A Midwinter's Eve
Berk was sometimes referred to as the ice-cube of the north. Rain, snow, and hail seemed to constantly fall there. There was a short period of time between the spring when it rained constantly and the winter when the very seas froze that was actually inhabitable. However, that season had passed, much to the great disappointment of every inhabitant of Berk. The air was now icy, and if anyone tried to fly on a dragon with less than four layers of heavy clothing on, they would be frozen solid.
It was during one of these frigid days of winter that Hiccup was sitting beside the heating coals in the forge using the dim glow of a nearly extinguished candle to inspect his handiwork on a snowshoe attachment for his prosthesis. The snowshoe part hadn't been the problem, it had been the actual attachment part that had troubled him. At first he'd tried clipping it.
'Step step plop…' Hiccup mused, remembering his face plant into a large drift. It hadn't taken much for the clip to be dislodged.
Then in had been a screw…it had taken so long to remove after being out in the snow Hiccup had taken to loosening it…with the same result as the clip. Now as he inspected the newly fashioned bolt that twisted into place and locked, he could have kicked himself for not thinking of it sooner.
Suddenly the door to the forge open, letting in a terrible howl of wind carrying fresh snowflakes, and a dark-brown cloaked figure entered, Toothless on its heels, shutting the door behind himself with a quick flick of his tail.
"Astrid! Hey, oh…hi Astrid!" Hiccup said, quickly hopping up and pulling a apron over some papers and drawings on the table.
"Do you realize what time it is?" Astrid asked, stalking closer to him, menacing him with her eyes.
"Um…noon?" Hiccup asked, unable to tell without a visible sight of the outdoors. Not that it would do him much good. The snow was blowing in near blizzard conditions outside.
"Several hours past that Hiccup." Astrid said. "The Midwinter's Eve feast started an hour ago. I assumed you'd be along eventually, but an hour?"
Astrid had grabbed Hiccup by the shirt and was glaring at him through narrowed eyes. Hiccup simply chuckled, trying not to be nervous about what he was about to do.
"Astrid…look up." Hiccup said. Puzzled, she glanced up, staring for a moment before looking back down at him. In that second, Hiccup stepped forward and kissed her directly on the lips, as the Mistletoe hung over their heads. After about ten seconds, Astrid's grip on his shirt softened, and they drew one another into an embrace that even Toothless's nosing couldn't separate.
The Midwinter's Eve feast was in full swing by the time the trio rejoined it. There were Vikings dancing everywhere, sloshing mead and ale from their mugs as they twirled and jumped two and fro. There were people betting on which dragon could burp the farthest fire trail after betting which one could drain a barrel of mead the fastest.
Hiccup glanced up as he heard a catcall overhead. The twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, were sitting overhead them in the beams that upheld the feasting hall. As the two humans joined the table where Fishlegs was sitting, a red-faced Snotlout came bounding up.
"Astrid! Thank the gods!" Snotlout panted, collapsing on one of the table benches. Just as he was about to elaborate on why, Tuffnut dropped down from the beams, landing hard on a bench at the table.
"Snot, buddy! That was some sick dancing out there man! How lucky are you?" Tuffnut said, bursting out into cackles.
"Can it Tuffnut…it's not funny! She won't leave me alone!" Snotlout protested. Seconds later, Ruffnut dropped down beside her brother, shoving his helm down over his eyes as she landed.
"Hey!" the male twin protested, pulling his helm back up.
"Who are we talking about?" Hiccup asked, his puzzled expression the only one at the table. Everyone else seemed amused, except for Snotlout.
"Helga the huge!" Snotlout cried in anguish, gesturing over his shoulder at the commotion in the crowd from Helga looking for him. "Why couldn't she have just stayed after Fishlegs?"
Snotlout moaned, his head falling limply onto the table between his forearms. Hiccup had never seen him in such a state, and was genuinely concerned for him. Helga was a few months older than the Vikings seated at the table, about eight to be exact. She was also very well filled out, and round as a mead barrel.
Hiccup was silently thankful she hadn't decided to shift her affections to him. She could crush him like a twig. Not that Astrid couldn't, but she wouldn't do it intentionally; not without cause at the very least.
