Whoop! Now we hit double-digits!
Note: I'm recommending the song "The Last Man" by Clint Mansell, a song in the movie The Fountain (which is completely fantastic and mind-bending with Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz; go watch it!) and though it should be a sad a song, I find it utterly beautiful, and listening to it toward the end the chapter really gives the feel I was looking for.
But, among that, this chapter is very important. Incredibly important, for I try my hardest to solidify Hiccup and Astrid's relationship, and from this, it leads to much more deep, intimate feelings and gives way for more understanding and trust. At least I truly hope so. I've tried so hard.
NOTE: Please go take the poll on my profile!
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Hands on Sunshine
Chapter Ten
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"Hey, Astrid, I want to talk to you," Auda said just as she closed the bedroom door behind her, catching Astrid in the middle of brushing her mane of hair for the day.
Astrid sighed. "Yes, dearest Auda?" she set the brush down on the low vanity she sat in front of, turning around on the stool to face her bed where Auda sat. Auda smiled a little and folded her hands above her knees, sitting straight as a rod, and Astrid raised her brows in curiosity. Being her sister, Astrid could tell she was piecing words together for something she wasn't quite sure how to say because she's seen her do it a multitude of times. Astrid folded her arms and waited, tapping her foot lightly and impatiently on the floor.
"Okay," Auda let out a huge sigh that seemed to make her deflate and slouch. "What's going on with you and Hiccup?" Astrid's brows shot up tremendously higher then furrowed them just as so. "Mom's starting to ask questions about courtship. You know we don't do that here."
"I know that," Astrid spat. "I know that courting here is looked down upon and so does Hiccup. We know that."
"I talked to him the other day," Auda said calmly, trying to create less waves in the ocean between them that was slowly starting to shrink. "He really does like you, Astrid. I can see it; in his face, the way he smiles when he talks about you. You know, we were walking in Dublin with hundreds of vendors everywhere, places where you can buy the most expensive and beautiful things or you can buy the cheapest shit around, but Hiccup picked out that necklace for you," she pointed to the necklace currently laying on Astrid's vanity. "Out of all those other things he could've got for you, he got you that. That's pretty special. He's special. And not in the bad way he used to be," Auda rolled her eyes and brought her hand to her forehead, laughing, and Astrid couldn't have blushed more. Astrid looked over to the blue-scaled necklace and reached out to touch the scales and smiled shyly.
"What I came here for, mostly, was to tell you to keep it quiet between you two. No public affections where gossip can spread like wildfire. Arnheim still needs to marry you to a husband, you're far old enough now. And you're lucky he's not looking for suitors because he's busy building new ship models," Auda said seriously.
"He's the chief's son. Nobody's better than him," Astrid offered passionately but Auda simply shrugged, not finding much light in her statement.
"You know how Arnheim is. And he doesn't much like the chief. They've had some tiffs in the past from what mom's talked about," Astrid nodded, pursing her lips. Auda exhaled quietly, kicking her feet along to floor to make her dress swish, gripping the edge of the bed. Then, with a mischievous curl of her mouth, she asked, "Have you guys done anything?"
Astrid had turned around to continue brushing her hair, and in the looking glass, she caught Auda's eye and bloomed scarlet. "Yes," she said simply, pulling the brush through her hair. She was not one to lie straight-faced. "Nothing to get me pregnant though," That word, pregnant, tasted so full on her tongue but so forbidden.
"Is he a good kisser?" Auda asked eagerly, coming off the bed to crouch behind her sister, taking her shoulders and setting her face next to Astrid's; two totally different face shapes but still clear they were sisters. Astrid bit her lip and smiled, remembering his mouth, nodding.
"Gods, yes," she blurted. "He sucked at first but I taught him and he's okay now. His big teeth sometimes get in the way," she giggled and Auda stood up, putting her hands on her hips, laughing at her sister.
"Well, hey, if you need to tell me anything or ask any questions, you should let me know. And, also, I can't keep mom and Arnheim from turning a blind eye forever, but until then, I'll keep cover for you until you're married," Auda smiled and winked, walking toward the door with her unintentional seductive swaying hips Astrid always envied but was too slim to pull off entirely, but she did try.
"Thank you," Astrid said genuinely, holding her brush to her chest from her spout of giggles. Auda left and closed the door quietly, leaving her love-struck sister to meander on her thoughts about Hiccup and his geeky little mouth.
Instead of going to Hallbera's to work on the dress she was damn near close to finishing, Ingrid begged her daughter to go to the market and buy some food they were desperately low on. Astrid reluctantly accepted and picked up the basket hanging on the kitchen counter with coins jingling in her pocket and left promptly to have as much time as possible at Hallbera's.
