A/N: Here we are again! Thank you all once again for your continued support! Little point of notice: I have exams next week and unfortunately, I still have to write a large part of chapter 26. It's impossible for me to devote my attention to both of those things at the same time, so there will be one week extra between chapter 25 and 26. So until further notice (please keep an eye on my Tumblr, aleteia-ff, for that) The Phantom of the Arena will be back on April 11!
~Slight NSFW warning!~
No Account: Thank you! I very much like sharing Hiccup's backstory ^^
Comicblader12: Yeah, the relationship between him and Wingmaidens isn't that great…
Guest: Aw!
Bloody Rogue dragon deity king: Glad to hear it wasn't too predictable!
Antox: Don't we all want to hug Hiccup at this point? And yes, I loved Astrid in this, actually standing up for Hiccup!
Josh Spicer: Yeah they didn't really tell him to leave, but with Hiccup that vunerable, it was quite easy for him to take it the wrong way :/
Vivi-ntvg: Go Astrid!
oldestj1: Thank you so much!
CajunBear73: Indeed, he kind of felt he was rejected on both sides! And indeed, he's come out of it incredibly scarred.
Entr'Acte – Home
Astrid woke up in the darkness, sleepiness still keeping her in its hold. She supposed it was natural that she'd fallen asleep as quickly as she had, but part of her couldn't help but think that it was kind of strange to be lying in an actual bed again, instead of on a rock floor covered in furs and blankets, a dragon at her side. How quickly things could change.
The room around her was still dark, no light creeping in through the windows. There was only one source of light, coming from the left of her bed, the side she'd already been facing in her sleep. A candle, placed on the floor, its flames lighting the figure that was sitting against the wall. His legs were pulled up and he was looking down, slightly frowning as he moved the charcoal pencil in his left hand, seemingly strengthening some of the lines on the paper resting on the lower end of his thighs.
She watched him for a while, trying her best to stay silent as she watched the expressions on Hiccup's face change. The right side of his face was always a little bit less expressive, but she'd seen him cycle through his emotions often enough for her to interpret the way the lines of his scars changed. His frown loosened and intensified every now and then as he moved his hand. Occasionally, his expression opened up, his missing eyebrow creeping higher up his face before he moved his pencil even more frantically.
Eventually, he turned to look at her, seemingly surprised as he caught her open eyes looking back at him. He broke into a soft smile. "Hey."
She gave him a smile back. "Hey." His emerald eyes shimmered slightly in the candle light, making her heart flutter. "How early is it?"
"Morning's not too far away, I think. Few hours, at most." A teasing smile played on his lips. "Don't worry, I haven't been up for too long. I honoured our deal."
"Good," she laughed, exhaling softly. "What are you drawing?"
"You." He fumbled around with his sketchbook, holding it up towards her. His sketch looked a lot like the one he'd made of her before. Once again, it was stunning, his charcoal lines representing her perfectly. "I burnt the previous one," he added softly before she could ask. "Didn't feel like I deserved to keep it."
"And what about the other ones?" She hadn't ever seen them lying around when she'd been in his Nest.
"I kept them." He went through his sketchbook, retrieving some folded pieces of paper from between the pages. He always had his drawings of her with him. That thought made her heart contract pleasantly.
"I really liked them," she shared. "Including the one you drew from your imagination." The one of the two of them together, Hiccup's face concealed, his figure knelt in front of hers. Showing his devotion.
He smiled at her, organising his papers and putting them on the floor as she reached out to him with her right hand. He sat up on his knees, letting her bury her hand in his auburn mop as she propped herself up on her elbow, pulling him closer and kissing him. She heard him moan softly as he cupped her face with his hands, tenderly kissing her back.
They kept their lips locked until her elbow started to hurt, making her back away, drawing Hiccup up along with her. He climbed on top of the bed, pulling back her covers as his long legs settled on either side of her. She tried to sit up, but he pushed her back down, silencing her protest with his lips as her back hit the bed.
There was something delicious and evil in his eyes as he moved to kiss her once more before dragging his lips down towards the base of her neck. She buried her hands in his hair, taking in his smell as his hands traced the line of her waist until one of them reached her breast, softly squeezing it.
"Hiccup," she moaned, failing to suppress the sounds he was drawing from her throat as she looked over his shoulder. "Not here."
"Why not?" he murmured against her skin as his other hand managed to find its way underneath her top. "It wouldn't be the first time Toothless and Stormfly get to listen."
