Rating: Teen, for camera-avoided nudity.
Disclaimer: I do not own rights to How To Train Your Dragon.
A/N: This is a one-shot, but if I can think up a way to make construction interesting, I'll continue. Thanks for reading!
Remodeling
The sun preferred to nestle under cloud covers this morning, as did Astrid. Hiccup stole out of bed gently and watched her rhythmic breathing as he put on his pants and a shirt, still mesmerized by the divine creature he had slept with. He decided against waking her and tip-toed down the wooden stairs to the living room. He winced as the first few boards creaked under his weight. He glanced over his shoulder to ensure he hadn't disturbed Astrid and stepped lighter to the point of misbalance the rest of the way down. He barely caught the wall before tripping over the last step, and cursed his metal leg under his breath. Despite this, Hiccup was in a good mood.
The living room looked oddly bare. Only a week ago he and Astrid had married, and his mother and his dragon both temporarily vacated the chief's house, per his mother's suggestion and much to Hiccup's relief. He enjoyed having uninterrupted time alone with Astrid, yet he never got over how quiet the mornings were. At first he marveled at it, but most days it filled him with a gnawing loneliness. Astrid was an early riser, but he rose even earlier, and his father before him, even earlier. It was less than a year since Stoick had passed, and without Valka or Toothless to fill the dead moments, Hiccup realized how fresh the hurt was.
But this morning he would not let it bother him. He and Astrid grew more comfortable with one other each night, and the last was no exception. But what lifted his spirits the most was the fact that his mother and his dragon were coming home. Hiccup forced down a mug of yak's milk and wiped his mouth on his sleeve, grinning as he headed for the front door. It was time to fill the silence and the living room.
Astrid woke an hour later, muttering at the sundial on the east wall. The time flickered on and off while the sun struggled to escape its tangled gossamer sheets. "Hiccup," she croaked, her voice yet to catch up with her, "Did you let me sleep in again?" She heard heavy footsteps ascend the stairs and she sat up, preparing to confront her husband with a friendly jab for not waking her sooner. She hated wasting more than five minutes of a perfectly good morning; it threw off the rest of her day. She was prepared to compensate for lost time by hurrying through her morning wash up, but she was not prepared to rub noses with a very curious night fury.
"Toothless," she gasped, fully awake, and pulled the covers tightly around her body. "What are you doing here?"
Toothless cocked his head side to side and sat back, waiting for her to get out of bed.
Astrid remembered what day it was. "Oh right, welcome home, Toothless." She carefully removed one hand from under the blankets to rub his chin, using her other hand to cinch the sheets against her chest.
Toothless enjoyed the rub but was still unsure as to why Astrid was in his master's bed. Master and Astrid had always been very close, but never to the point of switching beds! Strange things must have happened the nights he was gone with master's mother at Gothi's last week.
The night fury grew impatient waiting for Astrid to get out of Hiccup's bed, and began circling it, nuzzling the young woman gently.
"No Toothless, you'd rather not see this," Astrid protested, giggling nervously. Toothless looked adamant, and Astrid raised an eyebrow. "Fine, I'd rather not you see this."
Toothless tried to say something, moaning in response, and Astrid knew that only the Dragon Master could get her out of this predicament.
"Hiccup, your dragon is a peeping-tom!"
Hiccup was up the stairs and on his face on the floor in two seconds flat. "Are you okay?" he asked, muffled. Toothless hurried to his side and offered his head to help his master up.
"Are you okay?" Astrid laughed sympathetically. She took this opportunity to leave the bed as gracefully as possible with the sheets still wound around her body. "Sorry to bother you, but Toothless refuses to give me a little privacy."
"He's probably just confused," Hiccup guessed, rising to his feet. Turning his face to Toothless, he explained, "Astrid is my wife now, Bud; she's supposed to be in my bed." Toothless's ears perked up, but he smacked his lips unintelligently.
"Well that didn't sound at all chauvinistic," Astrid teased her husband, rummaging through the dresser for her clothes. "Did he used to watch you dress or something?"
Hiccup shrugged as he removed his arms from around his dragon's neck. "Maybe." He grinned. "He finds it fascinating that humans can take off their skin and change colors!" He gestured grandly, and Toothless followed his arms with his eyes.
"Well, I wouldn't mind on a regular morning, but if he catches me like this," she gestured to the sheets that were threatening to slip off her breasts, "he will change colors."
"You look like a goddess in that gown, Milady." Hiccup bowed. Astrid threw a red bra in his face, and Toothless examined it eagerly before Hiccup could remove it.
"I think you're in trouble now, Astrid." Hiccup dangled the bra in the air and Toothless batted it. "Toothless has just decided that he needs this more than you do."
"Great. Now use it to lure him out of the room," Astrid said wryly, trying to mask her amusement.