She made her way to the market in the village square, saying 'hello' to a few people she knew, and before she could be sweet-talked into buying the 'reddest tomatoes you'll ever see this side of the North Sea', or 'the juiciest lettuce around', she bought a few quick items and moved on. While sorting through a bin of apples to find the less bruised ones, she felt familiar fingers tickle one side of her hips.
"Well, fancy meeting you here," Hiccup said with a low, sly voice, his arm snaking further around her waist. Through the corner of her eye, she saw him grin, but remembering what Auda said earlier, she quickly bought a pound of apples and spun out of his grasp. Walking away and wondering what got over him, she was unable to fully hide her smile, somewhat to her frustration.
Hiccup quickly skittered after her, surprised. "Why are you walking away?" he saw her faint smile so he spoke in her ear confidently, touching her neck gently with his fingers.
Astrid laughed but quickly stifled it, shrugging his hand away from her. "Because we're in public," she could feel herself blush further realizing she just wanted to make out with him right now and tackle him to the ground. Screw groceries, screw breathing, screw this courting bullshit.
"So? That's never stopped you before," he spoke next to her, and even though she tried not looking at him because she didn't want him to see her blush to make him push further, but, alas, she did, and jumped when she saw him already staring her dead in the eye.
"Stop," she said under a laugh, buying two heads of cabbage without inspecting them for bugs or too many wilted leaves. Quickly walking away, Hiccup still pursued her through the throngs of people, and he used them as a cover to bring his mouth closer to her ear.
He whispered, "Stop what?" walking closely behind her, at least until she grabbed his free hand and yanked him down an alley.
"We can't do this kind of stuff in public, Hiccup," she said in a harsh whisper over her shoulder, holding the basket on her hip, her hair flying behind her.
"Why not?" he stupidly asked and followed after her as she tugged him along.
Astrid set her basket mostly full of food on a pile of stacked crates somewhere near the middle of the long alley. "Because of gossip," She took him by his dark green tunic that made his eyes look stunning and pulled him to her as she backed up against a wall surrounded by crates and hungrily kissed him. Hiccup took her invitation quite well, raking his fingers through her hair and pressing her against the wall from a block of stalls.
"Who cares—about gossip?" Hiccup said in between fast and eager kisses.
"My mother, for one," Astrid said while Hiccup lowered his head to kiss and suck her neck where her hair could hide it. "Ooh," she gasped quietly when he reached a good tender place. "Me," she wove her fingers in his hair, playing with the ends by the nape of his neck and the small wispy trails that led down to his back, and from there, she hooked her arms around him and kneaded her palms into his shoulder blades. "And my father. He won't like—gossip about—you and… me," she trailed off with a quiet sigh and then her voice was gone completely when he kissed her full on the mouth.
After a couple good minutes of frantic fondling and grasping and biting lips, Astrid pushed Hiccup off and fixed her skewed headband. "I need to buy groceries. If I'm not back in ten minutes my mom will start looking for me," she said with hints of disappointment and allowed one more kiss from Hiccup.
"But, tell me, why are you so concerned about this gossip stuff all of a sudden?" Hiccup asked as they walked out of the alley together like nothing happened, discretely looking side to side. This time he kept his distance casual though it hurt him, his hands to his sides. His hair did look a bit deliciously rumpled, so Astrid reached a hand up and fixed it for him quickly.
"Auda came and talked to me today. She said my mom was starting to ask questions about you and me, and said to keep the 'public affections' to ourselves, pretty much. And she just pointed out to me that I'm not married and you're not on my father's suitor list," Astrid said with harsh bluntness, and hearing it in words only made her previous good mood go sour, and made her stomach drop about ten feet into the ground.
"Oh," Hiccup looked to the dirt road, feeling the same dread Astrid felt. "But that doesn't mean I won't be able to get on his list."
Astrid unhelpfully shrugged. "He doesn't like the chief, though, so…," she let the sentence finish itself in their heads and sinking hearts, unable to fully speak the words. "I don't know. I don't really want to talk or think about it right now. I can try and bring it up with my mom but—I don't know. Ugh. I can see what Auda thinks," Astrid groaned and bought a pound of potatoes and settled it into her basket, heaving it onto her hip, but Hiccup took it from her before she could start walking. "Thank you," she sighed, looking quite troubled.
