A/N: Here's a quick Hiccstrid storylet for you! I've been sitting on some of these ideas for a while and just wanted to get them out there. I hope you enjoyed it!

-o-

I may have a black eye in the morning, but at least it is beautiful tonight, Hiccup thought as he walked. The full moon illuminated his path, and based on its position in the sky there were likely several more hours before the sun would even think about rising. Regardless, Hiccup was bone-weary and had fallen asleep the Great Hall doing paperwork, hitting the table face first when the hand supporting his forehead slipped. Fortunately, no one else had been around to see his blunder and he could drag himself to bed without any further embarrassment.

The chief's house was not too far up the path, just around the side of the mountain that the Great Hall had been carved into. If he turned around, Hiccup would see the majority of Berk sprawled before him, its people and dragons hidden away in their houses and huts and stables. There were only a few projects left around the village to finalize the reparation/renovations from the Drago's attack. The village was finally starting to look like things were getting back to normal, but the effort it had taken to get to this point had only cemented the fact that for Hiccup, there was no going back to the way things were before.

He did not turn around to look.

Instead, Hiccup enjoyed the quiet crunch of gravel underfoot and the whistle of wind in the trees. Ocasionally, a dragon or two would glide overhead, casting wide shadows on the moonlit landscape. Hiccup felt the familiar longing to join them in the sky, but knew it would take too much out of him tonight. If he hadn't already returned to the dragon stables, Toothless would probably be restless and disappointed; between the responsibilities of being a chief and an alpha, they hadn't manage a flight together since yesterday.

He continued trudging up the path and his house came into view. It was dark and empty. His mother visited on occasion, but could never stand to stay much past sundown. Too many ghosts she said. Hiccup understood, which is why he found other places to do his work and only returned home for sleeping and eating. Honestly, he had spent a lot of time avoiding the silence and isolation that had settled there since his father had passed.

Hiccup opened the heavy, dragonproof door and squinted at the piles of stuff that he had arranged in the front room for sorting and reorganizing. He glanced up and was surprised to see something on the table he had left empty this morning. Illuminated in the silvery light streaming in from the window, a hand pie and a tankard of ale waited for him. Hiccup's grinned Soon enough, being here would feel like home again. After all, he wouldn't be alone.

As he ate, Hiccup was surprised to hear the unmistakeable whistle of a Night Fury overhead. He stumbled back outside in time to see Toothless make a wide circle and land in the yard. Atop his back was a familiar dragonrider.

"Are you trying to steal my dragon?" Hiccup asked, curiosity and mischievousness mingling in his voice. Astrid was startled, but her smile was brilliant when she saw him stepping out of the shadow of the house.

"Hey, Toothless is an alpha dragon who doesn't need your permission before deciding who can ride him," Astrid quipped, patting the Night Fury on the neck affectionately. Toothless chuffed and warbled at the attention.

"True, but as your chief -and fiancé- I think I should know if my future wife is going to try to lead a mutiny against me by conspiring with the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself." Hiccup made a goofy face at Toothless and scratched under his chin. This caused the dragon's eyes to roll back with pleasure, and Hiccup grinned up at Astrid as if to say See? I'm still the favorite here.

Rolling her eyes, Astrid leaned over Toothless' forehead to give Hiccup a kiss. A moment later, Toothless interrupted with a kiss of his own, knocking Hiccup to the grown. This, of course, sent Astrid into hysterics while Hiccup grumbled and cleaned himself up with a cloth he had snagged from Toothless' saddlebag.

"Well, don't count on a mutiny any time soon. Riding Toothless is a lot different than riding any other dragon." Astrid said, unhooking a the straps that connected her belt to the saddle. Hiccup watched her remove them carefully, rolling and storing additional lines that he hadn't installed.

"Oh yeah?" he asked, just to keep her talking. Her voice was like a refreshing breeze cutting through his exhaustion. As she worked, he scratched Toothless absentmindedly.

"Yeah. It's not just the tailfin, either. It's like I've got to adjust my position and try to read his mind with every single wingbeat. I can't quite get the hang of those barrel-roll-trust-falls he likes so much."

"Barrel roll tr-you mean when he does this?" Hiccup gestured with his hands. Astrid nodded.

"Oh." Hiccup squinted, trying to replay the move in his mind. "To do that you've got to get up higher and kind of twist your knee in."

Astrid had been about to dismount, but changed gears and settled back into the saddle. Hiccup recognized that experssion; the perfectionist in her was intrigued at his instruction.

"Like this?" she asked, testing it out. Her movements were all wrong though, and Hiccup shook his head.

"No, like this..." He mimicked from the ground with his own knee while trying to find the words to describe the maneuver. "But when you're riding him you're bending over more and your foot is all..."

"So, more like..." she tried again.

"Close, but your leg needs to go over..." he tried to help her reposition, but it wasn't working from this angle. Mildly frustrated, Hiccup groaned but refused to give up. "Here, just let me-"

The young chief pulled himself up on Toothless's back, bracing his good foot on the dragon's haunch and his hand slipping past Astrid's waist to balance on the saddle. On the other side, Hiccup's metal peg perched behind Astrid's foot on the stirrup and his free hand reached down to adjust her ankle.

