It was the tone of her voice that threw him off. His name was shouted in return, and yet it was nothing like the sharp anger he was use to hearing whenever someone had to get his attention or needed to yell at him for something he had done wrong.

And as he saw the girl coming at him, there was the immediate thought of how this scenario was going to be painful. Expecting the worse, he braced himself for impact.

But this? This was not what he was expecting.

The same effect was present; his ribcage felt like it was being crushed and all the air was cut off to keep him from breathing normally. The way it was done, however, made all the difference. Hiccup wasn't even sure what was going on at this point.

He was being hugged. By Astrid. Who was genuinely happy to see him.

"Um," Hiccup squeaked, "It wasn't...that difficult?"