I really like this chapter. It's fun and easy-going and I enjoyed delving deeper into Hiccup and Astrid's relationship. And Hiccup is really terrible with kids. It's pathetic.

NOTE: Please listen to "Negative Capability" by Mark Bradshaw from the movie Bright Star. There's some dialogue in the beginning if you get the full-version, but by about 0:57 the music begins. It's so beautiful, oh my God. I just want to float and swim listening to this song. Please, please, please listen!

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Hands on Sunshine

Chapter Eight

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It's been way too long, Hiccup thought, feeling the wind push his hair away from his forehead, squinting his eyes as they watered. Way too long.

He and Toothless were miles high, doing quick barrel rolls and spins and twists, and Toothless darted down to the earth accompanied by the unmistakable screech. Since Hiccup and Toothless hadn't flown for at least a week and a half since he came back, Hiccup could see a handful of villagers duck or dive into stalls, throwing their newly bought goods everywhere, screaming, looking up into the sky, see it was only Hiccup, and sigh. He realized now at eighteen, he could still cause havoc even without trying, just like the good old days, he thought sarcastically, and then remembered he had to meet Astrid at Oddr's Rock.

In no time at all, he flew to the ledge jutting out of the cliff side where some other younger villagers were hanging out with their respective dragons and their friends, one of the most common hang out places. Oddr's Rock looked over most of the hilly village at the seaside and had been popular to come to for decades; however, it had been dangerous to use the path leading up the cliff. Now, when dragons were in wide use all around the village by people of all ages, it was one of the most popular places to be.

Toothless landed swiftly and just as he did, kids were running up to the duo, screaming "Toothless!" and "Hiccup!"

Toothless liked kids only for the scratchings they gave him, but he knew Hiccup preferred to distance himself from them, so he turned a snooty head. How these kids got up here without killing themselves, Hiccup would never know, but he just wanted to meet Astrid and gogogo.

"Hey, Hiccup, your dragon isn't very nice," one kid said, pouting with chubby fists on his hips.

Before he even thought about it, Hiccup said, "Toothless has a good nose, so maybe you smell bad," Just as the comment left his mouth he flushed because he knew it was mean and he didn't mean it. It just sort of happened. With Dagger, it was so easy because he was actually smart, but when a dragon turns his head, it should obviously mean he doesn't want to be touched or the person smells. Ugh. And, Astrid appeared with her Nadder, too, so Hiccup prayed she wouldn't pummel him.

"Hey!" the boy of only about eight shouted, his face fallen but an angry red. "I don't smell! I took a bath yesterday!"

"I—I didn't mean it!—," but his retort was masked by the boy coming up and punching the side of his thigh where it really hurt. "Ow! I'm sorry!"

"What's going on?" Astrid asked, coming up next to Toothless and Hiccup. Hiccup was about to jump to leaving, but the boy shouted first.

"Hiccup said I smelled bad!"

"Yeah, he did!" one child chimed in, not helping Hiccup's desperate cause at all.

Astrid looked over at him with his head lowered, red as a tomato and rubbing his thigh in utter defeat. "Did you say he smelled bad, Hiccup?" Astrid asked in a rather serious tone, and Hiccup was surprised she even cared at all.

"Yes, but I didn't mean anything by it. I thought th-that maybe Toothless was thinking that, a-and he just punched me and it really hurt," Hiccup replied with shifting eyes, refusing to look Astrid in the face. She sighed, finding it the least opportune time for Hiccup to act like a six-year-old getting caught writing all over the wall, and getting into a tiff with a boy who was half his age. He's so immature, dear Gods, Astrid rolled her eyes.

"Apologize, Hiccup, and we can go," Astrid said in a weary tone despite it being mid-morning.

"I'm sorry, little kid," Hiccup said, slouching in his saddle. The boy stuck his tongue out and turned away to his friends briefly to take high fives.

