More fun times which are long overdue. Very, very fun times.
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Hands on Sunshine
Chapter Nine
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"Astrid, wake up," Auda shook her younger sister, excitement lacing her words. Astrid blinked her eyes open and before she could even speak, Auda leaned in close and whispered, "Aislin wrote a letter. Come downstairs. And I have something to tell you," Then she was gone, closing Astrid's door behind her with a faint click.
Astrid rolled onto her back, rubbing her eyes. She slept surprisingly well, so she was not angry Auda woke her up from a dream. She sat up and shook herself awake, becoming more anxious to read Aislin's letter because she had not sent one in months. The last one she sent was five months ago and she told her family she was three months pregnant with her second child, saying she thought it was boy because he was 'giving her so much trouble'. Her first daughter is a girl named Ragna and she was about three years old by now, Astrid thought as she walked down the stairs in her chemise and hair a mess. She had not seen Aislin in five years and she missed her beyond belief, so these letters were their family's only grace.
When she entered the kitchen, she was surprised to see that Brandan had not left for the oat fields yet, and she instantly blushed realizing what attire she was in. But, it was her house too, so she shrugged and took a piece of soda bread lying on the counter.
"No, we're reading the letter first," Auda told Brandan. "And though you can read it better than all of us, Diddy's gonna read it because it won't sound right if you do."
"Hey," Brandan said, laughing. "I can read jus' like yew garls."
"Not with that accent, you can't," Astrid said with a playful smile and took the letter as her mother and sister laughed. "Okay. Now:
"Hello my beautiful family! I miss you all so much, it aches, even though we live only an island apart. But it's good here, don't get me wrong, it feels just like home. Kollr is kind to me, but Ragna even less so," The three women paused to laugh. "She's turning into Astrid every day. She's tougher than all the boys," Astrid nodded in victory. "but, honestly, I just want to have this baby and have it be over with. You would laugh at the sight of me, I'm huge, almost twice my size. The bead creaks when I lay in it," they laughed again. "but there's only a month left. If it is a boy (which I really believe so) I will name him Snare, but if it is another girl… Kollr and I haven't decided yet. Kollr is really hoping for a boy, but as she tells me know as I write, that he would be delighted to have all girls like you, mother, and as would I.
"As I hear, Auda got married to a Celt? And I also heard that the wedding party was insane? I wish I could have been there, Auds, I really wish, but Kollr didn't want me sailing the way I am. But, I will come to Astrid's crazy wedding when the day comes. You better continue the after-party streak, Diddy, or I will be deeply ashamed. Hah…"
Astrid read with some difficulties here and there, sometimes stopping to ask Brandan what a word said, but she did pretty well. Aislin went on to talk about some scandals going on over at Meathead Island, some problems she's had concerning Ragna and some funny ones. The letter in all was about five pages of parchment, but her writing was small as to compact as much information as possible.
After the letter was read, everyone took a minute of silence to smile. Especially for the girls, it felt nice to hear from Aislin after five months of no letters or replies. But before anything else could happen, Auda hopped up from her seat at the kitchen table and stood in the center of the kitchen so all eyes were on her.
"I have something to tell you guys. I haven't even told Brandan yet," she smiled, rocking on her feet with her hands folded behind her back. Her hair was falling out of the bun on the back of her head, and though it was shorter than Astrid's, her hair reached to the middle of her back. Twenty-two years old and in her married woman's chemise reaching to her ankles, she looked to be Astrid's age the way she looked.
"What is it, Auda?" Ingrid asked, watching her middle daughter with furrowed brows.
"Okay," she clapped her hands together. "It's been awhile, but—,"
"Lemme guess," Astrid interrupted, swallowing a piece of bread. "You're pregnant."
Auda's face fell and she stopped rocking. "Really, Astrid? Really? Gods, you're so—ugh. But, yes, I'm pregnant."
Ingrid shrieked, throwing her arms in the air, making Astrid jump next to her. "That's GREAT!"
Brandan's eyes were wider than his gaping mouth almost for a full minute as Auda eagerly awaited his reaction. Before he even spoke two words, he jumped up and pulled Auda to him to kiss her hard, lifting her up and spinning her around. Ingrid clapped excitedly, briefly pulled Astrid to a hug, then after Brandan let go of his wife, she went to Auda and hugged her too.
"Oh, honey, I'm so glad! I can't believe it!" Ingrid kissed Auda's cheeks, and then went and kissed Brandan, hugged him, and Astrid just stayed out of it. She did not want to be hugged or kissed or even caught in that circle. She didn't understand why it was such a big deal. Auda was pregnant, whoopee, the end. To her, Aislin's letter was more exciting than this, and it was inanimate, just the way she liked most things, like her axe.
