Heyy, my dudes! I have returned with another installment of HOS! :D I'm very glad and relieved I have this one to update, with a few others as well. I decided I was going to update late on Thursday (1/19) instead of waiting for Friday because I feel like you guys deserve to be rewarded with all your kindness and patience. Really, I'm so appreciative. I was expecting people to hound me and constantly be like, "What the eff, lady, get your shit together and update!" (though I'm sure that's what most of you are thinking and thank you for not saying so, lol). So, I'm really happy :)

And go checkout this: http: / / halfnote . deviantart . com / # / d4ida8i (no spaces). I drew the Hofferson-O'Malley family for any people who wish to see how I see them because I haven't gone into too much detail about appearances. And, feel free to look at some other drawings too, hyukhyuk ;)

00

Hands on Sunshine

Chapter Fifteen

00

Astrid was more or less confined in her home for the next week and a half to mourn the death of her sister and to accept condolences from villagers to bring bakery goods, small trinkets or to simply reminisce about Aislin and her likeness to Ingrid despite her dark hair or her sword mastery. Astrid absolutely hated this time. Many crying women flooded her house, and when they were not there, the silence was unbearable. The grief and despair stained everything, made the whole house darker even when the windows were open, and Astrid hated being trapped by her mother-turned-gatekeeper. Heimdall could not beat this woman, Astrid swore on her life (10). Ingrid wouldn't let her go out to even take Spike for a ride, only to let her see her or to feed her once in the morning and once at night for breakfast and dinner. She wasn't even allowed to take a walk. "This is family time, Astrid. I know your escapist attitudes and your sneakiness so don't argue with me." The woman was right on that part, but still. Even her father was forced to stay home, but, surprisingly, he followed what his wife told him to do without much retort.

Astrid knew her father was only cooperating because he preferred Aislin over Auda because she didn't have such a rebellious nature like Auda or herself, and she actually listened to what people told her instead of going off to do something stupid. She was smarter than her two younger siblings in quite a few things and had a much more reserved nature that Arnheim seemed to like, so he taught her to read. He taught Astrid some, but because they butted heads a lot from their similar personalities he stopped after she was twelve. Auda never got such lessons, only when she watched or listened to them, and as far as Astrid knew, she could only write her name. Reading and writing weren't necessary and it took up too much time for their busy Viking lives. Arnheim had to work and fight when the dragons came and the three girls had to train to hold their own. Simple.

So, knowing this, Astrid assumed Arnheim wasn't complaining or nagging too much because it was Aislin they were mourning and not one of Astrid's aunts or even Auda. It made her a bit resentful to her father because of his exclusivity. Auda was pregnant too; the same thing could happen to her. And in fact, Auda was much more cautious about just everything. She wouldn't eat certain foods, do certain activities and even prayed to Freyja each night for her pregnancy to be safe and fruitful. She became paler, much quieter. Or maybe she was just depressed. But, in any case, she had asked Brandan to sacrifice the goat they received from Elder Gothi for their marriage to dedicate to Freyja but Arnheim adamantly refused to let him do it and Ingrid agreed mostly because the goat gave them good milk and cheese, and because she was quite superstitious that it would place a curse on their marriage. Instead of the goat, Arnheim bought a small runt calf off his friend to sacrifice to Freyja right in their backyard away from the chicken coop in the grass. Astrid hated that too. She could still hear the squeal of fear from the poor calf and the spurt of blood as the throat was slit.

Brandan was not in attendance, playing sick because he didn't follow the same gods the Hoffersons did and Arnheim didn't know that. He had always been a die-hard believer in what Brandan called their religion once, something along the lines of 'paganism'. Astrid didn't really remember or care to, but she sort of remembered what Brandan called his own religion while trying to explain the entirely-foreign concept to her, and he said something like 'Christianity' or some other weird word she didn't get. The whole concept of one god didn't quite reach her, and once again, she didn't really care. She didn't seem to care about a lot lately.

Astrid was asked by Auda to sew some new baby clothes for her sexless child so she didn't have to pull out the twenty-five-year-old baby clothes from when Aislin was a baby out of the attic, saying they were 'way out of fashion'. Astrid responded humorlessly with, "I didn't know babies had fashion". Auda didn't respond, only threw some cloth into her lap and stormed off to the kitchen. Astrid shrugged and sketched out the layout of the selected beige-colored linen.