"Of course," Hiccup smiled reassuringly at her. "It's alright, Astrid. Everything will be okay. It's only the beginning of summer, there's no rush at all," He so wanted to reach out to her and pull her to him with his one arm that was not occupied and hug her and wipe that distraught look of her lovely, sun-lit face. Worrying did not become her very well.
Astrid bit her lip and nodded, starting on the road home. After a bit of walking, she asked, "So how come you're not at the forge today?"
Hiccup grinned. "I didn't feel like working."
"Lazy," she elbowed his side. "Well, I have to go to Hallbera's, so you better find something to do until I get back."
"I can go for a flight with Toothless. He'll like that," Hiccup said, almost absentmindedly, then raised a quirky, thick brow and smirked. "Are you making plans with me?"
"Kind of. Somewhat undeveloped, though," Astrid smiled like nothing was out of the ordinary, but her eyes still showed she was brooding.
"Okay, then," Hiccup looked upwards in thought, trying to think of an idea that would make her happier. "Come by tonight after Hallbera's."
"Plans finished?" she beamed at him, and Hiccup wanted to cheer knowing he was getting to her.
He scrunched up his face a little bit. "Somewhat undeveloped still, but they're in the ideas stage."
"Because you've got great ideas," Astrid said sarcastically and tilted her head in his direction teasingly.
"Hey, I've got awesome ideas. So far, the only ones you've come up with have been personal harassment," Astrid swiftly punched him in the arm, making him nearly drop the basket. "That was a terrible idea," he laughed and 'oomph'd!" when she punched him again. "They're getting worse by the second," The next punch she threw Hiccup ran from, racing down the road, holding the basket against his chest. "This is best idea I've got so far: running from you!"
"You'll regret that, smartass!" Astrid ran after him back to her house.
"Ohoho!" Hiccup laughed and ran down the street to the Hoffersons, and though it looked almost much the same as every other house, he could find hers because of the big bear head hanging at the apex of the house just above Astrid's window. When dragons were enemies, it was common to use dragon heads, but now with the new alliance, the figureheads were changed to ferocious animals to ward off evil spirits. As everyone changed their houses, Stoick refused to alter the historic chief's house with the Nightmare head, old and mossy but still grand up on the hill to look over the village.
Just as Hiccup was about to sprint up the few steps of her front porch, Ingrid stepped out of the door. He stopped dead at the foot of the steps, looking as if he was caught red-handed and shameful even though she greeted him with a big gentle smile. Astrid stopped next to him, and when her mother's grey eyes fell on her, instead of looking warm, they looked sharp and scolding.
"Hello, Mrs. Hofferson," Hiccup said and offered an awkward smile and an acknowledging nod.
"Hello, Hiccup," she said kindly. "Oh, how nice of you to help carry the groceries home. Thank you," she said and held out her arms to take the basket, going down one step of the three, and Hiccup handed the basket over carefully like a bundled up child, muttering a quiet 'you're welcome'. "Go to Hallbera's now, Astrid. Come home early so you can help make supper," Ingrid said to her daughter sternly, and without another word, Astrid turned on her heel and walked briskly away. Hiccup went after her with a start after nodding a goodbye to her mother, a bit surprised at the brief but tense interaction.
"Hey, is your mom okay?" he asked, hardly having to walk as fast as her because of his longer legs.
"She's fine," Astrid replied shortly but Hiccup found no malice in her voice. He looked up, figuring this was just one of her weird antics and thought it better to leave it alone, noticing the bellies of a few Terrors and Zipplebacks flying overhead. One of the people waved at him below, so he smiled and raised a hand from his pocket as they veered left and flew away. He would join them soon, and he felt a growing sense of anticipation climb higher in his stomach that he almost forgot he was walking Astrid to the square, and that she was talking to him. "Are you listening?" she raised her voice, looking at him hard.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, totally," He shrugged and put on a too-straight face, his brows too high, his mouth too straight, looking her too hard in the eye.
"You're so full of shit," she sighed and elbowed him hard and he winced. "You didn't hear a word I said, did you?"
"I heard the part about your mom being fine, then… yeah. I'm sorry," he threw off his straight face and looked apologetic, resembling awfully close to a spurned puppy. Astrid simply rolled her eyes and scoffed. He's so pathetic, she thought, crossing her arms.
"Forget about it. It wasn't that big of a deal anyway," she said, looking right up ahead like a pointer. Hiccup had a fleeting temptation to wrap an arm around her shoulders because she stepped about two feet away from him while they were walking down the road like she was mad at him, and he didn't even notice until now. That's what I get for not listening, he sighed, remembering what 'public affections' would do to the crap situation they suddenly found themselves in.
