Holy balls. That's all I gotta say; holy balls.
I cranked this out! Typed it up in 5 hours! YEEAH! (It takes me a long time to type because I suck. And I haven't typed for a long time in forever. Like right now after having done all of this, I'm a pro).
In any case, here's the next update. Be prepared. Buckle your seat belts. And read the end notes, pleeease :) I love you all for still reviewing after the last update! I was still getting review messages in my inbox 2 weeks ago, and I hadn't updated in like a month or longer. I love you all sooo much. You're all kind and wonderful people and awww.
NOTE: I will still refer to Astrid's dragon as Spike though it has been revealed in Gift of the Nightfury (which is fantastically awesome and made me almost pee my pants) to be Stormfly, Camicazi's dragon name in the books, which I think is kinda bogus because Spike fits the Nadder better than Stormfly (humph). So don't be miffed that I still choose to keep it Spike so it doesn't change in the midst of the story.
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Hands on Sunshine
Chapter 14
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This is extremely uncomfortable, Astrid thought followed by a groan, squeezing her eyes shut further against the harsh sunlight rudely assaulting her. Oh, gods, this was terrible. It felt like someone decided to be a fat jerk and drop a giant rock on her head—and, oh, this ache in her throat! Did she inhale sand? Odin's eye! And…what the…? Opening her eyes into slits, she saw a blurry shirt texture and green grass. Raising her head felt like lifting a child, and looking around further she saw Hiccup's unfortunate face. It looked like he was only waking up, too.
"I'm still drunk," Hiccup groaned in a raspy voice and raised his arm to cover his eyes. Astrid started chuckling but quickly stopped when it felt like said-child was beating a rattle on her head every inhale she took. Astrid rolled off him and sat up straight with much more effort than was needed, and once her eyes adjusted, she could pick out Snotlout rolling over a couple feet away, Fishlegs and Ruffnut yelling some things behind a few trees, and Tuffnut groaning to Snaggletooth.
"What the Hel… happened, man?" Snotlout grumbled as he sat up, rubbing his temples with quite the mop of messy black hair.
"I don't even know, dude," Tuffnut answered a few yards away from him.
"I don't know what's going on or where I'm at!" Ruffnut shouted but Fishlegs quickly and nearly begged for her to be quieter.
"Where are we?" Astrid asked in a quiet voice, completely unaware that her hair was in a huge tangled ball of fluff with grass and most likely twigs stuck inside of it.
"Uh," Hiccup grumbled, shielding his eyes from the bright mid-morning sun with his hand, surveying the towering firs and other trees around them. "I think we're at the swimming hole."
"I definitely hear the waterfall," Fishlegs said as he stumbled around a tree holding his head, a few dark bruises visible on his neck.
"Get some, Fish?" Snotlout said with a lazy smile as his bigger friend joined the circle next to him. Fishlegs blushed and shrugged with a hint of a grin through the haziness.
"Okay, so we gotta piece this together, guys. I need help because I'm still kinda-sorta drunk," Ruffnut said, the only one standing up between the seven of them. She eventually sat down and together they tried fabricating the story of Last Night until now as a few other young and still-tipsy villagers left the waterhole to get back to their lives or their beds.
As it turned out, hardly any of them could remember much after leaving the site of the festival. Hiccup said Astrid told him they were going on an adventure and he remembered them running through the forest. Inspecting bodily parts, this piece was confirmed true as feet were dirtier than the dirt itself and cut up, arms had a few cuts and sores and Snotlout even had a small gash along his jaw. Tuffnut remembered dragon tipping a few snoozing Gronkles in the stables and said Snotlout did a knock-knock ditch on the Sveinson's house. Astrid said she remembered Hiccup pulling out some random dragon nip out of his pocket to calm a Gronkle from chasing them after a few yards, and Hiccup attested to this being true because he always carried nip with him all the time. Then, the storyline quickly went to nothing.
"I can't remember anything else," Snotlout shrugged and everyone agreed. "But I remember it being fun as Hel," then everyone agreed again.
"But I think I threw up," Ruffnut said through deep chuckles.
"Yeah, because I remember having to hold your hair up," Astrid said.
"In any case, though, probably the best sankthansaften ever experienced," Hiccup said with a few nods and a happy and rather lopsided smile.
"Even though no one remembers," Fishlegs added.
"Which makes it even more awesome," Tuffnut said and every one of them chuckled in agreement through their hangovers, letting the summer heat soak through their skin and warm their sloshy bones.
Summertime could never be more free or reckless, and Hiccup, quite frankly, could not be happier. He was as young as he would ever be, and with this somewhat-tipsy realization, he laid back and raised his palms to the sky as everyone continued laughing in delight around him. In his hands he could feel the sunshine, warmer than he could remember, and he suddenly felt at peace. For a short, fleeting moment, he let the sunshine mingle in with the contentedness and he let the pair settle comfortably in his memory so when he was old, he would remember this moment and know how it felt like to be young and in love and reckless and a hundred other things. He knew he would remember this, and knew it would be different from now onwards, but he felt okay with that. It would be the one thing he wouldn't forget.
Astrid ended up going with Hiccup back to his house because she didn't want to go home quite yet, and just as soon as the door closed and they entered into the cool house, Astrid leaped up and wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed him as fiercely as she never had before. Hiccup was quite shocked but kissed her hard and bit her lip just the same, pushing her back against the door. She would breathe into his ear and press her body against his, running her hands down his side and through his messy hair with small leaves still stuck in it until both of them ran out of breath. Together they raided the cabinets for food and took some headache remedies from the healer.
