Hello readers!
Sorry it's been so long. I have no excuse really, just life being difficult is all.
That being said, in order for me to be able to churn chapters out a bit better, I will write shorter chapters. They will run from 2000-2500 words, generally. This is to make sure than I can write chapters and get content out to you all without long breaks like this.
Please let me know what you think about this.
Enjoy!
Tonight was the night, and he couldn't wait for it to be over. Hiccup never enjoyed this Gala. He spent most of the night listening to stuffy businessmen pitch him their wild ideas about what the best way to run his company. Some would try to tell him why the best move he could make was to partner with them on a project, and only because it was simpler, that DragonTech should just fund whatever that project might be. Even though the product would eventually be sold by their company, and not DragonTech. Events like this only made him wish that he could avoid them.
Possibly worse was the known presence of women who, for better or worse, only cared about money and came to these events in search of snotty CEOs who wanted an unattached night of pleasure. In the end, that night would turn into a scandal, and things would go bad and money would be exchanged. Hell, some might even outright pay prostitutes at events like this for evenings. Most years, Hiccup never even reached the dance floor. However…this year, he suspected he might.
Rachel being Rachel had ensured him that she would steal all his prosthetics and make him jump around on a single foot if he tried to sneak a peek at the gown that had been delivered for Astrid. He actually considered the validity of the threat for a brief moment before relenting and agreeing to not look at it. He was genuinely curious about it, because this was really the first time he was interested in his date. Of course, Astrid and Rachel had been sequestered in their penthouse since this morning, Rapunzel having arrived some hours ago, to his great surprise. He wasn't expecting her to come by, but rationalized that Rachel probably arranged for travel.
If she was coming to do Astrid's hair and makeup, as well as dressing the girl, then he expected literally the best. Rapunzel played with nothing less than the best materials and styles. The reason most of DragonTech's board wore silk was because of her. It was her fabric of choice. All of them had been exposed to her addiction to the material, and nearly all of them wore it regularly.
Himself, Gary, Trevor, Frank and Scott were meeting downstairs to wait for the women to finish getting ready. It was already seven thirty, and they were due at the venue at eight for the red carpet. Hiccup had worn his finest; a jet black silk tuxedo with premium leather shoes. His jacket bore his classic two button style with the top button done. A blood red linen shirt sat beneath it, along with a black tie with the dragon head emblem of DragonTech stitched on in red. His long hair was pulled into a tight pony tail, tied off with a gold cinch that mirrored the emblem in design.
He wore his beloved thick face gold watch, along with his father and mothers wedding rings, as well as a ruby studded ring that he became obsessed with a year back. He admitted silently to himself that he actually really put an effort into his look this year because, again, he really cared about his date this year and everyone knows that impressions are everything. Upon reaching the lobby, it was easy to find his fellow board members because this hotel was always reserved for the Gala. Meaning that it was full of people who would be attending, and therefore full of people who were currently fawning all over the illustrious members of DragonTech.
Kristoff, Anna and Elsa had expertly placed themselves in a way that kept people at a comfortable distance from the heads of the company, and all that was needed to deter adventurous fans was Elsa's piercing, icy glare. Hiccup chuckled as he came to stand next to her, noting the brief smile she offered as respect. "Relax Elsa. They aren't dogs." He said quietly.
She snorted. "If I give them a chance to lick your shoes, what do you think will happen?" She asked back.
He nodded his head in acceptance. "I'll need to go get new shoes. Alright, you win." She shared a quick laugh with him and he went up to the table, taking a seat next to Gary. The large man whistled, looking his boss up and down.
"Really pulling it all out this year, eh? Wouldn't have anything to do with a certain blondie, would it?"
Hiccup shook his head, snorting in mock laughter. "I have no idea what you're talking about." He laughed, knowing deep inside that a certain blondie, as Gary had referred to Astrid, was exactly the reason for his going all out. Previous years had seen him with some random girl he found at places, whether it be an employee or not. Generally speaking, he'd only brought a date because Veronica insisted he do it.
Gary laughed, his breath hitting Hiccup and the smell of high grade Scotch wafting over him. The older man had already deemed it time to get sauced up so he can enjoy the party. "Already?" He deadpanned.
Gary stabbed a finger at him. "Oi, this is the one night I can literally sit on my ass and laugh at the idiots who think they can win you over. Let me have this one!"
Hiccup rolled his eyes but grinned. He would never begrudge the older man his pleasures, at least in this sense. A collective sound of ooos ahhs and hooting pulled his eyes from the ground to the stairs of the hotel, where Veronica was descending. She wore a form fitting gown of deep maroon, with black lacing on the outer corset. Her arms were covered in long, most likely silk gloves, bathed in the same rich color of her gown. He couldn't see her shoes, but he imagined them to be boots of some type.
She wore a lavish medallion with rubies and diamonds, as well as a solid black liner on her eyes. Her lips were painted such a dark red, it was nearly black. Her wrists rang with each step as several bangles clinked together, and she wore two rings on each hand, on her index and middle fingers. Kristoff quickly pushed through the crowd to give her a smooth path to the rest of them, and the men of DragonTech clapped as she approached.
"You gentlemen are too kind," She said sweetly as she approached.
"And you are beautiful." Gary admitted, curling his arm and allowing her to place her hand through it. Every year, to prevent the older pair from having to find dates, Veronica and Gary simply went with each other. For a while, Hiccup considered the possibility of the two of them being together in a romantic sense…but really, he enjoyed sleeping at night, and picturing that would not allow him a wink.
"Astrid and Ruffnut mentioned that they would be down momentarily." She said, standing and allowing Gary to take her small wallet and place it inside his jacket.
Hiccup let go of a breath he wasn't sure that he'd been hanging onto. Why he was so mind numbingly nervous about this? He was a man who had everything. Practically the king of his world, with power that could change the face of robotics. What didn't he have? Oh right. If he were to follow his own thinking, he was a king who didn't have a queen.
And as if in slow motion, he saw her. Absently, he had glanced at the top of the stairs to see her taking the first step down, and his brain froze over and shattered. He would have to give both Rachel and Rapunzel a raise or a bonus or something, because what he was looking at did not count as a normal person, a normal employee, or even the potential queen of his empire. No.
He was looking at a goddess.
Her golden hair had been twined in a thick, luxurious braid and placed in a bun towards the rear of her head. Smaller braids with jeweled beads hung from the larger bun, swaying with each step she took. Her gown was similar in style to Veronica's, but it was so different at the same time. The top of the dress had two, medium width straps that wrapped around Astrid's upper arms, leaving her perfectly smooth shoulders bare. Up to each elbow, she wore silk gloves, black with red lacing and a small, red striped ribbon at the elbow.
The gown itself was a luxurious red with black edging and a solid black corset. It hung to just above the ground, where Hiccup spied heels, clicking with a hypnotizing ring. Astrid's face was serenely colored, her lips bathed in a crimson lipstick, but her eyes were ringed in layers of liner, so artfully applied in greys and blacks that it made Astrid's lovely blue eyes even more beautiful.
Rachel, on the other hand, wore a tuxedo almost identical to her twin brothers, and a bowler hat over her hair. The people in the room completely forgot about Hiccup and the rest of the board, choosing to rush the stairs and the angel descending them. He was more than happy to let her soak in the attention, but when he saw her flinch at the bright camera flashes and the drop of her shoulders, he jumped.
"Kristoff, Anna, Elsa, please make a path for Astrid to the limo as fast as you can." He said, having taken Anna's mic from her ear and spoken into gently. "She isn't used to this."
As soon as he said it and gave Anna her equipment back, the crowds were being corralled by the security trio and their associates. Hiccup turned to the rest of the board, who wordlessly nodded and set out for the front of the hotel, skillfully ignoring the paparazzi and keeping their goal in mind. Hiccup wound through the people to Astrid's side, taking her hand and placing it in the crook of his arm.
"You look beautiful," He whispered to her, both as a truthful observation and as a way of getting her mind off the cameras and the people.
She went to turn to face him, but he shook his head gently and nodded ahead of them. "We will talk in the car. Eyes forward, smile and walk…" He whispered.
She swallowed hard next to him. "What if I walk too fast or slow?" She asked in a frantic undertone.
"You just walk…I will handle our pace. Just smile and breathe…" He answered softly. Thankfully, her breathing steadied, and she matched his pace wonderfully. The pair walked slowly to the car, allowing the picture hungry reporters to get their fill. When they reach the large limo, specially designed so that the ladies would not have to bend to enter it, Hiccup held out his hand and helped her up, climbing in behind her and noticing, with wide eyes and a pulsing below his belt, that the gown left open a large expanse of her back.
He took a moment to calm his slamming heart before finishing his entrance into the limo. She was stunning; in every way. He would be hard presses to get through this evening without doing something about how euphoric his date was making him feel. They hadn't even danced yet.
"Thank god!" Astrid sighed, sitting down next to Rachel and covering her face with her hands. Before her hands could make contact though, Rachel slapped them down.
"Down, doggy! I don't want to be the one explaining to Punz when your makeup gets messed up! Don't touch your face!" She snapped. Hiccup couldn't help a smirk at the simply petulant face that Astrid wore after that, and even then she was beautiful.
"Cameras get to you a bit?" Trevor asked, pouring a shot from a bottle of whiskey that he had inexplicably acquired. He downed it easily, then poured another.
Astrid snapped her fingers at him. "Share!" She demanded. Chuckling at her, Trevor handed the liquor over and his date slammed it back like she'd been drinking her whole life. She handed the shot glass back to the machinist and took a deep breathe.
"How long is this night again?" She asked.
Hiccup leaned back with a groan. "Several hours, I'm afraid."
Veronica slapped his thigh with a tsk. "You are the center of this party, Hiccup. At least mingle."
He gave her a pouting look. "I hate mingling with these people. They just spend their time trying to get my money." He hated bringing up the real reason why he hated this event, because it was a bit ridiculous, but still. He wasn't a greedy person, but he hated the fact that anyone who spoke to him here was only focused on how much green he could pull from an ATM.
"You should just sit there and enjoy the attention," Scott remarked, rolling his shoulders. "Then you can enjoy telling them to fuck off."
Hiccup eyed the man in only bared concealed irritation. "I would never say that to another business owner, Scott. And I know you won't either." He replied dangerously. Scott had never endeared himself to Hiccup, but the man was a genius. He was needed to keep DragonTech on the cutting edge.
Hiccup's eyes were drawn again to Astrid and how beautiful she looked. For a long time in his life, he had been solely drawn to all things physical in women. With Astrid…not only was she far sexier than any of the other women he'd slept with, her personality and intelligence was far greater as well. She was the complete package.
He settled in to his seat and took a deep breathe. This was going to be a long night, but with that goddess as his date? Might not be as boring as it always was.
I wish you all a great week!