AU: Sorry this took so long... Been trying to put a good story line in for this in my writing booklet. Among other things. So anyway, reason #1 of Astrid's little... problem. X) Enjoy.

1 month ago

Astrid stood at the docks with dwindling patience. She had been pacing in the same spot for so long her knees were as sore as when she had to drag a cart with broken wheels across Berk all by herself. Her teenage friends lounged about nearby, having been invited here by Astrid.

Fishlegs was getting annoyed from the incessant patter of Astrid's footsteps. "Astrid, would you PLEASE sit down or something?" He pleaded, "That noise is making my head hurt."

Astrid examined the horizon stamping her foot in anger, "Where are they? He said they'd be back by noon today!"

Fishlegs tried using logic to calm her down, "You cant expect a chief and his son to get home at the exact time they say they will, Astrid. Especially not on trips like these." It was supposed to be some kind of father son bonding trip plus a foreign lands exploration thing. Apparently dragons had given them more trading abilities than originally anticipated. But how long did they expect her to wait?

" I wonder what kind of cool stuff they'll bring back!" Ruffnut said from her spot on the edge of the dock walkway.

"Yeah," Tuffnut agreed, "Maybe they found me a cooler sister." Astrid grinned as she heard a loud splash from behind her after Ruffnut shoved him off the dock.

Soon several dots could be seen along the horizon line, slowly expanding like the excitement in Astrid's chest. Other families quickly gathered to greet their loved ones as the boats finally docked. In the crowd of taller Vikings, Astrid struggled as she tried to find her boyfriend. She managed to pick Gobber out of the sea of people, and ran toward him.

"Gobber!"

The stocky Viking turned around, his arms full of foreign trinkets and one even hanging from a horn of his helmet. " Oi, Astrid! Good to see a familiar face, eh?"

She smiled, "Good to see you too. Gobber." The girl took a quick look around the docks as people filed out with their families. "Where's Hiccup?"

Gobber turned toward the ship, "He's still gettin some things from the storage deck. He said somethin bout presents for you and your friends."

Ruffnut jumped with joy, " Awesome! Free stuff!" Tuffnut would have joined her, but he had made himself cozy bobbing in the not so cold water.

Snotlout snorted with skepticism, "Yeah? I'll decide if its worthy of being called awesome."

While they spoke, Astrid ignored them both and boarded the ship alone, racing to the lower deck ladder.

The lower deck was rather dark, lit mainly by he outside light and a few wall hung candles. Along with its usual musty odor, it had a few new smells to it, evidence it had been picked up some things from foreign country.

"Hiccup?" Astrid called into the darkness as she stood at the foot of the ladder.

A familiar voice called back, "Astrid? Is that you?" There was a rustling noise amongst the cargo, and she saw a familiar thin figure emerge from the boxes. As it approached her, she quickly noticed that it was too tall to be Hiccup. As the figure walked into the dim light however, she saw its undeniable face. And then the rest of its body as the light brightened. Her heart fluttered.

"Wow," Astrid said breathlessly, " You… grew."

The boy (if she could still call him that at this point) now stood over a head taller than her, and her eyes now met his collarbone. He still had his Hiccup-ish lanky build, but Astrid could see his chest and shoulders had broadened and his arms and legs had thickened greatly. He was definitely no longer a walking talking fish bone and Astrid definitely liked this version of Hiccup even better than the beefy one Bucket had painted on a shield.

He grinned enthusiastically, "I know right? And check this out," he lifted up his new dark brown shirt, revealing a definitive set of abs. Astrid almost began drooling. "I have muscles! Visible ones!"

Astrid swallowed, trying to keep her composure, and chuckled, "Well, don't go turning into Snotlout on me." Crap, why did she have to have a problem conversing with this Hiccup?

"Oh, I almost forgot," He ran back into the shadows, "I got you something." As he rummaged about in the shadows, Astrid took the moment to her advantage. She puffed out her chest and straightened her back, trying to get as much emphasis on her breasts as possible. She hoped she could at least get him to stare for a few seconds. "Here it is," He said, walking back to her. Astrid gasped and what he held in his hands.

She could see a Deadly Nadder flying between the waters of berk and a sunset on the horizon line. Atop its back sat a girl with a spiked skirt, shoulder pauldrons and long flowing hair. The image extended out three dimensionally and rotated around a cone like shape. As Astrid stared, Hiccup was grinning ear to ear. " You like it? I met a sculptor who showed me some things on working with marble." Astrid took the marble piece in her hands and rotated it, admiring the perfectly smoothed surface. On the other side, previously not visible, was an image of a skinny boy riding a night fury with a artificial tail fin.

Astrid was amazed, "This is beautiful Hiccup. You made this?" He nodded

"By hand. With a chisel. And sand paper…" He trailed off. He was silenced as one of her hands ran over his cheek.

"Your amazing," she told him softly. Letting her fingers drift to his neck, she could feel goose bumps form as his face turned pink. He was way too handsome for his own good. "Which reminds me," her kind gesture of affection suddenly became a swift fist to his shoulder, "That was for leaving me here for two and a half weeks with Snotlout." Her knuckles quickly began throbbing in pain.

Damn, how dense are those muscles?! Before Astrid could punch him again for making her wait so long, Hiccup grabbed her by the arm and yanked her to his chest. She squeaked very un-vikingly in surprise. She looked into his eyes in shock, and then noticed his evil smile.

"In that case," he whispered huskily, "This is for waiting for me." He gripped the back of her head and forced their mouths together in one quick motion. Astrid gave in completely, dropping the marble totem and letting it hit the wooden floor with a thunk as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She extended her toes in attempt to match their heights as they attacked each others' mouths.

This was too unfair. Why did he get to become so sexy in two weeks when she only developed a little throughout the whole month? And where the hell was this… confidence coming from? The confidence that was making him work his tongue in her mouth, and her accept it without question. Not that she was complaining. She could definitely get used to tall, muscular… confident…

Oooh. She felt a sudden spark ignite in her core as he made sound that could only be described as a lustful growl.

As the author was saying, She could definitely get used to tall, muscular… confident… SEXY ASS HICCUP.

Hiccup grunted and stopped suddenly, making Astrid whimper in confusion and arousal. As their heads separated, they came to their senses as they heard large footsteps on the upper deck. Looking back at their position the couple became red with embarrassment. He removed his hand from under shirt and the other from her waist while she took hers from around his neck and the inside his new silver-grey tunic. They held the awkward silence for a moment before a voice was heard calling Hiccup's name.

He sighed in disappointment, gave Astrid a quick peck on the cheek, and then responded, "Yeah Fishlegs, I'm down here!" Looking back at Astrid, they gave each other understanding smiles before he walked up to greet the others. As she watched Hiccup leave, she examined him from behind.

Wow! He's even got an ass like granite!

Astrid huffed in irritation as she picked up her totem from the floor. She should have never invited the others to wait for him at the docks. Now she had an annoying need in her lower regions that Hiccup really could have helped with. She glanced at the totem in her hands. It had a very intriguing shape…

That night she had one hell of a time "breaking in" the totem.

So it seems she really likes this more mature version of Hiccup. Just wait until she sees more of him in chapter 3. Any questions or suggestions feels free to state your statement pplz.