Three: Catching Up.
The not-date was going far better than Astrid could ever have dreamed. Hiccup had ordered sparkling water and they had both had salads to start-him the feta and pine nut while she had the crayfish. And as they chatted, she was reminded of the person she had forsaken in her ruthless determination to pursue her career. Hiccup's voice was calming, slightly nasal and animated, his shoulders moved and arms whirled as he talked, mimicking his huge father who was still disappointed in his son on occasion. She learned that he had passed his degree in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering in only two years and had secured a staff job at Berk Aero, working on designing aircraft and engines-which he loved. He had attended Berk U because it was close to home and done a little running and remained in contact with his friends from school-but what he didn't say concerned her.
He didn't say anything about a relationship and he was fairly quiet about his father, making her concerned about one thing he kept asking her:
What happened?
"I mean, you're big news around here," he reminded her. "Local girl made good-in fact, you're always the headline on the sports page, even when the Berk Vikings Football team plays. I mean, everywhere else, it would be unthinkable that Soccer knocks Football off the sports page!"
"Actually, almost everywhere else, soccer is called football!" she reminded him. "The Governing body is called FIFA, there's a Football World Cup…all the game we call soccer but pretty much no one else does!" He grinned.
"Colour me corrected," he smiled at her and she felt another flutter at his genuine grin. He had certainly done well out of the tail end of adolescence and had become a handsome-though self-conscious-young man. But she flicked her braid in her characteristic Astrid way.
"Stickler for accuracy," she commented.
"Wouldn't be much of a striker if your weren't, to be honest," he reminded her and she chuckled.
"So no one in your life?" she probed. He stiffened and lowered his eyes. "No one you love?"
"No," he sighed. "I mean, I have friends but…no one that special, no." And he felt an inwards cringe that he was betraying Bella by the words but when he said them, he knew they were the truth. He was grateful she was with him, that she was kind enough to have him as a boyfriend…but he didn't love her. He did everything he could to be a good boyfriend-attentive, polite, generous but he always felt inferior…and a small part of him nagged that gratitude wasn't the best basis for an equal relationship. And though he did appreciate Bella's efforts in putting up with his uselessness that small nagging part of him treacherously reminded him that…she wasn't Astrid. And then he sighed. "How about you?" he replied. "I mean, I saw when you broke up with that Football player…boy, Snotlout was upset about that…"
Astrid burst out laughing.
"Really? Why? It wasn't like I would ever consider going out with him-even if he was the last man in Midgard. I thought I had made that clear over our entire school career!" she giggled and he cracked a smile.
"Well, maybe he's had one too many punches to the head…" he suggested. She raised her hands in surrender.
"I take no credit for that," she said quickly. He sipped his water.
"Someone's gotta-and it certainly isn't me," he commented. "Are you okay? You didn't look too happy on the news when it happened. It didn't look especially mutual…"
You know, only my parents noticed…and you, my former best friend. Damn.
"You noticed, huh?" she challenged him with a wry smile. "Unfortunately, I said I wouldn't tell the reporters exactly why we split up." He leaned forward, his eyes concerned.
"Are you okay?" he repeated in a low voice. She opened her mouth but the waiter chose that moment to arrive with their entrees and for a few moments, they were served Astrid's Hawaiian Chicken and Hiccup's T-bone steak and triple-cooked fries with Sauce Bernaise before the blonde gave a small smile.
"I caught him cheating on me when I came round to surprise him with a-ahem-'romantic' cake I had even bought so I didn't poison him," she said, cutting her chicken breast in half so vehemently that he knew she wasn't okay with whatever happened. "I caught him in the throes with a blonde." Hiccup dropped his knife and splatted sauce on the pristine tablecloth. He flushed scarlet and mopped up the small stain with his napkin.
"Sorry," he said, embarrassed.
"No, I dropped the cake as well," she admitted and gave a wan smile. "And then picked it up and threw it at him. Of course, I'm sure I would have found it less insulting if the blonde had been a woman…" His jaw dropped at that.
"He was…a man…?" he gaped. "And the Footballer…what was it-Dag the Destroyer or something stupidly macho-never dropped a hint like, say…I really like you, Astrid, but I'd prefer you better if you had a dongle…" Astrid had to put her chicken down and covered her mouth as she laughed.
"Dongle? Where did that come from?" she gasped, almost helpless with laughter.
"I have no idea," he confessed, laughing as well. "Thor, could I be a more useless nerd…?" That stopped her laughing and she glared at him.