"Okay, let's go now," Astrid said and she was off without waiting for a reply. The boy turned at the noise of flapping wings, and now that Astrid couldn't see him, Hiccup stuck his own tongue out at him and quickly flew after Astrid. He felt much triumphed.

Hiccup shot past Astrid, a very cocky move on her part, so she chose to loop upward and then down again to glide just along the tops of the trees. Oh, how she missed this. The thrill of flying running through her veins ran anew, livening up her soul as if it had been hibernating very deeply for quiet some time. She grinned against the wind, all her hair over her shoulders and quivering as she flew faster, crouching just behind Spike's pointed crown of spears. Hiccup and Toothless were to her left suddenly, and with a grin and quick wave from Hiccup, they banked sideways and disappeared into the trees.

Astrid laughed, looking over her shoulder as they fell behind her. She would have loved to have ducked into the trees, but Spike was not built for quick turns and maneuvering like Toothless was; Spike was mostly a glider and a diver and Astrid liked that. After her first flight, ever, on Toothless, quick spins and twists made her extremely queasy and she did not like it much at all, so she thought it was a perfect match between her and Spike. Despite her slight bulky-ness, Spike could go pretty fast, though not as fast as Toothless of course, but that was only because he was built for that sort of thing.

Astrid pulled Spike upward, digging her heels into her sides a little to pick up speed, and just as she did so, Hiccup and Toothless popped out of the forest. Branches fell behind them as they flew so high they were only a speck amongst the vast array of blue. Then, they were down again to join Astrid and Spike, Hiccup grinning like a madman and Toothless nearly looking the same.

She laughed and said. "Are you trying to show off?"

Hiccup shrugged, a confident glint in his eyes. "Only a little," and he was off again, spinning like a top toward the earth. He was such a boy, Astrid decided, but she liked confidence in him. It was how he was meant to be, not shy and stuttering… but she liked that, too. She liked all sides of him. Yes. Sounds about right, she thought with a smile, lifting her face to the sun.

After a bit, Hiccup relaxed and flew around Astrid more, but still broke out into tricks he wanted to show Astrid because they were 'just so cool'. They talked a bit, but both of them were mostly quiet, simply enjoying the rush flying gave them both, however secretly they tried to hide it. It had been so long.

After a couple of hours flying around the island, Hiccup wanted to take Astrid to one of his favorite places he missed seeing after two years of his absence. The place was on the opposite side from the village, only about a twenty minute's flight, and Hiccup was nearly jumping in his saddle. Toothless growled at him to relax, but Hiccup whispered back, "I'm too excited, bud. I think she'll like it."

His voice carried on the wind even though he whispered it right into Toothless' ear and Astrid heard it, though just barely. She wanted to laugh because he was being so childish, but she found it oddly endearing he was excited to show her something so menial. It was… cute. Cute. Astrid never thought she would never use that word, ever, in her lifetime. Cute was such a girly word, but it described Hiccup pretty well right now, and right now, she wanted to just kiss him. So yes, he was cute. Awfully goddamned cute.

"It's right here!" Hiccup shouted over the wind rushing past their ears and descended. Astrid followed suit, and swerving around a mountain, she could see part of the coastline scooped out, a smaller bay that had a narrow opening to the ocean. She had never seen it before, probably because from far up above it looked like the rest of the coast, and trying to sort through her memories to recollect as they flew to a strip of sand, she had never heard of this place either.

Hiccup landed first and hopped off, and just as he did Toothless fell over, panting. Hiccup threw off his vest and said, "It's so hot!"

Astrid and Spike landed swiftly and Astrid lifted her leg over onto one side of Spike's neck. She lowered her head and Astrid slid off, wide eyed and bushy-tailed. "It's beautiful, I don't know what you're talking about," she put her hands on her hips and spike waddled over with Toothless dragging behind her to some shade beneath the overhanging trees.

"The weather? Or this place?" Astrid was looking all around the bay with sparkling eyes, but he just complained about the weather, so he couldn't quite tell what she was referencing. He was really hoping it was the former though because that would be so cool.