Hiccup changed out of his nice festival clothes while Astrid ran her fingers along the spines of the books on his shelf, the titles choppy in her head. Hiccup lent her one of his smaller tunics so she wouldn't have to wear her nice dress all day because she was "definitely not going home to clean", as Astrid said in her own words. Though it was one of the smallest ones he owned, it was still loose on Astrid, and the neck was big enough where it would move off her shoulder a little and would look so unintentionally arousing that Hiccup couldn't resist to take her mouth again. In doing so he almost knocked her off her feet, quite literally since her feet got tangled in the clothes on his bedroom floor.
"Oh, shhh-, sorry," Hiccup chuckled, grasping onto her upper arms in surprise to prevent her from falling, his face going a little red.
"Don't be," Astrid grinned and pulled herself to him by taking a handful of his tunic and kissing him again.
Hiccup brought Astrid to the forge much later than he would have if Dagger was going to be there, and without a word once they arrived, Astrid started getting the fire ready.
"What are you doing?" Hiccup asked through a bewildered chuckle, blinking stupidly in surprise. He picked up his leather apron from the hook as Astrid blew in the fire to heat the coals up.
"Getting the fire lit," she simply responded.
"I see that."
"I'm just helping you out," she replied as she stood up, a gentle smile on her face.
"Well, don't get in the way because you always do," Hiccup said in a joking voice, but just the same, Astrid punched his shoulder hard enough where he had to regain his footing.
As Hiccup heated some mangled swords and spears on the coals, pumping the bellows, Astrid straightened up the counters and organized everything, making sure similar tools were in the same box and nails in another (but she found nails and such all over the forge). She even organized everything under the counters, most of it that hadn't been touched in ten years so a few mouse villages had sprung up with accompanying bite holes and droppings. She cleaned the boxes out and organized what was in them, Hiccup often times rambling about something she didn't understand but went along with it anyway. A few hours past and Astrid got most of the workshop organized and clean and all the counters wiped down with the packed dirt floor swept, and when she started heading to the back room, Hiccup nearly lunged at her from where he was standing at the anvil.
"Oh, no you don't, young lady," Hiccup pushed himself in front of her so he blocked the doorway, holding his arms out and hands on the doorframe. Astrid put her hands defiantly on her hips and stuck out her round chin, squinting at him as if to say 'are you challenging me?' "Private business back there," Hiccup said with a convincing tone but Astrid only snorted. She had a grand, clever reply up her sleeve.
"I've seen your 'private business', Haddock. You got nothing to hide," she smirked, pleased to see his slightly red face go redder. After a short pause, Hiccup burst out laughing. Then, without notice, Hiccup crouched and dug his shoulder into her stomach so he could throw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "HEY!—,"
"Somebody's a pervert!" Hiccup laughed as Astrid slammed her hands into his back.
"Let me down! This is assault! You're a terrible boyfriend!" Astrid said mostly in a joking and high-pitched voice, but through it she still giggled though she hated being manhandled. However, it was an odd turn-on that he would throw her over his shoulder so easily—she wasn't as light as a feather liked she looked while fighting.
"Oh, shut up and mind your own business," Hiccup replied with a smile and bent forward so he could set her on the newly cleaned counter. "You're a wonderful maid, milady," Hiccup said in a low voice, his eyes on fire, his hands suddenly free of his elbow length gloves and he pulled her legs around him by his hands on the underside of her knees.
"I'm not your maid," Astrid said in a mock-childish voice before Hiccup took her mouth hungrily. They were caught in a tangle of ravaging kisses and half-taken breaths stolen from another as they fought in tongues and lips like they hadn't seen each other in a hundred years. Tiny little moans from the depths of Astrid's throat surfaced when Hiccup's fingers teasingly grazed her underwear beneath his tunic that she wore and he wanted to take off. He pulled the neckline of the tunic down and saw small purple hickeys from the night before just where her breasts began and possibly a few others from other times, and brought his mouth to her warm skin to add a few more. Many weeks previous, they had decided that giving hickeys on necks was not a good idea for their reputations, so the chosen spot was pretty much anywhere beneath the collarbone after discussing about it. Hiccup thought it was a cool idea to give hickeys for some odd reason, but Astrid didn't care much for them. In any case, Astrid sighed into his ear when he lifted his head and nibbled his lobe just for fun, arching her back furthermore into him.
Astrid opened her eyes and looked around, noticing all the open windows and was surprised nobody could see them since they were along the side of the forge, but if one just walked right by they could see right in and see them. She liked the danger of it, but she still had a good head on her shoulders so she pulled his head away from her shoulder and kissed him briefly.
"Backroom—seems like a safe—bet," she said in between Hiccup impatiently kissing her in smacking noises that were a dead giveaway if anyone did walk by.
"Too cramped. Trust me," Hiccup said in a hoarse voice and it only made her moan when his chin scratched hers, stubble still prickly. Goddamn it, why did he have to be suddenly so hot right now? She bit his lip hard to give him further incentive to feel her up. She really didn't give a damn. But she did at the same time.
Just as his nimble fingers pushed aside her underwear, there was a knock at the windowsill. Astrid let out a quick shriek before she covered her mouth and Hiccup jumped away, spinning around to face the window like a horde of jötunn's were just outside. (8)
"Hello? Hiccup?" It wasn't Gobber or anyone else they knew; thank Freyja, Astrid seemed to say to Hiccup in her eyes and he visibly deflated just the same. It was Astrid first to start giggling madly, so Hiccup shooed her to the back of the forge so he could take the customer's order, though he faltered into a few laughs through the conversation.
