Chapter 15

Astrid returned to the main room a half an hour later. Now wearing some black yoga pants and a tank top, her hair free from the complicated bun and carrying several large bags under her arms. She made her way to the area of the large room that held her couch and tv. Setting down the bags loudly, gaining everyone's attention.

"Astrid?..." Hiccup passed a questioning glance at the bags before looking back at her.

"Sleeping bags. For tonight." Astrid gestured to the upstairs doors, "if you haven't noticed, I don't get a lot of guest. So the only bed here is my own." As she finished explaining Snotlout slyly sided up next to her wearing his rumpled tuxedo and a smug looking grin on his face.

"You know princess, you could save one of those and we could just share your bed." His eyebrows wiggled in emphasis.

Planting her hands firmly on her hips, Astrid stared him down. "Not even if you were the last man on Earth Snotlout, would you grace my bed." She told him in a slow manner as if he had trouble comprehending her words. Which he obviously did.

With a pout, Snotlout deflated–his pride shrinking, he quickly grabbed a rolled up sleeping bag off of the floor and crossed his beefy arms over his chest. Turning away, he grumbled something that sounds suspiciously like 'shut up Astrid' under his breath before walking away. The other roommates gathered their sleeping bags in a much more dignified manner. Choosing to just give her a grateful nod and head to different locations around the room to set up.

Astrid let out a sigh as the group left before turning her attention on the two Haddock men. The younger staring at her apprehensively, concern still lacing his features. Astrid pushed down any feelings the simple gesture brought up in her to keep her neutral outer facade in place.

"Sir," she nodded to Stoick Haddock, "I believe we need to come up with a plan for moving forward. As safe as my home is, this location is much more known now." Astrid glanced around the room and out the window to the several black SUVs that were parked there. Men in equally black suits standing statue like beside them. "So hiding out here until the men behind the assassination attempts are found is not possible."

"I don't see why not Captain, this location is still secure." Astrid shook her head immediately at her General.

"With all due respect Sir but the only people I trust not to kill Hiccup are in this room." She pointed her fingers toward the exterior front wall, "those men out there, could easily be part of the plot, considering what happened tonight I'm almost a hundred percent sure your security detail has been compromised somehow."

At that accusation Finn Hofferson stepped in to the conversation, "you have no proof of that Astrid. Those men have been loyal to the General for years." He said, his voice giving off an edge of annoyance. Astrid could tell it was more than the general unpleased tone he used only with her.

"You want proof?" She paused as ice blue eyes met matching ice blue. "Okay, how about the moment you and the General left is when they staged their attack. Knowing the exact time there would be less guns to stop them. Those men knew what your time line was Sir and they also knew about the additional metal detectors this year. Which is why they brought 3D printed knives." Finn's eyes widened along with the two Haddock men as he took a unsteady glance out the window. His gaze no doubt now surveying the men out there.

Hiccup looked between the two men, as they digested the information. Their surprise evident over how quickly she pieced together the now obvious truth. Bringing his gaze back to Astrid he decided to take his safety into his own hands. Putting it fully into hers.

"So what do we do Astrid?" His determined green eyes met hers.

"We leave Berk." She said without hesitation, eyes still locked with his. And in a move that will forever surprise him for how out of character it was he nodded his head with no objection.

"Okay."

"Son! You can't possibly leave Berk! It's not safe!" Stoick quickly countered.

Hiccup turned to his Dad, seeing the look of worry and fear on his face. "Dad, what we're doing here isn't working. These guys are just getting more and more bold. I can't just sit around and wait for them to strike again." He extended a comforting hand and placed it on his Father's large arm. He knew despite his Father's fierce imposing exterior the man had a gentle teddy bear side. One that needed coddling every once and a while. "Besides disappearing might throw them off their game enough for you and Colonel Hofferson to catch them. Don't worry Dad, I-I trust Astrid with my life. I'll be okay."

Stoick took in the comforting yet determined green eyes of his Son, for a brief moment seeing another set of gentle green eyes flash in their place. The shape, color and expressiveness exactly the same as his long lost wife. Something that had been both a blessing and a curse since her departure from their lives.

