I'm so, so, so sorry. It happened again. LONG CHAPTER, GUISE. I'm so terrible D: When I write, I use regular loose-leaf paper, so I tend to lose track of how many pages I actually write... I get so absorbed. Ha... There's a lot going on, take it slow, absorb this chapter, listen to some music, relax...
Anyway. Funnies galore. Definitely my favorite chapter so far.
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Hands on Sunshine
Chapter Four
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"Astrid… Astrid…," Ruffnut groaned, rolling over to prop herself up onto her elbow, leaning close to Astrid with wobbling balance, even in the morning.
"What, Ruff?" Astrid said in a very unpleasant voice. She hardly got a wink of sleep during the night because Ruffnut kept kicking her and she snored like a beast from Hel, and, in general, the bed was too small for both girls anyway. Yes, she could have stolen Tuffnut's bed because he evidently never showed up last night, but not even Loki himself would sleep in that bed, so there was no way Astrid would in the right mind.
"Astrid, you need to get me…," Ruffnut swallowed hard, her eyes almost rolling into the back of her head as she blinked.
"What? Get you what?" Astrid opened her eyes in the dim morning light, figuring she would be unable to even remotely get to sleep now.
"I'm gonna be sick," And without warning, Ruffnut pulled herself over Astrid and wretched her stomach contents onto the floor between the two beds, a sick splashing noise following.
Astrid's mouth and eyes were wide with horror and she couldn't speak for a good thirty seconds. Ruffnut sat back and wiped her mouth with an embarrassed look on her face. "Sorry… but I feel better now at least."
"Ruffnut!" Astrid shrieked, pulling herself up to sit against the headboard, expression torn among disgust, anger and shock. "Ruffnut!" she said a second time, unable to find the right combination of words to reprimand Ruffnut for puking on the floor while laying over her.
"I'll clean it up, chill out—,"
"No! You just puked! While lying on top of me! That is not okay! How could you think that is okay?" Astrid was now making disgusted faces while shaking her hands like she had touched the vomit itself, curling her knees to her chest.
Ruffnut leaned a bit over, raising her brows to peer over the edge of the bed. There was hardly anything, mostly just ale and spit and some bread, but it wasn't too gross…. "Relax, Ast. I'll clean it up."
Remembering how horrendously messy the entire room was, and remembering last night (a little hazy, however), Astrid said intently, "And the rest of your room, too, while you're at it. I kicked my foot on a shield last night so Hiccup wouldn't trip carrying you in, for Odin's sakes," Astrid smoothed down her hair to the best of her ability and took her headband from the nightstand and fitted it around her head, pulling her bangs out to swish against her forehead. Unbeknownst to her, Ruffnut's face was flaming red.
"Hiccup? Hiccup was here?" she was halfway climbing out of the bed when she spoke, face long and unbelieving when Astrid nodded at her like she was dumb.
"Yeah, he carried your drunk ass here and hauled you up the stairs like a sack of potatoes," Astrid told her while climbing to the end of the bed as well to avoid the puddle of vomit. "But now, I am going home. I feel like shit."
"Hiccup was actually here? Then where's Tuff?" Ruffnut asked, taking one of her brother's dirty tunics off the floor and using it swab up her puke. Astrid probably would have smacked her for it if she wasn't busy twisting her dress around to fit properly.
"You said he was with Snotlout," Astrid replied, wiping the sleep from her eyes and beginning to yawn.
"I said that? Oh, well, shit, I don't know where he is, then. I was drunk, Astrid. I was so drunk. And you let Hiccup carry me here?" Ruffnut was piling clothes in her arms and kicking objects aside with her feet in her version of room cleaning, pushing things further under the two beds and throwing the heap of clothes in the closet.
"I don't really care, to tell you. And why're you so worked up about Hiccup? It's just him. And he's an idiot," Astrid helped Ruffnut slam the door closed after catching a few things that wanted to escape the over-stuffed closet.
Ruffnut snorted, and with one final shove, the closet clicked shut. "Don't pretend like I didn't see you enjoy dancing with him last night," she sniggered when Astrid punched her arm.
"Okay. I'm leaving now," Astrid replied sternly, walking over to the door and wrenching it open.
"Don't forget to give him a juicy smooch for me!" Ruffnut called after her friend.
"Shut up!" Astrid yelled from the top of the stairs and Ruffnut burst out laughing as she stormed down the steps, holding up her wrinkled dress. Mom's not going to be happy, she thought when entering the Thorston's kitchen, the three younger Thorston's all yelling around the breakfast table and pulling hair and playing with food. Astrid said a polite 'good morning' to both Mr. and Mrs. Thorston, and gave a couple smiles to Ruffnut's younger sisters who all stopped to say hi to Astrid.
Astrid walked out of the kitchen too swiftly to be asked to be offered any breakfast, and she was so thankful Hilda Thorston didn't ask because she would feel rude to turn it down. If she had accepted, she would have had to eat at that rambunctious table for a third time, and because after Ruffnut's display earlier this morning, she felt a little uneasy herself. Astrid slipped on her shoes and closed the door quietly behind her just as one sibling began to screech in tears.
She hurriedly walked through the village with her head down, cursing this long, stupid dress she was wearing. She wished she brought a change of clothes to Ruffnut's house last night so she didn't have to sleep in the damned thing too and walk around in it after the wedding party was over. Astrid was not in a pleasant mood. And it seemed to her, neither were many of the villagers walking around with nasty hangovers still lumbering them down. Today sounded like a great day for a long nap.
But, ugh, Astrid still had to show up at Mead Hall for Auda and Brandan's morning gift, and hang out with her family the rest of the day while aunts and uncles showered the newly weds with gifts. Today also sounded pretty dismal to Astrid.
Walking into her house, it was already full of family members who hardly noticed her slink in and up the stairs, just like Astrid planned. She went to her room quietly and quickly changed out of her lavender dress into an indigo-colored tunic. She remembered she had to pull her chest of summer clothes out of the attic because most of her tunics were for winter and fall. But, finding herself unable to really care too much, she just promised herself she would do it tomorrow as she flung her hair up into a quick, professional braid. She cinched a belt around herself and checked her headband in her looking glass before venturing downstairs.
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Brandan's gift to Auda was a beautiful bracelet made with Celtic knots and green and silver beads, made by Brandan himself. Auda blushed a deep crimson and the people present in Mead Hall clapped when the wedding rituals were over once Auda handed Brandan a ring of keys to the Hofferson household. It was usually the other way around, but this was the start of the Hofferson girls defying tradition.
Astrid sat down next to Ruffnut at their usual table, her friend seeming like she had not vomited on the floor at all, recoiling back to her original self with hardly a trace of a hangover. Fishlegs, on the other hand, had his head on the table, probably faring the worst out of all of them, complaining of a raging headache. Snotlout had his chin in his palm, looking half dead, and he hardly even acknowledged his cousin coming to sit down next to him. Hiccup looked just like Hiccup; he hardly seemed damaged.
