Mr Popular

"Hiccup," the voice of his wife came from the doorway of his study.

He grunted, furiously tinkering with some metal gadget in his hands.

She rolled her eyes as she padded over and ruffled his matted hair.

"Hiccup," she repeated.

Astrid forcefully pulled his head backwards by his braids.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" Hiccup moaned, batting her fingers out of his hair with his free hand, "Please do not ever do that again."

Astrid smirked, punching his shoulder lightly, "Then you should listen to me when I'm talking to you," she retorted.

Hiccup paused, "Point taken," he replied, abandoning the piece of metal to tug his wife onto his lap. She hugged him, her legs straggling his hips and her breath fanning over his face like a warm summer's breeze.

She crinkled her nose, "You smell," she stated.

"I do?"

"You do," she answered.

Hiccup took a whiff of his underarms with an over-exaggerated gag, "Yeah … I probably should apologise for that," he replied rather sheepishly, running a hand through his greasy hair. On the plus side, Astrid, on the other hand smelt rather nice. He inhaled her scent as if it were the first breath of fresh air that he had had in years. Lavender, he noted to himself with a grin despite the smothering look she was giving him.

"Apology or not you've been cramped up here for the passed two weeks, you stink worse than dragon droppings and the official meeting is in two hours," she said, counting each off with her nimble digits.

He stared at her fingers, transfixed for a moment; his brow furrowed together in his adorable, I-have-no-clue-what-you're-talking-about expression, that perhaps under any other circumstances would have made her heart skip a beat, but instead she flicked his forehead.

Astrid sighed.

"Meeting … with other chiefs … about the ally deal?" she repeated slowly.

"Meeting?" her husband cocked his head to the side in a moment's confusion before it dawned on him.

His eyes widened, "Oh Thor! The Meeting!" he racked his hands through his hair as if he wanted to tear it out strand by strand from his sculp.

She couldn't allow that; she liked his hair.

She reached out and cupped his face in the palm of her hand, looking into his brown eyes as they flitted around in what she could only call his panic mode.

"Why don't we get you cleaned up," she said.

Hiccup looked at his wife, realising that this was more of an order than a suggestion.

"Yes Ma'am," he nodded as he allowed her to tug him out of his study and down the hall.

"When exactly did you find this place?" Hiccup asked, the wind whipping through his hair as Toothless landed beside the water's edge. Steam bubbled from its surface.

"Oh you know, while looking for a place to bathe my stinky sock of a husband," Astrid replied wryly.

Hiccup frowned, getting off of his dragon with a huff.

"For your information Astrid I don't smell that bad."

Toothless gurgled, immediately steering clear of his rider as soon as he dismounted. Hiccup's chest fell, "Oh, come on bud, not you too?"

Astrid laughed, "What can I say Haddock?" she shrugged, "Even your dragon can't stand the smell of you."

"Ha-ha, very funny milady," Hiccup retorted as he peeled off his tunic, "But is this really necessary?"

Astrid flashed him a sultry grin as she hopped off of Stormfly and stripped off her clothes until she was only in her undergarments. She walked up to him.

"What do you think?"

Hiccup felt his mouth hit the ground, "Y-yes," he stammered, "Definitely."

"You know, if this is what I get before every important meeting, I might decide to host them every year," Hiccup murmured as he unravelled Astrid's braids from their leather bands. She sighed, leaning into his touch as he ran his fingers through her silky hair.
"Don't get any ideas," she retorted, "It's been hard enough coping with this many Vikings in one place."

"Really?" Hiccup scratched his head, "I don't remember any of that."

"Because you haven't been out of that study for two weeks," Astrid replied.

"Okay, point taken," he admitted as he pulled her into the deeper part of the spring where Toothless and Stormfly were wallowing its depths. Sensing the need to flee for their own innocence, the two dragons scampered away into the bushes to give their riders some privacy. Hiccup held her close, enjoying the way her body melded so perfectly with his own as he pressed his lips against hers. She moaned, virtually melting into his arms as their tongues curled in a familiar dance.

"I really do have to thank you though," he said as he buried his face into her hair, "I mean running the village, organising the venue, putting up with me," he added with a goofy grin, "I really don't know what I'd do without you."

"Me either," Astrid replied smugly, running her hand down his bare chest, "I mean, what would Berk's chief do without his wife?"

Hiccup snorted, leashing her forward by her waist, "I shudder to imagine," he responded gruffly. The two giggled before sharing another kiss that would have gone for much longer if they hadn't been interrupted.

"Uh so'rry ter interrupt but de chiefs 're all 'ere waitin' fer you in de Great H'll, uh, chief," Gobber's face was redder than a tomato as he inched back the way he came, bolting faster than Snotlout would with his butt on fire.

Hiccup blinked, his cheeks burnt crimson as his eyes followed the direction in which the blacksmith had come from.

Astrid giggled, "Well? What are you waiting for Mr Popular?" she smirked, "Don't you have a meeting to attend to?"

Hiccup groaned, "But …"

Astrid rolled her eyes, "Come on," she said, tugging him out towards the edge of the lake. He resisted, which was quite funny considering that he was balancing on only one leg.

"Do I have to?" he whined. Astrid's grin only widened.

"Well maybe we can make them wait for a little longer," she replied.