"I'm going to Hallbera's now," Astrid said over all the commotion and went upstairs unnoticed. She brushed her hair, changed into a grey-blue tunic, put her fillet and belt on, slipped on her leather flats at the front door, and left while Ingrid and Auda were planning baby-related stuff, Brandan already gone for his day at work.
She said her usual hello's walking into the backroom, sidestepping piles of discarded cloth to the back where there seemed to be a cleanliness barrier keeping her workplace mess-free. Astrid pulled out the emerald green bodice for the dress and the gold-lacquered thread she was using with white to make the flowers. She did not say much again for a few hours until she went home for lunch and to feed Spike, and coming back to continue she did the same thing until the bodice was finished. Astrid got the skirt barely attached before Hallbera kicked her out well after dusk to finally close the shop.
"Once you're an employee, dear, you can stey all you want, but naow, you gotta go," she said with a smile, but Astrid did not give one back, waving goodbye and walking home.
She fed Spike half a basket and filled the water trough for the chickens tomorrow and quietly went back inside. She was not hungry for the plate of food Ingrid set out for her from dinner, but she took a piece of bread and left the kitchen. In the living room, her mother and Auda were sewing some things next to the fire where her father read a book about something. Auda and her mother acknowledged her as she walked up the stairs, but her father did not even take a glance upwards and she could have cared less.
She changed out of her tunic and into her chemise in the light the moon offered through her window. She closed it, but it bounced back and left an inch of silver light seep through but she could not bring herself to care either. She lay in bed and looked up at the ceiling, deciding it had been the most boring and event-less day of her life. Yesterday was outstanding and amazing, but today… it was just like it had been a month ago without Hiccup here.
There was a small tap coming from her window a long while later but she passed it off as the wind moving her shutter and rolled over with her back to it. She closed her eyes and wanted to sleep, adjusting her pillow and snuggling deeper into her bed. There was another tap noise and her eyes flew open. "Goddamn shutter…," she said as she stood up out of bed, but stopped, seeing a pebble on her floor. She went over to her window and pushed it open so fast she could have fallen out and smiled for the first time all day.
Hiccup grinned up at her, looking so small all the way down there. "Hi," he said in a loud whisper.
"Hi," Astrid replied, resting her forearms on the window sill.
"What're you doing?" Hiccup asked, slowly shifting from foot to prosthetic. She thought he looked so lovely and foolish by the way he was smiling, poor idiot.
"Nothing," she grinned so wide her cheeks hurt, really trying not to laugh. "What are you doing?"
"Trying to see what you were doing," he chuckled quietly.
"Climb up. But be quiet about it," Astrid leaned out further and said.
Hiccup furrowed his brows, shocked she was inviting him up into her room. But, he had to climb up was the problem; he was still wobbly on his balance. "A-are you sure?"
"Mhm. Just be quiet, though. It's easy."
"O-okay," he had seen her do it before, so at least he knew the way up. Hiccup went to the barrels next to her front porch and climbed up them. He found a small crevice in the side of her house that he put his foot in and pulled himself up to sit on the roof her front porch. She disappeared just then into her room where she lit some candles. Hiccup stood up carefully and he could just barely see over her window sill into her room, glowing against the darkness. She came back and took his hands and helped pull him over her window into her room as he used his feet to leverage himself in.
He stood once inside, staring for a moment, just looking around. Her ceiling was high, pointed at the middle as it ran along the center length of the house. Two beams went across and on them he could see old and peeling painted swirls and patterns and he even picked out some withered daisies. Her room wasn't too small or too big, but it maintained the coziness and openness at the same time like the rest of her house. There was a gathering of shelves next to her nightstand with old dragon figurines and play toys, some dusty old books, tiny pots with accessories in them. Across, she had a tall dresser with clothes thrown on top (which she was hurriedly putting away), and next to that, a shorter table with a looking-glass and brushes and combs on it, paired with a short wooden stool.
As Hiccup looked around, Astrid made her bed and picked up clothes from the floor, shoving them into a slim closet on the other side of the room and stuffing them into drawers or one single chest next to her dresser. She lit two more candles that were on her vanity, and then went to sit cross legged on her bed, looking at him expectantly. Hiccup lowered his head and noticed her staring at him and he blushed for no particular reason. He couldn't believe he was in Astrid's room; this is so cool, he thought.
"You don't have to look so awkward," Astrid said, watching him.
"Oh… sorry," he mumbled, fidgeting with his hands.
"Sit down, Hiccup. I'm not going to bite your head off just because you're in my room. Which, in fact, I invited you into," she patted the bed and he did sit, but on the opposite end. "And you can look at me, too. I know it's sooo scandalous for you to see me in my pajamas," Astrid said sarcastically with a comforting smile. "but I really don't care. I had the option to change, but I didn't because I'm lazy, for one. So get over it."