Astrid shrugged as if deciding, then grinned at him. "Both."

"Really?" Hiccup tried sounding a bit alarmed, but he really came off like a little boy about to get some candy. He had no idea why he was so excitable today. Maybe it was because he gets to spend all day with Astrid, or he got to fly for the first time in two weeks. Probably both because he was spilling all over himself.

"Mhm. It's rather… pretty," 'Pretty' tasted funny on her tongue just like 'cute' did, but it fit the scene quite well. The bay was lined with tall pine trees and sand, and in the middle were large boulders covered with grasses and moss. The mountain was just behind them and it cast a shadow on a decent quarter of the bay, and it made Astrid feel very small to it. The water was a lighter green than the ocean just through the channel, and from it, she could a bit of the ocean.

"I came here a lot to sketch a long time back," Hiccup said, now only a few feet away from her. "So it's been awhile."

Something in Astrid wanted to be closer to him, but she needed an excuse to because she couldn't just waltz up to him and grab his arm like she's seen preteen girls do. She's older and a lot more cunning than they are, though not by much because Astrid never had to have excuses to flirt with anyone before. Thinking about it, she never had to flirt with anybody, so this whole thing was new. But it was fun.

Astrid bent and crouched to pick up a shell next to her sand covered toes. It was a small cowry shell, barely the length of her smallest finger. She stood and carried it over to Hiccup, swiping the sand off the smooth and brown-dotted surface of the domed back. "There are shells here. You hardly find them back at the village," she said just above a whisper. With his head lowered like it was, she could feel his hair tickling her temple, smelling as fresh as the sea but musty like the forest with a heavy dose of pine. He smelled just like the island on which he lived and the forest that covered it and Astrid wanted him.

She first felt the pull of her stomach just behind her navel and then that foreign burning feeling she had between her legs. She remembered it well and fondly, just three nights ago where she felt so good she thought she could fly, only her and Hiccup together. Her throat constricted as she imagined herself dropping the shell and kissing him so hard she could have melted into him and he would wind his arms around her and hold her tight and kiss her back. She imagined him running his fingers through her hair and she would kiss his neck and jaw as he lowered her to the sand and have her right then and there, in this beautiful bay with the sun rising higher and her want for him just the same.

It hit Astrid like a rock when she realized she wanted to have him in his entirety, nothing more and nothing less, just all of him. She feared she might become to love him.

"Come over here with me. I want to sketch you," Hiccup said quietly with an easy smile and took her hand that was not holding the shell.

"Okay," she breathed out, feeling her heart race as he led her to a large patch of grass underneath an equally large overhanging tree. He was holding her hand and she couldn't believe she had not fainted yet because she feared she seriously would. She just imagined her and Hiccup having sex, for the Gods' sakes. He's hardly been back three weeks! What am I thinking? It's Hiccup. I might have a little crush on him, that's all. Nothing like… having sex. Fuck, Astrid, calm yourself down. You guys aren't doing to do anything, he's just going to sketch you, not touch you like a fucking God… no! Stop it. You're crazy. It's a crush. Nothing else. Fuck.

Hiccup sat Astrid down right on the edge of the shadow and he sat a foot across from her, and to her amazement, procured a small brown leather sketchbook and charcoal pencil. "Where did you get that? I didn't see you carrying it before," she asked.

"Oh, I had it in this little pouch thing at the back of my saddle. I put it in there this morning. I don't go anywhere without it," he said with his face lowered, flipping through the pages to a clean one.

"It's new," Astrid observed, remembering the one he used before that was old and black and mostly filled up. This one had whiter pages and he was only in the first quarter of the book.

