Change of Pace

"Hide me."  Astrid looked slowly over to where Tuffnut stood, slightly crouched behind a bush, as if his platinum blonde hair would blend in with the greenery.

"Hide you from what?"  She asked acidly, wondering what in Niflheim could have one half of the fearless Thorsten twins running scared.

"Hiccup."  Tuffnut hissed out frantically.  

"Hide you from Hiccup?"  Astrid cocked out a hip, crossing her arms and staring Tuffnut down like he'd grown an extra set of arms.  "Seriously, Hiccup?"

"He's…"  Tuff paused, trying to find the right words. "gone crazy.  He keeps following me, and he won't leave me alone."

"So he's got a weird case of hero worship.  He'll get over it, he got over me."  Astrid sneered, flipping her bangs out of her eyes.

"It's not hero worship."  Tuff hissed out, his voice climbing in pitch.

"Astrid."  Tuff froze, the familiar voice behind him was colder then ice and Astrid froze, eyes widening in sudden understanding of the situation Tuffnut had been trying to explain.

"Hey, Hiccup."  She glanced around, looking for something that would give her a way out of the awkward situation.  "Oh…I think I hear Snotlout calling me.  Gotta go, bye."  She darted away, sighing in relief.  Hiccup could be scary intense sometimes.

XxX  XxX

"Why are you avoiding me?"

"What…no, don't be stupid."  Tuff laughed awkwardly, trying to inch away as best he could, not sure why Hiccup was suddenly all over him.  The smaller Viking glared, stepping up to push Tuffnut against the side of the lodge roughly.

"Is it because of this?"  Hiccup gestured to his prosthesis, mouth twisted into an ugly scowl.  

"What, no.  Why would I care about your stupid fake leg?  It's kinda awesome."  Hiccup's eyes narrowed further, scrutinizing Tuff's face for any hint of a lie.

"You think I don't know it was you who always made sure there was food left over?"  Tuff looked awkwardly at his feet before Hiccup continued acidly.  "There were a dozen little things you did for me over the day, and you think I wouldn't notice if you just stopped doing them?"

"I dunno."  Tuffnut shrugged, shuffling his feet.

"If the leg bothers you, then man up and say it."  Tuff had forgotten how scary Hiccup was when he was legitimately pissed off.

"It doesn't."  He shuffled around a bit more, not wanting to meet Hiccup's furious green eyes, eyes full of betrayal and resignation of always being something no one seemed to want.  "It really doesn't…like…I kinda like it."  Tuff stopped before he said too much.

"Excuse me?"

"N-nothing.  Just ignore what I said."  Tuff stammered, about to push Hiccup on his ass just to make a get away.

"You…like my fake leg?"  Hiccup's voice was pure venom now.  "And that's why you've been avoiding me?  Because you thought I would think you were some kind of freak?"  Tuff nodded, miserable.  He wasn't expecting the sharp right hook to the side of the jaw that sent him sprawling to the ground.   "You're an ass."

"What?"

"Astrid left me after one night, because she couldn't handle seeing me with only one leg.  How many other people on this island do you think look at me and see a broken down, half human?  All of them."  Hiccup's fists were clenched, staring Tuff down.  

"You're not…broken."  

"…"  Hiccup just looked at him, then turned and walked away, leaving Tuff to rub his cheek and stare longingly at his limping gait.  The blonde took a breath, wondering if he was really just gonna let Hiccup walk away from him when it was clear the smaller Viking was hurting and unsure of himself.

Chewing on his lip Tuff pushed himself to his feet and rushed to catch up with Hiccup who was walking with purpose, his knuckles white from stress.  He grabbed Hiccup's shoulder and swung him around, the brunette losing his balance and falling against Tuff's broad chest.

"What?  What do you want now?"

"I'm sorry."  Tuff whispered before covering Hiccup's mouth with his own.  "I'm sorry.  Forgive me?"  

Hiccup pulled back, out of breath, cheeks flushed in a way that made Tuff want to roll him into his furs and keep him there for days.  

"You're still an ass."

"Is that an 'I forgive you Tuffnut'?"

"That's an 'you have to work for it Tuffnut'."  Hiccup smirked suddenly, shoving away from the blonde and running a hand through his already scruffy hair.  

"How hard do I have to work for it."

"I'll let you know."