FLUFFY HICCSTRID! I JUST HAD TO DO IT! FEEL THE FLUFF!

I was commanded to write this. Not asked, commanded. I ran the synopsis past Miss Pookamonga and she swooned at the idea so much she literally told me I had to write this. Well my dear friend… I shall. Yes I shall. Here are a series of one-shots that are in my Growing Up Haddock canon (I know it didn't exist when this particular one-shot was written but I re-uploaded it to make that amendment). They're not in any particular order but this is the one I was commanded to write so I'll start with this one.

Also, since I deleted my very first fan fictions on this site, I consider this to be the evolution of my writing. I guess you could call it a case study as it does seem to steadily improve as it goes on. If you're wondering if you, or anyone else for that matter, can improve as a writer with enough practice, I think this series will encourage you. Enjoy!

Best Laid Plans

"Hiccup!"

Astrid Hofferson opened her front door with so much gusto, she managed to hit her boyfriend squarely in the nose. His hands flew up to the new injury and he winced.

"Seriously, Astrid? I've been here for less than 5 seconds and you're already trying to cause me bodily harm?" asked Hiccup, smiling despite the throbbing pain.

"I'm so sorry!" Astrid exclaimed, looking very embarrassed. "I didn't mean to…"

"It's okay!" Hiccup laughed, taking his hands off his nose. "Am I disfigured?"

"Well yes, but your nose is just fine." Astrid quipped, crossing her arms and looking down at Hiccup's prosthetic leg.

"Oh very funny. Haven't heard that one before." Hiccup rolled his eyes but couldn't stop himself from smiling even wider.

"So what are you doing here? Not that I'm not ecstatic to see you." Astrid winked.

"It's a surprise." said Hiccup, trying to look mysterious (and failing so badly that Astrid had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing).

"I hate surprises." Astrid said, narrowing her eyes at him.

Hiccup's grin faded slightly. "Oh…"

"I'm kidding, Hiccup."

Hiccup brightened up again. "Oh! Well come on then!"

"We're going now?" Astrid raised an eyebrow at the excited Viking in front of her.

"Yes! Come on!" Hiccup grabbed Astrid's arm but she didn't budge. Much to his embarrassment, he couldn't make her move either.

"Where are you taking me?" Astrid asked, very much enjoying watching Hiccup's struggle.

"I don't want to ruin it." Hiccup stared at her, biting his lip and trying to will her to comply with his mind.

Astrid stared into his eyes. They were shining with excitement. It was obvious that it was the most excited he'd ever been around her and she'd seen him excited quite a bit, most notably when his father had given him a whole academy several years ago (she remembered that day very well). However, to be quite honest with herself, she was beyond curious to find out what sort of trick Hiccup had up his sleeve. But she knew that tormenting him with the possibility that she might not comply would make him beg her to come. And could she help it if she found that adorable?

"Oh all right." Astrid said, acting as though she was reluctant to follow the young Viking into the village.

Hiccup did a sort of happy skip and grabbed her hand. Astrid had to wonder what on earth could make him this hyperactive but she knew that, in time, he would probably end up blurting out some very exciting news. Eloquence wasn't a gift of his. Neither was subtlety.

The young man led her to a beach nearby. She wondered why in the world he was this excited about a beach but she knew better than to question anything. So help her, if he wanted to go swimming with her in this frigid weather, she would hit him. Again.

"So why are you taking me here?" Astrid asked at last, unable to contain her curiosity.

"Well… Astrid I wanted to…"

"Hiccup!" called a very familiar voice.

The two of them turned around. Stoick stood there, looking very cross about something. Even though she had gotten to know him so much better over the years, Astrid thought he still looked intimidating.

"Hey dad. Kind of having a moment…" Hiccup began but Stoick cut him off.

"Plenty of time for that when you get those dragons under control!" Stoick boomed, still looking down on them.

Hiccup looked incredibly put out about something. "Can it wait?"

"No, Hiccup, it can't. A herd of Terrible Terrors has gotten into the food supply and Gobber and I can't get them out." He held up a burned hand. "We've tried everything."

Hiccup sighed deeply. "I'll take care of it. But after that, can I have some alone time with…"

"Astrid!" called yet another voice.

"Oh boy…" said Hiccup, more to himself than to Astrid.

The large form of Gobber came hobbling toward them, carrying a rather large battle axe that he was brandishing dangerously close to Stoick's face.

"It's all right, I already told Hiccup about the…"

"I wasn't going to say anything. Though if you could take care of those Terrible Terrors, I know I'd owe you one. I was actually here to see Astrid." Gobber exclaimed, looking excited about something. "I made those battle axes you designed. They work perfectly!"

"Really?" Astrid perked up. "Can I try one?"

"Oh yeah!" Gobber tossed the axe he was carrying to Astrid.

Hiccup was beginning to look very frustrated. "Look, I will take care of that in just a minute, now if you all could just…"

"Wow, this axe is perfect! I told you the change in design would make all the difference!"

Now it was Astrid brandishing the axe dangerously close to Hiccup's face. He took a few steps back but his brow furrowed. He was going to go through with his plan no matter who or what interrupted them next. No one was going to stop him.

"Forget about the axe, we need those Terrible Terrors out of the food storage!" Stoick shouted.

Just then Hiccup and Astrid were hit with a blast of freezing water. Some very familiar laughter became to come from a point slightly above them.

"Ruffnut! Tuffnut!" Astrid shrieked, now aiming her axe at the twins, who were perched on small cliff just over their heads and holding a very large, empty bucket.

