Please excuse this chapter. I wrote it on the train and nearly missed my station 😂
Set after Blindsided and before Shell Shocked.
Requests are welcome x
***
*THUD*
"Astrid?!" Hiccup shrieked, startled by the noise coming from the loft of his hut. "Are you okay?!" He called up the stairs.
"I-I'm okay." She assured. "I just dropped my shirt."
"You know I'm not buying that." Hiccup stated. "What was the shirt made of? Gronkle Iron?"
"I may have been wearing it." She explained. "And you really think I'm as heavy as Gronkle Iron?!" She thought.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I just tripped!" She insisted.
"Tripped on what?" Hiccup wondered. You see, despite the mess in the downstairs portion of his hut, the loft was rather tidy. Just his bed and;
"Toothless' rock," Astrid noted as she began to descend the stairs.
"How on earth did you manage that- Woah!" He gasped as she missed the bottom step and stumbled into him, falling into his chest and forcing them both to the ground.
"Sorry." She winced. "Are you okay?" She checked, not bothering to get up just yet.
"Are you?" He worried. "I thought I was the clumsy one."
Astrid let out a sigh as Hiccup's hand softly brushed her cheek. She pushed herself off the ground and offered him a hand up.
"You still are the clumsy one." She defended. "I'm just having a Hiccup day."
"Oh, a Hiccup day? That's real funny." He rolled his eyes, sarcastically. "Does this mean I get an Astrid day?"
"And what would that entail?"
"Looking after you when you do something Hiccupy." He explained.
"I can look after myself perfectly fine, thank you." Astrid insisted.
"So, no Astrid day?" The blonde shook her head. "So, we're both Hiccups? Two Hiccups? Are you sure we can handle that?"
Astrid slapped him playfully on the arm.
"Shut up." She teased.
"And I would say it's time to get you fed." Hiccup taunted, knowing that Astrid would quickly grow cranky if she didn't eat soon. "Breakfast?"
"Breakfast." Astrid agreed.
***
The young couple sauntered into the clubhouse where the other riders were all gathered for breakfast. Chicken soup. Despite living on Dragons Edge for nearly a year, Astrid managed to catch her foot on a loose plank of wood in the floor and stumble to maintain her balance. Hiccup caught her once again.
"Okay, maybe you should sit down," Hiccup suggested as he led her to a chair and sat her down. "Before you hurt yourself." He waltzed over to the center table, returning with a bowl in each hand, passing one to Astrid.
The blonde almost missed the bowl, accidentally slipping her thumb into the scorching liquid.
"Ah!" She shrieked, immediately shaking her thumb off and placing it against her lips.
"Okay, this is getting ridiculous." Hiccup thought. "What's going on with you today?"
"So she tripped and burned her thumb. What's the big deal?" Snotlout wondered.
"The big deal it's the third time she's tripped in the last ten minutes." Hiccup explained. "You were more coordinated when you were blind." He noted.
"I'm fine, Hiccup." She insisted as she continued to shake her thumb in an attempt to ease the stinging. "Just having an off day."
"No kidding." He scoffed.
"Look, will you stop worrying about me. We have work to do." She reminded as she finished off her soup. "We still have this whole project Shellfire thing to worry about."
Hiccup just rolled his eyes at her.
"What do I keep telling you?" He asked as he gently grasped her hand to check her burnt thumb. It looked a little red but nothing too serious."I never stop worrying about you." He whispered as he slyly planted a gentle kiss on the tip of her thumb, making Astrid blush and giggle.
"So, Shellfire?" Astrid reminded.
"Right." Hiccup made his way towards his notes on the center table, shortly followed by Astrid. Hiccup pulled her chair towards the desk and sat her down. "I'm not having you trip and fall into the fire pit."
Astrid ignored him and hopped up onto the desk, scooping up some of his notes and holding them impossibly close to her face. Hiccup took a moment to think back.
"Astrid..." He gently lowered her hands. "Look at me. How many fingers am I holding up?" He held his hand up to her face, just a foot away.
"Hiccup, what are you doing?" She sighed.
"Just answer the question."
"Two."
Hiccup took a few steps back and hid his hand behind his back before bringing it back into view.
"How about now?"
"Three."
"Nope, still two." He corrected.
"What's all this about?" Heather thought.
"Her vision must be blurred. If I had to guess... I would say that when that flash blinded her, it caused some damage."
"Hello! Can we stop talking about me like I'm not here?" Astrid scowled.
"Astrid come with me." Hiccup took her hand and led her out to the arena, taking every precaution on the stairs. He handed her a dagger and stood her several yards away from the barrel target.
"Hiccup, this is ridiculous."
"Astrid if you're vision is impaired, we need to know if it's going to cause a problem in combat. Especially with this project Shellfire. We can't risk anything going wrong." He explained. "Now, aim for the target."
The blonde rolled her eyes but did as told. She took a moment to examine the target before tossing the knife in the direction of the barrel. It scarcely touched the barrel, only hitting the very edge.
"Okay, Astrid. You could make that shot in your sleep." Hiccup mentioned.
"Okay, so what are you saying?" She worried.
Hiccup thought intently for a moment before an idea popped into his head.
"Heather watch her!" He called as he darted towards his hut.
***
"Okay... you're gonna think I'm crazy," Hiccup warned as he made his way into Astrid's hut, where she was sat with Heather.
"You are crazy... but continue..."
"I think I have a solution..." He pulled his hand from his saddlebag to reveal a strange-looking item.
"It's like a spyglass... but for both eyes. And you can wear it, so you don't have to hold it." He explained.
"You want me to wear that?" Astrid thought.
"Please just try it."
Astrid let out a sigh but soon nodded. Hiccup placed the spy glasses on her face. The blonde took a moment to scan the room. She lifted them off her face and put them back on.
"Wow, you were right. My sight is awful." She noticed.
"How do they feel?" Hiccup checked.
"Not bad." She thought, wriggling her nose adorably. "The real question is... how do they look?"
"Astrid, you look beautiful. As always." Hiccup complimented, to which Heather just smirked. Astrid sauntered to her old Gronkle Iron axe to see her reflection.
"Huh." She thought. "Not bad." She tore the axe off the wall and spun around, tossing it towards a target at the other side of the room. "Bullseye." She soon threw herself into a handstand, flipping over and returning gracefully to her feet. Then a cartwheel, followed by a somersault.
"Astrid, what are you doing?" Hiccup wondered. Not that he minded of course. He loved her little acrobatics routines.
"Making sure they aren't gonna fall off." She explained. "They make me look smarter. Don't they make me look smarter?"
She spun around at the silence. Hiccup was stood staring at her while Heather fought back a giggle.
"Hiccup?" Astrid attempted to get his attention. "Hiccup." She tried again. Nothing. She rolled her eyes before grasping his tunic and crashing into his lips. "You okay there?" She checked.
"Uh-huh." He smiled, finally snapping out of his thoughts.
"Hiccup, if these are gonna be a distraction, maybe I shouldn't wear them." Astrid chuckled reaching up to take them off. Hiccup gently took hold of her hand before she could and used his other hand to pull her in by the waist.
"Nah uh." He declined with a smirk as he rested their foreheads together. In his defense, the glasses weren't the distraction. Astrid was. She pulled him back in for another kiss. Completely forgetting that Heather was sat on her bed. Safe to say that their secret was out. Of course, Heather had her suspicions already. But now she was practically squealing with excitement and there was absolutely no denying it.
***