Gah! I know I'm supposed to be working on other projects right now, but I saw How To Train Your Dragon 2 this morning with my younger sisters (all four of 'em!), AND IT WAS AMAZING! If you haven't seen it yet, you have to. Shoo.

So, when we got back home, we all had a contest of who could write the best story of how Hiccup actually proposed to Astrid. Anyway, we all had a blast with it, and this is my meager contribution to the famous fandom and the Hiccstrid ship.

Sorry if anyone seems too OOC; I was trying really hard to make sure everyone turned out right. I'm not too sure about my interpretation of Astrid quite yet... What do y'all think?

And, I don't own anything here except the idea. :D

"Oh, the gods hate me," Hiccup muttered, tossing away yet another splinter of wood. Beside him, Toothless cracked an eye open to study the youth. Hiccup sighed and stared down at the black-scaled dragon. "Toothless, what am I going to do?"

Toothless rumbled in reply, and Hiccup rolled his eyes. "You're a big help, buddy. Thanks." Resting his arms on his knees, he studied the small dagger in his hand. "This is a big step, you know. You could be a little more supportive." A black snout nudged his arm, and he chuckled, rubbing the spot right between his dragon's eyes.

Hiccup stood up and did his best Stoic-the-Vast impression. "Dad would say something like, 'you're just overthinking all of this; just do it the way I did it when I was your age!'" He stopped and looked to Toothless. "Yeah, sorry Dad, but I don't think giving Astrid a rock and a basket of fish is really going to win her over."

Toothless laughed, or the dragon-equivalent of a laugh, and fell backward into a bed of ferns. Hiccup glared for a second and then picked up a tiny pebble, tossing it at his friend's unprotected belly. "And I repeat, you could be a little more supportive about all of this!" He ran one hand through his unkempt hair and groaned. "You'd think this would be something really easy; I mean, it's one question! 'Astrid, will you marry me?' You'd think I could manage that, but…." He trailed off, looking up toward the darkening sky. "Oh, Dad is going to kill me if I'm out late again."

The Night Fury straightened out and stilled while Hiccup climbed on his back and settled in the saddle. "Come on, buddy, let's get home."

Sneaking into the village of Berk used to be easy, but that was because Hiccup had once upon a time been a living dragon toothpick. And that was also before he had picked up the rather large Night Fury. Now, it was a miracle if he could even get within a mile of the village without being spotted.

Hiccup groaned as Vikings throughout the village turned their gazes upward to wave and shout hellos to the pair. Needless to say, Stoic the Vast was aware of his son's return minutes before Toothless landing in the center of Berk and the young man climbed off.

"Son!" Stoic called, waving once.

Hiccup froze, one hand still resting on the saddle, and groaned. Toothless rumbled. "H-hi, Dad. How's it going?"

"Couldn't be better!" the large man boomed, slapping Hiccup on the back and causing the youth to stumble forward. Stoic steered his son toward the main hall of the village. "The dragon training today has been quite a success; Astrid is a gifted teacher. And, she seems to have disappeared about the same time as you did. So! How did it go?" Stoic pushed upon the heavy doors upon asking the final question, and Hiccup grimaced as he was faced with what appeared to be almost the entire Viking community there on Berk.

A great cheer rose up when the crowd spotted the chief and his son. Hiccup spotted Gobber sitting at one of the front tables with Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and…Astrid.

"Um, Dad, can I talk to you for a second? Privately?" Hiccup clasped his hands together and then let go, swinging them by his sides.

"Of course, son." Stoic followed him a little ways from the great doors, left conveniently open, and then stopped.

"About today…" Hiccup glanced back at the long building, hoping no one was standing just out of sight by the doors to eavesdrop. "I haven't actually asked her yet."

"Why not, son?"

"Well, the thing is…" Hiccup sighed. "I'm not really sure how to go about it, you know? I want it to be really special, and… I'm kind of out of ideas."

