A/N: I am back! Thanks to those of you who've wished me luck with my exams; I think they went well enough. Also once again many thanks to those of you who leave comments and reviews; even if I don't reply, I do read every single one of them and they really lift my spirits and motivate me to write more!
As promised, this chapter will contain some more romantic content. Should probably be rated T. It also turned out waaay longer than I'd initially intended it to be, but splitting it up didn't feel right. That's all I'll say; I'll just leave you guys to it. Enjoy!
Angel Of Music – Part 2
Before she'd known it, Astrid's life had soon become one of habit. Albeit an awfully strange one.
Ever since her reunion with the Phantom, she hadn't been able to shake the notion that he might originally be from Berk. She didn't know how reasonable her suspicion was, but she figured that the least she could do was follow up on it. Apart from the preparations for winter and her increasingly common nightly escapades, she did not have much on her plate after all.
She'd started by asking around the village to see if anyone had left Berk or had gone missing in the past 10 to 20 years, especially under suspicious circumstances. Anyone who'd left since then, she'd personally known. She soon found this number of people to be way higher than expected however, and even though administration wasn't exactly her strongest point, she was eventually forced to keep an increasingly expanding list. After one week, most of which had been spent in Gobber's workshop – the blacksmith was one of Berk's number one gossipers after all, she found herself with quite a large number of names. People had had various reasons for leaving. To start a family with someone not from Berk, in an attempt to escape the dragons' violence or because exile wasn't a word that Stoick tended to use officially. Most of the names in the last category belonged to members of the Thorston family however; the result of a very insightful afternoon with the twins, which had made her start to wonder if Ruff and Tuff were really that bad after all.
Unfortunately, no one had stated 'sympathizing with dragons' as their reason for leaving. There were a few women who had called for a more peaceful solution throughout their lifetime, but nothing of Phantom-calibre. And she was looking for a man, after all. Then again, it was also perfectly possible that someone had only developed those views after leaving Berk. Or that the Phantom hadn't lived on Berk himself, but that he was the son of someone who had.
She was looking for a needle in a haystack, but she wouldn't stand down that easily. Slowly, she'd gathered a wide array of nodes and other scribbles, containing as much details as she could unsuspiciously get about these people. If anyone asked, she simply told them she wanted to know more about Berk's history. She wasn't sure if they believed her, but it usually did get her better stories, which allowed her to deduct some of these people's character traits. If she could then cross-reference those with the Phantom's stories and character, she might be able to cross off a few people. Baby steps mattered too, after all.
As a result, she'd started to approach the Phantom differently. He'd made it a habit to knock on her roof after every raid night – which occurred more this close to the start of winter. He'd bring Stormfly by and they'd usually just… talk. They'd always talked a lot before – although the Phantom did most of it – but this time around, something felt different. He'd kept up his softer demeanour ever since their reunion and he felt lighter, just like their conversations. His threats, albeit still present, had a more playful tone to them and, as odd as it sounded due to the accent he religiously managed to keep up, he laughed more. Even though he still wasn't giving her anything useful, his stories were more complete; sometimes, he'd even mention something he'd done, or how he'd reacted – although only when talking about faraway places, so there was nothing for her to deduct from it.
And as much as she'd tried to resist, she hadn't been able to stop herself from opening up in return. She knew it was wrong, but it was so much easier than consistently keeping up a stern and stoic attitude. It simply felt more… natural. In her search for similarities between the Phantom and what she knew about the people on her list, she'd started to pay attention to his character. And how could one not occasionally laugh along with someone who was so sarcastic and yet playful, youthful in a geeky way, at the same time? Despite still not being on board with the way he went about things – lethal casualties or not – it was becoming hard for her to deny that it was possible he had some redeeming qualities after all.