"What was it?" Hiccup asked calmly, sidestepping a muddy puddle.
Astrid didn't want to repeat herself, but his voice was smooth and calming, so she found herself talking anyway. "My mom was just ticked that I came home later than she expected me to. And she wasn't mad at you, if you happened to be thinking that. She likes you."
Hiccup raised his brows in a bit of pleasant surprise. "How do you know?"
Astrid shrugged one shoulder. "I remember how she used to say how bad she felt for you, how sometimes she wanted to smack the chief," she laughed a little, leaving Hiccup more baffled with her words. "But you can't tell me you haven't noticed how nice she is to you. Did you see that just now? She smiled at you, then when she looked at me, it was as if Hel and Loki possessed her."
Hiccup felt quite touched that Astrid's own mother would say such things. "No, I haven't noticed," he said quietly, watching his foot and prosthetic pass below him as he walked.
"Of course you haven't. You're still not used to people's kindness," Astrid said, but her words fell on deaf ears as he thought about Ingrid Hofferson. All those years ago, she really felt bad for him? Every time he humiliated himself in the entire village, Ingrid felt bad for him? One of the only people? It felt like Thor himself hit him with his hammer from Asgard; he was bewildered. The Hofferson women were beautiful and so scary, he would never have thought Ingrid felt bad for a boy as tiny as he was, just another screw-up like every other villager thought. He felt oddly… comforted.
"Hello?" Astrid said to him, waving a hand in front of his face.
"Hi," Hiccup said with a smile, stopping with Astrid in front of Hallbera's, clothes waving out of the stall, blowing with the gentle breeze.
"I gotta go now," Astrid said as she took a step backward, biting her lip cutely.
"Okay. I'll see you later?"
"Yeah. Bye," she spoke a bit quietly, disappearing behind all the colors enticing shoppers inside, swallowing her up whole before he even had a chance to say goodbye, until later when it would be a hello. He still kept his smile, and found a new respect for Ingrid Hofferson he couldn't find for any other person.
He walked home with a sprightly bounce in his step, finding every small burst of sea breeze a blessing on this hot hot hot day. He opened all the windows after greeting Toothless and chatted with him for awhile, eating some bread and freshly bought fruit from shipments from England and the mainland. Yesterday, he spoke with a merchant and he told him that he was shipping in some fruits called grapes within the next few days, so naturally, Hiccup told Toothless. After a good while talking, Hiccup saddled Toothless up and strapped on his tack and stringed the wires and slid on his own vest and they went out for a long flight. Tuffnut and Ruffnut raced him a few times, but of course Hiccup and Toothless won. He showed off a bit for some of the littler kids but avoided their mobs and flocking and went barreling over the ocean and zipped down cliff sides, swerved between sky-high pines and firs, and when dusk fell and thoughts came back to Astrid, both rider and dragon flew home for supper. Toothless inhaled two baskets of fish and Hiccup did much the same with the cupboard, opening at least every jar and swiping a finger in or plucking out a morsel. He drank half a pint of milk and ale mixture and sat down on his dad's big chair and almost fell asleep until there was a loud knock on the door.
"Hold on," Hiccup said after a jumping start, yawning groggily and standing up with a few pops in his back. He dragged his feet to the door, trying to lift the veil of sleep off his eyes, but Toothless hardly paid attention to the door and he, in fact, snuggled deeper into the rug.
Hiccup pulled the door open, a little irked somebody would knock just as he was getting comfy, and came to face Astrid. "Oh, right!" he shouted just as he saw her, making her jump, and he slapped his hands over his face as she laughed. "Come in, come in," he extended a muscular, lanky arm and bowed, gesturing her inside.
"Okay…," Astrid walked past him into his huge house. She raised her face to the high ceiling slashed with fat beams and withered designs, taken aback with the vastness of it. The ceiling was so high on one side of the house (the other being the upper floor) she couldn't see the ceiling completely even though the room was lit with hanging torches and a big center fire to ward off the night chill. The swords and shields hanging on the walls were old and rusted, the huge bear pelts hanging off chairs and benches were dusty, and even the walls and floors themselves seemed old with age.
Hiccup watched her as she looked around the chief's house, passed on through the Haddock line for four generations, though it was built the day Berk was founded seven generations ago. He lived here, but it didn't feel like his house, just a place where he and his father were supposed to live where so many others had before. There were two rooms upstairs and four downstairs, though the four were small and used for storage now and Hiccup couldn't imagine having this house full with so many people. The most he remembered living here at once was four; he, his father, mother and grandfather, but his grandpa died when he was young so he never really knew him. But now, it was only two people and one dragon, considerably depleted than when he was eight.
