Hiccup had a lovely smile. Really, it was. Sure, it was a bit dorky in certain aspects, but there was a real soft sincerity to it that Astrid couldn't say she ever truly saw very often on people's faces. Usually the smiles she witnessed were great big grins full of terrible teeth or sneers from their mutual Viking peers back on Berk. There were hearty smiles filled with laughter brought on by the comfort of ale or the glory of battle. When it came to Vikings, smiles usually weren't soft things, regardless of how real they were.

Leave it to Hiccup to smile so sincerely that it made her chest tight.

Sympathy was one thing. Empathy was another - something Vikings usually were rather terrible with. Not even she herself was very good at it, even though she tried. There was a moment of silence in which Astrid tore her blue eyed gaze away from Hiccup's green eyes, but only for a moment. Soon enough she was back to staring at that smile, listening to each word and savouring it.

All she could do was nod in response to that smile and those words, the corners of her lips tugging themselves upward ever so slightly. He was good at getting her to smile, even if he didn't know it.

"Thank you, Hiccup. Really. I mean it"