Tumblr prompt: "You heard me. Take. It. Off." Hiccstrid. One shot.

With permission, a rewrite of my friend sleapyGazelle's fic: "For Me"

She thought she had gotten away with it as she closed the door behind her and made her way to the bed. Taking care not to put weight onto her right leg, she sat, taking her elbow pads off. They drop out of her hands and onto the floor as the door to her hut crashed open.

In hindsight, Astrid should have known better.

She said nothing, just picked up the elbow pads and focused on wrapping them neatly even as Hiccup walked in, face dark.

"Hiccup." She put the elbow pads on a shelf above her bed; her hand barely reached the shelf and she sucked in a little breathe as her right leg pulled her downwards.

A force of wind blew in and almost smothered the small candles littered around the room; the room had lit up for a mere second before the hut was enclosed in darkness again by the closed door.

Did he notice?

Astrid loosened her breath and put her hands at her sides, gripping the bed casually; she finally looked up at the boy who didn't move from the doorway. "What's wron-"

"Take your boot off."

She bristled up at the command and her hands spoke more than her words as they formed fists on top of her bed sheets.

"What?"

Her voice was soft but she knew she had the effect she wanted when Hiccup took a single step forward, stutter-stopped, and looked down at the floor. Judging by his gaze, he looked like he wanted to bore a hole into the floor by sheer willpower.

There was a deep intake of breathe from Hiccup before he looked back up at her; his face looked tired but there were now sharp lines around his eyes as he said in a voice she's only heard in her dreams of fire, ships, and blood.

"You heard me. Take. It. Off."

Before she could even reject him, he made a sudden move and in one swift motion, crossed the room, knelt down before her, his exposed neck poised for a beheading. She startled back but Hiccup had already caught her right leg before she could fully swing it up onto the bed. He held her foot gingerly, carefully, but she knew he's frowning at the the way she had tensed at his touch.

"It's bad, isn't it," Hiccup asked to her foot. It came out as a statement rather than a question and Astrid resisted the urge to look away when he finally raised his gaze to look her in the eyes; it's solemn, hooded, and brought forth the feeling of something heavy that settled in her stomach as he continued in that voice that sent shivers tingling down her spine, "You said the arrow grazed you."

She narrowed her eyes but didn't break contact with Hiccup's as he mumbled, "That means the least it did was pierce you."

Blood hummed in her ears as she replied in a soothing voice meant to calm the thunder in both their hearts. "Hiccup, I'm-"

"Fine?" His eyebrow arched upwards and his lips thinned as the boy retorted back sarcastically, "I know."

There was a stretch of silence where they both just looked at each other- his hands still on her foot, lifting it up like one would a precious jewel, her hands still fisted onto the bed sheets, knuckles white.

Somewhere in the room, candle wax dripped down a stem and onto the candle holder.

There was a beat, two, and then Hiccup breathed, "I just need to see," in an incredibly small voice; the heaviness in Astrid's stomach took root and rose upwards, branching through her body, clogging her lungs. "Please, Astrid," he said hoarsely as he reached out a hand to take hers and ghosted a kiss on them. "For me."

For a second, she thought of knights and princesses but the moment was gone because she knew better. She was no princess, no damsel in distress. She was none of those things because she was a warrior. She commanded respect so she peeled her hand away from Hiccup's warm ones and wrapped them around her stomach in an attempt to anchor herself. But she can't ignore the tremor riding up her leg so she swallowed, knowing something had to give as the heaviness from before hung in her lungs, slowly creeping upwards.

She swallowed again, closed her eyes for a hard long second, opened them, and said, "Hiccup." It was all the consent the boy needed. Hiccup wasted no time peeling off her boot, hands hungrily fluttering around her wound as Astrid hissed at the open air stinging it.

Hiccup's gaze towards the raw injury would have scared the others but she was not like the others so she reached down to grip his chin, gently tilting up to say, "It looks worse than it is."