"I knew that was gonna work!" Tuffnut smacked his sister's shoulder.

"But it was my idea!" Ruffnut smacked him back.

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Guys, if you could all just stop…" Hiccup tried to say, starting to look desperate.

"Now if you cup your hand around the handle this way, you'll get way more maneuverability." Gobber was saying to Astrid.

"Hiccup! If you don't take care of those dragons soon, they'll eat everything!" Stoick bellowed, pointing toward the village.

"Hey Hiccup, Toothless looks hungry, I think you should feed him." Fishlegs walked up to the already chaotic scene.

"I'll get to that in a minute!" Hiccup was saying to his father, now grabbing of a handful of his own hair in frustration.

"But he's started following me now! It's not my fault; I don't give him that many treats!" Fishlegs whined.

"Then feed him yourself!" Hiccup exclaimed, now grabbing handfuls of his hair with both hands.

"But he's always happier when you do it!"

Just then, Tuffnut fell on the sand on his back inches away from where Astrid was standing. Ruffnut was laughing rather maniacally.

"That's what you get for trying to steal my idea!" she was saying.

"Hiccup, about the Terrible Terrors…"

"If we mass produce these axes, we could give the Berserkers a run for their money!"

"Toothless keeps nudging me with his head, Hiccup, I already have one dragon, I don't want another one!"

"EVERYBODY OUT!" Hiccup roared. "OUT! OUT! I WANT TO BE ALONE WITH ASTRID TO ASK HER TO MARRY ME!"

The talking ceased as everyone turned to look at Hiccup, who was suddenly looking mortified.

"No!" he cried, burying his face in his hands. "No! Now you've ruined everything!"

"Uhh Hiccup…" Astrid said, tossing the axe aside and walking up to him.

"I wasn't going to do it this way! I had a plan! And now you've all come in to mess it all up!" Hiccup bellowed, wildly gesticulating.

"Hiccup… you know, you didn't have to go to all that..."

"Is it too much to ask for a moment of peace? Do I really have to tell everyone on Berk my plans so you all won't come and interrupt everything?"

"I mean I'd say yes no matter what..."

"Now everything is ruined and I won't get to execute the plan I spent weeks working on!"

"Did you even hear me? Yes I will..."

Several Vikings with instruments were walking up to the beach.

"Forget it!" Hiccup called to them, his face going red with anger. "The moment is ruined."

"Are we still getting paid?" asked one of the musicians.

"Yes, you're still getting paid." Hiccup said exasperatedly before turning back to the others, who were still staring at him, dumbstruck. "Now that the moment is gone, I'll go take care of those stupid dragons for you, dad, and then maybe I can try to fix things with… owww!" Hiccup cried out as Astrid's fist collided with his shoulder. "Why would you... what was that for?"

"Not listening to me!" Astrid said very calmly.

"Look, Astrid, I'm sorry, I'll make it up to you!"

"Oh shut up, I said yes!"

Now it was Hiccup's turn to look shocked. "Yes?"

"Yes, I will marry you." Astrid grinned at the look of incredulity on his face as the impact of her words sunk in.

"You… you will?" he finally sputtered.

Astrid aggressively grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him up to her so their faces were centimeters apart.

"Y-E-S, Hiccup." she said, staring pointedly into his eyes and leaning in a little more with each syllable.

"Oh… uhh… th-thank you." Hiccup stammered.

Astrid laughed and planted a kiss on his lips, which were slightly parted in surprise. It took him a moment to figure out what was going on and reciprocate. His body weakened slightly and Astrid had to hold him up to keep him from falling over.

"Okay…" he said when they finally parted, his knees shaking. "I believe you now."

"Well… uhh… on second thought, I'm sure I can take care of those Terrible Terrors." Stoick said at last, winking at his son.

"And I'll feed Toothless tonight." said Fishlegs, grinning at the couple.

"Come on, Gobber." Stoick said to his friend, beckoning for him to follow them.

"But… the axes…"

"They can wait." Stoick commanded as Gobber reluctantly walked away, taking the new axe with him.

"I'm not sticking around to watch this!" Tuffnut shuddered in disgust.

"Yeah me neither." said Ruffnut and the twins scampered away, leaving the newly-engaged couple alone.

Hiccup and Astrid stood in silence for a while, staring at the retreating backs of their friends. Astrid finally turned to him.

"So what did you have planned?" she asked, unable to resist.

"Oh it was perfect. Those musicians were going to play soft music while I asked you to marry me and then we were going to take a ride on Toothless or Stormfly, whoever was closest, to watch the sunset from above the clouds." Hiccup sighed. "I guess we can still take the ride."

Astrid met his gaze and the two lingered for just a moment. "I liked what you just did a lot better."

"What?"

"It was more… you."

Hiccup stared at her for a moment, his mouth agape. "So… blurting it out in frustration is a more… me thing to do than something elegant and romantic?"

"Yep." Astrid grinned. "It's one of the many reasons I love you." she playfully smacked him. "And come on, do I look like I would go for all that romantic mush?"

"It was worth a shot." Hiccup said, finally smiling as his face went redder than it had done during his angry outburst. "Come on." he took her hand and began to lead her toward the village. "If we hurry, we can still watch the sunset from above the clouds."

"Nope." said Astrid. "We have the rest of our lives to do that. Let's take care of those Terrible Terrors first."

Hiccup laughed at last. "Now that, Astrid, is why I love you."

And, walking hand-in-hand, the two Vikings made their way back to the village.

Hi guys, KateMarie999 from December 2013 here just letting you know that I made a few edits to this story from its original version. I think this one is much better. Enjoy!