"Hey, where's Tuff at?" Hiccup, always observant (sometimes), asked to no one in particular.
"He was supposed to be with Snotface," Astrid directed a subtle insult to both Snotlout and Ruffnut for being stupid and ridiculously drunk.
"Hey, he disappeared. I had no idea where he went," Snotlout shrugged like it was no big deal.
"Because you were drunk," Astrid snapped.
"Well, yeah, it was a party after all."
Astrid slapped a hand to her face, opening her mouth to speak, but Ruffnut jumped in first. "How could you lose him? You guys are, like, attached at the hip."
"Are not," Snotlout replied like a drone, his hand sliding up his face to screw up the right side of his features.
"Oh, there's Tuff," Fishlegs said quietly out of nowhere, his head off the table with an imprint of the wood texture on his forehead. He had his finger lazily raised in the direction Tuffnut was in, but his arm was unstable and he let it fall to the table with a loud thunk. The table turned and everyone saw Tuffnut stride into Mead Hall with a characteristic stumble and a girl under his arm, grinning stupidly with his clothes on backwards and no boots and no sign of his helmet. Snotlout started rolling around laughing even before Tuffnut walked up to the table, the girl under his arm kissing his cheek and parting ways at the door. Tuffnut scratched his head, face cracked with his maniacal grin and a reddish tinge to his cheeks.
"What the Hel happened last night?" Ruffnut said as his brother sat down next to her.
"Tuff! Oh, Gods, man! What… was that? What happened! I can't even remember!" Snotlout was suddenly brought to life and wide awake, and the two boys were chuckling madly while everyone else around the table was confused.
"I don't even know!" Tuffnut threw his head back laughing. "But, dude! Where'd you go? What's-her-face was looking everywhere for you!"
"Who? Oh—shit! That's right! Oh, Gods, what's her name…?" Snotlout rubbed his thick eyebrows trying to recollect. "Oh! Agnes! Or something like that."
"Who was that, Tuff?" Ruffnut asked, elbowing her brother to get his attention.
"That was, uhm—,"
"You can't even remember her name!" Ruffnut shrieked.
"No, no, it was Snaggletooth… I think," he chuckled when Ruffnut promptly punched him in the shoulder. "But, yeah, I… I don't even know what happened last night after we got to her house."
Almost everyone's mouth fell open and Fishlegs was the first to start laughing, then everyone joined in. "Tuff the Ladies' Man," Snotlout jokingly dubbed him, bumping fists.
"And Fish even had a chick!" Tuffnut said. "Do you remember her name?" The laughing started again when Fishlegs smiled and shook his head.
"Don't let them taint you," Astrid said with a kidding smile to him.
"Yeah, you're probably the most pure out of all of us," Tuffnut said, running his hand through his tangled hair in an incredulous manner. He was still unable to grasp the night's events, but he did remember the beer ball part, but that was in the way beginning of the night. So who knows what could have gone down from then on out.
"Nah. It's probably Hiccup," Snotlout nudged the quiet blacksmith next to him, who smiled a bit. Years ago, he would have been offended but right now he was just happy to be here.
The sight of cousin-picking-on-cousin was familiar; Astrid felt a sting of sympathy for Hiccup. Remembering all those years he was constantly being picked on by Snotlout and Tuffnut, remembering how she kept her mouth shut and even laughed along, Astrid felt an incurable need to redeem all those years, mostly for herself, but for Hiccup as well. Currently, it was a playful aspect what Snotlout said, all the meaningful insults and put-downs needed to be erased and forgiven because Hiccup did not deserve any of it.
She felt strange in her own body when she spoke next, feeling a weird tingling sensation spread from the core of her chest to every limb, and she would never know why she thought this was the moment to defend Hiccup after all the years she never did. "Don't worry, 'Lout, I made sure Hiccup drank plenty last night," she said, knowing it was as subtle as a whisper because Snotlout listened to every word she spoke like it was from the Edda (2) themselves. She smiled faintly, more to reassure herself that she was still Astrid and not some nice freak, but inside she still felt weird. She did not understand anything she was feeling lately.
Hiccup looked at her briefly with glowing eyes, shining from the bright late-morning light coming from the wide open door. Astrid felt herself blush but he looked away quickly enough when Snotlout punched his shoulder approvingly. The little group fell into a long conversation trying to recollect memories from the previous night to make sense of it all, piecing together bits to make a sensible storyline, it seemed, but some parts did not fit into the puzzle at all. The twins had the hardest time remembering all the recounted events, but Fishlegs seemed to have the better memory for it all. It was mainly him that remembered the major pieces, but none of it made sense still. The night was still a total mystery, but a fun and memorable one at least.
Astrid left the table when her cousin came to collect her to bring her back to her house, but she did not mind because she was left out of much of the conversation anyway. She had most of her memories intact, but she laughed along when they did, but she was really caught in her own world. She thought Hiccup was thinking the same thing because he did not put much input in either, but that could have been because they had not been with the other three at all the entire night.
Astrid's house was again crowded when she arrived, full of old family and new family that she would probably never remember names for, all sitting around, standing, chatting, laughing, eating. She squeezed her way through aunts and uncles an dodged racing little cousins and family friends, finding her way through the crowd to get up to her room. She quickly snatched Auda's wedding present off her nightstand and went downstairs again, making sure her room door was shut tight. Astrid found Auda sitting next to Brandan on the living room bench, surrounded by bowls and boxes and little baby clothes and yarn, kitchen utensils, shields, bottles of whiskey, wine, mead, knitted socks, fur hats, blankets, and everything in between. It was almost comical all the stuff they received. Astrid stepped her way to Auda and handed her the parcel wrapped in twine.
"Another present?" Auda said in exasperation, but she was smiling, so Astrid smiled back.
"Yeah. I made it myself. Let me know if you like it, you might hate it," Astrid said a bit seriously for the happy energy throughout the house.
"Oh, I won't hate it," Auda said as she pulled away the twine, and opening up the parchment, she almost screamed with shock and surprise. "Diddy! You made this?"
"Yeah…."
"It's so pretty!" Auda shrieked, bringing much of the attention back to her again as she stood up and held the dress out, presents falling from her lap to the floor. "Ohh, Diddy… it's so perfect. Oh my Gods… I… don't know what to say. It's so beautiful." Auda held the dress to her body as women flocked around them, cooing at the dress in awe, touching the rich and soft fabric, fingering the pink flowers on the bodice. "Thank you," Auda's eyes were watery when she looked at her sister.
"You're welcome," Astrid replied when Auda hugged her, noticing her hair was in the traditional braided bun at the nape of her neck rather than long and flowing and straight. Auda had the best hair out of the three girls because it was pretty and straight and not wavy and near unmanageable like Astrid's and Aislin's hair.
"Astrid, this is beautiful!"
"Oh, my…."
"It's perfect!"
