Life on Berk

Fearless?

Summary: Astrid is known for her fearlessness. But is she really as unfazed by everything as she lets on?

Takes place around RTTE.

Hiccup had been sitting at the table for hours. He'd been working on some new designs for Toothless' tail when Astrid came knocking at the door to work on the map together.

"May I come in?" She peeked in. Hiccup looked up to greet her and promptly returned to what he had been doing previously. Astrid joined him at the table. "What are you doing?"

"Improving Toothless' tail." He replied absentmindedly. Then he glanced up at her. "Why don't you go upstairs and start working on the map first? I'll join you as soon as I clean up here." He returned to his notebook.

Astrid merely shrugged before pushing away from the table and making her way up to his loft.

It wasn't even two minutes before Astrid shrieked at the top of her lungs, causing Hiccup to draw a line all over his notebook and spooking Toothless, who jumped up from his slumber, eyes turned to slits.

"THERE'S A SPIDER!" She screamed. Hiccup sat dumbfounded for a second before grabbing a jar from the kitchen and making his way upstairs.

When he reached his loft, he raised an eyebrow at the scene. Astrid was standing on his bed, clutching his pillow like a shield meant to protect her from the spider on the floor. It wasn't a big one, but to someone with an apparent fear of spiders...

"Don't just stand there!" She yelled. "Do something!"

Hiccup snapped out of his shocked state and moved towards the spider on the ground, placing the jar over it. Once it was trapped inside the glass, he looked up at Astrid, who had noticeably relaxed, raising his eyebrow yet again.

"The great Fearless Astrid Hofferson, fearsome warrior and dragon rider of Berk, is scared of spiders?" He smirked. "Really, Astrid?" He knew he'd probably get punched for this, but he had to savor the moment.

"Shut up, Hiccup." She jumped down from the bed.

"But I never thought you, of all people, would be scared of spiders!" He laughed.

"They're scary!" She countered. "They're huge and they have eight legs, which is just wrong. I mean, what kind of creature has eight legs? It's disgusting!"

"Okay, Astrid," Hiccup took a deep breath to calm himself, although it was hard, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "They're not scary, they're not even huge. Look at it!" He pointed at the trapped spider. "It's tiny! And spiders have eight legs," he finished lamely.

Astrid hit him weakly on the shoulder a few times, not hard enough to cause any pain, mumbling incoherent things all the while. Hiccup rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time and picked up a piece of paper to slide under the jar. Astrid squealed and ran towards the door to hide behind Toothless, who was watching the scene with mild interest. Hiccup picked up the paper with the jar over it and tossed the spider out into the bushes below his window. He turned to face Astrid, who was turning redder by the second.

"Well, that's the end of that." He put his hands on his hips. "Astrid, can you please relax? The spider's gone!"

"I'm perfectly relaxed, Hiccup. What makes you think otherwise?"

How you're so tense and practically leaning against my dragon for support? "Fine." He shrugged.

Astrid straightened up and made her way to his desk. "Are we going to do the map or what?"

"You sure you're up to doing it?" He asked, the corners of his lips twitching.

"Why wouldn't I be?" It was Astrid's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Aren't you too spooked? We don't have to-"

He ducked in time for a pencil to fly over his head.

"One more word, and I swear, Hiccup-"

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry, Astrid. I'll stop." He was having a hard time keeping a straight face at her predicament. Seemingly satisfied, Astrid sat down to draw out the new parts of the map they'd discovered.

After a moment, Hiccup joined her.

"One word to the others and I'll kill you." Hiccup hummed in acknowledgment. He knew better than to embarrass her in front of the others.

"But you know, Astrid, it was pretty funny."

"HICCUP!"