She still worked with him during raids as well. Morally condemnable or not, they were incredibly effective. Even though they never communicated during a raid, she knew he was looking out for her. Just like on that first night, she knew it was him who got her out of uncomfortable positions with more ease than she could've on her own. He'd made sure to tell her time and time again how thankful he was for her cooperation, and he'd kept his word in return. In the past raids, there had still hardly been any collateral damage to Berk, nor any casualties. Her own axe was one of the few weapons Berk still had left at this point however, leaving the village basically unable to protect itself. But they didn't need to; the Phantom and her were taking care of that, and she was slowly starting to believe he wouldn't turn that trust to use it against her. If he wanted to do so, he could have done so by now, after all.
With things looking up for Berk, peace between dragons and Vikings didn't seem as much as a fantasy to her as it had before. She wished there was a way to show the people of Berk that; despite their mutual hatred for each other, she couldn't help but feel like a collaboration between the Phantom and Berk could be extremely fruitful. Both sides would never have any of it however, not right now. She would have to do.
"You know, this is kind of taxing on my health," she yawned, softly stroking Stormfly's horn. It was another night after raid night, with morning soon approaching. They had once again been successful. "Hardly getting any sleep two nights in a row is not exactly something I'm used to."
"Then sleep during the day," the Phantom suggested.
She laughed softly. "Oh yes, that's not suspicious at all."
The Phantom stayed quiet for a moment. "I could stop coming by," he finally responded.
She felt her breath catch in her throat. Was that what she wanted? It didn't feel like it. "If that's what you want," she answered, trying not to show her conflict.
Another moment of silence. "I'd gladly knock on your roof every night," the Phantom spoke.
She ignored the way her heart skipped a beat. "No need to get dramatic," she quipped. "Just moving things up one night should do the trick, right?" She still had to find out who he was after all.
"On one condition," the Phantom stated. She could sense a smile in the way he spoke.
"And what that might be?"
"That you let me knock on your roof more often."
And she had agreed. The Phantom kept his word once more. He'd softly tap on her roof about once every three nights. And at this point, she almost felt some sort of disappointment on the nights that he didn't. She wasn't afraid of Berk finding out. They hadn't so far, after all. The Phantom had always protected them.
But, even though her life had seemed to be getting a lot better lately – after all, how could it have gotten any worse? – there was something she could not shake. The seed of doubt the Phantom had planted in her head a few weeks ago was starting to grow, slowly consuming her in those moments when she did not have anything to keep herself occupied with. With peace seeming like such a tangible idea, what did she really want out of life, aside from protecting her village? What was her purpose, if there was no more protecting to do? She knew it was all very hypothetical, but still, she couldn't help but wonder. Her lack of a deeper purpose, of a deeper, more personal drive, unsettled her.
So, she'd started to consider her options. Paths her life could possibly take. There were the obvious choices; settling down and spending the rest of her days taking care of her children, and their children after them. Problem with that was that she didn't know anyone worth settling down with, apart from the prospect seeming utterly boring. The "bachelors" of her age on Berk were hardly eligible and none of the boys had ever caught her eye in that particular way. Stoick had had the nerve to ask her once whether Snotlout wasn't an option, so they'd at least have a competent future chieftess, but she'd shut that down convincingly enough.
She could learn a trade. Even though she didn't have the spark he was looking for, Gobber would certainly be able to use the help. She could take over one of the farms; Silent Sven was starting to age too, after all. Berk certainly didn't have enough bread-making Vikings either. Fishing was lucrative as well. Or maybe Gothi was looking for a successor…
No matter how often she thought about it however, she never found anything that truly seemed to work. And increasingly, she found herself looking towards the horizon, with nothing but the Archipelago's sea in sight. She'd always known there was more out there, but now things just seemed so much more… in reach. And so, her mind increasingly wandered back to the Phantom's stories.
Maybe one day, she could see for herself if they were indeed true. She would like to see some of the dragon species the Phantom had told her about. Razorwhips, Deathsongs, herds of Deathly Nadders, likely to contain some of Stormfly's distant family. She could visit Rome and Constantinople, see the amazing structures he'd told her about, built by people long ago. She could try their food, learn their languages, become so much more than just a Viking. Like the Phantom had done.
Still occupied by the same fantasies, she found herself at dinner with her friends. Even though the first snow hadn't fallen yet, winter was upon Berk. Their days were becoming shorter and the temperatures outside more freezing. She often found herself hauled up in the Great Hall, taking in its warmth, especially after a frigid night with the Phantom.