"Look at those little flowers!"
"What perfect stitching!"
Aunts and family friends were swooning over the dress, patting Astrid on the back in congratulations, ruffling her hair. Even the most popular village seamstress was mightily impressed. It was a simple yet beautiful dress that really showed off Astrid's exceptional skill and handiwork in sewing, and she was genuinely proud of it.
"I will pay you if you make me a dress like that," Astrid's older cousin said.
"Uhm…."
"Astrid, you should apprentice yourself to Hallbera. She could really use a girl like you."
"Uh—okay?" Astrid liked all the attention, but she was not sure what to do with it all, and right now, she felt like being left alone.
"Absolutely! Stop by my stall tomorrow at noon, Astrid," Hallbera said, holding the soft fabric of the dress and inspecting a few of the stitches with wide and approving eyes.
"Okay," Astrid said without really knowing what she was saying or saying it to, and slinked out of the ring to the kitchen. After a few minutes of denying dress requests and saying 'thank you' about a hundred times, Astrid slipped around her giant uncle and was safely in the kitchen where most of the men were. They did not pay her any mind as she slipped on someone's boots that were quite too large for her and left the house quietly.
She took a big breath and exhaled it slowly with her back against the door. Today was an off-day. It all started last night when Hiccup pulled her in to dance, then it was this morning with Ruffnut puking across her onto the floor, Tuffnut walking into the Mead Hall without his helmet and bare feet, and then Hiccup looking at her all weird when she spoke up for up. Astrid groaned and hit her head against the door. Why did I do that? I don't have to be so nice to him. But… ugh! Why does it have to be hard being seventeen? I wish I was ten again. Thor's beard, she thought when walking past the chickens to the back barn where her dragon was. She kicked aside stray pebbles and dried white chicken scat, knowing her mother would make her sweep the packed dirt sometime later. She walked over the chicken wire fence and in the boots she did not know who they belonged to, she clunked her way through the open grass where Spike was probably keening over herself in the broken looking glass Astrid put in there just for her.
"Hey, there, Spike," Astrid said as she walked into the open barn with a sigh. Spike raised her giant head crowned with sharp spears and looked at her rider with questioning eyes, making a noise of concern. "I'm fine, but things have been weird lately," Astrid replied with a gentle smile, scratching Spike's nose. "Sorry I haven't been around lately, girl," she sat down in front of her dragon on the straw, a gentle breeze flowing through the barn.
Spike made a noise like 'yeah, jerk' and wiggled her tail end pompously in the straw. Astrid let out a huff of laughter, tickling Spike's chin with a couple of straw pieces. "Hey, at least I gave you two fish baskets this morning in apology. That's gotta count for something." Spike wiggled her tail, and Astrid noticed there were a few quills lodged in the barn wall. Again, something she knew one of her parents would moan about, but most likely her mother because she pretty much did everything around the house. Arnheim was not home a lot of the time, but when he was, it was like everyone was walking on egg shells, except that now Brandan was living with them he seemed to relax a bit. Maybe.
Astrid groaned and mashed her palm into her forehead, elbow on her knee. "I wish everything was like it was a couple months ago. I had just got used to everything, and then stupid Hiccup comes around and Auda comes home and dad's actually acting normal and it just doesn't feel right," Astrid mumbled. "and last night…," she trailed off, sighing, closing her eyes. Though Spike was usually a self-centered snot, she understood when Astrid needed a little reassurance or nudge in the right direction. She was like Astrid's shadow in a sense, always looking out for her; they got along well because Astrid did the same.
Spike rubbed her nose into Astrid's hair and blew into it in her way of comfort. Astrid raised her head and rubbed the sides of her snout with both hands, one of Spike's favorite scratch places. "Hiccup… he made me dance with him. You know how I hate dancing." Spike made a guttural noise of agreement. "But, dancing with him… made me… like it? I guess? I don't know. It seemed more fun dancing with him somewhere in the ring than by myself, I suppose. And… oh, Gods, I feel so dumb saying this," Astrid chuckled humorlessly and ran a hand through her hair.
Spike blinked at her, almost saying 'go on' as she nipped at her toe nails with her beak. "Hiccup… Hiccup… ah, he, uhm—," Spike chirped and flapped her wings. "Okay! Relax, girl, I'm taking my time," she chuckled. "Well, you know I was wearing that dress of Aislin's that she gave me forever ago—er—well, grew out of." Why couldn't she just spit it out! It was not that big of a deal anyway! "Okay, I guess I just felt pretty when he looked at me, and I don't ever feel pretty. Auda's pretty, Mom's pretty, Ruffnut's pretty, but not… me. I mean, I know I'm not ugly, but I just don't feel pretty, you know?"
Spike gave her a look like 'yeah, I have no idea what you're talking about' and Astrid just rolled her eyes. "Ugh—stop looking at me like that!" she yelled out, making herself jump. She just told one of her best friends her secret and she just gave her the stink eye. Astrid scoffed. "You're just like Auda, Spike. But I didn't mean to yell, sorry." She reached up and patted Spike's horn on her nose and she accepted her apology. She sighed and looked down at her hands, trying to think of where she left off.
"But, yeah, Hiccup was weird last night. Or maybe I was because I had five cups of beer, one glass of wine, and a pink of mead, so maybe it was me—but he's still weird," Astrid clarified. "But the way he just looks at me, Spike, it's just—agh!" she covered her face in her hands and threw her head back. "It makes my stomach feel all weird and I feel like I'm going to barf sometimes, and it's never happened before! Maybe two years ago when he wasn't a complete moron, but that was a stupid crush back then. I kissed him on impulse—twice!—but…but, he's still nice to me even after I knocked his tooth out and hit him over the head with my boots and kicked him in the groin. Why is he so nice? To me? Of all people?" Astrid was not paying attention to what Spike was doing now, letting herself rant for once. "I mean, if someone did that to me, they better be prepared because I'd be very pissed. But Hiccup wasn't, or he didn't act like it. At least not at me, who inflicted him pain on purpose because he deserved it by being stupid and forcing his will on me. But did I tell you he has a stubble thing? It's not really around his mouth, Spike, it's just mostly on his jaw, and it actually looks pretty nice. When he kissed me, I liked it…not the kiss, just the whisker part. He still sucks at kissing, beaver teeth and all. But he's taller than me now, finally, an my head reaches his mouth, I think. I didn't look. I was just dancing with him." Astrid had, by now, gotten up to pace around the barn, doing menial tasks and using her arms as emphasis when she had not before. Hiccup was certainly rubbing off on her.
