We return for irregularly scheduled love struck dorks.
(If I got anything wrong here, I'm sorry! I tried!)
-HTTYD-
Lillian stirred with a low groan, not quite hungover but regretting not drinking enough water the night before after a few glasses of spiced cider. She and Astrid were not really big on celebrating Christmas, given they lacked desire to spend time with their parents and didn't need an excuse to eat together or give each other gifts themselves.
But Hiccup's family held Yuletide celebrations, and the twins were invited to all of them. They were gifted baskets of food and bottles of homemade cider by multiple people, and Hiccup had taught them how to make several things that they too gifted out, like caraway cakes and edible yule logs. Hiccup even showed them family recipes he'd been taught by his grandparents who had learned from their grandparents and son. Recipes for stuff like yuletide pork pies and something he called fried honeycakes, that were divine and a little addictive.
"Are you allowed to show these recipes to us?"
Hiccup pouted slightly in thought, stirring spices into the meat mix for the next batch of pies.
"Well, yeah. It's a family recipe. You two are family. That's why you're invited."
The twins shared a look, then both found themselves grinning dopily at Hiccup.
"What?"
"You. We're just..."
"Appreciating you."
He offered his toothy smile in return, tasting the mix and humming happily.
They took every opportunity to kiss Hiccup under the mistletoe that hung all around, learned from one of Hiccup's wizened old aunts how to make their own decorations out of ivy and holly. Lillian even saw Hiccup hand-weaving baskets with his mother, both laughing as Stoick placed sprigs of holly on their head. It was so far removed from the sterile traditions of the same decorations dragged out of the loft, the relatives who didn't like them coming over for a meal everyone ate too much of but didn't really enjoy. After proper spiced cider, Lillian and Astrid agreed they were ruined for shop-bought mulled wine.
"My work here is done!"
Stoick proclaimed at that, pulling both Astrid and Lillian into hugs before he headed off to presumably get stuck into one of the multiple meat roasts waiting around to be devoured.
"What are these?"
Astrid quizzed, eyeing the plate of bright orange iced cookies.
"Sun cookies. This is a celebration of the winter solstice, the point at which the dark half of the year gives control back to the light. So we have moon cookies for the dark side, and sun cookies to celebrate the sun coming back."
It would probably be a while before they picked up all the traditions and reasons behind them, but that didn't stop anyone including them as everyone headed out for the yule log burning. Hiccup drew them both in to a cuddle, nobody seeming to even pay their polyamorous relationship any mind by then, the shock worn off since the family birthday party and everyone mellowed out by their night to celebrate being halfway out of the dark.
Lillian found it fitting; they were almost done with the darkness of secrecy themselves, and nights like that one only proved to her they were doing the right thing. She was happy to give up bread sauce and candycanes for sun cookies and solstice soup. And shedding false family facades for the warm, cinnamon-scented comfort around her now was a no brainer.
"Did we just become pagans?"
"I don't think you're obligated to convert, no. But if you want, next year you're welcome to the Samhain celebrations."
"Were we not this year?"
Hiccup shrugged, faint wince on his face.
"Not really. Nobody would have stopped me bringing you, but Yule is a more traditional time to invite new people to our celebrations I guess? At least with my family. While Samhain is often observed in smaller groups, but as a lot of my family aren't religiously strictly adherent, we try to... celebrate in other ways. We appreciate nature and remember our dead. You'd have heard stories of our ancestors. But you were basically adopted when aunt Gothi taught you her way, and definitely welcome to our Samhain next year."
"So... you don't celebrate Halloween?"
Hiccup shook his head.
"I buy bags of sweets for trick or treaters, and the decorations have kind of bled over so nobody who isn't observant knows much difference. But no, we don't celebrate Halloween."
He might not believe in every Pagan deity that the traditions themselves were for, but it was clear to them that Hiccup's family felt observing the same traditions their ancestors had done was important. Lillian hoped he hadn't felt he had to hide that from them until now - he hadn't mentioned it last winter either. But Hiccup certainly seemed happier for it all, unlike Lillian's vague memories of everyone elses post-Christmas slump when she was younger.
"This cider isn't like that stuff that had Astrid almost flat on her ass before is it?"
Hiccup shook his head, snacking on a cookie from last night as a pre-breakfast treat it seemed.
"No. It's an old recipe that nobody really deviates from. I wouldn't drink it like water, but it is meant to be enjoyed. Just not before driving or operating heavy machinery."
"I will bear that in mind."