Once the interrupting customer left, Astrid removed her hand from her mouth and leaned against a counter to hold herself up while she laughed hysterically. Hiccup let out his own bout of laughter and they continued just as so until their eyes got teary.
"Holy shit, I almost peed my pants. I thought somebody saw us!" Astrid said as she regained her breath.
"I know! I thought so, too!" Hiccup wiped his face with his hand, making some of his bangs screwed up from sweat. "Gods, if it was Gobber, I'd be super dead. I'm so glad one shutter was closed so he couldn't see us exactly."
Astrid let out a big sigh and threw her head back. "That was risky. If we had only gone to the backroom when I said…,"
"No! Off limits!" Hiccup laughed, and when walking by, he got a well-deserved slap to the behind. "Off limits!" he repeated, swatting her hand away. With a mischievous smirk to the corner of her mouth, she chased him around the forge with a spare glove to smack him with again until he pleaded with her to stop.
"No, no, no, no, stop, I have to get back to work, sweetheart, please, that hurts," Hiccup took her arms and kissed her a few times to entice her to listen to him.
"You're such a baby," Astrid dropped the glove and pushed her body flush against his, her eyes half-lidded.
"I know, you've told me this only all my life," Hiccup chuckled once before he couldn't resist her anymore and pulled her tighter against him, her long hair draping down her back that he entwined his fingers in. He kissed her passionately for nearly a minute before stepping away and laughing. "I hate not being able to resist you, Astrid," he said with a blush, pulling on his sooty gloves. She raised her head in a pompous manner, jokingly, and strutted back to the counter to sit.
Much later in the day when the sun started to set, Astrid went back to her house only to pack another basket of supper. She called Auda and Brandan's name when she found the house empty, her curiosity inspired from seeing the kitchen fire completely out like it hadn't been lit all day. While stuffing a loaf of yesterday's bread in the basket, she remembered Auda saying something about having supper at one of her friends' house. "It's Sif—I wouldn't doubt it," Astrid said to Spike while dropping off a basket of fish before kissing her goodbye on her nasal horn and picking up her basket of food to waltz back to the forge. She was in a fantastic mood.
Together they ate the perfectly seasoned chicken legs and potatoes mixed with cabbage and carrots and onions, leftover food from the festival that was distributed to the villagers early in the day. They sipped their wooden goblets filled with fresh milk and ale at the same low crate as before, in the same places. They didn't always hide their blushes or their secretive glances, sometimes their eyes locked for a moment before looking away, adding another opinion to the menial matters they discussed, such as Tuffnut and his relationship with Snaggletooth and whether or not it even was a relationship, or even how the upcoming weather might turn out. "It's supposed to rain within the next few days," Astrid said and Hiccup nodded over the rim of his cup and said after swallowing, "That would be a relief from this heat."
Astrid didn't bring a particular desert this time, but she did pull out a few sugared plums from Auda's secret tin, all six tiny pieces together in a white linen handkerchief. Astrid picked up a tiny morsel and tilted her head, popping the plum into her mouth with her eyes pointedly on Hiccup's. A small smile sprang to her lips as she chewed while the same recurring thoughts of what Auda said a few days ago about forelsket were pasted blatantly on the forefront of her mind. Hiccup watched her; enthralled he could see her sparse freckles in this dim orange light that strained his eyes more often than not. Quietly, he asked, "What are you thinking about?" he popped his second morsel into his mouth.
She didn't reply right away, and at length she said, "Pasts, presents and futures. All things."
"That job's reserved for Elder Gothi," Hiccup replied with a playful glint to his sparkling eyes.
"There can be two goðar," she smiled. (9) "No, I'm just thinking of what my sister said about forelsket a few days ago," A small part of her wished he didn't know what she was talking about, but he nodded knowingly and possibly blushed a little.
"I know what that means. I haven't heard that term since my mother mentioned it in a story she was reading once," Hiccup paused, holding his third and last sugared plum, thinking. "Man, that was a long time ago," he let out an airy, humorless laugh and ate his last piece.
Astrid smiled though she didn't find anything funny, swallowing her last bit. She leaned over and kissed him briefly. "You had a bit of sugar on your lips," she said a few inches away from him, her own bright eyes flitting across his darker ones.
Lips still puckered from her kiss, Hiccup replied, "Mmm, sugar lips," They both chuckled before kissing again, and just when Astrid started pulling away, Hiccup pushed his head a little to tell her just a bit longer. When he did allow her to sit back, only just so because she leaned on the crate with her elbows, Hiccup said, "Let's do something."
Astrid raised a provocative brow, questioning him. "Such as…?" 'Let's do something' could mean anything—for Odin's beard, with Hiccup it could mean 'let's clean the stables'. She could only claim to know half of his motives by the way his brain worked.
Hiccup smirked a little. "Fun things," Oh, gods, that sounded perverted, he thought, biting his lip. He had no idea what got into him. He just wanted to do stuff all of a sudden.
Astrid thought he looked rather enticing biting his lip the way he was even with his big and uneven teeth, and this served as more incentive for Astrid to jump to it. "Finish closing the forge, we're going to my house," Astrid immediately swiped the handkerchief from the table and shoved it into her basket on the ground next to her.
