Thank you all so very much for your enthusiastic response! Yes, this story will be continued. I'll do my best, but I have a heavy workload at the moment, so spare time for writing is a rarity.

Just a reminder, this story is about funerals and death. I've done my best to keep it general, but I don't intend to cause conflict for anybody.

Sometime later, Hiccup noticed Snotlout sneaking through the office, looking decidedly shifty. But because he was on the phone at the time, he couldn't find out what Snotlout was up to. By the end of the phone call a few minutes later, Hiccup had forgotten about the black haired man and resumed his work.

Till Ruff and Tuff came waltzing into the office.

"Fish, can you help us shift one of the caskets in the display room? We need it out back."

Hiccup was only half listening, but distractedly wondered which casket the twins were after, as he couldn't recall needing any.

Fishlegs followed them out of the office anyway. A heartbeat later, Hiccup's head snapped up and he rapidly shot out of his chair to follow the trio. He had almost made it to the display room when he heard Fishleg's voice. "Why is that casket closed? It's supposed to be open."

"Don't do it, Fish," breathed out Hiccup, hoping he wouldn't be late.

But he was.

"RAAAHHH!" came a well-known voice.

"ARRGGHH!" screamed Fishlegs in terror, jumping his large frame backwards and stumbling against the cackling twins, his hand clutched over his heart in fear.

Hiccup strode in, to find Snotlout lying in the half opened casket that Fishlegs had innocently lifted the lid on, laughing evilly at the distress he had caused his big friend.

"Snotlout!" yelled Hiccup. "Get out of there! You should know better than that," he admonished him.

Snotlout wiped a joyful tear from his eye. "Yeah, I do know….that Fishlegs is easy, and that joke never gets old."

The twins made a show of dusting down Fishlegs and righting him so that he could leave with dignity. Sort of.

Hiccup fumed, although he had to fight to pull the corner of his lip down. "Just get out, please? I don't want you damaging the casket."

He turned to leave, and Snotlout grumbled, "Yeah, yeah. Always have to rain on my parade." Snotlout tried, but couldn't angle it right to reach the small release handle to open the rest of the lid.

"Uh…guys? A little help here?" he asked of the twins, who were busy laughing and high-fiving each other.

"Ngh…get yourself out," said Tuffnut with an uninterested shrug. He turned away with his sister, leaving Snotlout stranded in the half opened casket.

"Maybe we should bury him while we can," suggested Ruffnut as they walked away.

"No! Please don't bury me," begged Snotlout loudly, his hands clasped together.

"Nuh…costs too much," said Tuffnut.

"Oh thank you," breathed Snot in relief.

"We should cremate him instead….much cheaper," came Tuff's next offer.

"Hey!" shouted Snotlout in indignation. "I deserve the most expensive funeral there is," he protested loudly. "I demand a burial."

But nobody was listening. He lay fuming with his arms crossed…till he realised he still had to get out. He strained to reach the lever, but found he still couldn't quite manipulate it. He only had one option left…crawling out in a most undignified manner. He grunted and fell to the floor with a thump. Sitting up, he muttered to himself. "Well that would have been embarrassing. Good thing nobody saw it."

"Say cheese!" said a highly entertained Tuffnut, his mobile phone poking around the corner where he had been hiding and secretly filming the whole ordeal.

"TUFF!" roared Snotlout, springing to his feet with his cheeks flaming red. "GIMME THAT PHONE! I'M GOING TO DESTROY IT," he shouted at the top of his voice. But Tuffnut had already sprinted off, laughing his head off.

-oOo-

That afternoon, Hiccup was expecting Astrid back to finish off the arrangements. He found himself keenly awaiting her arrival, which dismayed him. He didn't want to develop feelings for a client. It had never ended well before.

He was debating whether to hand this funeral over to Fishlegs, but before he got too far with those thoughts, he saw Astrid coming towards the front doors. And by her expression, she was not happy.

