This one takes place when they're about 17-18 years old, a couple months before they get married.
Hiccup didn't like Astrid's tone of voice. He wanted to like it, he really did. She sounded so happy and enthusiastic. But that particular kind of enthusiastic, combined with the fact that tomorrow was Snoggletog?
It brought back memories of last year's Snoggletog, when Astrid had gone all-out on 'new holiday traditions'. They had both missed most of the holiday two years ago when Meatlug kidnapped them. And although they had learned why the dragons all left that time of year, it didn't ease the hole inside everyone's hearts when the dragons went away.
So last year Astrid was determined to "bury the sadness" and instead bring joy. However, her ways of joy were… special, from being punched in the face when walking under a 'missing toe' to drinking the most horrific concoction Hiccup had ever encountered. Astrid never wavered, no matter how many complaints she got or how many people got sick from yaknog.
So Hiccup was understandably a little worried about her plans for this year. She had brought something with her, and he wasn't sure what it was. At least it didn't smell lethal or rotten.
"So… what's your new holiday tradition?" he hesitantly asked, hoping she couldn't hear the fear in his voice.
"It's amazing! Much better than last year's! Those were just child's play! I have so much more planned out now! But the biggest one is right here. You and the other riders will have to help me with it, though!" she said, voice so quick and excited he had trouble following her.
"Okay…" he said. Of course he couldn't say no to her. He'd never been able to say no to her. Not when she was this excited and happy about something. And especially when Toothless was gone he couldn't hurt the other half of his heart. She always supported him with his ideas, right? Then surely he could support her. Even if it might be 'improved yaknog' or something else crazy.
Oh gods, he was going to die, wasn't he?
No, he wouldn't think like that. She grew a lot since last year, and he knew her mom talked to her about the yaknog. But still… that voice scared him.
"So how can I help?" he asked, wishing he could see what she brought.
"Well, first you're gonna have to take your clothes off-" she started. Hiccup interrupted her when he choked.
"Wait wait wait wait, uhm, Astrid, I really like you, but we're getting married in two months and it'll be better to wait until then to do anything and- OW!" He yelped in pain when she interrupted his rambling with a punch on the arm.
"I didn't mean it like that! Seriously, is that really where your mind went? You're such a boy!" Astrid shouted, and he cringed.
"I'm sorry! I just got nervous and…" he said, voice softening. Suddenly her lips hit his, and she grabbed his shoulders in her hands, pulling him closer. He was so shocked he couldn't even return the kiss.
"I was just kidding. Relax, Hiccup. It's okay, I get it. You just make it so easy to tease you!" she giggled when she finally drew back. He couldn't reply: It took a bit for his brain to catch up.
"But look, what I was trying to say was that I made you some new clothes. You and the other riders. And I need you to try it on so I can see if it fits," she said when he didn't reply, though she didn't seem upset.
"Oh. Oh, right. I can do that. Just give me a minute to change," he said, taking the bundle of cloth she held out for him and moving up the stairs. He could finally relax when the door was closed behind him, and he took a deep breath.
Some of these days he had no idea why Astrid even put up with him, he felt so stupid. But maybe that's what she liked? He didn't want to question it. So he forced himself to unfold the cloth and figure out what it was.
That turned out to be harder than expected. It was only one piece of clothing, a large thing almost as long as he was. It had all kinds of appendages and… spikes?
"Uhm, Astrid? What is this? I… don't really understand how I have to put this on," he eventually shouted through the door.
"Oh. Oh! Right, you can't see it. Uhm, It's a full-body suit. A costume! I believe mother called it a 'onesie'? It's open at the waist, so you have to put your legs… uhm, leg in first. One of the legs is shorter than the other, to match your… condition," she slowly explained, clearly embarrassed herself.
"Ah. I'll… try that," he said, feeling the cloth again and figuring out what he guessed were the legs.
"Here goes nothing," he muttered, stripping to his underwear, taking his prosthetic off, and awkwardly putting his legs into the thing. It was surprisingly soft on the inside, but it still felt weird. Eventually he figured it out, and the rest of the costume fell into place. The upper half went over his head like a hoodie, and it had a zipper that closed over his chest. He still wasn't quite sure what it looked like.
"I think I'm done. I'm not sure if I can put my prosthetic back on over this, though, so can you come in here?" he called out after a minute of fiddling with the leg.
"Sure, I can tighten it a bit, then it might fit- AWWWWW!" Hiccup wasn't sure he liked the squee Astrid produced when she saw him. Such sounds didn't fit with Astrid Hofferson.
"It's just how I imagined! You look just like Toothless! It's so cute!" she continued, running over to where he was sitting on his bed and kneeling in front of him.
"Uh… so when you said you have these for the entire gang, you mean you made their dragons too?" Hiccup asked, running his hand over the hood and finally understanding what the spikes and appendages were. Or what the tail hanging behind him was.
"Uh huh! And one for me too, with Stormfly! I miss her so much, but this way she's a little closer, you know? But I worked the hardest on yours! Well, my mother helped me a lot. She did most of the work honestly, but I think she's happy I'm at least trying to sew now." she said, gently running her hand over parts of the costume.
"Oh wow. I'm impressed. I'm sorry, I don't have a big gift like this for you. I made you something in the forge, but... " he awkwardly said, and she chuckled.
"Stop that. You gave me plenty of gifts over the past year. And just seeing you in this is making me happy," she said, pecking his lips quickly. "Now, how does it fit? I can do some adjustments, make things tighter or looser. Oh, and let me see if I can put your leg on!"
Hiccup wanted to stop her. She had never put on his leg before, he always did it himself. But she had seen him put it on plenty of times, so she probably knew what she was doing. And with such an unfamiliar thing around his stump? Maybe it was better if someone who could see tried it.
"It's kind of tight around my shoulders. And I think the left arm is a little too short. Right arm is too wide, my fingers keep falling out of this glove," he said, trying not to jerk away from Astrid's scarred hands on his sensitive stump. Despite the thick cloth of the costume between them, it still felt strangely intimate.
"Okay, I'll fix that tonight. Now, I think it should be on correctly, so why not try taking a couple of steps? See if you can walk with it?" she said, and he obeyed. His leg was on perfectly. In the end maybe this thing wasn't so different from the sock he normally put over the stump.
"Uhm, the right foot is a bit slippery. I find it hard to walk on that. Left leg is perfect," he said after walking around the room. Just as he finished the sentence his right foot slipped. Before he could hit the ground, however, Astrid had caught him.
"Careful. Don't want you to crash," she teased, and he blushed.
"Thanks. For not letting me fall. And everything else," he whispered as he sat back down.
"Of course!" she said, sounding almost surprised. "Now, how about you change back, so I can make the adjustments. And then you can wear it tomorrow to the feast! Ooh, then you'll be able to see the other traditions I came up with! I'm not gonna spoil everything, but let's just say it involves boiling water!"
Hiccup felt himself get gripped by fear again, but he knew he could endure it. For this wonderful girl with her wonderful and crazy ideas he could do anything.