Stoick found the days immediately following the disappearance of his wife and best friend's plane by far the worst of his life. During that time Stoick could barely lay eyes on his Son without being reduced to a mess of tears–only seeing his now gone wife. Causing him to lash out in aloof behavior. As the familiar features seemingly haunted him. It was only after Hiccup's reclusive behavior started, did Stoick come to see the gift the Gods have given him, in his Son. The same Son that he had quietly locked away in the bedroom down the hall. Shunning him away to a point that the young man couldn't handle his own grief and guilt by himself. A selfish choice Hiccup was still healing from.

Of course by the time he had realized his mistake Hiccup was un-reachable physically and emotionally. Rejecting any and all help from him and his friends. It was then that he vowed to never let his fear and pain override his decision making again.

Reaching over with his free hand, Stoick grasped his Son's single hand and gave it a light squeeze. A small knowing smile growing on both their faces. He watched as those identical eyes left his and sought out the blonde female at his side. Surprisingly Stoick saw another familiar look in those vivid green eyes as they stared at Astrid. The exact same look that Valka used to give him when he had to leave in the middle of the night, at the drop of a hat–omitting any and all facts about where he was going, how long he would be gone or how dangerous it would be. Instead of peppering him with a thousand questions like a normal person would she would just nod and stare up at his with that same look of unwavering trust. Just like Hiccup was giving to Astrid now. He trusted the girl with his life and Stoick would as well.

So without another hesitation Stoick nodded, his voice coming out weaker than he would have liked. "This will be the first Snoggletog away from home." He choked out. Hiccup's arms immediately went around his large Father, squeezing his small frame against his.

"We can celebrate when I get back." He said as he pulled back, from the embrace slightly, a firm look in his eyes. "Because I will come back."

"Aye, I know." Stoick shifted his gaze to Astrid, who like her Uncle stood beside them observing the interaction between the Father and Son.

"You'll take care of my boy wont you Captain?"

"With my life General." She said meaning every word.

Stoick nodded, Hiccups wild auburn hair brushing his face as he did. I know you will…I also know he would do the same for you. Stoick thought worriedly knowing that if it came down to it his Son would sacrifice himself for the young female officer. He had seen the way his Son looked at her, his slight movements and gestures towards her. More than likely undetectable to others but to Stoick Haddock that were as obvious as a bright neon flashing sign at night.

His Son loved the girl.

Hiccup himself probably didn't even realize it yet, just assuming he had a strong attraction for her. But Stoick knew the truth. Just like those other looks, Hiccup had acquired the same look of love that his Mother used to have looking at him. A subtle softening of their green eyes, an upturn of the left side of their mouths.

Identical to his Val.

Taking a deep breath Stoick, sent a quiet prayer to the Gods to keep them safe–relinquishing the task for the first time in his Son's life–and released him.

"Where do you plan to go?" Finn Hofferson's curt question cut through the moment. No doubt by his tone that he didn't quiet agree with the decisions being made.

"I can't tell you." Astrid responded equally as curt.

Blue eyes flared with rage for a brief moment as they zeroed in on Astrid, "I am your commanding officer, Captain. You have no right keeping that information from me!" The two Hofferson's squared off, neither ready to back down on their decision.

"Colonel, I think it's better if you both don't know where we're heading. Lessens the chance of the information leaking out." Astrid told her Uncle firmly.

"But–"

"I agree." Stoick interjected cutting off his friend, "the lass is right we have traitors amongst us. We need to weed them out without risk of them finding Hiccup and the rest of them." Stoick turned his attention back to Astrid, "I'm going to assume you don't need assistance getting off the island?" Astrid nodded her head and after a moment Stoick nodded as well. "Alright then, when will you leave."

Astrid hesitated before telling him. She knew for a fact Stoick and her Uncle were not trying to kill Hiccup but she still wanted to keep tight lipped about the information. So there was absolutely no way he would be found. "We'll be gone by tomorrow evening." She told them deciding to keep it vague.

Both men nodded–until suddenly Stoick paused and narrowed his eyes at her. "You've already arranged your departure, haven't you? While you were back there…so despite what we told you to do, you were always going to leave–weren't you?" Astrid eyes widened a fraction, a red hue dusted her cheeks, as he caught her red handed.

"Aye just as I thought…I don't know if I should punish you for insubordination or be impressed by your initiative." He smirked and her body visibly relaxed.

"I'm sorry Sir, I was just–"

"Trying to protect my Son, no need to apologize Astrid. You're just doing your job and you're doing a damn good job at it."

"Thank you Sir." Astrid gave him a stiff barely noticeable nod. Uncomfortable with the praise immediately after she tried to deceive the man.

"Well I believe it's time for us to leave." Stoick let out an exhausted sigh, "it's been a long night. Son," Stoick turned to Hiccup again–gaining his attention. Gently grasping his arm he pulled the two away from the group. Wanting to have a private moment with his Son before he disappeared for an undetermined amount of time.

The pair stopped next to Astrid's large ornate dining table. Hiccup couldn't help glancing down at it again mentally noting to ask Astrid about its origins when he could get a his own quiet moment with her.

"I dropped by the house and grabbed a bag of your things, as well as clothes for everyone else. Well my men grabbed their things–but that's besides the point. It's only a few days worth so you'll probably have to pick up some more along the way." He anxiously ran a hand threw his beard. "Astrid will have money, so go to her when you get to–where ever you're going. She'll pay for everything." He rambled off quickly.

"Dad. Dad." Hiccup raised his hands to grasp Stoick's hand that was repeatedly running threw his beard. A sure sign of nerves. "Don't worry. I trust Astrid…completely." He glanced over at the blonde standing stiffly next to her Uncle. The two not exchanging a single word as they waited for him and his Father to finish. Hiccup made another mental note to figure out what the Hel happened to those two to turn their relationship into nothing more than commanding officer and his solider.

"I know Son, I can plainly see how much you trust Astrid." His Father said vaguely. Hiccup paused for a moment but decided to brush the comment aside and keep going with their goodbye.

"You'll watch Toothless for me?"

Stoick smirked and nodded, "Of course. He'll have a good time terrorizing Skullcrusher and Cloudjumper." The two men chuckled at their mental images of the skinny alley cat chasing around the two full grown dogs around the Haddock mansion.

"Thanks Dad," Hiccup hesitated not knowing how to say Goodbye to his Father. It all just felt so final, like they may never see each other again. Which could very well happen. Before he could debate any farther his Father reached forward and pulled him into another firm hug.

"I love you Son…please–please be careful." Hiccup nodded, pushing back the tears that were suddenly threatening to fall.

"I-I love you too, Dad." The two men took another minute to relish in the feeling of their hug before letting go of each other. Stepping away, putting enough distance between them so they weren't tempted to enter into another embrace.

"Well Colonel I believe it's time for us to take our leave. Astrid, we'll take your vehicle with us. Fix it back up. See you soon everyone. Be safe." He emphasized with a stern stare at the group before he moved towards the side door. The entire group now watching them leave from the great room. Everyone completely silent as the two walked out the door without so much as a backward glance. The door clicked shut and it was only then did Astrid let out a silent sigh.

Turning around Astrid faced the group, all standing amongst their sleeping bags and the bags Stoick and her Uncle had brought. "Alright first things first," she extended her palm flat, "I need your phones." Everyone's faces instantly flooded with confusion. "We're going off the grid. You won't be able to contact anyone, or post to social media." She saw Snotlout's mouth open to object, "I'm positive that your families will be told something to justify your absence. So–hand over the phones." They all begrudgingly reaches into their pockets, in Heather's case her purse and placed them in Astrid's hand. She quickly disabled them and put them on a shelf in the bookcase. "Next the bathroom is over there," she pointed to a door near the kitchen before crossing her arms back across her chest. "Last but most important, no one leaves this house. For any reason. Got it?" Each person in the group nodded slowly, choosing to not object–either from exhaustion or fear of the consequences.

"Great, I'll see you all in the morning then." Before anyone could stop her she was heading up the staircase and toward her bed room door.

Hiccup watched Astrid walk into her room and firmly shut the door. Letting out a sigh he walked over to his still rolled up sleeping bag, picking it up and unrolling it. Far to exhausted to think about much else than getting some sleep.

. . . . .

Astrid jolted awake from her spot seated on the cold tile floor of her shower. The once warm water running down the drain, gently splattering on her feet and heating the air around her, having long gone ice cold. Effectively making the tile shower enclosure into an over sized ice box.

Groaning Astrid got to her feet and shut off the water. With a stretch she reached past the glass shower door and grabbed a plain white towel off the rack–quickly drying off her shivering naked body.

Once she was fully dry she slipped back on the clothes she had gone to bed in the The night before. In reality she had spent most of the night tossing and turning until around 4am or so when her aching muscles and never ending thoughts got the best of her and she slipped into the shower. Ultimately letting the hot steam lull her to sleep. Until she used up all the hot water and tried to give herself a case of hypothermia.

