It was early Saturday morning when Hiccup woke up to loud banging coming from the bathroom. The door was left ajar but he could hear the water running. Hiccup dragged himself to investigate the situation and was met by the sight of a soaked Astrid hunched over the bathroom sink and the entire area covered in so much foam even the faucets were barely visible anymore. Astrid appeared to be scrubbing some sort of fabric, probably a clothing item considering the red spiky skirt hanging over the shower curtain rod. Her movements were rough but precise as if she had done this countless times before.
Hiccup cleared his throat. "Are you doing laundry?" he asked in an amused tone.
Astrid stiffened in surprise. "Do you have a problem with that?"
Hiccup held up his hands in defense. "No, no problem at all," he clarified. "But you know you don't have to do this, right?"
Astrid blinked at him in confusion. "Of course I do," she said, wiping her face. "My clothes aren't going to wash themselves."
Hiccup held back a chuckle and pulled out a towel from the basket behind him, draping it over her shoulders to subdue the mild shivering. "Come on, let's get you changed into something dry."
"But.." Astrid tried protesting but instead found herself being led away from the chaotic scene in the bathroom.
-,-
"The washing machine is one of the greatest inventions of the industrial revolution," Hiccup explained, pointing over at something white and square with a small window in the center. "If you need anything else washed, just put it in here," he said, opening the small door. Astrid hesitated slightly before dropping the remaining clothes inside the small space and then jumped in surprise as Hiccup shut the door and pressed on something, making everything inside the container start to spin in circles. "When they are done washing, we'll move them into the dryer," he continued, pointing at another 'machine' that looked almost identical to the first one except it lacked a window.
Hiccup watched Astrid with interest as she stared in fascination, now having changed into a pair of Hiccup's old jeans and one of Vivian's unused oversized tops.
"Not gonna lie, this is pretty cool," she said, grinning.
Hiccup merely grinned back, fighting the sudden urge to give Astrid a big, grand tour and show her everything else this century had to offer.
-,-
Frankie had been forced to head back home today and it was with great difficulty he had parted ways with Darkshot, even if only for a short while. The dragon was currently messing about by himself in the basement which had recently been renovated into a second living room. Vivian was fond of painting and had used the extra space to exercise her artistry so it meant there had been cans of oil painting lying around which Hiccup had to lock away due to Darkshot's unexpected stay. There was suddenly a loud knock on the front door and Astrid cartwheeled over to answer it, finding an anxious looking Frankie on the other side. She rolled her eyes and stepped aside to let him enter.
While Astrid went out in the backyard for some axe throwing practise, Hiccup and Frankie picked up a new project to work on in the garage. They were now in the midst of creating a book of dragons to categorise each species they had come across.
"Haven't you ever wondered what made the dragons disappear in the first place?" Frankie mused out loud, watching his reptelian friend nibble on a piece of cardboard from afar.
Hiccup knitted his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
Frankie shrugged. "Astrid doesn't seem to be very familiar with any of the dragon species we have encountered so far. What if they are.. not from Berk?"
Hiccup looked thoughtful for a moment, taking Frankie's words in. His argument carried some merit and was just as valid as their previous hypothesis.
Frankie's phone buzzed then, interrupting their discourse.
"Who is it?" Hiccup asked over his laptop.
"Heather," Frankie sighed, running a hand through his short blond hair. "I never thought I would have to choose between a dragon and my girlfriend," he grumbled to himself. "It's not fair. Why can't we just let her join in? I'm tired of keeping secrets."
"You know why, Frankie."
"But Astrid could use a female friend!" Frankie tried to argue. "It would make things so much easier for her while she is here."
"Easier for you, you mean," Hiccup retorted dryly.
"Look, I know how protective you are of Astrid and I don't want anything bad to happen to her either," Frankie continued in a much calmer voice. "But I trust Heather and I know she would be good friend to Astrid," he pleaded. "Please, just think about it at least."
Hiccup sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
While waiting for a response from his best friend, Frankie noticed he had received another text message. "It's Heather again," he murmured. "She wants to go out tonight."
Hiccup kept tight-lipped, still mulling over Frankie's insane proposal.
"How about you and Astrid join us? Nothing permanent has to happen but just to see how the girls will get along," Frankie suggested in a hopeful voice.
"And what about Darkshot?" Hiccup reminded his husky friend with a raised eyebrow.
Frankie's shoulders fell in defeat as a new realisation dawned upon him. "Oh.. Oh, I didn't even think about that."
Hiccup sighed again, finally relenting. "Maybe we could lock up the basement," he pondered. "Darkshot seems to be comfortable down there and we will only be gone for a few hours."
Frankie's face lightened up instantly and he lifted his lanky friend up in strong hug that made Hiccup gasp for air.
-,-
It was Saturday evening and packed to the rim but the trio managed to maneuver themselves over to where the raven haired girl sat and waited for them.
Frankie immediatly rushed over to greet his girlfriend while Hiccup and Astrid hung behind. Hiccup was still feeling hesitant over bringing Astrid here and potentially getting more people tangled into their mess.