Hiccup couldn't argue against that. He stood up and started putting his tools away while Astrid shut the doors to the fire to make it die out, coming around to straighten up. They shut all the windows and Hiccup locked the door and off they went in a mad dash to Astrid's house. Just at her doorstep, she told him to wait across the street in the shadows just to see if Auda or Brandan were home and then she would either invite him inside or sneak him through her window. Hiccup did just that and waited for her for hardly a minute before she peeked her head around the front door to bring him inside.
"Quickly!" she said in a harsh whisper and Hiccup slipped inside with a wide grin on his face. Astrid took Hiccup's hand and lead him through the dark to the staircase and up into her room. She made him stand in the middle of her floor so she could light a few candles even though there was a half moon out this night, shining through her window across her made bed that went unused last night.
"Before anything happens," Astrid raised her hands before Hiccup would jump at her. "We need to take some preliminary precautions. I'm not sure when Auda and Brandan are going to be home, so we're going to pretend I'm just about to go to bed, okay?"
Hiccup faked a sullen look. "Okay."
Astrid still furrowed her brows but smiled. "I'm going to change into my chemise, and you, can sit," she pointed to the bed and he obediently did so, chuckling. While she changed into her chemise, Hiccup looked at a carved wooden figurine on her nightstand, and to him it looked like a valkyrie with long hair and a sword held high, the horse with six legs; two for the back and four in front. It looked like a woman though she was faceless save for some tiny features like eyes, a nose and a mouth, armored and looking more ready to charge into battle than to save the dead warriors souls coming from it to go into Valhalla. Astrid saw him looking at it just as she pulled her chemise over her head.
"My father gave it to me when I turned twelve, the year my mother let me inherit her axe," she nodded her head to where her axe leaned against the wall next to her dresser. "He carved it himself."
"He's very skilled," Hiccup said, turning the figurine right so the light would catch the polished wood nicely.
"My grandfather's a carpenter so he's worked with wood his whole life. He carves stuff all the time. My sister's have some stuff like that as well," Astrid said as she searched through her personal chest of sewing supplies. She pulled out a partially done handkerchief she didn't finish from forever ago and quickly threaded a needle with spring green string to look like vines around the hem. Taking her brush from her before her vanity, she stood between Hiccup's knees and he had to crane his neck to look up at her. "You're going to brush my hair while I sew. Got it?"
He smiled, his palm warm on the side of her exposed thigh. "You got it, milady."
"That's more like it," she winked terribly at him and they laugh as Astrid handed Hiccup her brush and sat cross-legged between his legs.
Surprisingly, Hiccup brushed her wild hair gently, starting from the ends and taking each snarled chunk carefully as he made his way to the crown of her head. She hardly felt bothered as she pulled the needle through the linen, and even his fingers were nimble and soothing on her scalp, and much of the time shivers cascaded down her back and arms like rain. He ran the brush all the way down her long hair many times, silent at his work. She smiled because she's suddenly quite relaxed after awhile and soon she finds herself nearly starting to doze off so she knows it's about time to be done.
Astrid leaned to her right to put the handkerchief and needle on her nightstand, standing up in front of Hiccup with a few pops in her back. "My butt is sore. I didn't it to stop," she said as she straddles Hiccup, moaning childishly.
"I like brushing hair for some reason. My mother would ask me to do it for her sometimes. Her hair was as long, if not longer, as yours," Hiccup replied, his arms snaking around her waist. Almost in a secretive motion, he ran his hands slowly over her backside, his expression hardly giving him away.
"You're quite good at it," Astrid said just before she digs her knees into the edge of the feather mattress and lifts his stubbly chin up to kiss her.
Hiccup kisses Astrid rather slow compared to the time in the forge when he just couldn't seem to get enough. Now, it reminded Astrid of the first couple of times they actually started kissing instead of quick pecks, and she felt a bit uplifted remembering how much they've changed together. All that was before they started taking off clothes and, here they were, already having gone through that, though the only times they have been naked completely and simultaneously were during their waterhole excursions and streaking. Astrid smiled a little between kisses, running her hand through his hair to the back of his neck.
Hiccup wrapped his arms around her back for a brief couple of seconds to stand and lay her down on the bed perpendicular to it. She let out a little sound of surprise because she hadn't been holding onto him when he stood, but she had her back on her mattress before she knew it with his body weight against her. He was warm through two layers of shirts and she felt her heart race and her intakes of breath became airy when she felt the burning sensation between her legs. She grazed her fingers along his cheek, her mouth open from a suspended kiss, and Hiccup's the same with his nose just touching hers, his bangs soft on her forehead. When she opened her eyes, he grinned, his eyes sparking something between mischievous and sensuality, and Astrid remembered that look from the time after they went streaking. She wanted to see it again then and now she knew she should be excited. Super excited.
"Your turn," Hiccup says in a rough voice, smiling lopsidedly. He didn't allow her a reply or a question before taking her mouth fully and sliding against her body.
Oh, okay. I can deal with that, Astrid thought, letting him sink into her. She relaxed he body and focused on his, letting his warmth melt down to her bones, allowed the feel of his skin to send shivers to the far reaches of her toes and the tips of her fingers. She focused on his soft and dry lips on her neck, his rough and nimble hands pulling up her thigh and hip. She sighed, her closed eyes rolling to the back of her head.