"Because I'm afraid we'll wake the whole village up," she told him, although that argument increasingly got less convincing the more he touched her.
Hiccup lifted his head, taking her in with two big, hungry pupils. He kissed her again, a teasing smile appearing on his lips. "I guess you have a point. You do get quite noisy, after all."
She pulled up her knee, landing it square in his stomach as the blood rushed to her face. Hiccup winced and then laughed, giving her a peck on her forehead before he climbed off her. "You're so easy to tease."
"Shut up," she bit, trying to hide her embarrassment at him aptly pointing out how riled up she could get. Especially when he touched her down there.
She watched as Hiccup's shoulders shook as he chuckled, sitting down next to her before he swung his legs over the edge of the bed. As he was about to get up however, she closed her hand around his wrist. He looked back at her, his eyes questioning.
"I think you should sleep some more," she told him, softly tugging.
There was a moment of quiet on Hiccup's face, his eyes darting to her before he seemed to understand what she was asking. He nodded then, swinging his legs back onto the bed as she scooted over, giving him the space he needed. She grabbed her blanket, pulling it back over the two of them as she turned on her side. Not much later, she felt Hiccup's one arm wrap itself around her waist while his other made its way underneath her pillow.
She felt him exhale softly against her back before he nuzzled her braid aside, resting his smooth cheek against the base of her neck. He pulled her a little closer to him, resting his groin against her lower back. She could still feel part of his arousal there. She smiled to herself. At least, him wanting her was still not a problem.
She searched with her right arm, finding the spot where his hand was set on her stomach. She softly traced the lines on it with her thumb, caressing his fingers as he held her close. After their 'adventure' in Phantom Island's lake, they'd pleasured each other a few times more. But they'd never done this, just lying in bed together. Making each other writhe and scream, that was something sexual. This, however, Hiccup just holding her tight, the steady rise and fall of his chest against her back, that was a thing for couples. For lovers. And although they'd showed or formulated their care for each other in other ways, neither of them had spoken those three words. I love you. Nor had one of them exclusively pledged themselves to the other.
It could wait, she decided as she felt Hiccup shift, positioning himself more comfortably. It was slightly awkward as he was still wearing his full suit of armour, but she wasn't going to complain about it.
She wasn't ready to tell him yet either. She cared for him. And she felt like he cared for her. Love, however, was something bigger than that. And she didn't know if she was quite there yet.
"You know," Hiccup murmured against the back of her head, interrupting her thoughts. "I actually wasn't done with my sketch yet."
She rolled her eyes and kicked his shin. "Shut up."
He chuckled, pressing a kiss against the base of her neck. He stayed quiet after that and she listened as his breathing slowed. Having him against her like this, holding her, she really couldn't feel like she needed anything else. And with that thought in her head, a soft smile on her face, she let sleep take her again.
Astrid woke to the light of morning making its way in through the hut's windows. In the corner, Toothless and Stormfly were already lazily poking each other, seemingly done resting. And around her waist, she once again found the combination of dragon scale and leather that belonged to Hiccup's arm.
She wriggled slightly so she could turn her head and check if he was awake. She fell straight into his soft green eyes, a lot more focus to them than to her own. She wouldn't be surprised if Hiccup had been awake for quite some time already. But he'd stayed with her nevertheless.
"Good morning," he smiled as he propped himself up, his lips gently touching hers.
"You too," she murmured against his lips, burying her hands in his hair and deepening their kiss. Hiccup moaned softly in response, his hand tenderly caressing the curve of her hip as he climbed on top of her.
They just laid there for a while, kissing and touching each other until Toothless got impatient. He pushed against Hiccup's side with his snout, to which Hiccup responded by pushing the dragon away with one of his legs. "Yeah, bud, we'll go flying in a minute."
Toothless wasn't having it however, grumbling loudly before he gave Hiccup one particularly hard nudge as the boy's leg was still in the air.
"What the –" were the last words Hiccup uttered as he promptly toppled over, falling over the edge of the bed and onto the wooden floor. She couldn't contain her laughter as she caught the exasperated expression on his face. He looked thoroughly unimpressed with his current situation, his limbs awkwardly spread out on the floor.
Toothless paraded over to him, softly swatting him with his tail. "Yeah, yeah, good job ruining the mood, bud," Hiccup murmured as he got back up to his feet. "Thanks for nothing, you useless reptile."
"Seems like he doesn't like to share you in the morning," she giggled, getting out of bed herself too and fixing her clothes and braid.