But, watching Astrid touch the rugs with her skinny bare feet sprinkled with pale dust from the roads, and her fingers graze the fuzzy bear pelts, this house seemed a little more filled.
"I've never seen a house this big," Astrid said with a slight laugh, but she looked entirely comfortable in this new setting.
Hiccup smiled and reached up to tap a hanging lamp of sheep's lard, the wick burning to light most of the room. "It used to get empty sometimes, but now Toothless is here, it doesn't feel like it anymore," he grinned at his dragon friend who shook his head against his paw and twitched an ear plate, as if saying, 'you suck up'.
"Where's the chief?" Astrid asked, picking up a decorative longship on a side table, the sides lined with red and white shields and equipped with a snarling curved dragon head.
"Off on business in the mainland. Doing business stuff with some lords or something. He goes every summer for a few weeks," Hiccup replied casually, walking over to the counter to pick up a particularly juicy-looking pear, only to toss it over to Astrid, who immediately sank her teeth into it. "It looks like supper wasn't good, then?" he said with a smile, but Astrid grimaced and shook her head as she chewed.
"No, it was my dad. Biggest Asshole this side of Midgard," she replied after swallowing, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and walking over to stand across Hiccup.
"What happened?" he asked, biting into a crisp apple and furrowing his brows.
Astrid rolled her eyes, chewing on another bite. "Nothing's ever good enough for him. Seriously, the supper was awesome, but all he could do was bitch and moan about it and everything else going on in his terrible, miserable, disgusting, unfulfilling, horrible life. I swear, he's such a child. All he could talk about were the people at work today, and he even brought up Mr. Ingerman. You know how he's the fisherman for most of the village, right? And how he's really good at it? Yeah, well, he bitched and complained about him," Hiccup made a tremendously disapproving scowl, extremely unbefitting of him. "He said that he wasn't doing enough because he was a couple nets short from normal today. I mean, seriously? We haven't seen 'Legs in forever because he's out with his dad pulling nets in all day, every day for the past couple of weeks. My mom is friends with Valka Ingerman and she says she can't make enough baskets in time to store all the fish they're catching so they've had to use cheesecloth from the farmer's wives—Ruff and Tuff's mom included—to make fucking bags to store fish in. Do you know how much cheesecloth that is?"
"A lot," Hiccup replied.
"Yeah! And my dad has the audacity to complain they're not catching enough because the dragons eat all of it! They do not!" she threw her arm up in the air that wasn't holding her half-eaten pear, bites taken out of it during her tirade. "Okay, he even called Brandan out today. Brandan's a pretty good hunter and archer, and he started telling him 'better' ways to hunt. Seriously? He doesn't have any business getting into Brandan's business! And—ugh!"
Hiccup chuckled deeply though he sympathized with her, throwing his apple core to Toothless before he started to talk. "You need to relax," he reached out a hand to cup her shoulder as an attempt to relax her.
"I know!" she burst, turning away from his hand to pace back and forth. "I know, thank you. I told this to Spike already and she knows, but the fucking idiot tells me I need to go and throw my axe because I'll get 'sloppy' soon, and I so know that, but I don't need to hear it from him! I'm soo glad he's going to see his son on Meathead Island in a few days. We'll finally be rid of him for a good week. But, my mom said she'll go to see my sister because she's going to give birth really soon, and he—reluctantly—said she could come, so that leaves us in the clear," she calmed down toward the end, slowing down on her pacing. She sighed and raised a hand to her forehead, looking a Hiccup with a silent 'thank you' in her eyes and all her energy seemed to seep out of her.
Hiccup laughed when she hunched with exaggeration, walking over to the nearest window, seeing it was completely dark out now but most of the lodges down the hill still had candles lit in the windows. He looked over his shoulder and saw her looking at him and he grinned. "Plans are ready to commence," he said with humor in his voice, striding through the kitchen where he roused Toothless with a promise of extra fish tomorrow, already in his riding tack. Hiccup picked up his vest where he tossed it over the back of a chair and slipped it over his head as Astrid watched him, a bright and gentle smile growing on her face.
"Come on, buddy," Hiccup said excitedly to Toothless and opened the door for him, then stretched out a hand to Astrid and she jumped to grab it. Hiccup led Astrid outside to the front threshold and he swung a leg over Toothless' thick neck and Astrid hopped on after him, holding him tight around the torso and pressing her knees into his thighs. "Ready?" he asked quietly over his shoulder and Astrid nodded into his tunic then buried her face in it, squeezing her eyes shut and grinning. They took off with such force Astrid was unused to, but she let out a squeal of delight when they ascended into the clear starry sky, and Hiccup couldn't help but smile.
