Chapter 4:
"C' mon, try to catch up!" a nine-year-old boy ran across the beach barefooted at the coast of Charleston, South Carolina, leaving a trail of footsteps like small craters on the beach behind him, laughing and waving his arms in the wind. The vast Atlantic Ocean was next to him with a few sailboats floating on the water. The waves sparkled under the sunlight, seagulls with snow-white fur circled above the ocean, searching for fish that hid beneath the water.
The boy's auburn hair bounced when his bare feet touched the ground. A light blue, oversized jacket reached to his knees like a dress and almost stumbled him over multiple times. His emerald eyes reflected the sunlight.
A nine-year-old girl chased behind the boy, creating another trail of footsteps on the sand. She braided her blond hair into a ponytail behind her head. She wore an MUSC t-shirt and naval blue shorts, also barefooted.
"Hiccup, slow down!" the girl yelled. She stopped, and placed her hands on her knees, breathing in the fresh air from the ocean to refill her lungs.
"Really? I know that you are better than this, Astrid," Hiccup paused as well. He walked back to the tired girl, sweat drifted down from her forehead and passed her ice blue eyes.
"We ran all the way from the other side of the beach… anyway, you should join the cross-country team," Astrid panted heavily, resting her hands on her knees
"All right, we'll walk."
"That's more like it."
The two kids sauntered along the ocean, hand in hand, chilly water washed their bare feet. They were alone on the beach, most of the visitors already went home during this time period. They walked for more than ten minutes without encountering a human being. A roll of dense palm trees separated them from the noisy street.
"Do you think your father know that we are… dating each other?" Astrid asked.
"No, he doesn't," Hiccup replied confidently. "He is too busy working with other engineers. And, he only knows that we are friends, but not in a romantic way."
"Do you think he'll ever know?"
"That depends on how well we keep that hidden."
The duo kept walking while auburn and blond hair swang in the cool wind, until a watchtower came into view. White, blue and red stripes on the walls made the tower like a U.S. flag. A steel falcon statue on the top of the tower reflected the bright evening sunlight, creating an illusion that this coastline has been protected by a sentinel.
Hiccup found a blanket in front of the tower. He and Astrid took this blanket from Hiccup's father, Stoick, and hid it under the balcony of this watchtower. This blanket could easily keep two lovebirds warm beneath it. In order to keep this blanket away from dust, Hiccup put it into a translucent, sealable plastic bag and used a stone as a weight so that the wind wouldn't blow it away.
Astrid took out the blanket from the bag and spread it on the sand to make a clean and flat place for them to sit on. After the boy and the girl made themselves comfortable, the young Astrid cuddled Hiccup, wrapping her arms around his chest and rested her jaw on his shoulder.
The sun struggled to make its last appearance of the day, iridescent lights transformed the horizon into a palette with colors of red, orange, and yellow. No noise of car engines, factories, or traffics could be heard from this pristine, secluded beach. The sounds of seagulls squawking and waves splashing dominated the beach.
"I'm cold," As the wind started to pick up, Astrid cuddled Hiccup even closer, trying to warm herself by her companion's body heat. She untied her hair and spread them alone her shoulders. Under the evening sunlight, her blond hair looked more like golden straws.
"I can see that. I told you not to just wear a t-shirt and…that," Hiccup pointed at Astrid's legs.
Astrid's shorts was not really age appropriate for a nine-year-old girl. It didn't even reach her thumb if she put her arms at her side.
"What's the big deal? We even took showers together, and you know that I don't care if right now I'm naked in front of you."
Hiccup took off his jacket and helped Astrid to put it on. The wind blocker jacket could keep Astrid's shivering body away from the cool temperature. She lay down on the blanket and rested her head on Hiccup's laps, and instead of watching the breathtaking sunset, she concentrated on the two emerald eyes above her.
Hiccup caressed his girlfriend, rubbing her scalp and running his fingers through her blond hair. Astrid moved closer to Hiccup so that she could indulge his gentle touch.
