Hello, hello! This was just a cute lil idea I thought of! I hope you enjoy it :)

The thing Astrid dreaded about parties was having to dance with complete strangers.

It's surprising in the first place that Astrid enjoys parties. After all, she is more of a rough-and-tumble kind of gal, who is usually off tearing up the bark of a tree with her axe or fighting dragon hunters with the A-team. However, every once in a while, she does like the festivities and dressing up that comes with a Berkian party.

But gods – the dancing with random guys from the Meathead tribe – who are visiting Berk to celebrate 200 years of their peace treaty – is definitely not something Astrid was looking forward to.

But it was all in celebration of the two tribes. In Viking fashion, it was a tremendous party in the Berk Great Hall. The room filled with dancing, singing, a whole lot of food, and plenty of drinking.

They are Vikings after all; it's to be expected. They're only an hour in, and Gobber has already joined the band, trying to get them to sing some old drinking tune he learned back when he had all his limbs. It's an amusing sight to watch.

But Astrid is currently stuck in the arms of a random Meathead guy – Doorstopper is his name, she thinks? She's forgotten already. But she can (rather unfortunately) remember that he's a whole lot like Snotlout, in that they both like to talk about themselves…only themselves…for a long time.

Astrid sighs, her mind wandering as she and Doorstopper twirl around the dance floor, Doorstopper telling yet another story of how he defeated some guy in battle or something. Astrid wasn't really listening.

She was more so thinking about a different Viking – Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third.

Oh, Thor, where was he?

The party had started nearly an hour and a half ago, maybe longer than that, and Hiccup was absolutely no where to be seen. He was probably out riding Toothless, perhaps not planning on coming to the party at all, even though he promised Stoick he would be there. Or he had forgotten.

Either way, it was very awkward to watch when Stoick, at the beginning of the party, stood up in front of the entire crowd to greet Chief Ulf of the Meathead tribe and his sons, Rockbrain and Stonefoot. When Stoick called out Hiccup's name, thinking his son had just forgotten he was meant to be up there with him, the one-legged dragon trainer didn't show up.

Not the first, second, third, or tenth time Stoick nervously called his son's name. Stoick even looked to Astrid, but despite being betrothed to Hiccup, she doesn't know where he is at all times.

So, Astrid definitely got a case of second-hand embarrassment when she watched Stoick try to explain why his son wasn't there and that he sincerely apologized over and over again.

They honestly shouldn't be surprised at this point. It's hard – basically impossible sometimes – to keep track of Hiccup. He's always off doing Thor-knows-what: finding dragons, getting trapped by dragon hunters, finding new islands for their map, testing out his flight suit, or whatever he finds himself getting distracted with.

And Astrid had been really looking forward to dancing with her betrothed and seeing his reaction when he would place his eyes on her. Astrid's hair was down, save for a half-up braided bun and a few small plaits hidden within her long, wavy blonde hair. She wore her nice kransen and her special dress – the one she saved for special occasions. It was a turquoise color, floor-length, with gold floral detailing on the skirt, and gold trim on the sleeves and the bottom of the skirt. She even dawned her betrothal necklace, which she doesn't wear often due to its valuable nature – both monetary and emotionally.

But, of course, Hiccup is a no-show. Go figure. Like she said: she shouldn't be surprised at this point.

But it still sucks.

"…don't you think, Miss Hofferson?" Doorstopper's voice sounds, interrupting Astrid's train of thought.

Astrid blinks and looks up at Doorstopper, who looks at her intently. "Um-"

He scoffs pompously. "I asked if you thought it was wrong that Eirik Eirkson of the Mindless tribe thought he could beat me in a dual!" he exclaims, as if it was the most important conversation they could ever have. Which, to Doorstopper, probably was, considering it was about him.

Astrid slumps her shoulders. "Um…yeah, yeah." She doesn't even really try to mask her boredom at this point. "So wrong," she says sarcastically.

"I know!" Doorstopper shouts, his chest puffing up. "The nerve of such a man! To think he could beat me in a dual?"

Astrid had to definitely fight to not roll her eyes at this dude. She definitely wishes she was doing anything else in the world right now.

Right as she thinks this to herself, she manages to catch a view of one of the doors leading into the Great Hall as she and Doorstopper spin around slowly on the dancefloor. She notices one of the doors opening, and she can't help but grin to herself when she sees that it's Hiccup…pulling off his flight suit (which he had worn over his ceremonial outfit, Astrid can see), while Toothless follows him inside, the smell of fish making him basically ignore Hiccup and walk right past him. Hiccup doesn't even notice; Stoick had made a strict "no dragons at the anniversary ball" rule, so Astrid guesses he probably told Toothless to head back home, but the useless reptile will ignore anyone if it means he gets a basket of fish.

Astrid manages to catch Hiccup's gaze, and they smile at each other. Hiccup lifts a hand in a wave, but before he could do so, Astrid points behind Hiccup. He gives her a confused look, and then turns to see what she was gesturing to. When he sees Toothless trying to come into the party, he gives an over-exaggerated groan while wailing his arms in the air, probably going off to the Night Fury about how he never listens and that he's such a "big whiny baby", and proceeds to shove him out of the hall, all while putting his flight suit in the bag attached to Toothless' saddle.

