Hiccup and Astrid

memories part 6

"..."Astrid!"
Hiccup supposed in retrospect that he shouldn't have snuck up on the blonde, as he suddenly found himself pinned on his back into the grass, the blade of an axe pressing into his throat. Astrid's gold hair fell so close to his face that it tickled.
Her bloodthirsty expression momentarily gave way to a softer one, but it only lasted for a second before morphing into her usual annoyed frown.
"Oh, it's you."
She sounded extremely unimpressed.
"Don't sneak up on me like that." As she clambered off of him, her eyes flashed threateningly in his direction, practically knocking the wind out of him.
"Next time you might not be so lucky."
"Astrid,"
he heard himself say, still lying on the ground.
"Astrid. Yep. Astrid. No sneaking up! Got it. Aye, aye. Listen, I just wanted to say – that is I wanted to ask you? – if maybe—"
"Are you going to stand there blathering all day, or what?" Astrid snapped.
"Blathering!"
he blurted out, bouncing to his feet with a finger in the air.
"No, no, not at all! I mean, I was just, um, Astrid; I wanted to—"
"Hiccup."
He had never heard anyone groan so loudly. Astrid's head dropped back over her shoulders and she glowered at the sky instead of him.
"In the name of all that is holy, what do you want?"
"You!"
he yelped without thinking. He could tell this was entirely the wrong answer as she started to advance on him with increasing murderousness.
"I mean, no, wait; I don't want you at all!"
Apparently this was even worse, as evidenced by the axe that had returned to his throat. He closed his eyes tightly, awaiting what he was sure would be death, and squeaked,
"Gaaahhh no I mean, I just wanted to show you something tonight at Raven Point so please be there and don't kill me because I like being alive and—!"
"Oh, shut up."
The axe was off of his throat now. He felt a bit faint from relief and toppled down onto his rump, gaping up at her. She raised her eyebrow, slinging the weapon over her shoulder. The sun was right behind her head. She looked like a goddess. A very frightening goddess.
"Yeah, sure; I'll see you there. Can't promise the part about not killing you, though."
She gave him one more ferocious squint before stomping away, her braid bouncing angrily behind her. Hiccup watched her go and smiled a little.
The night was freezing and Hiccup was certain that there would be frost that morning. As he waited for Astrid, he couldn't help but think of me. 
When he'd been younger, he admitted that he had hungered to join me on my voyages, and always felt a bit put-out when he was told that he couldn't. While the other children found consolation in their mothers when their fathers departed, Hiccup sat curled in my chair and cared for himself, learning to enjoy the loneliness. 
That night, he wondered if I would be proud of him, courting Astrid and all that. When he'd first made his affection for her apparent, I had seemed a bit hesitant to encourage him, as though afraid that he would not succeed in his pursuit. For that reason, Hiccup knew he absolutely had to prove me wrong. Whether Astrid would let him was a different matter entirely. 
Hiccup exhaled and his breath clouded in front of him, dissipating out into the night. He felt stupid standing on the edge of the cliff with the cumbersome contraption he'd built for the occasion. The more he'd thought about it over the course of the day, the less likely it seemed that Astrid would show up at all. She may have just been humoring him. People had been known to do that..."
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To be continued...