Work Text:
It’s not that Astrid hated animals.
She doesn’t. She likes most of them.
Hiccup’s cat Toothless and her own dear parakeet Stormfly made that small list. But she is more than aware of Hiccup’s unexplainable draw for all the creatures of the world. The smaller they are, the happier Hiccup becomes. His favourites are cats (because of fucking course they are), but it doesn’t matter. They once ran across a baby Deer on a nature walk. and it took Astrid nearly an hour to convince Hiccup that they had to leave the nature park without the deer. The poor vet in training had had tears in his eyes as they had to leave the baby Deer behind. Hiccup tried his best to convince his girlfriend that he had to have the baby come with them to the clinic, for a check-up at least. But thankfully Astrid could convince him to leave the creature in its natural habitat.
(imagine that: Astrid having to convince Hiccup of anything).
But what she did hate was when any small, admittedly adorable, animal took his attention off of what he was supposed to be doing. Like driving them both back to the flat back from work. Hiccup had found the puppy on the side of the road just whining and barking its head off, no doubt calling for its mother or something. He pulled over, and he was out of the car to pick up the frantic puppy before Astrid was even really aware that they had stopped. He quietly picked the creature up and put the puppy in Astrid’s lap before she could complain. The puppy had barked happily, licking her face. Astrid was soon silenced by Hiccups’ small smile as they drove away again.
Everything was fine at that point. It wasn’t until they made it back to their shared flat that things got bad.
Hiccup had secured the flat for the puppy, making sure that everything was safe and secure. Toothless did not seem to care for the puppy, much like Astrid. But she was confident in the knowledge that it would go to a shelter later tomorrow after Hiccup gave it a check-up at his clinic.
There was a sudden knock at the door, and Astrid walked over to answer it. Tuffnut and Ruffnut both stumble in, their clambering awoke Stormfly. The squacks of an indignant bird joined the twins giggling as they lay in a heap by Astrid's feet. She looks on in mild amusement as Fishlegs greets her with a sheepish smile from the doorway, “Hey Astrid! Hiccup texted me saying you guys got a new puppy! Since we were just in the neighborhood, we thought we would stop by and see him.”
Astrid made a mental note to yell at Hiccup about how much of the animal kingdom was already at home in their very small living space.
She gave the stressed Fishlegs a tight smile,“Thanks, Fishlegs. We were just going to bed, but-”
“PUPPY” the twins yelled in unison. Astrid looked over to Hiccup cradling the small golden retriever puppy in a towel. The intruding group crowded around with Astrid glaring on. Hiccup seemed to be solely focused on the puppy in his arms as he passed it to Tuffnut.
Tuffnut seemed to be drunkenly crying over the small puppy in his arms. He then asks, “Hey guys? How do you know you love someone?”
Ruffnut snorted and Fishlegs chuckled. But Hiccup seemed to actually think about his answer, “Not caring if they’ve made mistakes because you see past them and love them for who they are”
Astrid chimes in “Yes. And also, if that person is sad, you’re sad with them or if they’re happy, you’re happy,” she locked eyes with her boyfriend. She had a small smile, but her eyes were full of irritation. Hiccup seemed to be oblivious, smiling at her in joy.
The drunken duo was soon was escorted out of the flat by Fishlegs. That man could read a room better than Hiccup could read a book. He dragged Tuffnut out of the room while he was making improv poetry about the puppy he just named Belch. Astrid felt a tinge of pity for Fishlegs. Tuffnut was a romantic drunk. As soon as they left, she closed the door and went to get ready for bed. Carefully planning out how to confront Hiccup about the ‘new addition’ to their home.
Astrid was just about to join Hiccup in bed when she saw the puppy. The small creature was curled up on Hiccup’s stomach, already asleep. Astrid’s eyes narrowed and her hand twitched a bit. She stood in the doorway, hand twitching as she tried to form words to express her displeasure. Hiccup looked up at the light and saw Astrids death glare at the puppy.
“No.” Hiccup’s sleepy rumble had stopped her twitching hand, but not the glare. Astrid pointed to the creature with a stern glare. Hiccup looked at her confused, completely oblivious to her irritation.
“Why do you hate the puppy?”
“Why did you tell our friends we adopted a new puppy?”
“What?”
“Fishlegs said, and I quote; Hiccup texted me saying you guys got a new puppy.”
“Wait a minute, are you jealous?”
“Hiccup”
“This is a misunderstanding-”
“Please explain it for me. Because we can not have another pet-”
“Remember Ruffnut’s new puppy Barf? The one she got last week?” Astrid nodded her head “well Tuffnut was wanting one, so I shot him a message that I had one! He must have taken it as ‘get here immediately’ and not, ‘Come to my clinic tomorrow.’”
Astrid was suddenly embarrassed. She was rooted in the doorway face full of realization and understanding. She closed the door behind her and rested her forehead against the wood. After a moment to look over at Hiccup, preparing to give an apology to her boyfriend. Hiccup just looked at her with mirth in his eyes as he motioned for Astrid to come over to him. When Astrid did, Hiccup held his arm out. After a second or two spent pouting, Astrid laid down, curling up to Hiccup’s side, her head on Hiccup’s arm. It was not as good a spot as a full body hug, but it would have to do.
“Do you think you are actually second to animals for me?” Astrid was silent. Hiccup just let out a breathless laugh. “Astrid I love you more than any animal. You are my main priority.” He weaves their hands together and gives her hand a small squeeze. Astrid leans forward and kissed Hiccup. Her embarrassment melting away.
“Except Toothless.”
“Stupid cat,” Astrid muttered.
Hiccup just laughed as he kissed her again.