Chapter 35: Chaos and Confusion

Once again, Eira found Ruffnut waiting for her in her hut after her date. "We have to stop meeting like this," she said, closing the door behind her.

"How was it?" Ruff asked eagerly. "Did Snotlout mess up?"

Eira blinked. "No. It was good. We had a fun time. We went swimming, played in the sand, and then... talked."

Ruff smirked. "Did he kiss you? I bet he was too scared."

Eira looked around awkwardly. "No, he didn't, but I kissed him..."

"Oh, bold! I like it. How was it?"

Eira felt herself blush. Did they really have to talk about this. "It was... nice."

"Nice? That's it?"

"I don't know what else to say! We were both nervous and awkward. We're new at this. But I feel safe and comfortable around him. If we get through the awkward stage, I think something could flow very naturally."

Ruff nodded. "I see. And how is that compared to Dagur?"

Eira hesitated. "It's different with Dagur. He's unpredictable and makes everything exciting. He's more intense than I may be ready for. Snotlout is more on the same page as me."

"Which sounds boring to me. It sounds like your feelings could go much farther with Dagur!"

Eira frowned. "Maybe..." She thought about how much she liked being around Dagur and how she wanted to be closer to him and have him touch her and - "But how do I know it can't change with Snotlout? We've been friends for a long time. Transitioning takes time." And something about her feelings for Dagur scared her.

Ruff lifted her eyebrows. "You wanted to know who you like better. That's clearly Dagur."

"Fine, I know, but are feelings everything? I can't make a decision just yet. There's more I have to think about, like compatibility, lifestyles, admirable traits..." And their families...

"You've got a point. How successful they are matters too."

Eira gave her a look. "That's not what I meant. I have to think about this carefully. I need more information."

"And that is why I found this list of what you want in a man!" Ruff proudly held up a scroll.

Eira gasped. "Ruff! You looked through my stuff!"

"I got bored."

"But that's personal! I wrote it before coming here to get my parents off my back!" She was not even sure she still stood by everything she wrote.

Ruff ignored her and looked at the scroll. "Let's see... 'thoughtful, artistic, brings me flowers, loves my dragon, knows my favorite color is blue...'"

"Give that back!" Eira snatched the paper from her friend's hands. Really, this was going too far.

"I already memorized it anyway. This should hep me with the next step!" Ruff offered her a bright smile.

Eira looked at her uneasily. "Next step?"

"You still can't decide, right? I'm going to help you!"

"Uh, thanks..." Eira was unsure she liked where this was going. For once, she wished her family were there to give her advice. There had to be a way to make this easier. At the same time, she wondered if there was someone around here who was not involved in her love life.

Eira soon discovered that Ruffnut packed the week full of surprises. The first day, she heard a knock on her door early in the morning. She opened it and found Dagur standing there with his hand behind his back.

"Good morning, Eira!" he said cheerfully.

"Good morning, Dagur," Eira said, stifling a yawn.

"I brought you these." Dagur revealed the hand behind his back, which clutched several blue flowers.

Eira smiled and accepted the flowers. "Thank you. That is very sweet."

"I'm just a thoughtful kind of guy."

"Hey, Eira!" came a voice from the sky.

Eira looked up to see Snotlout flying with Hookfang. The Monstrous Nightmare stopped by her hut and released a huge pile of multi-colored flowers, burying Dagur. "Uh, thank you," Eira said. She suddenly knew what was happening.

Snotlout grinned. "Do I win?"

Dagur spit flowers from his mouth and glared at Snotlout. "This isn't over yet!"

Eira was strolling along the beach when she spotted Snotlout building something in the sand some distance away. She wondered if she should head back the other way. It was weird being around him now. However, she knew she would not hear the end of it from the girls if she avoided the buys forever, so she took a deep breath and headed his way.

Snotlout brightened when she neared him. "Eira! Look what I made!" He motioned to a large sculpture of a dragon made out of sand. "It's Swiftwings!"

Eira smiled. "That is pretty good."

"Now, if that ocean would just stay put." He glared at the water.

Eira laughed. "It can't last forever."

"But this can," came a second voice. Dagur strutted onto the beach, holding a large piece of paper. He turned the paper over to reveal a painting of a red blob with six sticks attached to it.

Snotlout leaned in closer and squinted his eyes. "Is that supposed to be a dragon?"

"It's Swiftwings!" Dagur said indignantly. "And it's not for you, Snotlips." He held the painting out to Eira and smile.

"Thank you, Dagur," Eira said. "It's very... nice."

"But not as nice as my sculpture," Snotlout said smugly.