She was sitting next to Fishlegs, Snotlout and the twins opposite of her. She hadn't really been paying attention to their conversation, lost in thought until Tuffnut poked her arm with his fork.
"Ow!" she winced, shooting Tuffnut a glare.
He shrugged. "You weren't replying."
She shook her head. "Sorry. What were you talking about?"
Ruffnut's eyes lit up. "The Phantom." Of course. When were things ever not about him? "We were wondering how you were doing in the arena."
She waved the question away. "I stopped doing that over a month ago."
Tuffnut leant towards her over the table. "Why, Astrid?"
She returned his glare. "Because it's a waste of time, that's why."
Snotlout snorted. "Quitter."
She pulled up her eyebrows. "So you guys are still going, huh?" She took a look at the four faces surrounding her.
Fishlegs innocently put up his hands in response. "I was out weeks ago. Like you said, more useful things to spend my time on."
Tuffnut dramatically slammed his fist on the table, sending one of his potatoes bouncing off the table. Ruffnut promptly caught it, putting the whole thing in her mouth instantly. "Of course we're still going!" the male twin answered.
"We've almost got him," Ruffnut chimed in, somehow speaking through her potato.
Now it was her turn to scoff. "Do tell."
Her cocky attitude earned her Snotlout's usual glare. "This is our project, Astrid." The twins nodded in response, which seemed to fuel Snotlout's unjustified confidence. "It's our plan, and you clearly don't want to be a part of it. So shut up, Astrid."
She just shook her head in response. She knew better than to shoot back at Snotlout. If they wanted to continue wasting their time, that was their loss. Not her problem.
Attempting to change the subject, she pointed her knife at no one in particular. "Other question. Do you guys ever wonder about, you know, what's out there?" She nodded towards the door. Occupied by her daydreams, she hoped someone else would feel the same way. It seemed like such an amazing adventure, after all.
"I think you'll have to be more specific, Astrid," Fishlegs responded.
"Just, the world. I mean, there's more than just Berk, right?" she explained, waving her knife around as to indicate something big.
Snotlout shrugged. "Don't really care."
Tuffnut joined him. "Berk's our hunting ground, Astrid!" Ruffnut nodded in agreement, still trying to work down Tuff's potato.
She turned to the boy beside her. "What about you, Fishlegs?"
Fishlegs looked at her with uncertainty. "The world sounds cool, but I haven't even seen all of Berk yet. Exploring a tiny island by foot already takes ages. How much time would the world take?"
"Besides, I've heard that if you sail too far, you'll fall off the edge of the world!" Tuffnut chimed in.
You won't, she wanted to retort. The Phantom hadn't fallen off the edge of the world, after all.
As her friends' conversation veered towards the absurd once again, she was overcome by a sense of loneliness. They didn't understand her curiosity, the way the world had slowly started to pull her. How could they after all? They hadn't heard the Phantom's stories. They had no idea what could be out there.
She resigned herself to the knowledge that the Phantom was the only one who might be able to somewhat understand her in this sense. While her friends didn't. That didn't mean she could start considering the Phantom as anything close to a friend, however. But what did she consider him to be?
"Stormfly, spine shot!"
The dragon responded instantly, shooting a few of her tail spines in the direction Astrid was pointing in. They bounced off the arena's wall and landed on the floor with a clattering sound.
She smiled at Stormfly, softly stroking her horn. "Good girl." She walked to the other side of the arena to pick the spines up from the floor. She liked the way they felt in her hands; enough weight to allow them to serve as excellent throwing knives, and not too heavy. Awfully pretty, too.
"I'm still not sure whether teaching you how to weaponize her was such a good idea," the Phantom quipped. "You two are getting awfully good at this."
"It's not like she'll turn on you," she laughed. "I've seen the way she reacts whenever you mention her name. I still come in second."
"Not a bad second option, though."
