Ah, this chapter was both super fun and really hard to write. I know that there is some mystery going on, I planned it that way, and I can't really answer questions without giving away future chapters. I want to tell you guys but I don't…lol
Also, thanks for being awesome! I love reading your reviews, no matter what you have to say.
X
Chapter 17: What a Chaser
Hiccup woke up at about ten but laid in bed until his bladder refused to rest any longer. Sighing, he sat up and rubbed his face. He pulled his legs to the edge of the bed and instantly felt the unbalance. He pulled back the blanket and sure enough there was his prosthetic. The pink plastic and shiny metal left foot was laying at an odd angle.
Astrid wasn't here. He didn't have to sleep in it. He had gotten used to the extra weight and he felt incomplete with only three quarters of a leg under the blanket. He pulled the prosthetic across the bed and set it on floor beside its flesh and blood brother. He hung his left leg over the bed's edge and put a hand over the scarred stump.
It ached. The nonexistent foot ached. He groaned against the cold.
He slipped the stump into the prosthetic and secured it with the straps. He wiggled it around to make sure it wouldn't budge. He stood up and took a few carefully steps. When he was confident that he wouldn't crash to the floor he made his way to the bathroom. After the toilet his next stop was the pill bottle.
He popped two blue pills into his mouth and spied into the bottle. He was running low. Maybe he'd go shopping today. It would give him something to do. In the meantime he set the kettle on the stove for some instant coffee. He opened the cabinet and reached blindly for a mug. The one that he set onto the counter happened to be Astrid's favorite, a red and black Viking mug.
He sighed. What was Astrid doing?
While he waited on the water to boil he retrieved his sketchbook from his bag. He hadn't drawn in a while and had a back-up of creative flow that was itching through his fingers. He sank onto the couch and flipped through the pages to the next blank one and rested his hand on it. There was something exciting about a blank page. It could hold anything. Its destiny wasn't clear or even started. The other pages were filled and those imagines were all they would ever be. However, this page was blank, open.
He nestled the pencil in his hand but before lead met paper the kettle began to whistle. He set the book aside and poured the boiling water over the black powder in the bottom of the mug. It frothed as the kitchen was filled with the delicious smell of coffee.
Warm mug in hand he returned to the sketchbook. He took a sip of the slightly bitter brew and set it onto the coffee table. He nestled the pencil back into his hand and let the curves and soft angles form across the page.
How did this happen? At first he hadn't known what to do with Astrid and now he didn't know what to do without her. How had she become such a part of his daily life? He looked forward to seeing her when he came home. He enjoyed hearing her voice when she announced her return.
His eyes were watching the pencil trail along an unfinished shape but his mind was elsewhere. He'd had crushes before. But they had all passed. Astrid, however, hadn't. His feelings had grown, if anything. He honestly hadn't expected that. He also hadn't expected Astrid to return his feelings.
Astrid. She was probably busy and hadn't had time to text him. Still, he wanted to know everything that she was doing. He wanted to be there, too, wherever she was. He wanted to know everything about her. He didn't want to share her time with anyone else. It was jealousy, he knew, but didn't care. So what if he was jealous?
His attention was thrust back into the present by the dinging of his phone. His gaze focused on his newest drawing. It was Astrid. She took up nearly the entire page. She was laying in bed and his view was of his own, laying next to her, watching her sleep. Her hand clutched the blanket up to her chin.
Her face was soft and her hair was tossed around her head and like always, she was beautiful.
He set his sketchbook aside and fetched his phone from the bedroom. His heart leapt as he read Astrid's name across the screen. He quickly flicked his finger across the lock and opened the message.
Good morning! You're not bothering me. I left my phone in the room. I like St. Louis. I'll bring you back a present.
Astrid. Hiccup inhaled at the sight of her words. You don't have to do that.
Too late! I already made the plan!
Astrid, so stubborn, so amazing. Well, then fine. I'll be expecting festive wrapping paper.
He was smiling as the message flew up into the dialogue. It was incredible how just talking to her made his heart thump.
Hiccup, how do you feel about phone sex?
Pardon, what? Hiccup stared at her words and read them multiple times until he was sure he wasn't misunderstanding. Phone sex? What? Was he supposed to do things with his phone? That sounded…stupid.
He took a breath, How does that work?
Call me and find out.
Hiccup's thumb froze over the call icon beside Astrid's name. He inhaled and touched it. As the phone rang he slowly exhaled. He put the phone up to his ear.
"Hi," Astrid's voice answered on the other side.
"Hello," Hiccup said. This was already awkward. He heard Astrid's gentle laugh and what sounded like water splashing. "What are you doing?"
"I'm taking a bath,"
"Oh," Hiccup gulped. Was it just him or was she trying to sound seductive on purpose? "So…how does this work?"
"It's like regular sex but without being in the same room,"
"What?"
Astrid laughed, sweetly, "It's like…you know, you touch yourself and tell me about it."
"Uh," Hiccup swallowed.
"Or you can tell me about what you'd like to do," Astrid said, and he could hear her smiling.
"Uh,"
"Do you want me to start?"
"Yes."
"Okay, what are you wearing right now?"
"Uh…jeans, and a hoodie," Hiccup looked down at himself. He heard Astrid laugh. "Is that wrong?"
"No, but your first step is to take those jeans off."
"Do you really want me to?"
"Yes."
Hiccup sighed. He paused, and the said "Okay. I'm done."
"You didn't take them off."
"How do you know?"
"Because you haven't moved." Astrid laughed. "You only had like half a second and it takes a good two seconds to take off a pair of jeans. Unless you snuck a pair of those skinny jeans into your wardrobe when I wasn't looking. Those would take like a good ten or thirty seconds, depending on how tight they are. You know, I wouldn't mind seeing in some of those."
"Fine, I'll take off my pants." Hiccup sighed and he set down the phone. He stood up and undid the button and zipper and pushed them down his legs and to the ground. "Okay, I'm not wearing pants."
"I'd take mine off but I'm not wearing any."
"Because you're in the bathtub."
"Yeah," Astrid was smiling. "I'm naked."
"Now what?" Hiccup asked, tapping his toes.
"Think about me in the bath," Astrid whispered into the phone. Her voice was low, even, with a not-so-subtle sultry undertone that set a fire beneath his ribcage. "The water's hot. The mirror is steamed up. Candles are burning. The air is thick and moist. I want you to join me. I want your hands on me."
"Where?" Hiccup asked, gulping down his innocence.
"See, you're not so bad at this." Astrid's normal tone returned with humor. "Don't be afraid to throw in some extra sensory details, sexy atmosphere, and maybe some luscious thoughts."
"Like what?"
"Like candles, there aren't actually any candles in the bathroom. I made it up because it sounded sexy. I'd love to have sex with nothing but a dozen candles. There's something about the warm firelight flickering across bare flesh." Astrid sighed with a hum as her temptress voice returned. "What about you? Imagine your perfect setting to make love. Describe it to me."
"Uh…" Hiccup swallowed. "There is…a bed."
"How big?"
"The biggest." Hiccup said quickly, hearing the unmistakable innuendo instantly, but not bothering to take it back. He heard Astrid hum to his answer. He was struck with a sudden idea that was either brilliance or stupidity. "It's raining. It's past midnight. I think she's asleep but she's playing pretend. She doesn't like storms. She asks me if I'm awake. I tell her that I am. She places a hand on my chest."
"Go on," Astrid's voice was quiet on the other side.
"She kisses me," Hiccup felt the blood rushing to his groin at the thought of the next part of his story. "And I don't know what to do. I've never kissed a girl like her before. She's too beautiful to be into me, her lips are too soft, her skin is too smooth. It's dark and I can't see her. But she knows what she's doing. She takes off her shirt and I can't breath. She lets me touch, and I can't believe how soft they are, like silk in my hands, and she makes a sound that I want to hear again and again."
Hiccup paused and listened into the phone. He could hear her gentle breathing coming from the other side. He swallowed, fearing that he had failed, "Astrid?"
"Hmm?"
"Are you still there?"
"Yeah," Astrid sighed, her voice softer than before, "Tell me more."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." Astrid said. "You're doing amazing."
Hiccup swallowed, and continued, "She takes off my shirt and slides her hand across my chest." He could still remember the simmering sensations of her fingers running across his bare chest. He raised a hand to the spot where a ghost of the feeling had left a trail of gooseflesh.
"Then what?" Astrid breathlessly asks.
"She takes off my pants and I'm beside myself. She takes off hers and I know that I'm dreaming. I've never touched a woman's hips before. She climbs on top of me." Hiccup paused. He couldn't deny his arousal. He reached into his underwear and let his erection poke through. He slowly pumped with his hand, thinking of the sex, of the blowjob, and Astrid.
"Hiccup," Astrid breathed into the phone with the same subtle pleasure she'd hummed when he'd had her sensitive parts in his mouth.
"Yeah?" Hiccup breathed back, his own voice ragged between pumps of his hand. "What are you thinking about?"
"You," Astrid gasped into the phone, her voice high-pitched, "I'm thinking about being on top of you, underneath you, all over you. I want your hands, your mouth, your tongue, all over me. I want to feel your tongue on my neck, your teeth on my skin, your hands on my chest, in my hair, between my legs…I want you to fuck me as hard as you can."
Astrid gasped into the phone and Hiccup groaned as he spilled into his hand. They were passed words as their shared breaths clogged their throats, a shared pleasure crossing between them, as the climatic end burst from either side in unabated ecstasy. Their breathing calmed together and as the ecstasy ebbed. It left them separated by two cell phones and a hundred mile gap.
"Hiccup," Astrid sighed, relaxed, in the same tone she used when she said goodnight.
"Yeah," Hiccup sighed at her voice. The familiar sense of shame washed over him.
"That was good," Astrid sighed, "I mean, for your first time."
"Who said that was my first time?" Hiccup smiled, knowing she could sense the lie. Her gentle laugh proved him right.
"Do you really think that about me?" Astrid asked, her voice so soft that at first he wasn't sure she's spoken.
"Yes." Hiccup said without hesitation. He almost bit his lip but the distance between them swelled his weak confidence. "Do you really think that about me?"
Astrid's laugh returned, "Yes."
Hiccup was blushing and was glad that she couldn't see him. His entire face felt red as lava.
"So my hips are the first you've touched?"
"Besides mine, I mean, yeah. And you know how much I love touching my hips." Hiccup shrugged without missing a beat.
"I can completely understand that." Astrid hummed.
"Oh, do you?"
"Yes, I do. You've got some great hips." Astrid side. "Narrow, and firm."
"Astrid," Hiccup laughed, feeling the burning in his face growing.
"Do you really think my breasts are soft?"
"Yes," Hiccup laughed out of pity. "Are all breasts soft or is it just yours?"
"It's just mine." Astrid said quickly. "And I know that for a fact so you don't have to test it out."
Hiccup laughed. He sighed into the phone, "I'm going to have to clean off my hand, so…"
"Right, and I have hair to wash." Astrid said matter-of-factly. "I'll text you before I leave, okay?"
"Okay, I'll see you."
"Bye."
X
Astrid ended the call and let her phone slide out of her hand and onto the bathmat. How the hell could Hiccup have such a ridiculous effect on her? A boy had never made her feel like this before. His voice inflated such a warmth in her chest that she could neither describe or understand.
It couldn't be….that…no way. She wouldn't even say it. She wasn't going to say that word. That word had never been anything but trouble. It couldn't that, anyway, probably not. But…what if it was? Is this what it felt like? No, this was just the inflated beginnings of a relationship where everything was butterflies in stomachs and rushing endorphins.
Astrid dunked her head below the water and scrubbed her scalp. She reemerged and let the water run down her face and drip back into the water.
This would wear off. The butterflies would fly away and the endorphins would run out. They always did. She didn't know how much time she had until then so she might as well enjoy it while it lasted.
X
Saturday night in St. Louis was unimpeded by the late November weather. Sidewalks were filled with bar-goers and taxis meandered the streets. Astrid watched the city below from the casino's all-around windows. But she had little time to spare. Her shot tray was empty and she was due for a return tip to the bar. On the way she grabbed each empty glass she spotted until the tray could hold no more.
"Fill her up." Astrid said as she set her tray on the edge of the counter and emptied the dirty glasses into the wash bin and refilled it with empty clean ones. It was incredible how many shot glasses they went through in a night.
"Right," Alec said. He tipped the vodka bottle and filled them half full and filled the other half with some blue liquor.
The tray was full of twenty dollars shots and she was off again. She didn't make it far.
"Hey, Sweetcakes," a young man, a baseball player she assumed, was calling her and motioned lazily with his hand, Cardinals cap cocked to the side. He'd already caused a commotion that night. He's spent thousands at the blackjack table and even more trying to impress his loose crowd of groupies in miniskirts.
"Hmm?" Astrid put on her perfected fake smile and came to his summons.
"The whole tray!" He exclaimed, and bathed in the cheering of his companions.
Before she could tell him the price he withdrew a roll of cash that seemed ever flowing from his pocket. He wasn't private about his money or spending it. He picked each bill from the wad like he was plucking petals as Astrid lowered the tray into the groupies' reach. The tray was quickly empty again.
"Keep the change, babe." He smirked with a wink as he handed her three one-hundred dollar bills.
Astrid took the bills and tucked them into the bodice of the dress. She could see the chew stains on his uneven teeth but she ignore the grotesqueness and put on her charmed smile. For an eighty dollar tip she sure as hell could fake smile.
The night drug on and she made three more rounds at Mr. Baseball's table and had accumulated more than three hundred dollars just on him. She passed the bar with the empty tray and dumped the cash into the shared tip jar. Her feet were killing her and she took a breather while Alec refilled the shot tray with whatever concoction he'd magically thrown together.
"Hey, Pige," Alvin walked to the bar and the crowd easily parted in front of him. He leaned onto the bar beside her. He pushed the tray out of her hands. "Come talk to me,"
Astrid left the tray and followed Alvin's massive shoulders into the storage room where boxes rested on shelves that rose to the ceiling. The door fell closed and the commotion of the casino was muffled.
"Yeah?" Astrid asked as she leaned against a shelving unit to rest one foot at a time.
"You boy's back," Alvin crossed her arms. "What do you say?"
"Thirty thousand?" Astrid asked.
"That's the final number." Alvin nodded. "In cash, too."
Astrid sighed. She'd been avoiding this on purpose. She hated these decisions.
"Listen Pige, you can say no." Alvin whispered. "I'll tell him to scram."
Thirty thousand dollars. That's more than some people make in a year. It's a lot less than some people make in a year, too. It was a lot to walk away from. Too much.
"I'll do it." Astrid nodded.
Alvin sighed and kept his black eyes on her. Finally, he nodded, "Alright."
"You know the drill, Pige." Alvin nodded as he ducked out of the storage room and back into his casino.
Astrid waited until the door closed behind Alvin to release a sigh she'd been holding. She bent forward with a groan and felt several pops come from her back. Alvin's blank stare always made her feel like she'd disappointed a grandfather. She straightened up and shook off the feeling. She stretched her smile muscles before returning to the casino.
The gray-streaked lawyer was sitting at the bar with a glass of white wine. He eyed Astrid like a hungry tiger as she grabbed the tray of shots and filtered them through the crowd. At ten thirty the bar stopped serving and Astrid returned her tray and glasses to the counter. She stood under the lawyer's gaze while she emptied the glasses into the bin.
Eleven o'clock rolled around the gray streaked lawyer was still at the bar. Astrid was exhausted and ignored the pain in her feet as she leaned onto the bar beside him.
"John," he introduced himself. He was still slipping his wine. "Pigeon, is it?"
"That's right," Astrid smiled.
He finished his wine in one swig. "Let's get out of here, hm?"
Astrid bit the inside of her cheek. John the Lawyer was trying to be the cool kid but he was looking like a fool. She could read him like a children's book. He peaked in high school and was holding onto that jock-honor and floating his self-importance over everyone else. Yeah, she knew the type, and she didn't like it. Never had and never would.
John the Lawyer set the empty glass on the table and stood up. His eyes fell somewhere over her shoulder and as she started for the door she caught Alvin, standing with his arms crossed, and looking as intimidating as he could. Before a client stepped out with a girl, or boy, they suffered through a mysterious talk with Alvin. No one knew what he told them. Threats, most likely, and Alvin had both the balls to carry them out and the resources to get away with them. No one crossed Alvin, not twice, anyway.
Astrid ignored John the Lawyer's prattle about the upper class. It seemed that someone was wearing a knock off suit. He could tell from a distance, of course, because he had an eagle's eye. Astrid bit her lip and swallowed the urge to lead him to the stairs and push him down them. Gods, she hated guys like him.
She pulled the room key out of her bodice and flicked it into the lock and pushed the door open. She held it open for John the Lawyer and he skipped the 'thank you' as he walked inside, smug smirk across his face. She let the door shut on its own.
"Ah," John the Lawyer said as he slipped the wedding ring from his finger. It clicked as he set it on the dresser. He slipped off his suit jacket and folded it carefully and laid it on the desk chair. He loosened his tie.
Astrid reached down to unbuckle her shoes.
"Leave those on," John the Lawyer snapped, like a command given to a dog or a computer. In other circumstance she would have socked him. The bruises would be his to explain. But tonight she swallowed that pride and left her shoes on her stinging feet.