"Oh, Spike, and his hair is awful. It's long and gross and looks hideous, but last night he put it in a ponytail so that helped. But I think I saw him take it out before I left the Hall this morning. He better not have," Astrid sneered, pausing with her hands on the pitchfork she was using to scoop up dirty hay. Spike, who was cleaning her foot in the mirror, made a noise of confirmation, briefly looking at her. "That's a great idea, Spike, I'll go do it right now." Astrid threw down the pitchfork and clunked out of the barn. She passed through the chickens again and went inside to find a pair of scissors. The house was still full of family and other people she did not pay much mind to, and she walked out without acknowledging any voice that called to her. Astrid went out the back door and walked around the house, frame square and face set forward like she was on a dangerous mission with a smile on her face.
Astrid walked the few roads to the forge in her clunky boots, excited for what was coming. She passed through calmly enough, but approaching the stall where she could hear Hiccup hammering away, her pace quickened and gained more vigor. She tucked the scissors into the back of her belt and walked up to the open window, knocking on the sill to get his attention inside.
"Just a second!" Hiccup called from within and an almost sadistic smile crept onto Astrid's face. When had she ever been excited like this? She did not get excited for much these days except for weaseling her way out of the house to go throw her axe into her Favorite Tree, so getting riled up over something that was not a big deal made her even more excited.
Hiccup grabbed a towel and walked up to the window, rubbing his hands, completely bare-chested. "A-Astrid?" he choked out when he looked up, becoming so hot he felt like a sun within a fire. Astrid was here? What was she doing here? And why was she smiling like that?
Holy Valhalla… Astrid thought, her smile faltering a little bit, seeing Hiccup so… shirtless. She almost forgot her mission when inspecting his finely toned chest and faintly defined abs and his strong, yet lanky, arms. He was still skinny as ever, but damn, did he grow in all the right places.
Astrid blinked her eyes a few times and forced herself to look into his face. His eyes were wide but illuminated from the sun pouring in behind her. She smiled wider again. "Hi, Hiccup. Can I come in?" she said politely enough even though her heart was racing like a mad dogs' and her face was suddenly hot, and she could not blame the heat.
"U-uh, c-can I ask why?" Hiccup stuttered, but Astrid walked around to the door and let herself in anyway. It was a shop, after all. She stared at the wall of weapons and shields eligible to be bought, arms behind her back with the scissors up her sleeve.
"Maybe I want to look at some weapons," Astrid said offhandedly, giving him a smile over her shoulder. Hiccup stared at her. He was so confused. Astrid looked back to the weapons and strolled around quietly, rocking on her feet.
Hiccup noticed the too-large boots and furrowed his brows, picking up a dull sword and cleaning the smudges and dirt off with a rag where he stared at her legs. She had such great legs, long and smooth and pale, sticking out perfectly from her tunic that was too warm for summer. His eyes trailed further north and he almost let his mouth hang before he turned around to avoid looking at her butt. "Whose boots are those?" he said, his voice slightly quivering as he scrubbed the sword a bit too rough, biting his lip.
"I don't know. Probably from someone in my family," Astrid tucked the scissors into her belt when she reached for an axe on the wall. She unhooked it and spun it around in her grip, liking the crisp leather handle when she squeezed it and how the sharpness of the blade shown like a sliver lining on the edge. "My house is full of family and it got too crowded, so I just left."
Huh. She was being oddly… casual. Very much unlike Astrid. He turned once he had cleaned off the sword enough to his liking and found Astrid facing him with her arms crossed, a strange smile on her face. She was not good at hiding things, he thought when he blinked at her, trying to figure out what it was she was being so sneaky about.
"You look really stupid with long hair," she said bluntly, gesturing to the flippy ponytail he put his hair up in as she took a step forward.
"Do I?" he asked, at a loss for anything else to say, flicking his eyes to her boots before looking at her again. He let out a huff of nervous laughter when she put one foot in front of the other.
"I might just have to tie you to a chair and cut it off."
Oh, so that's the game she was playing. Well, a strange time to be doing so, but Astrid was never predictable in the first place. Tomorrow she could be running around the village naked—not that Hiccup or any other villagers of the male population would complain, but that was case and point. And besides, Hiccup could play games. He liked playing games. "I kinda like it long, and, hey, I have a sword and you're weaponless," he smirked when he saw her brows rise. And, yes, Hiccup can be cocky at times, especially when she was looking at him the way she was; he felt like macho-Viking.
Oh, good play, Hiccup. Astrid shrugged. "I'm not afraid of any sword, especially if you're wielding it."
"Oh, really?" Hiccup chuckled and that damn twist came back to Astrid's gut again. "Well, Astrid, I hope you know I learned how to use one."
"You probably suck."
"How do you know? You've never seen me fight before," Hiccup twisted the handle of the sword in his hand, making it arch and he pulled some more fancy movies until he poked the blunt tip of the sword into Astrid's stomach. She didn't flinch one bit.
Her eyes were narrowed and skeptical but that lovely fox-like smirk still graced her mouth. "Hiccup, I don't believe a word you say," and suddenly she had Hiccup's wrist holding the sword in her hand, making him drop the weapon with a clatter and a yelp as she twisted it behind his back. She took his other wrist and did the same with just as much protests.
"Astrid! Stop it! Ow! You are not cutting my hair—ow!" he objected, twisting and writhing in her surprisingly tight grip but he should not have doubted that. She made his wrist swell the time she found him and Toothless about to take off from Berk and most likely never return.
"Yes—I am! I'm not going to be looking at you like a rat died in your hair," she replied back haughtily, giving him an extra pull for good measure. Astrid led him forward where she saw a chair, leaning around his arm to see past him since he was taller than her now.
"It doesn't look like that! I combed it earlier this morning. And I took a bath yesterday," Hiccup complained, resisting as much as he could, but for such a small thing, she was pretty vicious. His hair really did not look too bad, it was actually pretty decent, but Astrid was not going to crush on him with his hair long. She would not have it. Wait, crush?
Astrid ground her teeth at that thought and looked over his pale and freckled shoulder, pulling out the chair with her foot. She threw him down into the seat and folded his arms around the back, swiftly grabbing a rope nearby and wrapping it around his chest and arms, successfully restraining him.
"This is very one-sided, Astrid!" he still retorted as she pulled out his hair tie and whipped out her scissors from her belt. She simply smiled when she snipped off the first chunk of hair. "No! Oh, Gods, nevermind. Just take your liberties with my hair, won't you?" he said dryly, giving up because she already made the first cut and it would look worse otherwise.
"Don't worry. It won't look bad. I've cut hair before," Astrid ignored his previous statement, snipping off a few delicate strands.
"I feel so relieved," he rolled his eyes and she just swatted him on the shoulder.
"Hey, at least you won't have to wear it in a ponytail anymore. Girls usually do that."
"I've seen plenty of Vikings and other men with their hair in ponytails," he pouted.
"Well, you'll just have to get used to it," she said in finality and Hiccup happily fell silent while she finished her work.
It did not take Astrid long to finish trimming his hair because it was not long in the first place. When she was done, it was cut short but still moppy and flippy at the ends, much like his hair when she first got to know him. She dusted the little hairs off his freckle-covered shoulders, took a brief bit of time to be surprised how soft his skin was, and untied the ropes that bound him. His hands flew to his hair and he ruffled it, shaking his fingers through the wild mess and resetting it back into place.
