Village festival time, lots of drinking, so you're warned. But it's really funny. drunk!Ruffnut makes another appearance, lmfao.
I'm so glad I got this typed up, amigaaad. It's been so long! It feels so awesome to get back to writing and such again, but I still have schoolwork in between )': It won't be like summer for a looong time for me. Glad I got my college apps in, though, holy moley. Phew!
Enjoy the new chapter, my lovelies.
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Hands on Sunshine
Chapter 13
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All day long, starting at first light, volunteers helped set up the festival decorations outside where it would be held in a grass field just a bit away from the center of the village. Poles were thrust in the ground with baskets of beautiful flowers and strung together with oil lamps, creating a lovely summer-themed site for the summer festivities. Tables and benches were brought from the Hall into the field and fifty barrels of mead, wine and beer were rolled from the cellars along with crates of goblets and mugs and tankards and plates and knives. The smell of delicious mutton, pig, chicken, turkey, beef and the freshest fish wafted throughout the entire village all day from the kitchens of the Hall, and everyone's mouths watered with hungry and eager smiles at the upcoming celebration of the summer solstice, the longest day of the year.
From her home on the farther end of the lower village, Astrid could smell the faint essence of rosemary the cooks were so great at using on chicken, and her stomach rumbled from her scrubbing position on the floor. Auda on the other side of the kitchen laughed, and not soon after, her stomach rumbled too. The two sisters decided to take a quick snack break.
Noticing how little Auda ate of her once slice of bread, Astrid asked, "You didn't eat much, but aren't you hungry?" Meanwhile, Astrid was cutting up her fourth slice of bread and a bit of apple and honey.
"I'm afraid I'll throw it up," Auda said in a disappointed tone though it was obvious she was a bit frustrated. "I've thrown up these past four fucking mornings."
Astrid raised her brows at her choice of words. "Damn."
"Yeah. Brandan thinks I'm dying, for Frigg's sakes. Gods, he can be so dumb," Auda rolled her eyes and huffed out a scoff. "I keep telling him it's normal for some pregnant women and every morning he says, 'Auda, yeh gotta go see the healer!'," she said perfectly in his accent. "and every morning I want to smack him."
Astrid chuckled with a tightly closed mouth after shoving the rest of her food in. "Feems er edding vywent."
"Shut up!"
Astrid laughed some more after swallowing and tiptoed her way across the shining wooden floors to where she left her rag to continue scrubbing. "Tomorrow morning you'll be bawling because he didn't tell you to go to the healer," The next thing Astrid knew, she had a soapy and wet rag right to her face.
Hiccup, on the other hand, was sitting in Mead Hall at the big center table around the dead fire on one of the few chairs left next to Snotlout. Stoick insisted one last meeting before the festival, though most of the council were either drooling at the smell of food or were falling asleep in the warmth, uncharacteristic of the Hall because it was situated in the mountain side. The cooks had been cooking since nearly dawn and the doors were wide open to let the hot summer air in, not helping the matter. Hiccup had drifted off in his thoughts on more than one occasion, gazing off to a carved pillar for a couple of minutes before someone sneezed or coughed or a louder voice spoke up. Snotlout next to him switched between resting his chin in his palm and attempting to sleep or balancing on the back two legs of his chair.
Thinking about some designs for Astrid's saddle he was still working on, Snotlout sat forward and stuck his head close to Hiccup, catching him off-guard. "Hey, Hiccup," Snotlout whispered quietly, trying to look casual, but as always, he looked quite obvious.
"What?" Hiccup replied, looking around to see if anybody had noticed anything.
"You're going out with Astrid, right?" he asked, his big blue eyes urging and intent, a crooked and wicked smile on his face. Hiccup saw he was missing a tooth in almost the same exact spot as his was missing. Hm. Characteristic.
"Uh… yeah," he didn't really want to answer because 'gossip' was a 'bad' thing, and he knew it too, but he figured the only person Snotlout would tell would be Tuffnut or Fishlegs, and he was sure both occupied men would care less. They had their own women to worry about. But, Tuffnut does have a big mouth… Oh, shit, Hiccup thought, if it gets to Astrid that I told Snotlout….
"Have you banged her yet?" he bit his lip excitedly, his fingers drumming on the ledge of the table.
Hiccup furrowed his brows and his lip rose in a corner, completely confused. "What?"
