For a moment, Hiccup stared back at Astrid. There were two obvious choices for reactions and she decided to choose this route. And there was no problem with it. Not really. But he knew that she was able to do this. Her pat shook him out of his thoughts, rapid blinking and a look of confusion attempted to settle into a trying smile. At the mention of their boss, he frowned. "Iii expected as much," he sighed. "I'm looking forward to seeing him again."

He didn't mean that, of course.

It was no use stewing on what had happened. He followed her to the table, making a slight face at the comment. "I feel the same. Sort of." Sitting down to a plate of perfect eggs just caught his attention, though. It was here he looked back up. "...But aren't these– "