"Oh, wow," Hiccup said under a laugh, turning around din the chair to look at Astrid behind him.
"Do you like it?" Astrid asked tentatively and Hiccup smiled a bit more at how adorable she was.
"Yeah. I'll have to get to used to it again, but yes, I do like it," his eyes crinkled gently at the edges the way they always do when his smile is genuine. Hiccup stood up and dusted off his front, becoming every bit as nervous about his bareness again. To take his mind off his self-consciousness, he took a broom leaning against the wall and swept the trimmed hair into a pile that he would get back to later, maybe, if he did not forget.
"Well… I'm glad," Astrid said and rolled the rope back up and put it on the table where she found it. Her mouth had become dry all of a sudden and she found herself blinking more than normal when Hiccup was facing her. He looked really good, now with his hair cut and ponytail-less. Her hands were becoming sweaty. Was she getting embarrassed? Nervous?
"Was that the only reason you came here? To cut my hair?" Hiccup had a smile on his face and it showed in his voice though he felt like he was shaking all over despite the heat.
"Pretty much," she pulled her braid over her shoulder and held onto it, twisting her fingers in the strands, looking around, trying to look occupied. "But… I should be heading back. My mom probably needs me to help… or something,"
Hiccup laughed once at that and nodded. "Okay," he said contentedly, picking up the dropped sword from the floor. "Oh, Astrid?"
She turned around, a couple feet from the door, still holding onto her long and thick braid. "Uhm, thank you. I forgot to say that," he scratched the back of his head, another round of blushing rising to his cheeks.
She nodded and grinned. "You're welcome," and she turned around and left him, thumping away in somebody's clunky boots.
Hiccup let out a long breath he didn't know he was holding and ran his hands over his face. "Ohh, holy Odin," he said under his breath, so incredibly relieved that she was gone because he felt so stupid being half naked and sweaty, but yet he missed her too. He always found himself missing her a little when she left and it was becoming a habit he didn't necessarily want but did not mind at the same time. He always felt like a jumbled mess when things concerned Astrid, like today he was horrified, then suddenly confident, then in pain, and then disgustingly nervous. He should not be nervous to be shirtless around a girl; men on Berk do it all the time. But, then again, it was Astrid and she might surprise him with a titty-twister at some point so he supposed he had a right feel nervous. At least he was not the fishbone he had so rightly called himself so many years ago.
Hiccup went to heating up a couple of swords and spare pieces of metal to make some handles later. He pumped the bellows until the metal was red hot on all of them and carefully picked up one with gloves and a pair of pliers to hammer away at. A couple of hours later, he reshaped swords and added new handles to a couple of hammers and even fashioned a dinky arrowhead with what remaining scrap he had left. He looked over to the pile Gobber had so kindly set up for him, pleased it was noticeably smaller than before, but he would still have to work until the rest of the summer to finish it.
The sun was getting low in the sky just when he was about to leave, putting out the fire and cleaning up a little so he would not have to come back to a shop that looked like a dragon had flown through it. Locking up the door, he was almost startled to death when Tuffnut jumped him from behind, slamming him into the door.
"Holy shhhhhit, Tuff!" Hiccup rarely swore unless he burned himself, but he seriously almost peed his pants.
"Gotcha!" Tuffnut sniggered and Hiccup heard some tittering and Snotlout's unmistakable ripple of laughter. "Hey, man, you're coming with us," Tuffnut said with a punch to the shoulder when Hiccup looked behind him. There was that one girl Tuffnut walked into Mead Hall with this morning, and some other girl hanging onto Snotlout. What did they say their names were? Agnes and Snaggletooth?
"What? Why? What're you doing?" Hiccup was almost suspicious, looking in between Snotlout and Tuffnut and the two girls.
"We stole some bottles from the Hall. They've been there for years," Snotlout explained in a low voice for many villagers were still walking around. "Some have been hidden for thirty years. Super potent," his smile was almost cracking his face in two.
When Hiccup failed to understand any statement, Tuffnut snorted. "We're going to go drink. Come on," he gestured to the far woods over the hills and houses, just through the lower village.
Hiccup shook his head. "No, I can't, you guys, really. Last night was enough." Hiccup checked the lock on the door was secure before storing the ring of keys in his pocket and walking past them.
"Aww, no, Hiccup!" Tuffnut groaned. "We can't without you! It won't be the same."
Hiccup really wondered why they desperately wanted him to go drinking with them. Sometimes he was skeptical about them inviting him places because of his 'Green Death Slayer' status, or 'badass rogue' who went traveling around rather than actually liking him as a person. It could be hard to tell with Snotlout and Tuffnut because those two were practically attached at the hip like Ruffnut had said. Sometimes they seemed more like twins than the actual twins. Did they want to add Hiccup to their set of hips or something? He couldn't quite figure it out.
"Hiccup!" Tuffnut caught up to him, throwing an arm around his slightly taller set of shoulders. "Astrid'll be there."
Like he had to think about it.
Snotlout and Tuffnut led Hiccup through the dense forest, Agnes and Snaggletooth in tow, parting through giant ferns and jumping over fallen trees. Snotlout was talking to Tuffnut about how excited he was for this thing, and both males looked over at their chosen girls and they started cackling while the two females blushed and rolled their eyes. Hiccup rolled his own eyes and sighed, failing to truly comprehend their antics even after eighteen years of being around them both.
"Oh, woah, you got a haircut," Snotlout said to Hiccup after a few quiet seconds.
"Yep. Sure did," Hiccup ducked under a low hanging branch. "Astrid did it today."
Snotlout and Tuffnut let out a ripple of laughter but not entirely in a mocking sense, but to Hiccup he lines were blurred and he did not see much difference. "Astrid Hofferson cut it?" Agnes asked, smiling. She didn't seem to find it absolutely hilarious. Hiccup nodded kindly at her.
"I wish Astrid would cut my hair," Snotlout said as if it was an afterthought, but only got promptly shoved by Agnes while he was stepping over a log, falling on his face. Hiccup ignored Snotlout's cries of pain while Tuffnut and the two girls laughed, and a surge of pride filled his gut. Astrid cut his hair and Snotlout was jealous. Finally, something to get him ahead after all the years of being overshadowed by Snotlout. Yes.
Snaggletooth and Agnes led the rest of the way while Snotlout was complaining about the scratches on his forehead now 'contaminated with moss', in his words, while Tuffnut almost fell over himself a few times, laughing his head off. Hiccup dutifully followed, and when he saw a far off speck of orange through the forest fauna he almost pumped a fist in relief. It was not along walk, however, and once they got to the makeshift campsite some of the drinking had already begun.
Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and Astrid were already there, as well as some other older people not yet married but still young and some Celts were present. There were two big fires, and one Astrid was sitting at, bottle in hand but still corked, while she talked to Ruffnut next to her. Hiccup hesitantly walked over and sat down on the log a good foot away from Astrid.