Hiccup complied and threw the bra down the stairs. "C'mon, bud, let's go get it!" Toothless was ahead, bounding out of the room gleefully. As Hiccup hurried to catch up with the dragon, Astrid called to him: "And bring that back, Babe; I need it!"
Hiccup snatched the bra from the picture frame it had landed on milliseconds before Toothless reached it. "Ha!" he exclaimed triumphantly, holding up the undergarment in the air. Then he froze as he saw his mother staring at him from the sheepskin couch in the living room.
"M-mom," he stammered, shoving the bra behind his back, his face matching the color of the undergarment. "We were just- I mean, Toothless and I-"
Valka's lips curled upward into a mirthful smile. "No explanation needed," she said calmly. "Continue." She took a sip of her yak's milk and winked at her son over the mug.
Hiccup laughed sheepishly and inched up the stairs awkwardly, watching his mom. When he noticed Toothless attempt to follow, he halted. "Toothless, stay!" The dragon groaned but obeyed and eyed his master enviously as he carried the bra away.
"Newlyweds," Valka explained to Toothless, laughing. Toothless cocked his head, more confused than before.
Up in the bedroom Hiccup confessed to his wife, "Okay, so it will take a little while to get used to having the house full again. We need a door." He tossed the bra back to Astrid.
"We need more than a door," she commented as she caught the bra in midair with both arms. The bed sheets slipped to the floor and Hiccup's eyes widened.
He leaned against the wall, grinning largely. "I'd like to stay for this, if you don't mind me intruding on your privacy."
"I'm not sure," Astrid joked, turning her back to him and pulling a pair of brown panties over her ankles. "I won't scare you, like I would Toothless, but you'll probably end up scaring me."
Hiccup stepped forward. "Is that a challenge?" he whispered, resting his hands on her bare waist.
"It would be, if we had a larger house," Astrid whispered in reply, picking up her black leggings from the bed.
Hiccup drew back. "A larger house? What do we need that for?"
"For your mom, for Toothless, for Stormfly, for Cloudjumper," Astrid explained, feeding her feet through the elastic. "For privacy. I'm not saying we have to move; just expand this house."
Hiccup latched onto her hips again. "That's a good idea, but it's going to be a lot of work, Milady. Could it wait?" He moved his hands slowly up her body, nuzzling her arm with his chin as she reached out for her skirt. Astrid relaxed and let her arm drop back to her side.
She turned around to kiss Hiccup, but stopped short when she spotted Toothless peering into the room. She and Toothless screamed simultaneously twice; first at each other, then at Hiccup. Astrid punched Hiccup's arm, and Toothless tore down the stairs, rubbing his face into the wooden floor at the bottom, trying un-see what he had just discovered.
"I tried to tell him it wasn't a good idea," Valka called apologetically from the living room.
"Larger house!" Astrid demanded, yanking her bra on.
"Larger house," Hiccup consented, massaging his new bruise.
"So Astrid and I are planning to expand the house," Hiccup told his mother as she fed Cloudjumper silver herring from a woven barrel. They were behind the house, giving Astrid some time to fix the place and herself up to look how she deemed acceptable. "There will be stables for Cloudjumper and Toothless and Stormfly, we'll expand the kitchen, and you'll get your own living room and bathroom connected to Dad's- your current bedroom."
Valka noticed Hiccup's lip quiver, and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "That sounds wonderful, Son. I was planning to tell you that I am more than willing to move in permanently with Gothi to give you two more room."
"No, Mom, you belong here! That's what Dad wanted." He faltered, then smiled at her. "And that's what we want."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive! It was Astrid's idea, but I'm totally onboard. I've got some plans running through my mind already." Hiccup tapped his head enthusiastically.
Valka beamed. "After seeing your handy work throughout the village, I know it's going to be amazing."
"Oh it will be!" Hiccup assured her. "I'll construct lifts to replace the stairs, and-"
"Hiccup," Astrid yelled angrily out the upstairs window. "Can you call Toothless? He won't leave me alone!"
Hiccup was surprised. "What's he doing inside? I thought he was too scared of you to be within a five mile radius!"
"Not anymore; now he won't quit sniffing my-" Astrid stopped herself from getting explicit, "-me!"
Hiccup sucked in his lips and glanced at his mom tentatively, and they burst out laughing.
Valka winked. "Don't worry, I won't tell Gobber."
"Gobber?"
"Yes, we used to call him Gobber the Gossip. Once he walked in on Stoick and I, and Berk never heard the end of it!"
"Okay, wow." Hiccup chuckled uncomfortably. "Gobber just inspired me to add locks." Valka nodded, amused.
A large crash came from the house. "Toothless, out! Hiccup!"
Hiccup cringed and headed inside. "Coming!"