He nodded, filling up the kettle for morning brews.
"So, did you enjoy it?"
"It was amazing. Truly, incredible."
"Yeah. And everyone was so nice to us."
Hiccup chuckled.
"They're nice people. Even Snotface has to behave himself at Yule or face the wrath of aunt Gothi's staff."
Lillian found herself laughing, remembering what she'd thought was an oversized walking stick at the side of the old lady's chair, those small gnarled hands of hers still perfectly capable of forming wreaths and perfect twists in her ivy.
"Gothi isn't your dads sister, right?"
"No, she's my grandpas sister. But there's so many of us now that remembering who's a great and who's a half or step... we gave up on anything more descriptive."
Drinks and breakfasts later, they exchanged a few gifts to round off the celebrations, took a walk to appreciate coming out of the other side of the solstice, and then that was it really. Still, it left Lillian feeling far more warmth and contentment than Christmas ever had, and she and Astrid both had a couple of baskets of food and drink to get through, which Hiccup went through explaining the right storage and shelf life of each.
December 25th came and went with nothing more remarkable than the standard fare of movies trotted out every year on TV, and honestly Lillian didn't feel like she was missing anything. They all had a few days completely empty, no jobs or coursework, just quiet time for the three of them after the Yule celebrations. Valka dropped by for a visit, as did Stoick, and as always Hiccup's parents treated them like part of the family.
Valka even brought gifts - Lillian got her own set of Valka's storybooks, autographed to her personally with a hand-drawn bookmark. Astrid got a years membership to the climbing centre she'd only mentioned having her eye on joining in passing, and both Hofferson twins were ecstatic. Since his parents had insisted on splitting the cost of Hiccup's upcoming university tuition, he'd insisted on them not getting him anything other than the typical gifts of food and drink for Yule.
Of course, they gave him things anyway. Small, practical - new sturdy boots from his father, a warm jumper and blanket from his mother.
Hiccup joked that the blanket would come in handy when the twins stole the covers, only to realise he'd as much as admitted he wasn't the one sleeping in the middle. Valka was quiet for a minute, everyone waiting with barely a breath. Then she smiled, let out a soft laugh.
"Not the jumper?"
There was a collective relaxing; being quite sure Valka knew and accidentally almost admitting as much were two different things, but it seemed to have slid past without incident.
"You underestimate how much they steal my clothes. I'm putting this on now just so I've had the chance to wear it!"
Astrid stuck her tongue out, giggling as Hiccup swapped the jumper he had on for the new one.
"Nah, if we leave that one alone you can't complain when we take your others. It's a win win!"
Hiccup rolled his eyes, but allowed the twins to borrow his new blanket which was admittedly very snuggly. Apparently, where Valka lacked in cooking she excelled in knitting. And writing. Definitely writing.
"That means we're gonna have two full sets of your moms books when we live together you know."
"Yeah, but me and Lillian will have our own bookcases. It'll just make mom look more famous."
Astrid sighed dramatically.
"Nerds."
Lillian pinched her under the blanket, grinning when Astrid yelped and jumped.
"Hey!"
"What?"
Astrid glared, but didn't answer other than to slide a hand out of their cosy perch for a biscuit. Valka laughed watching them, sliding an arm around her son and squeezing him in a hug.
"It was lovely to have all three of you with us for Yule. Everyone was quite taken with you, and you already know those pies of yours stole the show a little."
"Astrid and Lillian helped with those, so it was a group show stealing effort."
"And by help, he means we sampled many of those honey cake things. Just to make sure they came out alright."
Stoick had equally complimentary things to say about their presence at the celebrations, enthusing about how they had joined so eagerly. He gave both Astrid and Lillian the same boots he'd given Hiccup as gifts too, which Hiccup insisted was a pretty long-term investment from him.
"Mine lasted me four years, and that was wearing them to work. Neither of you are going to put that kind of daily stress on them, so they ought to last you a good while."
"And now ya match!"
The twins both burst out laughing; it was a while since anyone made that sort of quip to them.
"Yes. I wonder what that's like."
"We've never matched before!"
When the holiday season was over and Lillian headed back to university, she realised the difference in the way other people talked about their holidays to hers. Everyone was fussing about weight gain from Christmas excess, spending too much on gifts and seeing people they didn't like.
"So what did you do for Christmas Lillian?"
Someone asked as she sat making notes from a textbook, looking up to expectant and curious faces.
"I didn't. But Astrid and I went to a Solstice celebration, and it was really good."