"Hiccup's here," Ruffnut said, nudging Astrid with a suggestive smile on her face. Fishlegs next to her was pulled off the log by Snotlout and the five of them went off somewhere else.
"I know. I see," Astrid nodded annoyingly and managed a shy glance at Hiccup through the corner of her eye. He smiled at her, resting his elbows on his knees, the fire illuminating his features quite nicely. Astrid blushed before Ruffnut punched her in the shoulder. "Hey—!"
"If you're gonna hold that bottle, dope, why don't you open it? Time's wasting. Helsplitter's supposed to show up," Ruffnut looked at her expectantly and crossed her arms.
Astrid let out a huff of laughter and shook her head, pushing the cork out with her thumb and letting out a resounding pop! Not one to beat around the bush, Astrid said, "Here goes," and brought the lip of the bottle to her mouth and took a few long gulps.
"Shit! Don't drink all of it!" Ruffnut barked and quickly took the bottle just as Astrid lowered it with a sour look on her face accompanied by a hiss.
"Goddamn, it stings," Astrid sniffed a few times and shook her head.
Ruffnut chugged a few gulps and did much the same face but with a crinkled nose. "Okay, Hiccup, your go," she held the bottle across Astrid to him but he shook his head.
"No, I'm fine, thanks," he laughed awkwardly and when his head shook, his hair swished against his forehead and the flipped-up ends near his neck bobbed cutely. Astrid thought she did a fantastic job at hair-trimming.
"No, you have to Hiccup. We just went. You gotta chug, or I swear to Odin—," Ruffnut said seriously until Astrid interrupted her.
"You have to go, Hiccup," she said with raised brows, acting serious in her eyes but she was smiling and Hiccup melted. She was so pretty when the fire made her eyes flicker and danced shadows across her face.
Hiccup sighed and his shoulders sagged. He was nothing against the force that was Astrid. "Okay, fine. You're great at peer pressure," and he took the bottle and threw his head back and drank it like it was water, his prominent Adam's apple shifting beneath his skin like a fishing bobber. Ruffnut let out a surprised cheer and Astrid raised her brows further when he pulled buck with a scrunched up face. "Oh, Gods—agh. There. Got that done with," he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, his eyes watering when he handed the bottle back to Astrid.
"Oh, wow, this so much lighter," Astrid shook the bottle around and there was a loud splashing coming form within the clay vessel. The three laughed and passed the bottle around once more.
"Hey, Astrid!" a familiar voice called from the other fire a few yards away. Astrid turned around and Ruffnut and Hiccup followed, seeing Auda stride toward them with slightly miscalculated steps. Astrid groaned and rubbed her face with her free hand, the other holding the bottle. She did not need to see Auda here. "I didn't know you were cool enough to come to these things! Ha! Just kidding!" Auda said as she picked up her skirt a little and stepped over the log to sit next to Hiccup, who felt awkward all over again.
"Oh, Gods, you're so funny, Auda," Astrid said sarcastically, and even Hiccup was surprised at her choice of words. He was Sarcasm King.
"I'm just teasing. Get drunk, lighten up," Auda nudged Hiccup like he was in on her little joke, but he just averted his eyes and laughed embarrassingly.
Ruffnut didn't have a particular aversion to Auda (and did not understand why Astrid did) but she noticed Astrid did not want her sister there, and felt it was time to back up her friend. "Hey, Auds, maybe you take your own advice and go get wasted somewhere else," Ruffnut said without much malice, and good thing Auda did not take it too seriously; instead, her mouth fell open in happy surprise as she leaned over Hiccup and Astrid's lap, nearly falling off the log. She was completely drunk but was pretty good at hiding it until now, but Astrid knew she was from the start by the way her eyes glistened.
"Auds! Brandan calls me that! He's so sexy when he says it too, especially last night—," her eyes rolled upward in thought, finger poking into her cheek.
"Ew! Auda, get out of here! You're disgusting." Before Astrid could even finish, Auda was up and stumbling away, holding up her dress as she walked through the clearing toward her husband who was calling her. "Ugh, what the Hel," Astrid swiped the bottle from Ruffnut and took a swig.
"You know, she's really not that bad, even when she's not wasted," Ruffnut said, taking the bottle back when she handed it to her.
Astrid scoffed. "You don't even know! She acts like she's the center of everything and always tells me what to do and always says how much I suck at everything, and just—ugh! Shut up!" her hands were taut after shaking them around.
"You don't suck at anything," Ruffnut pointed out calmly, taking a sip.
"I know, but she always has something to say and it gets really annoying!"
"She's your sister, dude," Ruffnut said slowly, her eyes half lidded. "She's supposed to be annoying." Ruffnut does have a high tolerance, but this ale was so thoroughly fermented it was like drinking ten ale mugs when only taking four gulps. Even Astrid was starting to feel a bit hazy.
"I know! Shut up! I don't want to hear it right now," Astrid swiftly stood up and swiped the bottle from Ruffnut, taking Hiccup's hand and walking away from the fire.
"Hey! Astrid! Give that back!" Ruffnut called after them angrily, getting up to go after then but she tripped over the log. She pulled herself up quickly enough but Astrid was already pulling Hiccup along through the pods of people and she lost them.
"She's pretty mad," Hiccup said after much thought, feeling his legs go a little wobbly.
"I don't care. I need to get drunk," Astrid said over the laughing voices. She grabbed a bottle from somebody who was going to drop it, letting go of Hiccup's wrist. She shoved the bottle she, Ruffnut and Hiccup had drank from, a little more than halfway empty, into Hiccup's hand and continued dragging him behind her into the forest.
"Hey, the fire's that way…," Hiccup clumsily looked over his shoulder, resisting Astrid's hold a bit more than she liked. She yanked his arm and stomped a few yards where there was a large pond with a tiny waterfall, much like the cove Hiccup would have met Toothless at. She sat down at the edge of a small overhang, dangling her feet over and eagerly taking a few swigs.
Hiccup quietly sat down beside her, holding the bottle between his knees, and watched some other kids cannonball into the waterhole. "Oh, hey, I remember swimming here all the time," Hiccup said with a smile. "Remember when 'Legs snapped the swinging rope and belly-flopped? You were there, right? It was so funny," Hiccup chuckled to himself and absentmindedly took a sip. He couldn't even taste the alcohol anymore.
"Yep," Astrid said after bringing the bottle away from her mouth, smacking her lips. "Ruff almost convinced me to go skinny dipping here one time but Aislin caught me sneaking out of the house," Astrid said, watching a few more kids splash each other. "I wanted to do it, though. I'm going to go skinny dipping sometime, and…," Astrid failed to finish her sentence, swirling the bottle around and swinging her legs. Hiccup was not paying attention anyway. When Astrid mentioned 'skinny dipping', immediately thoughts of Astrid naked popped up in his drunken mind. They kept flowing like a slideshow, and then he vaguely heard her say, 'wanted to do it', and rather dirty images blossomed. He blushed even at the thought of them. But, there was always the nagging thought of respect influencing him even now, and Hiccup took another sip to stop thinking dirty thought. Like that would help, but he really thought it would.