"Oh! Thar' ya are Snotty-poo!" Helga beamed, finding the object of her affections. She picked him up by the back of his vest and threw him over her shoulder. As she carried him away, back to the dance floor, he stared at the table filled with his comrades, especially at Astrid, his hands together in a begging pose, silently pleading. He received no aid however, because all of his friends were tearing up with laughter.
As the night wore on, the crowd began to thin some. People were leaving, passing out and being carried away by companions, or passing out in corners and being left to sleep it off. Tuffnut was one of the last sort, passing out in the beams and luckily falling back onto a T shape, where Ruffnut carried him down from, then threw him onto their table.
Eventually, Snotlout managed to escape Helga's clutches after she left, claiming to need her beauty rest. He dragged himself, weary and bedraggled to the Table where Hiccup and Astrid sat, Astrid leaning against Hiccup's shoulder as they watched Ruffnut spin around the floor led by a surprisingly nimble Fishlegs.
"Thanks for the help you guys…" Snotlout groaned, using Tuffnut's arm for a pillow as he sagged in his seat.
"We didn't want to get in the way of true love, Snotlout." Astrid teased from Hiccup's shoulder. She was sure even the thick brained lug beside them would get the secondary meaning of the statement.
Snotlout snorted. "I'd rather marry a Gronkle's wart."
"I don't think the wart would feel the same." Hiccup said, smiling.
As the musicians providing the music took a break, an excited Ruffnut came bounding over, her two small hands clasped in one of Fishlegs's huge ones as she pulled him along.
"Did you see us? That was amazing and fun!" Ruffnut chattered excitedly at Astrid. As she turned her attention to teasing Snotlout about Helga, Hiccup and Astrid exchanged glances with one another before breaking into knowing smiles. They weren't the only couple present at the gathering that night.
As the soft sun began to push a faint light through the grey clouds above, it found Hiccup and Astrid walking arm and arm through the deserted village. They'd been up all night, leaving the feast only an hour ago to journey to their homes. It had turned into more of a walk.
Hiccup's heart was elated at the closeness between them as they strolled aimlessly, just chatting about things like the snow.
"I love making snow angels…they're such personal impressions of someone. How big or small or heavy they are." Astrid observed. Hiccup nodded.
"I always liked making snowballs…packing the flakes good and tight to make something to fly through the air. Of course, I typically got pelted with them, so it was never very much fun." Hiccup said, remembering all the times he'd been attacked viciously with snowballs, no matter where he went.
Their walk had found them at the very edge of the village, and clear, unbroken drifts of snow lay across the flat area. Suddenly, Astrid had an idea.
"Lets have a snowball fight, right here!" Astrid said, leaving his side and rushing to the center of the field. She walked the entire length of the field, leaving a distinct line. "There. That's your side. I'll give you ten minutes to prepare your defenses!"
With that, she rushed about heaping the drifts into a flat wall like shape. Hiccup smiled faintly as he marveled at the wonderful sides of the girl he had still yet to fully understand. She was in no way the hard-nosed, cold, and unfeeling warrior she made herself out to be. Not when one got to know her.
Hiccup suddenly realized as she dashed to another high drift and began to heap it into a makeshift wall, that he needed to be preparing his defenses. She was going to slaughter him.
The ten minutes went by fast, leaving Hiccup with little more time to construct three walls to Astrid's four, and only about ten to fifteen snowballs apiece at each wall. Silently she stared across the field at him, a single snowball held in her hand. Hiccup couldn't help but find himself marveling at how beautiful she looked even then, standing there in her heavy brown furs and heavy leggings.
Suddenly something cold caught him right in the face, and he realized she had tossed her snowball. Their battle had commenced.
Hiccup had already realized he was going to be at a disadvantage, but thankfully she took it easy on him, only pelting him in the face about five times. She'd soon destroyed his far wall where he had taken refuge, causing him to move up one. It took him twice as long to finally make hers unusable, although he had accidentally destroyed the one right before it.
