another heads up for switching povs. first bit is 3rd person B)
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Back in the Great Hall, a fair amount of people had already gathered to eat. At the very end of one table sat the usual group of teenagers chatting amongst themselves. Snotlout and the Twins sat on one side while Fishlegs and Astrid were on the other. Fishlegs was engrossed in the argument going on between the teenagers across from him. Astrid, on the other hand, wasn't partaking in the conversation that day. Instead she leaned her cheek on her left hand, the other aimlessly prodding her dinner. This had been going on for a bit until Fishlegs noticed the lack of her presence, turning his head to look.
"What's wrong?" he asked. Astrid ceased playing with her food, sitting up straighter.
"I'm just wondering where Hiccup is. I mean, he's usually late but not by this much," she shrugged, glancing for what felt like the thousandth time towards the large doors.
"Oh, don't worry! He told me earlier that he was going to hang out with (Y/N)," Fishlegs assured her. Astrid only poked her cheek with her tongue, crossing her arms.
"We've barely hung out the past couple days because he's been busy, and when we do, all he talks about is how excited he is about her being back," Astrid admitted, "I wonder if she even knows that Hiccup and I are dating. Do you think he's told her? What if they're- actually, nevermind, I don't know why I care so much."
"Astrid, relax! Hiccup is dating you. He isn't the kind to go behind your back like that. It'll be fine," Fishlegs insisted. She sighed, shaking her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been so concerned like this, except perhaps back when Heather had first showed up on their beach. At least there wasn't a chance that (Y/N) would try and do anything like she had done.
It wasn't long after that when Hiccup and (Y/N) walked through the entrance, laughing and gesturing at one another. Astrid inhaled, glaring slightly at Fishlegs before pretending to be extremely preoccupied with her dinner.
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"(Y/N), friends. Friends, (Y/N)," Hiccup said as we reached the table. I was about to mention that I had, in fact, already met them all again the other day when Astrid spoke up.
"Yeah, Hiccup, we met, or have you already forgotten?" she said, raising an eyebrow. I smiled, nodding at him when he gave me a sideways glance.
"Oh. Apparently I have," he shrugged.
"So where have you been? Dinner started a while ago," Astrid asked. Fishlegs glanced at her with a worrisome expression before it disappeared.
"I know! I almost screamed when he told me we had missed it," I exclaimed.
"Wow, how dare I cause you to miss a few minutes of dinner so that we could hang out?" Hiccup replied sarcastically.
"It was a lot longer than a few minutes, Hiccup," I pointed out, giving him a smile.
"Whatever! It's not like your dinner's gonna run off. We're fine," Hiccup said with a laugh.
"Um, well, unless it's precooked-"
"Thank you, Fishlegs, you are not helping," Hiccup cut him off playfully as he slid onto the bench next to Astrid. I glanced around the teens before deciding to settle in next to him.
"Are you not gonna eat or something?" Astrid asked, glancing at us. Hiccup looked around before realizing what she had meant.
"I forgot. Hold on," he shook his head, standing up. I started to as well but he waved his hand at me dismissively.
"It's alright, I'll bring you something back," he added. I nodded, sitting back down as he walked off. I felt a tad awkward now, having nothing to say to any of them. Luckily, they were already talking quite animatedly amongst themselves. It seemed to be a heated discussion about something related to dragons, and I listened with interest. I hadn't noticed Astrid watching me until she coughed, causing me to glance her way.
"So, (Y/N)," she said slowly. I could sense she felt a bit awkward as well, which somehow eased it all. I nodded, encouraging her to continue.
"How's.. Berk so far..?" she finally decided.
"I'm still a bit unused to it all, actually," I admitted, "To be honest, I woke up last night from a dragon screeching outside and made it halfway down the stairs shouting about it until I remembered everything's good with them now. My mom, however, was not as understanding."
Astrid laughed, and I felt immediately more comfortable despite the slightly embarrassing story I had decided to blurt out.
Hiccup returned at that moment with two plates of dinner in one arm and a cup in each hand.
"Hello, I am back. Here," he said, pausing to balance himself before setting down what he had been carrying. One of the plates started to slip away but he caught it before any major damage, giving me a sheepish grin.
"You good there? Plan on dropping anything else?" I teased. He gave me a look before shaking his head, beginning to sit down. Snotlout turned to him suddenly, looking frustrated.
"Hiccup, please explain to this loser that he is wrong," he pleaded.
"Shut up, you're the wrong one!" Tuffnut argued just as loudly. I held in a laugh, watching them.
"You're both wrong!" Fishlegs chimed in. Hiccup's gaze traveled between each of them quickly before he voiced his confusion. They all began filling him in and arguing at the same time, and I watched passively. Ruffnut shook her head and rolled her eyes before looking at me.
"Boys," she muttered, and I laughed quietly, nodding.
"I know exactly what you mean," I sighed.
It turned out we hadn't missed too much of dinner so the remaining hour was quite eventful. I had managed to join in on a few of the conversations, and for those moments I actually felt like part of the gang. I was growing more and more hopeful, not only about my regrowing friendship with Hiccup, but with everything in general. Berk had changed for the better, and I was glad to be able to take part in it, even if I was a bit late on the whole thing. I had felt more a part of something these past couple days than I had the past years on my other island. In some weird, terrible way, I was thankful my aunt had given us an excuse for coming back.