He opened the door to welcome her in, and as soon as she soon him, a very palpable relief washed over her features. This worried Hiccup. What had happened?

"Are you okay?" he asked in concern, directing her towards the arrangement room. She walked in, and he partially closed the door behind them.

"No...no I'm not," she said. Her features were tight with suppressed rage.

Hiccup pulled out a chair for her, and waited while she sat. He then took a chair opposite, his brows drawn as he focused his attention on her.

"Do you want to tell me?" he asked gently.

Astrid struggled to compose herself enough to answer his question.

"Do you know what those lousy ...sons of half-trolls...did?" she started, getting up and angrily pacing across the room. "They tried to break into Uncle Finn's house!"

Hiccup was surprised. Although he guessed he probably shouldn't have. He'd heard similar stories before, although not usually quite so brazenly.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Uncle Finn's neighbor called me this morning, saying that all the alarms were going off at his house...Uncle Finn worked for a security company. You can bet his house is fully secured," she added with a smirk. "Something that lot obviously didn't think about," she spat out in disgust.

"What did you do?" Hiccup asked.

"I went round there and confronted them. I asked them what they were doing there, and they tried to feed me some lame story about needing to get the house sorted. But I know what they were really doing…trying to find anything of value so they could sell it and keep the money."

She stopped her pacing and was obviously struggling to keep herself under control. "Those scumbags! Uncle Finn's body hasn't even had time to go cold and they're still trying to rip him off!" she raged.

Hiccup tried to keep his expression neutral, but he couldn't help but feel rising anger towards the cold-hearted and greedy attitude of Astrid's family. It was clear Astrid genuinely loved her Uncle Finn, but it seemed that the poor man had suffered a lot of opposition in his life…which hadn't stopped after his death. Only now Astrid was left to deal with it all.

"Do you need any help with them?" he asked, mentally thinking if he could get away with discretely sending the twins around to create a little havoc.

Astrid gave him an appreciative smile, her anger abating a little at his offer. "No, thank you. I told them if they didn't leave I would have them arrested for trespassing and stealing. I have Uncle Finn's will and he was very explicit in what he wanted done with all his belongings. I think he knew they would cause problems if he died."

Her face started to crumple, and Hiccup gently pushed the tissue box towards her.

"Thank you," she said, her voice beginning to wobble as she sat down. "You've been so kind to me. You must think I'm a total loser to keep falling apart like this." She stopped to wipe her eyes and blow her nose.

"No, of course I don't. It's perfectly natural to swing through so many emotions. Especially with the amount of conflict that's happening at the moment," he said to her.

"Conflict!" She gave a harsh laugh. "More like out and out war! They haven't given me a moment's peace the entire time. 'Hurry up and cremate him, Astrid'. 'He doesn't need a funeral, Astrid.' 'Give me the keys to the house, Astrid.'" she mocked. "And when I said there were actually people who cared about Uncle Finn and wanted to attend a proper send off, then they started demanding that the funeral be done their way."

She sat down and reached for another tissue.

Hiccup spoke up. "Please be reassured Astrid. We'll work through this together, so that you can put together the most appropriate funeral for your Uncle. Whatever you want, we'll do."

Astrid was touched by his sincerity. She could see that he genuinely cared, which amazed her because Hiccup had never known her Uncle. But he had already shown her more compassion than her own flesh and blood. The way he spoke and held himself, made her feel more sure in what she needed to do. He gave her the confidence that perhaps she could do this, despite breaking down.

It made her feel a little disconcerted that she had cried in front of him…twice now. It didn't matter to her that death was a sad event, Astrid had always felt that she was tougher than that. Turned out she wasn't. But Hiccup hadn't made her feel embarrassed over it, and it only made her warm up to him. It was ridiculous she felt so at ease with someone she had only just met, but Astrid assumed that it was his job to make people feel relaxed. He was obviously very good at it.

