A Changing World
Act 2
Chapter 19: Reflection, Past & Present
A/N: And in this chapter: drunken teens, out of control pregnancy-related hormones, conflict and a fair amount of Hiccstrid smut (which is inspired somewhat by Astrid's Dare by Karate Koala. Go check his stuff out!) at the end as a result of the hormones.
This chapter is in the region of twelve thousand words. My longest chapter to date.
I do hope you all enjoy it!
…
"I'm Queen of the castle! I'm Queen of the castle!" cackled Nora.
"Maybe, but I'm the best fighter here!" replied Yang.
"In your dreams, blondie!" shouted Velvet.
Qrow groaned at the noise. "Quiet down!" He shouted at the group, only to go ignored by everyone.
"Oh, I've got my axe and I've got my mace and I love my wife with the ugly face, I'm a Viking through and through!"
Qrow glanced at the ceiling, where the singing was coming from the room directly above.
At least he's not in the room with us. I pity whoever is keeping an eye on him. Probably Port. The singing must be near deafening up there. Also, how unfortunate must one be to keep an eye on Coco, Fox, Weiss and all of Jaune's sisters. Oobleck or Tai must be either bored out of their minds or completely fed up, thought Qrow
Qrow surveyed the scene. Ruby was giggling away beside Yang, while in a one-sided bear hug courtesy of Yatsuhashi from the other side.
Astrid was in a similar situation, with Hiccup attempting to hug and kiss her on the lips, the leather armour he wore squeaking slightly as he leaned in, only to get gently denied by a black leather-clad hand, as Astrid attempted to avoid moving around too much, her matching armour squeaking like her fiancés' currently was if she did.
Were she drunk like Hiccup, she may have willingly succumbed to his advances by now, but her pregnancy, of course, prevented that from happening.
Meanwhile, Ren was stuck in philosophy mode.
"If a pack of Beowolves attack a village, but nobody is around to help out, did it ever really happen?" He asked the room as a whole, but got no answer, receiving only a look of confusion and mild amusement on Astrid's part, which went unseen by him as he faced away from her.
Jaune was also the focus of unwanted attention, from Arslan in his case, but instead of a hug, the girl's hands were rubbing away at his chest. An enviable position, Qrow thought to himself, as he stood with a foot pressed against a wall, observing the scene with his whiskey filled tankard in hand.
Jaune didn't agree, also trying to push the girl's hands away, and looking increasingly uncomfortable as time went on.
Buzzkill, thought Qrow as he took a swig from his tankard.
"How can you possibly enjoy this sort of thing?" Muttered a voice that came from his right.
He looked over to see a head of white descending the stairs there. "Ah, decided to join us, Weiss? I thought you were sleeping or something by now."
She held up a bottle of cider. "I considered it. But then I decided not drinking would be enough restraint. But you're dodging the question, Qrow."
"Yeah yeah. I'll tell you, but there's a long story involved."
"No time like the present. Go ahead," she told him.
"Alright. When I first was acquainted with alcohol, it was during my third year at Beacon. I'm sure you've heard the stories plenty of times now. Mountain Glen. But it wasn't for me. It was for Oobleck and his last remaining team member. Summer; Ruby's mother. She found him in tears and forced Tai and I to help him as best as we could. Tai did the talking; his speciality, while I simply offered him and his partner a bottle of some cheap whisky my sister found somewhere. Eventually, I got curious and tried a little."
"Then you got hooked?" Weiss guessed, nose upturned at him.
"No, my team wouldn't have let me, and a part of me would have hated them if they did. No, that came years later; when my sister got it into her head that turning her back on her team and her family was the right thing to do. That was when I drank for real, and nobody was around to stop me. How could they? Tai had not been married to my sister for only a few years and Summer was her best friend. Not to mention Tai now had Yang to care for, all on his own. At the time, we decided to drink together, after trying and failing to stop Raven from leaving. That was when drinking became more of a habit, but I wasn't completely hooked just yet. Also, within a month of that happening, Tai divorced Raven and married Summer."
"What happened next?" Asked Weiss. Her tone was soft and curious, with no trace of scorn in her voice. Glancing her way, he found her expression one of wonder as she regarded him, paying no mind to the others in the room.
Qrow looked over at the group once more as he thought of what to say next.
Something had clearly changed during his chat with Weiss. Jaune now, despite his flushed face, did not look quite so uncomfortable, or more accurately, was now used to the attention and was no longer fighting the girl, with Arslan still rubbing his chest but having taken to sitting in his lap.
On another sofa, Ren was no longer talking, being on the verge of passing out, as evidenced by his half-lidded eyes. Also, Astrid had Hiccup figured out, knowing that a jab to the side would make him stay away.
Huh, he must be ticklish, thought Qrow.
Moving onto the last sofa, he noticed Ruby was now asleep in Yatsuhashi's arms, with the tall man gently stroking her hair. Lastly, Qrow realised that the shouting match between Yang, Nora and Velvet had all but ceased, even as the trio continued to make threatening gestures at each other.
"Qrow?" Weiss murmured, which drew his attention back to her.
"Oh, where was I? Ah yes. A few more years passed after Raven's departure and Yang's subsequent birth, her birth mother in all but blood; Summer Rose, passed away on a mission I, Tai and even Ozpin had advised her not to do. At the very least not without one of us. But as Tai was busy teaching at Signal as well as helping to raise Yang and Ruby, and I was on an Airship heading back to Vale and therefore unable to really stop her, she slipped away that same night and by the time anyone found out where she was going, she was already on a flight to Mistral. Within a week after setting foot there, she was found dead on some dusty back road in the middle of the wilderness. I will say this though: what my sister did that day; managing to recover her, no, our friend intact and portalling to me so that Tai and I could find her, was the best thing she ever did. It was also the last time I saw Summer's best friend." Qrow paused for long enough to take a swig from his tankard. "Guess what happened next?"
"You and Taiyang got drunk again?"
"That's right. Raven got drunk that day as well. Give the girl a prize," interjected another voice, this time coming from Qrow and Weiss's left.
"Hey Tai," muttered Qrow. "Done talking with Port, Oobleck and Nicholas I see."
"Yeah, they're going to go find a hotel later, as there isn't enough room here. Also, Nicholas and his family are going to head home for the same reason. When I left, Gobber and Port were talking about axe blades of all things. I won't judge though, as it means no more singing."
"Oh I've got my mace and I've got my bludgeon
And fifteen Berserkers locked in my dungeon
I'm a Viking through and through!" Gobber started singing again, now joined by Port.
All three cringed before Qrow looked at Taiyang. "You were saying?"
The blond man groaned. "Hiccup and Astrid were right. Remind me never to let anyone give Gobber alcohol, or leave it in his vicinity. Anyway, I heard you giving Weiss your life story."
Qrow shuddered. "Not quite. That is definitely too inappropriate to bring up with Ruby in the room. No, I was telling her about when and why I started drinking. She seems quite into it."
"Oh, well let me give you the condensed version then Weiss. He drinks because of a bunch of depressing events that he thinks his semblance - bad luck - has had some involvement in causing. It might be the case, it might not. But at some point after losing my first wife and my second wife dying horribly, he made a conscious decision to keep drinking."
