"Have you JUST met her?"
Snotlout looked at Astrid in desperation for the first time since they've stepped foot in Johann's boat half an hour ago. He had been picking everything up and putting them back down, one disapproving glare from her at a time. He threw his arms up and sighed all the air out of his lungs.
"HELP me then!"
"I am helping!"
"Standing there tutting is not help! She'll be back before sundown, what am I going to do?!"
Damn birthdays. Damn all the special days. Damn Snoggletogg too while he was at it. Hope it all got cursed by Lok- no, he took it back. What he wanted to damn was his inability to find something worthy of Ruffnut to maybe earn a chance to get into her good graces. If it meant no growling when he tried to be close or no rolling her eyes out of their sockets whenever he uttered a compliment, so be it.
Astrid looked even more 'done' than he was. The slap on her forehead was surely heard from the village up the cliff. "Will you just stop for a moment and think? You already know what Ruffnut likes! If you keep picking floral jewelry and same old spear heads over and over again, what do you expect me to do BUT tutting? Honestly…"
She didn't even know why she was trying to help, but the desperation of the young viking ticked something in her, she was just not sure it was annoyance at his irrelevant ways or sympathy for his affection. Snotlout looked slightly offended but he wasn't even going to stop to defend himself. The search was proving to be fruitless and at the end, he was going to end up sticking a knife into a roast chicken and present it as a birthday treat. Fantastic.
"Look, I know what she likes. But nothing here is good enough for her!"
"Hey!"
"Sorry Johann."
Astrid pursed her lips and looked around. There were plenty of excellent goods but considering Snotlout's wish to give Ruffnut something that was probably made in Asgard, it was difficult to find anything close. Just when Snotlout was about to give up and take Tuffnut's old advice of jumping off the ship, her face lit up. It was a long shot and she didn't know if there was enough time, but it was an idea at least.
"How about you give her something handmade? She likes jewelry, just not… This type."
"Sure, great," Snotlout deadpanned, "Excuse me while I create something fascinating out of nowhere while you look around."
"I'm serious."
"I can think of something that I can use my hands for, but first I need her approval for that so it won't work."
"You- Odin's sake… Juts shut up and follow me."
Ruffnut's eyelids lowered and she looked at the silver piece once more before turning back to Snotlout.
"Seriously, just made? You made this?"
"Sure! Uh, except… Not really." He scratched his neck, turning his face away for a moment. "Hiccup made it. For me. I mean, for you. But I asked him to."
She fought back an eye roll and focused on the armlet. It was no complicated work of art but she appreciated the details the more her gaze lingered on the jewelry. Two heads of Zipplebacks almost meeting in the middle; she could see the small scales, the teeth carved on their little heads. Initials made it known to whom it belonged. She could tell even if she didn't see the small R.T. tunes on the inside, it was her size. For once, she couldn't find anything to throw back at his face.
"So… You like it?"
Hiccup sure took advantage of having Snotlout in need of his immediate help, while Astrid took a minute to convince him to spare some time for it. It had cost him two weeks of twice his duties and it was going to be difficult to shut his cake hole and not boast at all for a while but it was okay. He saw the corner of her mouth curving upwards ever so slightly, and it made everything in the whole damn Midgard okay.
"It's nice."
A/N: Hello! It's been a while since I've updated and it's obvious that this 30 day challenge won't fit in a single month by now. (I feel bad about it.) I've posted the last few chapters on Tumblr but forgot to , so excuse the spam. Hope you're still keeping an eye on here and enjoying the drabbles. Let me know what you think!