My headcanon is that Hiccup sometimes has these moments where he feels like his excitement or enthusiasm about something gets too annoying because nobody seemed to be interested in listening to him when he was under 15. So I wanted to write something based on that :)

1st Drabble: Her Favourite Sound

It had been so long since Hiccup had even thought about the Book of Dragons. It wasn't because of lack of interest, no, it was the opposite, really. All those responsibilities on his shoulders from being the Chief just took up all his time, and when he finally got home, he chose to spend time with his family instead of his books.

So when his eyes got fixed on that worn-out and dusty book one late evening, his eyes widened and it seemed as though every other thought was cleared off his head. Many years of hard work on the book could be seen on its covers as it had been opened and closed hundreds of times to write or find new information on dragon species. The embellished front cover no longer looked pretty – the dragon that stood in the middle was now almost indistinguishable.

But when Hiccup opened the book at a random page, it was as though he was 17 again. The pages looked the way they had over ten years ago, and the Chief could even remember some of the lines he had written himself. There were mentions of dragons Hiccup had completely forgotten about, but now that he saw them on a piece of paper, he couldn't believe how he had let that to happen. It was incredible how that book could wake up so many small fragments of memories of some of the most dangerous and ridiculous adventures that the gang had experienced during their youth.

Excitement was bumping in Hiccup's veins as he rushed upstairs where his and Astrid's bedroom was located. Just as he had expected, his wife was sitting on the bed, waiting for him to come so that they could cuddle and go to sleep. When Hiccup reached the top of the stairs, Astrid turned her head to the side to take a look at him. She raised her eyebrow at sight of her husband's excited face and then her gaze dropped on the book that Hiccup held in his hand.

"What's that?" she asked and beckoned the book with her head.

Their children were already asleep so they tried to keep their voices down.

"Look," he said excitedly as he approached their bed.

He outstretched his hand so that Astrid could grab the book. He sat down next to her, watching his wife's expression intently as she stared at the fragile covers.

"The Book of Dragons?" she finally asked and raised her head.

Hiccup nodded and she looked back down at the book and opened it. She slowly flipped through the pages, sometimes stopping at a page she wanted to see better.

"Isn't it a great discovery?" Hiccup said enthusiastically.

"Yeah," Astrid breathed out. "I had totally forgot we even had this."

"Me too!" he said an octave higher than he had intended but he didn't care – he was too caught up in his excitement. He changed to another page while the book still sat on Astrid's lap. "Do you remember the Death Songs that used their melodic call to lure other dragons in their traps? Or– or…here! The Flightmare! They looked like ghosts. And I swear I saw a page on the Stormcutter somewhere, Mum's Cloudjumper was one like that… and– and do you remember Hobgobblers? They used to give Gobber such a hard time when–"

Suddenly Hiccup's voice faded off and Astrid looked up from the book to her husband. She hadn't expected to see him looking embarrassed and apologetic.

"What is it?" she asked in confusion.

"Sorry, I got a bit too excited and became annoying about it. You're not probably even that interested," he responded with an awkward laugh.

"Of course I am interested," Astrid said softly with a warm smile. "Besides, I don't remember seeing you this excited about something in a while, I like it."

"Really?" Hiccup asked carefully. "So you didn't find it annoying?"

"No, Hiccup. Why would you even think that?" she replied and looked her husband into his eyes, trying to understand him.

He hesitated for a short moment before waving his hand dismissively. "I guess it's just the ghosts of my past still lurking there in the deepest corner of my mind. It happens sometimes."

A rush of sadness filled Astrid's body. She knew exactly what he was talking about; when Hiccup was very unpopular on Berk, people hardly listened to him or let him talk about his own interests. Her husband had opened up about it to her and Astrid knew how it had made him feel.

Astrid put the book on the bed and nudged closer to Hiccup. She put her head on his shoulder and her husband automatically leant his head on hers. They sat on their bed like that for a while until Astrid moved her head ever-so slightly so that she could see a bit of Hiccup's face.

"Just so you know – your voice is one of my favourite sounds in the world and I could never be annoyed by anything that you say," she told him in a whisper.

Hearing that warmed Hiccup's heart in ways he didn't think he could properly express with words. After all those years together, Astrid had learned to know him so well that she knew exactly what brought him comfort when he was feeling down.

The corners of his mouth spread into a wide smile and he put his hand under her chin to lift her head so he could place a kiss on her lips.

"I love you," he said after the kiss.

"I love you, too," Astrid said.