"What sculpture?" said Dagur.

Eira followed his gaze and saw that the tide had swept away the sand dragon. Snotlout's eyes went wide in horror. "I'm going to give that ocean a piece of my mind!" he declared.

"Eira, I washed Swiftwings for you!" Snotlout called as she passed.

Eira stopped and stared at him. "Then why are you covered in mud?"

"She wanted to give me a bath as well... in the mud."

Eira continued walking. Soon enough, she ran into Dagur. "Let me guess, you did something for Swiftwings?"

"How did you know?" Dagur said. "I gave her some dragon nip. It made her really happy. I left after she fell asleep, but then I noticed Snotlout going for her and I just had to watch! He tried to throw water on her, but she had none of it. She picked him up and tossed him into the mud! Can you believe it?"

Eira laughed. "Actually, I can."

"Eira, I brought you more flowers!" Dagur said as he dropped an armful of flowers by her doorstep.

"He stole those from Fishlegs!" Snotlout said, coming up behind him. "I got you this instead." He held out a painting of a blue flower that appeared to be weeping.

"Eira, I cleaned your hut!"

"Eira, I fed Swiftwings!"

"Eira, I gave Squirt a cool bandanna!"

"Eira, I watered your flowers!"

"Ruff, whatever you're doing, it's not working!" Eira said as she confronted her friend in her hut.

"No, it's totally working," Tuff said. "It's entertaining me."

"You have yet to see the fruit of my efforts," Ruff said. "It will all be revealed shortly."

Eira had a bad feeling about this.

Eira felt uneasy as she flew around the Edge with Heather on her left side and Astrid on her right. They had to be up to something. "What exactly are we doing?" she asked warily.

"Ruff seems to think you have already chosen someone unconsciously but are afraid to admit it," Astrid said. "Apparently, everything they did the past week is enough to go by."

"Which is debatable," Heather said. "But we thought we'd give it a try. The idea is that, when forced to make a choice, you will make the right one."

"Or it will at least give you a good indication."

Eira's stomach dropped. "And how are you going to force me to choose?" They suddenly changed direction flew back toward the island. It did not take Eira long to realize they had her aimed for a giant tree.

"Dagur is waiting for you to the left and Snotlout to the right," Heather said.

"Choose to go meet one of them now or fly into the tree," Astrid said. At Eira's look, she add, "This was all Ruff's idea."

"Good luck!"

The girls flew off, leaving a panicked Eira to choose. At the last second, she steered Swiftwings to the left. She let out a breath of relief. That had been too close. She really needed to talk to Ruff about her crazy ideas because they were not good for her heart!

Eira flew until she spotted someone on the ground. She smiled despite herself as she guided her dragon to land. But when she dismounted to greet the Viking, she was caught off guard to see Snotlout standing there.

"Hey, Eira!" Snotlout said brightly. "I was worried you wouldn't find me. I know it's a stupid test and might not mean anything, but you still chose me, right?"

"Uh..." Eira was dumbfounded. Had she been set up, or was this a mistake? With how happy he looked, she did not want to tell Snotlout she had not meant to choose him. He was right; it probably didn't mean anything anyway.

"It's alright, you don't have to say anything. I guess we're just supposed to walk back?"

Eira gave him a weak smile. "Alright." She turned to Swiftwings. "You can get back on your own, right?" The Windwalker snorted and took off.

Eira and Snotlout chatted as they walked back to the base together. She gradually grew at ease while they conversed. She forgot why she had been afraid. The two of them did get along quite well. When they arrived, Snotlout turned to face her.

"I'm going to head to the clubhouse," he said. "Do you want to come with me?"

Eira shook her head. "No thanks. I'm going to stay out here for awhile." She wanted to be alone with her thoughts.

"Okay, I'll see you later." Snotlout gave her a small smile before departing.

Eira took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. What a crazy afternoon. She really needed to talk to Ruffnut and the others. Maybe she could-

Her thoughts were interrupted by Dagur entering the base. He appeared dejected about something, though he did smile when he saw her. "Hi, Eira. I guess you didn't choose me. That's disappointing, but-"

A rush of emotion overwhelmed Eira, and before she knew what she was doing, she ran to Dagur and flung her arms around him. He stumbled back in surprise, but he wrapped his arms around her when she clung to him tightly. She buried her face in his chest to hide it from him. "Dagur..." she whispered. She wanted to tell him. She wanted him to know she had wanted it to be him. But telling him felt like saying more than she was ready for.