"That old one I had, I had to sell for money," he smiled and began sketching her. "I was in the Faroes and I sketched people for money—which I did everywhere I went—and this man came up to me and asked to see some examples so he 'knew his money's worth'," Hiccup repeated in a strange accent that made Astrid giggle. "and he saw some pictures, looked through them, and came upon the ones I had of you. He called you beautiful and asked to buy the whole sketchbook," That caught Astrid off-guard. She sat straight and looked surprised at him, and was pleased to see him blushing. He kept looking at his sketchbook, though, and continued. "He offered what I think equals to one hundred and fifty penningar. I didn't want to sell it, but I literally had no money and that was enough to get me through to Ireland. So, I started up a new one and I finished it, but this one I bought on my way home so I'm not very far in it. This one doesn't have any of you, so I thought today was a perfect opportunity."

Astrid smiled and leaned forward a bit. "You have a good eye. You've gotten better," Of course Hiccup was not far yet, but he was quick and had got most of her features down, and telling from an upside down perspective, it looked damn close to what she looked like.

"Thank you," Hiccup smiled as his hand darted across the page, eyes flicking up now and then to take in another square inch of her appearance. This time, he didn't tell her to stay still, adding to his phenomenal ability, but she still did for the most part.

"Tell me what else you did. Like how did you meet Auda and whatever. What did you teach, where you went, who you talked to," Astrid rattled off, a slight breeze shaking the leaves above them and making their hair dance.

"Well, I just happened to be in a pub when a fight broke out and I got caught in the middle. I had a sword at my waist so one drunk guy thought I did something to him, but I didn't and I kept trying to tell him that but he was drunk and wouldn't listen to me, so he slashed at me and cut me right here," he paused at drawing for a moment and traced his scar beneath his tunic where it stretched from where it lined up with his ear beneath his collarbone about an inch until his shoulder. Astrid remembered seeing it at the waterhole, the only part of his shoulder that wasn't covered in freckles, though it was paler than the rest of him, just like the cut on his chin where his stubble didn't grow.

"It went deep and it bled a lot, all the way down my arm until blood dripped off my fingers. But, I don't know, Auda somehow recognized me after I got punched in the face a few times, getting a broken nose and a swollen eye," Astrid did think his nose was a little off-kilter. "I would have fought back had I the full use of my left arm, but I didn't really, and I'm not the best with my right," Hiccup chuckled, remembering the memory. "I did get a few punches in, though. Decked the guy in the face who cut me, and then I think one more but I got my wrist twisted so I pretty much tapped out, but luckily that was when Auda came in and kicked some guy in the crotch and threw a stool over someone's head."

Astrid clutched her stomach and laughed loudly, knowing that to be her sister. "Yeah, it was pretty funny," Hiccup laughed along but kept going with his story. "She pulled me out and held me by the shoulders saying 'Oh my Gods, Hiccup, is that you?' over and over and over and over until I nodded a yes. I got punched around well so I was feeling a bit dizzy, and I had…," he scrunched his face up trying to remember. "I had almost a full tankard of stout. I don't know why I decided to drink, but I did, and I regret it because I could've at lease kept myself from getting into that fight," he said a bit solemnly but didn't let it stop him. "But she took me back to her small place and stitched me up with some classic Irish whiskey," he said in a way that made Astrid laugh. "I hung around at her place for a few weeks and met Brandan and they showed me around Dublin, accompanying me when I gave speeches on the treatment of dragons to translate—or help me say something in English—and whatever, taking me to some popular dragon breeding places, like the major area where Barnacle-backed Spooknoose live. Dublin was probably my favorite place, I would say.

"After that, I traveled south to Galway and Limerick, and spoke there for few weeks—avoided pubs," both of them laughed. "and went to Normandy for a bit but I couldn't speak French or English so turned back around. I skipped over London in England because it was disgusting, went to Scotland, back up through the Faroes and Shetlands and went around the mainland again, to the Meatheads, and then back here."

Astrid nodded, and then furrowed her brows. "So if you can't speak English or Gaelic, how did you get your message across?"

"I always seemed to find someone who could speak Norse. I don't know how, but I did, I guess. I picked up a few phrases, though, don't get me wrong, but I suck at English and I can't really remember. It feels like it was so long ago," he explained and started on a new sketch when he was done with the first, giving Astrid the okay to move, so she lay on her stomach holding her chin in her palm and her elbow in the grass.

