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Astrid has always said that anticipation is the best torture method.
Hiccup thinks about this a lot. Even when it’s not particularly relevant. Her voice just echoes in the back of his mind, repeating it, over and over again. Anticipation is gruelling. It’s fire, it’s ice, it’s flashes of both and it’s scary. You should be scared.
And Hiccup is.
He holds his tied hands in front of his face, as if that’s where the blows are raining down, just hoping for some vague sense of security. Viggo notices this. “What are you doing?” he asks nonchalantly, twirling the whip in his hands. Hiccup gives a weak attempt at a shrug and a noncommittal grunt, and the whip comes down on his chest again.
He anticipates. Oh, how he anticipates, just like he knows he should, Astrid’s soft embrace and harshly kind words.
She’s always said that it’s the best torture method.