"What he said. So to answer your question about how I enjoy drinking. I don't. Not necessarily. It is simply an attempt to forget all that has happened to my friends in my life. So listen to me when I say this: treasure your friends. And if you do decide to drink, make sure it doesn't become a habit like it has for me. Because if it does become a habit for you, even with a team like yours that is… mostly intact. You'll need help then, and alcohol won't be that help. Now excuse me, that's two people I've given advice to. At this rate, I'll turn into Oz. Goodnight you two."
They both watched him head off. "And there he goes," snorted Taiyang before turning his attention to the scene before them. "Well, Weiss. We've got many drunk teenagers to keep an eye on and make sure they all get to bed." He eyed Yang and Nora in particular, Velvet officiating, as they engaged in an arm wrestle across the table that was situated in front of the sofas, at the very centre of the room. "Welcome to your worst nightmare. Alternatively titled, Raven and Summer, having a dispute."
Weiss looked at them, then at him. "That doesn't seem so bad."
"I meant earlier. I could hear them shouting from upstairs."
"Ah."
"What do you say we leave Nora, Velvet and my daughter to their impromptu arm wrestle for now, while we move our couples and couples-to-be to bed?" He asked, gesturing at Hiccup and Astrid, Jaune and Arslan and Ruby and Yatsuhashi, chuckling as he pointed out the latter pair.
"Sounds satisfactory. Then Ren next, I take it?"
Taiyang shook his head. "Rule number one of dealing with drunk teenagers. Never separate team members when they're drunk, especially the volatile ones. I speak from experience on this. Trying to separate Summer and Raven when Qrow and I found them snuggled together on graduation night did not end well. Trust me on that. Let's go."
"You're more experienced than I am in this. I shall defer to you. You're the boss," said Weiss as they approached Jaune and Arslan first.
Just then, a click was heard, resulting in Nora falling back and losing the arm wrestle.
Nora sat up and looked at her hand, finding Yang's prosthetic arm had ejected from its socket.
"Ahhh!" Nora threw the arm away, horror on her face and Yang caught it, before collapsing from laughter at the sight of her opponent.
"My turn now!" demanded Velvet.
"Bring it on!" challenged Yang, as she slid her prosthetic arm back into place and Nora retreated to her armchair to watch the next match.
Taiyang turned back to Jaune and Arslan after watching the events unfold, proceeding to slap each individual in the face to wake them up.
"Bwaa?"
"What? What's going on?" Said Jaune and Arslan in turn.
"Weiss and I are trying to get you lot to bed since it's getting late and I don't plan on keeping an eye on you all for much longer, as I want my sleep. Since you're more coherent, I want you to take Juliet there to bed, Romeo." He told Arslan. "There you can do whatever you wish to him, within reason. That's an order by the way."
Arslan blushed and nodded. "Yes sir." Then she glanced down at Jaune whose lap she was sitting on and blushed even harder.
Click!
Thunk!
"Ow…" muttered Velvet.
"I win!" Declared Yang.
"Rematch! And no more cheating!" Roared Velvet, right afterwards.
"You're on! Pass me my arm!"
Click!
"Would you mind getting up now?" Jaune asked Arslan nervously after both had watched the commotion involving Yang and Velvet.
"Oh, uh yes!" She shot off of his lap as if her rear were on fire, face and ears almost literally aflame. "We should head to bed together I guess," she muttered shyly.
Jaune nodded and got up before they set off together, stumbling every few steps as they went.
As the pair scurried off, Taiyang turned back to watch Yang and Velvet, just as the former brought her arm down onto the table again, winning against Velvet for the second time after winning against Nora. "Pack it up you three! That's enough for today."
"But dad!"
"No buts! Unless you want an impromptu haircut right now?"
Yang sighed and got up, heading for the stairs. "Goodnight, Velvet. Nora."
"Goodnight," they chorused before each of them slowly rose and headed up the stairs after her.
"You wanted them to get together, didn't you?" Asked Weiss.
He said nothing as he pulled out his scroll then sent off a quick text. Smirking at the reply he got, the pocketed the device. "I have no idea what you mean," he then replied. A glance at his face on her part revealed a mischievous glint in his eye. Suddenly Weiss wasn't so sure of the legitimacy of his words.
"Sure you don't," she drawled.
"But enough about my wishes, real or perceived, Weiss. Less talking now. We've got more work to do."
"About that… would you mind letting everyone know I've gone to Atlas when they wake up? There's something I need to do personally."
Taiyang regarded her with a raised eyebrow. "Uh, sure thing. I feel like I should ask what you're going to do there though."
"Basically, I'm going to ruin the day of some people I know," Weiss said bluntly
"Right, in that case, the less I know, the better."
…
When Hiccup awoke the morning after the party, he found his head was being pounded like a drum from the inside and his arms were wrapped around Astrid's waist, her legs tangled with his under the bedsheets.
"Ow! Never drinking Ale or any alcohol ever again. It's not worth it," he groaned.
She stirred not long after him, sitting up beside him and looking around the room before focusing on him completely.
Hiccup sat up against the headboard and sent her a greeting when he returned her gaze. "Hello, Milady."
She stretched, arching her bare back and eliciting a long yawn before she looked his way and returned a greeting. "Hey, babe- Are you alright?"
For he had clamped a hand over his mouth.
Shaking his head in response before swallowing, he spoke a minute later. "I feel like I was going to be sick there. At least yesterday's pizza nearly came up. Probably not a good idea to kiss me anytime soon."
Astrid wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Noted. No kissing."
Then he yawned. "That party last night was wild though, wasn't it?"
"What part of the party do you mean, babe?" She asked, smirking softly.
"All of it, but particularly the last part involving lips and this bed after Taiyang and Weiss sent us here."
"Mhm. Brings back memories. Like the time you decided to squeeze my butt back in Vale all those months ago. Or how many times you tried to kiss me on the lips last night."
Hiccup's eyes closed and he blushed. "Can we not talk about that, please? I don't want to think about what I did when I was drunk. Particularly when we're both naked right now."
"You'll get over it. Besides you weren't that forceful and it didn't take me long to find a way to keep you at bay. I might have enjoyed doing it."
Hiccup's eyes opened and he stared intently at her. "What was that last part?"
"Anyway," she moved on, pretending she hadn't heard him, while also smirking internally. "What are we going to do when we get back to Berk? Stay for a while?"
"I guess so. Why?"
"Viggo and Ryker. Gobber has a score to settle with them, remember?"
"Well, they've already been locked up on Outcast Island. Gobber can't exactly do anything to them now."
"You're right. Maybe I'm just being paranoid but I have a feeling that they'll escape if they haven't already."
"Well, I'll be sure to ensure they're still locked up when we get back to Berk again."
"Good," following that, a comfortable silence formed between them.
"Astrid?"
"Hmm?" She glanced over to find his expression pensive.
"When did you fall for me? I've been in love with you for years, which I'm sure everyone on Berk knew, but you never seemed to think about me the same way. When did that start to change?"
"I'm not sure exactly when, but I know I missed my childhood friend a bit during those two years and I knew I'd started to fall for you before you decided to grab my butt," a blush spread across her face as she said that. "Why did you do that anyway?"
"You remember back when we were fifteen and you came to the forge on Berk while Gobber was out?"
"Vaguely. I needed my axe sharpened after using trees as target practice, right?"
"Yeah. Well anyway, you went into the back room and looked around at some of my designs for weapons to try and kill dragons. You didn't go all the way in, just kinda stood in the doorway," Hiccup paused and blushed. "With your butt in clear view as I worked on your axe. It- let's just say that I was distracted by something while I had your axe against that grindstone."