Walking into her bedroom she glanced at her phone on the night stand, clicking the side button she saw that it was just six in the morning. Letting out a grunt of frustration she decided to head downstairs and make some coffee. The moment Astrid stepped out of her room the alluring sent of freshly made coffee hit her nose. Instantly brightening her mood from lack of sleep.

She made it to the kitchen despite the lack of light in record time–not surprisingly–finding Hiccup standing next to her coffee maker, a smile on his face with a steaming cup of coffee in hand, another sitting on the counter beside him. Gratefully Astrid took the coffee and leaned against the counter next to him. Both quiet for a moment as they stood there, in the dim pre dawn light, dressed in their pajamas drinking coffee as everyone else still slept.

After she had a few sips Astrid glanced sideways at Hiccup, "you're up early."

Hiccup looked over at her and shrugged, "I'm always up early on this day." Astrid cocked an eyebrow, "It's Snoggletog remember?" Astrid's eyes widened for a moment before returning back to normal. Clearly she hadn't remembered.

"Shit…with everything going on I completely forgot. The Snoggletog Eve ball feels like days ago." Hiccup nodded absently understanding fully what she meant. It felt like they had fit a years worth of excitement into one evening.

"But hey since it is Snoggletog we should celebrate. And a Haddock family tradition on Snoggletog morning is to always have a large breakfast." He told her setting down his mug and keeping his voice low. He walked toward a large box on the counter and stood next to it. "But…you have literally no food in your house. Like I figured the refrigerator would be bare but not the pantry. There wasn't even an expired package of crackers or cans of soup in there. Nothing." He said accusingly as she shrugged bashfully. It was the truth, she barely ever had food here. Tending to just pick up already made food in town since her cooking skills were nonexistent.

"So I was about to give up until I found this in the cabinet," he gestured to the box before pulling out what was in it. A tan package came out of it and Astrid almost couldn't suppress the groan that begged to come out when she saw it.

"I'd rather go hungry." Astrid said quickly and took another sip of her coffee.

Looking offended Hiccup looked between her and the MRE in his hand. "Oh come on they can't be that bad. Look it's a mutton one." Astrid made a dramatic gaging face.

"Hiccup that is literally the worst one. You want to know what I call that box?" He nodded still holding the mutton MRE. "My 'oh shit' box. As in oh shit I'm about to starve to death, I guess I'll eat something from it so I don't die." Hiccup shook his head and waved her off grabbing a second MRE.

"Well, I'm hungry and I can't live on coffee and alcohol like you so I'm going to eat one and since it's Snoggletog your going to join me. It's tradition, please Astrid?" Even in the dim light Astrid could see his green eyes begging her to go along with him. Letting out a sigh Astrid rolled her eyes and grabbed the second MRE. Taking a glance at the front she relaxed some seeing the flavor.

"Yak chops, the best of the worst. Thanks." Hiccup went to open his package but was stopped by Astrid's hand over his. "Not out here. There's not enough light to see what you're doing and the smell will for sure wake them up." She nodded her head to the group still passed out on the floor before moving out of the kitchen towards the door she had gone through last night–her hand still clasped around his.

Once they got to the door Astrid paused and looked at him, "so something I should tell you about this room…it might be a little overwhelming for you at first." She finished cautiously and Hiccup cocked a suspicious eyebrow up as he looked back and forth between the door and her.

"This isn't some weird fifty shades room is it?" He asked hesitantly.

Instantly Astrid let out a snort of laughter that had her throwing a hand quickly up to her mouth, trying to cover up the outburst. Her eyes wide and cheeks slightly red with embarrassment. Hiccup couldn't stop his own burst of laughter at hearing hers. Covering his mouth as well, to muffle the sound. It was the first time he had ever heard Astrid laugh in such a way and he couldn't ignore the quickening it caused his heart.

After their laughter had trailed off Astrid grabbed ahold of the door knob, "it's definitely not that sort of room–it's better." She smirked and pushed the door open flicking the lights on as they entered.

Immediately Hiccup understood exactly what she had meant by the room being overwhelming at first glance. All four walls were completely covered with weapons of every type. Guns, knives, axes, antique, new. It was an entire room dedicated to Astrid's weapon collection. Hiccup did a slow spin marveling at the collection as Astrid shut the door behind him.

"Wow." It was the only word he could come up with to describe the room. Astrid watched him carefully as he walked around the room and admired all her weapons. His eyes resting on the mat black rifle in the glass case across the room. Like he was pulled to the gun Hiccup walked directly towards it, pressing his hand on the glass right above it.

"That's meathead, Thugs rifle." She told him right away. Saving him time asking.

Hiccup's eyes raked over the rifle. As someone who admired all feats of engineering and design Hiccup could appreciate all the work–no love–that went into it. All the modifications and detail work done on it was staggering.

"It's quiet the weapon. I can see why he would proud of it. Do you have your own rifle too?" Astrid smirked and turned to face the wall to the left and walked over to a rifle there. Plucking it off the shelf she turned towards him.

"This is mine." She proudly held out the impressive weapon. Hiccup walked closer to it, his eyes gliding over every inch of the custom killing machine. It was a deep blue almost black that made the whole rifle almost gleam. Every part of it looked to be sized exactly to her smaller frame.

Hiccup let out a low whistle of appreciation, "very nice. Does yours have a name as well?" He asked slightly tweaking the scope. Astrid nodded with a smug smile.

"Scourge of Odin."

Hiccup's mouth dropped in shock as he turned wide eyes to her. "Th-the Sc-Scourge of Odin! But-but that's the name of the plague that killed whole tribes of–oh…oh…oh I get it now." Astrid's grin grew, "that's pretty good, twisted–but good." Astrid's smile never left her face as she put the rifle back into its place on the shelf.

"I plan on bringing him with me this time." She told him while she walked toward the center of the room and sat down, putting her MRE in front of her. Hiccup followed her actions and soon the pair had their food cooking in front of them, while they contently sat in silence.

They were quiet for a few minutes as their food cooked, Hiccup searching for the right words to ask any of the thousand questions he had running threw his mind. So much had happened and he was dying to get answers but he didn't want to chance her shutting down on him if he asked the wrong thing.

Glancing up from his cooking package of mutton he finally noticed the slight bruising that had formed over night on her arms and shoulders. Evidence of what happened yesterday right in front of his face.

"How are you feeling?" He asked suddenly nodding in the direction of her bruises. Astrid looked down at her body and pulled at the skin in a few places. Getting a better look at the forming bruises.

"Eh, sore. At least I didn't need stitches this time, so there's that." Hiccup nodded absently, the two falling back into their silence. Because he was looking down Hiccup missed the questioning gaze Astrid gave him in that moment.

"Ok out with it." Hiccup looked up from his cooking mutton MRE and met her demanding blue eyes.

"Uh–out with what?"

She audibly rolled her eyes, "ask whatever it is that has you over their squirming around."

Damn. He thought, am I that obvious?

"Okay…I-I guess I want to know about Dagur." He started hesitantly.

"What about him?" She countered.

"You two seem really close." Astrid nodded and picked apart her package of crackers.

"He's my best friend, more like a brother actually. We've been through a lot together, I would gladly lay down my life for him," shrugging, "and I know he would do the same for me." She said without hesitation. Hiccup sat looking at her taken aback by the sudden out pouring of emotion. He knew Dagur was important to her but not like that. Honestly he had assumed the two were close in a different way.

"For minute there I thought you two used to be a couple or something." He laughed nervously, trying to hide his obvious discomfort the coursed through him when talking about Astrid with another man.

"Me and Dagur?" She chuckled and shook her head, "I said he swings both ways right?" Hiccup nodded remembering that part of her story. "Well Dagur tends to swing the other way. And if I had to take a guess I would say he would swing right in your direction." She pointed her plastic knife right at him to emphasize. Only causing Hiccup to turn and even brighter shade of red than he already is.

"But don't worry, Dagur would never do anything too inappropriate–mainly just flirt shamelessly with you. Unless you want more than flirting of course." She chuckled again at his ever increasing red face.

"Nope, uh–most definitely fine." He cleared his throat awkwardly.

Shaking her head at his obvious discomfort Astrid looked down and saw that the food was done cooking.

Reaching down Astrid plunked a fork in Hiccup's mutton pouch and looked back up at him. "Alright done cooking, you get the honor of taking the first bite."

Hiccup looked between the pouch of questionable mutton and then to Astrid's face and back. Tentatively he took his fork from the pouch, scooping some mutton on it and brought it to his mouth. He hesitated right before he was about to put it in his mouth, glancing at Astrid again as she watched him with a small knowing smile. Shrugging off the sinking feeling Hiccup shoved the food into his mouth.

Instantly regretting his decision.

With a mouth full of death Hiccup rapidly whipped his head around trying to find somewhere he could get ride of it. The putrid taste making his mouth water in anything but a good way. As he brought his face front and center again he almost wept when he saw Astrid extend her now empty MRE bag for him to dispose the vile mutton flavored trash into.

As dignified as he could Hiccup spit the quasi food into the bag and shoved a cracker into his mouth. Grimacing as the hard bread ran over the inside of his mouth removing some of the horrid flavor with it.

After several large mouthfuls of cracker he was finally able to talk, "Gods, that was–Odin damned, wh-what was that?!"

Because she couldn't hold it in any longer Astrid let out a roaring laugh. Louder and more joyful than anything Hiccup had ever heard from her. Her cold ridged exterior fading away to the girl she once was. He instantly stopped his gagging and just watched the laughter unfold. Gently he wiped his mouth and smiled. Taking in a side of Astrid he had never been privy to before.

Astrid took a swipe at her eyes, removing the small amount of tears that had collected in them. She hadn't laughed like that in so long. It had felt good. Focusing back on the man that had brought so much laughter out of her, she was surprised to see him watching her with a gentle smile on his face.

"What?" She asked curiously.

He shook his head smile still on his face, "nothing. Hey! I almost forgot." He dug into his green plaid pajama pants pocket and pulled out a small box. "Happy Snoggletog."

Astrid's eyes opened wide seeing the small package laying in his hands. Perfectly wrapped in bright red paper and a gold bow.

"Hiccup…" She said shocked.

"I left it at home yesterday and my Dad must have found it in my room and slipped it into my bag." He smiled again this time a little more apprehensively.

Astrid still hadn't taken the box from him, instead choosing to stare wide eyed at it. It was only when Hiccup pushed it into her empty hands did she finally take it. She glanced a few times between him at the gift before slowly opening it. Taking care not to tear the paper.

"Geez you and I really open presents differently." He said smirking, which caused her to speed up a fraction. Finally leaving the box free of paper.

Astrid bit her lip slightly as she opened the box top. Uncharacteristically Astrid sucked in a sharp gasp before reaching into the box and pulled out the gift.

Expectantly Hiccup watched as Astrid lifted the necklace from the box, dangling it in the air as she inspected it. His optimism started to fade after a full minute of silence as Astrid, continued to inspect the necklace.

Clearing his throat he look cautiously at her, "um–It's a Deadly Nadder scale. I wanted to make one like–like my necklace." He fumbled pulling out the night fury scale necklace that always hung around his neck. "I had it in my collection and–and just added the chain, it's no big deal really, if you don't like it–" at this point he was rubbing the back of his neck in a nervous way.

"It's amazing." She said cutting him off.

"R-really? You like it?" His voice gaining a hopeful tone. Astrid gave him a small nod never once taking her eyes off of the simmering blue scale, clasped to the metal chain.

"Thank you, Hiccup." Her eyes finally left the necklace and met his. "It's perfect." She told him before unclasping the back and slipping it on. The cool blue scale resting nicely on her chest. His smile widened seeing her wear it, his heart giving a secret flutter at the idea that the two had similar necklaces. An outward display of their relationship–whatever it was that they had between them.

Suddenly Astrid stood up and walked over to a black duffel bag, picked it up and brought it to him. "Since we're doing this–here, I got you something too. Lucky for you, I had it hidden in the SUV since I noticed the twins have a tendency to go through my room while we were at school." Hiccup chuckled knowing that was very like the twins.

True to his word Hiccup wasted no time in un-zipping the black bag and reaching inside. Only to freeze in shock. Much slower he pulled out a leather jacket–no the leather jacket that he had off handedly told her about weeks ago. He ran his hand over the polished metal of the buckles, moving toward the red abstract dragon face on the shoulder. It was exactly the jacket he had been looking at.

"Astrid…h-how–I just randomly mentioned it…a-and you found it?" He asked her still inspecting the jacket, only to stop when he opened the interior. No clothing label was present, and the interior had more pockets on the inside than he remembered seeing online. Making it almost look–

Wait.

"You had this made for me?!" He stood up, towering over her.