"Thank you. I appreciate that. So, er...what do we do now?" she asked uncertainly. Astrid had been young when her own parents had died and Uncle Finn had taken her in. She vaguely recalled being asked questions about her choices for the funeral, but she had been in so much shock at the time, none of it had sunk in.

And now she was responsible for her uncle's funeral. Astrid had no idea where to start, her only hope was that the green eyed man in front of her would guide her through.

Hiccup pulled out some catalogues to place in front of her. "We need to make some choices about how you want the funeral to proceed," he told her gently, his sympathy for her clearly evident in the way he looked at her.

"For example, these are the cremation coffins we have available. You could choose from here...or perhaps you'd like to visit our display room instead?" he said calmly.

She smirked, despite herself. "I suppose that's where someone hides and jumps out to scare people half to death?" she half joked.

Hiccup blinked hard. "You have no idea," he muttered under his breath.

"Sorry?"

"Um...well, funny you should mention that. My staff and I were just discussing that very topic earlier on today," he said with a guilty grin, but trying to look believable as he 'bent' the truth a little.

"We thought that it would be a very unprofessional thing to do."

A snort could be heard from outside the room. Hiccup tried hard not to frown, instead keeping on a bright smile.

Astrid was skeptical. "You mean to tell me you have all these coffins here...and nobody has tried to trick you?"

Hiccup bit his tongue. "Not to me, no," he told her, hoping she would believe his half-truth. "Anyway, would you like to see them?" he asked quickly to deter any more questions.

"Er, sure...I guess," she hesitated, not keen on this idea at all. How did one choose a coffin?

Hiccup escorted her to the coffin display room, and Astrid was immediately overwhelmed by the number of choices.

"Am I supposed to find which one has the best sea views?" she joked nervously. "Or is this like the new 'tiny apartment' range?"

He shot a quick grin towards her. "One size fits all, perhaps?"

She chuckled at his attempt to lighten the mood.

"Seriously though, most people seem to find one based on colour or style. Some families make choices based on cost," he told her.

Even as he was talking, her eyes were drawn to a simple coffin with a little gold scrolling around the edge. It was an earthy kind of colour, and somehow it reminded Astrid of her uncle. "That one," she told Hiccup.

He nodded, scribbling himself a note. "Shall we go back now?" he asked, as soon as he had finished. "One decision done, ninety-nine more to go."

"Really? That many?" asked Astrid in consternation. She seemed a little shaken at this news. Hiccup guided her towards the arrangement room to regain their seats.

"Not really. It's more like ninety-five," he told her lightly.

She smiled appreciatively at his efforts to keep her head above water. For she felt she might just go under and drown in a sea of multiple decisions, bad relatives, insurance companies, and her own grief. Not to mention that she still didn't know what had actually happened to cause her uncle's death. Right now, Hiccup was her only link to staying afloat. But Astrid was determined to show them all that she could do this. For Uncle Finn.

Sitting down, she took in a deep breath. "Okay then, what's next?" she asked.

"What about flowers?" Hiccup asked, checking his file.

"What about them?" asked Astrid.

"Er…do you want some?" Hiccup asked, his eyes still on his paperwork.

Astrid sucked in her breath at the question, having totally misunderstood what he was asking. She stared at Hiccup in shock.

Hiccup looked up to see her looking at him with doubt, and he rapidly realised what she was thinking. His eyes opened wide, "Um...I meant for the coffin. Do you want to put flowers on your uncle's coffin," he stammered.

"Oh!" she blushed at the error. "Is it compulsory?"

Hiccup shook his head, trying to regain control over himself. His heart had lurched at the idea of giving her flowers. "No. Although most people do. As a sign of respect."

She wrinkled her nose at the idea. "Well, he really wasn't a flower kind of guy," she finally said.

"Okay…what about other plants? Was there something else he liked? Maybe we could use that instead?" Hiccup asked, tapping his pen nervously on the table.

