WOW so this took an unnecessary amount of time, but here it finally is, chapter 15, in which Snotlout gets the plottime he deserves because we stan one (1) boi, Astrid gets shit done and Hiccup is still amazed at how he got where he is now!

Chapter 15 - Two Minutes

The streets of Berk were never really empty. Something was always going on somewhere. This particular morning, a fireman was being dragged over the cobblestones by his barking dog.

"Hookfang!"

Hookfang came to an abrupt halt in front of a small cafè, panting, wagging his tail. Snotlout stumbled to a halt, following his dog's gaze -

He gasped and ducked behind one of the flower pots outside of the building, heat crawling up his face as he realised exactly whose cafè this was. A heartbeat later he realised what had just happened and he spit out a curse through gritted teeth, angry at his reaction and stepped back into the open.

"Scott, hi!"

Fishlegs waved and grinned at him, and Snotlout wished he a) wasn't there and b) couldn't feel his heart race up to his throat at the sight of his cousin's friend.

'Shit.'

"Hey, wha- what are you doing? I mean, I uh, saw you closed up the shop like a week ago, was everything okay?"

Fishlegs sharply sucked in air through his teeth and sheepishly looked to the side. "Yeah, I probably should've told you guys. Don't worry though, nothing bad happened."

"Oh … okay."

"It was actually - hang on, I'd like you to meet somebody!"

Scott smiled and nodded but the only thought running through his head was 'Please don't be a girlfriend 'cause that would be actually worse than if you had a boyfriend which would at least mean you're gay, please don't be a girlfriend, please don't be a girlfriend.'

Fishlegs reappeared, and for a second, Snotlout stopped because he didn't see anybody accompanying him - then Hookfang started to pull on his leash and the fireman's gaze fell down. There, next to Fishlegs, cowered a small brown basset breed, timidly shying back from the larger dog.

Snotlout's first thought was, 'Oh, thank God.' And then, 'That's a really cute dog.'

So he knelt down, pulling Hookfang back.

"I got her from a death row animal shelter," Fishlegs said softly and watched Snotlout's head snap up, smiling hesitantly.

"It was love at first sight, really. The rescuers said she was really anxious and didn't let anybody near her, but when I walked up to her, she started wagging her tail at me and even let me feed her. I just had to take her with me - but well, now she's really anxious when I'm not there, so I had to close up for a few days until she got a bit used to my flat."

Snotlout nodded, slowly offering the dog his hand - she shyed back. He threw Fishlegs a quick glance, who smiled at him, and then got back up.

"So why'd you open the shop back up now?" he asked and Fishlegs shrugged.

"I missed work. And until she eases up a bit I'll just take her to work with me. You know, chill out a bit. She can get used to seeing people, all in a non-threatening environment."

"Good idea. Hey, if you need help with anything, just tell me, yeah? Hooky and I are always glad to help," Snotlout mumbled, trying to act as nonchalant as possible.

Fishlegs grinned. "That'd be nice, thanks."

They stood in awkward silence for a while - 'or maybe it isn't awkward and I'm just thinking it is, ugh, why did I even come by here-'

"So, uh, can I get you anything? You know, since you're here?" Fishlegs asked and Snotlout stopped, surprised. Maybe it wasn't awkward after all.

So he shrugged and said, "I mean, I could go for some afternoon waffles before work."

Astrid inhaled deeply and opened up her laptop, determination written on her face.

'Alright,' she thought, staring at her screen. 'Time to finish this. It's just you and me now, buddy.'

Her finished CV stared back.

Astrid cracked her fingers. It was almost perfect. Emphasis on almost. Which meant it wasn't perfect. Which meant-

Astrid screwed her eyes shut, forcing her train of thought to stop.

"You know you're good, you know you're good," she ground out through gritted teeth, knocking her fists against her forehead as if physically willing the mantra into her head. "A resumé alone isn't going to make them hire you. That's on you," she repeated Hiccup's words and rubbed her eyes, exhaling slowly.

Then she yanked her hands away from her face and set them down on the table, opened her emails and typed in the address of the school office.

Snotlout had followed Fishlegs back inside and was now pretending to greatly care about where he would sit, when in reality he just wanted to spend a bit more time watching Fishlegs work.