Astrid waved off his outburst, "the one you were looking was made of cheap leather. This one will last, no matter how ridiculous it may look." Hiccup's mouth dropped as she explained away the custom made jacket as if it was nothing. "Well are you going to try it on?" Not wasting another moment he slipped his arms threw the soft interior of the sleeves and pulled the sleek leather jacket firmly around him. He ran his hands over the buttery leather one more time before taking two steps forward and drawing Astrid into a tight hug. He knew it was a bold move, not something he would have normally done but in that moment he didn't care. She had gotten a custom leather jacket made for him, it was incredible and so very thoughtful.

Astrid brought her hands up his back slowly, carefully embracing him. Almost letting herself get lost in the feeling of his surprisingly strong yet lithe arms wrapped around her. Her mind went to the moment the two had last night–the almost kiss. How right it felt telling Hiccup about her past and how comforting him merely listening to her was. More comforting than anything she had tried since Thuggory's death–and she had tried a lot to help ease that pain. Most being just as destructive as the pain it's self.

But she knew that no matter how much she enjoyed the closeness between them, it couldn't be. They could be nothing more than friends. She wouldn't do that to him.

Coughing loudly Astrid untangled her arms and pushed back gently. Not wanting to hurt his feelings. Hiccup seemed to get the hint and stepped back quickly, his face going red as it tended to do when he got embarrassed or flustered.

"S-sorry, It's just…this is a great gift, thank you."

"No problem Hiccup and you know," she tilted her head and looked at him, "I was wrong. You can pull off leather." Hiccup let out a laugh and the two moved back to their Snoggletog breakfast.

"Here, I'll share some of my yak chops with you, in the spirit of Snoggletog but don't expect me to share again if you pick another shitty MRE." She told him pointing her fork at his face. A happy smile crossed his face and he nodded relishing in the peaceful ease between them as they continued their twist on his old family tradition.

. . . . .

Hours later they were all down at the pier that resided behind Astrid's home. Waiting in the cold foggy late afternoon–almost sunset. Not that any of them would be able to tell with all the fog.

"So this friend of yours, when is he supposed to be here?" Ruffnut asked pulling her brown jacket closer to her body.

Astrid narrowed her eyes trying to see farther out but was unable too. "Soon, he's never late."

"And we'll be able to just leave right away? Like he won't have to refuel his boat or anything?" Astrid nodded at her.

"He uses sails, while it has an engine he prefers to do things the old fashion way. Just as his ancestors did–trust me, the man will explain all of it–at length. He's a fan of talking about himself and his lineage. So once we load our gear up we will be able to leave right away."

Just then a small light shown through the dense fog, capturing all their attentions. Astrid walked further onto the pier, leaving the group several feet back. Suddenly a large wooden, ancient looking ship emerged from the fog. One that looked like it came straight out of the Viking era. A booming voice could be heard in the distance, shouting out commands that they all assumed were to the men scurrying around on the deck, preparing the ship to dock. Several minutes later the large wooden vessel was stopped in the water at the end of Astrid's pier.

Without notice a rope was thrown over the side of the ship landing on the wooden planks beside Astrid and just as quickly as it appeared a large body was climbing down the rope. The man's muscular arms carrying him efficiently down the rope until he landed in front of Astrid his back still to her and the rest of the group. Finally the man turned giving everyone present a view of the person they had been patiently waiting for. A red fabric jacket with a light fur covered collar snuggly fit over the obvious bulging arm muscles. His pants along with his boots were a dusty black. Faded and worn from more than likely his time at sea. Shoulder length dark black hair framed his handsome strong face, a smug grin sat above blue tattooed lines on his chin. Amber eyes narrowed at only one person, Astrid.

"Ace."

"Ere."

And in a move that surprised not only the group near them but Astrid herself, the man moved forward–catching Astrid around the waist, dipping her slightly while bring her body close. Right before slamming his lips down onto her own.

Hiccup's eyes widened at the scene in front of him, as the man Astrid had affectionately called 'Ere' kissed her without abandon. He quickly noticed that her eyes were as wide as his and the rest of the group but also that she didn't immediately push away, seemingly surprised but not shocked by the action.

As if this was a familiar thing between the two.

It was in that moment that Hiccup came to the sick realization of who exactly 'Ere' was. The faceless man of Astrid's past. The same man Hiccup had thought about secretly to himself more times than he could remember. Privately wondering who he could be, comparing his lacking attributes to the man who he was sure had an over abundance of much more desirable ones than he.

The faceless man was suddenly faceless no longer and Hiccup was right, he couldn't hope to compare.

So looooong chapter, hope you like the fluff and the reveal of another character. Eret!