"There is something else I would like you to teach me, however," she tried while softly stroking Stormfly's wings. Ever since her conversation with her friends, she'd been thinking about something Fishlegs had said. The world was too big to explore by foot.
"And what might that be?"
"Teach me how to fly her," she responded, the ridiculousness of that statement not escaping her.
"Why?"
"Come on, I know it's possible!" The more she'd thought about it, the more it had started to make sense. "How else do you get everywhere the way you do? To Berk, to the rest of the world. We've looked for a boat that was supposed to be yours often enough. Never found it."
"That doesn't answer my question though. Even if it were possible, why do you want to fly her?"
"Because it's cool?" she tried.
"You're not that one-dimensional," the Phantom retorted. She wasn't sure whether to take that as a compliment.
She paused for a moment, not sure whether to share what'd been weighing on her heart. "I think I'm starting to figure out what my goal is."
"What do you mean?"
"What you asked me a while ago. What my goal is. Well, I've thought about it."
"If you feel like sharing, go ahead."
She bit her lower lip. She couldn't really lose anything by sharing this. "I want to find out if your stories are true. The Archipelago, Europe, the world… I want to see it for myself." She laughed softly to hide her unease. "I know it sounds silly, I mean, things on Berk aren't even close to being sorted out yet, but I just… I can't help it! It's…"
"It's calling you," the Phantom interrupted her. She nodded. "Believe me, I get it. It did the same to me," he continued.
"Exactly!" she replied, startling Stormfly with her sudden enthusiasm. "That's why I want to learn how to fly! I mean, like I said, you must know how to!"
"And how would you expect me to teach you?" the Phantom asked, neither confirming nor denying her suspicions. "Unless you'd have enough control to stay really low, I can't help you from here."
"Then don't stay here," she suggested. Alongside with wondering who the Phantom was, she couldn't help but imagine what the Phantom looked like. From the way he spoke, she couldn't get further than that he was likely a young man; everything besides that remained a mystery she couldn't crack.
"I won't do that," the Phantom simply replied.
She knew there was no use in asking why not. Instead, she diverted her attention to Stormfly's scales. She'd known it had been a longshot to begin with. "Of course not," she bit.
"Look, Astrid, if things were simpler, I'd teach you. But they aren't." The Phantom paused. "But I'm glad to hear you're starting to figure things out."
Not wanting to talk about it any longer, she bounced the question back at him. "What about you?"
"I thought we'd talked about my goals?" the Phantom asked, confused.
"I mean after all of this is done. When the queen is dead, what will you do?"
"In all honesty; I haven't really thought about it yet. I guess I'll go wherever my services are required." He laughed. "And when I run out of places like that, who knows, I might actually settle down."
She smiled slightly. "I guess even people like you do that at one point."
"Well, we're really not that different after all."
Slowly but surely, she felt she might believe that. Still, there was a whole swamp of complicated stuff surrounding every good word or intention that came out of the Phantom's mouth. And they weren't quite done draining that yet. If anything, they'd only just started.
Their conversation dying out, she wrapped her fur mantle around her. Despite the extra layer of clothing, the night air felt frigid as ever. And, as if the gods had heard her thoughts, she felt something wet hit her cheek right then. Raising her hand, she watched something tiny and white land on it. The first snow of this winter.
The next snowflakes followed a lot quicker than expected, dousing the arena's torches. Stormfly looked around, seemingly disquieted; Astrid didn't know what snow felt like to dragons, but she couldn't imagine it was very comfortable.
"Let's get her into one of the cells," the Phantom answered her concerns.
Putting her hand on Stormfly's horn, she slowly led the dragon into the cell she'd become so familiar with. The cell was dark as there was no more light coming in from the arena, but Stormfly didn't seem to mind and quickly settled into one of the corners.
Slightly cold herself and not feeling completely comfortable in the dark, Astrid rubbed her hands together. "Stormfly, could you give us some light here?"
As the dragon opened her mouth, the Phantom interjected: "No, Stormfly, don't." She promptly closed her jaws in response. Of course, Astrid was still in second place.
"Why not?" she asked.
"I need to talk to you about something."
"I don't see why we can't have some light while doing that."
