Fire and the Thud [Hiccup x Reader]

R U Mine?

Two weeks passed since I had nearly left Berk for good. My aunt didn't seem surprised upon my knocking on her front door that one day, a bag in each hand and a mildly embarrassed expression on my face. In fact, she was overwhelming with her excitement, ushering me through the entrance and rambling on about how great it'd be here for me, all while taking my bags and heading upstairs before I could even give a proper hello.

I settled back into a familiar routine over the course of the passing days, despite missing one rather important part of my life: my mother was miles away and I'd be lying if I denied that I got upset about it from time to time. My aunt had assured me on several occasions that I would be just fine and that there was always the possibility of visiting. Soon enough, I was able to accept the fact I was, nearly, on my own here.

When Hiccup had offered to help me feel more comfortable staying here, suggesting friends and a job among a few other ideas, he hadn't been bluffing. One of the more unexpected gains I'd made the past weeks here was of a growing friendship with Astrid. You'd expect the opposite in such a situation, but somehow, we'd been getting closer. I had also started helping out with preparing for dragon races and cleaning up the arena after events, which gave me even more of a chance to interact with the other teenagers.

"Astrid?" I called out to the blonde as she was steadying a scoreboard that had been knocked out of place. Today she had decided to stay for a bit after racing and help with the clean-up, so we'd been casually talking for the past half hour.

"Hm?" she replied, still surveying the board before her. I took a breath, unsure of how to phrase my thoughts.

"You're not.. mad at me, or anything, right?" I settled on asking slowly. I watched her pause the action she'd been doing.

"You mean about Hiccup?" she said a couple seconds later. I nodded, before realizing she couldn't exactly see my response.

"Yeah," I replied. I bent down to pick up a lone armband that someone must have lost, trying to busy myself while waiting for her answer.

"I'm pretty pissed off about it, actually," she said in a calm voice. I paused, eyes widening. That wasn't the answer I had been expecting, at least, not as blunt as she had been. Then again, this was Astrid.

"I mean, if you hadn't come back, I am 90-percent sure Hiccup and I would still be together," she continued, resetting the other scoreboards. I just stood there, staring at the armband in my hand.

"But, you know what? You did come back, and I can't do anything about that." I turned to look at her, and she had been watching me with crossed arms. I exhaled a breath, unsure of what to say.

"So, yeah, I'm bitter about it, but you're a great person, (Y/N). It'd be dumb of me to blindly hate you just because you somehow managed to steal Hiccup," she added in a playful tone but I was already bursting into protest mode.

"Uh, wait a second, that is not tr--," I began to argue in confusion but she only shook her head, turning to finish up the scoreboards.

"It's okay, though. However, if you do hurt Hiccup, I will not hesitate to injure you," she deadpanned. I closed my eyes, shaking my hands.

"Astrid, what are you going on about?" I insisted. She looked at me with a questioning expression.

"He hasn't talked to you about it?" she asked.

"Yeah, he told me he broke up with you but that's all? I'm not.. we're not like.. dating now, or something, if that's what you think," I said with a huff of disbelief.

"You're kidding me," was all she said with a raise of her eyebrows before she moved away from the area she'd been standing in and headed for the arena's exit. I watched her leave, absolutely unsure of what had happened.
---
"It has been two weeks and you haven't done anything," Astrid said the very second she stepped into the blacksmith workshop. Hiccup turned his head to watch her walk his way before gesturing to the weapon in his grip.