"You don't like it?" Hiccup asked after realizing that Astrid's vision trailed off from the sunset.
"Oh, I love sunset. It lets me know that no one can remain its dominant position, but…" Astrid paused for a moment, staring at Hiccup. "I love you more."
They met each other five years ago when a four-year-old Hiccup moved to Charleston with his father, Stoick. As Hiccup's neighbor and the only child in the community who was Hiccup's age, Astrid had quickly become Hiccup's close friend. When Astrid got into trouble, Hiccup would always be the first one to help her out, and Hiccup knew that Astrid would never leave his side. They went to the same school, hanged out with each other every single day, and sometimes Astrid would even sneak out from her house at night, ran to Hiccup's house with a blanket wrapped around her, and spent the night with Hiccup.
Their community was located very near to the coast. From Hiccup's balcony, he could see the Atlantic Ocean and a beach. The beach had become their "designated hang out" spot for every weekend. They would walk on the sand, swim in the clear water, and watch the sunset when all the tourists were gone.
After three years, another type of relationship had started to replace their friendship. This all began with when Astrid faintly confessed to Hiccup that she had a crush on him since they met each other.
"You remember the day when you said you have a crush on me? I was… terrified," Hiccup said, gazing at the ocean.
"What?" Astrid sat up, facing Hiccup. She put her hands on Hiccup's shoulders and looked him in the eye. "Tell me why."
"Because… I didn't know what would've happened to our friendship. Before I moved to Charleston, I spent most of my time in my father's lab, so I didn't have any friends. My father's co-workers used to play with me, but I felt that they were using and treating me as an entertainment tool or toy instead of a friend," Hiccup looked down at his hands. "I did not get the chance to interact with other people. 'Friendship' used to be an unfamiliar concept to me."
"I only know that you didn't have a lot of friends before you moved here. I… I don't know the problem was that extreme."
"Yeah… anyway, it doesn't matter now."
Hiccup looked up, finding out that Astrid's ice blue eyes were gazing at him, worried.
"I just want to say," Hiccup added. This time, both of them looked at each other in the eye. "I don't want our relationship to end. You are my only companion in this world. Well, except for my dad."
"You don't have to change your word choice in front of me and hide your thoughts. I know what you are thinking and what you were trying to say," Astrid giggled. "I love you too."
Astrid leaned forward, gently placing a kiss on Hiccup's lips. Even though they had been kissing each other for years, this thing would never get old for these two. Astrid didn't care about "age appropriate" or whatnot. She did whatever she felt like so. If she felt she should punch someone, then she would punch someone, and if she felt she should kiss someone, then she would kiss someone.
Hiccup heard rumors from other older kids and adults in the community about Astrid: from the outside, Astrid looked like a cute little girl, but for some strange reasons, she became sexually mature and active at a pretty young age, so sometimes Hiccup was afraid about whether he would get himself laid or something. But that never happened.
Even though Astrid never fucked Hiccup when their ages were still in single digit, but bruises, or hickeys, were common on Hiccup's neck, so Hiccup had to wear high collar clothes to cover them up.
"Ahhh… that was a terrible one," Astrid brushed her hair away from her face while criticizing herself. "Forget about it. I'll give you another one later."
"No, that was… that was amazing."
"Whatever… humph…" before Astrid could turn away from her boyfriend, Hiccup grabbed on her arm and pulled her back and covered her mouth with his lips. Hiccup's tongue swiped across Astrid's lower lip, causing her to moan into him.
Astrid felt that Hiccup would've sucked her up, but she didn't try to resist it. She actually liked it. She leaned in, wrapped her arms around his neck.
"If your parents see us doing this, we are all screwed," when their mouths departed, both of them gasped for fresh air.