Astrid stared flatly at him when she figured it out. "You're telling me the reason you rebalanced the axe blade was because you broke it while staring at my butt."
"Got it in one,"
"You're lucky to still have both hands. Don't you forget it, Haddock," she continued with a serious look.
"I've noticed you checking me out before, Milady," he said flatly, unperturbed by her expression.
Her serious expression disappeared entirely before she answered him, replaced with a smirk that conveyed something akin to playful mischief. "You're damn right. I've never seen a more perfect behind. Feel free to look at mine as much as you want."
"Acknowledged, Milady. I'll certainly do that."
"Good. Moving on now, I can think of one thing I want to do just now. Hold out your hands," she instructed, bringing her hands closer to his.
Hiccup shrugged and followed suit, meeting her halfway, only for her left hand to purposely brush against his right side.
"What are you d-doing?" He gasped.
"Having some fun," she replied with a teasing smirk. "I remember you being ticklish when we were younger. Clearly, that hasn't changed, even with your lean muscles, as I found out when you tried to kiss me last night." After saying this, she purposely brushed both of his sides with her hands.
"Ah!" He yelped and tried to move away, but her hands went after him, causing him to stutter every time her hands reached his sides. "M-my h-head feels like someone t-took a hammer-r to it a-and I m-might-t be s-sick for r-real!. M-mercy, Milady!" He cried, tears of mirth forming in his eyes.
She only continued to smirk mischievously at her betrothed. "Never, Haddock! You're mine!"
"Then it's war!" He declared breathlessly, darting his hands out to return fire and tickle her in turn.
In the moments that followed, the pair wriggled, squirmed, grabbed at errant hands, yelped and gasped as they fought the other, with neither being able to fully force the other into submission as they moved around above their bed.
Then suddenly Astrid was the winner, opting to push him back against the headboard of the bed and quickly swing her body out of the covers and over his lower abdomen to straddle him, even in the midst of further tickling which came to an end when she took hold of both hands and held onto them tightly, forcing him to surrender to her.
Both were lightly panting as a result of their playful spar, with a light atmosphere present in the aftermath.
It transformed into something else pretty soon though, as Astrid felt a certain part of her fiancé rising of its own accord, brushing against her womanhood, though not flesh on flesh, as the bed sheet was a barrier between them. She gasped and drew back, staring incredulously at him, though he didn't seem to notice her eyes dilating in the process, to her relief. "Seriously Hiccup? Don't you think this is a bit soon after all we did last night?"
He blushed, but his voice didn't carry much embarrassment when he replied with a lopsided grin. "Not like I can help it when you're as beautiful as you are. Who knew you being completely naked wouldn't help with this sort of thing?"
She swatted at his bare chest; the bed sheet covering everything up to his pectorals. Rolling her eyes playfully at him, she continued. "You muttonhead. That reminds me of the fun we had after Taiyang and Weiss told us to go to bed, though."
Hiccup smiled. "Uh, huh. Fun is the correct word, Milady."
"Thanks for reminding me, babe. Now there's something I want to do for you." She scooted closer to him, before bringing her hands up and taking hold of his russet hair, bunching together a few strands and twisting them.
"What are you doing?" He asked, craning his neck to try and see.
She paused, cupping his head with both hands to stop him moving around. "Making a small braid with your hair. Hold still babe."
"Why?"
"Because you're mine. I've wanted to do this for a while; since you had Gobber make those betrothal necklaces in fact. But we've been quite busy as you know."
"Yeah, making stables for our dragons at the Branwen tribe camp, and dealing with Merlot and Banesaw and everything else." He paused when she finished off the braid but still held it in her left hand. "How much longer?"
"Just hold still, babe," she responded, pulling the tie for her own braid out with her right hand, resulting in her hair falling around her shoulders like a golden curtain before she resumed her important task. Then a few seconds later she leaned back to regard her work and smiled. "There, now you're mine."
"You used your hair tie to make me a braid?"
"I like to think of it as claiming you, but basically yes."
"What are we going to do with your hair? You never let it down like that."
She grinned at him. "Consider it your lucky day, babe."
He cocked his head to the side, seemingly curious. "What brought this on, Astrid? You're not usually like this…"
"Let's just say I felt like it and leave it at that," she would rather die than tell him that his manhood brushing her womanhood had started a fire within her, like a raging inferno in her core. No, she would tell him, and perform the horizontal tango as he put it, but not at the current moment.
"It's a good thing I'm not the heir to Berk anymore. I'd be in so much trouble right now."
"Yeah, especially if my parents were still alive and found out I was with-child but not married yet."
"If that was the case, I'm sure Asger and Ingrid Hofferson would tear me in half."
"I think that's a slight exaggeration. My mother would probably be on your side. But my dad would make sure you'd lose another limb. Not to mention what the rest of Berk would think."
"Oh, we'd be blood eagled for sure," he commented with a half-smile.
Astrid returned his smile. "Indeed." In the next moment, they both started laughing, which ended a few seconds later when Astrid moved over to lay beside him.
She lay her head on his shoulder. "Thank you, babe."
He glanced her way. "For what?"
"For being you, even after two years here."
"You're welcome? I guess…"
"What was your time here like? You told me that you've spent time at Yang and Ruby's house before, on that day you came up with a plan to take down the dragon Queen. But I'm curious what you did besides training to fight and occasionally make weapons."
He looked her way again. "How about I try and show you what I did, instead?"
She smiled at him again. "Fine with me, babe."
He got off of the bed and strode over to his abandoned shirt. Putting it on, he spoke again. "Good. Now I'll need to speak to Qrow or Weiss. But first, we need to get dressed. First things first though, I want you to know you're just as much mine as I am yours."
She nodded. "Mhm. All yours. But I think I was yours from the moment I agreed to become your betrothed."
"Then why the braid?"
"I don't know. Makes it more official I guess. Anyway, let's get dressed now. I want to see what you want to show me," she said as she got up and proceeded to don her clothes, finishing by putting on her black helmet but keeping the visor down.
"As you wish Milady," he muttered, following suit with his black leather armour and helmet with the visor down. Once dressed, Hiccup turned to her, offering his leather-clad arm. "Shall we go, Milady?"
Astrid linked her arm with his. "We shall."
Now walking arm in arm, they stepped out of their room, Hiccup taking the lead to search for Qrow, who they found upstairs, lounging on a sofa with his black hair an unruly mass, covering part of his face and concealing one of his red eyes from view.
"Morning you two," Qrow greeted, swiping his hair out of his face upon seeing them approach.
"Hello," they chorused as they drew near. After sitting down, Hiccup asked. "Can I ask you for a favour?"
"Depends on what it is. Also, I see you're keeping your hair down for a change."
"Yeah, I felt like it was time to do it," said Astrid.
"Right, and Hiccup's braid had nothing to do with it, I assume."
"No, that's part of the reason for it," she admitted.
Qrow nodded at her before he looked at Hiccup. "It suits you. The braid and your linked arms, you hopeless lovebirds. Anyway, what is your favour?"
"We need someone to get us to the cells on General Mondschein's ship. I want to talk to Raven about something."
"Should I ask what it is?"
"Junior. I want Raven to tell me where he is."