"Have you banged her yet?" Snotlout asked again, but when Hiccup still looked lost, he rolled his eyes and made a circle with his left hand and repeatedly poked his right index finger into the open hole, looking at Hiccup expectantly.
When he understood, Hiccup blushed and shook his head furiously, looking almost offended. "No! Of course not! It's too risky," he said in a harsh whisper at first until he saw somebody look their way, then toned his voice down and lead back casually in his chair.
"So? There are ways to get around that," Snotlout said calmly, swirling his thick finger on a wood pattern.
"Like what?" Hiccup asked disbelievingly.
Snotlout made an 'I don't know' noise, shrugging. "I let Agnes worry about that. She mentioned something about a tea from the healer or something. I don't know. I don't really care. Have you done anything else?"
Hiccup chewed his lip and chose to ignore his last prying question and asked, "Isn't Agnes engaged to Bjørnstaud or something?"
Snotlout looked forward and something fell out of him Hiccup couldn't quite place, something he had never seen before in his cousin. Loss? Disappointment? Hiccup realized he said the wrong thing when Snotlout looked down to the table and didn't say a word. "Sorry," Hiccup offered, but Snotlout just shrugged.
"Doesn't matter. It was only a week anyway," he said in a hard voice, keeping his eyes forward. Hiccup looked to the table and listened, trying to get back on track of where the conversation between the Hall was going before Snotlout whispered again. "There's going to be a bunch of girls getting drunk tonight though, so I've got my game set," he raised a victory fist to his shoulder with a confident and cocky smile on his face that Hiccup felt more comfortable with. He smiled back and listened to what his father was saying.
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"No, Astrid, you're wearing that necklace whether it matches or not. You'll take Hiccup's breath away," Auda said, effectively cutting her sister off from further rebuttals, taking the Spooknoose scale necklace off Astrid's vanity and hooking it around her neck.
"But its blue…," Astrid said in a quiet voice, giving up since her blush gave her away.
"He's not going to care. Its sankthansaften, it happens once a year, and I swear to Freyja, you can't stand out enough in that dress so nobody's going to notice your blue necklace. Makes your eyes pop anyway," Auda said while Astrid fixed her hair. "I mean, Odin, I'm wearing one of mom's old dresses I stole from her chest."
"That's my favorite one," Astrid said while putting on some droplets of rosewater on her wrists and neck and pinching her cheeks for lasting color.
"I know, and it's pretty, isn't it?" Auda said in a sudden change of voice, lifting up the flowing spring green and white skirt and twisting side to side to see it swish around her legs.
"Auda! Astrid!" Brandan called from downstairs.
"Just a second!" Auda called back in an irritated voice. "Don't wear your fillet. You want your hair loose, we're celebrating summer. Enjoy it while you can," Auda gestured to her huge knot of twisted braids at the nape of her neck. Astrid took her fillet off and shook her hair around.
"Anything else?" Astrid held her arms out as if allowing Auda to have a go at any other adjustments.
"Yeah," Auda crossed her arms and looked thoughtful. "Your face is too round, your ears too big, your nose too small," she winked and swiped a teasing finger under Astrid's chin. "You look great. Let's go."
Astrid followed Auda out of the door and down the narrow and steep staircase where Brandan was waiting at the door, all ready to go in his nice clothes. "What took yeh so long?" he asked when opening the door and letting the two women out first before shutting the door behind himself.
"None of your damn business," Auda said with a slim smile, tucking her hand into Brandan's elbow. The three walked in the road, all barefoot, toward the field where the festival was being held, a few other groups going in the same direction.
Brandan rolled his eyes, but through his dark close-cut beard, Astrid could clearly pick out a smile. "Why did I marry a crazy woman like you?" he said in a teasing tone, and when looking at his wife, his eyes sparkled a bit more and hers mirrored it. Astrid noticed the interaction, finding love in their eyes, and thought it was a beautiful thing to watch them be on tense words one moment and then swooning over each other the next. It looked simple and lovely.
