To The End - A Tuffnut Love Story (HTTYD)

13. How Much I Care

Fishlegs had given her a few books on viking and dragon history lined carefully on a shelf on her wall. From Astrid, Iris recieved a new, sharp, shiny battle ax. And Hiccup decided it was high time she had her own shield, made of goncle iron of course.

Snotlout had made a small statue of himself out of scrap metal, insisting that Iris keep it as a centerpiece for her table. Ruffnut had concluded that the best housewarming gift someone could give was food, so she'd brought over a few loaves of bread and smoked fishes.

Lastly, Tuffnut showed his gift to Iris. It was definitely the smallest, but the heart and effort behind it made it the best. It was an eight inch wood carving of Arrow.

Iris gave everyone extremely tight hugs before they left to let her settle in. But once they were gone, she removed the Snotlout statue from her table and placed it on the ground by her door. Instead, she kept the carving of Arrow as her centerpiece.

***

Haaaa!" Iris let out a battle cry as she and Arrow soared down. When they were close to the ground, Iris jumped off of Arrow. She ran through the air, spears readied, and landed on top of a hay stuffed dummy. Both of her spears had crossed through it's neck.

Hiccup and the other riders cheered from their spot on the sea stack. "That was amazing, Iris!" Astrid complimented in admiration

"You're progressing really quickly, you and Arrow both are," Hiccup showed her praise, "I mean, it's hard to believe you've only been training here for three weeks."

"It was very, violent," Tuffnut observed. He sounded like he wanted to say more, but he didn't.

"What's wrong with violent?" Snotlout questioned, "I loved it, Iris; it was beautiful."

This frustrated Tuff. In the past few days, Snotlout had moved his interest from Ruff to Iris. And although he hated it, he tried to just ignore it, knowing that Iris would never go for him. So he waited until training was over to talk to Iris in private.

***

That night, Tuff took Iris out to one if the high points of Berk. From their view, they could see the entire village lit up with lanterns and torches. They stood in a grassy clearing, under the countless stars and a crescent shaped moon.

"So, what's up?" Iris asked with a smile.

"I'm just wondering, if you're feeling okay," Tuff started awkwardly.

Iris laughed, "of course I am, why do you ask?"

He hesitated for a moment, "it's just, you've been so viking lately. It's not a problem, it's great." He paused, unsure what to say next. "I just..don't want you to force youself to be something you're not."

Iris widened her eyes a bit and stopped laughing when she realized how serious he was being. "Tuff, I'm not forcing anything," she assured him, putting a hand on his shoulder, "honestly, I admire the viking way of life; it's so free. I feel like I'm finally where I belong."

Tuffnut smiled down at Iris, seeing the truth in her eyes. Then she went on, "that was..pretty sincere of you."

He widened his eyes as he thought back to what he'd said. "Woah," he clutched his chest dramatically, "it really was. Oh my Thor, something must be wrong, am I sick? Do I have a fever? Quick, how many tongues do I have?!"

Iris laughed uncontrollably at the twin as he pressed her hand to his forehead and opened his mouth. "Tuff you're not sick," Iris assured as she took her hand back, "it just means you care."

"Oh," he calmed down and his face grew hot. Tuff averted his gaze and confirmed shyly, "well, I do care. You know, about you." He was surprised when he felt Iris's arms wrap around his back, but gladly hugged her back. It made him smile wide, feeling her gentle breath on the back of his neck.

More surprise came to him, however, when she leaned up and place a kiss on his jawbone, not loosening her arms from around him. Looking up at his frozen face, Iris giggled. Once Tuff had processed what happened, his grin grew, "woah, guess that means you care about me, too."

"I do," she told him. Tuff almost forgot to breath for a moment; the moon reflecting in her eyes made them glow like stars. And before he knew what was even happening, Iris pressed her lips onto his. Instinctively, he closed his eyes. Their hearts pounded against one another's as if trying to break free of their chests.

When Iris pulled back away, there was a tiny suction noise. Tuff however, felt dizzy; the kind of dizzy that he sometimes got from headbutting Ruff too hard. "Woah," he breathed, a dreamy look in his sweet blue eyes, "you really care."

***

"Iris!" Ruff shouted, banging violently on her friends door the next morning.

Falling out of bed from being startled, Iris got up and rushed to her door. When she opened it, she was met with a very inquisitive Ruffnut, "what did you do to my brother?!"