Qrow slowly nodded. "…Right, well let's go then. No time like the present. Oobleck's already there after all. Also, Weiss is back in Atlas now, apparently."
"Good morning. What's that about Weiss?" a familiar voice asked.
Looking around, they saw Arslan and Jaune approaching them, the latter having spoken.
Qrow was the first to speak as the pair occupied another sofa. "Morning yourself. Tai told me Weiss is back in Atlas. Not sure why though. Didn't ask. How does your head feel?"
"Like someone went to town on my head with a book," Hiccup perked up at the words and shuddered, looking around cautiously, to Astrid's confusion and amusement when she noticed his antics. "I hope Weiss is okay and that my hangover will pass soon."
"Me too," chorused the others.
"It will eventually. Chin up kids. You'll get used to it, eventually."
"Not me. I'm never drinking it ever again," vowed Hiccup.
"Same here."
Qrow shrugged. "Whatever. It's not for everyone. Just one question though," he asked, with a glance at Hiccup, Astrid, Arslan and Jaune individually. "Why are you four up anyways? I'd have thought you'd be sleeping in or something."
"I wanted to go for a walk, in order to get used to exercising again. Arslan wanted to join me for some reason," at Jaune's words, the Mistral native appeared to flush crimson.
Qrow and Hiccup noticed that reaction, quickly exchanging a knowing look between themselves. "Alright, if everyone's ready, let's go."
…
About half an hour later, Roman was awoken by a guard opening his cell.
As the aura dampening field keeping him in was switched off, Roman folded back his bed sheet and sat up, just as Oobleck, who was beside the guard, stepped into the cell.
Roman watched him as he moved to stand in the corner of the cell opposite Roman's bed, but he remained silent.
Then, when the cell was locked again, he spoke. "It's been quite a while, hasn't it Roman?"
"Yeah, it has, Bartholomew. What do you want?"
"To talk."
Roman scoffed. "About what? Why I left the team? Why I stopped talking to you? Why I became a criminal?"
"No, none of that. Just about some revenge."
"Revenge? Revenge against who?"
"Merlot. You, him and Raven are coming with us back to Vale. There, we will decide what happens to you."
"Who's us?"
"The council of Vale."
Roman raised an eyebrow at Oobleck. "You're part of the council of Vale?"
"Yes."
"Since when?"
"Since the previous council decided to leave. Look, are you in or out?"
Roman made a show of thinking about it. "I have conditions. One, I get to deal with Merlot personally, two, Neo comes with me back to Vale and most importantly of all, I get set free afterwards, with the option of going wherever we want."
"Neo?"
"She's an associate of mine. Do those things and I'm in."
"I'll try my best, but I think there is a line consisting of those who want to deal with Merlot. At the very least consisting of myself and two former students of mine. There may be more luck with that second condition however, if only by a hair."
Roman sighed. "It's about what I expected. When do I leave?"
"Possibly tomorrow, if not later today."
"Good. I look forward to that. Quite boring in here with nobody to talk to, besides soldiers bringing me food. Say, you wouldn't happen to know a kid with auburn hair and green eyes, would you? Wears some black armour with a visored helmet, a bit like the ones those soldiers out there wear?"
Oobleck adjusted his glasses and ran a hand through his green hair. "You know Hiccup?"
"I do. He helped me with something, I had Neo train him. The result is I got away from Raven Branden and ended up here, led by some brats he found somewhere. One with pink eyes and black hair and the other carrying a war hammer I think. Odd pair of girls."
Oobleck sighed. "Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie. Ren is male you know, though his long hair and pink eyes may say otherwise."
"Really," Roman said flatly. "Other former students of yours?"
"Indeed. In fact, their team leader interacted with Merlot."
"Alright. But if you don't mind, can we talk about something other than some kids who are too innocent to be huntsmen."
"I can't say I agree that any of my former students are innocent now, but no matter I suppose. What should we talk about?"
"How about the fact that you haven't found anyone since that day everything went to shit. Try not to speak as fast as you usually do, if you can."
Oobleck chuckled as he sat down beside Roman on his bed. "I'll do my best. Now, where to start…"
"How about you have Roman tell me where Junior is?" asked a familiar voice, a moment before Hiccup, Astrid and Qrow stepped into view.
"Hello there. Roman, meet the council of Vale. Council of Vale, meet Roman," muttered Oobleck.
"We've met," chorused Hiccup and Astrid before both blinked. "Wait, we're on the council of Vale now?"
"You have kids on the council of Vale now?" asked Roman.
"What can I say? The world has changed and they've been through a lot."
"You could have revealed that piece of information more tactfully. For instance, not to a criminal on an airship over Mistral," muttered Qrow. "Like back at the safehouse for one. Oz will have your head."
"This council thing is news to me. You know about it, Astrid?" Asked Hiccup.
"No, just hearing about it now, myself," she replied.
"You didn't even tell them? Wonderful. I have great confidence that my conditions will be met," Roman drawled.
"Conditions? What conditions?"
"I'll tell you later. Can we start taking our prisoners to be, out of here? Starting with him and someone called Neo."
"Neo?" Chorused Hiccup and Astrid.
"You both know this person?"
"Yeah, she has a habit of waking you up and forcing you to fight her, if you asked her to train you."
"What does she look like?"
"Pink and brown eyes, pink, brown and white hair, short, mute and obviously female, with a semblance of illusions, allowing her to look like she's in one place while being somewhere else entirely," reported Hiccup.
"Alright," Oobleck turned to Roman. "Which cell is she in?"
"Down the hall, if you leave my cell and head left. Getting here, I presume you noticed that you passed Raven's cell."
"Yeah, we did. But anyway, we'll leave you to it. I have someone I want to talk to, namely Junior."
"Junior's in Mistral, in a nightclub and bar imaginatively called 'the club' just like in Vale. If you get Neo and tell her you want to go there, she'll take you there, provided she gets Neapolitan ice cream."
"Her appearance and namesake huh? What parent decided to call her that?"
"I encountered her one day and decided to call her that after noticing her eyes were pink and brown," explained Roman.
"Right, we'll go find her and be on our way, I guess."
Oobleck handed Hiccup a five lien note. "Use this to buy a tub of ice cream for Neo. Keep the change. I'll go talk to the General so we can get her and Roman released into our custody first. Qrow, Hiccup and Astrid, keep an eye on Roman. Once I'm done, we'll bring her to see him. It may make her relax to see people she knows. Then you can go meet with Junior, Hiccup."
Hiccup nodded and Oobleck set off, just before Astrid spoke up. "Can someone tell me who Junior is? Or do I have to wait?"
"He's involved in what I used to do before you showed up. He's an information broker; someone who gives you information in exchange for money. Which is part of the reason I had a forge in Vale, for making money to give him."
"Okay, what kind of information?"
"Rogue huntsmen, criminal hideout locations, White Fang activities. That sort of thing."
"Yeah, one time Junior passed on information to Hiccup about a group of huntsmen turned criminals who kidnapped Coco Adel because of her family's fortune."
"What do you mean?"
"Coco's family run a large clothes manufacturing company, headquartered in the town of Aureola, Vale's second-largest city, on the western coast. Anyway, they're quite rich."
"How rich exactly? I know they're rich, but I've never really looked into it," asked Roman.
"Rich enough to afford to pay 200,000 lien to Glynda Goodwitch as thanks for personally rescuing Coco," said Qrow. "Which she used to buy a two-roomed building in Vale and turn it into a blacksmith for a certain person to live and work in,"
"Ah, got it," nodded Roman.
