Author's Note: I couldn't wait to publish this because I had it done and things finally get cooking.
Chapter 2
Astrid
It was bad.
They had only been back on Berk one day, and the twins had already managed to wreak havoc.
"I'll string you up by your intestines when I find you!" Astrid shouted to the trees.
She expected laughter, but heard nothing.
One bath—one measly little warm bath was all she wanted. They hadn't had much time to focus on improving the freezing bath situation at Dragon's Edge, so Astrid had planned to enjoy the hot springs on Berk. But now the twins had ruined it.
"You bastards!" she screamed.
"Everything okay?"
Astrid froze in terror at the sound of a man's voice. She clutched her arms over her chest and sunk lower into the water. She was going to kill the twins—crush their skulls and tear out their hearts with her bare hands—as soon as she got her clothes back.
"Don't look at me!" she squeaked as a dark head of hair emerged from the forest.
Hiccup's eyes widened at the sight of her. As he grasped the situation, he flushed and turned around.
"Sorry," he said. "Spitelout said the schedule was open—I didn't know you were here."
Astrid took a deep breath and relaxed her shoulders further into the water. Of all the people to find her, Hiccup would probably be the most helpful.
"Ruff and Tuff stole my clothes, or I would have been gone before my time was up," she said.
"They what?" exclaimed Hiccup.
He turned slightly with his words, but blushed again as he realized what he was doing. Snapping back around, his hands tugged at his hair.
"I had thought even they would respect the privacy of bathing," said Astrid. "But they've sunk to a new low."
"Here," said Hiccup, yanking at the ties on his neckline.
Before Astrid could say anything, he whipped the tunic over his head and held it out behind him. At the sight of his bare back, Astrid felt her stomach clench. This was not how she was imagined watching Hiccup Haddock undress.
He took tentative steps backwards.
"It should be long enough to cover—you know, whatever needs, uh, covering," Hiccup stuttered.
With a hand plastered over her chest, Astrid inched out of the water to snatch the garment. Just as her fingers closed around the fabric, something whooshed out of the trees. As the familiar underside of a dragon swooped overhead, Hiccup tumbled into the water with a splash, nearly landing on top of Astrid. Their bare skin smashed together momentarily as their limbs tangled and Hiccup struggled to find his footing.
"Sorry," he sputtered between coughs when his head burst out of the water.
Astrid was filled with a rage too large to be contained by Odin himself.
"You half-troll bastards!" she screamed after the retreating dragon, punching the water for emphasis. "I'll skin you in your sleep and feed you to your mother!"
She looked down to find a dripping Hiccup staring at her. He turned red and looked away quickly, still coughing. Suddenly, Astrid became aware of cold air caressing her torso.
"Mother f—" Astrid cut herself off as she slapped her arms to her chest and plunged into the water.
For a moment, she considered staying under until she drowned, but then Hiccup would probably try to save her, which meant touching—again. She might die of embarrassment, or worse live, and have to talk to him after. Finally, she could no longer breath, and she poked her head through the surface.
Hiccup raised his hand out of the water, trailing his soaked shirt.
"I guess it was my turn anyway," he said in his I'm-joking-because-I'm-nervous voice.
Astrid snatched the wad of green fabric away and dragged it over her head.
"They're dead," she muttered as she forced her arms through sleeves that refused to cooperate when drenched.
"I always figured you'd be the one to kill them," he said.
No longer caring how much of her legs Hiccup saw—because propriety had flown away with Barf and Belch—Astrid stormed out of the water.
"Stormfly!" she shouted.
"Don't let them off too easy," said Hiccup from the water as she dragged herself atop her dragon.
"Burning the clothes off their backs seems fair," she said.
Hiccup threw back his head to laugh, and she felt lighter as she flew towards her revenge.