"Guess over five years of just me and him made him spoilt," Hiccup agreed as he gathered his stuff from the floor. The way he nonchalantly said that made her heart skip a beat. So to him, it wasn't just him and Toothless anymore.
After Hiccup had told Toothless he had to be patient as there'd be enough flying later that day, they made their way back into the village. Atali quickly greeted them as soon as she saw they were awake. She seemed less concerned than she had been the day before, although there was still a sense of worry about her face. But Astrid didn't feel she had to do something to relieve that. If anything, she understood why Hiccup hadn't wanted a lot to do with them over the past years.
They were offered breakfast, which they spent together, sitting on one of the village's wooden bridges. Afterwards, they checked on their Razorwhip, who they were assured would heal from her wounds with enough time and care. Deciding to leave her behind as she was in good care, they made their way to the outskirts of the village, preparing to leave. Hiccup didn't seem to want to stick around much longer. And she wasn't going to argue against that.
Atali came to see them off, her lips pursed in silence as she watched the two of them interact with their dragons. Hiccup almost outright ignored her as he checked the stirrups of Toothless' saddle, fiddling around with them to see if they were working properly. Eventually however, she called his name. "Hiccup."
He looked up at the Wingmaiden, crossing his arms and pulling up his eyebrow. After how affectionate he'd been the past few weeks, it was strange to her to see him give someone a cold shoulder this badly.
"I'm sorry," Atali spoke softly, the look in her eyes seeming genuine. "For the things we didn't do."
Hiccup nodded slightly. His eyes turned milder, but he still didn't give her a response.
"If you ever need anything," Atali continued, showing an uncomfortable smile. "We're here for you."
Hiccup smiled only a little as he nodded to her, but his gaze didn't copy the emotion. "And if you ever need me, you know where to find me."
"Thank you, Hiccup," Atali softly responded before turning to her. "It was good to meet you, Astrid." Her voice was heavy, loaded, her eyes conveying the same emotion.
She looked back at the Wingmaiden as she climbed on top of Stormfly, Hiccup watching her from the corner of his eyes. "Likewise."
With that last exchange of 'pleasantries', they took back off into the skies, leaving Wingmaiden Island behind them. It was strange, she felt, that they hadn't even spent a day there. These women were probably closer to Hiccup in their philosophies than any other tribe in the Archipelago. And she was sure Hiccup and they could help each other to a great extent. But he clearly did not want to have that kind of a relationship with them. And she couldn't blame him.
They flew as fast as they could, only taking breaks when they really had to. Hiccup was uncannily silent both in the air and on the ground, his thoughts somewhere else. She tried not to think too much of it; maybe he was just still tired.
They arrived on Phantom Island when night had already fallen, the volcano's interior dark and quiet. She landed back with Hiccup in his Nest, but he didn't pay attention to her as he got off Toothless, walking straight to his desk instead and going through some papers.
"Hiccup?" she tried, petting Stormfly before walking up to him.
"You asked Atali about me, didn't you?" his voice pierced the air, an iciness in it he hadn't aimed at her for weeks.
"I did," she told him, deciding that lying wouldn't do her any favours. Besides, she didn't feel she'd done anything wrong.
"Thought so," he murmured.
"Why is that bothering you now?" she asked. "You seemed fine this morning."
"It was the way she looked at you when we left. It's, well…" He dragged one of his hands through his hair, his body tense. "What did she say?"
"Nothing bad, if that's what you're worried about," she answered truthfully. She walked up to him, grabbing his shoulders and turning him towards her so she could see his face. There was a cold, a distance to his expression that seemed to soften as she intertwined his fingers with his.
"She told me they were the ones who found you after you'd been burnt. That they took care of you through your recovery, that..." She hesitated for a moment, swallowing the more painful details Atali had shared as she saw Hiccup's face twitch at her mention of the memory. He didn't need that. "That you left after they told you you couldn't stay with them permanently. And that your relationship hasn't been good since."
She considered telling him about the way she'd told the Wingmaiden off for that, but dropped it. She didn't think it'd be consoling. She softly rubbed the back of his hands with her thumbs, earning her a soft squeeze in response. "And she asked me to take care of you."
Hiccup instantly pulled away, his gaze turning into a scowl. "I don't need anyone to take care of me. So whatever you two are planning, don't bother."
"We're not planning anything, Hiccup," she told him sternly. "She simply asked me to do what she felt she hadn't properly done. She was worried about you."