Finally, they were down to the two walls at the very forefront, lobbing snowballs over the wall with small heaves, and suddenly Hiccup heard her gasp and give a small squeal.
"It went down my back!" Astrid laughed, referring to some of the snow from Hiccup's giant snowball he'd heaved over her wall. As she stood to throw again, Hiccup's mind went entirely blank and the snowball he was about to throw fell forgotten out of his hand.
Her hair had fallen down from it's braid, and seemed to lay flat down, a bit angled to her left side, and there was a bit of frost from the snow in it that seemed to highlight the beautiful blue shade of her eyes. It was the most beautiful he had ever seen her.
"Hiccup?" Astrid squeaked as he came rushing over the line at her, the snowball fight clearly forgotten. He crashed into her, spinning her so she fell on top of him as they tumbled into the snow, lips locked together in a passionate kiss.
When they finally ceased their kissing in the snow, both flushed, Astrid stared down into his eyes, her hair forming a curtain around them. "Oh gods Astrid…you're so beautiful…and I love you."
His declaration came as a bit of a surprise to both of them. It was the first time either one had said the word love. Hiccup meant it with every fiber of his being, and his surprise came from him actually being able to put his feeling into words without becoming tongue-tied. Astrid's came from the fact that he had been the first of the two of them to say it.
"I love you too Hiccup." Astrid said, feeling tears welling up slightly, which she hid by pressing their lips together yet again.
Midwinter's Day was a special time in the Viking year, mostly because it was the time Vikings gave each other presents, especially lovers.
As Hiccup walked Astrid home, he rubbed the gift in his pocket through the cloth it had been wrapped in. They were both flushed and tired from their snowball fight and the feast. As they paused outside Astrid's home, Hiccup was unsure how to present the gift to her.
"Hiccup?"
"Hmm?" He asked, running over a hundred different scenarios.
"I have a gift for you." Astrid said. Out of her pocket she produced a small box tied with a bit of ribbon. Hiccup placed his hand on the box, letting it rest there as he drew the cloth wrapped gift from his pocket, replacing her gift with his.
"That's yours…" Hiccup said awkwardly as she opened it. He heard her emit a small gasp as she beheld the charm. The gem itself sparkled in the most beautiful of light blues, nearly identical to Astrid's eyes. The gem was held in the center by an intricate silver carving of a flower, but it appeared so natural, like it was meant to be there. The whole thing was held on a silver chain of rather strong looking links, enabling it be worn at all times.
She hugged Hiccup in a rib crushing embrace, and he was well aware of her figure as she pressed herself against him, and he tried not to turn too red.
"Now open yours." Astrid said as she released him, and allowed him to assist her in placing the necklace around her neck.
Hiccup obeyed, untying the ribbon and pulling the box lid open. Inside was a leather bracelet with a silver steel heart in the center of it. She pulled it out of the box and fastened the leather ties around his left wrist, the bottom tip of the heart facing her.
"Thank you Astrid." Hiccup said, staring into her eyes, framed by a stray lock of her hair.
"Thank you…it's beautiful." she said, leaning in and kissing him gently on the lips. She brushed the stray strand of hair away. "So… see you later."
With that, Astrid ran up onto the small porch and entered through the front door, glancing back at the spot where Hiccup was rooted, a goofy smile spread across his face.
When Hiccup entered through the front door of his home, his father was sitting at the table by the fireplace, staring into a hot mug of some sort of tea brew to help with hangovers.
"Mornin'. Where did you sleep last night?" Stoick asked, a bit of a teasing tone in his voice.
"Still haven't slept yet." Hiccup answered, a huge yawn bursting forth. He stifled it with his hand. "So I'm going to catch some sleep. Wake me up about midday please."
As Hiccup retreated up the steps to his bed, knowing Toothless would already be there keeping it warm, he couldn't help but wonder at the huge beaming smile his father had flashed just before he'd disappeared.
Downstairs Stoick reached into furs, pulling out a leather cord with a pouch attached to it. He fumbled with two huge fingers for a moment before pulling out the leather bracelet his wife had given him. Her best friend had helped her make it, and he couldn't help but wonder if she had helped her daughter make the one his son was wearing.