Astrid pulled her face away from Hiccup's back after the first straight climb and watched the village disappear into the sea and forest below them, the lit windows looking like a mirrored sky. It was a moonless night so all the stars were out to say hello and some were so gathered it looked like a path led through the sky. Astrid was so mesmerized by the stars she leaned back so far to see all of them that she almost fell backwards and off Toothless. The dragon gave a little start and a scolding huff and Astrid only giggled, giving him a pat of apology, swinging her legs, pulling off her fillet and tucking it into her pocket to let the wind pull her hair free. Toothless banked right slowly, pulling them along the vast emptiness and beauty of the sea.
"Oh my Gods," Astrid gasped into Hiccup's ear, her eyes widening.
"It's so beautiful," Hiccup finished for her, his voice barely above a whisper. The sky looked like a dome with a black blanket thrown on top, dotted with thousands of tiny holes to let the blinding light of Asgard barely through, so magical and enchanting it really felt surreal. Flying made it seem like there was absolutely nothing below them but like they were soaring in an ocean of stars and the blackest night, reflected among the surprisingly calm waters, and sharing it together could not make neither Hiccup nor Astrid wish any better. It was perfect and amazing, just like Astrid's first flight where she touched the clouds themselves, and now it seemed she could pluck a star from the sky and hold it in her hand like a piece of the whitest silver. There was absolutely nothing better than this.
Astrid rested her chin on Hiccup's shoulder and looked up to the endless sky, feeling too small to be one the greatest female warriors on Berk. She pulled herself close to Hiccup and felt his heart thrum through his back and felt his life, how his shoulder blades shifted when he slightly leaned to veer left or right, and with that, she felt his back and chest expand as he breathed. His hair tickled her cheek, scented from pines and wood, and she breathed him in as naturally as the gods would have it, and all at once, she realized this was Hiccup and he had her heart, as silly as it sounded to her. With widening eyes, she felt unknown warmth spread through her and she felt so content and happy like nothing seemed wrong and everything seemed right, despite the suitor situation. He held her heart as carefully and as delicately as he held her hand, but held it close and cherished it and now she only realized she gave it to him, and strangely, she felt alright. She didn't feel troubled or worried or anxious. She trusted him and he understood her, and she felt at peace with him like she had never felt it before.
"Am I your girlfriend?" she asked quietly, her fleeting breath tickling the sensitive backside of his ear where wind did not pass, her eyes forever scrolling the endless sky.
Hiccup smiled and felt his heart beat faster and he knew she could tell, but he didn't mind. His emerald eyes scanned the scarce difference between sky and sea and he exhaled softly, taking his time in answering. "If you will be with me, then yes."
"I'll be with you. Always," she said against his neck, and despite her will, she smiled against his warm skin when his hand came up to cover hers above his heart.
They flew around the island for a while longer, marveling at the pure effortless beauty that folded around them. Up on the mountain, Hiccup found a clearing on a wide cliff ledge to give them the perfect front row seats to the ocean without the village in sight. Toothless found a soft and inviting patch of grass to curl up on to leave the two alone, and Hiccup led Astrid by the hand near the cliff's edge but far enough away to be comfortable and safe. They laid down side by side, still holding hands loosely in between them, and looked up in wonder like so many others had before in the past at the same changing sky.
"Do you see that?" Hiccup raised his free hand and pointed to the sky. "It's the constellation Dvalin the deer," he lowered his hand to rest on his stomach, but Astrid had no idea what he was speaking of.
"Where?" she furrowed her brows in concentration when he raised his arm again, tilting his head in to be closer to hers to get her perspective and show her. "Uh, okay, still don't see it, but you do, so I guess it must be there," They laughed and Hiccup pointed out another constellation.
"There's Friggerock, the staff of Frig… or somebody's."
Astrid laughed and nudged him with her elbow. "Isn't it Odin's?" Hiccup made an 'I don't know' noise and they laughed again. "Gothi's going to kill us if she finds out we don't know who Friggerock belongs to."
"Ohh—there's Nidhogg at Yggdrasil's roots… and there's Ratatosk at the top of the branches, being all squirrelly," they laughed loudly, looking at each other in their humor. "And there's Andvandil's Toe. Love it."
"How do you know these? I mean, I know you know the lore, but the constellations?" Astrid asked after her bout of laughing, her thumb running absentmindedly over his knuckles.
