses, she suddenly noticed how close they were. Both seats angled together, with the knee she had stopped moving between her two own legs. His head had leaned forward to fill the gap, and her other hand was clutching the desk behind her like some sort of imaginary lifeline.
Simultaneous blushing followed, with both Hiccup and Astrid drawing apart like something had happened between them.
Which it didn't. At all.
"So, you're not firing me?" Again, her anxiety made her tone sharper than she intended. Hiccup's hand went behind his head and he laughed, signalling his nervousness.
"No! No, not at all. I wanted to offer you a different position. How'd you like to be permanently office staff?"
The tension diffused out of her body and left behind a relaxed sort of relief. She wasn't getting fired. Hiccup didn't know she had lied. "That would be great, actually." She warmed to the idea quickly. It meant she didn't need that permit! "Yeah, you may as well go cancel that permit order, I won't need it."
She beamed, missing his slight wince as she punched him in the shoulder in exhilaration. "That sounds great, boss. Thanks."
"Uh, sure." He didn't even rub his shoulder. He mulled over something, pursing his lips in thought, before dismissing it and focusing back on her again.
"I know you need a place to stay shortly." His words had the effect of making Astrid freeze and stutter to a halt. "And I've found you a flatmate. Ruff has an empty room since Tuff moved out, and she wants another girl in the house. What do you say?"
The first thing that came to Astrid's mind was fury. The thought of everyone knowing her circumstances, maybe even pitying her, or thinking how weak she was for getting into such a stupid position, cracked the ice that sprung up at his announcement. She leapt to her feet, so furious she felt the tell-tale prickle of angry tears heating behind her eyes.
"You idiot!" She whisper-shouted at a confused Hiccup. "Everyone knows?"
Astrid shoved her chair aside and made to stalk away, hearing Hiccup scramble and clank up to follow her.
"Astrid, wait! It's not like that!"
She slapped his first hand away. The second turned into a grapple as she turned and yanked him close to her face, rising on her toes to snarl angrily at those wide eyes. Stupid, stupid green eyes.
"I'm fine! I don't need your help!" She told him fiercely, not missing his raised hands in surrender. "I've been doing this on my own since I left home! I can do this myself, I can win this thing-"
"You've been fucking up recently, actually." His hard voice, edged with his own simmering anger, stilled her shaking hand on his wrist between them. Her eyes leapt to his to see a surging, muted anger – like a tsunami, deadly and silent, unable to stop its relentless tide. "Gobber told me. I told no-one else. Ruff needed a flatmate, so I thought I'd mention it."
Half scared, half pure fury, she dropped his wrist and spun to walk off. Hiccup wasn't finished. He kept walking a half step behind her, reaching a hand over her head to snap the door shut before she could walk out. Her body turned to only be trapped against the door under his raised arm, making her cry out in frustration.
"Will you stop?" He growled back, his anger leaking through his voice in a low rasp. It made Astrid hyper aware of their position, of how they both breathed faster in their anger, and how hurt those green orbs shined. "You act like the first thing I'd do is turn on you. You running off like an idiot and acting like a child isn't helping."
"I'm fine on my own." Even her voice sounded strangled. "I just need more time."
"Will you stop being so...so Astrid!" His other hand poked her in the ribs, hard, and she could only stare at him in perplexed shock. "You don't need to be all noble and do it on your own. Accept the help. Try talking to someone other than Gothi once in a while, and you'll see everyone likes you; thinks you're terrific."
His words and softened considerably at the end, and he actually took a step back with a pink tinge to his cheeks. For that moment, Astrid almost wished he was back up in her space, telling her she was worth something.
"It's not weak to accept help." He ran a hand through his hair. "No one thinks less of you. I certainly don't. Although my opinion doesn't mean much to you, I suspect."
Astrid stayed stock still by the door, warring emotions telling her to run, the other telling her to grab his wrist again to feel the warmth.
"It...doesn't not matter."
Her voice was so small, so unlike herself. She was confused at her reactions to Hiccup, to his voice and his proximity. When she stopped to actually consider her own feelings, she found she didn't like having that anger directed at her. It made her mind skitter away from the growing fixation she had with his eyes, or that long, toned neck. Even now, as she told him his opinion mattered, she felt like she was connected to a live wire; prickles of heat and sensitivity running over her body.
"I..." Astrid swallowed hard. "I was an idiot. Thank you, Hiccup."
He stared at her for another couple moments, his eyes still narrowed, before he relaxed and gave a sheepish laugh. "No worries." He rubbed at his wrist with a wide grin. "Although, I'll request we try not to wrestle each other again when we're angry."
Astrid snorted and finally left the safety of the doorway. "You started it! Running after me like some damsel in distress"
"Hey! I am the hero in this story." His clanking led them both to the window at the far end, where he peered through at the bright sun with a faint look of distaste. "Besides, I would win anyway. In a wrestling match. I am the resident wolf saviour, after all."
Astrid was thrown back to their first meeting, where all she'd heard was a low voice by her ear. A faint shiver ran through her body at the memory. "As if." She strode over to the door to hide the sudden quaking in her legs. "I really mean it, Hiccup. You really...surprised me."
Hiccup smirked at her gratitude. "You're part of our group now, Astrid. We're like a tribe here. And a chief protects his own."
An image of a past Hiccup, settled at the head of a viking mead hall, flashed through Astrid's mind. It made her giggle, which in turn made Hiccup raise his eyebrows.
"What? I am the boss, after all."
Again, a reference to Astrid's treatment of him before she realised he was her superior. He still didn't feel like it; nor did he dissuade any of her attempts afterwords to respond with violence or harsh words. He really did stick it out, through all of her moods and unpleasant attitude.
"You're a good...friend." She surprised herself with how right that sounded. In fact, seeing his own eyes widen made her automatically surge forward and punch his shoulder.
"That's for trapping me against a door."
Hiccup pouted and shrugged his shoulders in defeat. Seeing the edge of his jaw, still shaped by faint brown stubble, had her leaning in before she knew she'd moved to peck at his cheek to feel the rasp on her chin.
Hiccup choked out a sound and snapped his head so fast in her direction they both heard a faint click of his bones protesting. He gawked, like she'd taken off her shirt and danced the hula topless. Well – judging by his reaction, she may as well have. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she offered him a shy smile and slipped out of the emergency exit door.
Even as she strode confidently towards Teeth Cove to thank Ruff, a giddy disbelief followed her actions. She felt relieved and grateful for Hiccup, and couldn't help the smile that stayed on her lips. She wasn't sure what she was doing, throwing herself at Hiccup with first assault, then a kiss, but she didn't dislike it. In fact, it made her feel invincible, like some wild dragon tamer.
Astrid hoped Hiccup wasn't over-thinking that peck like she was, and in fact just considered it to be a friendly thank-you effort.
She also hoped she wouldn't be fired for kissing her boss in a fit of apparent insanity.
Reviews are welcomed.