"You must be Astrid." Astrid and Heather stared at one another in awe for a moment before Heather stood up and held out her hand. "Frankie's cousin, right?"
With an encouraging nudge from Hiccup, Astrid accepted the handshake and smiled shyly. "Hi." She couldn't help comparing their attires and was suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious wearing Hiccup's pants and an oversized shirt next to Heather's sleek, dark blue dress and high shoes.
Astrid mimicked Heather in her sitting style, crossing one leg over the other and subtly draping her blonde braid over her shoulder. She even ended up copying Heather's order.
Hiccup watched the entire exchange with amused intrigue. Astrid had never behaved this oddly before and that spoke volumes considering how out of touch Astrid was with the modern setting.
Heather happened to be a vegetarian so the burger Astrid ended up with was a raw veggie burger.
Astrid grimaced at all the lettuce and the eggplant bun, scrunching her nose cutely in dismay. "This wasn't what I expected," she mumbled, highly disappointment by the lack of protein. She sighed to herself dramatically.
Hiccup rolled his eyes and nudged her, offering her his own barely eaten burger. Their faces were only inches apart as Astrid leaned forward to take a bite. Her frown ceased immediately, replaced by a look of delight.
"Better?" Hiccup whispered. Astrid nodded shyly. "Here, take this, I'll go and get a new one."
As soon as Hiccup left, Heather turned to Astrid with a playful twinkle in her eye. "So you two are a thing right?" she teased.
Astrid turned bright red and began coughing. "They are just friends, Heather," Frankie intervened, feeling just as uncomfortable as Astrid about his girlfriend's strange assesment.
"I don't buy it," Heather said. "I have been watching them closely, not to mention I can recognise a pair of 'boyfriend jeans' anywhere," she stated proudly. "He got in her pants and now she is wearing his."
Frankie spluttered on the drink he was downing while Astrid narrowed her eyes.
"What are we talking about?" Hiccup's voice suddenly broke in as he returned back to the table. There was now an awkward tension looming over the room and Astrid was looking incredibly flustered.
Frankie began laughing nervously, cutting Heather off before she decided to say something more outrages. "We were just discussing how we should get milkshakes later since Astrid has never had one before."
"Are you serious?" Heather exclaimed in surprise. "Never ever?"
Astrid merely shrugged, not sure how she should respond. She didn't even know what a milkshake was, only that milk tasted a lot like yakmilk back home. She didn't understand why anyone would want to shake it though.
"That's it, we are definitely going for milkshakes," Heather declared.
-,-
The quartet walked side by side on the docks, sipping on their frothy drinks while enjoying the sunset and fresh summer air. Astrid had let Hiccup decide her flavour for her as she trusted him to know what she would like. Her drink ended up being light pink with some scoopes of 'ice cream' and Astrid found herself responding well to the taste, although consuming the cold substance too fast gave her a headache.
Frankie and Heather parted ways with Hiccup and Astrid just as the four of them reached the end of the trail. As much as Frankie adored Darkshot, he knew he had been neglecting his girlfriend and needed to make it up to her. So he ended up leaving with Heather for some alone time.
Now all by themselves, Hiccup turned to Astrid with a small smile. "Shall we?" he guestered over to his bike. Astrid giggled, seating herself on the handlebars. Hiccup then began pedalling them across the docks. He took the longer route home this time, wanting Astrid to truly experience the beauty of her surroundings.
Astrid laughed and smiled throughout the whole ride, even closing her eyes to let the wind trickle over her face. Despite being such a long way from home, she felt naught but free and at peace in that moment.
-,-
It had now been a day since their group outing and Frankie was back to pampering Darkshot with Hiccup sitting next to him, scribbling something in the 'Book of Dragons'.
The stillness in room was however cut short when Astrid suddenly barged down the stairs, holding a long piece of fabric in her hands.
"The 'dryer' ruined my bindings!" she blurted out, a blush growing over her whole face and down to her neck. "Look at them, they even have holes in them!"
Hiccup wore a stunned expression and then facepalmed at his own grave mistake. "I'm so, so sorry. I forgot to mention not all type of clothes are supposed to go into the dryer."
Astrid frowned at the shredded fold. "I need my bindings, I can't go outside without them," she said, crossing her arms over her chest and reddning even more under Hiccup's gaze.
"What are 'bindings'?" Hiccup whispered to Frankie who pulled out his phone to google the word.
"What am I going to do now?" Astrid moaned in hopelessness. Hiccup stood up and walked over to her. "Maybe we can find you something else to use as a replacement?"
Frankie suddenly rushed over to Hiccup and whispered something into his ear, making the auburn haired boy turn into the shade of a tomato.
"Uh, err.." he was now empty words, looking at Astrid with wide eyes as she still held the offensive cloth in her grasp.
He glanced over at Frankie for help but only recieved a smug smile in return. Hiccup rolled his eyes and let out an awkward laugh.
"So Astrid, I was thinking.. maybe it's time you and Heather got properly aquainted."
AN: Time to Hiccstrid it up a little! xD
Bindings = Viking version of a bra ;)