"Now we wait for Oobleck to get back," muttered Hiccup.
…
Eight hours northwest of where Hiccup and the others currently were, one team of huntsmen trainees, going by the name of team SSSN, was gathered in a dorm room of Atlas Academy, having signed in the day before in order to spend the night at the school before their provisional licensing exam began.
It was now the morning on that fateful day, and the leader of the team was pacing back and forth across the aforementioned dorm room. There were two steel-framed bunk beds, a laminate wood floor, a chest of drawers at the foot and head of each bunk bed for storing clothes and a bathroom immediately on the left as you entered the room.
"Right, everyone ready for the provisional licensing exam we have?" asked Sun.
"Dude, relax," said Neptune. "We've been training non-stop for about four months now. You know our private sparing tutor was one of the best and even he said we had good chances to do this. Even if we didn't, pacing like that won't help things."
During Neptune's speech, Sun continued to pace the room, going from one chest of drawers at the foot of the left bunk bed to the other, with Sage and Scarlet laying on the top and bottom sections of the bunk bed and Neptune laying on the bottom of the bunk bed on the right.
Sun only stopped after making the journey for the third time, which was not long after the blue-haired boy stopped talking.
"You're right, but I don't want anything to go wrong and we have to wait for longer."
"Only means we'll have more time to train," interjected Sage, who had green hair in line with his namesake.
"I guess-"
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Hearing the sound of someone wrapping their fist against the door, Sun stopped talking and glanced at the others, silently asking if they knew who it could be.
Sage, Scarlet and Neptune all shrugged, so Sun approached the door. Opening it, he was greeted by a white-haired girl with bags underneath her blue eyes, standing on the other side, dressed in a white jacket, skirt and knee high heeled boots.
Sun waved at the girl. "Hey, Weiss."
"Hello again, Sun," she greeted him in turn as he stepped aside to let her enter the room. "Nice to meet you all again," she said to the other three.
"Hello."
"Greetings once again."
"Hey, Weiss," said Scarlet, Sage and Neptune respectively, waving from their positions in the room.
She yawned, which drew a query from the monkey faunus. "Are you okay, Weiss? Want some tea or something?"
"I flew in from Mistral last night and didn't get much sleep when I arrived. Tea would be nice, but I'll have to decline as I won't be staying long this time," Weiss informed them.
"Uh, that actually works out fine for us. We have our provisional licensing exam in half an hour," Sun told her.
"Oh," Weiss sighed. "Then I couldn't have come at a worse time then. You'll probably want to forgo taking part in that exam after I tell you the news."
The quartet looked at each other again. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," Weiss rubbed at her eyes, yawned again and finally sighed. "Blake is dead. She took her own life a few days ago."
"S-she's dead? She really took her own life?" Sun asked, a shocked look taking over his face, just as the other three looked at each other in silent disbelief.
Weiss nodded despondently. "Yes. I can see you need time, so I'll speak to Ironwood or whoever is in charge of the exam about you performing it some other day. Don't worry about costs though. I'll pay the fee so you can take it again."
"Thanks, Weiss," Sun smiled, but it was forced. "Is there anything else you want to tell us?"
Weiss nodded. "It probably won't mean much, but the person who drove her to take her life is also dead. I'll… I'll be going now. Good luck, all of you."
"Thanks, Weiss," said Neptune as he got off of his bunk bed and placed a consoling hand on Sun's shoulder. "I'll take it from here."
Weiss nodded and turned to leave, opening the door and walking through, into a hallway.
"Arrgh!" Sun roared from within the room, the sound reaching her ears as she set off down the hall.
Weiss paused for a moment and sighed, but then continued walking.
She would find the person or people responsible for carrying out the exam and explain the situation on the team's behalf.
It was the least team SSSN deserved after all, as they were friends.
And, if in the past she had encountered a certain cat faunus girl and a certain monkey faunus boy leaning into to kiss while pretending that she hadn't noticed what had almost happened, that may or may not have been a factor in deciding to pay their provisional licensing exam admission fee again, who could really judge her?
The team deserved some measure of happiness, or at the very least Sun did, particularly after hearing the news she had brought. That is her stance on the matter, and nobody could convince Weiss Schnee otherwise.
…
"Hey Arslan, can I talk to you for a minute? In the bathroom." Asked Reese Chloris; a girl with green hair swept to one side, teal coloured eyes, a purple hoodie and black shorts, as well as knee-pads.
"Sure thing, Reese," replied Arslan.
"Hey, you think you could take care of this for me for a minute? Thanks." Reese didn't wait for him to reply, instead placing her hoverboard and getting up, carefully moving through her bed and Arslan's before heading to the bathroom.
They stepped into the room, and the light came on automatically. Reese then closed the door. "Why is he here, Arslan?"
Arslan knew she meant Jaune, who was currently sitting on Reese's bed, seemingly lost in thought. "His name is Jaune you know. You could try calling him. He's a friend."
"Really? Just like that? After not talking to him at all before? What's really going on?"
"Okay, promise you won't tell Nadir or Bolin when they get back?"
"Nothing good has ever followed those words. What did you do?"
Arslan sighed. "I had drunken party sex with him last night."
"Really? Didn't know you were into dorky, but still handsome types. I expected something worse than that honestly. Like you to be pregnant or something. You… you're not pregnant are you?"
"What? No! I'm still on the pill. Besides, who would want that to happen?"
In the airship over Mistral, Hiccup and Astrid both suddenly sneezed at that moment.
"Just checking, because you know I'd do anything to help you out if that did happen, right?"
"I do now. Thanks, Reese. But can we move on, please?"
"Alright then. Now when are you coming back? We need you here. At the very least because our provisional licensing exam is coming up in two weeks."
"Two weeks? I thought it was meant to be around next week."
"The headmaster rescheduled it for our team because you were away. Speaking of, are you okay now? You're not going to spontaneously burst into flames again are you?"
"No, I should be fine now. It was a fairly simple fix."
"And the fix was?"
Arslan shrugged. "Sorry Reese. Not meant to tell you."
Reese sighed. "Well, I guess it doesn't really matter now. Now, what are we going to do with blond and brooding out there? He can't stay here. And while I think he looks alright for you, we can't have you two dating until we pass that provisional licensing exam. We need you to catch up after all."
"Don't worry. Jaune has a place to stay and a team to take care of. I'll walk him back though."
Reese nodded. "Have fun!"
…
Hiccup and Astrid both tore off their helmets, tossed them aside, doubled over and threw up shortly after they arrived at Junior's Nightclub, much to the amusement of an unaffected Neo and the disgust of the black suit and red tie-wearing men in the vicinity.
"Someone go clean that up," Junior muttered, overlooking the scene as he stood behind his bar.
Immediately, one of the suit-wearing goons headed towards the storage room that was behind the bar, Junior wordlessly lifting up a hinged section of the bar countertop to let the man pass.
Then Junior's eyes focused on the pair. "You two, get over here and sit down. I'm not having you throw up on my floor again."
"Neo, get over here as well," he added, looking down at her.
She silently huffed at him but complied, starting forward and climbing onto a barstool beside Astrid. "I don't believe I've met you," said Junior, looking at Astrid.
"Junior, Astrid, Astrid, Junior. She's my fiancé," Hiccup told him.
