As always, I own nothing.
They laid in bed, ophidian-like limbs bound by tangle sheets, except for his left hand, which was free. Free to roam. Free to release a pointer finger, which he slid over the soft curves of her face from her hairline, down her nose, over her lips, then under her chin.
"What are you doing?" Astrid giggled.
The only light in the room trickled in from a bright full-moon, it's glow reflecting off un-shadowed bare skin.
"Does it tickle?"
"Maybe."
"I like to touch the things I draw. Helps me create better forms. It'll make your picture more real."
"Do you draw me often?"
"Not as often as I think about you. But, yes, just go through my books."
"Will you keep drawing me? Even when I'm old and wrinkled and broken."
"Always. And I'll never see you like that."
He moved his other hand over the curves of her back while his left hand rested on the side of her face, thumb caressing the pink apple of her cheek.
He smiled like a child in a dream. "I remember, when we were kids, I wanting to touch your hair. It was so beautiful, I thought maybe it was gold and if I touched it would feel like tiny silky gold threads."
"I don't remember…"
"We were, maybe 4 or 5…Anyhow I wanted to touch those shimmering strands so badly. I knew I couldn't just reach out and grab them because, even back then you were fierce.
"Then, one day my dad went hunting with your dad and he left me at your house so your mom could watch us."
He pulled her head to his chest, the steady beat of his heart quietly pacing with the soft words humming from his chest, "And, you being you, wanted to play Dragons and Warriors."
"I do remember." She folded her hands atop his sternum, nesting her chin between knuckles, gazing into his verdant eyes "You were afraid of dragons and wouldn't play. You wanted to build a fort or something."
He laughed, "A castle to lure in trolls - give me some credit!"
"Oh, so much better. I don't remember the rest - what did we do?"
"I relented and played Dragons and Vikings. Because I had a plan."
"Plotting even back then?" She smiled, maybe remembering, maybe just wanting to remember.
"I waited for you to tack me and knock me to the hard ground. Then I pretended to be dead. You kept shaking me…you might have, actually, thought I was dead. I laid still so long you put your head on my chest to listen for a heartbeat."
Like a slowly spring rain it came back to her, "I couldn't hear your heart. I did think you dead."
He smiled, "You know, you weren't listening in the right spots. You started at my shoulder and then moved down to my belly button."
"And you stayed still the whole time."
"Admittedly, the hardest part was not laughing."
"That's the first time I thought I'd lost you."
"There might have been some tears."
"I don't believe you, there were no tears!"
"There were tears! Because they prompted me to get up. That's when I hugged you, and stoked that long golden hair."
Hiccup took a strand and wrapped it around his finger. "It was even better than I imagined…Everything about you has always been better than I imagined."
This was part of my other story, but it slowed the pace and broke the flow, so I took it out as a one shot. Hopefully someone likes it.