Hiccup and Astrid

fighting lessons

"Hiccup, would you get up and come here already!"

Toothless cracked an eye open and let out a displeased groan whilst Hiccup ignored Astrid's distant, yet exasperated voice and buried his face deeper in his pillow. There was no way he was getting up now. The sun hadn't even risen over the edge yet! And anyway, Astrid would not dare to enter his bedroom without his permission...would she?
No, Hiccup decided instantly as he got back to sleep, although imagining the contrary made a cold shiver run down his spine. No, she wouldn't. Toothless, on the other hand, was pretty sure Astrid was perfectly capable of rushing into his human's bedroom and drag him outside if she deemed it necessary. Which, judging by the way he could hear her storming up the stairs, she did. The Night Fury reluctantly got up and tried to nudge his rider awake before disaster struck, to no avail. Hiccup would not budge, and Astrid was getting closer.
When the black dragon heard the door being opened noiselessly, he turned around and stared at the blonde Viking. Astrid was wearing her usual clothes and armour, plus her usual fur coat since the air was still chilling. Indeed, although winter was slowly coming to an end to let spring replace it, going outside without some extra furs was synonymous of deliberately wanting to catch an atrocious cold. Toothless quickly trotted over to where Astrid stood, sniffed her and she patted him gently on his snout to greet him.
"Morning, ô mighty salamander."
The Night Fury knew Astrid liked to tease him and, purring, he suddenly sat on his rear end in front of the teenage girl he'd grown to like almost as much as Hiccup himself. Letting out a low whine, the dragon flattened his ears in a miserable way and looked expectantly at her, his pupils as dilated as could be. Astrid stared at him for a second, and then snorted.
"Good try, Toothless, but I don't buy 'cute' or 'lost puppy'. I'm waking him now, whether he likes it or not. Besides, he's the one who asked for it!"
And although Toothless couldn't exactly disagree with that, he still didn't like the bucket of water Astrid had brought with her. A mischievous grin spreading on her face, Astrid noiselessly strode along to stand aside Hiccup's bed, lifted the bucket she was holding at arms' length whilst Toothless literally cringed, and...

SPLASH!

"Aaaah! What the...?"
A bare-chested Hiccup shot up, and he looked around him, blinking and confused as to why he was completely soaking wet while he was inside his hut. And then he saw Astrid staring down at him with a strange look on her face; an odd mix between a frown and a smirk.
"Astrid! Hi, Astrid, hi Astrid, hi-
"Yeah, yeah, I know. We've been through this before."
"Uh...dare I ask what you're doing in my bedroom?"
"What does it look like, genius? I've come to kick your but out of here, since you obviously can't do it on your own!"
"But...I mean, Astrid, you can't just come into my bedroom like that! I'm not even properly dressed!"
For a moment, Hiccup feared the beating up was going to start, but Astrid merely chuckled.
"So? What's the problem with that?"
"Th-That's not the point," Hiccup cried indignantly, his cheeks the darkest shade of red Astrid had ever seen, "I mean, how would you react if I walked upon you in your bedroom and see you half-naked?"
Time froze, Toothless let out a snort and Astrid blinked. Did he really just say that?
The very second those last words went past his lips, Hiccup wished he could vanish in thin air and clenched his teeth, his eyes closed tightly, waiting for the blow that never came. Instead, he heard Astrid burst out laughing.
"Well, I think you would enjoy the sight. But if I were you, I wouldn't even try. Unless you'd like to enjoy a close encounter with my axe, that is. Anyway," the blonde Viking added while throwing at Hiccup his pants, belt, tunic and fur vest, "get up and put these on! It's time."
"Time for what?"
"Training! And don't give me that look; we should have started half-an hour ago! Come on, move it! We're gonna put some flesh on these bones of yours! I want you to be downstairs with me in five minutes."
Hiccup stared in shock at the retreating form of Astrid's body as she exited the room, and then turned to kook at his dragon who was giving him his trademark gummy smile.
"Some friend you are, you useless reptile. Why do I get the feeling I'm going to regret this?"
"I heard that!"
Hiccup thought he really needed to learn how to make comments in a lower voice, so Astrid wouldn't hear them. Astrid had been training him progressively – she had paid very close attention to his leg and always seemed to know when to stop to prevent it from hurting him-and to her credit, Hiccup had to admit she was a very efficient teacher. Maybe even too efficient for his own liking. Sighing, he began to dress himself up. New days were dawning. And this one was going to be one day to remember.