Hiccup smiled faintly, then asked, "Can't your parents hear?" he relaxed a little bit, slipping off his boot and leaning against the footboard.
"No, I'm the only one upstairs. Ruff and I will have sleepovers sometimes and we'll be up all night but they won't hear a thing. They sleep like rocks," Astrid waved it off like it was nothing.
Hiccup nodded and continued looking around her room. "Are those the knives I sent you in the wall?" he asked, pointing to where five daggers of different lengths still stuck out like pins.
"Oh, yeah. I have to take those out," Astrid stood up and walked around her bed to the wall across it and yanked them out, leaving noticeable slits in the wood, and some were so deeply lodged she had to wedge it out, pulling some splinters along with it. "What did you do today?" she asked, sliding the last shiny dagger into the leather case carefully and tied it shut.
"Oh, you know, the usual things at the forge. Sharpened stuff, reshaped some. Gobber got a new apprentice after looking for one for years, so I taught him some things. He never stops asking questions," Hiccup laughed at the last part, seeing soft and worn pink flowers on her bedspread. He liked her room a lot. It was simple but comfortable, and a lot cleaner than his cluttered room. Actually, her room seemed impeccably clean, like everything had its place, all things nice and neat. He smiled, finding it to be just like her that her room would be so spotless.
"What's his name? How old is he?" Astrid asked while opening one of her topmost dresser drawers and stowing the bundle of knives away between a few of her undergarments. The knives would not be safe anywhere from her unpredictable mother, but she thought they stood more of a chance in her underwear.
"Dagger, and he's ten. He lives with his father, Hoark, and his mother, Signý, he has two older sisters named Emla and Screech, and no younger siblings. He's beginning to like math and he wants to help me build stuff. He likes working at the forge. His favorite dragons are Zipplebacks, but he owns a Terror named Puddle because, apparently, he pees a lot," both of them laughed. "He also has a cat named Butter who just had kittens and hates Puddle. He wants to get a dog but he can't because his mom's allergic. He really hates moths and the smell of honey but he likes eating it. His favorite color is red because Puddle is red. Hoark's teaching him how to use axes between staying at the forge. Uhm… what else…,"
While Hiccup was talking, Astrid had taken her brush with her to sit down on her bed to brush her hair. "Where did you learn all this?" She laughed, her head tilted to the side.
"Oh, he tells me everything. I swear, he never shuts up. But he's a good listener, he does everything I ask of him and he tries his best. He's a good kid," Hiccup nodded and watched her pull the brush through her long hair. "What did you do today?" she looked so simple and lovely, just brushing her hair in her chemise. It was the little things he loved about her, and they were growing in numbers every day.
"I got so close to finishing my first dress today. I forgot to tell you! So, I have to make four dresses like the one I made for Auda—you didn't see it, but it's really good and it's pretty—by the end of the harvest, and only then will Hallbera accept me as a full apprentice. My mother thinks she will, though, so that's good. Uhm," she lowered the brush and held her hands in her lap, thinking. "I fed Spike. She went out and socialized for once."
Hiccup laughed. "Toothless does the same thing, he never goes out. I had to kick him out of the yard to go hang out with the others."
Astrid grinned. "We have moody dragons, don't we?"
"The moodiest," Hiccup confirmed, but Astrid did not fail to notice the distance in his voice, the distractedness. He fell quiet, but his eyes were livid, completely somewhere else. She was so confused.
"Are you okay?" She asked, furrowing her brows and scooting down her bed to get closer to him.
"Yeah. I'm fine," he offered a smile but Astrid scoffed, clearly unconvinced.
"No, you're not. You're terrible at lying. I should know," she said, referencing his broken promise that she completely forgot about, but she didn't want to talk about that now. "What's up?"
"Nothing. Really. I'm just thinking." He seemed surprised she was so concerned, his eyebrows raising farther into his sheet of bangs.
"About what?" she pried, finding his advertedness from her questions annoying.
"You're gonna laugh at me," he chuckled humorlessly and raked a hand through his hair, his reddening face sparking a furious interest in Astrid. What could make him blush like that?
"No, I won't. Try me. See if I will," she challenged, sitting with her knees under her a foot in front of him, crossing her arms defiantly. He looked at her and sighed. She had an aptitude for making him want to talk without even trying, just her eyes on him seemed to be uncorking his thoughts that he never really talked about, especially the ones he was thinking now.