"Astrid, just… Just listen, okay?"
Resigned, she leant against the wall behind her, wondering what was up with the Phantom this time. He sounded odd. More odd than usual.
"As you probably know, dragons don't usually raid during winter," the Phantom started.
"Uhuh."
"And I think we can now say that winter has definitely arrived."
"Yeah?" She got a feeling that she didn't like where this was going.
"So that means I will leave Berk too."
That took her aback more than she'd anticipated. "Oh," she simply uttered. She wanted to ask why, but couldn't get the words across her lips.
The Phantom answered the question nevertheless. "There's no reason for me to be here when there are no raids, after all. I usually do… other things during the winter."
She nodded slowly. "Yeah, that makes sense."
"So if there's anything you still want to ask, I guess now is the time," the Phantom stated. The awkwardness in his voice brought a small smile to her face.
"I can't really think of anything," was all she said in response, even though she always had thousands of questions for him. Who are you? Where are you from? Why do you talk to me? Why do you talk to me? Questions he'd never give her an answer to, especially if he left. "I mean, I'll miss –" She caught the words coming out of her mouth just in time to correct them. "– Stormfly." She wasn't sure how convincing she'd sounded. It was true, but it wasn't what she'd intended to say.
The cell stayed quiet for a second before the Phantom replied, softly. "I'm sure she'll miss you too."
Astrid didn't know what to do with the words hanging between them. Hers hadn't meant exactly what she'd said. Did the same go for his?
She shook her head, trying to snap herself out of it, ignoring the slight shiver that went through her body. It didn't matter. She shouldn't consider the Phantom a friend, or anything else.
"Can I get some light now?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood with practicality. "I'm kind of starting to freeze."
She turned to Stormfly, intending to pat the dragon before asking for her services. At that moment however, two hands closed around her wrists, followed by a voice, softer and closer than she'd ever heard it before. "Please don't."
Time stopped. The Phantom's hands, larger than her own, with slender fingers, were wrapped firmly around her wrists. They weren't holding her in place with force however. They were simply… holding her. At any previous point in time, she would've torn her hands loose to reach for the dagger strapped to her hip. But she didn't. No matter how much she told herself to do it, she couldn't get her body to make the right movements.
Instead, they simply stayed like this. Frozen in time, while minutes passed. As the sound of her heart beating rapidly in her ears started to die down, she realized she could hear something she'd never heard before. That he'd never let her hear before. She could hear him breathe.
"What are you doing?" she eventually muttered, her mouth feeling incredibly dry.
She could hear him exhale in a way that sounded like a soft smile. She couldn't see him, not even an outline, but she could picture it nevertheless. "You said you were cold. I am offering a solution." His voice sounded different. Still unrecognisable, but lower, with a softer edge to it.
She didn't know how he could still come up with a smart comeback at a moment like this. Personally, she couldn't think of anything to say. Instead, she simply mirrored his move, folding her own hands around his wrists. They were as slender as his fingers, concealed in what felt like leather gloves. She might not be able to see him, but he felt incredibly real nevertheless.
His grip on her wrists loosened, allowing her to move more freely. She could easily stab him, but instead she found her hands releasing his wrists and slowly wandering upwards. She couldn't see him, but this was her opportunity to get to know him, even if it was just a little bit. Her fingers traced his lower arms, up to his elbows and his biceps. From what little information she could gather, they weren't particularly muscular, but they felt good nevertheless. It was hard to get a good impression however, as he was completely covered in what felt like a combination of leather and some sort of ribbed structure she couldn't quite place. Eventually, her hands hit his shoulder pads. Slowly tracing her fingers over them, along the same ribbed structure, she found his chest.
She rested her hands flat against it, feeling his chest rise and fall as she could hear him breathe slowly, heavily, her own breathing pattern slowly starting to match it. She carefully explored what seemed to be his body armour, still unable to figure out what he was wearing, but getting a sense of his figure in return. He was taller than she was, his torso resembling the same slenderness as his arms. He indeed didn't feel much like a Viking to her. Still, she'd confirmed her suspicions; she couldn't imagine anything else than a young man currently standing in front of her.