Together, the three of them walked to the center grassy field where most of the village was starting to gather, sitting down at tables, children running around, everyone with a crown of flowers on their head. Some of the manlier Vikings simply carried the crowns or some even had their wives put it around their necks. There were handfuls of people handing them out with twenty or so looped around their arms, made by the hundreds earlier in the day, all made from daisies, dandelions, small tulips, and apple and plum blossoms. For the few who hadn't bathed in awhile, it was definitely an easy way to cover up their pungent scent. Astrid, Auda and Brandan put on their crowns and walked under the strings of lanterns and baskets of more flowers toward the tables. Auda and Brandan went off in another direction to find their friends and Astrid went to scout for signs of hers.
Walking around and scanning tables, Astrid didn't fail to recognize some stares and whispers from a few other village women. A few even came up to her and asked her about the dress and she simply told them it was a mix between silk and linen, but when they were about to ask another question, she was gone before they could speak. She didn't want to talk about it. She didn't want the nosey women coming up and forming crowds and she didn't want a million questions, only to sit down and eat. And show off to Hiccup.
With people standing around and talking loudly and forming into annoying bunches, Astrid didn't see the boy in question come up behind her in his own nice clothes his father made him wear. "Astrid," Hiccup said behind her, adjusting his vest that was over his tunic. She turned around in surprise, not expecting Hiccup to pop up behind her, and at the sight of him, her eyes widened a little. He looked so nice. The vest over his tunic was a light tan in color, tucked into his thick belt with a big buckle around his hips, his tunic a light green and the short sleeves were loose but just tight enough to show off his arms, embroidered in intricate Celtic knots with gold-lacquered string. The tunic was just long enough to reach above his knees, in front he wore an old and worn leather piece with pressed designs of vines and trees into it, and on his shoulders were much smaller and thinner version of the chief's tablets.
Hiccup watched her eyes trail over him and became increasingly embarrassed, shifting side to side and moving his belt around. "What? Do I look terrible? My dad made me wear these, but I—,"
"No, shut up, you look incredible," Astrid said with a huge smile, touching one of the tablets with the engravings of a face in the Norse-style. "I haven't seen you in such nice clothes before."
When she touched his shoulder with her fingers, Hiccup's eyes traveled down to her arm to where he saw the familiar blue dragon scale necklace, and he felt his heart physically jump. "Y-you're wearing it," he stuttered, blushing further. She's actually wearing it, he thought excitedly, grinning.
"Yeah. Does it look good?" Astrid asked and quickly struck a pose, hands on her hips and head held high.
"You look beautiful," Hiccup easily replied without hesitation, pleased to see her pink blush that matched the flowers on her head.
"Thank you," Astrid said, her own eyes sparkling. "You need a crown, too," she took one from a nearby crown-holder and reached up and placed it on his head. "There. Now your magnificent ensemble is complete."
"Wonderful," Hiccup smiled and took Astrid's hand and tucked it into his elbow to lead her to their table.
Elder Gothi gave a joint speech with the chief once nearly everyone had arrived, dragons forming a rim around the tables, kept at bay with their buffet of fish. She first talked about the changes to the village and how it benefited them for the greater good, adding a few dragon stories that made the village chuckle. Since it was the midsummer festival which its purpose implied new life, she mentioned recent marriages and births and told the same story every year about how flowers and water were the essence of life and happiness, and her speech ended with a chorus of applause. Stoick, clad in clothes similar to Hiccup's and as helmet-less as everyone else, spoke about coming marriages and great accomplishments, and topped it all off with a toast to the coming year.
Everyone dug into the food set out on the tables and the dusk air was filled with clanking metals and laughter as the lanterns were lit above their heads with the help of a horde of Terrors.
"This is the one day I'll proudly wear flowers," Snotlout said, causing a ripple of chuckles throughout the table.
"It's great to finally see your feminine side," Astrid said with a sly smile and making Snotlout puff out his chest more.
"It's the only one that shows," Tuffnut added and a few others chuckled.
Fishlegs joined in saying, "I haven't seen any other side," and now Snotlout was deflating.
"Hey—hey, you guys are wearing crowns too," Snotlout pointed out and shook a turkey leg at them.
"But we didn't point it out," Tuffnut clarified with a mouth full of potato.
"Because you have to wear the crown, stupid, or you'll scare everyone else away," Ruffnut said, taking a sip of wine from her wooden goblet.
"Haven't scared Snaggletooth away yet," Tuffnut said with suave, wiggling eyebrows and Ruffnut punched his arm for it.
"Speaking of girls—I'm gonna get drunk," Snotlout said, bringing his tankard to his mouth and downing it.
"That doesn't even make sense," Hiccup chuckled, taking a bite of pork.
"He means he actually wants to find a girl that'll like him when he's drunk," Fishlegs jokingly summed up, earning a tittering giggle from Ruffnut and a secretive smile. "Well, kind of, knowing Snotlout."
When he finished, Snotlout slammed the tankard down the table with a bang, shaking some plates. "Woo! One more and I'm ready to mingle."
"Mingle! This idiot uses 'mingle'," Tuffnut shook his head with a laugh. "Dude. Good luck 'mingling'."
"I'm out of vocabulary. Leave me alone," Snotlout took a bite from a chicken leg.
"'Mingle'? I haven't heard anyone use mingle in a serious sense," Ruffnut said.
"Shut up!" Snotlout flared with a mouthful of food and Astrid punched his side. "Ow!"
"You can't be a baby to go mingle with some girls. You have to wear your flowers proudly, remember?" Astrid replied with a smirk.
Snotlout looked determined. "Damn right," Tuffnut joined him in laughing.
Once the village had finished their supper, bus boys and barmaids started cleaning up the tables while people flocked around the bar and chatted. A wife-carrying contest started up outside the border of flowers and lanterns and many husbands took their wives' hands and dragged them over to prove their stamina, Brandan and Auda included. Astrid brought Hiccup over to watch from the sidelines while twenty or so couples lined up at one end of a huge stretch. A flag was raised and the husbands crouched to let their wives hop up on their backs and once the flag was dropped, the men started charging toward the other end. Cheers and shouts filled the crowd to the background of music, and both Hiccup and Astrid rooted for Brandan and Auda to win. Unfortunately, Brandan tripped over something and got a good mouthful of dirt while Auda rolled off him laughing delightfully as he pulled grass out of his teeth. The couple who won were people Astrid or Hiccup didn't know, but they clapped for them anyway.
Casually, the two young Vikings walked around the premise with their elbows hooked, and Astrid purposefully picked up two tankards of ale for them to sip on while doing so. Coming upon the mock-marriages being playfully conducted by Elder Gothi, Astrid watched a little cousin of hers getting married.
"He doesn't know what he's in for," Astrid said with a laugh, shaking her head and taking a sip.
"How would you know?" Hiccup asked with furrowed brows and an airy chuckle, holding his tankard in front of him.
Astrid shrugged. "I'm a girlfriend, so I have a feeling of what it's like," she grinned up at him when he nudged her shoulder playfully.
Hiccup sighed, watching her cousin be showered with pink and purple flower petals as he and his bride walked down the aisle. "Kids," he said simply, sounding unsure.
"Why don't you like kids?" Astrid asked, remembering the time on Oddr's rock, watching another couple walk up with laughing smiles on their faces, a bit older than her six-year-old cousin and herself.
"It's not that I don't like them, it's just that I don't know what to do or how to act around them. I mean, I get along with Dagger because he's mature for his age and I have to because he's my apprentice. I'm supposed to teach him, not get on his good side. I mean… I'm not much for fantasy talk."
"Me neither," Astrid scoffed. "It's not hard at all. Just be nice."
"Are you nice?" Hiccup joked, earning a slap to the shoulder. "Kidding, dear."
Astrid looked back to the marriage being conducted and watched the couple be blessed by Gothi and turn and walk away down the petal-scatted aisle. "I like kids. At least until they start bawling or acting like little shits, then I would rather toss them twenty feet than deal with them."
"Of course," Hiccup stuck out his lower lip pretending to actually contemplate her statement. Astrid rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to say something else until she felt a tug on her skirt. Looking down was a short chubby boy with bright blonde hair and enchanting green eyes with red round cheeks. Though she wouldn't admit it even to Hiccup, she melted at the sight of him.
"Will you marry me?" the little boy asked. "I need a wife."
"Woah! Wish I was that good," Hiccup laughed with Astrid as she knelt in front of him.
"I would love to marry you," Astrid smiled. "But Hiccup needs a wife, too, and he's not as good with girls as you are," she nodded like it was a serious matter, the boy giggling. "So why don't you go and find him a pretty wife and I'll marry you," Without a word, the boy turned around with a big grin and ran away with exaggerated swinging arms like a typical child's run. Astrid stood and laughed, watching him go. "See? Not that bad."
"I never thought you'd be good with children," Hiccup said, taking a sip from his tankard and letting his smile vanish for a second before returning.
She shrugged again. "I grew up with taking care of my cousins. Of course way back then I would hit them to get them to shut up, but not with other people's children that I was asked to take care of. Of course, sometimes…," she trailed off and Hiccup laughed after gulping. "Shut up. It's only been recent."
"Yes, girlfriend," Hiccup unabashedly used his free hand to rub her back affectionately. "Now, where's my wife?" he pretended to look around, making Astrid throw her head back in laughter.
A few minutes later, the boy from before brought what looked to be his sister, if a little older. Astrid and Hiccup set down their tankards in the grass and Astrid held out her hand and the boy took it. Hiccup's 'wife' eagerly took his, grinning up at him through blonde curls, and he had to admit she was adorable. Astrid and the boy married first, repeating the short and sweet vows Elder Gothi asked them to repeat. Astrid had to crouch while holding his chubby fingers and quickly, Elder Gothi gave her blessing and they were showered in petals. Hiccup and the girl were next, Hiccup in the same crouching position as he repeated the vows after his 'wife'. Petals were thrown in the air and Astrid and her little husband clapped along with a few others watching.
After walking down the makeshift aisle, Hiccup knelt again and gingerly kissed the girls' knuckles, saying, "Now, sweet wife, run along and a melt other boys' hearts," she smiled and ran off with her brother, mixing in between other Viking's legs. Hiccup stood next to Astrid smiling, looking accomplished. "Married life is fantastic," he winked and took Astrid's arm as she laughed.
"I think I'm buzzed enough to go dance, don't you think so too, boyfriend?" Astrid asked, a few lovely pinkish petals caught in her hair Hiccup didn't have the heart to brush out. She looked like the essence of summer in her white and pure dress and crown of flowers; she absolutely took his breath away.
"I think so, too, girlfriend," and he led her to the dance floor lined with orange-glowing lanterns and baskets of hanging flowers.
It was easy for the two to jump in and mesh in with the vibrant and forever-moving crowd of dancers, all in sync with the beat and flow of the music; singers sang songs about summer time and love and the changing of seasons, all old and famous with flutes and fiddles and drums—it was easy to get swept up in the music. Laughing and grinning, Hiccup would twirl Astrid around and her skirt would billow around her bare legs and her hair would fan out behind her back as she spun around him. He would lift her up at the same time as the other men dancers and set her down in another place and the dance would continue. Another faster-paced song would start up and they would all join elbows and twirl in couplets, switching partners and jumping, extending elegant arms, joining hands and skipping around the dance floor. Somehow Tuffnut and Snotlout started up a line where they got most of the dance floor to hold hands and skip around through the crowds around the bar, leading them through the premise, both quite drunk but somehow functional. Astrid spotted Ruffnut and Fishlegs in the line and later on the dance floor with a look that said 'I didn't know you liked to dance, but isn't it fun?'
Hiccup pulled Astrid out of the crowd just as another song picked up, pulling her behind him by the hand to the bar. He called for two mugs of mead after squeezing through some shoulders, and once he pulled himself out, Astrid gave him a most delighted but confused expression.
"I want to drink. I'm having too much fun," he said quickly and rapidly, his breath coming in short and quick spurts. His face red from the heat and his crown a little off-kilter, Astrid had the urge to kiss him.
"I'm with you on that one," she said over a laugh. When the barmaid held up two mugs of mead, Hiccup almost jumped for them so they wouldn't be taken. He handed one to Astrid, and clanking them together in cheers, they both threw their heads back and gulped to their heart's content. Looking over the rim of her mug, Astrid nudged him in challenge as she chugged. Hiccup raised his brows and pushed her back and continued drinking himself. Astrid pushed him back, making a few droplets spill onto his shirt. They chugged against each other until Hiccup raised his tankard above his head in victory, shouting a loud, "YES!"
Astrid took her last gulp and immediately punched him in the chest, wiping her mouth with a modest smile. "I beat you!" Hiccup cheered, rubbing his pectoral. "I actually beat you!"
"Don't rub it in. We have to find Tuffnut because I can beat him in two seconds," Astrid looked around, trying to ignore Hiccup punching the air.