He swallowed, gathering up his courage. "A-about the other night… at the waterhole," he said quietly, his voice shaking a little as his blush deepened. "I—I shouldn't even be thinking about it, i-it's—,"
"If you're thinking about it, Hiccup, why don't you do something about it?" At the sound of his name, he looked up to find her closer, smirking. Her hand fell to the back of his neck to the flippy ends of his hair and he instinctively kissed her. She flung her arms around his neck as she slowly pushed her backwards onto the bed and suddenly things got very intense. Hands were running over restrictive clothing, fingers got caught in hair, and breathing was hard to come by as they battled each other in rough, ravishing kisses.
Astrid marveled at Hiccup's body even underneath his clothing, her hands never staying in the same place for too long before finding another part of him that she liked even more. He grew more hot every second her small hands ran down his sides or over his back, and with it, he grew more confident as well. He pushed his hands up Astrid's chemise while suckling on a tender spot behind the curve of her jaw, and she gasped pleasantly at the feel of his cool and roughened palms fully on her skin. He reveled in the sweet noise, his fingers tickling the outside of her breasts where they rose from her ribcage.
"Hiccup," Astrid breathed into his ear, one hand in his hair and the other gripping his back, fingers digging into the deep muscle along his spine between his taut shoulder blades.
He lifted his head and took her mouth hungrily with a deep grumbling in his throat that Astrid found very arousing, cupping each one of her small breasts tenderly. He kneaded her nipples with his thumbs and at that, he was quiet pleased when Astrid broke from their kisses and let loose a tight moan and a gasp.
"Wait," she said abruptly. Okay, he was not pleased at that. "Don't you want something?" she asked in halting breaths, but Hiccup could not shake the feeling of dread in his stomach. Why would she do that?
"Want what?" he snapped, uncharacteristic of him, but really, he just wanted to do his thing and make her feel happy, and not be having this interruption.
She suddenly rolled him over onto his back, his much too eager hands coming out from her thin chemise as she sat on his hips. "What—wh-what are you doing?" he sputtered as she slid off him to kneel between his knees silently. She pushed up the loose bottom of his tunic to access the ties of his pants, and just as she was about to start untying the laces, his hands grabbed hers and held them away. "Astrid—,"
"—Hiccup—,"
"What are you going to do?" his voice shook as he spoke but he managed to keep it somewhat level to not look like such a wuss, looking straight into her eyes as she looked into his.
"I'm going to give you something good because you gave me something good. I grew up being taught to give gifts to those who gave me one, and believe me, not all of them were pleasant, but this one will be," she smiled, assuring him just enough, and Hiccup relaxed a bit, scrunching up his nose, but he didn't let go of her hands just yet.
"You don't have to. I can go without a gift," her hands slipped from his without his permission and took the laces up once again.
"I want to, so shut up and lay down already," she pushed his shoulder away and he listened though he didn't want to. Just the thoughts of the impending future made his head spin and he didn't want to embarrass himself, but he found he wanted it really badly, and it was showing. Oh, Gods, he thought and swallowed.
"Well, aren't you nice," he stated, covering his eyes with his forearm just as she starting pulling down his pants and underwear.
"No, I am not nice, just grateful," she said with a grin, pulling his pants down just enough to be happily greeted by the full sight of him.
And she didn't know what to do with it all of a sudden.
Ohh, Gods. Ohh, geez. Ohhhhh, man. T-this is so unc-convenient, Hiccup thought, biting his lip quite hard, squeezing his eyes shut, and really hoping he could just disappear and live under a rock with Toothless somewhere because this was quickly becoming too awkward to handle. What was she waiting for, for Odin's sakes? She better do something soon before he gets up and runs out of her house because lying totally exposed to the most beautiful girl on Berk isn't exactly as dream-worthy as it seemed in his head. He opened his mouth to speak, his hands in tight fists, but ended up squeaking out a gasp at the touch of her fingers around the base of him.
Going to Auda's ritual bath was actually incredibly beneficial because she remembered almost every sexual-related thing the women mentioned (though at the time she wanted to gag), but her memory was suddenly wiped clean. She didn't want Hiccup getting too flustered waiting because she knew he would, so to get her memory going, she touched the russet-gathering of hair which she hoped would relax him a bit because she also knew boys' minds were very groin-centric, her knowledge gained from growing up with Tuffnut and Snotlout. Gingerly, Astrid traced her fingers up his prominent length, which made him twitch uncomfortably.
"Don't tickle," he said with a quiet, hard, but uneasy, voice, his eyes still covered to only show his mouth and the stubble-covered underside of his chin.
"Oh, sorry. That tickles?" Astrid asked incredulously, wrapping her hand around him gently.
"Yes. Very—much—oh," he grumbled when she pumped her hand once experimentally. Astrid took his feedback and did it again, but she was torn because she remembered hearing that the skin there was really sensitive but she thought her hand was too loose for him.