"He did grow a lot of cactus," said Astrid with a thoughtful frown.

Hiccup blinked.

"Cactus," he said flatly.

"Yeah, and bromeliads…the spiky ones. In fact, he grew a lot of spiky plants. He hated gardening, but he hated mowing grass more. So he filled up the gardens with spiky plants and replaced the lawn with gravel. Said it was his security system," she told Hiccup with a fond grin as she remembered the quirks of her uncle's nature.

"Security? Why didn't he get a dog?" Hiccup asked.

"He was allergic to them," she said.

"Okaaay. Moving on from flowers then. What hobbies did he have?" Hiccup asked, crossing flowers off his list.

"Fishing. He loved to fish. I would often go with him," said Astrid wistfully, her gaze far away as she remembered good times she had spent while casting a line with her uncle.

Hiccup watched her face soften while she recollected happy memories, and thought to himself how beautiful she was when she was unguarded in her emotions. He found himself studying her features and the way the corner of her lip tilted just so in such a mesmerizing curve. If he brushed his hand along her cheek, that curve would run right up to her bright blue eyes.

Hiccup blinked, horrified at where his thoughts had just taken him. His heart was beating so hard, he was sure that Astrid would hear it. But she was giving him a relaxed smile, oblivious to his distress. He cleared his throat.

"Um, so do you want to bring a fishing rod instead of flowers?" he asked, sure she would see straight through his sudden nervousness.

Instead she nodded thoughtfully. "That actually would be a really good idea. I could bring his fishing hat too, the one he kept all his hooks and lures attached to."

Hiccup picked up his pen. "Okay then, fishing rod and hat…no flowers," he said, noting this information on the form.

Astrid pushed out a nervous breath. "See? I can do this. It's not so hard," she muttered to herself.

Hiccup glanced over, noticing for the first time how pale she was. He immediately chided himself for being more worried over his own thoughts, then hers. Here he was, practically making a fool of himself over the beautiful woman in front of him, whereas she wasn't thinking of him at all. She was much more taken up with the foreign concept of arranging a funeral for her loved one.

Hiccup swallowed, determined to get a grip on his own wayward thoughts and focus all his attention on his client instead.

"You're doing a great job so far," he told her gently, meeting her startled blue eyes. She hadn't realised she'd said those words out loud.

"Oh, sorry," she muttered in embarrassment, her cheeks heating up.

"Don't be. How about we discuss some of the other items…like music choices or a slideshow," he offered.

Astrid frowned as she thought about it. "Well, I know Uncle Finn liked his rock and roll…but we can't use any of that for a funeral, can we?" she asked uncertainly, thinking of the upbeat music her uncle favored. Astrid hadn't been to many funerals, but she was pretty sure that wasn't the kind of music people tended to play.

Hiccup smiled. "Why not? A funeral is your way of remembering your uncle, which includes his favourite music. If it brings you comfort, I see nothing wrong with putting on something that brings back pleasant memories."

She glanced at him, still hesitant.

Hiccup saw this and offered a compromise. "What if we play the more 'exciting' music at the end when everybody's leaving, and choose a more sedate song for the beginning?"

Astrid let out a grateful breath. "The sounds better. I can do that. I'll search through his collection tonight and find something."

Hiccup nodded and wrote a short note. "Sure. Now, what about a slideshow? Would you like one?"

Astrid thought about this. Her uncle hadn't been a willing subject whenever she took photos, but she did have some. Memories flashed through her mind as she recalled shared moments captured forever on film. Her eyes filled and she had to hastily wipe away a stray tear. Reliving those times with the people he cared about held a lot of appeal, even if she knew it was going to be painful to watch. She nodded.

"That would be really nice. I would like that," she told Hiccup softly, giving him a tremulous half smile.