"Maybe," Astrid replied to Hiccup's concern. She ran her fingers alone Hiccup's jaw and down his neck. She pushed Hiccup back forcefully that he actually landed face up on the blanket. Before Hiccup could sit up again, Astrid straddled on his body and pinned his wrists beside his head. She looked down at him seductively. "Man, you are concerning too much. I'll defend you if they want to beat you up or something. And, nobody is going to see us here."
"Are you trying to…" Hiccup tried to wriggle himself lose but with his wrists pinned down and Astrid on top of him, his escape plan didn't go out so well.
"Ok, ok, you are not thinking about… that, right?" Hiccup resisted. "We are only nine."
"Oh, don't you worry. Right now I don't want to have sex with you. I'm just enjoying our time right now," the blonde whispered by Hiccup's ear.
"In a sexual way?"
"Sort of, but not really. Do you exercise a lot? Even though you are just nine, but you have some muscles," Astrid smirked.
"And you don't sound and act like a nine-year-old when you are trying to get me out of my clothes, right?" Hiccup pointed at his jacket.
"If you don't mind."
"Since when did I mind this?"
After receiving his permission, Astrid straddled on Hiccup and unzipped his jacket inch by inch. This scene happened quite often to them as well, Hiccup liked to take showers, and he took a shower almost every day. When Stoick came back late at night, which he always did, Astrid would usually join Hiccup in the shower.
Astrid took off his jacket and tossed it aside carelessly, and his shirt quickly joined with his jacket. He shivered when the cold air directly contacted with his exposed upper body, trying to protect himself from the low temperature by crossing his arms.
"No, allow me," Astrid whispered as she pushed his arms aside.
"But it's cold...oh."
Astrid quickly removed her shirt and covered his body with hers. The instant body contact let Hiccup to spasm beneath. Hiccup's hand reached for hers, fingers laced together tightly. Hiccup kissed the back of Astrid's ear and sucked it gently, the spot which he knew would give Astrid the greatest pleasure. Astrid moaned and arched her body into his, hardened nipples pressing into his chest.
"Do you want these to go off as well?" Astrid asked as she tugged his waistband.
"No, I'm good. I think this is already good enough. We can do that when we get back," Hiccup traced his hand down her spine. "My dad won't be back till midnight."
The duo tangled up with each other. Behind them, the sun disappeared behind the horizon, darkness swallowed the beach.
Hiccup opened his eyes, sunlight penetrated through his bedroom window and formed into multiple columns in the room. The sound of birds shrieking woke Hiccup. It was almost nine o'clock in the morning.
The memory of him and Astrid came back to him during his sleep. After around seven years without any information and communication from her, Hiccup finally met his only childhood companion again. He raised himself from the bed and walked to the window. From there, he could see the vast Appalachian Mountain, hawks circled beyond the community, searching for food in the forest. He rubbed his face, trying to grasp recall the time he spent with Astrid.
Astrid vanished from his life just half a year after the beach scene. It was after a trip that he and Stoick traveled to Texas to visit another engineer. When they got back to Charleston, Astrid's house was empty. He didn't really know what happened to her and her family. According to her neighbors, Astrid and her family moved to somewhere in Virginia, but they didn't know the exact city. Hiccup sent emails to her parents and tried to call her, but no one responded to the emails and nobody picked up the phone calls.
Hiccup quickly got dressed, put on his white lab coat, and grabbed a cheese stick from his fridge as his breakfast. The cameras in his lab must have captured the facial appearances of yesterday's visitors, and he could use the facial identification system that Muspelheim had to i.d. Astrid. When he walked toward his car, thinking about the time he spent with Astrid, his phone rang in his pocket.
"Hey, Hiccup, you are late today," Fishlegs's voice came out from the speaker as Hiccup picked up the call. "C' mon, we need to get started on this thing. I was in the lab all night, searching for some information about BEC, and my conclusion is that this project is a big piece of shit to deal with."
"Ok, I will be there in ten minutes, but I need to go to Sam's office before I meet you the lab," Hiccup replied as he hung up the phone.