"Dragon scales," he whispered, partially snapping her out of her mesmerisation, before his voice pulled her right back in. She didn't know what she was doing, but couldn't find the strength to stop either. She supressed the voices in the back of her head, still telling her to kill him. Those were Berk's. Not hers. Her voice wanted to learn more about this man, about the Phantom. She needed to know the face that belonged to this body.
Slowly, she lifted her right hand, leaving her left on his chest, his careful breathing putting her at ease. She slowly reached upwards, finding his neck. Internally, she gasped, as her cold fingers finally touched hot skin. She could hear him hiss in response, but he didn't tell her to stop. He was warm, she could feel his pulse beneath his skin. He was human, above anything else.
Gathering her bravery and daring herself to go further, she reached upwards, to where his face was supposed to be. She found the same ribbed structure – dragon scales – once again. She realized he was wearing a helmet, which seemed to be made out of the same fabric combination as whatever else he was wearing. As her fingers explored it, she found its lower part moving slightly. Realizing it had to be a visor, she lifted her other hand and moved it upwards. Settling her left hand back on his – broad – shoulder, she gently laid her other on his right cheek.
In some ways, it was as if she was touching another human being for the first time. The heat of his skin warmed her hand, sending a small jolt of excitement through her veins. She was surprised at the smoothness of his skin, covered with a small amount of stubble. She wasn't sure what she'd expected instead. She'd expected nothing, but still not… this.
She felt him slowly lean into her touch, allowing her to feel his clearly defined jaw. She didn't know why he was letting her do this, what reason he had for finally "showing" himself. But she needed to hold on to this moment, to get as much out of it as possible. She moved her hand to find his nose, before moving it to the side of his face, trying to pry his helmet off. Just as she started to feel what seemed to be his hair, one of his hands grabbed her wrist.
Slowly moving her hand back down, the Phantom softly broke their silence. "Astrid." She heard him sigh. "Please, no."
The sound of her name sent a shiver across her spine. With considerable difficulty, she asked: "Why not?"
"Astrid, I –" the Phantom started, interrupting himself to take in another deep breath. "Astrid, I hate absolutely everything about Berk."
His words felt like a shard of ice flying straight into her heart. She took a step back, pulling herself from his grip. It made her regain her breath. She wasn't sure why that statement had that effect on her – she had always known that after all. It had been one of the few undeniable truths about the Phantom. "Of course you do. I mean, I know, I…"
She felt his hands land on her shoulders, closing the distance between them once more. She couldn't feel his body against hers, but she could feel the heat coming from him standing closer than he had before.
"You have to let me finish talking," he whispered, laughing slightly. "I hate absolutely everything about Berk. I hate its forests, its buildings, its mountains, its people."
She didn't really know how this was supposed to improve the situation, but she couldn't help but notice the sound of his voice sounding even closer by.
"I hate everything. I despise it." He paused. "Except for you." She could feel his hot breath on her face when he spoke those last words, leaving her skin tingling.
She didn't know what kind of declaration this was supposed to be, apart from the fact that it was one. Attempting to calm her heart down, she shot back: "That's not an answer to my question."
Her heart only sped up however as she felt air hitting her face as a result of him softly laughing. His breath hit her face again, close enough this time for little droplets to form on her skin from hot air hitting cold. He softly pressed his nose against her cheek, seemingly exploring her face, orienting himself in the dark until the left side of his nose was leaning against her own. She could feel his breath tingling on her lips. Then, his touched hers.
Her world felt as if it was being rapidly turned upside down. The kiss was as soft as his lips were, as sweet as his words had been, but also as fleeting as his presence usually was. Way too soon, he separated himself from her, leaving her hot and slightly trembling.
"This is wrong," she uttered. "We're enemies, I…"
She felt his gloved hand softly cup her cheek, his measured breaths still touching her face indicating how close he was. "But it feels right, doesn't it?" he asked, sounding as if he was looking for the answer himself as well.
"I don't even know what you look like," she stuttered.
"Yeah, lucky me," he whispered. "I've had quite enough time to take in how incredibly gorgeous you are."
A smile appeared on her face. Right then, her questions no longer mattered. The what, the who, the why. The only thing that still existed was them, him, his hand on her shoulder, his other hand on her cheek, his face so incredibly close. Her questions could wait. Berk could wait. Berk would have all winter to wait. This moment was just for them. For her.
Still unsure, but more decisive than she'd felt throughout the past months, she wrapped her hands around his neck. Slowly, she closed the distance between them that still remained, firmly pressing her lips against his.
It was slightly clumsy due to the fact that she couldn't see, but she couldn't describe what she felt as anything else than her insides slowly melting. Her heart felt as if it was going to beat out of her chest when he returned her gesture, locking his lips with hers. Her skin felt hot despite the cold and was tingling pleasantly. Once again, the Phantom had been right. This felt right.
She could hear him moan softly, setting her on edge as he moved his hands, softly crawling under her mantle and wrapping them around her waist. He gently pulled her closer until her body was pressed against his. She gasped, revelling in his warmth, which slowly enveloped her. He used that opportunity to deepen their kiss, softly and tenderly exploring her mouth with his tongue. Carefully, hers met his, sending their kiss, their physical connection, to a new level.
Sooner than she would've liked, they separated, both of them audibly panting. He leant his forehead, which was still covered by his helmet, against hers. It felt a little clunky, but she didn't mind. She didn't have the mental capacity to worry about anything right now. She was completely overwhelmed by whatever this was.
"Astrid, I…" the Phantom started, but she didn't want to know what he was going to say. There were so many questions she could ask him, so many she could ask herself, but she didn't want to break the spell, afraid it would ruin the moment.
She shook her head. "Don't talk," she told him, reaching up to touch his cheek once more.
Seemingly taken her advice, she felt his mouth crash into hers once more. It was rougher this time, more lustful, and it momentarily took her breath away. Kissing him back just as eager, she felt him slowly push her backwards until she hit the wall behind her, stabilising the two of them. He moved his hands from her waist to her hips, holding her in place and letting her catch her breath before kissing her once more.
She hadn't ever kissed anyone like this before, nor had she been kissed in this way. She'd always found the Phantom intriguing; as much as she hadn't wanted to admit it, that was undoubtedly part of the reason she could never resist going back to him. She had never liked, let alone loved, him in any way, and she still didn't. But she couldn't deny that from the first moment they'd spoken, no matter how angry she'd been, or how much she'd despised him, there'd always been something that had pulled her back to him. She didn't know what it was; it could be his stories, how much he knew about dragons, the way he talked and constantly challenged her. But whatever it was, she was now completely overwhelmed by it, unable to feel anything else but the desire to hold on. She was slowly drowning in what seemed to be either his lust or affection for her as they continuously kissed and embraced each other. She didn't care which of the two it was for him; right now, it did not matter.
Feeling herself heat up, her hands wandered his body – which she realised she liked – looking for something more real to hold onto. She didn't find more than his body armour, but it was soothing nevertheless. She could feel him do the same. One of the hands resting on her hips crept upwards, finding the point where her shirt was no longer neatly tucked into her skirt. His fingers found their way underneath it and she could feel his gloved hand gently touch her skin.
That's when she broke. "No," she whispered, tearing away from their kiss, putting her hands on his chest.
His hands were off her so fast she could've thought he'd burnt himself. She could feel him step backwards, the pressure of his tall and slender figure leaning into her disappearing. "I'm sorry, I got carried away, I…" The Phantom paused. She could imagine him biting down on his delicious lower lip. "I should probably go."
She shook her head, closing the distance between them once more. She couldn't go further, but she couldn't let him go just like this either. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and simply hugged him. "Please stay."
After a moment of hesitation, she felt his arms on her back once again, staying above her mantle this time. Whereas their kisses had been hot and passionate, this just felt… sweet. "I can't stay, Astrid."
"How about just for tonight?" she asked.
She could feel him take a deep breath. "I guess I could do that," he agreed. "The snow probably hasn't stopped yet anyways."