"So yer lookin' for the World's Most Dead-… Deadliest Weapon?" said the boy in question, waltzing up to her from around a gargantuan body with at least ten flower crowns on his body; on his head, around his neck, two connected together around his waist, and on his wrists and upper arms.
"We're going to do a chugging contest," Astrid said simply while Hiccup called for two more meads and one for himself. She chuckled at his decorated body.
"Oh, I can beat you eazy," Tuffnut scoffed and blew air through his lips. "Didja know my sister kissed Fish in frun'a me?" Tuffnut leaned in close to say, and the mixtures of all the different alcohols on his breath were evident.
"That's gross," Astrid furrowed her brows and played along, giving him a sarcastic thumbs-up that he took her serious for.
"I know! I mean, whoduz that? Ugh!" Tuffnut took the mug Hiccup handed him and surprisingly held it steady despite the haziness in his eyes.
"Alright… go!" Hiccup threw down a too-fast hand and Astrid and Tuffnut began their contest in the crowds.
As she neared the bottom of her mug, Astrid arched backward to better take it down. Tuffnut spilled some of what was in his mug on himself, but finished after Astrid raised her mug in victory. "You alwayz beat me, don'tcha?" Tuffnut asked in a funny tone, grinning. He tossed his mug behind him, uncaring to who the mug hit in the head.
"Sure do," Astrid tossed the mug somewhere as well, but kept it low so it wouldn't hit someone.
"You're great… at errything," Tuffnut snaked a sudden arm around her like he did at Auda's wedding and kissed her temple. "Hey, you guise tell me if you see Snotface, awright? I needa beat his dumb ass for cheering on Ruff and Fish," Tuffnut looks at Hiccup expectantly before letting go of Astrid and stumbling off.
"Oh, Gods," Astrid grimaced, wiping the side of her head while Hiccup laughed incredulously, taking gulps of his mead. "He always flirts with me when he's drunk. I have no idea why," Astrid said, trying to refocus her eyes. The alcohol was hitting her quick.
"Then no more drinking contests with Tuffnut," Hiccup laughed and took one last huge gulp before handing the mug to someone, taking her arm again and pulling her out of the crowd.
They came upon the dance floor just as another song started being—The Slow Dance. "It's time, Hiccup," Astrid said with a wide grin, quickly making him change directions and stumble after her.
"Ohh. Are you ready?" Hiccup said as she weaved around a couple of people to reach somewhere near the middle, a few villagers coming to dance and a few leaving. Astrid stopped at a space in between a few wives and husbands and held out her arms for Hiccup to take his place and complete the other half of the pose. He took her hand and rested his hand on her back as the flute played out a long, solemn tune, the fiddle and lute gently playing along to make a beautiful piece.
Hiccup and Astrid stepped together slowly with everyone else in their own direction, the slight chaos organized and wordless. Hiccup, in his hazy mind, could not take his lopsided smirk off his face with Astrid looking so pretty, her hair wild and fanning out over her bare shoulders, her flower crown starting to wilt but it looked absolutely perfect as she glowed in the orange-tinged light flickering above them. He was drunk, or quickly becoming so, but Gods, Astrid. Her hand was warm in his, delicate but strong as her grip told him so, and she smiled up at him as he swam in the blue of her eyes. He was so painfully and painlessly in love with her, so goddamned much he almost didn't understand it. It could be his drunken thoughts spinning out of control, but Hiccup honestly felt as if he could marry her, and this dance was only making it more real. Brides wear flower crowns (and sometimes the groom when he swallowed his pride), and because of the 'new life' theme of the festival, he felt as if he was in some sort of wedding dance.
Gently spinning her around while her skirt danced around his legs, Hiccup let his imagination wander without hinders. In increasing inebriation, Hiccup imagined Astrid with red ribbons in her hair and a long white dress that dragged along the floor, simple and loose to mimic a sleeping shift, with her cheeks slightly pink because she was blushing. She would rest her left hand on his shoulder and he would glance at the silver marriage band around her finger that he made with his own matching ring, and he would smile and be the happiest man Berk had ever seen. He would smile at her every morning and every night and many times in between and he wouldn't be afraid to say 'I love you' because she was his wife and he her husband. They would have beautiful blonde and freckled children—many of them—and he would never forget she hated ludefisk and would always make sure strawberries were in full stock during the summer because the liked them. He would make sure she always had something to sew, or even if she didn't want to do that, push her out the door to throw her axe as he watched the potential children for awhile. He would be a good husband because he loved her and they would be happy.