"You sure you don't wanna sit outside? It's a beautiful-"

"No, it's really hot, in here's better," Snotlout said too quickly, his voice maybe a little too loud. Fishlegs hesitated but then shrugged and pointed him towards an unoccupied table.

"Hey, isn't that Hiccup's date from a couple weeks ago?"

Snotlout hissed and pulled Fishlegs behind a flower pot. The other man let out a low yelp.

"What-"

"She's his girlfriend now," Snotlout explained and stole a quick glance at the young woman, who was typing something on her laptop. "They got together like three days ago - which he didn't tell me until yesterday, so I'm a bit bitter about that - but they had their first kiss like yesterday and - God their children are gonna be beautiful, what the fuck- he is so head over heels, it's disgusting, but I'm really happy for him, so it's okay."

Snotlout stopped, realising this was all maybe something Hiccup should have told his friend in person and when he was ready, so he quickly added, "But you didn't hear this from me."

Fishlegs turned to look at him. "Hear what?" he grinned, nudged his shoulder shortly and then made his way to Astrid's table.

For a few moments all Snotlout could do was look after him, having stopped functioning.

oOo

"Good afternoon, what can I get for you?"

Astrid looked up at the sound of a familiar man's voice and smiled when she recognised him.

"Hi! A latte would be brilliant - and you know what, while I'm here, some of your chocolate ice cream because it's to kill for."

Fishlegs laughed. "Good choice. And thank you, I'm glad you like it."

Astrid shrugged and grinned. "We should both thank Hiccup for that one, he introduced me to your cafè. We haven't had the chance to come by again though, and he'd mentioned you were out of town for a few days."

"So you guys are still going out?" Fishlegs - Christopher - asked and Astrid couldn't help but remember the first time her and Hiccup had come to The Cone Cove

"Let's see if I can manage to properly eat ice cream this time," Astrid commented lightly and pushed the door open.

It was a small, light-flooded place with plants over plants hanging from the ceiling and placed around the corners.

"Hiccup!" a voice called out and Astrid noticed a large kind-faced man emerge from behind the counter. Quickly she let go of Hiccup's hand, only now registering that they had still been holding hands.

She watched Hiccup grin and be engulfed in a large hug by the blond man who seemed to be about their age, maybe a bit older.

"It's so good to see you! You never stop by these days."

Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I've been a bit busy these days."

He tried stealing a quick glance at Astrid without either of them noticing - neither of which failed to see.

His friend's face lit up in a smiliar manner to Tuff's, Astrid realised and remembered Hiccup had been as hopeless as her.

She extended her hand to him. "Nice to meet you. I'm Astrid, Hiccup's …" She stopped, suddenly uncertain. What exactly were they? Was she his date? Did that imply that he was also dating other people? They were exclusive, weren't they? They were romantically involved, even though that sounded a lot like something that happened only shortly in a passionate affair. Girlfriend also did not apply.

"Date," she finished, shooting Hiccup a look who only shrugged helplessly and looked as though the only thing he wanted right now was for the ground to swallow him immediately.

The other man didn't seem to notice her pause and embarassment and shook her hand. "Likewise. I'm Christopher - or Chris, however you want."

He clapped his hands. "So. I'd recommend you this beautiful little table over here, the oleander is blooming just nicely this year."

Hiccup smiled and followed his guide. "Thanks, Fish."

"Hang on, I'll get you the specials card, too."

Christopher disappeared, a cheery smile on his face. Astrid took a seat and smoothed her hands over her skirt.

"Fish?"

Hiccup chuckled. "Fishlegs, actually. Another weird nickname. We met while fishing when we were young. Both of us got forced by our parents to go fishing with them, and, well, let's just say we spent the day more with hunting trolls and learning about the forest than fishing. But it stuck with us."

She hummed, resting her chin on her hand. "Are you close?"

"We're still really good friends, but not as close as we used to be. Work's sort of getting in the way. But we still meet up sometimes."

His voice sounded rough, almost, a bit hoarse she noticed then. He sounded exhausted.

"Ruff and me are the same, honestly. I don't know just when we got so busy. And I don't want any friendship to feel like a chore."

"Right. That's understandable."

He locked his eyes on her again over the menu. Astrid pretended not to notice.

"Is the coffee as good as his ice cream?" she asked, quickly scanning her options.

