Hiccup slowly opened the door of his hut, dragging his tired body inside after a long, exhausting day of being the chief of Berk. He looked around the empty place, the huge chair his father once sat in.... empty for now 8 months.

It's been hard 8 months for the young chief. Months of grief and exhausting days. Hiccup barely had time for anything but his chiefly duties anymore. Family and friends were just a second priority for him now, the village taking all of his time. Even Toothless was absolutely busy with his new duties, being the new Alpha wasn't easy for the black dragon either. 

The Night Fury also had to help Hiccup around the village, help move heavy stuff from one place to another, help rebuild houses and help to keep the other dragons in line. Both human and dragon were absolutely overwhelmed by their new responsibilities to say the very least. 

Hiccup dragged his tired body to the fireplace, where he lit the prepared logs on fire and put on some water to warm up. His stump was aching a lot from running around the village all day, helping to carry stuff and what not. It were days like these where he wanted to ask his father for advise on how to act as chief, but that wasn't really an option anymore. 

While the water was slowly warming up, Hiccup started to remove his armor. He unbuckled all the belts, groaning a little as the sore muscles in his arms and back worked. The young chief looked around his hut, looking for something to eat. He hadn't really eaten since the day before, being too busy to eat breakfast with all the other villagers in the great hall that morning.  

When the water had warmed up, Hiccup filled it in a bowl and put it down in front of the fire place. He then sat down and removed his prothesis, seeing the scarred stump red and a little swollen. Groaning, Hiccup put his stump into the warm water, the water working to release the tense muscles a little. His father used to do that with him shortly after Hiccup lost part of his left leg.

The young chief massaged the stump a little, finally relaxing after the exhausting day. The peace and quiet didn't last long though, a knock sounded at the door barely two minutes later. Hiccup groaned, "not now," he called out through gritted teeth, all the peace and relaxation fading at once. 

Even though he told whoever it was that knocked at the door to go away, the door opened and revealed someone Hiccup hadn't really talked to in three weeks. Sure, he'd seen her a few times when he was helping around the village, but they didn't share words, just faint smiles. 

He missed her. 

"Hey," she said softly, stepping inside and closing the door behind her, taking her hood off. She was covered in a little bit of snow, since it snowed a lot during the cold months of Berk. 

Hiccup couldn't help but smile, "hey," he replied, still sitting on the ground, his leg in the bowl with warm water and his arms supporting his weight as he leaned back, smiling up at Astrid's face. 

Astrid smiled back, her eyes shining as she saw her betrothed after another long day of being Berk's General. Sure, her job wasn't as exhausting as Hiccup's and she liked a good challenge, but even the Astrid Hofferson needed a break from time to time.

"You okay, babe?" 

"Yeah, just a little sore." 

Astrid looked at him up and down, then she smiled and went to get the ointment for Hiccup's leg. She returned to his side a few seconds later, took off her gloves and kneeled down next to him, carefully starting to massage his stump. The blonde used to do that back on the Edge when Hiccup was in pain too, so she didn't mind. Hiccup instantly groaned and leaned back, relaxing completely and letting Astrid massage his aching limb. 

"How was your day, M'Lady?" She heard him ask and she smiled to herself.

"Pretty good, I made some new patrol routes and helped Snotlout train some of the younglings," she replied, concentrating on massaging her promised's limb. "What about you? How was your day?" 

She didn't really need to ask to know the answer, it was pretty obvious Hiccup was exhausted from being chief. He tried not to let it show but to her he was like an open book. 

"Mhh," he sighed, "mine was good as well," he lied. Astrid looked at him, raising a brow. Hiccup noticed and chuckled, "it was good Astrid, really," he said and put his arms behind his head, his tunic riding up a little, exposing his stomach. 

Astrid couldn't help but stare a little, sure she' seen Hiccup shirtless a few times in their relationship, but the two of them hadn't had any real alone time in two months so she was admittedly a little tightly wound. Forcing herself to focus on massaging Hiccup's stump instead of staring at his stomach, Astrid tore her eyes back to her hands on his stump. 

"Somehow I don't believe it," she said, almost feeling Hiccup's eye roll.

Astrid continued massaging and Hiccup groaned, "it was just as any other day," he said after a few minutes, "I run around the village and do what I can to keep everyone happy, then I go home and treat my stump and then I go to sleep and everything starts again the next day," he sighed. 

The blonde turned her head  to look at her betrothed, under his eyes were dark circles, prove to the fact that he was tired and in desperate need of a break from all of this. "Maybe you should take a break then," she suggested, finishing her massage on his stump and drying it with a towel after she put the ointment on it. 

Hiccup sat up and scratched his cheek, the stubble on his face slowly starting to form into a beard, he sighed again, "I can't just take a break Astrid, the village needs me," he said, looking her directly into the eyes. 

Astrid dried her own hands and looked at him, "the village can do a day without you Hiccup, everyone needs a break from time to time," she said, sitting down next to him, putting her hand on his knee, drawing slow circles on top of it with her thumb, it was something she knew Hiccup found relaxing. 

"Dad never needed a break," he said, making Astrid roll her eyes a little. He was again trying to compare himself to Stoick. 

"Hiccup," she sighed his name, "you're not like Stoick, no one expects you to be like him either," she said, feeling Hiccup's warm hand on top of hers. 

Hiccup squeezed her hand a little, "how am I supposed to handle all of this when I need two feet to fill just one of my father's footsteps?" He asked, turning his head to look at her. 

The blonde had no idea how to answer that, because she didn't know. What she did know was that Hiccup didn't need to be like his father to be a good chief, "Hiccup, you don't have to be like Stoick to be a good chief," she said, "everyone is different, you lead the village in a different way than Stoick did, but that's okay." 

She turned so she was facing him, placing one of her hands on his cheek, "because without your ways of leadership we would still be fighting dragons and we wouldn't leave in peace with them," she said, slowly leaning in to brush her lips against his. 

Hiccup exhaled shakily and closed the remaining distance between them, pulling Astrid into his lap and pouring all of his affection into every single kiss they shared. 

She was right, he didn't have to be like his father to be a good chief. He followed Stoick's footsteps for a long time, but it may be time to take a different path now.

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Bruh I dont know what this is it's so weird