And, in a frantic state, she could only remember one other thing that was supposed to feel really good. Uh… okay. Here goes. She dipped her head, holding around his base, and enveloped her mouth around him.
"Ohoh," Hiccup sighed, surprised, but melted into the pillows and mattress. Then—"Teeth—TEETH!" he shouted coarsely and Astrid immediately corrected her motions, sucking ever so gently and tracing her tongue just underneath the pink ridge near his tip, making his toes curl. He removed his arm from his face but his eyes were still closed but not squeezing tight, and his hand found the top of her head. He kneaded her soft hair between his fingers, some of the strands tickling what exposed of his legs and sending shivers up his spine and down his legs to his toes as he quietly moaned, reveling in the wet sensation that he imagined must feel like another wet place. Oh, fuck—, he thought, and just the thoughts were enough. He loved her cute little mouth, but he did not know he could love it like this.
He blinked his eyes open and looked down the length of his nose down his heaving chest to see her blonde head dipping and rising just so, and seeing that with feeling what she was doing, Hiccup's sexually-deprived mind was pretty much blown out of the water, entirely. Her hand pumped gently while her tongue was slowly sliding all over the place, up and down, down and up, and, oh, sweet Valhalla, she was amazing. So goddamn amazing. Where the Hel did she learn this? Where did she even hear about it? How? What? Why? How?
It certainly was not long before Hiccup could feel himself pulse, more than ready after holding back for a minute or two. "A-Astrid, I-I'mmmmaaaa c-cloooose."
"Mmm?" she hummed, and that was what sent Hiccup over the top of a peak he's never traveled and would love to again, biting his lip and letting loose a deep guttural moan. Unfortunately, she caught his fluids in her mouth and she instinctively gagged, raising her head with an arousing string of saliva from her lip to the tip of him, at least Hiccup thought so. She swallowed, cringing and grimacing like she just swallowed her own vomit, shaking her head. Astrid sat on her heels and watched Hiccup's breathing slow, at least pleased that she did a good performance, even if the end result was more than disgusting.
After a few slow seconds, Hiccup pulled himself up, feeling his muscles had turned to complete mush. He smiled lazily and pulled his pants up, kissing her cheek. "So?" Astrid asked as he pulled her with him to lay down again.
"It was… awesome," he let the word sink in, chuckling. "That hum thing you did… oh, man," he said throatily, tired, but still awake.
"Oh? Good," Astrid grinned and laid her head on his chest, her arm tossed over his stomach, laying her full length against him. She listened to his heart beat slow while he played with her hair, lifting up small clumps and running his fingers along it and letting it drop to pick up another piece. It was quiet for a long time, both of them thinking themselves into oblivion in each others company, simply lying together. Astrid listened to his steady heartbeat and with his gentle hands on her hair, she could have fell asleep right there with Hiccup and she would have been totally fine with it. She would be more than fine, she would be happy.
After awhile, she lifted her head and held it up with her palm, adjusting so she could see his face. Hiccup opened one eye and smiled wearily. "Hello, there," he said just above a whisper, and Astrid smiled back, placing her hand on his cheek and stroking it a few times with her thumb. He closed his eye and leaned into her hand, then took her wrist gingerly and kissed the inside of it softly.
"I really like you," Astrid whispered, watching him kiss her palm tenderly.
"I'm glad," he mumbled against her skin, flipping her hand over to kiss each scarred knuckle.
That irked Astrid a bit. He was supposed to say he liked her back, the jerk. "Are you?" she took her hand back and brought it into a fist, ready to punch him. She just said something very important and deep, he better have a damn good reply, she thought, narrowing her eyes.
Hiccup was not phased. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be glad when the girl I've liked for years says she likes me back? I'm elated, happy, even. I haven't been happy like this in a long time," he replied calmly and slowly, sure of his answer as if he's practiced it a million times, which he has, but he did a good job of not making it seem that way. He watched Astrid through his thick eyelashes, seeing her visibly deflate, the anger she pointlessly built up leave her just as quickly as it came like a gust of wind had blown it out of her in the cool night of her room.
"Oh," she breathed out, lowering her eyes, thinking. "When did you start?" she asked sheepishly, bending her arm and resting her head in the crook of her elbow.
Hiccup sighed, looking up to her ceiling. If he actually told her that he had been totally in love with her since they were nine, she might find him a bit crazy, so he chose a better, less-crazy answer. "It's been years. I can't remember exactly, but I've liked you for a long time."
Astrid was definitely taken aback, her eyes widening and her brows raising, accompanied by a lovely pink to her cheeks. "Wow," she sighed, looking around to her headboard to take it all in. He's liked me all this time, even after all the shit I've gave him. Through everything, he's never stopped. Wow. He's… he's phenomenal. Stubborn, but phenomenal. She smiled, her eyes twinkling as she looked at him. "I'm crazy," she said as if saying 'you think you can handle this?' Hiccup smiled back and shrugged.