"Who did you learn swordplay from? A grand master who made you beg to prove you're worthy?" Astrid smiled, watching him laugh. She could watch him all day.

"No. I went to an island just after the first trip to the Meatheads where these big, huge women made me train forever. They said a woman would never like me if I was so skinny," on impulse, Astrid slapped his knee and smiled. Awesome, he thought before continuing. "So they made me train with swords because that was the only weapon I was decent at. I swear to the Gods, they had this mountain, and I ran up it at least twenty times in the five months I was there. That endurance came in handy when Toothless' tail fin broke and we had to run from people who wanted to capture him. The dragons seem to get smaller, generally, when traveling south, but all the bigger dragons hid from people. I had to go searching in caves and stuff to find them. A lot of people were scared of Toothless because he's so huge," Hiccup laughed and looked up when Toothless eyed him from fifty or so yards away.

There was a minute or two of silence as Hiccup sketched around and Astrid watched his hand and fingers move across the page. She exhaled slowly through her nose and rolled over onto her side. "So tell me. Were there any girls you met and liked?" Astrid didn't want to ask because she didn't wan to come off as jealous—she wasn't at all—or possessive, but there's nothing going on in between us—we're friends, she thought, but she asked it anyway because she was dying to know. With Hiccup as attractive as he is, he had to have girls on his arm.

Astrid, he answered her in his thoughts, but went and actually answered truthfully. "Yeah, but they were intrigued with me like any other foreigner. I could hardly even understand them so it wasn't a big deal anyway," Astrid chuckled, victory. "Auda and Brandan wanted to set up a date for me with this Irish girl but Toothless and I left before that could happen."

They laughed again before Astrid replied, jokingly, "Cold feet?"

"No, it's just that I already had someone in mind," he answered casually like it wasn't anything that could potentially make Astrid explode or faint. She instantly blushed and her mouth became fuzzy and all she wanted to do was kiss him or something but he opened his big, glorious mouth and spoke. "You know, Astrid, you're so pretty, but I can't seem to draw you right at all. I can't translate onto the paper. And it's so frustrating because you're so pretty," he ranted like an artist would, knowing his face was red, but he wanted to tell her what he really thought.

Astrid's eyes were downcast suddenly and Hiccup knew she was going to say something she was ashamed of, and he welcomed it because he wanted to see all sides of her and he wanted her to be comfortable with him. She was a human being and had a wide range of emotions and moods, and some, he figured, she would rather hide, like shame. She rolled over to sit up, keeping her eyes away from Hiccup, and he simply watched her move as gracefully and effortlessly as she always had since as long as he could remember.

She offered a practiced and gilded smile that Hiccup saw right through, and said, "It's better than…," what I see. She couldn't bring herself to finish. She felt like a total fool. She shouldn't have even opened her mouth. She shouldn't even have to worry about her appearance because she's got everything else going for her; status, skills, friends, and she didn't want this to turn into a stupid pity party! He just complimented her! "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I don't know. They're good. Really good," she sputtered, rubbing her arm to covering her face and playing with her hair to pulling grass out of the ground.

"What? I don't… do you not agree with me? Astrid?" Hiccup said quietly, and the delicate way he said her name made her want to hide under a rock. "Honestly," he added, his eyes moving all over her face to decipher what she was feeling, but trying to read her now was like trying to read a wall.

She groaned. She hated this. Why did I have to say that? Why did you even start, you idiot? Gods! Astrid held a chunk of hair over her shoulder and was running her hands along it when she looked at Hiccup, and right then she fell apart. "I'm sorry! I'm so stupid, I don't know why I said that. I mean… it's just… you're the only guy that has actually said it instead of being a big slobbering idiot, chasing after me like a dog… and it's… weird? Not weird in a bad way, just… different. You know?" she looked at Hiccup who stared back blankly, trying to take it all in. "Ugh! Just forget about it. I'm a fool. Keep drawing," she crossed her arms in finality and focused on a particularly interesting blade of grass between them.