"Bit late for that," he scoffed, his voice as icy as his glare. "I don't need you two fussing over me together."
"We're not working together."
"Sure, you're not," Hiccup sarcastically remarked.
She returned his glare. "Stop assuming things. Because that's exactly what I told her too. That I doubted you'd ever accept her apology, and that I didn't disagree with that."
Hiccup was about to open his mouth, but she held up her finger and silenced him. Seems like he needed to hear it after all. "Let me finish. I told her that I will never be able to understand that they let you leave while you were so badly hurt and traumatised. That it was wrong for them to give you the impression you'd found a home, only to take it away. That no rule, no tradition can justify abandoning a 16-year old boy."
"I left myself," Hiccup countered.
"And you can't be blamed for that. They never should've let you go. They should've taken care of you, but they didn't." She took a step back towards him, reaching up and wrapping her arms around his neck. "And I didn't tell her I'd take care of you because she asked me to. But because I want to."
She got up on her toes and kissed him then, long and deeply. It took Hiccup a few seconds to respond, eventually encircling her waist and pulling her closer to him. They were both panting as they separated.
"I really don't need you to worry over me," he told her. "I can take care of myself just fine."
"I know," she told him, a smile spreading across her face. "But I will. Blast me out of the sky for caring if you want to."
She giggled as he rolled his eyes at her for throwing his own quote back at him. Then, more serious, she continued: "I just wish you would've told me this on the way there. Would've saved me the trouble of asking." As much as hearing about Hiccup from someone else helped her create a more complete picture of him, she much preferred to hear his stories from him himself.
"Why?"
That took her off-guard. He'd been telling her stories as long as they'd known each other, without ever asking that question. It'd seemed so natural for him to share his history piece by piece in that way.
"I don't know…" she started. "It gives me context, I suppose."
The kind of cold laugh she hadn't heard since she'd come to Phantom Island escaped Hiccup's throat. "Because I definitely need context, don't I?"
She looked at him, finding a twisted and wry smile on Hiccup's face. It made her feel uncomfortable, and she took a few steps back, untangling herself from his grip. "What do you mean?"
"It's hard to accept me otherwise, isn't it?" he bit, the frigidity of his voice making its way into her heart. "Without my tragic backstory, I'm just the guy who haunts the island you love so deeply."
"Hiccup, where the Hel is this coming from?" she frowned, defensively wrapping her arms around herself.
"Sure, you claim to care for me now," Hiccup elaborated. "But care is not the same as pity, Astrid. Pity doesn't get me anywhere. Berk pitied me all my life. The Wingmaidens pitied me. But never enough to actually care."
"Hiccup, you're being unreasonable, you…" she started as she watched his expression darken.
"You didn't care for me until I showed you who I was. Don't think I don't know that," he spat. "The lost of heir of Berk, tragically scarred and twisted. But you had no choice but to team up with me and to come here, gradually growing to pity me. But that's not care, Astrid, that's not –"
"Oh shut up, Hiccup!" she shouted, her voice echoing through the cave. "That's not true, and you know it as well as I do! So I don't know what you're trying to do here, but I'm not going to let you drag me along in it!"
She walked up to him, eyes blazing. Hiccup backed away defensively, his eyes big as she fumed. "I don't care for people out of pity. I don't kiss people out of pity. I don't let people do the things you do to me out of pity. I do that because I want to." She poked his chest, stressing her words. "Because. I. Care. For. You."
"Okay, you may want that now, but –"
"Oh, don't even start it, dragon boy," she hissed, Hiccup's back hitting a wall as she cornered him further. "You think I only care for you now? Think again! Back in the arena –"
"You cared very much about getting my head on a stick, I know," Hiccup argued.
"Gods, for a guy whose main occupation requires him to be incredibly observant, you're so blind! Or stubborn and bitter, more likely!" she shot back. "Do I really have to remind you of that night in the arena, Hiccup? When you, out of nowhere, decided to show yourself and kissed me?"
She closed the distance between them even further, looking him straight in the eye. "I don't know what that meant to you, but it sure as Hel meant something to me. I kissed you back because I wanted to kiss you." She pressed her lips to his, hard and demanding, but drew away before he had the chance to reciprocate.
"Because even back then, I was drawn to you. And that didn't have anything to do with you being the heir to Berk. That didn't have anything to do with your past and all the horror and sadness you've had to go through. I didn't know all of that back then. Gods, I didn't even know what you looked like!" She scoffed, shaking her head. "I wanted you, was drawn to you because of you, because of your stories, because of everything you showed me about dragons, because of who youhad shown me you were."