"Elder Gothi let me borrow her books until I stopped giving them back because I kept forgetting," he chuckled. "I'm surprised I still remember these. The sky hasn't been this clear in a long time," he smiled even when his voice trailed off, then his thoughts came back to what he couldn't stop thinking about. "I feel like you've been my girlfriend for longer than tonight," he said slowly and rolled his head over to look at her profile just barely illuminated by the millions of stars, and he realized he will never get over how beautiful she was; even fifty years from now, she would still have the ability to take his breath away.
Without looking at him, but knowing he was looking at her, she became more confident of her answer. "I feel like it, too. It's just now spoken, is all," Hiccup admired her steadiness and how she never let her voice waver—most of the time. She smiled lightly and squeezed his hand and looked over at him, their noses only a few inches apart.
He wanted to say 'I love you', but he didn't and instead transferred it into his kiss and held it true to his heart to save, kissing her slow but delicate, giving her his best. Astrid kissed him back, silently trying to give him her feelings, but he seemed to understand like he always did, and then his opposite hand cupped her cheek, his fingers tracing down her neck where her tendon was taught with turning her head. His finger tips slid across her exposed collarbone over her shoulder, then over the slight hill of her breast, down her side, and then slowly between her sharp hips. Astrid broke away briefly when she felt the slowly thrumming pain between her legs crescendo when his fingers got remotely close, gasping, and Hiccup more than understood her; he felt it, too.
Quickly and easily, Hiccup rolled on top of Astrid and let go of her hand to hold her face and kiss her hard and passionately deep while she tugged at his belt. He unbuckled it and threw the belt aside, still keeping his mouth in contact with hers until she pulled his shirt off with his help. Hiccup sank his mouth to the curve of her jaw as she reveled at the ridges of his back and the dips and rises of his ribs, even to the slight definition of abs he possessed, but to her it was enough, twirling her fingers in the soft trail of reddy-brown hair around his navel that fell below the rim of his trousers. She remembered what she thought and felt at the bay when she picked up that shell, and how it was pointless in her efforts to get near him because she couldn't be closer now.
She unbuckled her own belt and tugged off her dress as Hiccup slid his hands on her skin all the way up her shoulders until she was shivering for more contact of his body. Hiccup slipped the dress over her head and untied the bind that covered her breasts while she raised her back for him, blushing that he was about to see her completely even though he has before, panting with loss of breath. Once he unwound the five foot long strip of white cloth his hand cupped her small breasts just big enough to fit his palms perfectly, just about the size of apples. He kneaded her gently but just enough for Astrid to moan into his ear, knowing she could be unrestricted in her volume when he pinched her nipples and rolled them just so with his thumbs so she could moan with lazy smiles and to be taken by Hiccup's mouth again.
Remembering again her wild thoughts at the bay, how she wanted him so intimately she thought about it all night in her craziest dreams, she felt a sharp pull behind her navel and was ready to throw all caution to the wind. She pulled at his pant strings while tenderly kissing the long and straight scar beneath his collarbone, and it took Hiccup a second to realize what she was doing. His hands flew to hers to take and pull away, his mouth detaching from her neck to sit up slightly to look at her face. His eyes looked solemn but livid and wild at the same time, knowing exactly how she felt for he's felt it for years.
"Please," Astrid whispered in a hoarse voice, her brows knitted together, looking him imploringly in the eyes. "I want you so bad, Hiccup."
Oh, just hearing those words made him throb so uncomfortably for release and made him want to not give a single fuck and have her already but he couldn't risk it now, for her sake. In halting breaths, he replied in a shaky voice full of desire, "I know, I know, me too, but we can't. We can't," He avoided looking at her in the eye for in fear he might give in.
Astrid groaned and Hiccup just almost let her hands go to do what she wanted with him. "I want you. Oh, Gods, please," her fingers just grazed his hardness pressing against the linen of his trousers and her leg, and only wanted it out.
"We can't. We can't risk it, Astrid, you know that," she touched him again and this time he let her cup him and he felt like he could collapse. "Ohh, I ache. I so wish."
"Please, Hiccup," she said once more, kissing him as if to entice him, but he moaned a 'no' into her mouth.
"Let me. I'll take care of you," he pushed her back down to the soft earth and held her hands above her head, kissing her lovingly as she was the only woman he could ever love, hoping he could do the best he could to relieve her instead of himself. He slid a hand down her damp body to the meeting of her legs, pulling off her underwear and immediately going back to his task, rubbing her wet folds in slow circles that made Astrid swivel her hips and curl her toes, arching into his broad chest and holding him close. She let out delicious moans and sighs that made Hiccup want her more than anything he had ever felt, sending him, reluctantly, up his own peak.