She zoned out for a couple of hours, sewing painstakingly tight stitches to prevent tears from the baby and to ensure durability for Auda's children and possibly her own. Astrid paused, letting the thought sink in. Children. She was very close to having her own children, probably going to be pregnant within the year. Going to be a mother. The thought absolutely terrified her. Astrid, a mother? With her own children to fawn over and take care of, wiping snotty noses and changing dirty diapers and waking up at ungodly hours of the night because of ear-shattering screams? She doubted she could even decently carry a child with how narrow her hips were. But children? She liked kids to an extent, but having her own was a completely different story! Aislin had two before she died and she was the oldest with a body shape similar to hers. The odds were against her, totally. She didn't want kids after Aislin died, it seemed terrible and painful and horrendous, pushing a kid out from there—was that even possible? Astrid had never seen a live birth, only the it-felt-I-was-being-ripped-apart-from-the-inside't rants and the squishy, wrinkled baby afterward. Babies so young weren't even cute! No way, no how was she having kids, nope. Right now she is vowing to be a virgin. Even if she ends up marrying Hiccup. Actually—

Wait.

Oh, right.

She's going to marry Hiccup.

Maybe. But that might as well be a fact considering how long Ingrid and the chief had been friends.

And blaming Loki and his damn tricks, Astrid heard her parents discussing it now right in the living room, right in front of her and she hadn't been paying attention until now.

"… The boy's as big as my wrist, Ingrid. Hardly bigger than a small sapling. He's no good, alweys 'ad bin," Arnheim said, currently adorning his spectacles and drawing out designs on a sheet of vellum laid on the low table in the living room. Ingrid, next to him on the bench, was also sewing some baby clothes with a bright candle lit next to her because the sun was setting.

"Yes, he is. I think he's a good match. He's awfully polite… and smart. Arnheim, he does the same thing you do but with machines," she said, gesturing to his designs. "He makes weapons with Gobber, and Odin, you should be glad he hasn't gone nuts yet working with him. The poor boy never gets enough credit from the village. And besides, two years ago, you referenced him to your little finger and now you say your wrist so he's obviously grown," Ingrid said slowly, elegantly reminding her husband of all the good things Hiccup possessed. Astrid smirked, but continued to pretend she wasn't listening.

"But it's only bin two years, Ingrid. Farr all we knoow, the lad may as well goh nuts like that one fellow some years ago."

Ingrid huffed. "I highly doubt that, dear. If Astrid likes him, then he must not be crazy like you say," Astrid could see from the corner of her eye that both of them looked to her briefly and that her mother smiled.

Arnheim's voice was quiet when he spoke in hushed undertones. "All the kids these days are crazy. Look at the Thorston twins. Thor almighty."

"Of course they're a little nuts. They've always been."

"And tha's what I'm sayin', you silly woman. Once a village embarrassment, alweys a village embarrassment; like once you're crazy, you're alweys crazy. He is crazy, he brought all those dragons here. There are some good to 'em, but they take up too much space and eat too much food."

"We're not going to get into that whole ordeal now. The point is, is that Hiccup is a good match, you just don't have your spectacles on right to see it. Auda and Brandan even like him; the whole village does. We all owe him so much credit, Arnheim. I'm sure mothers flock to Stoick to ask him for his hand, but we're just lucky enough that we can marry our daughter to a well-off man. It was hard enough finding Kollr; Astrid's done most of the work for us. It's just the dowry we have to worry about."

Arnheim sighed and leaned back on the bench, taking off his spectacles to rub his eyes. He got up with creaking and popping joints to go fetch some matches and a few candles, coming back to set two candles on the table and light them. "Ohh, the dowry. The god's knoow what we're goin' to do aboot tha'."

Astrid intently listens while she sews but mumbles things to herself to make it not seem like it. This was so exciting to listen to, but nerve-wracking as well. Her parents were talking about her marriage to Hiccup, for Thor's sake! She almost thought them silly to do so with her in the same room and in close vicinity, so she almost thought her mother was doing it on purpose so she could hear. That was probably true. Her father was kind of dumb enough to go along with whatever Ingrid brought up to discuss. She hadn't heard a word about the engagement or even thought about it in a week, too busy with nothing and constantly thinking about her sister, but in any case, it was uplifting.