"I didn't just come to the arena at night to see Stormfly!" she added. "But because I wanted to talk to you too! Because you fascinated me. And sure, that fascination turned into much more once I got to know who you actually were, but don't you dare to tell me that I had no interest in you back then. Because even though I refused to admit it to myself back then because I shouldn't have felt that way, I certainly did."
"You just wanted to know who the Phantom was," Hiccup countered, but his steely glare seemed to soften.
"I did," she nodded. "But not because I wanted to catch him. That was just what I told myself. I wanted to know who he was. Who you were."
She reached up to him, cupping his face. Internally, she sighed with relief as he let her. "Your stories, the stories that are actually about you, sure, it makes me feel terrible that you had to go through all of that." She softly stroked his scarred cheek. "I wish I could take it away, the pain you've gone through. Atali, she told me…"
She expected Hiccup to tense up again, but instead he wrapped his arms back around her, pulling her close as she continued speaking. "I thought I had a sense of how badly your burns must've hurt. But she told me how horrible it had actually been, that it hurt so much you asked them to kill you, to end your suffering…"
"Toothless needed me," he murmured, but she felt his hold on her tighten.
"But it's not about that. I don't want you to tell me those stories because they make me care for you. I just want to know them because they are about you. And there's still so much I don't know." She looked at him, meeting his soft green gaze. "I don't care for who you are because of them. I care for who you are in spite of them."
"A boy who keeps running away only to find new problems elsewhere," Hiccup remarked bitterly, but the spite in his voice seemed to have passed. "Marked for life by those choices."
She shook her head. "No. Anyone would've run away after going through that. Most people wouldn't even have been alive anymore, let alone have the resolve to continue to fight for what they believe in." She touched his cheek once more, trailing the lines on it. "Your scars, they –"
"Represent my failures," Hiccup completed, but he didn't move away.
"The opposite. They tell me how strong you are. Because you manage to live with them. In spite of them." She poked his chest once more. "And that's the Hiccup I care for. And no one, not the Wingmaidens, nor Berk, nor you can tell me to start, or stop caring. Because I already do. And you're just going to have to find a way to deal with that."
She only caught a glimpse of the flash in his green eyes before he kissed her, the touch of his lips rough and demanding. She buried her hands in his hair, pulling him even closer as his hands roamed her body, their tongues intertwining.
"I'm sorry I got mad at you," Hiccup murmured as they separated, burying his nose in her hair. "I shouldn't assume you're the same as everyone else. Nothing could be further from the truth, after all."
"Well, talking about my feelings isn't exactly my strongest point," she joked.
"You're already good at so many things," Hiccup chuckled. "And I'm not exactly exemplary myself."
She looked up at him, finding a playful glance in his eyes. "We're a mess, aren't we?"
"Couldn't put it better myself," Hiccup smiled before leaning in to kiss her once more. "I could tell you the rest of what happened with the Wingmaidens, but I think you've pretty much heard everything already."
She took his hands in hers, giving him a soft smile. "Just tell me what you want to tell me."
Hiccup seemed to think for a bit before he nodded and dragged her to the pile of furs that made up his bed. He sat down, holding open his arms and inviting her into his embrace, which she gladly accepted.
"They found me after I'd been burnt," Hiccup started as he wrapped his arm around her, allowing her to lean her head on his shoulder. "I honestly don't remember much of what happened after that. I spent such a long time not knowing if I was awake or asleep, constantly drifting between unconsciousness and the excruciating pain that'd shake me back into existence. The only things I remember are the sounds of my own screams, begging anyone who came close enough to make it stop, to end it… And Toothless' face."
She glanced at the dragon in the corner, whose ears jolted up at the sound of his name. He darted over to them, happily joining their cuddling session by putting his head on both of their laps. She smiled, softly scratching the dragon as Hiccup lovingly stroked his scales.
"I knew I couldn't leave him. I love him, and he needs me. He can't fly without me, so ending my life would've been the most selfish thing I could've done. So I tried my hardest to hold on. And eventually, I started to recover."
"That took a lot more time than I'd anticipated though," Hiccup continued. "I was scrawny enough already before I got there, but spending such a long time in bed had weakened the few muscles I did have. Even walking was problematic, but Toothless and the Wingmaidens were there for me every literal step along the way."