It was quiet between the two except for the shrill laughter and shouts and splashes bouncing off the high stone walls surrounding the pond so it really was not quiet at all. Hiccup was thinking in his own world he always seemed to find himself in, tapping his prosthetic lightly on a rock beneath him, trying to figure out how to refocus his eyes. Equations to the inventions he was ridiculously coming up with to make his eyes settle were racing and rebounding through his head, and then he remembered he was drunk. He started laughing for now apparent reason at all, holding his face in his hand, and Astrid swiveled her head around to look at him like he sprouted two heads. No, wait, he does have two heads….
"What?" Astrid said, watching his dual heads move as he did. Was she seeing three Hiccups or two? It looked like two. Cool, she thought, hardly noticing her mouth was hanging open.
"I'm so drunk," Hiccup said with a ridiculous laugh outlining his words. He almost sounded like Tuffnut.
"You're drunk?" Astrid said the first words that came into her bleary mind.
"You're turning me onto alcohol, Astrid," he raised an eyebrow and threw his head back to take another swig.
"Oh, I'm turning you on? Well, thanks," Astrid teased, leaning back onto her palm. Hiccup rolled his eyes and bent forward to put his elbows on his knees. Astrid was seriously wondering why she wasn't just making out with him right now. He was so cute. And those arms, sweet Freyja, were about half the size of Snotlout's but looked even better. And for some reason, his shoulder blades looked really appealing under his tunic. And his hair, oh, she did such a good job. His new haircut matched perfectly with the stubble he had blooming on his jaw, extending down his neck a little ways. When did Hiccup get so hot? She could just do so many things to him right now, and—she was drunk. No. Relax yourself, you're not a slut. Let's not turn into a second Auda, here, Astrid thought, sighing. Of course her perception of her sister was skewed, as was mostly everything concerning her sister, but she was surprised she had so much self control. Maybe it was the vibe Hiccup was giving off because he seemed particularly calm.
Hiccup would have loved to have replied to Astrid with a triumphant 'Yes!', but, alas, he did not. Hiccup was nothing if not respectful (to some extent), and he had an absurd and copious amounts of respect for Astrid. He was a good boy, and not sucking face with some random girl who-was-named-Agnes against a rock like his cousin was doing right now by the waterhole. Snotlout was the son Stoick wanted, but Hiccup made up for it by his logic and reasoning and his brains, unlike Snotlout who did things without thinking about the consequences. Snotlout could be smart too, but his lack of Thinking Things Through overshadowed much of it, as Hiccup faintly remembered hearing Spitelout say about his son.
Reflecting on everything, Hiccup was genuinely surprised so much has changed. Wait. Reflecting? Why was he doing that? "Hey, Astrid?" Hiccup said slowly, keeping his eyes on the shimmering water a couple feet below him.
"Yeah?" Astrid had her face up to the sky, looking at the high trees above her and the leaves shaking in the gentle breeze, and then the stars past that.
"Are we friends? Or do you guys just hang out with me because I defeated the Green Death?" his words were slow and were beginning to slip together like soap bubble converging.
Astrid stuck out her lower lip in thought, bringing her head back down to the earth again. "Yeah. No—I mean, yeah, we're friends with you. All of us. I'm friend with you, if… if you wanna be friends with me…," Ugh! Why did she say that? It sounded like she was weak and stupid and naïve and dumb. She sounded like she wanted him to say it so she could reassure herself, implying it all lamely like that. Astrid was about to jump to amend her words but Hiccup spoke first.
"No, I've always wanted to be friends with you," he said when he turned to look at her, still hunched over. His vivid green eyes were glistening from inebriation and his mouth didn't seem to be moving along with his words.
It went so quick. First, Astrid's heart seemed to pump a hundred times faster, heat rising to her already hot cheeks, and then she found herself kissing him. She leaned in so quickly that she miscalculated the distance between them, shoving her mouth onto his and making their teeth clash—for the second time. She tasted alcohol on his lips but his lips were softer than she remembered. Hiccup jolted, almost jumping back in shock but realization hit him and he swore excitedly in his head as he kissed her back.
When Astrid moved her lips to continue kissing him, Hiccup was still as stone. Okay, the kid sucked. She wanted to punch him to get him moving but decided it would be much more fun to teach him. She pushed his lips open and he closed his mouth in sync with hers, his lips curling in that perfect way. A little push of her head and he repeated again once more until his hand somehow found her knee and sent static whizzing up her body. She felt a pleasing jolt run through her and decided it was time to introduce her tongue. Hiccup gasped and Astrid burst out laughing, her head falling into his shoulder.
"Tongue?" Hiccup laughed along, the smell of strawberries and rosewater filling his nose, her hair tickling his cheek along with it.
"Yeah! You use your tongue sometimes when kissing," Astrid pulled back and sat up, still giggling.
"I didn't know you used tongue…."
"Okay, you're way drunk."
He guffawed, feeling a warm flower sprouting in his stomach and extending to his head. A flower? Oh, Gods. "Yep, yep, III'm pretty drunk."
Astrid cackled almost maniacally at that, throwing herself to lay down on the grass behind her. Hiccup hazily watched her go, whispering a faint 'woah' in shock as she kicked her legs around some. "Oh, shit! Aw, damn it!" Astrid said with remnants of a laugh as she sat up, pointing to growing wet spot on her thigh. "I spilled…."
Hiccup burst out laughing in spite, clutching his stomach. "Who's drunk? You're drunk," he pointed accusingly at her, grinning widely and stupidly.
"No, you're drunk," Astrid replied, forgetting about the wet spot and continuing to drink from the clay bottle.
"Nuh uh. You're drunker."
"You're drunker."
"That's not even a word!"
"You just said it!"
"You just said it!"
"Hiccup!" she threw a swift punch at his shoulder, though with half the strength she would have had if she were sober. "Shut up! You're hammered," she meant to be threatening, but it was hard to maintain that scariness when everything was spinning and she kept laughing.
Hiccup laughed like a dork. "Hammered? That's like a hammer… that smashes things. Heh, we're hammered. We're smashed."
Astrid raised her brows almost in realization. "We're smashed…."
"We're smashed!" Hiccup shouted loudly, his voice bouncing off the walls of stone surrounding them, echoing as if it were a canyon. Astrid giggled in delight and fizzy bubbles sprouted in her stomach.
"Shut up!" one voice called back.
"The adults are coming!" another one said.
Astrid abruptly stopped laughing when it registered in her mind fifteen seconds later, swinging her head to face Hiccup with a bleary, serious expression on her face. Hiccup's face fell and he stared back at Astrid, mouth hanging open as his words connected together to form sentences.