"We gave a full ship to Kollr's family knowing his father was the ambassador for the rulers on the mainland and Kollr was soon to be the same. Also, that along with some sheep," Ingrid replied, her eyes narrowed to what she was sewing.

"But what's Stoick goin' to do with a couple a sheep and a ship? Nothing. You know tha'. The only thing I can think of is money. What in the Hel do you give a chief for a dowry?"

"Money."

"Tha' doesn't help."

"I'll negotiate with him… soon," Oh, really, Astrid thought, smirking to herself again.

"Do it soon because I want to get this damn thing over with. I hated arranging Aislin's marriage and I hate this one."

"But you're not arranging it, I am. So relax."

Arnheim more or less groaned and ran a thick hand through his thinning black and grey hair, then rubbed his beard in thought. It was quiet for a minute before Ingrid told Astrid to help Auda in the kitchen for making supper. Astrid sighed, knowing she couldn't listen anymore, and set the sewing project down before doing what her mother asked.

00

"You can go home, Dagger. There isn't much else to do today," Hiccup said on the banks of a sigh, rubbing his throbbing forehead. It was late in the day but the sun hadn't set yet, much earlier than regular closing time, but all Hiccup wanted to do was go home and sketch and maybe journal some and go to bed. He hadn't been sleeping well the past couple of days and now that he was tired and yearning for bed, he jumped at the chance. Besides, the pile of weapons was reduced to only eight now, having almost nothing to do since Astrid's been confined to her house for just over a week. He had taken Toothless out a few days ago for a couple of rounds around the island and that helped to alleviate the boredom, but coming back to real life and having to do something with it made him feel a little trapped.

"Tomorrow do I get to know how to heat stuff?" Dagger asked, wiping his sweaty forehead with his arm after closing the fire doors. Hiccup noticed his arms and the growing toned-ness to them, even for a lanky ten-year-old. Dagger's dusty brown hair was skewed in all directions in the front so Hiccup fixed to for him when he passed by to put his little apron on the designated hook.

"Maybe, if I don't wake up dead," Hiccup said drearily, putting his own apron on a hook after tossing off his sooty and sweaty and hot gloves.

"Don't be so negative. You always act like everything's going to be the end of you," Dagger said with a teasing tone to his voice, sweeping up the floor.

Hiccup blew air through his lips in a scoff. "I do not."

"Yeah, you do, like the other day when that lady ordered new cauldron hooks and you nearly groaned with the thought of it though Gobber said they were 'easier than anythin' ta make, you blasted fool'," Dagger repeated his master in a decent accent, though not nearly as god as Hiccup's mastered one.

"Okay, well, that day sucked. I burnt my arm on the edge of the coal bed and I still have a blister from it," To prove his point, Hiccup raised his right forearm to show the outside of it to Dagger. About two inches away from the bone of his elbow was an angry red oval about the size of a thumbprint, the edges faintly yellow. Dagger raised his eyebrows, not entirely impressed.

"You're so dramatic. Remember that day I tripped and my face would have fallen into the coals if it didn't hit the edge? Well, my forehead did and a chunk of my hair burnt and I still have the mark," Dagger pointed to a red and purple spot just at his hairline, and lucky for him it was where his hair parted so no hair had to be cut. "You've been so mopey lately, too. Even Gobber says so, and you know how unobservant he is. I mean, if he notices something, you must be really obvious. No offense, but you can't hammer things right, either. You used to do it really good and forceful and stuff but now you're just like ehhh," Dagger demonstrates a weak hammer throw like a classified sissy would do, or a thirteen-year-old Hiccup.

Hiccup raised a brow. "Thank you for summing that up."

Dagger sniggered and swept his accumulated pile outside, leaning the broom back against the wall where he found it. Hiccup had his back to him, scooping ash into a bucket silently and Dagger suddenly felt sorry. "You know I was just teasing you," he said weakly, watching Hiccup's shoulder blades move beneath his tunic.

Hiccup didn't say anything or for a few seconds, only focusing on the ash. "I know," he said, pausing. He looked over his shoulder at Dagger and offered a small smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, Dagger."

Dagger felt relieved knowing his master didn't take his stupid insults seriously, his poor attempt at being funny that the other kids would have been actually insulted by. He left with a wave, running outside and leaving the door open to let the hot air out.

Hiccup returned home after cleaning up some menial things, relieved he can finally relax somewhat decently and maybe even sleep okay. He's always been a fickle sleeper, but there are those times where he can sleep like a rock, especially when he's drunk. He sleeps like a bear when he's drunk and it can be sometimes the best sleep he knows. He rubbed his head and tousled his hair while opening up the door in mid-yawn. Looking inside, he noticed the bright candles and that the fire was lit, odd, and it drew his eyes to where he saw none other than Ingrid Hofferson and his father jumping apart.

"Oh gods!" Hiccup shouted and immediately slammed the door, hoping to rid images from his mind. Oh, no. Please no, no, nooo. Ugh. Gross! Ew, ew, ew! "UUUGH!" Hiccup convulses and prays Astrid's mother and his father weren't… kissing, because it certainly looked like it the way they jumped apart!

Hiccup plopped himself down on the porch step and held his head, suddenly feeling his world falling apart. His father having relations with Ingrid in this way would mean he couldn't marry Astrid, her dad would probably be after his head (for some unfathomable reason but Hiccup deemed it likely), Ingrid would get a divorce with backing from his dad, then marry him, and then Hiccup would be family to Astrid and that would be unethical to marry her! "Goodbye, future! Goodbye, life! Hiccup spoke to himself, running his hands over his face. No, this can't be happening!

Just as he gets up to go somewhere—anywhere—, the door opened and both his father and Ingrid step outside with confused looks on their faces. "What are you doin', son? What are ye shoutin' about?" Stoick spoke first, stepping onto the porch step.

Hiccup spun around, looking insane with his hair screwed up and his eyes wide with his hands plastered to the sides of his face. "Are you having relations with Astrid's mom?" Hiccup's voice cracks on 'relations', looking intently between the two of them.

It took the two parents almost twenty seconds to understand, and once they looked at each other, they started howling with laughter. Hiccup's mouth dropped and he relaxed a little, waiting patiently for his fate to be sealed with his future-fiancé or step-sister. He begged the gods for it to be the former, otherwise prayed for Thor to have some sort of pity on him and hit him with Mjöllnir.

"Oh, gods, no, Hiccup. Gross," Ingrid laughed delightfully with her cheeks slightly red.

Stoick spoke through his hearty laugh, saying, "Absolutely not, son, never. We were only discussin' the dowry for Astrid to marry you."

Oh.

That certainly put Hiccup's raging thoughts to a complete utter standstill. Stopped them dead.

Hiccup tossed his head back and threw his arms up as if in victory, groaning in relief and relaxing. "Good! Thank the All-Father, I thought I was gonna die!"

Still chuckling, Stoick said, "Well, you thought wrong. Alweys jumpin' to conclusions, you are. We're just about done so you can get inside't. Go on, naow," Stoick shoos his idiotically-grinning son inside.

Hiccup doesn't even take a detour to the kitchen cabinets though he hasn't eaten all day; that little scene knocked all the appetite out of him. He stops for a minute to scratch Toothless' neck and leaves him on the rug to go up to his room, his gait heavier than usual. Toothless notices this and he follows Hiccup with his eyes, making a low, sad grumble in his throat that catches Hiccup's attention. He paused on the stairs and looked at Toothless, the dragon looking worried. "I'm alright, bud. I've just got a lot on my mind," Hiccup said with an attempt at a reassuring smile, but Toothless continued to look at him, unconvinced. Hiccup sighed and gestured for Toothless to follow him.

Toothless got up from the rug in two seconds flat, and now after a few years, he can safely navigate the house without knocking a hundred things over. He clambered after Hiccup to his room, which was a little small for a dragon with his particular wingspan, but Hiccup doesn't care much anymore after cleaning up after him so much. Hiccup sat on the edge of his bed with a sigh and Toothless lay down in front of him, looking very intent for whatever Hiccup had to say. There was a very uncharacteristic look to Hiccup's eyes that made Toothless unsettled, and the small smile on his human's face wasn't at all genuine. It was so obvious to Toothless for he wasn't doing a very good job at hiding whatever he was hiding. They went on adventures for two years together, just the two of them; Toothless knew Hiccup almost better than he knew himself.

