#pre-httyd

"What do you mean ‘he blew it up’?" Fishlegs leaned forward, voice climbing in pitch.

"I mean he blew it up! Kaboom!" Snotlout made a large explosion with his hands, throwing his head back as he laughed.

"You should have seen the chief’s face," Ruffnut sniggered. "There was debris everywhere, all sorts of fire, and Hiccup’s just standing in the middle of it holding the lever for his stupid invention."

The table burst into another round of amusement, loud enough that it startled Astrid from her thoughts. She glanced up from her food and replayed the last few minutes of conversation in her head. What had Hiccup done this time?

"What did he blow up?"

"The forge," Tuffnut answered, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. "You didn’t smell all the smoke this morning?"

She didn’t even shake her head. Her eyes drifted a few tables down, where the chief’s son was sitting alone. He had his chin propped up on his hand, spinning his spoon against the tabletop with the other. His skinny shoulders were slumped forward, his knobby knee bouncing restlessly.

"He’s always messing up," she muttered under her breath. If the forge was still out of operation by the time the next raid came around, it would be a disaster. Scoffing, she tapped her nails against the bench.

"That’s Hiccup for you," Snotlout snorted. "Hiccup the Useless!"

"He’s not even useless!" Tuffnut crowed, elbowing his twin. "He screws everything up— that’s NEGATIVE use!"

Jokes were traded across the table, laughter turning into shrieks of hilarity as they took turns making up titles for Berk’s runt. Astrid frowned and stared across the room, jaw clenched tight with annoyance. There was no way he couldn’t hear the cacophony. He had to hear the way they mocked and jeered.

With a sigh, she stood. “I’m done,” she announced, grabbing her empty bowl and mug. “See you around.”

The group, accustomed to her terse departures, said their goodbyes and instantly returned to their ridicule.

She took her dirty dishes to the kitchen, rinsing out her mug and bowl before stacking them aside to be washed. Then she took a moment to straighten her braid in the reflection of a large hanging pan, raking her fingers through her bangs. They kept falling in her eyes. She’d have to cut them soon. She was already mentally working through her afternoon training as she walked out.

Then a motion in her peripheral caught her attention. Hiccup’s head lifting just slightly. He didn’t look up at her, but she watched his gaze follow her footsteps as she passed his table. Astrid paused, clenching her fists at her sides as she hesitated. After a thought, she turned on her heel and marched back over to him.

His head instantly snapped higher, but he still kept it dipped, like a kicked animal. “H-hey, Astrid.”

She opened her mouth to speak, and as she took a breath, he cringed. Like he already expected the reprimand to come. Her lips pursed. Then she started again, “You could’ve really hurt someone, you know.”

He reached a hand up to rub the back of his neck and dropped his gaze. “Yeah, I know.” There was a burn peeking out from the sleeve of his shirt that looked new.

"You’ve gotta start thinking about other people. One day you’re not gonna be able to talk your way out of things."

"I know."

Behind her, she could still hear the raucous noise of Snotlout and the others hooting and hollering. They were shouting her name, telling her to “give it to him” or “show him”. Their laughter rubbed at her back like sandpaper.

"What were you doing?" she asked.

Hiccup’s eyes cautiously flicked back up again. “I was testing a, uh, an invention.” Making a ball with his hands, he made some sort of vague twisting motion. “It’s a sort of vacuum that would— in theory— suck a Nightmare’s fire clean off it’s scales. It’s powered by the tension in a wound elastic band and a vapor-based energy. The test run didn’t… Didn’t go so well. But it just needs a few minor adjustments, and I’m sure I can fix it!”

She stared, examining his face. A weapon to use against the dragons, then? He’d be better off training to use an axe or a sword than trying to throw together his half-brained machines. He just didn’t want to apply himself. Laziness. Still, she guessed it was an admirable attempt at helping out.

So she nodded slowly, as if she cared about calculations and angular acceleration. “Pretty cool. If it works.”

Hiccup’s brows shot up, eyes widening just a fraction. “Y-yeah. It is. Thanks.”

Feeling inexplicably better, she stepped back to leave once more. “I’m going,” she told him. “See you around.”