But, the only word to come out of his mouth was, "Shit."
"We gotta go," Astrid said but did not move.
"The adults are coming," Hiccup almost whispered, repeating what he heard.
Astrid started to chuckle deeply in her throat and it slowly burst forth like swinging gates. "Your eyes! Oh, Gods, Hiccup, your eyes!"
"Come on!" Hiccup stood up quickly, finding it hard to gain his balance especially with one foot and a thin peg leg. "Gimme your hand."
"Your eyes, Hiccup, they're so fuzzy," she said and gave him her hand and he pulled her up with surprising strength. "Woah!" she giggled and mashed her nose into his collarbone.
Very wobbly and shakily, Hiccup led Astrid into the forest, still holding her hand and pulling her behind him. Astrid again remembered what was going on and forgot about his 'fuzzy eyes' and dutifully followed him. Together they still laughed, quietly, in snorting noises, as others were also racing into the forest to leave the site and the wrath of Stoick the Vast because he was surely to come. Hiccup, however, paid no mind to it and instead focused what proper logic he had on trying to figure out the best way home. Astrid was whispering things to him behind him but he did not really hear, letting go of her hand and ducking around a large pine tree, the blonde Viking following him like a quiet doe despite her apparent inebriation.
He was quickly sobering up. Fear began to overtake him and Astrid constantly whispering right now did not help. "Shh!"
"Hey! Don't tell me to 'shh'!" she snapped just as fiercely in a harsh whisper, crouching in front of Hiccup behind a fern. "I was just saying we need to go around this tree and it's Ruffnut's backyard."
Hiccup's mouth fell open. "Really?" he honestly couldn't see straight, but if he could, he might have figured that out.
"Yeah, idiot."
"Oh, crap! What about Ruff? Do you think she made it? Or Tuffnut or Snotlout? Fishlegs? What if they get caught?"
"Don't worry about them. If any of them get caught, it's their own damn fault," Astrid said quietly as she parted some fern leaves, seeing some torches through some bushes up ahead and a line of people. "Come on, they're going past us," She stood up but kept bending halfway over, walking barefoot on dead leaves and twigs but making hardly a sound. Sometimes she started falling sideways between darting among the trees but she was graceful as a Viking huntress would be. Hiccup was amazed and intrigued at her stealth and skill, never more aware of his prosthetic than now, clunking and squeaking behind her. It needed some more oil, he decided, and resolved to get to it tomorrow.
Circling around a patch of big rocks and fat trees, the backyard of the Thorston's greeted a very much relieved Hiccup. "Oh, thank Gods," he said and sighed.
Astrid turned around and faced him, looking awfully timid and unsure. She pulled her braid over her shoulder and began messing with it like she had earlier that day at the forge. She looked so elegant despite being Astrid, who was not actually elegant at all, but Hiccup always admired the way that she held herself, and that was mostly the essence of elegance (in the Viking culture). He looked down at her standing a good two feet away, and even from where he was he could see her blush.
"Thanks," she said, punching his shoulder lightly and smirking. Astrid took his bottle and emptied it, tossing it into the forest where she left hers trying to get Hiccup's attention, but that was not what she was thanking him for.
"For what?" Hiccup's voice was still low and kinda slurry, making his fingers dance at his sides.
"I-I don't know… I just thought I should thank you," she said, her eyes flicking across his face.
"For kissing you?"
"I guess."
"Oh," What was he supposed to say? 'You're welcome' sounded like he paid her or something and that was not the case at all. He looked down to the foot that stuck out from under him. What he supposed to do now? Hiccup did not know how these things worked. "I'll walk you home?"
"Oh… okay… sure," Astrid smiled and started walking around the Thorston's house, Hiccup coming next to her once they reached the road.
Astrid's house was only the next block over so it was not a far distance, but it was peaceful compared to five minutes ago when they were laughing their heads off. Running through the forest away form frightening parents certainly sobered one up. The streets were quiet except for a few kids still running home who made it form the swimming hole, and most of the houses were dark except for a few lights on here and there.
Once at Astrid's house, she stood on the step in front of Hiccup, now eye level with him, her long rope of hair still hung over her shoulder. Hiccup scratched the back of his head and looked up to what he remembered to be Astrid's window. "So, uhm… goodnight? Is that what I'm supposed to say?" he let out a huff of nervous laughter and Astrid couldn't stop the curl of happiness unfurling in her stomach.
"Yep. And you're supposed to kiss me now. That's how this goes," What 'this' was, Astrid wasn't quite sure, but the meaning was unspoken for and Hiccup understood. Astrid was not much for childish romantic stories but Aislin used to have them in stockpiles and she would read them to Astrid when she was younger. Aislin was the only Hofferson other than Arnheim who was mostly literate, so she read books all the time and so Astrid was pretty much forced to listen. But, those fairytales and the typical romance type of thing seemed to all make sense now that Hiccup was here.
"Okay," he whispered and leaned in. His kiss was light and chaste, innocent, but it sent the exact opposite flowing through Astrid. She wanted to kiss him so hard and eagerly but found herself unable to, and decided that that could be for another time. Hiccup sent her head spinning and her knees wobbling without the influence of alcohol, even. When he pulled back with a shy smile and a blush creeping across the freckled bridge of his nose, Astrid still felt his lips on hers.
She blinked once and smiled almost deliriously. "You're so dumb," she said quietly and only inches away from his face. Hiccup's eyes were wild and half-lidded, looking all over her flawless face. He smiled and Astrid stepped up onto her porch and quietly twisted the handle to open the door. "Goodnight," she whispered over her shoulder and then disappeared into the darkness of her house.
Hiccup continued to stand motionless on the grass just at the foot of the Hofferson's front porch, hands still in his pockets. It felt like a dream, but he kissed Astrid Hofferson. He actually did. He did. He did it.
He walked back home with a grand and clumsy smile on his face.
00
(3) The Edda was written in the 13th century in Iceland and is the basic source of tradition, but parts of it, from what I gather, were written in the Viking Age as well, which is what I generally set this story in, around 12th century, like 1090. The Eddur are so, so confusing. I'm trying to read the Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun, which is part of the prose Edda, and I have to Wikipedia, like, everything.
Thank you for reading! I know it was a haul, but it's one of my favorite chapters yet, so I hope you think so, too! Finally some kissy action, GEEEEZ. 'bout goddamn time. It's only the beginning, muwahaha.
Ordgar: Thanks, dude! I'm really glad you like it so far! And no, the Vikings did not have vodka because it's a Russian drink, but I can imagine them finding it somewhere in Sweden, maybe, near Russia where they might have got their hands on it, or England, where they get a lot more imports than the Vikings on Berk do. Raiders and marauders get crap from all over the place. I can't be sure if they actually came into contact with vodka, but it would be fun if they did :)
memyselfandI: Thank you, dear! :D