Learning New Languages

When they lifted off the rock straight into the sky, Astrid was relieved to be sitting behind Hiccup. The straps of her bag were across her body, the weight of it behind her. Her arms were around him, and she was glad he couldn't see her face. He was slightly taller than she was, and would have to turn around to see her expression, but she still rested her nose on his shoulder, hiding her mouth

She knew she affected Hiccup, but she hadn't realized how much. Not just kissing, which affected her, too, but… other things.

Going to find him before she'd finished combing her hair hadn't been a deliberate decision on her part. She hadn't meant to embarrass or unnerve him.

But she had.

And she was a bit ashamed of herself that she'd enjoyed it.

It was always a little fun to tease Hiccup, because his ears, or his face, always turned red and he so clearly wanted to hide his reaction and couldn't. She'd always been able to read him, to know what was going through his mind. Most of the time, anyway.

Today, though. Today was different. It had stung a little that he hadn't wanted her to see him attaching his leg, and she didn't understand. Why didn't he want her to see? Didn't he know that…?

She frowned. Maybe he didn't.

She lowered her head until her forehead rested on his shoulder. There was a lot she didn't know how to say.

She wanted to know if he'd every tried to draw her - to draw her face. She'd seen multiple versions of her braid in his notebook, which had made his entire face turn red, and had made her feel like she'd swallowed the hot springs, all warm and fizzy inside.

But she couldn't ask him. She wanted to, but she couldn't. Still so many questions between them that she couldn't ask, and it made her angry, a little. Normally she'd pick up her axe and charge through any fear. But charging through her fear felt like the wrong tactic, as if what she was trying to understand was too fragile for that.

She didn't like feeling unsure, though. His hesitation was confusing her, too. He'd look away, every time she expected him to look towards her. Sometimes they understood one another perfectly, and other times, it was impossible to figure out what he was doing, why it felt like he was pulling away. The language of their friendship, which had evolved over years of growing up together, was easy. The language of something other than friendship between them was foreign to her.

Astrid lifted her head and looked out over Toothless' wings as they flew. The cove where she'd first seen Toothless passed below them, and she moved her arms across Hiccup's chest, her palms flat against him. She could feel his heartbeat, strong and a little fast, and the tense ridges of his abdomen beneath her palms.

She realized then how much of her body was touching his, and her own heart sped up. Her legs were alongside his, her stomach pressed against his back, and she fought the urge to move her hands over him again.

Then he moved his left hand from Toothless' saddle, and pressed it against hers, over his heart. Her own stuttered a moment. He didn't move his hand from hers.

She turned her head and kissed the skin above his collar where his shoulder met his neck. He flinched and she felt it everywhere, his hand leaving hers to grab onto the saddle again. She closed her eyes, resting her forehead on his shoulder again.

"I'm sorry. I know you're ticklish," she said softly.

"Not ticklish there," he answered quickly. Too quickly, she guessed, because she could feel him freeze, holding himself perfectly still when he realized what he'd said.

She was quiet a long moment. Maybe they weren't so far apart. Maybe she did know a language that he understood, too.

She rested her chin on his shoulder gently. He gradually relaxed against her, and she tightened her arms around him. His left hand returned to hers, and he laced their fingers together, still over his heart.

She couldn't resist indulging herself, and attempting to communicate what she didn't know how to say.

Slowly, so he wouldn't notice immediately, she turned her head and ran her cheek softly alongside his neck, nuzzling him behind his ear. She felt the shiver move through his body, and his fingers tightened over hers. His hair was dry, and his skin was warm beneath the cold wind. She closed her eyes and caught the scent of the sky, the wind, and the hot springs as she slowly moved her lips over his skin.

She kissed the same spot again, the curve of his neck above the collar of his shirt, and he didn't flinch this time. His hand tightened over hers, and his breath became more uneven.

"You're very dangerous."

"Yup," she agreed, keeping her voice low.

He shook his head, shifted Toothless' direction slightly to the east, and put his other hand on her leg, which rested alongside his. He didn't move his hand, but her skin beneath his touch, beneath her leggings, burned like fire, and the sensation made her shift her position in the saddle, moving away, then closer to him. She leaned her head forward over his shoulder so she could see his face. He glanced over at her, with that half smile that made her feel so much contented joy.

Maybe she was more fluent than she thought. Astrid tightened her fingers around his, and rested her chin on his shoulder again.

"So are you," she said.

...

As they flew over the treetops toward Berk, she saw fires burning in various parts of the village. It was warm enough to stay outside later into the darkness, and their friends would probably have started their bonfire already.

"Can you drop me by my house, and I'll meet you by the fire?"

"Sure," he said, leaning to the right so Toothless would tilt over beneath them. She felt herself shifting off the saddle and feared for a second she'd fall off.

"Hiccup! I didn't mean literally!" Her fingers gripped his and she pulled her other arm tight against his stomach, feeling the muscles beneath her hand tighten as he laughed.

"You know I wouldn't," he laughed, as Toothless righted himself beneath them, flying level in a slow descent toward Astrid's home.

She leaned forward and bit Hiccup, not too lightly, on the shoulder.

"Hey!"

"You know I wouldn't," she replied. He murmured something, but she missed what he said. Before she could badger him into telling her, he shifted to the side so he could look at her.

"Where do you want us to land?"

She looked at him, and forgot all the words she knew. His cheeks were flushed from the cool wind, and his hair was pretty much going in every direction at once as usual, but he looked so content. Hiccup, flying on Toothless, with her arms around him and his hand holding hers against his heart, looked like happiness, so beautiful she didn't want to land at all.

But she had to - and it was time to eat, after all.

"Just above, on the hill."

He nodded, still grinning. "You got it. Toothless?"

Toothless growled and purred, sounding equally happy, his tongue hanging out, eyes looking back at the two of them. He circled down and landed on the slope above her house, where the grass was beginning to grow, wisps of pale green poking through the ice and slush.

Astrid started to pull her hand from his, but Hiccup held tight for a moment.

"Toothless? Come on, bud, you owe me."

Before Astrid could ask what he meant, Toothless grumbled at Hiccup, then lifted his wings high into the air, surrounding them both and blocking them from view.

Hiccup let go of her hand, shifted sideways on the saddle and turned toward Astrid so he faced her. He lifted his hand and brushed her hair back from her face with his fingertips. He smiled as he looked at her hair, which was probably windblown and as much a mess as his. Then he looked into her eyes.

He brought his lips to hers and kissed her, as deeply as before, only this time they weren't interrupted. She grabbed onto his shirt and pulled him closer, her heart racing when, a moment later, he pulled away, slowly. Then he smiled at her again, so close that she could not miss how his grin touched every part of his face.

He didn't say anything. But she understood. Mostly.

"See you in a bit?"

He nodded.

Toothless lowered his wings, and she jumped off. Hiccup and Toothless were back in the sky heading toward his home before she got to her door. She hurried toward her room upstairs, then hurried back outside.

The night wasn't over yet.