Under Pressure

Chapter Ten: Rejected

SMACK!

Snotlout reeled backward, nearly falling to the ground with the force of the blow. He stared at his wife, open mouthed and gasping for breath.

"What... what was that for?" he choked, massaging his cheek.

"You don't already know?" Heather snapped, wiping her hand on her shirt as if that would take away the stinging sensation faster.

Snotlout had no response other than to continue to stare at her, his mouth bobbing up and down in surprise. Heather sighed deeply. Yet again, she was going to have to talk sense into the man. She loved him so much but he could be a complete idiot sometimes.

"What you said to Hiccup and Astrid, from what I've heard, was reprehensible!" she growled, narrowing her eyes at him and thanking the gods that Spitelout was taking care of Inga for the afternoon. "You really don't care what happens to their kids?"

"As long as the Berserkers don't come after Inga, no!" Snotlout shot back, his anger returning. "If we go to war with them, we'll all die! I was just saying what everyone else was thinking!"

"Look, I'm not saying I don't understand your point of view. I'm not even saying I disagree. But you don't say things like that to grieving parents! Gods, Snotlout, Hiccup just lost his father!" Heather shouted, appalled at her husband's callousness. "And need I remind you that Stoick died saving yours?"

"All right, all right!" Snotlout huffed, taking another step away from his livid wife. "What's done is done, though. And would you have voted any differently?"

"Of course not but the point is that you told an already grieving family to give away their kids without any remorse!" Heather sat down on the couch, balling her fists in her lap. "You have got to figure out how to be tactful. You have a daughter! If you ever speak to her the way you spoke to Hiccup and Astrid-"

Snotlout bristled at the thought. "I would never-"

"Then act like it." Heather narrowed her eyes at him. "Go apologize to them."

"What? But-"

"You owe them an apology, Snotlout, for being the most inconsiderate person in the entire world!" Heather looked like she was on the brink of tears.

"What... why are you being so.. so... passionate about this?" Snotlout asked in a slightly quieter voice.

Heather looked directly at her husband. "Because I'm imagining someone saying that about Inga. And it's disgusting. What you said was disgusting."

"Well it's too late now." Snotlout sat down, the weight of everything that had happened, everything he had said, crashed down on him. "We already voted not to declare war."

"You can apologize. You can be there for your friends during what will probably be the worst moment of their lives." Heather said, not making eye contact with him. "You can be a decent person, Snotlout."

Snotlout sighed deeply. Sometimes he hated it when his wife was right.

Xxx

Eight Terrible Terrors had been rounded up in record time. Hiccup found a slip of parchment he had been using to sketch Toothless the previous day and ripped it up, writing on the back and tying each piece to the little dragons' legs. The way to tell a Terrible Terror where it was supposed to go was to feed it a little bit of dragon nip unique to its destination. Trader Johann had a thriving business thanks to that little trick. Hiccup quickly stopped at home and grabbed the small pouches of dragon nip. Once he had given the Terrible Terrors the tiny pieces of dragon nip unique to their destinations, he watched them fly away, his heart pounding in his chest. He knew that, thanks to the alliance with the dragons, the chiefs would arrive relatively soon.