"A what celebration?"
"Solstice. It's a celebration older than Christmas, it's celebrating the longest night of the year because it means the days will start getting longer."
And, Lillian thought to herself, a realisation of how close the darkness was to lifting. Freedom was so close, and she could hardly wait.
Hiccup didn't think they were serious about the cards. Then he realised he ought not to have doubted them, especially given Astrid was the sort of girlfriend who got a t-shirt made with the words "I'm Horny" written across the front in bold, noticeable print. That exact t-shirt currently lay on the floor, discarded when Lillian was successful in answering Astrid's question.
"Come on, you got this Lils."
She had a couple of months yet, but Lillian was pushing herself with grit and determination to do her absolute best and it meant Astrid and Hiccup's jobs were to juggle helping her study and keeping her from wearing herself out. Hiccup kept her fed, Astrid dragged her to the gym for a break sometimes and both sat down to help her with her work. Hiccup understood the intricate formulas and so he could work through those with her, while Astrid did things like look up exam questions and find the pertinent points for answers, or made flash cards of keywords for Lillian to define.
They gave her space when she needed to do her dissertation, though she wasn't the type to need absolute silence all the time so they could go about life nearby so long as they let her work in peace.
"Thank you, both of you."
Lillian sighed as she settled on the sofa, immediately hugged by Astrid.
"For what?"
"I know I can't be easy to deal with, and you guys are honestly keeping me sane right now. I don't know what I'd do without you. Either of you."
Astrid smiled at her sister, nuzzling her cheek until Lillian giggled. Hiccup felt his heart swell with love just watching them, one instinctively knowing what the other needed to make them smile. He had yet to lose that sense of feeling incredibly lucky they'd chosen to invite him in, that they'd navigated all those early tricky bits of the relationship to reach this comfortable, settled state. They spent more nights all together than not, a good warm up to living together in a few months time really.
"We know how hard you're working Lils. You're doing great. I'm so proud of you, you massive nerd."
As if to punctuate her point, Astrid licked Lillian's cheek and grinned unapologetically as her sister protested, wiping at her face.
"You're so gross!"
"And you're weird. We exchange bodily fluids on a very regular basis, but a tongue on your face is too much?"
Chuckling at the pair, Hiccup reached for his drink, taking a swallow while they playfully bickered back and forth. It almost always dissolved into playfights or tickle fights, the twins taking pretty much any reason to touch each other really and there were always giggles and swearing, struggling to gain advantage. Astrid was a little stronger, but Lillian pressed every advantage she knew and Hiccup found them highly entertaining.
Astrid came out on top, successfully pinning Lillian at last with a triumphant cry, claiming victory kisses from pouting lips. Hiccup imagined things may well have escalated, but the timer to remind him to check on dinner interrupted them and Astrid was distracted by the thought of food, though Hiccup was aware she could also be distracted from food by sex. While dinner went down as they relaxed in front of the TV for a bit, Astrid sat playing with Lillian's hair, braiding it loosely before undoing her work and starting over. It often made her sister sleepy, leaving Lillian pliant and soft in Astrid's lap.
She let out a groan of discontent after a little while, trying to sit up and being pulled back down by Astrid.
"I need to studyyyyy."
"A few hours won't hurt. Stay."
Reluctantly sighing, Lillian settled down again. Astrid smiled, continued stroking her hair until the soft, lazy state returned. She winked over her sisters half-asleep form at Hiccup, clearly pleased with herself for getting Lillian to take a break. Lillian managed to wriggle free for an hours reading before bed, but she was definitely less stressed out than before about it and settled down to sleep quite easily, content in her spot between Hiccup and Astrid, though in winter there was more huddling for warmth and Hiccup woke quite often to her fidgety self all but completely draped over his chest. He didn't really mind; it was sweet to see and he didn't struggle to fall back to sleep.
Lillian's work ethic was already starting to pay off though - she had a conditional job offer for after graduation, which also helped narrow down the sort of area they would need to look at moving to, somewhere between Hiccup's possible university and her workplace. Astrid was happy to leave it at those two parameters - she could find work anywhere there were gyms, really, so if she had to quit her current place it wasn't the end of the world. Hiccup realised they were really heading into proper adult relationship territory - not that they hadn't talked about grown up things like kids and living together before, but now a time where they shared bills and might have to explain their living situation to people was very close to happening.
-HTTYD-
You're growing up Hiccup! And doing a much better job of it than me, luckily.