"You're out of ideas." Stoic's face turned downward in what Hiccup knew was the beginning of a frown. And then, surprisingly, he started to laugh. "Oh, Hiccup, if there's anyone who can come up with a unique proposal, it's you! Why, when I was your age, I-"

"Dad, no offense, but I'm really not interested in giving Astrid a rock and some fish as a pre-proposal gift."

"That's not what I was going to say, son." Stoic put a hand on his son's shoulder. "When I first proposed to your mother, I wanted to make it special. Sure, I gave her a rock and some fish, but what really mattered was that I told her how I felt. You have to speak from your heart, Hiccup. You love Astrid, and I know she loves you. That's all that matters."

Hiccup smiled. "Thanks Dad."

Stoic nodded, looking back toward the hall doors. "Now, how about we get some dinner?"

There were times Hiccup was truly amazed by his father (well, that was most of the time). By the time the last Viking left the main hall, Hiccup had not been approached once with any questions regarding the proposal he was supposed to make earlier that day. Even though he knew it was the burning question on everyone's mind, Stoic must have done something to keep them all from asking. He was thankful, really he was. Astrid had stayed late, later than usual, perusing through the old dragon manuals for teaching tips for the next day.

Hiccup for the most part had been content to sit two tables away and watch her. When he'd first laid eyes on Astrid when he was nine and she was eight, he'd been smitten. Now, watching her in the fading firelight from the great hearth, he was falling all over again.

"You know, if you could channel that energy from watching me into actually helping me with these lessons, I'd be getting done a lot faster."

Hiccup shook his head as his chin slipped off his hand. Astrid smirked, plopping the stack of manuals down next to his elbow.

"Well, I guess since you asked so nicely," he quipped, and she smiled while settling down extremely close to him.

"So…" Astrid said after several minutes of silence, filled only by the scratching of Hiccup's pencil as he took notes she wouldn't even use later and the dying crackle of the fire behind them. "You're up to something."

"I am?" He fumbled with the pencil, a black mark stretching across the blank page in his journal. "What do you mean? I couldn't possibly-"

"Hiccup, come on! You are always up to something. I want to know what it is." Astrid punched his shoulder lightly, and he still ended up rubbing it. "And if you don't start talking now, I'll have to use conventional methods to get it out of you."

He swallowed, recognizing the glint in her baby blue eyes as sheer determination and lighthearted amusement. "Oh, you are playing a dangerous game, madame! I will not be coerced in such a way to reveal my secrets. Nothing you can do will make me tell you!"

"Alright then…" She wiggled her fingers, grinning. Before he could react, Astrid had attacked his open side. Hiccup jerked back with a laugh.

"Astrid, stop!" Hiccup gasped in between bouts of laughter.

Her grin widened. "Surrender!"

"Never!" Hiccup scooted away from her and unfortunately right off the end of the bench. He landed on the floor with an 'oomph'. The lack of a subject to torture caused her momentum to send Astrid tumbling over as well, and (not for the first time), she completely blew Hiccup's breath away.

Nose to nose and eye to eye, they stared at each other before Hiccup pushed up on one elbow and caught her lips in a kiss. Astrid's eyes widened and she failed to respond before the man underneath her was pulling away.

"Astrid?"

"Yeah?" she whispered, tucking a strand of hair back behind her ear.

"Will you marry me?"

She laughed and leaned down to kiss him on the nose. "Of course, you big goofball."

Hiccup blew out a long breath. "Oh good… I was getting worried I was going to have to resort to rocks and fish, or something."

Astrid backed up, and Hiccup sat up. "What?"

He laughed, taking her hand. "It's a long story. But, Astrid?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you, you know that?"

Her eyes softened and she looped an arm around his shoulders. "Yeah, I know."

Stoic found them in the morning, leaned up against one another in front of the hearth with the dragon manuals and notebooks discarded on the table behind them. Smiling, he went about his morning duties.

"Rocks and fish indeed," he muttered.