She took another look at the black dragon in her lap. Toothless didn't just need Hiccup. Hiccup needed him too. "It got me involved in daily life on the island. I'd watch the Wingmaidens take care of their Razorwhips and they eventually allowed me to help. And I was pretty good at it, I'd say. The only thing that set me apart from them was that I didn't have a dragon on my back myself. And of course, my gender."
She could feel Hiccup's arm around her tighten and she grabbed his other hand, softly stroking his skin. "The island had started to feel like home. And I figured I could stay around there, dedicate myself to helping out with the Razorwhips and exploring the nearby area on Toothless in my own time. Protect them from outside forces, venture out to islands they couldn't reach themselves if they needed anything. Things like that."
"But they wouldn't let you."
She could feel Hiccup's head move against the top of hers. "I told Atali that, told her about all of the things I could do to help out around the island. And that's when she decided to tell me that I could never be one of them. Because I'd been born as a man."
He scoffed. "I stayed around there for months and I'd been up on my feet again for weeks already. I enjoyed staying there, and I really wanted it to last. But of course, no one had ever told me that their hospitality was only temporary. Until then. And after that, even though she hadn't told me to leave right then, I just couldn't stay…"
"I get that," she concurred.
"I was done with it. Berk, Wingmaiden Island, the Archipelago, all of it. They'd only ever caused me pain. So I left for the fabled mainland of Europe, hoping to find a new home there, a place where Toothless and I could be accepted."
"But you never found it," she concluded. "Else you wouldn't have come back."
"Indeed," Hiccup softly nodded. "It took a trip to the other side of the world for me to realize I had to stop looking for a home. Because it required me to find people like me. Who'd be willing to accept Toothless too. And that simply doesn't exist. There are no people like me. So I had to make my own." She felt him lift his arms and watched as he gestured widely at the cave around them. "And here I am."
"I wouldn't exactly call this place homely though," she joked, flashing him a playful smirk.
"Oh?" Hiccup smiled back. "Care to share what exactly you think is wrong with it?"
"Well, for starters, you hardly have any furniture," she teased, reaching up to trace the lines of his face. From the corner of her eye, she spotted Toothless looking up at the two of them. He let out a displeased grumble before lifting himself up from their laps and moving away. For a dragon, he was absolutely stellar at reading human body language.
"Don't need any." Hiccup sealed her lips with a kiss before pushing her down into the furs. "I think this does the job."
"Having proper blankets and a pillow wouldn't hurt though," she smiled as she kissed him, her body arching into his as he traced her curves with his hands.
"You know, it's funny," Hiccup murmured as he traced her neck with his nose, his hot breath tingling on her skin. "Because I definitely recall buying that not too long ago. But I think someone stole them from me."
She smirked as Hiccup started to work on releasing her from her shoulder pads and her hood. Having his hands on her again brought back the memories of the night before. "I suppose I could move them up here."
Hiccup paused, looking up at her with a frown. "You don't need to do that, I can sleep like this just fine."
She rolled her eyes and grabbed his face, moving it up so she could look straight into his eyes. "I meant moving all of my stuff up here, silly."
"Oh." Hiccup's eyes grew bigger as he seemed to realize what she meant. She was about to make a comment about how she could almost see the gears in his head turn, but his lips were back on hers before she could, his kiss hard and bruising.
"Should I take that as a 'yes'?" she giggled after Hiccup released her to press a series of kisses to her cheek.
"Yes," Hiccup stammered as his lips found hers once more. "Gods, yes."
She kissed him back as enthusiastically. It was silly, felt silly for her to get as excited over them starting to sleep together after they were already so heavily sexually involved with each other. But for the both of them, it was as big a step as any. From them to us.
"Guess I'll go get my things then," she decided as they broke their kiss. She propped herself up on her elbows, trying to push Hiccup off her and herself to her feet.
"Not so fast," Hiccup told her, aptly using his height and strength advantage to push her back down. A lopsided smirk appeared on his face as he moved down, relieving her of her skirt and pulling at her leggings. "I'm going to give you a proper thank you first."
"Hiccup, we'll have time enough for –" She started, but her objections evaporated as his fingers found the spot between her legs, already damp with arousal. She let him seal her lips with a kiss as he rid her of her underwear, silencing the cry that escaped from her throat as one of his fingers found its way inside her.
And it wouldn't be the last time that night he drew that sound from her, or she from him, the two of them only taking a break to actually go and pick up her stuff. Until they finally fell asleep, naked, content and in each other's arms.
A/N: At least I didn't leave you guys with a cliffhanger! See you again in two weeks!