Then he looked to his left, at Astrid. "He's the informant I mentioned," Hiccup told her.
"Nice to meet you," said Astrid.
"Likewise. Now, why are you three here?"
"How would you like a new job, Junior?"
"Job? What sort of job?"
"Head of information and security for the council of Vale. You were already an information broker. This will be mostly the same, but with your informant network giving information to the council directly."
Junior nodded. "Makes sense. But the 'security' part of that job title has me curious."
"Besides the fact that you would be dealing with sensitive information as you might expect, there's also a research and development facility they want me working in. Some of your men could work there, delivering weapons and other such technology that I imagine would benefit huntsmen around the world."
"And who are 'they'?"
"The rest of the council of Vale. We're members of it now, since the previous council members all left Vale," cut in Astrid.
"Awfully convenient if that did happen. Anyway, when was all this decided?"
"Not long before we came here," said Hiccup, before he began to explain how the decision had come about.
"You came from the airship up there? And Roman is there now?" Junior asked, once he had finished explaining. "Last I saw him, he was working for Raven."
"Yeah, he was. Neo too. I helped them get away from Raven, recently. She's also in a cell up there."
"Guess the rumour that the Branwen tribe is dead is actually true. And you had a part to play in it?"
"Yeah."
"Alright, if you three could step outside for a little bit. I want to know what my men think of all of this."
They stepped outside, and Hiccup received a scroll message from Qrow at that moment.
"We'll be leaving tonight with Roman and Neo and bringing Raven and her tribe along later. Let me know what Junior decides to do and head on back to the safehouse with Neo. We're finishing things up over here and then we'll head back ourselves."
"More travelling huh? Our dragons will be quite excited to fly again so soon."
"Yeah. I can practically see Toothless smiling with his teeth retracted already."
Astrid smiled briefly before frowning. "Where will we stay when we get there though? Ideally somewhere private, where nobody can interrupt us."
"My forge could work. I still have a key there. Why though? Do… do you want to do the horizontal tango or something?"
Astrid sighed. "You got it in one. I've… I've been wanting to do it since before we left the safehouse, just so you know."
"Oh. Oh! That was when I did… you know. Earlier on."
"Yeah. Exactly babe."
"Sorry about that by the way."
"It's fine. It's not like the other times I wanted you. This feels far more intense. I don't think it's just your doing, but I don't know why it feels like that."
"We can head to Vale as soon as we're done here if you want?"
She smiled gratefully at him. "Very much so, babe."
Seconds later, Hiccup's scroll vibrated in his pocket.
"You're quite lucky right now, you know that Hiccup?" It was a message from Neo.
Hiccup looked her way. "I- what are you doing, Neo?"
Astrid stared at her as well, prompted by Hiccup's question and mild curiosity. They both watched in silence as she made a circle with her thumb and index finger, before inserting her other index finger into it and wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
"Yes, Neo. We get it now. You can stop that," muttered Astrid as both she and Hiccup blushed at the meaning behind the gesture.
Thankfully the door behind them opened and Junior stepped out. "My men and I agree to work with the council of Vale. As my men put it, and I quote, 'It beats working in a bar any day.' So we're in."
"Alright. I'll talk to the others in the council of Vale and let them know what you decided. You just pack up and head for Beacon. It's where you can find us. In the meantime, we'll be on our way. It'll be a pleasure to work with you again, Junior," said Hiccup, offering a hand.
"Likewise. I'll see you at Beacon, later." They then shook hands and parted ways, Junior heading back inside and the trio heading down the street.
As they walked away, Astrid leaned closer to whisper in Hiccup's ear. "For the record, you did quite a bit more of telling rather than showing me what you did in the two years away from Berk. And not much of the former at that. But it doesn't really matter right now. When we get back to the safehouse, your ass is mine. I don't want to wait until we get to Vale anymore."
Hiccup flushed at her words, giving her a sidelong look and noting her dilated eyes before he turned to face Neo. "Would you mind bringing us to the outskirts of Mistral in that direction, please?" he asked, pointing northwest; in the direction of the forest that was just beyond the town.
The mute smirked and nodded, taking hold of their hands and leaving behind perfect glass copies of themselves, which quickly shattered of their own accord.
…
The walk back from Haven Academy to the safe house was awkwardly silent, until Jaune subconsciously sighed, which drew Arslan's attention to him. "You okay?" Arslan asked him.
"Yeah, just thinking about my partner and girlfriend, and wishing she was still around."
"What was her name?" She wondered.
"Pyrrha Nikos."
"Oh. Okay,"
"Thank you, by the way."
"For what?"
"For helping me get out of whatever Merlot did to me."
"Yeah, uh… how did that happen?"
"I'd rather not say. But suffice to say I was careless and allowed myself to get captured. Moving on, what we did last night… did it really happen?"
"Yeah, it did indeed. Why? You think it was a dream or something?"
"Partially. For your sake. That way there is no chance that things will go further. Which means you won't get hurt or killed."
"Are you saying that I'm not strong enough to protect myself?"
"No. I'm saying we shouldn't see each other. Last night was great and you seem like a nice person, but if things do go further and you do get hurt by someone stronger than you, then it would destroy me from the inside."
"Awfully presumptuous that things would go that far between us, or that you have a duty to protect me, isn't it?"
Jaune sighed. "I guess you're right about that. Thanks again for helping me with Merlot. You can go back to Haven. I know the way back from here."
"I wasn't finished with you yet," retorted Arslan.
"But I am with you. If Pyrrha Nikos; the invisible girl, couldn't protect herself against people who wanted her dead, with no less than four people - two of whom are members of team rwby no less - fighting alongside her, what chance do you have, all on your own? I recommend you find someone better than I could ever be," with that, Jaune continued onwards for the safehouse.
"Alright wait," Arslan called after him. He stopped and turned around, allowing her to catch up.
"So you've got baggage clearly. I… I should have phrased what I said differently. Jaune, I enjoyed last night. I enjoy spending time with you, but I'm not Pyrrha. I have my team and I can protect myself. Heck, I'm the fall maiden now; something I didn't even know existed. I know you're worried, but don't let that ruin whatever we have. If you do, you could look back and regret it."
"Better to regret it than not having you around at all, Arslan-" she cut him off with a kiss on the lips.
She then drew back only after she became breathless. Observing him, she smiled at his flushed face. "Is that worth regretting?"
"I think not. So, can I give you my scroll number?"
Her smile turned to a smirk. "Only if you show me how well you can kiss."
"You got it," he said before leaning in.
…
Yang and Ruby were reclining on a couch in the safehouse with their father, who had just finished relaying some news to them.
"She really left for Atlas without saying goodbye?" asked Ruby.
"She left when everyone around was drunk. I'd guess whatever made her leave was urgent," said Taiyang.
"She better have a good explanation soon. I can't have her doing what Blake did. Not again," muttered Yang, her eyes shifting red.
"I'm sure she won't, my sunny little dragon. But if she does, I'll be first in line to deal with her. Don't worry."
Yang nodded gratefully at him. "Thanks, Dad,"
"Hey, Jaune!" Exclaimed Ruby, seeing the blond heading for the stairs, having just arrived.
"Hey Ruby," he returned. His voice was light as he spoke and he was grinning as he looked in her direction and waved before continuing on his way.
Then Ruby blinked, convinced she was dreaming, as she suddenly saw Hiccup, Astrid and Neo appear out of thin air.
