I...should have done this yesterday? I swear I would have, only due to that holiday, I came back home around 12:40 AM and then was dead the whole day. And then last night, I decided to stay up till 3 AM to watch Voltron. And then, I decided to watch Hercules instead of doing this. And then we had to go to a dinner party. Hopeless case #1, right here *waves arms frantically*
The silence was thick, and frankly, kind of annoying. He had spent a few years imagining how this moment would go. Him and Stormfly would be all "oh, it is you!" and hug and then talk and laugh and get married and then he'd stop writing fanfiction. Whatever the case, this was not what was supposed to happen.
Astrid cleared her throat. "So…"
Hiccup didn't say anything, just stared up at her a little awkwardly, not really knowing what to say.
She shook her head in frustration. "How can you be NightFury? You're…" She sighed. "You're nothing like him."
"You don't know what I'm like, Astrid," he pointed out, "all of our, er, conversations, are just us insulting each other."
"It's not my fault you're a stubborn, lazy, messy -"
"Would you look at that," he muttered dryly, "you totally know who I am. Well done, Astrid. Well. Done." He mock applauded.
Astrid scowled, and sat back, narrowing her eyes at him. "I may not know you, but I definitely know NightFury."
"I thought I knew Stormfly. But I didn't enough to realize I was living with her," he responded tiredly, resting his finger on the bridge of his nose. The worst part about all of this was that his natural response to stress would be to talk it out with Stormfly. But he couldn't do that, because Stormfly was the stupid problem here. "Astrid, this is just all so messed up."
"I know," she mumbled dejectedly, putting her chin in her hand and drumming her fingers. He leaned back, crossing his arms.
Astrid was Stormfly. Stormfly was Astrid. His online best friend was his annoying roommate. They were the same person.
"Well...now what?"
He looked up to see her staring a bit hopelessly at him and he forced himself to remember that she was just as disappointed as he was, probably even more so. Her mind was in the same turmoil.
"I suppose...we could...try...to be friends?" Hiccup offered, rubbing his neck. It was the lamest idea he had ever had, and it was cliche, but he had just found out that his best friend was his mortal enemy. And since that sounded horribly cliche, why couldn't he? Take that, life.
Astrid nodded, a set look in her eyes. "Yeah, you're right. Nothing much else to do."
Despite everything, Hiccup grinned at her words.
"What?"
"I think this may just be Hiccup and Astrid's first agreement."
"Why are you talking in the third person?" she asked, tilting her head.
He waved his hand. "Because NightFury and Stormfly agree on a lot of things. But Hiccup and Astrid don't."
"Oh. I see."
Now, the silence wasn't really tense, just awkward, something he hoped would never happen. Attempting a weak smile, Hiccup said jokingly, "So tell me about your annoying roommate."
Astrid's lips quirked upwards. Huh. Astrid Hofferson was smiling at something he said. Miracles could happen. "He's on a date right now. Apparently I'm much prettier than his annoying roommate, though."
"Oh, yes. You have no idea. But you know, I think you kinda look like her."
This time, Astrid outright laughed. "Yeah. And you're Jay Baruchel."
"Only if you're...um...America Ferrera."
"Oh, I hate her."
"I hate Jay Baruchel's voice." (1)
From there, conversation sprung. Stormfly and NightFury were brought out, the conflict between Hiccup and Astrid forgotten for a little while. They did order some drinks eventually, and tried to get to know each other better, only to find out, of course, that they knew each other quite well already. And when they were leaving, it took the pair a moment to realize that there was no need to say goodbye, they lived together. It was easy to forget. Hiccup didn't see her as Stormfly, he saw her as Astrid.
But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Astrid wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
In fact, he was having quite a lot of fun with her.
Safely in his bed, he was about to hit the pillow and crash when his phone buzzed.
Stormfly: Well, back with my annoying roomie.
She was in the living room, texting him. Hiccup grinned and his fingers flew across the phone.
NightFury: Hey but today was fun. I seriously dont think that your roomie is that bad
Stormfly: :P You don't know him.
NightFury: True true. Goodnight milady
Stormfly: Night, babe.
And for the first time since he'd moved in, Hiccup didn't think that he would rather be with Stormfly than Astrid.
(1) For the record, I don't hate Jay Baruchel or America Ferrera. Just put that there for the comedy.
Whelp, that's done. YAY!