When the sun went down and the darkness started to seep into the village, she decided she would look for him. She hasn't seen him all day and ever since he woke up from the coma, she was very attentive with him. She still remembered the sensation of the heart crushing shock 3 months ago when she saw him falling into the flames of the giant beast and the relief she felt when Stoick's big ear caught the faint beats of his son's brave heart.
There was no reasonable explanation for it, but she felt uncomfortable when a day went by without seeing him.
At least now she knew that he was at the forge - probably doodling some crazy dragon accessory only his brilliant brain could understand. And luckily, the smithy was an easy target, she could always find a good excuse to be there. Like... her axe's blade felt a little dull, sooo... yeah, she needed an expert's opinion. That sounded right, didn't it?
She arrived to the forge couple minutes later, but it seemed abandoned and dark, however, the door was open... She pushed it and saw a dim light peeking out from Hiccup's little lair. She quietly sneaked in and when she was only a few steps away from the half closed door, she heard the muffled noises.
She recognized Hiccup's voice, but whatever he was saying, it was unintelligible. He sounded more like a wild animal, he groaned and panted and hissed and gasped for air every so often.
When she reached the door, she saw him. He stood with his back to her. His right hand was holding onto the edge of the table with knuckles white from his strong grip and his left hand was... Oh.
She couldn't see it clearly, but it was moving rhythmically as if he was tugging at something... And then it hit her. Oh. Oh. Oh. She knew that boys did this, but... it never occurred to her that Hiccup could be doing that too...
"As...oh... Astrid..." He moaned suddenly and Astrid's cheeks started to burn with anger and shame. Oh, no, he didn't just say her name! The tugs seemed to speed up and the awkward mumbles kept falling out of his mouth. "Oh, Gods... Astrid... you-you're... so... per... ah... perfect..."
She just stood there, feet riveted to the ground, with eyes wide open, not daring to disturb his trance. His fingers let go of the table all of a sudden and he grabbed a rag that was on it and he placed it between his legs while he let out one final, deep sigh of her name.
She flinched when she heard his last word and started to draw back, but when she was at the front door again, she decided to pay him a lesson.
"Hiccup?" Her voice was clear and loud and she grinned when she heard the sounds of falling objects and clumsy efforts. She hurried to the back room and when she saw him, she almost laughed up. He was pale and nervous and his voice was trembling. "A-A-Astrid?"
"Oh, there you are!" She sounded cheerful and she immediately spotted the crumpled, untidy rag on the table and she reached for it. "Can I borrow it? I have to wipe my face..."
He jumped as fast as it was humanly possible and stole the rag right before she could touch it.
"Erm... It's mine..." He said embarrassed and buried it deep inside the pocket of his tunic.
Astrid quirked an eyebrow and flashed a lopsided smile. She stepped closer to him and grabbed the trembling boy's fur vest and pulled him close to her, very close.
"I saw what you did, Haddock..." She whispered with an evil tone.
Aaand that was it, the end.
He gulped hard and wanted to die - he was sure that Astrid would gladly help him with his suicide mission.
He wanted to say something, but his mouth was dry and her grip was hard.
And then she said one last sentence before letting go of him and leaving the forge.
"Don't you ever dare to think of someone else while doing that."
It echoed in his ears all night.
