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Tell Me More, Tell Me More

Later on, while sipping tea she had suddenly developed a craving for, Ruff arrived in a flurry of action and noise; akin to a stampede. The front door slammed, bags were dumped with a resounding thud, shortly followed by the slapping of boots being kicked off. Then Ruff swept into the kitchen with all the power of a hurricane with perfectly braided hair.

"I've been going nuts! Who is it?"

Astrid surveyed her flatmate calmly and tried to exude her warrior self.

Poise. Inner power. If Ruff was a tempest of whirlwind questions, Astrid was the unmoving mountain of calm upon which Ruff tried in vain to pry apart for information.

Note to self. Stop watching re-runs of Enter the Dragon.

"I can't tell you who it is." She ended up spilling honestly. Ruff snorted in disbelief and tugged off her jacket to leave it on a nearby chair.

"Don't be a pussy."

"Then stop being a dick."

Both women glared at the other, verbal tension rising between them both. Then Ruff cracked a smile, and Astrid heaved a sigh of relief. She thanked her deity that Ruff responded to verbal abuse with humour.

"Seriously, though." Astrid let her mug clink gently onto the bench she sat at. "I'm not sure how it's going to work out."

"He's not an exercise!" Ruff began pulling out a selection of vegetables and meat from the fridge, intending on cooking dinner. "At least tell me how you got together."

Astrid looked into her half empty mug. The tea she held between her hands was as good an indicator as any. She hadn't seen Hiccup at all today – apparently he was busy with new employee interviews with Snotlout. Why that meathead helped with employee selection, she didn't know.

"We...have known each other for a while." She absently rocked her mug to see the beige liquid swirl. "Everything just came to a head yesterday."

"Tell me more, tell me more!" Ruff sang as she expertly twirled a knife between her fingers. Astrid answered more in fear of her singing than of the pointy weapon.

"Then I admitted how much of an idiot I'd been, and then...yeah."

Another phantom sensation of those lips on hers; so gentle, so warm. She flushed and hoped Ruff hadn't seen it. "We kissed a bit, and cuddled, then I went home. I haven't seen him since."

The poor peppers Ruff was focused on slicing were being vigorously destroyed by her hectic movements. A sly note entered her tone as she commented on Astrid's story. "A bit of a kiss and a cuddle? That all that happened?"

Astrid slipped off her stool and bumped Ruff's hip on her way past to the sink. "Yup."

Ruff groaned and swung her head alarmingly close to the knife as she banged her head off the counter. "No juicy gossip of how you ravaged him?"

"Nope."

Ruff moaned in disappointment into the onions she'd haphazardly chopped. "I want to cry!"

"That's the onions."

Ruff's red rimmed eyes focused on a smirking Astrid. "I don't know why you're smiling. You didn't even get any."

Astrid turned her face away so Ruff couldn't see her face. "I got something." She ended up saying quieter than she intended. Ruff resumed her vicious cutting, and Astrid ran the tap to empty her cup of tea.

She got something, all right. Something she wanted to keep.

A week or so after Hiccup had the most fantastic night of his life, followed by near misses and faraway fond glances, he was ready to tear his hair out. The preparations for the new and improved park were well underway, meaning Hiccup's days were taken up with interviews and generally organising the new mechanics. Already several previous tour staff had volunteered to be office staff, and a couple others had offered to be trained in each animal section, so this meant he didn't have to look for so many people. But the re-organising of it all took up most of his time; enough that he still hadn't had a proper conversation with Astrid.

His heart still tripped and galloped when he thought of the look in her eyes when she sat on his lap; breathing words he hadn't heard directed at him outside of those romantic comedies he secretly loved. The zing of arousal that still whipped through him at the memory of her teeth often made him wake up, disorientated and needy, at odd hours of the night. He hoped she didn't think he was avoiding her – they'd had enough misunderstandings to fill a god-damn crate. So when he slipped away after a positive interview and saw her walking with a large box, he swooped in to help.

"Astrid! Hi, Astrid, hey, Astrid."

And now, the stuttering.

Those blue eyes crinkled at hearing his mashed words. "Good afternoon, boss." Her reply was deliberately measured. Hiccup laughed for no reason and looked away from those knowing eyes. He'd waited all week to say something dazzling to her when they were finally alone, but his mind blanked; unable to think beyond how pretty she was, standing with that box cocked on her hip, and her shining blonde hair drawn back from her face.

Wait. Box. Box. "I can carry that." He slipped into cocky mode and flashed a mocking grin. "You need to workout more. Build those arm muscles."

"That would be great, thanks." On the stressed word, she shoved the box into his arms. It weighed next to nothing. "It really was hurting me. Oh, my hero."

"Wolf saviour." He reminded her.

"I was part wolf saviour too, you know." Hiccup followed her automatic walk back to the office. "I stopped Snotlout from shooting her straight away."

"That you did." They fell silent for a while as they walked on the gravel and into the office, leaving Hiccup to place the box on one of the desks. One of the new girls sent him a wave; already working on compiling proper HR folders for everyone employed. Hiccup eyed Astrid as she sat on her favourite chair and smiled up at him.

"Want to see the online progress?"

Despite himself, Hiccup was intrigued to see her efforts. "That would be great, actually."

He pulled a chair closer than normal and sat so their sides were brushing. Astrid glanced down before locking eyes with Hiccup; tension turning into red cheeks and slightly quickened breathing. The moment was smoothed over by Astrid's business side taking over and explaining what she had converted electronically, and what new ideas she had for various sections of the office sectors. Although some of her ideas needed more thought, she was definitely on the right track. They briefly discussed hiring professional business advice – for example, a chartered accountant for finance, or a PR manager for advertising. They also debated the pros and cons between the costs of doing so. It was eventually decided processional advice would be organised, and they would teach the new staff, plus Astrid, how to run each sector of the business. They then would be assigned to a sector, and more people would be hired.

"Did you ever see her again?"

Astrid hummed under her breath, tapping away on her computer on her so called Master List of Things to Do. "Who?"

"Stormfly?"

Hiccup watched her expression twist into something strange. "The wolf?"

Astrid slowed and stopped her frantic tapping, gazing thoughtfully at the screen. There was apprehension there; but curiosity too. Hiccup couldn't stop the hand that leaned out to cover hers, resting lightly together on the keyboard. His pulse jumped at the contact of warm skin. Those blue eyes were once again capturing his; sending a dizziness through his head that matched the leaping of his chest.

"I'm not sure where to go." Her voice was quiet.

Hiccup tightened his grip. "I'll show you."

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