Hiccup watched her in concern, seeing her struggle. It broke his heart, seeing her like this. He really wished he could find a way to comfort and reassure her, but he didn't know how to do that beyond his usual funeral director routine. Sure, he'd met with a lot of grieving people...even cried with a few…but somehow this particular woman had gotten under his skin in a way that nobody else had.

Maybe it was the way she had so bravely taken on a huge task single-handedly, despite her own roller coaster emotions and the immense pressure her so-called family had placed on her that had impressed him. He only knew he had never met anybody like her.

He ignored any other possible reasons for his sense of attachment to her, telling himself that he was acting the way any reasonable funeral director would behave. The client always came first, his father used to tell him. Well, Hiccup was putting his client first.

"Okay. When you've found the pictures you want to use, bring them in," he told her with a gentle smile.

She nodded in agreement.

"Next question…did you have a time and date decided on for the service?" Hiccup asked her next, his tone professional and brisk while checking his notes.

Astrid hesitated, then shook her head. "No, not yet," she admitted, feeling a little ashamed.

"That's okay. It's good to have it sorted, but there is plenty of time for that. I'm guessing you would like to check with your uncle's friends first?" he asked, with an inquisitive raise of his brow.

"Yes. Is that okay?" she asked, biting her bottom lip in worry. It seemed the most obvious thing to have done first…after all, how do you plan a funeral without a date? But she had been receiving messages of condolences and support from a lot of her uncle's friends and work mates, and they had all expressed the desire to attend his final gathering. Finn's employer had also wanted to be a part of the ceremony and she had yet to meet up with them to work out the finer details.

Hiccup smiled again. "That's perfectly fine…and quite common," he told her reassuringly.

"Oh good," she said, her breath leaving her in an appreciative rush. That point had been bugging her, making her feel as if she had failed. But the way he had responded so matter-of-factly, made her anxiety settle. Yet again, he had come to her rescue with his calm and stabilizing manner. This task had become more arduous than she realized, and it was only the thought of Hiccup guiding her through that made it all a little easier.

He was writing in his notes, and Astrid surreptitiously watched him through her fringe. He was easy on the eye, that much she'd already noticed. Plus when she'd told a few of her friends about him, some had immediately launched into enthusiastic gushing of how kind he was when he had helped them, and how professional he was. Which was all very reassuring…till they'd also gone into detail about what they would do to him if they got him into bed. She'd blushed for hours afterwards, whenever she recalled their words. Even now, she could feel the heat rising up her cheeks.

He looked up with a smile, but faltered.

"Are you okay?" he asked, frowning in concern.

Astrid was mortified. If he knew where her thoughts were right now, he'd probably run screaming in the other direction. Or worse still, shuffle her off to another funeral director. And she really needed him to help her get through Finn's arrangements.

"Um, yes. Lack of sleep I suppose," she mumbled.

He gave a short nod in acceptance, leaving Astrid to give a silent sigh in relief that he hadn't questioned her further.

He sat back in his chair, his gaze purely professional. "May I ask when you'll know?"

She frowned, the reality of the situation forcing those other thoughts out of her mind. "I'll be meeting with Finn's employers this afternoon. So I should know then. Can I give you a call once we've come up with something?"

He smiled warmly. "That would be great. Once we have that, I can confirm everything else."

The way his lips curled created a flutter in her chest, and she couldn't help but stare for a moment. When he spoke again, she abruptly realised what she was doing, and tore her eyes away to stare at her hands instead.

"Astrid?" he asked, and she jolted, looking up to see his concerned frown.

"Sorry, faded away for a moment there," she lied.

"That's okay. I was wondering if you would be able to bring those photos in tomorrow?" he asked again, his eyes glittering with humor at having caught her out.

She nodded sheepishly. "How about in the afternoon? I can bring the music in too."

He chuckled, grinning easily. "That would be fine. I look forward to seeing you then," he told her, beginning to rise from his chair as their appointment concluded.