Hiccup looked to his sketchbook about to listen to what she said, but felt an incurable need to speak. "You are no fool. You have to be… insane to think you're a fool," Astrid looked up at the animated-ness of his voice, and found she could not look away. "Astrid," he said seriously, leaning closer with his elbows on his knees over his sketchbook. "if you don't think you're not pretty, then you are a fool. You're more than pretty, Astrid, you're beautiful. You're so beautiful, that's why I can't get these sketches to look right—they look like damn sea monsters!" he held up his sketchbook to her face and shook it for emphasis. "They don't compare. Not even close. You're so goddamn beautiful. And I have firmly believed that fact since I was a kid, so that makes it fact," he smiled to prompt her to as well, and he felt so amazing when she cracked a tiny one.

"You're an idiot," Astrid said with a playful glint in her eyes.

"I am, and you are too," Hiccup replied with the same devious glint, feeling so accomplished he got to her.

"Those are not sea monsters," she said just below her regular tone of voice and lunged at him, lip locking. He had his sketchbook and pencil in each hand when he brought his hands up to her back on impulse, but as she pushed him backwards to the grass, he dropped them and forgot about them completely as he kissed her back.

Astrid straddled his stomach and moved her arms that were around his neck to rest her elbows right next to his ears. She just had to kiss him after that. Oh, wait—Astrid pulled away briefly to punch his shoulder.

Hiccup laughed. He could honestly say he missed that. "What was that for?" It was almost like a ritual now.

"For calling me an idiot."

"And the kiss?"

"For calling me beautiful," she smiled, and with her hair enveloped around their heads like a golden curtain, her scent of strawberries and rosewater made Hiccup feel like kissing her again; she was so impossibly beautiful.

He raised his head just so to meet her mouth and she kissed him back softly, but just as she began, Hiccup wanted to talk again. "Hey, can this be a date?" he asked excitedly but quietly, just low enough so it was between them, and Astrid had to laugh at him.

"Sure."

"Yes," he closed his eyes and waited for his kiss. "My first date."

Hiccup and Astrid mostly made out, but they wrestled too when Hiccup first tried to roll on top and Astrid wouldn't have it. She ended up winning of course and Hiccup gave her a congratulatory kiss, only to catch her on surprise and roll on top. Astrid tried her hand at drawing and threw Hiccup's sketchbook at him when she couldn't draw him right. She rifled through some pages and found some writing she couldn't understand and Hiccup told her it was a new form of writing and said he wasn't very good at it, either.

"I can't even read the Rune-type very well," Astrid said, laying on her stomach next to Hiccup, shoulder to shoulder, looking at his sketchbook in between them.

"Really? You said you read the Dragon Manual."

"Mostly with the help of my dad and Aislin because they're the only two in my family who can read decent. But 'Legs repeated almost every fact there is multiple times so I know it pretty well," Hiccup laughed at that along with her because he knew it to be true.

Once the sun grew higher in the sky and the heat and humidity rose, Astrid dragged Hiccup to the water of the bay to go in. He begged not to go skinny dipping again and Astrid teased him with, "It's okay, we won't, but don't worry, what I saw was pretty good," and she laughed and grinned at him when his face grew red, wading in only far enough to her knees. They collected shells, sometimes throwing them at each other, and once Hiccup filled up his pockets and Astrid's tunic was filled to the brim, they brought their findings over to the tree and laid them out in the sun to dry. Hiccup worried his prosthetic would rust so Astrid offered to dry it for him, but he refused adamantly to even take it off.

"Fine. We'll go for a ride, then," And they did, all around the mountain ten times, doing flips and turns and racing each other, and for some stupid, teenage reason, they thought it would be cool to kiss in flight, on different dragons. Astrid and Spike were flying about a foot and a half about Toothless' wings, which was just enough for the speed they were going, and Astrid kept trying to lean over as far as she could to her left to Hiccup, who was craning his neck and stretching to reach her mouth. To get closer, Astrid hooked her foot around the steering strap behind Spike's horns and put her other foot on the strap around her belly so she was almost sitting sideways.