Whatever. She let him unzip her dress. He held her by the waist with a forced grip and pulled the zipper down. He pushed her toward the bed. Yeah, she knew the type. He constantly needed the reassurance that he was 'the man' that his ego wanted to believe he was. On the outside he was tough and strong and in charge but on the inside he was a child, probably with mommy-issues.
But she wasn't going to ask. She didn't care. She didn't care why people cheated or what drove them to it. She didn't care why they'd toss out thirty thousand dollars for a five minute high, or looking at this middle aged lawyer, two minutes. But she played her part, increased her breathing rate, moaned at the appropriate time, sighed and closed her eyes, and grabbed fistfuls of the bed sheet at the would-be end.
John the Lawyer crashed onto the bed and was asleep in ten minutes, maybe less, and Astrid slipped out of her shoes. She set them quietly on the floor by the closet and crept through the darkened hotel room and into the bathroom. She waited until the door was closed before she flipped on the light. She wanted to throw herself into a streaming shower but settled instead for a quick facial scrub in cold water.
She watched the water drain through the shiny grate.
Thirty thousand. A new car. Rent. Food. Clothes. Shoes. A vacation. Thirty thousand dollars.
Astrid dried her face on one of the softest towels she'd felt and flipped off the light. She crept back into the bedroom and slipped into the bed. She had been exhausted but she knew that sleep was going to be evasive tonight.
X
Astrid woke up to dreary gray daylight seeping in from underneath the curtains' edges. For that brief early morning moment everything was fine. Then John the Lawyer groaned in his sleep and reminded her of his presence and the moment was gone. He burped as he rolled onto his back, groaned, and stretched as he sat up. Astrid pretended to be asleep. She didn't feel like playing nice this morning.
He went into the bathroom and didn't bother to shut the door. The light flooded the room and he burped again as he flushed the toilet. He didn't wash his hands. Figures, it fits his type.
He was getting dressed in the suit that he'd meticulously folded the night before when Astrid rolled over and sat up. She held the blanker over herself and she greeted him with as warm of a smile as she could muster.
"I've gotta jet, Pige." John the Lawyer sighed, a feigned remorse, as he stared toward the window. "There's a front coming down from Canada and it's supposed to get nasty. I do not want to be stuck here."
Snow. Yay.
John the Lawyer left and Astrid collapsed back onto the bed. She relished in the quiet. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and sighed as she looked at the time. It was barely eight. Better now than never, right? She threw the covers off and walked into the bathroom and went straight to the shower.
An hour later, Astrid was sitting on the edge of the bed and braiding her wet hair over her shoulder. She twisted the braid into a bun. She picked up her shoes and replaced them in the closet and took out her bag. Tossing it onto the bed, she withdrew her clothes from the drawers, and kicked her black dress toward the bathroom door.
She dressed in a pair of leggings and a t-shirt. She pulled on her boots and coat and slung her bag over her shoulder. She grabbed her phone and quickly dialed for a car. She'd text Hiccup when she was on the road. With the car on the way she slipped the phone in her pocket and headed downstairs.
She stopped by the café and ordered a coffee-to-go. She sipped it while she meandered down to the gift shop. She walked through the sparse and overpriced do-dads and finally settled on a black and white St. Louis themed coffee mug.
"That all, Ma'am?" the middle-aged woman behind the counter asked, her tone bitter and tired, nails a horrible shade of green.
"Yes," Astrid nodded and handed her a card which the woman took while looking down her nose. Astrid waited while the woman tediously worked the cash register, much longer than necessary, as if she wanted the machine to deny it.
"Could you gift wrap it?" Astrid asked.
"Of course," the woman groaned.
The woman slid the card across the table and wrapped the mug in tissue paper and tucked it into a perfectly shaped box. Astrid accepted the box with a kind smile but the woman returned only a sneer.
Astrid failed to bit her tongue and the words slipped out. "You know, this is the part when you wish the customer a good day."
"Oh, my apologizes," the woman's lips twisted downward without a hint of humor, true or faked. But she forced the words out, "Have a good day,"
"You too," Astrid nodded as she left the gift shop.
She'd have to deal with the repercussion of that one, probably, but that was later. She waited in the lobby for the car and took a sigh of relief when she slid into the backseat. As it pulled away from the hotel she reached for her phone.
On the way back. See you in a couple hours.
They had just passed the city limits when it began to snow.
X
I know, I know - I promise that in my next story, Astrid will be a virgin. Scout's honor.