She took her cue, and picked up her purse. He stood behind her and pulled out her chair as she stood.

"Thank you," she told him, once she was fully standing again. She took in a deep breath and looked him squarely in the eye. "I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate your help. Especially with….you know," she ended with a scowl, obviously referring to her relatives.

"It's been a pleasure," he reassured her, stretching out his hand palm up to her. She responded by placing her smaller hand in his, and he covered it with his own. To Astrid, this simple action was almost as fulfilling as a hug, causing her to sigh again.

"Till tomorrow," she promised. Hiccup escorted her to the front door, waving goodbye when she turned once more before leaving for good.

Hiccup had to fight the longing to keep staring after her, knowing he was probably being watched as well. His friends were already on his case about her and he didn't want to feed the fire, so he deliberately turned back to collect his notes, then head for the office.

For some reason, he was in luck this time. Only Fishlegs was there, already talking on the phone. Although he did give Hiccup a questioning look. Hiccup wondered if he had something on his face so he scrubbed it just in case. Finding nothing, he shrugged and walked to his desk. He had plenty to do.

-oOo-

Hiccup was on the phone, talking with another client, when an almighty BANG rattled through the building.

He jolted in his seat, before hastily ending his call and hanging up. Rushing out to the cremator room, he met Snotlout and the twins doing the same thing.

"What was that?" he immediately demanded to know, even as he eyed off a thin wisp of grey smoke already curling out from the edges of the very thick metallic cremator door.

Ruffnut didn't appear phased at all.

"Oh, I think we may have forgotten to take out the bottle of aftershave for Mr Jones," she informed them casually. Tuffnut stood beside her, equally nonplussed by the whole event.

"WHAT?" shrieked Snotlout. "Are you trying to destroy my precious cremator?" he yelled, his thick brows pulled together in annoyed frustration.

Ruffnut gave a non-committal shrug, while Tuffnut grinned. Hiccup rolled his eyes in irritation.

"Nah...that was just a small pop. If you want the ground to move, try cremating a pacemaker. Those suckers really make a serious ka-boom!" Tuff responded.

"Yeah," added Ruffnut eagerly. "And if we're really lucky, the door might come flying off."

Hiccup began having all kinds of nasty visions, involving heavy cremator doors blasting backwards and taking out one of his staff in the process.

Tuffnut rubbed his hands in anticipation and Hiccup could see the cogs turning already. He turned towards the twins, determined to nip any destructive ideas in the bud.

"Before you start...N... O... NO! I do not want any damage to the cremator, the building...or the people in them...thank you for your close attention," he said firmly.

He marched off, but still heard Tuff mutter to his sister, "But what about the fireworks we were going to test out later?"

"NO-NO-NO-NOOOOO," yelled Hiccup from the office. They heard some banging going on in there. "Three generations this place has stood here. THREE! I don't want it to go out with a bang just yet," he complained loudly.

Tuff grinned. "So will you tell us when you do?" he asked loudly, cupping his hand around his mouth to make his voice carry through the door.

"NO!" was the shouted response.

Ruff shrugged. "I guess that means no. Hiccup is no fun," she said with a disappointed huff.

Tuff's face fell for a moment, then lit up as a thought came to him. "Hey, sis...you wanna hide all Snot's tools again?"

Ruff gave a huge calculating grin that could only mean trouble. "Yeah...let's go," she said, before striding out of the room, Tuff hot on her heels.

"Hey!" objected Snotlout, chasing after them. "I haven't found them all from last time. Come back here!" he demanded, his voice echoing as he disappeared down the hallway.

In the office, Hiccup could only shake his head in resigned acceptance. At least life around here was never boring…..

Before you ask, yes, aftershave bottles with a pressurized lid can explode in cremators. Don't ask how I know. They are not dangerous, but sure can make an impression. And pacemakers are routinely removed before cremation for safety reasons. Please don't try any of this at home…I don't recommend it.