Hiccup's Ford followed a paved road into the Appalachian Mountains and reached Asgard, the headquarter of Muspelheim. Sycamores and northern red oaks filled the mountains and surrounded this road and the building, creating a totally secluded and peaceful environment for the engineers to work with. The density of trees provided a natural camouflage that even the satellites in space could not find this road. Usually, wildlife like deers and foxes were the only pedestrians on this road. These curious animals loved to observe the weird box-like creatures that could run at high speed without stopping.
He drove his car pass three guards and into a small parking lot beside Asgard. Hiccup always loitered beside the trees for a while after he parked his car, trying to get some fresh air in his lungs before work. But this time, he directly strode into the building.
"Check this out, isn't that Hiccup the mechanic?" The guard who stood by the entrance of Asgard teased Hiccup as he entered.
"Yeah, this time he looks a little bit depressed," another guard added. He laughed. "What? You broke up with your girlfriend?"
Before, only one guard was responsible for the main entrance of Asgard, but a couple of months ago, a group of deers in the forest decided to rush the entrance because some engineers were having a blow-out pizza party in Asgard. Even though the guard stopped some deers by a tranquilizer gun, still five deers ran into the building and messed everything up.
After that incident, Helga, Muspelheim's Lead Security Officer, decided to put two guards by the entrance instead of one and another group patrolling outside of Asgard.
"Oh, just shut up you two," Hiccup replied, annoyed. "And you know what, that P90 in your hand is already a useless metal."
"This," the first guard held up his P90. "This is not a useless metal. P90 is one of the best self-defense weapons in the world. A fifty round magazine can deal with all the problems that you have."
"Blah, blah, blah. Try to fire it."
The guard raised his weapon, unlocked the safe, and pointed it confidently at a tree nearby. As he squeezed the trigger, the gun didn't fire. Instead, the gun disassembled itself. The firing pin, ejector spring, fire selector, and all parts of the gun fell to the ground.
"What the fuck…" the guard looked at the ground, surprised.
"Yeah, buddy," Hiccup laughed, waving a bag of screws before him. "Better check your weapon before using it."
When Hiccup stepped into Samuel Timothy's office, Sam looked like he was focusing on some paperwork. But when Hiccup walked closer to him, he found out that he was leaning aside in his chair, half asleep. Documents and papers covered his desk, his computer was on, but it automatically switched to "sleep" because no one has been using it.
"Uh, Sam? Are you ok?" Hiccup asked carefully.
"What… " when Hiccup's voice reached his ears, Sam instantly sat up, blinked his eyes multiple times. "Oh, hi, Hiccup. Yeah, I'm good. The paperwork is killing me. I spent all last night trying to finish them, but as you can see, but I failed. We lost two hundred thousand dollars last night."
"What happened?"
"A project that reached to the testing and assessing stage failed. It was one of Gobber's project, next-generation autopilot, nuclear-powered aircraft," Sam handed a paper to Hiccup.
"Gobber failed? Isn't he the modern day Hephaestus or something?"
"Well, you engineers only need to deal with one project at a time, but as the Main Engineer, Gobber needs to deal with five, or more, and keep the Engineering Division in a good shape."
"Anyway, this is the test report, right?" Hiccup said as he quickly scanned through it. "Flight sensors, engines, and auto-pilot didn't screw up, so technically this aircraft can fly. I believe the problem is the nuclear reactor: preventing the reactor from overheating could be a challenge. Gobber's reactor generates too many neutrons, so he needs more cadmium rods to control the reactor. Also, it's pretty complicated to squeeze everything that a reactor needs into an aircraft, so that means you won't have much space left for other things."
"Smart kid," Sam smiled with admire. "I know Muspelheim can count on you. Anyway, do you need anything?"
"I just have a small question."
"Sure."
"I know you guys already did facial identifications. You do that for every visitor. All I'm asking is the result of facial i.d., and some other information about them would be helpful as well."
To be continued
It took me around a week to finish this one, and it is the longest one yet. Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter.