Hiccup and Astrid

Astrid Cooking

It was a nice day on the edge, Hiccup gave the gang a day off, So everyone went to enjoy their free time.
Astrid hated being lazy. Hiccup didn’t mind too much.
Even if It was a rather off day for them, she wanted to do something.
It all some culminated in the two of them sitting in Stormfly’s shed, the light wind was crisp with winter but it had stayed so long their light shivers had evaporated. With their bellies full both Toothless and Stormfly were lulled into a daze of half sleep while they purred in contentment of being petted by their riders.
"We’ve gotta find something to do." Astrid finally sighed and Hiccup perked up a bit at the sound of her voice. Even though they had spent virtually all day together they hadn’t spoken too much. Most of their activities consisting of non-verbal acts, and the two had unknowingly become accustomed to using less words and more eye contact when trying to communicate.
Hiccup sighed and leaned back into Toothless, his arms behind his head. "What for?" he countered with a yawn. "We can have a lazy day from time to time."
"Yeah but that’s just…." Astrid slouched. "I don’t just sit around and do nothing…" regardless of her words she leaned back next to Hiccup, scooting close to him so that their shoulders were touching.
Almost on cue, Hiccup’s stomach growled, loudly and even the dragons stirred. He blinked and blushed. They had fed their dragons, of course, but Hiccup hadn’t eaten since breakfast which was almost 7 hours ago.
"Someone’s hungry," Astrid laughed before the glimmer of an idea glossed her face. Hiccup raised a brow as she stood.
"Oh no, what are you thinking?" He sighed, looking up at her.
"How about I cook you something?"
Hiccup’s eyes widened suddenly. The only time Astrid had made anything was her Yaknog during Snoggletog, if that was hardly edible. He shuttered to think how badly she’d mess up an actual meal if she made such a horrible drink.
But as he looked over at her he saw that glimmer in her eyes. She was determined, and he couldn’t nor did he have the heart to break that from her.
"Alright " he took his sweet time getting up, jostling Toothless as he did so. Astrid gave a small nod before walking ahead into the empty kitchen, Toothless came inside as well and Stormfly poked her head through the window while Astrid petted her before returning to the ice pile of the food stash.
"Hmmm," Astrid surveyed it slowly before looking over at Hiccup who just stood awkwardly, shifting his weight between his foot and prosthetic. He wouldn’t like a meat dinner, she thought to herself, so maybe some fish? She looked over the iced stash of meat. No fish….
"Stormfly" Astrid called and the nadder chirped in response. "Can you go get me two fish?" Stormfly gave a nod before flying off and Hiccup walked over to her.
"You don’t have to send her to get fish for me I could have-"
"You, go sit down!" Astrid got a particularly serious look on her face before waving the wooden spoon at him. "You’ll affect my performance."
Hiccup sighed. "Yeah, but I could help you, I cook for myself sometimes."
Astrid glowered, not amused. "That’s not the point" she growled before her eyes softened. "I just want to cook something and I want you to sit there and relax…okay?" Her words were hardly gentle, but Hiccup could feel the pull behind them and tried not to smile.
Sitting down near the fire as Toothless strolled in a curled back down he got lost in counting the embers, only hearing the faint rustle of Astrid figuring out which pots to use and Stormfly poking her head in with fish Hiccup wasn’t sure how she transported there without putting them in her mouth.
He shivered a bit at the lulled thought, but if he had braved Toothless’s regurgitated fish, and Astrid’s yaknog, he’d get through this culinary experience as well…
Astrid emerged an hour later with small cuts of cooked fish, breaded over with grains, diced in small cubes and stacked in a meticulous fashion that no Viking would ever take the time to do. He smiled a bit at the display but decided to take a bite of the cabbage first.
"Sorry if it’s light but you don’t really eat that much anyways…." Astrid sat down, starting at him immensely while he took a bite. Hiccup grew a bit nervous. Why was she staring at him like that?
Regardless he took a bite, chewing a bit more slowly than usual to get the amusement of her hanging off his every chew before she smacked the side of his arm.
"Stop playing with me!" She chastised. "Is it…you know, good?"
Hiccup took a piece of fish and crunched on it. It was…okay. There was a particular flavor to her fish he wasn’t sure what it was—thought hoping it wasn’t dragon saliva—but it made it taste differently then any fish he had eaten.
"It’s…" Astrid leaned forward a bit. "It’s good, Astrid, really, really good." He embellished a bit, but the glow of satisfaction on her face was good enough to make the fluff of his comment worth it.
"That’s good," she sighed a bit in relief. "I’ve never been too good at cooking, so I’ve got to work on it." Hiccup breathed out a laugh as he continued eating.
"Well it all worked out, I got to eat something and you found something to do." Hiccup said.
"Yeah, and it’s worth it as long as you like it." She smiled and gave a light jab to his shoulder before leaning against him, finally taking a few bites from her own plate. It was content just sitting there eating with her and he wondered if maybe she would actually master cooking one day…
"Well, at least it’s an improvement over that yaknog" Hiccup muttered to himself as Astrid quickly got back up to the counter to bring back a picture of a drink, he expected ale to be poured in his mug but instead heard a glop and a gurgle.
"And you can wash it down with some yaknog," Astrid smiled. "I know how much you love it"
Hiccup’s eyes widened.

Maybe not.
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