Hiccup and Astrid immediately held a hand to her mouths, while the girl merely skipped away.
A few moments later the duo relaxed and looked around the room, their eyes falling on the trio on the couch.
"Hey, Ruby, Yang and Taiyang," Hiccup muttered. "I have someone to tend to right now, but I'm hereby claiming my forge indefinitely. When Astrid and I get there, it will be off-limits."
"Okay… why?" Wondered Taiyang.
"Personal reasons," Astrid replied before grabbing Hiccup's arm. "We're heading to Vale tonight. Qrow will explain the rest. Bye for now."
Did she just rub her legs together? Ruby wasn't sure why she would do that.
As Ruby pondered this, Astrid tugged on Hiccup's arm and started dragging him over to the stairs.
"Wait, where are you going now?" Ruby asked as Hiccup was forced to take the stairs downwards, two at a time.
"To our room! Bye!" Said Hiccup. Then they were gone.
Ruby looked at Yang and her dad. "What was that last bit about?"
Yang brought her hand up, giving her sister a gentle pat on the head. "I'll explain when you're older, Rubes."
Ruby simply stared at Yang flatly. "I've had the talk, remember?"
"Well, then you should know what is going on. Astrid wants Hiccup to do that to her. Quite a lot, judging by the fact she rubbed her legs together just then," smirked Yang.
"Oh, so that's why she rubbed her legs together!" she exclaimed when it finally clicked for her. "Eww!"
Yang smiled, bemused while Taiyang shook his head at his daughter, smiling despite himself. "Don't ever change, Ruby."
…
Astrid led the way to their room, entering and waiting for Hiccup to follow before immediately pushing him back against the door so that it shut. Then her lips were on his to the point where neither could breathe.
Next, she shoved him onto the bed, removing her armour immediately afterwards. "Clothes off, babe. I need you now," she said firmly.
Hiccup took one glance at her, noting her eyes entirely dilated and midnight blue instead of their usual baby blue shade as a result of lust, before he complied, kicking off his boots, helmet and leather armour. As soon as he was completely naked, he scrambled to sit flush up against the headboard of the bed.
Then, clad only in her breast bindings, she straddled Hiccup.
Astrid dove for his collarbone and started peppering his chest with kisses. Gradually going lower, her hands rubbed his chest as she went, feeling the toned muscles underneath his skin, tense at her touch, much to her delight.
Then she removed her bindings, tossed the material somewhere and bent down, exploring the spontaneous idea of rubbing her breasts back and forth over his chest. She found herself enjoying the sudden thought for the feeling it created as her nipples pebbled somewhat in the process. Her excitement grew as his manhood began to react, most likely due to the sight before him.
She then started rubbing her hand up and down his shaft, making his manhood rise quicker. Finally, she brought her lips to the tip and kissed it.
This caused Hiccup to gasp, and Astrid smirked against his flesh. Then she took him into her mouth and began to move down the shaft, stopping only when her nose touched his groin, which was framed by auburn hair.
"M-Milady," her fiancé moaned as she made her tongue circle his head when she returned to the top of his shaft again. Pleased that he enjoyed what she was doing, she continued the act.
On the third time, she went up and down the shaft, her tongue detected a small amount of a liquid substance leaking from the head of his cock. It tasted slightly bitter, and she found that she liked the taste, to her surprise. She knew what it was for, but had never considered tasting it until now. She would definitely be trying it more later.
For now, though, Astrid abandoned giving her fiancé treatment that was evidently wonderful for him, in favour of turning to lie on her back and spreading her legs; exposing glistening thighs and her womanhood, which was framed by curled blond hair. Then she positioned his cock so that it brushed against her now wet opening as it had unintentionally done so earlier in the day.
After adjusting to the wonderful but also slightly torturous feeling, on account of how her core still felt, she spoke up again. "Hiccup, I want you to put it inside me as far as you can. Quickly please," she begged.
"As you wish Milady. And thank you for what you just did."
"You're welcome. Now hurry up."
Hiccup nodded and pushed in the tip of his manhood before stopping. Frustrated, Astrid opened her mouth to reprimand him for taking so long still, but in the next moment, Hiccup buried himself to the hilt within her opening.
At that, Astrid threw her head back and moaned his name; the loudest moan she had ever uttered, arching her back and climaxing right then and there. "HICCUP!"
The erotic sound was loud enough to be heard by everyone in the safehouse; with Yang, Ruby, Jaune, Ren and Nora blushing crimson. For most of them, this was because of the sound but for one individual her reason for blushing involved the memory of her friend grabbing the butt of her occasional sparring partner while in Vale all those months ago.
Hiccup looked at her with concern as she continued to moan, her tight, warm, inner walls subsequently clenching and loosening their grip on his cock, causing him to moan as well, though not nearly to the same degree as her.
When she was able to register the look she was receiving from him, she was unable to speak for the moment, as she felt drained in her post-orgasm state, instead gently rocking her hips; wanting him to continue.
Understanding her unspoken message, he slowly withdrew from her before inching in again, thoroughly studying her face for any sign of pain.
She displayed none as he went all the way to the hilt again, so he repeated the act of withdrawing and pushing into her, building up a rhythm and gradually increasing his speed as time went on, his fiancé moaning his name with every thrust becoming music to his ears. Suddenly an idea came to him. One that he hoped Astrid would enjoy. He leaned down, bringing his lips to her left breast, intending to let her share in the divine treatment she had given him at first.
Licking her nipple with his tongue in what he hoped was the same fashion that she had employed on the tip of his manhood, he was rewarded by her moaning of his name increasing in volume when he did so. Equally emboldened, he brought his right hand up to her right breast and squeezed, resulting in yet another moan of his name.
Finally, Hiccup applied suction to her nipple, causing his lover to arch her back and climax. He climaxed with her soon after, as her inner walls clenched and spasmed out of control around him.
After releasing a load of his seed, his entirely slick and gradually softening cock slipped out of her opening. With nothing in the way, Astrid ended up soaking the bedsheets in their mixed cum.
When the sound of their combined moaning died down, and Astrid found her voice, she looked up at him and smiled broadly. "Thank you for all of that wonderful treatment, babe. But there's something I want to do for you now."
"And what would that be, Milady?" He asked her. His answer arrived when she took his cock into her mouth for the second time, bobbing up and down while simultaneously stroking him with her hands until his flaccid cock grew hard again and he climaxed for the second time, filling her mouth with his seed.
She downed a mouthful, but more continued to leak out of the tip and into her waiting mouth, so she continued to consume his seed until nothing remained, then resumed bobbing up and down the shaft, in case she missed any of it. All the while, the pair moaned. Her at the taste, him at the lewd act he had just felt and witnessed occur before him.
An idea sparked in her mind and she withdrew, taking hold of his manhood before trying to make her thumb and index finger meet. She did, but just barely, and it may have been skewed by the fact his cock was already starting to soften in her grip.
Next, Astrid scooped up a small amount of their mixed cum from the bedsheets with her index finger and brought the digit to her mouth, curious of the taste. "Mmm. Oddly delicious."
She then looked at Hiccup, who was red in the face from embarrassment, yet couldn't quite bring himself to look away. "You should try it, babe."
"I should?" He asked hesitantly.
She nodded eagerly. "Yup! Trust me, it tastes better than it seems."