"I think I've proven I can handle it. You're not as crazy as Ruffnut, after all," he chuckled and Astrid guffawed, agreeing whole-heartedly.
"I get extremely emotional sometimes, especially around my time of the month. I might just rip your face off one day."
"Eh. I have bandages. I'm not scared," she raised her eyebrows further. "Okay, maybe a little. It's nothing I can't take, though. I've already lost most of my leg, what's a face going to do?" he chuckled when she swatted his shoulder.
"I don't think you can. I'm pretty vicious."
"Ohh, I think I can. I'll prove it."
"Are you ready?" Astrid propped herself up onto her elbow and hovered over his face, her expression playfully serious.
"I'm so ready," he wiggled his eyebrows and Astrid giggled before lowering her head and kissing him full on the mouth.
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The next day at Hallbera's, Astrid was quietly sewing the skirt to the bodice she just finished when there was a small but noticeable tap at the window nearest her. She looked up, expecting to see someone there, but she only saw the wall of the building next to theirs across the alleyway through the window. Then, squinting her eyes against the silvery light from the blanket of clouds, she saw a piece of folded up parchment with something lying on top of it on the window sill. Becoming increasingly curious, she set down her work and walked over to the window.
"What is it?" Ranka asked, her brows furrowed in interest from her spot at the table in the middle of the room. However, her question fell on deaf ears when Astrid picked up the things laying on top of the parchment were shells, ones that she and Hiccup collected the other day. Her heart racing, she grinned and bit her lip excitedly as she unfolded the parchment.
It was a page torn from his sketchbook of the little thumbnails he drew of her at the bay, and some she didn't even know he drew. Marveling at them, she didn't even notice Stinkeye had crept up behind her until she giggled loudly into her ear.
"Ooh, Astrid's got a boyfrieeeend!" Stinkeye said in a sing-song voice, laughing harder when Astrid flushed and pushed her away.
"I do not have a boyfriend," she said sternly but it was hard to keep the smile off her face, toying with the thought.
"It's from Hiccup, isn't it? He came bay the other day and you left smiling," Ranka said, joining in teasing Astrid.
"Oh, it's totally from Hiccup. I saw his name at the bottom," Stinkeye giggled and waddled back over to the table, her baby bump only slight but enough to make her lean back some to keep her balance.
"So what if it's from Hiccup?" Astrid countered, smiling deviously because Stinkeye failed to notice what it said above his name:
Waterhole tonight?
Hiccup
"He's got a major crush on you," Stinkeye said. She was only five years younger than Ranka, about Auda's age, so she was more into this boy stuff than Ranka was even though she was married.
"I know," Astrid replied, smiling and folding the parchment back up and putting it with the shells into her pocket, going back to work. She looked across the room where Hallbera had her head lowered, not even the ghosting of a happy expression on her usually bright face. Astrid could only wonder what was on her mind, shoving the needle through the fabric and making knots to secure the string tightly. I wonder if it has to do with Hiccup at all. She did the same thing when he came here the other day. She looked like she saw a draugr.
Once dusk arrived, Astrid was halfway done attaching the skirt to the finished upper half of the dress. She went home and ate dinner while her mother and Auda jabbered the entire time, but it was tension-free since her father had stayed late at the warehouse to supervise the finishing of some new ships. Afterward, she feigned tiredness and bid everyone goodnight, but instead of actually going to bed she climbed out her window and ran toward the forest in the direction of the waterhole.
At least until the female Thorston twin stopped her dead in her tracks.
"Astrid!" Ruffnut bellowed from her doorstep, dropping the basket of clothes on her hip and letting the contents spill all over the steps as she ran toward her friend.
Oh, shit, Astrid sighed, knowing now that she and Hiccup would not be alone tonight.
"Where have you been?" Ruffnut demanded with her fists on narrow hips, sounding very much like her mother. "I haven't seen you in, what, two weeks? Geez, ya just drop me like an apple to go chasing after Hiccup, don't you? Giving him juicy smooches?"
"Huh?" Astrid said blankly, curling the corner of her upper lip.
Ruffnut's mouth dropped a bit. "Are you stupid now? It's obvious you two have been hanging on each other like… like…,"
"Like what?" Astrid challenged, crossing her arms and raising a thin brow.
"I don't know!" she burst. "But I'm mad at you."
"Why? What did I do?" Astrid asked incredulously.
"For not talking to me," Ruffnut pursed her lips, her arms crossed as well, and cocked a defensive hip.
"I've been busy!"
"With Hiccup!"
Astrid let her mouth drop this time. She scoffed and rolled her eyes, then a thought came to her head. "Are you jealous that I'm 'busy with Hiccup'?"
