AN: Okay, let's go on with this! :) I have a few chapters written out already, so maybe it's time to start posting. As a side note though: I changed the rating. Because these boys can't behave! ;)

Don't expect any regularity though. ^^" And to everyone not into this: You're allowed to stay away. Really. Nobody cares about your homophobic tendencies ;)

. o O o .

Chapter 2

"Oh, Mr Haddock! There you are!"

Mrs Ingerman, the round and friendly lady owning the little hostel, came hurrying toward them the moment Eret opened the door.

"Thank Odin that you found him, Mr Hunter. I'd half-feared you'd ended up in the depth of the sea, just like the fish you're named after. Oh, oh, how glad I am to see you here again. Come in, come in, I have hot stew and tea ready for you in a few. Sit down by the hearth and I'll be back in no time."

Hiccup followed her with his eyes as she hurried here and there, digging out several blankets and throwing another log into the fire before she scuttled off toward the kitchen. Still a little dazed, he smiled at all the effort she put in for them.

"Come, let's do as she said," Eret chuckled, gently guiding him toward the table closest to the hearth.

Hiccup sat, and just like before with feeling Eret's warm embrace, feeling the comfortable heat of the fire made him realise just how cold he was. "Th-thanks," he muttered through jittering teeth as Eret laid one of the blankets around his shoulders and then wrapped his arms around him to further warm him up.

With a soft sigh, Hiccup leaned into his boyfriend's embrace, enjoying how the warmth slowly seeped back into his body from all sides, and suddenly felt incredibly tired.

"So, what was that?" said boyfriend eventually probed. He sounded casually enough, his hands lightly rubbing Hiccup's upper arms. And yet, Hiccup felt like there was more behind that question.

"What do you mean?" he asked nonetheless, bone-deep tiredness making it nearly impossible to form coherent thoughts.

"H, I know how you regularly get distracted by your own thoughts and easily forget everything around you. But even you should have noticed the change in weather. The wind? The waves? I hate to admit it, but I feared you might have fallen into the ocean too."

Hiccup chuckled, lightheaded, and wanted to wave off Eret's concerns, but didn't get the chance.

"Oh, that's not what I meant, Mr Hunter, not at all," Mrs Ingerman contradicted him, somehow carrying two bowls and two big mugs – all filled with steaming liquid – all at once. "This is a dangerous time to get lost outside. Dangerous, I'm telling you. But not because of the weather or the ocean, oh no." She threw a weird glance out of a window that pointed west, out toward the churning sea. "This storm, it's just a sign. A sign for all men to stay away from the water for a few days. And that goes for you too, I might add. You'd better take a break with your new home and rest until the storm blew past or the Undine will surely get you."

"The… what?" Hiccup slowly let the spoon drop back into the bowl. He'd only listened to the innkeeper with half an ear, more focused on getting hot stew into his stomach and staying awake than anything else. But the unknown word drew his attention.

"Just a mythical creature, like a mermaid," Eret mumbled past his spoon.

"Not like a mermaid," Mrs Ingerman corrected indignantly. "And it might already be too late for–"

The front door flew open with a lout Bam! All three of them jumped, whirling around toward the sound and the cold gust of wind blowing in to see who'd made the way to this secluded hostel.

But there was nobody.

"Oh, Loki," Mrs Ingerman muttered, huddling over to shut the door again.

"Whoa, that really is a storm," Eret noted, frowning. "Is the door frame warped? Do you want us to give it a look sometime during the next days?"

She gave him a strange look. "You can do that if you think that helps," she eventually said, grimacing. "But I'm telling you: it won't!"

. o O o .

"What was that she was talking about?" Hiccup mumbled sleepily. "That… Hyundai-thingy."

They were, finally, laying in their bed, in the room they'd rented until their cottage was inhabitable. Hiccup was already half-asleep as Eret climbed in beside him after having double-checked all windows in the small hostel for Mrs Ingerman. And yet, somehow the words of the innkeeper wouldn't leave his mind.

Eret gave him a baffled look. "Hyundai? What–" realisation cleared his face, "–oh, you mean the undine." He laughed quietly as he covered them both with the double-sized blanket. "As I said, it's just a mythical creature, like dragons or unicorns."

"Mmh, I like dragons," Hiccup hummed, shifting to make himself more comfortable.

Eret's laughter grew a little louder. "Oh, really? I wouldn't have noticed with all those pictures in one of your boxes, not to mention the one on your back." He leaned over to place a peck on Hiccup's cheek that made him grin. "Dork. Seriously though, undines are just local legends, some kind of water nymphs."

"Guess I'll have to ask Mrs Ingerman for more details then if you don't want to tell me," Hiccup muttered, eyes already closed as Eret wrapped one arm around his midst, spooning him. He didn't even hear Eret's amused snort anymore.

. o O o .

Beyond the shore, out in the sea, the creature played with the wind and the waves. Her laughter rang crystal-clear and burbling through the howling storm, and she loved every second of it. She was one with the world, with the wind and the ocean, free.

Her body, mostly shapeless, easily glided through the currents, riding them, owning them. This was what she wanted, what she lived for. The freedom and the power of the moment, the exhilaration of the ever-moving surface and the silence of the deep dark below.

And yet she couldn't help it as her wide pupil-less eyes kept wandering to the bright spot in the distance. It had never bothered her, this wooden construction where the humans lived. It didn't belong to her world and didn't matter. Not even their artificial light had ever drawn her attention.

But tonight, she couldn't keep her gaze from returning there every few minutes. Something was calling her, alluring.

That night, she kept closer to the shore than usual, without really knowing why.

. o O o .

So... any thought? ^^"