Forelsket, Astrid thought in her head. Forelsket, that complicated, ancient word. She's tied it with Hiccup in the last couple of days, the one thing that keeps creeping to the forefront of her thoughts. It's that exciting rush you feel… when falling in love… for the first time…, Astrid thought, or at least tried to because Hiccup was now running his full palm up her chemise across her stomach and the ridges of her ribs as she arched her back. She couldn't think for shit, at least anything else other than Hiccup's exploring hand. Her thoughts were in frenzy, her heart mirroring it. He went so agonizingly slow, pushing up her chemise with his other hand as he shimmied downward to kiss her navel playfully once. He stretched his body along the length of hers, slowly, as he kissed back up in sync with raising her chemise. Oh, gods, he was going so slowly. This was almost painful for Astrid; she had very little patience and he was wearing it thin. Hiccup almost seemed to know this and do it on purpose when she opened her eyes and sent him a look he knew but chose to disregard. Smartass. She furrowed one brow slightly as if in challenge, he looked at her over the bunch of fabric from her chemise so she could only see half his face, looking down the length of her nose.
Still slowly, Hiccup pushed the dress up farther while holding eye contact with her, grazing his fingers over one breast. Astrid sucked in a tiny breath of air but didn't give him the satisfaction of a gasp quite yet, still eying him. He returned her gaze with much more intensity, mingled in with plenty of confidence as he craned his neck to take her nipple into his mouth. Now she gasped. Watching him do it was something totally different than simply feeling it. Of course focusing on him and only him without any visuals was certainly fantastic, but with candles and light, she thought she might as well make the best of it and watch him. Why the Hel not? She thought and bit her lip when he gave her pert nipple a tiny bite before kissing around where her breast rose up from her ribcage. Astrid pulled herself up to her elbows as Hiccup descended downwards, both hands going with him. Along her skin she could match his stubble with his face and his eye lashes and nose and lips with it, along with how his russet hair felt across her pale skin. It was so… stimulating. Her breathing even became deeper because of it.
"Is this a return thing fffffrom the other n-night?" Astrid said, her voice not wanting to relent to her wishes and moan instead, but she wouldn't let it happen. She fought it back while Hiccup pulled her underwear down with him.
He pulled them down her long and slim legs, and when he didn't come up to kiss her after that and going to kneel on the floor with the edge of the bed, she was surprised. "Mhm," Hiccup responded through a cocky smirk and looking at her through his eyelashes. He kissed her thigh slowly, his other hand stroking the skin of her hip and other leg, getting right into that crease that made it almost feel like he was tickling her. He chuckled when she jumped in surprise, his stubble hardly scratching her thigh because it was too long to hurt, needing a shave sometime tomorrow. As his head got lower to the meeting of her legs, she was certainly more than surprised. He was doing the same thing, but on her. How cool. Actually that was awesome. Really awesome.
"You're just spoiling me," Astrid said in a playful voice, feeling her blood pump harder through her veins. Hiccup didn't reply, only lowered his head in response and suddenly all things seemed to melt together.
Hiccup was taking this business seriously, that was clear. He used his tongue all along her clit but not in an obnoxious, licking-up-milk type of manner. Slow and hard and deep, flicking that ever-sensitive fold of flesh and gently sucking and curling his lips in a distinct manner that reminded her of eating a plum; he didn't want her to spill down his chin so he got every last drip. Perfect. Absolute perfection. She let out one giant, quiet, "Holy shit!" in her breath that ended with a strangled moan. She couldn't hold herself up anymore due to the reverberations of his mouth on her and she blamed this state of mess on him. She pushed her head back and arched, her hips rolling along the mattress. Hiccup held her down with his arms wrapped around her thighs, still doing his thing. Astrid found the top of his head and ran her fingers through his hair, pulling gently at the clumps. She moaned deeply and loudly enough so that Hiccup had to quiet her down with a waddle of his pointer finger.
After a couple of minutes, she wasn't getting to where Hiccup knew she could get, so he unhooked one arm from her leg and used his fingers to add to her pleasure. Astrid's world was spinning entirely now as his fingers pumped and his mouth was doing something and his stubble another and her bed was so comfy and the lighting just right and—everything. How? Why? What is this? This can't be Hiccup. She was sweating and panting and moaning and this dork was doing it. He was so amazing it wasn't even possible. She wouldn't be surprised if she woke up and this was all a dream; she would be very pissed, but wouldn't bat an eyelash.
It wasn't long before she could feel herself start to go up that peak again, her breath didn't seem to register in her lungs so she breathed in more but sometimes couldn't, feeling a wave of that thing called ecstasy until another one came and another, and it almost became too much. She gripped the bed sheets above her head, arching her back until she felt some weird vibrations run all the way through her from her head to her toes and back up again multiple times. Lights popped behind her eyes. She knew she had to be quiet but it seemed she didn't know how, so she bit her knuckle and hoped she was quiet enough, but her loud and guttural moan seemed to not make much of a difference as she felt like she was splashed with water where Hiccup's head happened to be.
The lower half of Hiccup's face was drenched and he sat up from the neat, clean mess he created, dragging his arm across his face and wiping his hand on his pants. Her hair was all over the place, definitely snarled at the back of her head now after having spent a half hour brushing it, but he didn't really mind because she was lovely. He smiled down at her and chuckled when she was slow to give a smile back, her eyes half lidded. She was totally spent, completely exhausted now. Astrid sat and pulled her dress down and kissed him, tasting something different on his mouth. Interesting.