Hiccup reached for a brown leather-bound journal sitting on his nightstand. He delicately held the book in his hands and Toothless watched as his eyes because just a little more hollow. "I found this the other day while looking through old boxes to find some more parchment. The last entry was seven years ago when I was eleven. I was looking through it and found a, uh… an entry on the two-year anniversary of my mom's death," Hiccup paused and pursed his lips, fighting against himself, his throat burning. He flipped to the page and scanned his eyes over it but quickly shut the book.

"It's been nine years. Nine. That's half of my life. But… I feel like she wasn't there at all, like… she had left much earlier. And I've been thinking: how sad is that? To feel like your mom was never there when you know she was? Astrid's sister died just over a week ago and she knew her up until then. I was also thinking… would she feel this way in nine years? That she had never known her sister who was clearly in her life?" Hiccup looked up at Toothless after awhile, and a few tears dripped down his nose so he hurriedly wiped them away.

Toothless took the opportunity to nuzzle Hiccup's face with his nose, giving low and guttural noises to make him feel better. Touched by his pure kindness, Hiccup did smile a little and hugged his giant head, his scales cool to his burning face. "There's just been so much going on, Toothless, I'm so overwhelmed. I'm just about done with Astrid's saddle and I need to get it to her but they haven't had the mourning drinking ceremony yet and I don't want to intrude. I ran in on my dad and Ingrid and I thought they were kissing, for the gods' sake. I'm most likely getting married—gods, I can't even wrap my head around that one. I just want to sleep forever at this point, honestly," he let out a humorless chuckle before Toothless suddenly pushed him down to his bed and Hiccup made a noise of surprise.

"Alright, fine, I'll go to bed now, if you so insist. You're so pushy," Hiccup said teasingly and crawled underneath the covers after taking of his prosthetic. Okay, this was great. "Thanks for listening to me, bud. I appreciate it," Hiccup rested his hand on Toothless' jaw in thanks, smiling at him as the Nightfury rested his head on his bed. Toothless smiled without showing his gums and gave Hiccup a not-too-slobbery lick to his cheek before curling up on the floor next to Hiccup's bed. "Thanks, you're the best," Hiccup said sarcastically while wiping his cheek off with his bed sheet.

00

"…The iron is very malleable at this point so you have to be careful about where you place your hits," Hiccup explained patiently to Dagger, demonstrating the shaping of a strip of metal that would soon be folded multiple times to create a sword. "However, one wrong hit isn't going to be the end of the world—just don't do it again," he offered a light smile when Dagger's eyes widened a bit. "It'll be heated and re-heated and heated again and if you mess up too many times the metal will become too fragile to work with. But, if you're careful and precise, you won't waste your time and the metal will be workable. It's a very stubborn substance, so you should know some ways to appease it," Hiccup winked. "So, get back to pumping the bellows," he shooed Dagger away from the anvil with his glove, putting the other one on.

"My arms hurt," Dagger whined, taking the handle and pushing it down with all his might.

"I said that everyday for sixteen years and then those big women made sure I never said it again," Hiccup brazenly flexed an arm muscle, maybe not quite a forth of his father's tree trunk sized arms. He laughed loudly when Dagger rolled his eyes and groaned.

It was quiet in the forge between the two of them, aside from Hiccup's strikes on the metal and flipping it with pliers and dipping it into the bucket of water along with the bellow wheezing. Dagger shoveled some coals into the fire and on the bed, adding in more wood as well. Hiccup lost himself in making the soon-to-be sword as he always did. He let the metal rest after some time and showed Dagger how to use the grindstone to sharpen a few blades as Hiccup went through the rain to the tanner to get a few sheets of leather to finish some parts on Astrid's saddle, coming back with a slightly green face.

"Why do you look like you're about to puke everywhere?" Dagger asked, happily pumping the peddle, glad to be doing something more productive.