"It's alright," Dagur said softly. "I'm here." He rubbed her back, and she started to relax. "Is something wrong?"

Eira hesitated. "I just - I'm tired of this competition. It's only making me more confused."

Dagur's hand stilled on her back. Then he gently grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back so he could look at her. "If it's bothering you, I'll make them stop. I promise." His eyes burned with determination.

Eira managed to give him a smile. He would do that even though he thought he was losing? "Thank you." Maybe if she got a break, she could figure this out all on her own.

"We have to stop the competition!" Dagur announced. He had gathered everyone involved minus Eira in the clubhouse, and now he gave each one a hard look to get his point across.

"What are you talking about?" Snotlout said. "The competition is going great."

"It's very entertaining," Ruffnut said.

"It's not entertaining for Eira," said Dagur. "This was supposed to help her, but it's stressing her out. We're ending it now!"

"You're just saying that because you're winning," Astrid said.

"He's not winning," said Snotlout. "Eira chose me today."

Heather gave him a strange look. "What are you talking about? She went to the left. Ruff said that was where Dagur would be."

Dagur shook his head. "No, I was on the right."

Ruff grinned when everyone glared at her her. "Did I say that? I suppose I may have mixed the two up."

Astrid crossed her arms. "Ruff."

"Okay, fine. It was all part of my master plan. I had my doubts if Eira could choose correctly under pressure, so I gave Astrid and Heather the wrong information to pass along to her. I thought her reaction to the unexpected would be more telling. So, tell me, was she relieved or disappointed?"

Snotlout frowned. "I don't know. She seemed pretty normal to me. She didn't say much at first, but then we talked like we always do."

"Ruff, Eira is good at hiding her feelings," Astrid said. "And Snotlout is not great at detecting them."

"Hey!"

"So, of course he's not going to know."

"Dagur seemed to figure out that she's stressed," Heather said.

"She told me the competition made her tired and confused," Dagur explained. "I ran into her after I got back. Now that you mention it, she did seem relieved to see me." Realization dawned on him. "Eira chose me."

Snotlout shot another glare at Ruff. "That was a dirty trick! Did you ever think about my feelings?"

Ruff smirked. "Nope."

"Why didn't she tell me?" Dagur said. "She seemed so upset. I thought-"

"Go to her," Heather said with a smile. "And don't let her run away."

Dagur grinned. "Great idea!" He dashed for a door. Before exiting the clubhouse, he shot Ruff one more glare. "Your plan may have worked, but there will be no more. You will not do anything else to distress Eira!" Then he ran out of there. He did not have to go far to find the young girl. She stood near the trees, gazing up at the stars. "Eira!"

She turned around, seeming surprised to see him. "Dagur?"

"You chose me," Dagur said, advancing towards her.

Eira's eyes widened, and she backed up. "I, uh-"

"Why didn't you tell me you chose me?"

"It, uh, didn't matter. It was a stupid test."

Dagur refused to back down. He continued toward her even as she backed away from him. "You were upset because you were tricked. You wanted it to be me."

"That's not-"

"Eira." She had backed up into a tree and had nowhere to go. Dagur placed his hands on the trunk and gazed down at her. "You want me."

Something flashed in Eira's eyes. "It-It's not enough. I have other considerations, like the fact that you live on another island. There are a lot of variables, and I'm still confused."

A smile flickered on Dagur's face. That sounded like an admission to him. She chewed her bottom lip nervously, drawing his gaze. He desperately wanted to kiss her, but he told her he wouldn't. "Avoiding me won't clear it up. Until you outright reject me, I will do everything I can to show you my love."

Eira blushed and looked down. "D-Dagur-"

He placed his hand on her face and tilted her chin up so she would look at him. "I'll make the girls stay out of it, but I will keep giving you reasons to choose me." He kissed her nose, making her blush again. Then he kissed her cheek, her jaw, her neck...

"Dagur..." Eira wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in closer to him.

Dagur smiled at her. "You are the most wonderful, beautiful, kind-hearted Viking I have ever met. Maybe I'm not good enough for you, but-"

Eira surprised him by lightly brushing her lips against his. Overcome with happiness, he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her to him. She gasped, and he used the opportunity to deepen the kiss. She seemed to melt against him, making his heart soar. He knew they had something good here. She had to see it to.

Eira pulled back and hid her face in his chest. "Dagur, I don't-"

"I know," he said softly. "You haven't decided yet." He held her against him, smiling when he felt her relax. "It doesn't matter. It's enough that you feel something. If you have any reservations, I'll destroy them." He kissed the top of her head. "You're mine, and I'm not letting you go."