Hiccup tilted head down and whispered with closed eyes still imagining," I want to marry you, Astrid Hofferson," he kept his cheek to hers for a few seconds longer, and when he pulled away, he saw her eyes sparkling like the ocean and her face redder than a tomato. He huffed out a laugh when she didn't reach or reply immediately.
"Don't say that," Astrid said under her breath, trying to keep her lips together so she wouldn't grin like a mad, drunk fool.
"Why not?" Hiccup said quietly, his sweet breath tickling her forehead. She swore her heart had left her entirely, soared away from her chest to become one of the stars above them. She started to stumble on her feet from a mix of drink and bewilderment, so she took the initiative to stand on Hiccup's foot and prosthetic again.
"Because," she laughed. "I could do very bad things to you," she whispered closely in a shy voice.
"Well," Hiccup raised his eyes brows and chuckled. "Like what?" he said in a mock-suggestive tone and Astrid swatted his shoulder.
"Forbidden things. Things that could get us in trouble with my father. Things unmarried people can't do. Just things," she smiled as if she knew something he didn't, and he narrowed his eyes at her for a second in a mini-stare-off. Astrid burst out laughing but muffled her voice into his chest as Hiccup shifted and spun around, shaking his head.
"Somebody's a little drunk," he said in a teasing sing-song voice, rubbing her back.
"No, I'm not," she said into his tunic, now more or less hugging him around his waist. She started laughing again when Hiccup snorted. "Maybe a little."
"More than 'maybe a little', you goof. If I'm drunk, you're way drunk," Hiccup said into her hair, now sort of hugging her as well to keep her from slumping against him.
The song ended and Hiccup pulled Astrid out from the dance floor, bringing her to a clearer space. She giggled and crashed into him and kissed his neck not-too-discretely, but Hiccup had a enough sense left to remember her rule of 'no public affections' and he reminded her of it so she kept a casual distance though she would reach for his hand every once and awhile. They downed a goblet of wine and chatted to a few people, trying their hardest to act sober, before the older people or less-crazy parents started carrying their children home because the night was growing later and later and the drinking heavier. The premise grew smaller as villagers left, the dance floor merging with the bar area and the musicians moving closer so volunteers could start cleaning up.
Astrid and Hiccup met up with their group again, Snaggletooth included at Tuffnut's side, and each and every one of them were drunk almost out of their minds. Astrid stumbled to sit down on the bench while Hiccup stood for a minute to figure out how to sit down until Astrid took his hand impatiently and yanked him to the table. Astrid clearly didn't know her own strength when she was drunk, and Hiccup being more uncoordinated that usual, ended up smashing his face right into the table. Snotlout immediately burst out laughing in his loudest yet, and it took Tuffnut, Ruffnut, Fishlegs and Snaggletooth a second to realize what happened as Hiccup held his nose and yelled. Hiccup put a hand on the bench to steady himself but his hand slipped off so he fell into the grass, making Astrid and Snotlout on the bench jump as it had shifted. After apologizing through rapid giggles, Astrid threw her head back and laughed at Hiccup's obvious clumsiness.
"Oh—oh my Gods… ohoh," Tuffnut said through his laughing, tears in his eyes.
"Ya might've broke his face," Ruffnut said with lazy eyes, swaying purposefully into Fishlegs' arm and knocking into her brother next to her.
"He broke his own face after that," Snaggletooth added and everyone chimed in laughing after that.
Hiccup clambered onto the bench next to Astrid (a bit closely) and Snotlout and took his hand off his face with a big lazy grin. "Do I 'ave any blood on my face?" He asked to no one in particular, looking at anyone for an answer.
"Naw, man."
"You're clean."
"Golden."
"Awesome," Hiccup said just above a whisper and his eyes half-lidded, raising two thumbs up.
"You know, Hiccup, man, you're pretty cool, even wif that dopey stunt," Tuffnut said with an approving nod.
"Thanks, man," Hiccup replied and fist-bumped Tuffnut's knuckles when he held them out.