"Let's just say there's a reason the tanner is a mile away from the village," Hiccup replied with disgust dripping off his words and shivered off the chill from outside, taking off his cloak and hanging it by the fire to dry and placing the roll of leather on the counter, pulling the twine to unravel it. He cut some strips of perfectly measured leather, taking some pins and eyelets from a bin and bringing them back to the table he was using for Astrid's saddle. It was a beautifully crafted thing, solid but bendable enough to fit between the wings where Astrid would sit, edges lined with carefully applied burns in the shapes of knots he referenced from his journal of his time among the Celtic tribes of Ireland. He worked in a Nadder along the back of the seat and put her name on the bottom of it so it would officially be hers. Now he just had to add a belt to buckle around the dragon's stomach and a few eyelets for the aesthetic purpose of it.

Just as Hiccup was getting to work on the measurements the buckle would have to be to fit the leather, Dagger said his name. He turned around, ready for a few entirely too in-depth questions, only to see Astrid standing sheepishly in the doorway with the hood of her cloak on from the rain outside. Hiccup couldn't help but stare at her for a minute, too shocked to register she was actually standing there. He wordlessly gestured for her to come inside and she did so tentatively, pulling off the hood of her cloak as she walked farther inside. Her boots were muddy and the bottom hem of her shin-length dress was wet from the incessant downpour outside. She wore her fillet and her hair was puffy, giving off the sense that she was still out of sorts and Hiccup didn't doubt why for a second.

"Here, take off your cloak," Hiccup said gently and she unbuckled the clasp and took it from her shoulders, handing the soaked cloak to him. Hiccup hung it by the fire next to his drying one. He walked back over to her and put his hands on her upper arms and rubbed them, looking her sincerely in the eyes before hugging her.

Astrid raised her chin to rest on his shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him, sighing halfway in between contentment and weariness. They were like that for a bit while Dagger continued to use the grindstone, purposefully not looking in their direction. Hiccup let go of Astrid first and started leading her to his backroom, and on the way he told Dagger to keep doing what he was doing but not to tilt the sword just so, and when he was done with that one to do a few more and then he was free to go home for supper. Astrid walked inside and Hiccup pulled the curtains shut just a little so he could hear Dagger if he called for help but closed enough so he couldn't hear over the grinding. He gestured for Astrid to sit down on the one available chair and he pulled up a crate for himself to sit directly across from her.

Astrid sighed again and brought a hand to her forehead when she sat down, her eyes closed. She opened her eyes to look at him and saw him looking at her too. Hiccup was a little startled to see her eyes appearing so grey instead of the usual ice-blue he was accustomed to seeing. Instead of pointing this out because it only made her look more depressed, Hiccup asked, "How are you?" When she didn't reply or react right away, Hiccup realized what he said and corrected himself. "I'm sorry. I asked exactly what I told myself not to."

Astrid's mouth cracked just a little into a smile. "It's fine. The question does get extremely annoying when people repeatedly ask even though they don't care," she responded lightly, accepting Hiccup's warm hands compared to her clammy ones due to the unusually chilly and cold rain pattering on the roof.

"But I do want to know how you're doing," Hiccup asked calmly, his eyes piercing and almost pleading.

Astrid swallowed, looking away. She really didn't want to talk about her feelings after mulling over them for a week and a half straight and crying from it. She was really quite done with crying. "Hiccup…,"

"Please? You can talk to me about it," he said softly but she still got a bit annoyed. She didn't like being pushed to talk about feelings.

She lightly scoffed, slumping a little. "How any person would feel after the death of a family member. Gloomy, grieving. But I don't want to be in depressed-land anymore, we just had the mourning drinking ceremony this morning; she's safe somewhere in the afterlife. I'll see her again. It's just different knowing she's not in real life anymore, that someone so close to me died. I haven't known any family who has actually died. My dad's mom died in a raid on Meathead but I never knew her. It's just weird," she furrowed her brows and pursed her lips tight. Astrid had stared off while she had been talking, and when she looked at Hiccup, she couldn't help but jut out her jaw a little and stare at him too as if she was sizing him up. "You look different," she said simply.

Hiccup let out a guffaw, bringing his hand up to his chin. "I shaved. It was getting really bad," he blushed a little and Astrid felt a bit of relief from the tension she was feeling at seeing the shy Hiccup she knew and missed. It was also weird to go through a week of mourning constantly and doing nothing but sit—not even clean—and come back to the real world to see and talk to her boyfriend. Honestly, Hiccup was not at the top of her list of Things and People to Think About.