"No, I'm not jealous!" Ruffnut barked back, but the dimming light did not fail to hide her pink blush. Astrid smirked and raised her brows higher, and Ruffnut shoved her a bit. "No, really. Shut up! I've 'been busy', too."
"Oh?" Astrid inquired.
"I'm not going to tell you right now," Ruffnut grinned back, glad to know something she didn't. "Where are you going? I'm bored," she looked expectantly at Astrid with wide eyes and she knew there was no way to get out of her grasp now.
"The swimming hole," Astrid said on the banks of a sigh. Oh, well. She hadn't seen Ruffnut in a while and she found herself missing her crazy antics.
"Oh!" Ruffnut burst. "Didja hear about the streakers? Apparently there were these two kids a few days ago who streaked through the village. Fishlegs' dad saw 'em. I want to go streaking! How awesome would that be? Tuff said he wanted to go, too, but that would be kind of weird if we went at the same time, you know? Oh, you know what, I'm gonna come with you to see if they come again because they ran in the direction of the swimming hole—,"
"No, that's okay—,"
"—because I will totally join them streaking if they do. I'm gonna get Tuff!"
"No, Ruff, it's—," Astrid threw a hand up in exasperation when Ruff turned and darted into her house, finding it completely futile now to stop the force that was Ruffnut Thorston.
She brought out Tuffnut, who just had to get Snotlout, and the two decided it wouldn't be complete without Fishlegs to join them at the swimming hole. Astrid walked behind the four of them on the way, grumbling temperamentally with her arms tightly crossed. She did not want this to happen. She just wanted to be with Hiccup, alone, maybe skinny dip and get some. That was all she wanted to do, but no. She had to run into Ruffnut and she had to gather up the whole group. Of course. Things never went according to plan.
"Oh… hi… guys," Hiccup said when everyone arrived chattering, his heart sinking. He saw Astrid looking like she was about to explode in flames and he immediately understood what happened. He smiled softly and went up to her after everyone greeted him back, walking past him to the stretch of sand down an old grassy staircase built into the hill. She had her arms crossed like metalwork when he went up to her to hug her briefly, whispering into her hair, "It's alright. There are plenty of other nights."
"But I wanted to be with you," she grumbled into his shoulder, sounding like a spoiled and disappointed little girl. Hiccup was totally flattered, otherwise, and even though he was disappointed too, he wanted her to at least enjoy the night.
He kissed her forehead and dug her hand out form the crook of her arm. "We'll have fun. C'mon," he cocked his head to where everybody was already wading in, except for Tuffnut because he was climbing a tall overhanging tree to jump in.
It took a bit of work for Astrid to get less grumpy from the others, but Hiccup did it effortlessly within twenty minutes. Soon she was participating in games Snotlout proposed, beating him in trying to push him off a log caught on top of two large boulders above the pond. They were all challenging each other to see who could do the coolest tricks jumping off boulders into the deepest part of the pond, and Hiccup judged because he couldn't exactly climb up, but Astrid knew he didn't want to show his leg a second time even though his pants just barely hid it. Hiccup gave the winning prize to Astrid, even though there was no prize.
"You only let her win because you liiiike her," Tuffnut teased, but he really did want to win.
"Hey, she did two full flips. You did one and a half," Hiccup grinned and Snotlout 'ooooh'd'. He had to, of course, give the best cannonball splash to Fishlegs after he sprinkled him twenty feet away. Tuffnut was determined to win something, so he jumped from the boulder and tried doing some twisting, flipping move, but he ended up falling fifteen feet onto his side.
"Oww!" Astrid said along with everyone else watching, sitting next to Hiccup on a rock.
Tuffnut burst through the water in a couple of suspenseful seconds, yelling, "I am hurt! Owww, I am very much hurt!"
"Hah, you idiot! You looked like some flapping hawk or something," Snotlout chortled. Ruffnut cackled and agreed.
"Were you trying to fly? Because I'm sure you could have if you jumped a little farther then you arms would have propelled you upwards," Fishlegs seconded, earning a couple of approving laughs.
"No, you assholes!" Tuffnut called back, pulling up onto a rock to rub his side, only causing more laughs from the group.
Astrid watched Hiccup carefully for awhile, taking notice of his calculated movements, cautious to not show too much of his upper body or pull his leg out of the water, and sometimes she could see him forming his words in his head. She knew what he was doing right away, she's seen countless girls do it and it disheartened her to see Hiccup still so self-conscious around their friends.
While Snotlout was telling a story and exchanging banter with Tuffnut and Fishlegs, and when Astrid was positive all attention was off them, she leaned very close to Hiccup, her mouth just touching his ear to say, "Don't be scared," She laid her hand over his on his knee and offered him a gentle smile, and Hiccup looked at her with eyes that made him look young and small again, every bit of his boyish fears flitting in his expression.