Hiccup removed his prosthetic and crawled underneath the bed sheets with her after blowing out all the candles around the room. He laid on his side along the length of her body behind her, his arm wrapped around her where she held his hand, stroking his knuckle with her thumb.
After some silence, Hiccup said, "Your hair always seems to smell like strawberries," his voice was tired as well, drawling, but he was somewhat awake still.
"I use strawberry soap. Smells good, doesn't it," she stated, snuggling into him.
"Mhm," Hiccup smiled. He always connected strawberries to Astrid.
"You always smell like pine trees," Astrid said after much thought. She was soo tired.
"Oh?"
"Yeah."
"Is that bad?"
"No, I like the smell of the forest. We're surrounded by it, that and the ocean, and you smell like both sometimes. It's like you're connected to this place, not just simply born here," Astrid said, the longest thing said in awhile.
"It's my home," Hiccup nearly whispers. "I missed it all the time when I was gone."
"Yeah, don't do that again," Astrid laughs lightly. "I did miss you a lot, though I was mad at you still."
"I promise I won't leave," Hiccup smiled into her hair, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.
Astrid smiled too, kissing one of his knuckles. It was the last thing she remembered before falling asleep.
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Hiccup was gone before she woke up, presumably going through her window since it was wide open, letting in the bright late morning sun shine through. Astrid was woken up by Auda shaking her shoulder and telling her to go to Hallbera's before she gets her arm bitten off. Astrid groggily rolled out of bed and stretched, and opening her eyes, she saw her underwear on the floor that was hastily discarded last night. She laughed and covered her eyes with her hand. She was surprised Auda didn't say anything because they were lying quite out in the open.
Astrid spent the next two days at Hallbera's working on a new dress the color of deep red wine, and though it was a short time, she got exceptionally far for doing the same type of dress three times before. Ranka, Stinkeye and Hallbera still spoke about the festival and funny or scandalous things that happened in the adult-world, which was usually the case since people often went nutso at sankthansaften after seven or so months since the Jul festival in mid winter. She herself can definitely attest to that with not remembering a good chunk of what she did after leaving the lantern-bordered premise, and waking up with almost a necklace of hickeys. She now loved her long and thick hair.
The third day, Astrid was just about to walk out the door when Auda kept her inside so she could clean. "Mom and Arnheim are going to be here today or tomorrow, and if they're here today, mom'll be super pissed that we haven't done, like, anything," Auda explained, handing her a basket to go collect chicken eggs and a broom to sweep out the coop. Astrid grumbled things to the chickens, most of whom she had named when she was eight, as she did her job, shooing the hens off their perches and collecting the healthy eggs and saving a couple to hatch into chicks. She swept the coop out and brought in new hay from the barn, cleaned and filled the water trough and scattered chicken feed after sweeping the dried scat into a pan and tossing it into the grass a couple yards away.
Inside she swept every corner and shook out all the rugs and blankets and dusted every surface. Just as she and Auda were double-teaming the fireplace to clean out all the soot and ash, the front door opened and Ingrid walked inside with her traveling basket. The first thing Astrid noticed that was wrong were her mother's red eyes.
And then the sobs.
Confused, and being the first one up, Auda walked over to her mother and embraced her.
The next thing Astrid noticed was her father looking sullen. He took off his helmet and set it slowly on the hook he always hangs it on next to the doo, and in his motions, she could see a visible weight on him. Paired with her mother's extremely non-characteristic crying, Astrid's stomach twisted crudely.
"Oh, no," Astrid gasped, immediately standing up and rushing over to her parents.
Ingrid pulls away from Auda and wipes her eyes with her hands, gaining her composure briefly before speaking. "Girls…," she starts, swallowing hard. "You have a nephew named Snare now. He is perfectly healthy and is such a beautiful baby. But," at this, Auda gasps loudly and brings a hand to her mouth, tears already at her green eyes. Ingrid takes a deep, shaky breath when Arnheim puts a large and comforting hand on her back. "Aislin was in labor all during the day of the festival until m-midnight the next day. The birth didn't end well. She bled a lot. When the bleeding stopped, she fell into fever and… a-and died very early yesterday. We… w-w-we," Ingrid sighed and took in another unstable inhale before continuing. "She was put onto a p-pyre a-and…," she couldn't bring herself to finish and descended into howling sobs, but Astrid already understood. She didn't fully register the weight of it all until Ingrid pulled her tightly into her arms and, as if it was contagious, started bawling herself.
Her sister had died. Her own flesh and blood, dead. Gone from her forever, completely shattering her hopes of ever seeing her again and now she never would. The sadness flowed through Astrid like a floodgate had opened and there was no way for her to stop it. She didn't know what to do, so the only thing she did was cry. She didn't hide it, didn't bother to. In her mother's comforting embrace, she cried until her eyes hurt. Astrid even hugged her father and he hugged her back, more tightly than she could ever remember. He muttered words into her hair that she couldn't quite understand and could only respond with more tears.
Brandan came home early since the news had spread and he took Auda into their small and cramped room so he could hold her and cradle her. Astrid made her way to the stairs to go up to her room, but on the third step, she found the climb too unbearable as it led to Aislin's old room, most of her things still sitting on the same shelves. Instead, she sat on the stair and held her head in her hands, elbows on her knees and ushered forth a couplet of racking sobs. It felt as if there were blankets piling on top of her incessantly until the pile reached the ceiling. She felt crushed and in pain. Her eyes hurt, her throat hurt, her face hurt from holding the same agonizing expression.