"So you can't see in the dark either?" she joked, sensing a somewhat lighter mood.
"I can find my way, but I'm still human."
She smiled softly. "I know."
They stood there for a while, simply embracing each other. One of his hands rested on the back of her head, seemingly trying to pull her even closer to him. She didn't mind.
"Thank you," she eventually said.
The Phantom laughed. "For what?"
"For showing yourself."
"This doesn't really fit my definition of showing, but if this makes you happy, I guess it'll do."
"Why did you do it though?" she asked. As many questions as she had, that one was the most important one on her mind right now.
"Because I wanted to," he simply whispered.
She smiled. "I'm starting to think you might not actually be that bad after all."
"Well that's a big lapse of judgement," he deadpanned.
She laughed in response. Then, softer: "I just wish you'd stop hiding."
"Maybe someday," was all he said.
"You could tell me what you look like," she tried.
"No."
"What about your name?"
"Also no."
She sighed. "You're not going to tell me anything else, are you?"
"Not right now, no."
She didn't know what to do with that. If not now, then when? When would she even see him again? Not that she should want to see him again…
"Will you come back?" she asked softly.
"Unless you manage to single-handedly create peace on Berk, I will be back when the dragons come back," he quipped. "Don't let that discourage you from trying though."
"That's a long time without Stormfly, though," she countered. That analogy had done the job before.
"Well, it simply can't be helped. Phantom's got to do what a Phantom's got to do," he joked.
"How about you tell me another story then? To make up for it," she teased, releasing him from her hold to make sure she got his attention.
He laughed. "You really love my stories, don't you?"
"I do." She'd grown fond of Stormfly, fond of his stories, and now, slowly…
Releasing her as well, he grabbed her wrist, slowly leading her to what she knew was the cell's wall before telling her to sit down. She felt him sit down next to her, his leg, wrapped in armour as well, finding its place against hers, both of them leaning back against the wall.
"Any particular kind of story, milady?" he teasingly asked her.
"Hmm," she thought for a moment. "Snoggletog's coming up soon. Do they celebrate that down in Europe?"
"No, Snoggletog is a Viking thing. However, they do know something called 'Christmas'…" he started, quickly falling back into his role as storyteller.
As he told his tales, she found herself leaning into him, which eventually earnt her an arm around her shoulder. He'd pulled his visor back down, but leant his head against the top of hers nevertheless. She was sure her hair would look like an absolute nightmare by the time morning came, but she didn't mind. He couldn't see her, after all. She wondered what his hair felt like…
Stormfly eventually joined them, putting her horn in Astrid's lap as she often did. Softly stroking the dragon's head, Astrid couldn't help but feel like, one way or another, this was the way things could always be. Even though she was with a man whose name she didn't know, whose face she had never seen, whose history she hardly knew, it felt nice. There was a connection here, as if the three of them had been together like this before. It was comfortable. Comfortable enough for sleepiness to slowly take a hold of her as the night progressed. She hadn't slept well for months, plagued by… well, pretty much everything. Now, however, she finally felt somewhat relaxed.
She woke up to the lights of the morning sun, in a cell that was emptier than it had ever been before. She was still sitting against the wall, but without anyone there to support her. Outside, the arena was covered in snow, a Nadder's footsteps clearly visible within it. But no human ones to match them. The Phantom was gone.
A/N: Aaaaah! Those were pretty much my feelings while writing this chapter. I've had this moment in my head for such a long time that it feels really satisfying to finally get around to writing it. It's been difficult, but I hope the result is somewhat pleasing.
What I would like your feedback on is whether the way Astrid goes along with it feels natural enough, given the circumstances. If not, I'll take some time to go back to either edit this chapter or to write another chapter to fit before this one. To me, it feels okay like this, but I've had these characters in my head for so long at this point that it's very possible that I've lost some sense of what is obvious to me vs. what is obvious to you as readers. Of course the next chapter will also contain some reflection on this chain of events, as Astrid has mostly just been very overwhelmed by the Phantom's unexpected move in this one.
Thank you for reading!