Chapter 3

Hiccup and Astrid were sitting in front of the fire pit eating their soup quietly; neither of them talked. It was surprising to realize how much we depend on our senses even in the smallest of tasks. Who knew that we used our eyes to keep a spoon level? Thus the task of eating a bowl of soup became difficult since Hiccup was trying to just that without his eyesight. He would know that he tipped it when he felt warm liquid running down his chin and onto his tunic. He was so embarrassed at his clumsiness and though he never heard Astrid laugh, he knew she must pity him. Hiccup hated not being able to confirm his thoughts by analyzing her facial expression to see what she was thinking. It was also hard to know when the bowl was empty. So holding the spoon against the bowl, Hiccup brought it to his lips to try and drink any remains. When he tipped it a little on the first try, nothing came to his mouth so he tipped it further and suddenly the remaining soup came rushing out and spilled all over his face and down to his shirt. Quickly he tipped the bowl back the instant he felt the hot liquid touch his cheeks but it was too late, all the soup had already drained from the bowl.

Astrid watched Hiccup eat. Occasionally a little fell from the spoon and down his shirt. Never would she laugh at him – how could he be expected to eat perfectly the first time when he's blind?
Then he tried to drink the rest and it spilt all over him. She felt so bad for him. He shouldn't have to go through this.

"Here" Astrid took the bowl from his hands and handed him a napkin. She then turned, grabbed her bowl and put them in the kitchen. Hiccup was surprised that Astrid didn't try to wipe his cheeks for him. No; she let him do it. He could hear Astrid dealing with the bowls in the kitchen. Did she mind that he was blind? Hiccup wiped the sticky soup off his face and heard Astrid approach his side. He began to stand up and felt Astrid's gentle hand so that he wouldn't fall….again.

"I think I'm gonna go change my shirt."

"Oh, I'll get it for you, Hiccup."

"You don't even know where it is."

"No, but you can tell me and I'll find it."

Hiccup thought for a moment about Astrid going through his clothes drawer which had his shirts, pants, socks and…Astrid is not going through that drawer! However he did need to change so that left only one option. "No, but just help me upstairs." He didn't like asking for help to get around but that was better than Astrid going through that drawer. Astrid helped him upstairs and to his room. Hiccup stumbled blindly to his desk and opened the drawer. Carefully he felt to distinguish which was his shirt. Thank goodness it was the only one with strings on it, so he grabbed one, closed the drawer and turned around. He was sure that Astrid was here watching him. "Astrid?"

"Yeah?" he heard her step forward.

"Can you wait outside for me? I'll open the door when I'm done."

She did not see that coming, for Hiccup to kick her out. But then again she could understand Hiccup wanting his privacy. "Uh, sure." She walked out of the room and closed the door. Suddenly there was a crash downstairs. Oh no! Toothless must have woken up and didn't see Hiccup. Quickly she ran down and saw the black dragon lapping up the leftover soup in the pot just like a dog would a bowl of water. "No! Bad dragon!" She quickly ran into the kitchen and grabbed an arms load of fish from the basket and ran back to Toothless. Why did fish have to so slimy and smelly? Now she needed to change too. She dropped the pile of fish in front of him. He had stopped drinking the soup and was now staring at the bedroom door. "Don't worry, he's just changing; he's fine." The dragon turned his head to Astrid and saw the pile of fish.

oOo

Hiccup slowly opened the door, someone was talking downstairs. "….he's fine." Who was Astrid talking to? Dad? Wait, what's that sound?

"Astrid?"

Astrid looked up from Toothless to the top of the stairs and there he stood. "Hiccup!" Quickly she ran to the top to help him down. Neither spoke until they reached the bottom of the steps.

"Is anyone else here? I thought I heard you talking to someone."

"Oh, your dragon decided to eat the remaining soup from the pot." Astrid and Hiccup stopped in the living room.

Something bumped into Hiccup. He reached out his hand and felt something dry and scaly. Instantly the object whined to his touch. "Hey bud." Toothless barked in response. "Yeah, I'm okay." Toothless suddenly went crazy, running and bouncing around the room.

"Toothless, no!" Astrid began to try and chase after him but apparently he wanted to play. With a big smile on his face from enjoyment of his current activity, Toothless stopped turned around and ran the opposite direction towards Astrid, switching the chasee-chaser roles. However, the game quickly came to an end. In the process of the dragon's revolution, his tail knocked the pot of soup over spilling all over Hiccup. The two froze and stared wide-eyed at the soaked boy. Toothless walked over and licked Hiccup. He now needed a bath.