She felt trapped with nowhere to go, so she left. She went behind houses and down forgotten alleyways until she came upon the forge. She didn't bother knocking or saying any type of warning, she just walked right in. Both Hiccup and Dagger's heads spun around to face her with her tearstained cheeks and screwed up hair. Before she hardly even had a chance to say a word, a dreadful feeling ate Hiccup whole and he knew it wasn't good. "Dagger," he said in hard, calming voice, catching the boy's attention effectively. "Go outside. If I don't call you back in after ten minutes you can go home." He knew it would be much longer than ten minutes, he knew that just by looking at Astrid.
Dagger didn't say a word of opposition since he saw her face too. He heard things of Astrid Hofferson from his older sisters and how fierce she was, and he grew up on those things so he was always somewhat wary of her. Dagger knew she was something of Hiccup's girlfriend but he didn't ask about it. Seeing Astrid with red eyes and tears down her face, he was a bit rattled and gladly left, brushing right past her as she went past him to where Hiccup was at the anvil. He threw off his gloves just in time for Astrid to crash into him, burying her face into his chest and letting out such a terrible sounding sob Hiccup felt like crying himself.
He brought her to his back room and sat on the chair, collecting her in his lap like she was his child, wrapping his arms tightly around her and rocking just so, saying incoherent nothings. He had absolutely no idea what happened but he assumed a death since he had never once in his life seen Astrid cry, ever, nor had he imagined it possible. She cried into him like the world itself was falling apart and there were no good things left at all.
It was a long while before Hiccup had a chance to say something legitimate, trying once or twice before because he thought she had fallen asleep, but just as he spoke she started crying again. He had never dealt with a crying person before, and quite frankly it made him a bit uncomfortable even with Astrid, but it pained him so much more to see her in such a state. He wanted to know what he could do to fix it because he almost couldn't stand it. He was supposed to fix things. Mend the broken. He didn't want to sit idly by and watching something crumble in front of him without being able to repair it.
Smoothing her hair from his forehead, Hiccup shushed her and he said, "Astrid, sweetheart," he spoke in a soft voice as she sniffed and wiped at her face. "Will you tell me what's wrong now?"
Without hesitation, she said in a choked and thick voice, "Aislin died. She ga-ave birth and died of fe-ever," she hiccuped a few times, tears squeezing through her eyes to roll in fat globs down her cheeks.
"Oh, gods," Hiccup gasped in total shock. He never expected it to be so close to home. "Oh, gods, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry, Astrid," he pulled her head to his throat, holding her tight again. "Ohh, I'm so… so sorry," he whispered this time, kissing the top of her head. He squeezed his eyes, willing the pain she was in to leave her. He prayed to all the gods he knew of, even to some foreign ones, to please ease her of this loss because he himself had been through it and would not wish such grief upon anyone, much less Astrid.
Astrid cried until she couldn't anymore, slumping in Hiccup's lap and against his shoulder. All she wanted to do was sleep and hope to never wake up at all, or if she did by some twist of fate, wish that Aislin was alive. She wished she didn't have to get married and move to Meathead Island, wished she send more letters to her, and wished in general that she had more time with her. Aislin was married to Kollr when Astrid was thirteen, in the midst of her confident and overtly headstrong years, and she didn't even hug her goodbye. She came once for Snoggletog for three days when Astrid was fifteen, but she didn't get a chance to say goodbye either.
Astrid wished she had done so many things, and voiced them all to Hiccup.
"There's no use in regretting now. If you keep holding onto these things, you won't get anywhere," Hiccup whispered softly, stroking her hair as an attempt at comfort. He thought for a moment, thinking he should take his own advice.
"I know," Astrid muttered in defeat. "but I can't help it. She was my sister and I treated her like shit when she lived here, and then she left and I hardly spoke to her at all. I only wrote one letter to her and didn't reply to her next one. I've always missed her but I never told her. Should I have?"
"I can't tell you that. I wouldn't know."
"Did you tell your mother you missed her when she came back from voyages?" This surprised Hiccup since they had never once mentioned his mother in conversation. He never brought up the topic and neither did she.
"She did travel a lot, but I also remember her being home for long periods of time. I was a child, so of course I told her I missed her. She was my mother," was, that terrible word. It made him cringe. "But that doesn't mean that you made a mistake, Astrid. You made none at all. You treated her like your sister. It wasn't like you expected this to happen."
"I still feel terrible about it, though," she said in such an airy voice Hiccup had to ask her to repeat it.
"It'll be okay. It won't be easy, but you'll be okay," he tried to reassure her.
"How can you be so sure I will be? Nothing is ever certain, Gothi would say," Astrid said, looking up at Hiccup with red and swollen eyes. He pushed her bangs out of her face and offered a small smile.
"Because I know you like the back of my hand; like this room. You're the strongest person I know. You could stand against the wrath of the gods and still be fine," he gently stoked her cheek with his thumb, speaking in soft words. Astrid smiled only a little and shut her eyes wearily, leaning back into him.
After a very long while, Hiccup takes Astrid home, night had fallen hours ago and the streets were only lit by the moon and a few lit windows. Hiccup made it a point to hold onto her hand while walking back. Astrid's house is lit up so she knows her family is still awake. She opens the door and is about to say goodbye to Hiccup before Ingrid pushes Astrid back outside and steps out onto the porch with them, closing the door quietly behind her back.
"Mom, what are you doing?" Astrid asked, annoyance clear in her voice.