"Hiccup-you aren't useless-and never let anyone tell you that!" she told him firmly, her voice low and intense. "You are a great guy, clearly very clever since you completed a four year course in two, you're working in a coveted employer that only takes the best of the best and you're someone I always liked and felt I could talk to…" His eyes flicked up.
"Nice try…but we all know that's not true," he said a little more sharply than she had expected and she stared. "Because you never told me you were going, you never contacted me at all until two weeks later…and then it was a one line text. No explanation, no suggestion we meet up…not even a phone call…so clearly, I wasn't worth talking to when you're planning on vanishing from my life after over ten years…" He was breathing hard and she suddenly realised how upset he had been.
"I-I had to make a quick decision…so I called Heather and left an hour later for the training ground," she told him.
"And you couldn't even call me from the taxi?" he asked her directly. "To explain where you were going and say goodbye? Nothing? When you took the time to call Heather?"
She stared at him, reading the hurt in his glorious green eyes and he sighed.
"I guess not," he said and shook his head, turning back to his steak. She watched him for a moment and took a mouthful of her slaw.
"I wanted to…" she said. "But I-I couldn't…because I knew you would be upset…"
"And of course, with you vanishing without a word, I'd be just dandy…boy, I messed that one up," he shot back sarcastically. "Fearless my ass…"
"What?" she asked coolly. His emerald eyes flicked up defensively.
"It was cowardly to avoid the call," he said tonelessly. "I always thought you were courageous…fearless, in fact. But instead…that was the lamest excuse. I don't believe there wasn't five minutes when you could call and just tell me. And I would have been heartbroken-because I was…never mind…but you didn't even do that. So I found out with everyone else the you appeared on the news as the new signing…"
"I can't tell you how sorry I am," she told him urgency, reaching forward and clasping his hands, staring honestly into his eyes. "I wish I could just show how sorry I am. I was a stupid girl, away from her home island and I get swept away in everything that was happening, with new friends and new places and suddenly being a star…I was an idiot…"
"I thought Astrid Hofferson never apologised," he commented dryly, his warm hands closing around hers. He leaned closer to her. "What was that again?"
"I was an idiot, okay?" Astrid replied aggressively, seeing his eyes widen. It was her instinct to attack-but this was Hiccup, for Thor's sake! The boy who tripped over his own feet during the school play and knocked over the Senior playing Odin. The boy was was consistently bullied for being small and nerdy. The boy who had spent every day in the hospital with her when she had broken her leg and was going stir crazy, sacrificing pretty much the whole of Berk's very short summer to be with his friend. The boy who probably had a crush on her in High School.
And then it clicked: why he was so upset, why he had hung onto it-not that he shouldn't, what with his best friend just vanishing from his life two days before Graduation without even a gods damned text… He had been wanting to say something-but in typical Hiccup fashion, he had prevaricated and doubted himself until the opportunity was gone.
Of course she would never have stayed, never chosen Berk over her career because, for despite all the lonely times when it was Astrid and the Gym and her management team and no one else, she did love her life. But maybe...maybe she could have had someone there to enjoy it with her. And though her parents were enormously proud of their famous daughter, it wasn't the same.
So she smiled suddenly, her hand closing tightly around his and sighing. "I was an idiot-and now I realise what I have missed: someone kind and generous and caring who at least would have sympathised when that ass Dag cheated in me with the Wide Receiver!" Hiccup stared at her and stifled a chuckle. "And I know that really didn't come out how I planned," Astrid continued, smiling. "But Heather-who is my manager-just kept laughing! And it wasn't funny!" She blinked and her eyes shone. "It was humiliating," she added softly and his hand tightened on hers.
"I'm sorry too," he sighed. "Look, you had the chance of a lifetime and you would have been mad not to have taken it-so of course you did." And ruined my one chance with you. "I'm just...hurt, because we did everything together and suddenly losing your best friend is pretty gutting. But I'm a big boy-I survived..." She smirked.
"So what about the others?" she asked, grateful to be on less touchy ground. He carved another slice off the steak.
"Well, you wouldn't believe that the twins have opened an interior design store-'Eugene and Laverne' that seems to have taken the place by storm," he revealed, chewing. "I mean, their design aesthetic is bonkers, Tuff even put a stuffed shark up in an old woman's one bedroom apartment and painted the place purple...but somehow, it made the covers of all the Archipelago Design magazines as the 'Neo-Viking Movement'. Supposed to be the next big cultural thing after Hygge."
"Neo-Viking? I don't think we ever left normal Viking here in Berk," Astrid commented, finishing her chicken. "I mean, all the men seem to have beards you could lose a yak in..."