"You've got to point it in like…" he shifted over to reposition her knee.

"And move this over…" his hand trailed up her leg.

"So your your hips can get up here," Hiccup tugged and Astrid moved until her bottom was flush with his hips. He guided her through the motion, their bodies moving as one.

Of course, it wasn't until this exact moment that he realized the intimacy of their position. Hiccup's ascetic, analytical, teacher-mode faded into hormonal single-mindedness as his body reacted.

"Huh. Okay, I think I get it." Astrid said. She practiced the move twice, which further exacerbated the growing tightness in his pants. "Though I don't think I'll ever really understand how it's so instinctive for you."

"Mm. Yes. Instincts."

Hiccup pulled Astrid even closer, one hand gripping her hip while he also leaned in from behind. He pressed a hot kiss on her neck. Then another, just under her chin. A shiver raced up Astrid's whole body as his mouth grazed her sensitive earlobe.

With a liquidlike movement, Astrid somehow managed to turn herself around without ever leaving his embrace. Her fingers raked through his hair as he gently pushed her back into the saddle with the force of their kiss. The dragon riders succumbed to feelings that were intense and incredible and...rudely inturrupted by Toothless, who rolled on his side and dumped the amorous couple on the ground.

"Useless...reptile..." Hiccup muttered as he caught his breath. The Night Fury warbled in a mocking tone, more teasing than offended, and then sauntered away into the night.

"Goodnight Toothless," Hiccup called with a lazy wave of his hand, not even bothering to sit up. "Sorry not sorry!"

That comment earned him a smack on the shoulder. Hiccup turned to face her with a saucy grin. "Now where were we...?"

Astrid just rolled her eyes. "We were getting ready to say goodnight. It's past your bedtime, mister. And I still have a good ten minute's walk back to my house."

She rolled to her knees and then stood, brushing dirt from her clothes and hair. Hiccup, having found the garden bed surprisingly confortable in his exhaustion, simply watched Astrid with wordless admiration in the moonlight. When it became apparent that he wasn't going to be moving on his own, Astrid shook her head and reached down to pulled him to his feet. She gave him a short kiss before tucking her chin into the crook of his neck. Hiccup's arms snaked around her once more, this time lacking their previous urgency.

It was so nice, just being here with her. Looking over Astrid's blonde head, Hiccup could see the front door yawning open and somehow the house seemed even more dark and cold than before. A lump formed in his throat, unbidden. He did not want her to go.

"You could stay with me tonight, you know." Hiccup whispered, surprising himself with his own audacity. Even though he knew other villagers slept together before marriage - some even had children together before a ceremony was ever held-it was still a risky and inappropriate thing to suggest, whether or not they ended up being intimate. He and Astrid had never actually had a conversation about abstinence...between the gang's constant supervision on the Edge and his nonstop responsibilities as chief, there had never really been the time or opportunity. And of course, it had always gone unspoken between them that the desire was there, but was schooled by respect for tradition and each other. He hadn't meant to let those words slip out, and the invitation hung heavily in the air around them.

"I know," Astrid answered finally. "I could, and I'd really like to do just that, actually. But we both know that's not a good idea."

The sudden tension dissolved like sugar in water.

"I know," Hiccup sighed. "I do. It's just hard to be in this big empty house by myself sometimes. I'm just lonely, I guess."

He pulled back from the embrace and looked seriously into her eyes.

"Why are we not married yet?"

Astrid kissed him again with a laugh. "Because these things take time to plan, Chief. Be patient for two more weeks and you'll never have to spend a lonely night in this house again."

"Is that a promise?" Hiccup asked between kisses.

Astrid pulled away reluctantly, briefly interlocking her little finger with his before breaking apart completely and walking backwards with a grin on her lips.

"It's a pinkie promise. Two more weeks."

Hiccup smiled back. "I really should escort you home, you know." He said, but was betrayed by exhaustion as the last syllable of 'know' stretched into a yawn.

"Nonsense." Astrid answered, twirling and pausing at the gate. "You should march yourself right up those stairs and get some sleep. Dream of me."

"I will. Goodnight, Milady." Hiccup answered, leaning into the doorway.

Astrid waved and made her way down the path back to the village. Hiccup followed her with admiring eyes until finally she rounded a corner and disappeared from sight.

After a moment, Hiccup turned back into the quiet house and trudged to bed, shedding clothing as he went. In two weeks, he would have a wife to scold him for making such a mess. Looking around the house he had been neglecting, it was clear that there was still so much to do before he would truly be able to welcome her home. Hiccup flopped into a bed that was now too small for his adult frame and stared into the rafters.

I'll need to restring dad's old bed pretty soon, Hiccup thought as his eyes grew heavy and sleep crept upon him.

We'll need a bed with room for the two of us before the wedding...or at least, before we do any more of that 'training' together!