Unfortunately, the sight of Hiccup's puckering face was too much for her so she burst out laughing, making the saddle and straps slip so she fell on Hiccup and got her kiss, but Spike veered too close for Toothless' liking so he tried veering sideways too but Astrid's foot was still caught in the straps of her saddle. Having gone through a similar situation like this before except his vest buckle came loose, Hiccup pulled out his knife, holding onto Astrid for dear life, and cut the strap of saddle so her foot was free and the four did not have to go on a spinning cyclone of death plummeting to the earth. Hiccup watched her saddle slip off Spike into the dark green blanket of trees quickly coming up on them, lost to them forever.

They were becoming close again to the bay so Toothless took a quick descent to the sand and Astrid flew off and out of Hiccup's arms, rolling into the grass. Hiccup yelled at him, but she was laughing and holding onto her stomach, so Toothless went over and licked her face a hundred times in apology, curling her up in his arms and nuzzling her cheek.

"Thor's Beard, Hiccup. I hope he didn't get to be this cuddly from you," she was still laughing a bit now even with slobber on her face and Hiccup wondered how a girl as amazing as Astrid could ever like a guy like him.

"Oh, no, he stands alone for that one," Toothless seemed to nod in agreement.

After she was out of Toothless' clutches, Hiccup brought her over underneath the tree to check for any injuries even though she said she couldn't feel anything broken. "Sprains hurt, too," he said, checking her elbow and bending it. Astrid rolled her eyes and went along with it, but with his hands checking for bruises on her legs, she couldn't complain, and in fact, she thought she should put herself in danger more often is she could be treated from Hiccup. He didn't abuse his privilege, like a gentleman, and instead put his hands underneath her ears and pulled her head to him to kiss her sweetly and carefully.

"Sorry about your saddle. I can make you a new one," he said and quietly asked her to roll onto her back.

"It's okay. You should rub my back," Before she even asked, Hiccup was on it, his strong hands already doing wonders.

Hiccup looked to the sky pass the trees and saw the sky turning more orange and red every second. "How do you think today went?" he asked, hoping for the best.

Astrid gave a low, approving guttural noise and nodded, a smile prominent on her profile. Hiccup laughed, agreeing. It went quite well for his first date.

A bit later, Hiccup stopped his amazing back rubbing and Astrid rolled over like a limp fish, moaning. "Tomorrow, Hiccup, tomorrow," she was being half-serious, but he still laughed and offered a hand to her. She took it, and when he pulled her up, she surprised him with a kiss. "I love kissing you," she said before she knew it. "It's because of your scruff. Don't ever shave it or grow it out or I will kill you."

"I don't doubt that one bit," he said and kissed her nose. "Are you going to ride on Spike or hop on with me and Toothless?"

"I'll ride with Spike," Astrid was already walking over to where their dragons were vegging, leaving Hiccup under the tree.

"Are you sure?" he asked, coming up to walk next to her.

Astrid went ahead and thumped Spike's round side gently to get her to stand, saying nothings to her that Hiccup couldn't hear a few yards away where he was standing next to Toothless, slipping his vest on. Astrid gave him a smirk he found rather sexy and alluring as Spike lowered her head for Astrid to jump on. "I like to live on the wild side," When Spike stood up, Astrid sat with her back straight and head held high, and the way she was smirking down at Hiccup, he could have mistook her for a queen.

They rode back a lot safer this time, no flips or barrel rolls, but Astrid did brag a little, standing briefly between Spike's wings for ten seconds before Hiccup demanded she sit down. He knew now that as long as they knew each other, he would have to reel her back in before he died of a heart attack, and he also knew why she and Ruffnut were best friends: they were both crazy.