Her hands returned to her side even tighter and it reminded her to breathe in an attempt to fight the heaviness in her throat that weighed down what she wanted to say. Hiccup settled down on the floor, hands still fluttering around her wound, hesitant, until she finally found enough air to whisper, "Trust me."

He blinked, shook his bangs off his face, and she almost couldn't breathe again at the sight; his eyes were clear, angry, but they held no lies and only spoke truth as his hands finally settled down, assured in its actions as the boy unwound the long piece of cloth from the small pouch at his belt. His grip was firm as Hiccup laid the strip of cloth over the arrow wound, slowly winding it in a repetitive motion. It seemed to assure him as his shoulders also unwound, turning from sharp mountaintops to the gentle slopes of hills.

He sighed and mumbled something, head bent over his task, his exposed neck poised for a beheading. "... ry."

She blinked, hands loosening from her sides as the candle by her bed flickered once, twice, before going out as the boy said again, "Astrid, I'm so sorry. This is my fault."

He never looked up once during this exchange and she reached over to relight the candle as Hiccup continued to methodically wrap the strip of cloth and tied a knot. He sat back on his knees, head still low as if bowing for forgiveness and she resisted the urge to pull him up because this was his battle to fight, to resolve, so she sighed.

"How in Thor's name do you figure that?"

He said something under his breath but she ignored him as she blew out the match she had used to relight the candle. "I told you, Hiccup. We all know the risks. We freed another handful of dragons today. This," and her hands finally came to settle on her right leg, fiddling the knot, "will heal before we know it."

Hiccup's head tilted slightly upwards but he still didn't fully face her as Astrid clasped her hands in front of her. "It was worth it."

His sudden rise from his kneel was unexpected; he loomed over her as he stood at his full height and she resisted the urge to stand, to be equal, as Hiccup shouted, "I know! I know all that! But I wish I could have blocked that arrow!"

His hands formed fists at his side as he came closer to her, lines forming angry ridges around his mouth. "What if that arrow had hit a bit higher up?" His gaze settled at her chest and she felt the heaviness sink back down to her chest as he continued, "Dragon root or not, if that arrow had hit…" He couldn't complete the thought and just stood over her, knuckles white.

"Hiccup," she breathed because this was the first time in a long time since anyone had noticed the wounds she carried and cared so she took his hands, slowly unfurling them to reveal nail marks. "I hate Viggo and everything he stands for."

Hiccup's hands were warm, full of life, despite the white nail marks that almost gave way to blood. "If you weren't leading us to fight his hunters, I'd be doing it on my own." She pressed her forehead against the cup of his hands; to any others, it would look like he was blessing her and she knew he understood her when he curved over her, putting his own forehead on her head, enveloping her in a cocoon of love.

"You're a warrior, Astrid." Hiccup's voice vibrated through her hair and trinkled down to her spine, sending shivers. "I'm not here to tell you not to fight." His grip tightened on her and she breathed deeply, drowning in his arms of warmth that burned her from the inside out, clearing the heaviness that had settled in her stomach. "But please…" He pushed off her, knelt once more, and laced his fingers with hers. "Be more careful."

For me was left unsaid but she could read between the lines, could see more than hear the weight of responsibility rolling off Hiccup in waves so she did the only thing she could.

She didn't say that what had occurred wouldn't happen again. She didn't say that she wished the same for him when he went out with Toothless, soaring ahead to touch the wisps of dew on the mountainside. She didn't say that she couldn't promise him anything because she was a warrior and death came to all like a friend despite what they did.

Instead, Astrid stood up, finally rising from the bed and it felt like she could see everything for the first time in crystal clarity ever since the door closed and enveloped the room in semi-darkness. Astrid reached down and pulled Hiccup up; he rose, ascended, reached her height, went even higher... and didn't look away when she reached up to pull him close and kissed him.

- Hope this story makes you want to read sleapyGazelle's version~ I'm always down to promote my talented friends! No shame whatsoever.

- I'm not much for this fandom though I did like the two movies. Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did into looking up the fandom and the characters in it.

- Reviews are much appreciated! :)