"Well, if I do that, then can I try something?"
"Of course babe," said Astrid as she held up her index finger. "Now, open up."
After sampling it, Hiccup nodded. "Not quite sure what I thought it would taste like, but not bad. Moving on now. Can you open your legs again?"
Astrid stared inquisitively at him, wondering what he would do. Her answer came when he positioned his face between her legs, while at the same time taking hold of her right breast again. He completed his planned move by darting his tongue out and swiping her opening with it, before retreating and savouring the taste.
"Oh! Oh, do that again! Please Hiccup!" She begged, bucking her hips forward as the fire in her core turned from a fire to a raging inferno once again.
Hiccup didn't bother to reply, as he was far eager to please his lover for that. He swiped at her opening, and after her hips bucked against his face again, stuck his tongue into her.
The effect was more pronounced. Her hips bucked into his face and her inner walls clenched and unclenched around his tongue. At the same time, Astrid wrapped her arms tight around his torso, needing something to hold onto to the point that her short fingernails dug into his back.
Eventually, her hips stopped moving and things were calm for a moment. Then, Hiccup came up with the idea of moving his tongue around within her and she instinctively started grinding against his face. His left hand joining his right in the effort of squeezing her breasts, coordinated with withdrawing his tongue and swiping at her opening again, sent her over the edge for the third time. "HICCUP!"
When her spasming ended and moaning died down once more, Hiccup withdrew from her womanhood, face glistening with her cum. Then he looked at her and grinned. "Your stuff tastes better than mine, Milady."
She giggled before adding. "I think I disagree with you on that, babe."
"Well, why not find out for sure?"
"Good idea." Then she kissed him, savouring a little of her own taste before grinning. "Mmm. You're right Hiccup. I do taste better. I win."
"Really? Is this a competition for you as well?"
Astrid smirked. "Of course!" After saying this, however, her hands darted down and closed around him, squeezing leisurely. "I wonder if you can do the same thing you did with your tongue just now, with this bad boy." Astrid wondered, squeezing his manhood for emphasis. It was more of a statement than a question.
"I guess we can try it. Are you still up to this?" asked Hiccup.
She stared at him. "Of course!"
"Yeah, that was a dumb question. Alright. Um, if you don't mind getting off the bed for a moment. I want to try something."
Astrid nodded and got off. There she stood watching as Hiccup lay flat on the bed. "Now climb on," he told her.
She did so, sliding down his shaft until he was hilt deep in her again. Her body immediately noticed the difference, the positioning meaning new parts of her were now being reached. As a result of this, a moan; the quietest so far but still well and truly audible, slipped past her lips before Astrid could do anything about it.
Hiccup started rocking his hips and the moans started anew with her. "Yes! Oh, Hiccup. Don't stop, please!"
In the midst of rocking his hips, Hiccup resumed squeezing her breasts to heighten her pleasure, and Astrid quickly figured out that squatting up and down helped with that as well, as opposed to leaving Hiccup with all the work.
Then Hiccup thought to combine rocking his hips with licking the area above her slit, which was covered by blond curls. It was torturous; simulating as a result of how close his tongue was to her opening. It was almost maddening, yet also wonderful as it heightened her pleasure further still. "Keep going, babe!"
"Oh!" She gasped sharply when Hiccup suddenly used his left hand to squeeze her ass cheeks. This was an entirely unexpected occurrence that was enough to push her over the edge for the fourth time.
"HICCUP! I LOVE YOU HICCUP! DON'T EVER STOP THIS, IN FREYA'S NAME!" She cried out, hips spasming vigorously and hands landing on his upper chest to steady herself as she came, her cum making his cock shiny and slick. It slipped out of her as it went flaccid again, resulting in yet more of her cum reaching the bedsheets.
She slowly lowered herself to lay on top of him only after her hips stopped moving and she stopped coming. In her position, her breasts were crushed against his bare chest and her core muscles were aching pleasantly, like how one's body felt after a particularly vigorous and thorough workout.
There they lay, him bare-shouldered, her with her hair around her shoulders like a golden curtain. Astrid was panting for breath, and judging by the way her fiancé's chest rose and fell against her own, she knew that he was just as out of breath as she felt after all of that.
She smiled lazily at him, all the while she idly brushed a hand through his soft russet locks. "That was wonderful, Hiccup. We should do that again sometime. Perhaps soon."
"Mmm," he quietly murmured, eyes fluttering closed as he lay there. "I'd like that."
"I wonder if there are more things we could try for next time," she said, voicing her thoughts aloud.
"That would be nice. Yang would probably know where we could find out."
"Oh, that's good news then, Hiccup. I'll ask her later."
"Yeah, you do that Milady." Before anything else could be said, the door swung open and Taiyang barged in, closing it behind him.
Instantly, Astrid rolled off of Hiccup onto her back beside him, using her hands to cover herself as best she could, while Hiccup followed suit. Taiyang paid their actions no mind, however.
"Before you two decide to go for another round, I'm here to tell you no, on account of the volume that Astrid gets to when she orgasms. That is all. Get some clothes on now. Qrow, Oobleck, Port and Roman Torchwick are here now and we're leaving." He told them.
Taiyang turned and walked away, making it to the door before Hiccup spoke up, stopping the man in his tracks, there.
"They didn't hear all of that just now, did they?" He asked urgently.
Taiyang faced him again. "They arrived before your second round began. But Neo heard all of it," Taiyang told them, smirking inwardly when they both looked horrified at the news.
"Get dressed you two." He repeated. Then he opened the door and left.
They both wordlessly scrambled to don their clothes again. As they did, Astrid spoke. "I'm making a rule for us both. Immediately after doing the horizontal tango, we get dressed, particularly if we're somewhere with other people around. Also, I'd like it if nobody could hear us while we do it."
"You'll hear no objections from me, Astrid."
She smiled at him. "Good."
As soon as they were both dressed in their leather armour, Astrid ignored her helmet and grabbed Hiccup's from his grip before he could put it on.
After tossing it aside, Astrid pulled him into a deep kiss. She swiped her tongue against his lips until they parted. Then she dove in, battling with his tongue until both of them were once again breathless and flushed as a result.
"W-what was that for?" Hiccup asked after she drew back and he caught enough breath to speak up.
"That was for giving me a wonderful time there. Now let's go. We shouldn't keep everyone waiting for longer," Astrid picked up her helmet as she said this.
Hiccup followed suit. "Yeah, that wouldn't be fair on them. Lead on, Milady."
As they left their room and headed down the hall for the stairs, Hiccup observed Astrid's behind, noting that her hips were swaying in a noticeably exaggerated fashion.
"You're letting me check you out, aren't you? Your hips don't sway that much when you walk."
"I have no idea what you mean." She said, forcing her voice to sound as innocent as possible, stopping when she reached the second top stair.
She heard him chuckle dryly at that and she smirked inwardly as a result. "Sure you don't, Milady. Just my imagination as I stare at your perfect behind, crafted by the gods themselves."
"You utter sap." She shot back at him without any heat.
"Hush now. You love me, Milady."
Yeah, she thought to herself. Yeah, I really do love you Hiccup.
…
A/N: And that's a wrap for now. Whatever will happen when the group get to Vale in the next chapter I wonder?
Let me know if people want more of this kind of thing to happen between our main couple in a review.
I would be more than happy to make it happen.
Until next time everyone.
Silvolde