Astrid said goodbye to him when they were over the village and he waved goodbye back, and instead of going home, he went to the forge where he immediately started on Astrid's new saddle.

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Yay! First 'official' date!

May I just say that Hiccup's time in Dublin and how it was his favorite place is totally inspired from my love of Dublin and the experience I had there on my summer trip with my school. Oh my God, you guys, I can't tell you how much I miss Dublin. I miss it soo much! And it makes it even cooler that VIKINGS settled it! AH! That just blows my mind. What a coincidence, right? Hahaha. I love Dublin. I want to go there again someday and go back to Happy Days near Temple Bar and go back to that one pub and have another Guinness and this time actually laugh at the drunk British dudes who had no game, hitting on my friend and I. Shit. You guise. And go back to the Cliffs of Moher and go walking along that one cliff I didn't, and go back to the Aran Islands and take the RIGHT biking path, and I want to actually meet some smoking hot Irish dudes. Holy crap. Irishmen are so sexy. HOOK me UP.

Okay. Just saying that I love Guinness.

Ireland is going to come back in play since the Vikings did settle Dublin and Limerick and Hiccup traveled there, and not simply because I'm Irish and I love it so much. Really, it's not because of that, haha. Hiccup's pub story is my favorite thing in this entire story so far. Really, I just think it's the funniest shit ever because Hiccup would be the LAST person to get caught up in a pub fight. I can't imagine it, but he was there, and to me that's just flippin' hilarious. And Auda kicking major ass just puts the topping on the cupcake. Love it.

Now about the actual chapter, I really did like writing it. I remember the mood I was in too, listening to some Bon Iver and some more slower Sigur Ros songs (I'm going to suggest a Bon Iver song later, so keep that name on your radar) and it was really just relaxing to write, along with Mark Bradshaw. More of a filler chapter, but an important one at that. Astrid is still a bit of a mess, but she's becoming more comfortable with herself and with Hiccup, so I hope I accurately portrayed that. Oh, and about Hiccup punching people... I don't advocate him getting into fights. Really, he's just too much of a pacifist to actually, like, use his sword against somebody, but I think if he had to, or if he was drunk like he was in this case, I think he would punch someone for defense or out of anger. He would feel like a total jerk afterward, but I think he would. Really, though, dudes are soo full of testosterone, even the most feminine dudes have felt like they've wanted to punch something. There's no getting around that. Hiccup isn't a complete pacifist like Buddha or something, and he's a male living in a huge village with big burly men that get into bar fights all the time, so obviously, he's had to have picked up on that from somewhere. If he had to defend something or someone, I totes think he would whip out his sword and pull some badass moves, because, shit, guys, he's growing up. He's not exactly wimpy anymore either, but he still retains that vibe about him of course. I hate the idea of him being all wimpy and noodley and stuff all the time. That's so not him. But it is at the same time. If that makes sense.

Tell me what you think! :D

Anonymous:

shunxalice: Oh my! hahaha I love the dialogue! ;) Thank you so much for all those descriptive words about my story! It was really quite lovely, like all your reviews! And actually, I have thought about writing a book, but like all my other 'self-created' stories, I lost interest in it and I moved on D: That's also what happened to like 4 of my other fanfics, which is another sad fact, but I won't give up on this one, I can tell you that! I love HTTYD too much! And this story! :D I'm glad you find my subtle humor funny, too, because most people don't. hahaha. Thanks~!

DrizaboneFiction: Thank you so much! Oh my, you are too nice. I can't believe you think my story is that well-written! I am sooo flattered! Really, I'm, like.. bouncing in my seat. Thank you, thank you! :D

Anonymous Cool Reader: Thanks for the review! And I know what you mean about the 'saint' thing and I know it means more to the Christian faith, but for lack of a better word and for people to better understand my meaning, I went with saints. The Vikings were pagan up until about the beginning of the 11th century, which without coincidence, I have placed this story in to better relate to 'real life' but to still keep it a fantasy-type story. So I think it would make a bit of sense to say 'saint' in description.