"And your hair is getting longer," she reached out and brushed his bangs out of his face, running her hand through the almost-wavy ends of his hair around the nape of his neck. Hiccup smiled gently and took her hand to kiss her knuckles before leaning in to kiss her mouth. It was riveting. He missed her and it felt great to be able to kiss her again because he doubted her existence, thought their relationship was a dream after hardly any word from her (which he understood the reasons as to why). Just the touch of her skin relaxed him and assured him that she was indeed real.

Hiccup leaned back on his crate, still holding her hand with her other one now included. "I'm glad to know you're doing better since the last time I saw you."

Astrid smiled faintly, sighing. She missed him more than she realized. He was her anchor to this earth and she had lost him for awhile, floating in the cosmos, and being in his presence again made her feel safe from all the cruel things in the world, but she was no longer blinded. This whole summer had been one big whirlwind of recklessness and ignorance, the worst aspect being her father, and now compared to the death of her sister it seemed like nothing. It changed everything. It all appeared to her like a dream and looking at Hiccup now, she knew everything had to be real. That… maybe there was that stupid thing called hope.

"What?" Hiccup asked, breaking her out of her stupor. "You've been staring at me."

"Oh," Astrid blinked, looking to their joined hands. Her heart skipped a beat or two. "Sorry. I was just thinking."

"You want to cut it, don't you?" Hiccup brought a hand up to his head, raking his fingers through his dark brown hair and crookedly smirking. Oh, how she did miss him.

"Yes, I would like to cut it," she cocked her head and raised her brows like she was saying 'damn right I do'.

Hiccup laughed and the sound to her was like a chime. "I'll go get some scissors," he let go of her hands and left the room. Astrid stood up from the chair because she was going to make him sit in it, going to look at machine designs tacked up on the wall behind his desk and the many in-progress ones lying on the desk's surface. She picked up a couple and gave up trying to read his scribbly handwriting that was almost as bad as hers. She picked up a sheet of designs for a sword hilt, the pattern to be accented by some type of jewel. He made a note about what kind of jewel it was but there was no way in Hel it could be a legitimate word.

Hiccup walked into the backroom with a pair of scissors, telling Dagger some sharpening hints and paused when he saw Astrid flip a sheet of vellum upside down. "What is that supposed to say?" she asked and he walked over to see what she was pointing at.

"'Garnet'," he simply replied, wondering why she was curious. "Why?"

"It's a beautiful design. Is it a longsword?" Astrid was genuinely interested. Why would he put so much effort and beauty into a design with a garnet? There wasn't much use of decorative things up in places where they were at because it was bound to be broken by some Viking or another reason.

"It's not my design," Hiccup said, grabbing a grimy towel from the desk and slinging it around his shoulders. "I saw it in Normandy. I liked it and, obviously, I couldn't afford it, so I just drew it quickly. The smith told me it took him ten years to make it, give or take a couple of months," he sat down in the chair and handed Astrid the scissors when she set the sheet down with an approving look on her face. She walked around him to the back of the chair and began to cut his hair, little by little, tiny slivers of hair falling onto the towel like snow.

"Guess what I heard my mother and father talking about a few days ago?" Astrid asked with a sudden twist to her stomach accompanied by her mouth going dry. Hiccup hummed a 'what?' "They were talking about arranging our marriage and what to get for a dowry," Why was she suddenly feeling sick? What was this?

Hiccup swallowed, feeling his neck heat up. "Yeah… Ingrid was over at my house yesterday and I walked in on them while they were talking about it and I thought they were… kissing."

Astrid guffawed. "Oh, gross!"

Hiccup laughed. "I know. I almost had a heart attack," he stopped and pursed his lips. "Uhm… nevermind," Stupid! What were you going to even say, you stupid fool!

"No, what?" Astrid asked, continuing to snip at his hair around his neck. "Hiccup? You prodded me, so you have to say what you were about to."