"Before all things seem to turn dreadful, I have a bit of news to tell you both," though the grievance is clear on her aging face, she offers a small hint of a smile. Hiccup glances at Astrid for any clues, but she seems as confused as he does, and he really hopes that Ingrid doesn't bark at him about spoiling her precious daughter and being a stupid boy and equally embarrassing things about their trying-to-be-inconspicuous-but-it's-obvious relationship.
"After mourning week I'm going to talk to Stoick about compromising a marriage contract between you two. I've already—," Ingrid didn't even get a chance to finish before Astrid shrieked because Hiccup fell sideways into her.
"Are you sure, mom? Because he just about fainted!" Astrid yelled, pushing Hiccup off her so he could lean against the post. "You're so pathetic!" Astrid slaps his shoulder with thoroughly shaking hands.
"Don't yell at me," Hiccup retorts back with his own subtle bite. "Your mother just told us some vital news, Astrid. This is all too much for one night so I got a little lightheaded, alright? Geez, don't bite my head off," Hiccup is considerably less angry than she is, but with his strange way of settling her, puts her back into place.
Ingrid had stood quietly while the short scene played out, waiting patient for her daughter and future-fiancé to stop arguing. "Okay," she sighed, Hiccup safely leaning against the post and Astrid looking at her anxiously. "Well, I already talked to your father about it, and though he doesn't much like it, accepts the idea of it," Of 'it' she meant son-in-law. What a weird thought, Hiccup thought, fearing he might become lightheaded again. "Though traditionally he should be making arrangements, I'm doing it because your fathers are as much as children as any other and won't get along for anything. There isn't much to worry about. Stoick and I have been friends for a long time," Ingrid smiled gently at Hiccup. "It's just about deciding on the dowry and such. But that doesn't mean you two can go off doing stupid teenager stuff, okay?"
"Thank you, mom," Astrid says, looking genuinely happy though still sunken, her eyes watering.
Before he even knew it, Hiccup pulled Ingrid into a hug as if he were her son, and said, "Yes, thank you, Ingrid," she tensed in surprise at first but when he spoke he seemed to bring her to reality. She ran a motherly hand across his shoulders and smiled.
"If you take care of my daughter, you'll be on good terms with me, and that's all you need do," she whispered back so Astrid couldn't hear, stunned next to them.
Hiccup smiled and pulled away, still bewildered this was at all happening. "I promise," he said in return.
Astrid then hugs Hiccup in goodbye and he buries his face in her hair and squeezed her tightly before letting her go. "I'll see you soon if not tomorrow, okay?" she said almost sadly, her eyes big and watery as if it would be five years.
"Of course," he pursed his lips together and said goodnight to both of them before stepping off the porch.
He doesn't move. Not yet.
Aislin Eriksson (or as he knew her, Hofferson), is gone from the world, died in the early hours of yesterday. Bombarded with Astrid's tears and never-ending sobs that made him ache, he almost couldn't believe it. Then, suddenly he is struck in the face with news about his imminent engagement to Astrid Hofferson, his girlfriend of almost two weeks and childhood interest, and the one he is currently madly in love with. It's all totally surreal, he feels it's exactly like a dream. At first, a terrible and stupid dream (since dreams should be blissful) and then the best dream he could have. It was awfully bittersweet and didn't much appeal to Hiccup, but he could work with the taste.
He didn't know what to make of his situation. He was absolutely ecstatic about Ingrid's news, but he was also incredibly sympathetic for the Hofferson family. Though, he reasoned, now was a time for mourning instead of rejoicing because one cannot simply overlook the death of a family member compared to a possible engagement. Hiccup knew this, so instead of grinning and trotting home, he goes home and prays for the Hofferson family, hoping the gods would have mercy on Aislin. It was strange for him because he hadn't personally tried talking to the gods in years since his own mother's death. He buried himself in sketches and old designs until he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore.
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(8) Pronounced YO-tun (same with all J's in any Norwegian-context, I think). Jötunn's are giants who reside in one of the nine worlds of Norse mythology called Jötunheim(r). Also known as fire, frost, rock and rime giants. Sometimes appear to be the foes of the main gods (Odin, Thor, Frey, etc.) but both Odin and Thor took up jötunn 'mistresses', lol.
(9) Plural form of goði or gothi. A type of priest/priestess in Norse paganism. Gothi is not a name. Elder Gothi is referred to as Gothi because she is a gothi. If that makes sense. I'm sure gothi could be used as a name, but I would doubt it since goðar were highly regarded in the society, such as Elder Gothi picking Hiccup to kill the Nightmare in the movie. She had her staff and everything, so I think I could reasonably deduce she is technically a gothi but simply referred to as Gothi for lack of a name.
Anonymous reviews:
(To the person who sent me: Updateeeeee! I wanna read the adventure! Great story btw, very romantic. A little more drama would be pretty cool too though. Maybe the other kids their age finding out more about their relationship? Can't wait to read more! Get a name you fool!) Lol I'm just kidding, you're not a fool, I just want to identify you! :) Did I provide enough drama for you in this chapter? hurhur. I'm glad you like it and thanks for reviewing!
Adam: Thank you very much! :D
Tekotchi: Thank you as well! I really appreciate the review! ;)
Thank you for sticking with me, everyone! I really, really value it. Each one of your reviews makes me want to jump in my chair and continue writing to kick my lazy butt into gear! Keep going at it and I won't give up! :D
Oh, and did I surprise you guys enough, lolol. HELLO MARRIAGE!