Valentine's Day

...

It's Hiccstrid's first Valentine's Day as husband and wife and Astrid wants to make it special. I was hoping to finish this by Valentine's Day but it didn't happen so I'm posting it in honor of RTTE instead. No spoilers, and please don't leave any in the reviews. I'm only to episode 4:)

...

Astrid softly hummed to herself as she toweled off and wriggled into a pair of underwear and one of her husband's tunics. This was part of what she loved about being married; after a long day of teaching classes at the Academy, she was able to go home, wash up, and put on Hiccup's clothes, which were significantly more comfortable than her own. She didn't have to worry about her parents looking at her with raised eyebrows or friends bursting in the house (knowing their friends, Hiccup had purposefully installed a lock on the door before the wedding). The only person who would be seeing her in the faded, slightly-too-large-and-falling-off-the-shoulder tunic was her husband, and needless to say, he didn't mind. In fact, he loved when she wore his clothes.

After combing through her tangled hair and quickly pulling it into a braid, Astrid made her way to the kitchen. She wasn't a big fan of cooking, but she was trying to get better for Hiccup's sake. And today was special because it was their one month wedding anniversary, as well as their first Valentine's Day together as husband and wife. She planned to make mutton, steamed cabbage, mead, and a yak butter cake with berry frosting. She'd never made mead before, as she and her husband weren't huge drinkers, and her baking skills were worse than her cooking ones, but she still hoped that everything would turn out to Hiccup's satisfaction.

Astrid tossed Stormfly a piece of chicken before pulling the mutton out of the icebox and placing it over the fire. She then began to chop cabbage. Everything seemed to be going smoothly. That is, until the knife met her finger, and blood instantly fell onto the cabbage shreds.

The blonde was no stranger to blood; she'd gotten scraped on the chest when she was five and all the little Vikings were playing on the beach. Snotlout had been showing off with his new sword, and had managed to harm her with it. To this day, she still had a scar at the top of her right breast. When she was eight, she'd taken a nasty fall while rock climbing, which resulted in stitches and a large scar on her knee, as well as a smaller scar on her elbow. That was just the beginning of her injuries. Over the years, she'd cut her fingers, her toes, and her forehead, and suffered from a few burn scars on her back. No, blood wasn't a concern to her. The concern was what she was going to do about the cabbage. She could salvage some, but it probably wouldn't be an adequate amount for two.

Groaning, Astrid rushed to the washroom and cleaned out her wound. After dressing it, she returned to the kitchen, only to realize that blood had already started soaking through the bandage. As she went back to the washroom, she let out an exasperated sigh.

"Ast?"

The blonde froze at the sound of her husband's voice. He wasn't supposed to be home this early. He was supposed to be chiefing for another two hours.

"Astrid?"

She could hear him opening their bedroom door in search of her. "I'm in the washroom, Hic," she announced. "I'll be out in a minute." After applying pressure to ensure that her blood would stop flowing, she wrapped her finger in rags for the second time and reluctantly emerged from the room. Upon walking into the living room, she was met with Hiccup's smile.

"Do you feel like getting changed?" the young chief asked, letting out a small chuckle at the sight of the blonde in his tunic. "I thought we could go take a flight."

"What are you doing back so early?" Astrid questioned, trying not to sound too disappointed.

"Can't a guy just want to spend quality time with his wife on Valentine's Day?" Hiccup turned to Toothless, who was standing beside him, and scratched his head. "That's not so wrong, is it, bud?"

The Night Fury let out a purr.

"Can we go after dinner? I...I think a sunset flight would be nice."

"I'm bringing dinner with us. I went to Fishlegs' place this afternoon and made chicken sandwiches and potatoes. I thought we could have a picnic. But if you don't want to -"

"No, it's not that I don't want to. It's -" Astrid broke off as the smell of burning meat reached her nose. "I'll be back." With that, she rushed into the kitchen and flipped the mutton. She thought she might be able to keep her dinner a secret, but when she turned around, Hiccup was standing in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest, looking over the scene of burning mutton and bloodied cabbage. He then caught sight of his wife's bandaged finger.

"Everything okay?"

The blonde groaned. "This was supposed to be a surprise Valentine's Day dinner for you," she explained. "And I was also doing it for our one month anniversary. But as you can see, it didn't go quite as planned. I cut my finger, you came home early and already had plans, the mutton burnt..." Trailing off, she sank into a chair and buried her face in her hands.

Hiccup came over to sit beside Astrid and place a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Hey, it's okay," he soothed.

No response.

"What's wrong?" the young chief asked after a pause. By this point, his wife had lifted her head, but still hadn't made any effort to speak.

"I was...I was talking to some of the elders last week," Astrid admittedly quietly. "And they...they told me I wasn't a good wife. They said that good wives don't go out on patrols, don't do combat training, and don't teach kids how to ride dragons. They said I should be making more effort to serve you. I asked what they meant, and they said it meant spending more time inside and making sure you always have hot meals, and cleaning every day, and washing your clothes. They said they heard that we eat cold lunches, and that it was wrong for me not to cook something hot." She shook her head. "I tried not to let them get to me, but it was...it was hard. So I...so I decided to make a special dinner today."

As she was speaking, Hiccup's eyes widened. "Why didn't you tell me about this right away?"

"Because I can handle myself. At least, I thought I could."

"Astrid, we're a team. If something is bothering you, no matter how big or small you think it is, I want you to tell me. And for the record, you're an amazing wife. I didn't want a woman who was too attached to the house. I wanted one who would adventure with me, and challenge me, and be my best friend. I don't need maid service."

The blonde gave her husband a small smile.

"Oh, come here, you," Hiccup said, holding out his arms. When Astrid leaned into him, he wrapped her in a tight embrace. "I love you, milady."

"I love you more, babe."

"I don't know about that."

Just then, Toothless entered the room and began licking both Hiccup and Astrid's faces.

"Stop it, bud!" Hiccup exclaimed. "You know that doesn't wash out!"

Toothless let out an amused sound.

"Okay, so are we going flying?" the young chief asked, releasing his hold on his wife.

Astrid nodded. "Yeah. Let me just go put some real clothes on first. And while I'm doing that, do you mind taking that awful mutton off the fire? We can give it to the dragons."

At the words "mutton" and "dragon," Toothless' ears pricked up, and he hungrily licked his lips, causing both Hiccup and Astrid to laugh.

"Yeah, I know, Toothless. Just save some for Stormfly," Astrid said with a laugh. She then disappeared into the bedroom and eagerly began dressing herself in her riding garments, ready for an adventurous night with her husband.