"I don't know, I don't drink coffee."

Astrid gasped, mockingly in shock. "How do you survive?"

"On water and tea, usually."

Hiccup had leaned forward, leaning on his forearms, grinning his lopsided grin at her and suddenly she wasn't so keen on focusing her attention on the menu in her hands anymore.

In the end she decided to just get a chocolate sundae and set the menu down, letting her eyes wander over his face again

"Yeah, we, uh, we're actually a couple now," she heard herself say.

"Congratulations," Christopher smiled. "I'm not surprised though, from the way he looked at you. Anyways, I'll be right back with your order, it was nice to see you again!"

"Likewise," Astrid replied smiling and then returned her attention to the email she was writing - well, at least she was looking at it. The rest of her was still caught up in another sun-flooded memory.

"Look what the cat dragged in!" Hiccup grinned at the sight of Snotlout entering the fire department in his usual state - fifteen minutes late, a to-go coffee cup in his hand.

His cousin sat down, setting the cup on the table.

"Okay, so, first of all, before you judge me, Mr 'I got an entire day off so I could get laid'-"

he ducked away from the rubber that came flying at him and continued completely unfazed, "guess who's back in town and has a dog."

Hiccup gasped. "You're kidding! He got a dog?"

"Yes," Snotlout confirmed, grimly staring at him over the rim of his coffee. "Which makes me, like, seventyone percent more attracted to him, which I hate."

Hiccup looked at him and could already tell Snotlout was going to despise his next question.

"Why don't you just tell him?"

Snotlout gawked at him. "And ruin my carefully crafted reputation in this city? Are you insane?"

"Have you ever considered that maybe he … feels the same way?"

"Wait- did he say something to you?"

"No. I'm just saying you could be missing your chance and it might be too late in a couple-"

"Okay, okay, calm down Romeo, just 'cause you got a girlfriend now doesn't mean you can start giving me actually helpful dating advice, okay?"

Snotlout interrupted him but grinned and nudged his cousin's shoulder, leaning back while taking another sip of his coffee.

"Appreciating it, though."

Hiccup snorted and leaned back.

"Hey, just 'cause I got a girlfriend doesn't actually mean I know how I did that."

Hiccup sighed, rubbed his burning eyes and threw his arms over his head, stretching until he heard his back crack.

'That sounds very unhealthy,' he thought, slowly rotating his neck and letting it hang backwards until some of the tension subsided. His gaze fell on Snotlout next to him, who had curled up on the couch and was snoring loudly. Hiccup grinned and carefully got up, trying not to disturb his sleeping cousin and tiptoed to the door of the common room, up the steps to the headquarters.

He started when his phone in his pocket rang, checked the screen and grinned at Astrid's face on the caller ID.

"Hello?"

"Hi," Astrid's voice greeted him and he felt a wave of warmth wash over him at the sound of it.

"Hey," he answered softly and sat down on his chair.

"What're you up to?"

"Work, as usual," he leaned back. "I'm on call response."

She let out a small chuckle. "So you had to pick up?"

"Of course, I'm just doing my job here, it's not like Snotlout's been asleep for the past hour and nothing is happening and I'm bored out of my mind and have been wanting to talk to you the whole day."

Astrid hummed, grinning audibly. "Of course."

She paused for a second and then asked, "So would it be okay if I came over for a bit? It's - basically too late for me to be asking this, I already got the tea and am literally two minutes away."

Hiccup sat there, stunned for a second, the only thought occupying his mind right now, 'God, I love you.' but he bit his tongue, and instead said, "That'd be great! Text me when you're at the gates, I'll come down. Don't wanna wake Snotlout."

Astrid nodded, biting down a grin. "Okay, see you in two minutes," she whispered.

Hiccup closed his eyes, his heart fluttering.

"Two minutes.

Hope you enjoyed that one! Also, on a more personal note, to all the single people out there who read this story wishing they had someone - take this from a Person Who's Been Single For 20 Years And Isn't Since About Three Weeks Ago: YOUR PERSON WILL COME! AND UNTIL THEN YOU'LL BE JUST FINE BECAUSE YOU'RE ALREADY KILLING IT ON YOUR OWN! (And in the meantime, we can all just read fluff amirite, no but seriously, I feel you and it'll be okay! Keep on rocking!)