Astrid laughs to herself at the sight, which catches the attention of Doorstopper, who laughs as well. "Yes, I know it's a silly idea to think of Dagur the Deranged having a wife. Very strange, is it not?"

Astrid turns to him an awkwardly clears her throat before pulling herself out of his embrace. "Um, if you would excuse me-"

"I'll save another dance for you, Miss Hofferson!" Doorstopper announces, his nose stuck in the air. "I'll put you at the top of my waiting list, even though I have many women who would also like to have to have the privilege of dancing with yours truly!"

Astrid gives him a (fake) friendly smile and an awkward laugh before hastily turning away, rolling her eyes as she walks towards Hiccup's direction by the front doors, where Hiccup has successfully managed to get Toothless to leave the Hall, though he's probably pawing at the front doors to try to get in. That dragon will do anything for some perch.

Hiccup smiles at her as she approaches him. "Didn't mean to interrupt your dance," he says in place of greeting. He has his hands in his pockets, and he shifts from his toes to his heels (…heel).

Astrid shakes her head. "No; you actually saved me," she responds. She makes a retching noise. "He was so annoying. He would not stop talking about himself, and if I had to hear one more story about his oh-so wonderful achievements and how amazing he is, I would've socked him in the mouth." She lets out a sigh of relief.

"Well, I'm happy to have saved you," he replies. He looks at her up and down. "You look beautiful Milady." He places a hand on the small of her back and pulls her closer to him.

Astrid's cheeks turn a light pink, and she lifts a hand to rest on his chest. "Thank you."

"And," Hiccup adds, reaching for Astrid's betrothal necklace, "I see you're wearing this."

Astrid grins. "Do you like it?"

Hiccup grabs Astrid's hands and intertwines their fingers. "You look beautiful, Astrid."

Astrid smiles and places a kiss on Hiccup's cheek. "Thank you," she replies. She looks over Hiccup's ceremonial outfit – a green tunic with gold around the collar and the end of the sleeves, and a belt with the Haddock family crest in the center. He normally wears his nice pants with this, but Astrid sees that he accidentally put on a pair that has a few patches from wear and tear, probably from testing out flight suits or performing dangerous stunts when flying time.

"And you look nice in your ceremonial digs," she tells him. She reaches up and runs a hand through his wind-blown hair, trying to get it to settle down to its normal style. "But don't think I didn't see you come in with your flight suit on." She gives Hiccup "the look" as she tries to fix his hair.

Hiccup rolls his eyes and laughs. "I lost track of time," he replies. "I swear I was planning to be here on time."

Astrid grins and moves her hand from Hiccup's hair back to his chest. "You could've saved me from having to dance with Doorstopper. Ugh." She shakes her head. "He was awful."

Hiccup laughs. "You seemed to be enjoying yourself."

Astrid rolls her eyes yet again. "Oh, yeah, the time of my life."

Hiccup leans in and kisses her forehead. "Well, I might not be as exciting as Doorstopper, but," he steps back and holds out his hand to her, "would you care to dance, Milady?"

Astrid laughs and takes Hiccup's hand in hers, nodding her head. "Of course."

Hiccup kisses her hand before taking her out to the dance floor, twirling her into his arms as he does so. Astrid laughs and wraps her arms around her boyfriend's neck, happy to be with him and not annoying Vikings who only talk about themselves.

This is what Astrid loves about dances.

I hope you liked it! It was just a cute lil thing I wanted to write.

I'm starting a one-shot collection type thing, where the stories take place in-between HTTYD 2 and THW, so I'm compiling some of those. I have one rough draft written, and I've started two others, so hopefully I'll be posting some of those soon, once I get a lot more written!

I'm also hoping to write a multi-shot. I have an idea, but I just haven't sat down to plan it out yet. I'm hoping to start that this summer.

If you saw on my tumblr, I went through a bit of an emotional rollercoaster on Friday, where the job I had lined up for the summer was cancelled. I was supposed to be working as basically a Bible Camp instructor, and I've done it the past two years, and this was going to be, perhaps, my final year to do it, since I'm gradauating in December, and they ask for college-aged students to participate. So, I had to quickly scramble to find something to do, and I managed to snag the oppurtunity to babysit two kids for the entire summer. So, that'll mean, perhaps, a lot more time to write than I initially planned!

I still have a big stash of fics that I need to post, and those will gradually come out. I like to space out my posting so it doesn't feel overwhelming. But let me know if you'd like me to post more often!

As always, feel free to message me! I know we're all kinda feeling lonely right now, and I'm here if anyone wants to talk! Just shoot me a PM or message me on Tumblr. I'm hoping to build some friends in the HTTYD community! I've been in this fandom since 2014, and a lot of the pals I made have since left the fandom, so...hit me up!

Okay, enough rambling from me. I hope you enjoyed the story, and thank you so much for reading and reviewing! Your comments and reviews encourage me to write more!

Love you all, and stay safe!