"...except my Godfather, Gobber," Hiccup noted.
"Oh my Thor, yes-and Gobber-and everyone has names designed to scare off gnomes and trolls..."
"...as if our charming demeanour wouldn't do that anyway," Hiccup laughed.
"...maybe yours would, Mr Sassy but I'm a paragon of virtue with a perfectly respectable name..." she shot back. "And everything is Viking this or Norse that...so why do we need Neo-Viking?"
"Um...possibly to sell more stuff that people don't actually need?" Hiccup suggested.
"Ouch! You realise I front several products that could be counted in that category, Mr Sassy?" she shot back.
"Pretty sure clothes count as essentials...and you're a sports star so things like sports clothes, drinks, body wash, trainers, healthy food etc are all reasonable," he continued without missing a beat. "Look, if they got me to advertise sportswear there would be bankruptcy, massive lay-offs, businesses going under...but someone sees you in a set of designer Lycra, they wanna go out and buy it because you're beautiful and they wanna be you...even if they weigh three hundred pounds and look like the underside of a yak..." She stared at him and then smiled.
"Thank you-that was a very sweet compliment...I think..." she said and he grinned back.
"I aim to please." The waiter cleared their plates away and refilled their glasses with sparkling water. After staring at the menu, they both ordered coffee and Hiccup ordered the Asgard Mess-like an Eton Mess but with lingonberry instead of strawberry. And though she was watching what she ate, when the dessert arrived, Astrid didn't hesitate to grab the spoon and take a large scoop of the treat.
"Hey!" Trying to feign outrage didn't work because Hiccup's green eyes were sparkling with amusement and Astrid, cream smeared over her top lip, was grinning triumphantly.
"Mmm-delicious!" she said obviously as he pretended to wrestle with her until he could get his spoon back and try the dessert for himself.
"Right as usual," he admitted with a smile, offering her the spoon again. Eyes widening for a moment, Astrid accepted and then took another scoop.
"You don't mind?" she checked and he smiled.
"Not at all," he confirmed. "Otherwise I wouldn't have given you the spoon..." She nodded and savoured the scoop and then paused, absently playing with the ring on her left third finger. He frowned.
"If he dumped you, why do you wear that? he asked. "Is there someone else instead...someone secret?" His tone was playful but she shook her head.
"It's actually my Nan's," she admitted. "She passed two years ago and she promised to leave it to me...but as it looks like I won't be finding anyone decent any time soon, I thought I might as well wear it in remembrance of her." And then she gave a wicked smile. "Of course, it also warns away trolls and gold-diggers..."
As she moved, the ring slid off-directly into the pudding. She gaped, shocked and stared at Hiccup, unsure what to do. Immediately, he reached in and fished it out, professionally cleaning it on his napkin and licking his fingers appreciatively.
"No harm done," he reassured her, checking the ring. "May I?" She grinned.
"Of course, kind sir," she grinned as he slid the ring back into place. She held her left hand up and checked it in the light. "It's perfect-thank you!"
"My pleasure," he grinned and resumed sharing the dessert.
After the Asgard Mess was finished between them and the coffees were drunk, Hiccup called for the check-but the waiter had some very strange news for them.
"It's already been settled," he reported. "That elderly man on the table over there paid your bill. He said it was the least he could do for a young couple, just getting engaged. He also intimated that you make a lovely couple."
Both Hiccup and Astrid stared at the waiter in shock and then spoke at once.
"But we're..."
"Not even..."
"I mean…"
"Oh Thor…"
The waiter raised his hands in surrender.
"He's gone now and he was a cash sale so I doubt we can give you any contact information," he explained. "I suggest you enjoy his generosity and chalk this one up to experience." Astrid opened her mouth to complain but Hiccup laid a gentle hand on her arm.
"Thank you-you've been very good," he said, offering a tip. The waiter smiled.
"He took care of that too as well," he said and left. Astrid stared at his dumbfounded expression and burst into giggles.
"Well, this will be a story I can tell a few times," she chuckled as she grabbed her shawl and bag and they headed for the door. As they reached the cool street, she reached up and pecked a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, Hiccup. This was a great evening and I am so glad we could catch up. Friends?" And he shook her proffered hand.
"Friends," he said firmly. "And I'll see you at the party tomorrow?" The hopeful light in his eyes was enough to have her reassuring him that no matter how busy she was, she would make the time to see him again...before she left Berk once more. He tentatively pecked a kiss on her cheek. "Thanks for a lovely evening, Astrid," he added and then turned and walked away. She grinned as she watched him go.
It was definitely the best not-date she had ever been on.