"I can't help it," he whispered back, feeling ashamed that she could figure him out so easily.
"It's okay. Nobody here sees your leg as anything different, or anyone else. It's a part of you."
"I don't want it to be," his was so absurdly quiet Astrid had to lean in again just to hear him.
Glancing through the corner of her eye to their friends to see if they were looking, she placed a wet hand on his cheek to direct his face so she could see him entirely. With determination and deep sincerity in her eyes, unwavering, she said, "You're going to have to accept it, Hiccup. I've accepted it as a part of you and it hasn't changed what I've thought. I still feel…," she thought of a word to say. "deeply for you. And I want you to know that. I like all of you, no matter what you say, so just buck up," Astrid blushed, finding that after her confession, her pep talk fell away as she started scrambling for words, so she fell to the typical Viking fall back of tough love. She wanted to explain to Hiccup in soft words that he could understand because Hiccup was just like that and tough love never worked too well for him in the past, but, alas, Astrid did not grow up with soft words. With a subtle start to her heart, she realized she knew Hiccup better than she thought, just like the back of her hand.
He averted his gaze away from her to the water at their knees, biting his lip. He slowly nodded as Astrid watched him, and his eyes returned to her again, this time looking more confident and understanding. "Okay," he breathed out, his eyes flitting all over her face, especially between her eyes and lips. Astrid pursed her mouth and smiled. "Thank you, Astrid."
She smiled a little bigger at the sound of her name, and quickly kissed his cheek. She folded her hands in her lap as if nothing had happened and Hiccup guffawed softly in reaction. "No punch? I've gotten used to expecting it by now."
"Not this time," she said with a sly tone, glancing at him through her eyelashes. "but I'd be more than willing to, if you'd like."
"No, I think my arm's okay," he chuckled and wrapped a secretive arm around her waist and pressed his lips to her temple.
When it was much later and everyone grew tired of swimming, they all dried themselves off and went stalking through the village to find the notorious streakers. Astrid and Hiccup went along with it, silently giggling to themselves knowing what feeble efforts the twins and Snotlout did to locate them. Wandering around the village way past curfew, Astrid did not fail to notice Fishlegs' close walking proximity to Ruffnut, at least until they had to duck into the shadows to avoid the Watchers, and Ruffnut would give him a smile with a pink blush while they waited in the alleys of the lower village.
Once the torch-wielding Watcher had past, out on the prowl for unruly teenagers since the event at the waterhole that got ten kids caught only two weeks ago, Astrid elbowed Hiccup in the side to whisper to him. "I think Fish has a little crush on our dear crazy Ruff," she said and smirked deviously.
"I've noticed, too. I think we have a blooming romance on our hands," Hiccup winked rather crudely, scrunching up half his face. Astrid giggled and tucked her hand in the crook of his elbow.
"Okay, well this blows!" Tuffnut declared, kicking a rock and sending it flying.
"Yeah, I'm going home. This was a waste of time," Snotlout said over a yawn that split his face in two. "Peace out, guys," he raised a hand and spun his heels, walking in the other direction.
"I'm tired, too," Ruffnut said just after she also finished yawning, running her fingers through her loose and wild hair free from its three braids, reaching well past her waist.
"I'll walk you home," Fishlegs volunteered, and Ruffnut's smile and glittering eyes were not subtle at all.
Tuffnut's mouth dropped as the pair walked past him nonchalantly, his brows tightly knit. "Well, geez, it's not like I live in the same house or anything," he said with insulted bewilderment, but when they didn't answer him, or even acknowledge he spoke, his face crumpled up and he went chasing after them. "How dare you walk my sister home without me!"
Astrid and Hiccup were cackling in laughter watching the scene play out. The trio started walking back down the road after Tuffnut jumped on Fishlegs' back and shook him, only to have his sister yank him to the ground and wallop him in the face. Hiccup sighed with a smile on his face and his eyes sparkling bright from the vast array of stars, and looked down to the girl hanging on his arm.
"I'll walk you home," and together they went quietly, smiling, all the way to the Hofferson's house.
00
Oooooooh. What have we here, Ruffnut and Fishlegs? We'll hear from Ruff soon :) I'm not going to explicitly state what's going on with them, but they will definitely come up later, and it's huge. Just you wait!
Anyway, tell me what you think! I'd love to hear it! BUT I have to say... I was rolling around laughing my godforsaken pants off while typing Hiccup and Astrid's... adventure in her room. LMFAO. Dear lord.
My favorite line is "happily greeted" by the way.
Was this chapter awkward and funny enough for you? I hope so!