"To finally bein' cool," Snaggletooth held up her tankard of ale and everyone but Hiccup and Astrid did the same, all clanking them together. Since they didn't have tankards or mugs or goblets to cheer with, both pretended they had one with sly glances to each other and laughing like they had some stupid inside joke, holding imaginary handles and clanking them around to tap each tankard with the appropriate sound, throwing their heads back and pretending to drink with over-exaggerated gulps.
Everyone went in a circle for loudest burp, and not surprisingly, Tuffnut won. "Yes! I win this time!" he raised his arms in victory while simultaneously smacking his sister in the face with his elbow. Ruffnut promptly punched him in the side and he ended up hitting Snaggletooth on her temple, so she punched him too.
"One-two punch!" Snotlout punched the air a few times and took some more drinks form his tankard until he finished it, tossing the entire thing behind him. "Who's ready for another round?"
"Me!"
"Me too!"
"Three!"
"Six!"
"Who said six?" Hiccup asked, making a few of them laugh.
"I heard three so I said a number and it happened to be six," Fishlegs said. "six as in, like, six legs on a Razorfoot dra—,"
"No! No facts! I'm so done with facts," Tuffnut shouted and hit the table. "Fur sayin' six, ya gotta go and get the drinks."
Fishlegs tilted his head back and groaned. "Naaaaooooo, I don't want toooo."
"Go, chub-chub!" Snotlout shouted over the table, gripping the edges with a maniacal grin.
"Fine, caterpillar-brows! You havta go next, though!" Fishlegs shouted back with a grin, making the bench almost topple over with Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Snaggletooth all on it when he stood up.
"I don't think we'll be up for another round," Astrid said near Hiccup's ear and he chuckled and nodded his head in agreement.
"I'm gonna dance, guise. I jus' love dis miyuusic," Ruffnut said suddenly, climbing on the table, incredibly shakily on the sturdy table, and started doing weird things. Everyone laughed at her extremely uncoordinated hip swiveling and foot stomping and arm movements rather than cheering her on like some of the other people still drinking and dancing were doing. Ruffnut hardly even noticed her friends falling off the benches below her, she just fell into her zone and danced, not even to the beat or rhythm of the music anymore, just what she felt like doing. Then her tight, knee-length tunic felt incredibly restrictive to the moves she wanted to pull off, so she started pulling up the hem of her tunic to strip it off.
"No! She's taking her clothes off!" Snotlout shouted through bewildered laughs. It was only Tuffnut and Fishlegs, who just happened to be back at the right time, who jumped to pull Ruffnut off the table because everyone else was, quiet literally, rolling around laughing.
"You idiot! Nobody wants to see that! Ewww! Yuck!" Tuffnut made disgusted noises as he pulled down Ruffnut's tunic as she giggled hysterically in Fishlegs' lap. She gave a sly glance to Fishlegs and Tuffnut saw, his glazed eyes widening. "Fishlegs?"
"What? I didn't do anything!" Fishlegs held his hands up, looking all worried as if he committed a treasonous act.
"My sister? C'mon, man!"
As Tuffnut and Fishlegs shouted about this and something else, Hiccup and Astrid were lost in their own giggling world, floating on clouds of bubbles in their drunken stupor. Snotlout said something to them from where he was actually sitting on the bench, both of them laying on the ground because they had fallen off, half on the bench still, but they couldn't hear him and instead made fun of his caterpillar eyebrows. After what felt like five minutes but was actually about fifteen, the group started getting up to leave somewhere.
Hiccup, discombobulated, and trying to piece things together, laid on the grass until Astrid situated herself off the bench and sat on his knees. "Where are they going?" he asked, his longish hair tossed from his forehead and looking rather messy and his cheeks were flushed, looking clearly drunk.
Astrid grinned excitedly at him because she knew what was going on, her crown completely gone from her head but petals still fell from the mess that was her hair. She took his hand and it sent static whizzing through him, and she said in an eager voice, "We're going on an adventure."
00
Adventure Time! ;)
Sankthansaften means the summer solstice festival, if you didn't quite pick up on it.
I did research about what activities Scandinavians did during the summer solstice festival, and the only ones I could really find were Swedish traditions. Vikings were pretty much considered to be from all of Scandinavia, Sweden and Finland included, so I just used the more-Swedish tradition of the wife-carrying contest for something to write about. Mock marriages were included in, like, all of them so I did that of course. Uhm. Yeah. I don't know what else to say, lolol.
Thank you for being patient! I really appreciate it! :D