Finding him biting his lip every time her thigh rubbed against his hardness, Astrid slid a hand down the front of his pants and his face instantly relaxed but his hand never stopped moving on her. Blindly, she pulled his pants a bit looser just so it was enough for him to be comfortable, her hand squeezing and stroking him. Hiccup pumped two fingers in deep enough to his knuckle and curled his fingers, and with each pump, her hips swiveled a little more and she kept it in time to what she was doing on him, so he bucked his own hips along with hers.
It wasn't long before they found each other climbing the same peak, and finding free hands, their fingers entwined and held on tightly with white knuckles as they came to their climax together. In Astrid's hazy, lights-popping mind, she managed to pull Hiccup out of his pants just in time for him to spit into the grass next to her hip with a loud accompanying groan into her shoulder, and then let him go to nearly scream to the starry sky as her fluids splashed onto his hand.
Hiccup's elbows rested in the grass near her head with his sweat-dripping nose touching hers, panting together wildly like they had just ran a thousand miles, staring into each others eyes though it was hard to see. Hiccup rested his forehead on hers, taking a second to catch his breath before kissing her tenderly, his hand smoothing her sweaty hair from her forehead. Astrid tucked him back inside his pants and teasingly and tiredly, traced her fingers around the rim of pants to the two small dimples at the base of his spine like thumb prints in dough, sweat dripping down his back. She rubbed her fingers in his hair as he rested his body along hers, nuzzling his nose into her neck and exhaling softly to give her shivers.
Astrid listened to the wind shake the pine boughs and the long grass along the edge of the forest as Hiccup fell asleep in the crook of her neck and shoulder, his arms loosening around her waist as he fell deeper into sleep. She thought about the changing sky and the millions of stars, and thought about how different she may have been when this same sky was displayed. She didn't realize what a different person she became until tonight, but it was not a bad change by any means. She felt older, more responsible, more mature, and no problem seemed so simple anymore.
She felt like she grew up since the days of the Kill Ring where being best was all that mattered and everything else seemed like a waste of time or was too childish or girly. Of course she still wanted to be the best at her axe or a seamstress or at anything, but it didn't seem to be all-consuming anymore now that more important problems were taking bigger parts in her life. Like Hiccup. She believed he would never be worth it, never amount to anything, never reach her standards, never this, never that, but he proved he could. He more than could, he did it. He became the biggest part of her that she never had, never believed she thought was missing, and a life without him would be no life at all. She couldn't imagine living her life without Hiccup in it, whether a lover or a friend. He changed her in ways she didn't think she could or was capable of, and helped her feel things she never felt. She felt empowered with him. She felt like a better person. She was kinder, more understanding, and took a lot more things lightly, and she laughed more. Gods, she had never laughed so much in her life since Hiccup. She was so serious even as a child. She simply just saw everything in a better light, even though she could still be serious sometimes. She just couldn't believe that this big, stupid, sleeping idiot was what she needed.
Astrid thought all throughout the night until the black sky lightened and she could see reds and pinks and oranges being to streak across the sky. Hiccup kept her naked body warm because she didn't dare move in fear she wake him, at least until he awoke with heavy eyes and demanded she put her dress back on lest she catch a cold. She smiled and did so, and together they watched the sun rise, flying over the ocean bathing in the warm light. Hiccup landed Toothless quietly on the roof above her porch, and she patted Toothless goodbye before climbing in her window. She leaned over the sill and kissed Hiccup goodbye, letting her lips linger purposefully on his mouth so he would remember her kiss for the rest of the day.
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Do you see what's going on? Do you see feelings developing? If not, I will explain and/or work on the next chapters to make it seem so, because by now, I need it to happen. I have wild plans that I need to have THIS be developed to move on. Please don't be afraid to ask any questions! I think I'm pretty nice; seriously, I won't be mean because you don't understand something, but I think it's pretty straight forward.
Well, shit, I definitely give props to Hiccup for being the responsible one, lmfao. See, he is a good boy, a horny one, but he is good :) hahaha.
NOTE #2: This is Wednesday and I have not gotten chapter 11 typed up yet because, 1) School started and for me it's the ULTIMATE ENEMY in killing my sick writing flow. NO INSPIRATION, 2) I've been sick as fuhh these last couple of days so I've been a lazy bastard and I haven't wanted to type it up. So in forewarning, I can't guarantee that I will update on time NEXT Thursday (two days before my birthday WHOO). So just a heads up, don't flame me or nuttin'.