"No, it's dumb—,"

"Shut up, no it's not. Don't be so scared to say what's on your mind. Stop second-guessing yourself," Astrid paused, placing a firm hand on his shoulder to get him to turn around. She looked at him hard in the eye, her mouth in a straight line; she wasn't in the mood to beat around the bush. Hiccup brushed his skewed bangs out of his eyes and looked up at her, finding he indeed doubted himself against what he had successfully been doing these last few weeks. But now, he suddenly didn't want to ask the question that had been bugging him since Day One. He was suddenly scared. But he wanted to know her answer. He was dying to know. And there was no way to tell unless he asked, and that was what he was scared of.

"Do you love me?"

Surprisingly, his voice didn't waver, it just came out weaker than he intended but that was okay because he finally got it out. He almost didn't care that her eyes widened and her mouth slackened just so that he wanted to kiss her but he was still worried. Would she say yes? Or would she ruin his life by saying no and prove to him that these long past weeks were all a dream and he had simply been a fool to even fathom it?

She didn't get a change to answer, however, as there was a cry and a loud clattering noise from the other room and that caught Hiccup's attention. He immediately got up to go see Dagger, leaving Astrid stunned in the backroom.

Forelsket, damn it, Astrid thought, pressing her free hand to her forehead. She didn't answer him. She didn't know. Did she love him? Didn't she? Yes? No? She knew for sure it wasn't a blatant no, but a maybe? Probably more than a maybe… but that would mean she did love him, and she didn't know what that was or what it felt like. What was love? Was this love? Her cutting his hair? Her being his girlfriend for almost a month? Was that love? She didn't know. She hated not knowing, not knowing what to think.

Her heart was fluttering like sparrow's wings and she didn't quite know how to capture it. She held onto the back of the chair and closed her eyes. She was probably going to marry him. Willingly. And she was happy about it. Auda and Brandan married because they loved each other and it was on their own accord. She and Hiccup were probably going to marry because it was her mother who saw what their relationship was and only kickstarted the process. She couldn't see herself marrying anyone else. She couldn't see herself loving anyone else.

She covered her eyes with her hand, suddenly too overwhelmed to think straight, her thoughts going around and around in carousels. Hiccup came back into the room with his hair half cut, catching Astrid on surprise. He looked down to his feet and sat right back down with the towel still around his shoulders. He saw that she was deep in thought, obviously implying she was still unsure and that was better than what Hiccup could have ever hoped for, but a solid 'yes' would have made him soar. He knew he loved her and that much was clear; never doubted it since he was thirteen. His love for her has, of course, grown and matured over time, but he could feel it so deep in his bones he just simply wanted affirmation. But he knew to give her time. Time was of the essence for these sorts of things.

"What happened?" Astrid asked, starting to trim his hair again.

"Dagger let a shortsword flip and it cut his hand a little. It's all wrapped up now and he's fine. I moved him to polishing blades up so I wouldn't have to risk him losing a finger," Hiccup replied, the last sentence a little louder than normal so Dagger could hear, a light teasing tone to his voice.

"Hey!" Dagger shouted from the forge itself, making both Astrid and Hiccup laugh.

All awkward questions aside, it was nice for both of them to be together again.

00

(10) Heimdall is a Norse god who's the protector/gatekeeper of the Bifrost, the only entrance into the realm of the gods, Asgard.

Anonymous:

Zman66: Thank you very much! I'm glad the long chappies make your day, lol, because I personally like them too but not everyone does, so I like to keep them to a reasonable limit. ;)

Review from Anonymous saying "human faces had almost no math to it": Okay, thanks for reviewing, I appreciate the flame (really, no sarcasm). And, yes, I have taken '9th grade art'. I've taken around 10 art classes in my school and I've been drawing for 6 years on my own, no outside classes taken. In my personal experience, I have never nor will I ever use math to draw a human face. Really, those are for beginners for people who don't know how to tell the difference between an H and an HB pencil. I understand my grammatical error and thank you for bringing it to my attention. I have flaws with my writing because I write mostly whats to mind without really editing it (which I have been working on), so I understand what you're saying-grammar errors bug the hell out of me too.

Adam: Thank you so much! And Hiccup will be epic at the wedding, I promise you, hahaha.

Voldyn: OMG I loved your review. I laughed my pants off when I read it. I'm glad you were too drunk enough to log on because it absolutely made my day.