Chapter Text
It was the giggling, that Thorsdamned giggling coming from the back room that betrayed them the moment Gobber stepped into the smithy. The giggling and the lovey-dovey, teasing whispers. They could be so sweet sometimes it turned even his stomach.
After briefly—briefly—considering leaving them to their own devices, he made his way to the back room, deliberately making a racket, because the last time he'd seen Hiccup's bare bottom was when the lad was still in nappies and Gobber had a fervent desire for it to remain so. Although there was but a minuscule chance of the two of them doing anything truly naughty, it was better safe than sorry.
Not that, it seemed like, those two had ears for anything but each other—pulling the curtain aside, he found Hiccup sitting on his stool, one of Astrid's legs stretched across his lap as the girl perched on the table. Both seemed mildly surprised to see him.
"Oh, hi, Gobber, hi," Hiccup babbled, not moving, but stealing a slightly nervous glance at Astrid. Who was just about to open her mouth, but Gobber was faster.
"Keeping my apprentice from work, eh?" he asked with his hand on his hip, putting a mighty effort into sounding stern.
Astrid blinked. "No, I was just…" The two kids exchanged a glance. "Cold. It was cold. It's cold. Outside. I just came in to warm up. Because it's always so warm in here."
"You did, didn't you?" Gobber grunted. "D'you know where else is warm?" he asked from both of them. Astrid and Hiccup looked at each other again—there was a tiny, shared shrug, then an uncertain shaking of heads. "The Great Hall, for instance. Or any other place with a good, blazing hearth. So now scram. Both of you, out of here."
Hiccup stared at him. "Me too?"
"Got a problem with your ears, kid?"
"But what about work—"
"You're no use to me like this, with your head in the clouds. You'd just flatten your own fingers with the hammer, and what will I tell your father then?" It took some effort not to let his mouth curve into a smile. "But I want you in tomorrow, bright and early."
Hiccup'd enough brains not to poke too much at a good thing. "I'll be here, Gobber, promise," he said as he stood up, took Astrid's hand and pulled her out of the room. "Thanks, see you tomorrow!"
"Bye, Gobber!"
He followed them to the door, watching their giggling-chuckling forms as they crossed the village square, shaking his head with a not-so-secret grin on his face.
Ah, young love.