A/N: I know right, nearly a week without an update? I had better have died gone to the spirit world and come back a fricken reaper right? No, that didn't happen, it'd be cool but nah, just life was doing life things and I haven't been able to get around to writing for a solid period of time!
Before you start the chapter, if you're interested, there is a poll up on my profile, I am trying to determine what story I should write next so the two AU's are detailed in my profile and on the poll itself, so if you want check that out! Without further ado, onto the chapter!
It had been a few days since Hiccup and Astrid had spent the time in Gothi's hut, most of it still felt like a dream to Astrid as she walked through the village, her ribs already mostly healed thanks to Hiccups quick thinking and knowledge of herbs, her shoulder only gave her minor problems occasionally and the swelling had greatly reduced, other than a flew blotched bruises on her arm and ribs you'd think she was perfectly fine.
Hiccup hadn't left the room she was staying in while she was recovering, it created an odd mix of irritation and happiness, she was irritated because she still felt that he was pitying her because she had been injured even if her rational mind knew that wasn't the case, she was happy, well because Hiccup worried about her, the paradox of emotions had been difficult to deal with.
The moment Hiccup had left the healers hut Gobber had practically kidnapped him and confined him to the forge, so Astrid hadn't seen him since the day he left, going on four days now and she had decided to take matters into her own hands.
She leaned over the counter of the forge idly and glanced around the inside, the place was swelteringly hot, just leaning her head in caused her head to immediately bead sweat, apparently they hadn't rested the fires much with a potential war going on.
Her eyes finally fell on Hiccup, the boy had abandoned as much clothing as possible and was still sweating profusely, his armor and undershirt were discarded and his pants clung to him as he bent steel with a large hammer, his face contorted in determination and concentration, teeth bared ever so slightly at the effort he was exerting to keep up with the orders for weapons, not that Astrid would complain. The way the sweat rolled from his arms as he moved, the biceps, his chest clearly visible under the tightened forging umbrella, a line of black soot marred the centre of his face.
He cooled the sword he was making and tossed it to Gobber, retrieving a washcloth, she presumed it was soaked with cold water, from the wall he rubbed at his face, he caught sight of Astrid and he strode towards her, a little more confidence in his step than usual.
She cursed his ability to read her so well as he leant over the countertop, that lop-sided half grin on his face and a mischievous glint in his eye. She lifted an eyebrow and brushed a stray bang from her face in an attempt to hide her blush and sneak another peak as the muscle he hid under the armor her always wore.
"Like what you see?" He asked confidently, eyes glinting ever so slightly from the light of the forge.
"I think you should go shirtless more often," Astrid commented calmly, forcing her face to remain neutral "It's a good look."
Hiccup smirked as he leaned forward, she met him half way in a quick kiss "I'm sure that can be arranged." He whispered into her ear huskily.
Astrid shivered slightly despite the heat, her cheeks glowed slightly as she pulled back "So, confined to the forge huh?"
"Not anymore, that was the last order!" Hiccup exclaimed excitedly as he moved into the back of the forge, he returned, armor in his hand clean undershirt and a device that looked similar to Toothless current fin.
Astrid eyed the contraption curiously as Hiccup exited the forge, his outward appearance garnered little attention, a shirtless Viking was not all that abnormal and everyone knew Hiccup worked at the forge, he shifted the armor on his shoulder and leaned a little away from his prosthetic as it clicked into place.
"I really need to make those tweaks." Hiccup thought audibly wincing as the leg slipped slightly due to the sweat currently blanketing his entire form.
"Want some help?" Astrid offered, taking the fin and offering him a shoulder.
Hiccup lifted an eyebrow before nodding, a grateful smile on his face as he leaned onto her slightly, just barely taking the weight off his leg as they moved.
"Thanks." He voiced quickly.
"No problem, we'll be married sooner or later, I mean, looking after you is going to be a full time thing." Astrid joked as she forced him to lean on her a little more.
"Really, says the girl who fell of her dragon and got saved by me." Hiccup teased in retort.
"This and that are completely unrelated issues." Astrid defended quickly.
"Well, this and that aside, I really need a bath," Hiccup sighed as he moved away from her "Unless you want to join me?"
Astrid gaped at him, he did not just? She titled her head to the side and let a challenging grin fall on her face, Hiccup stared at her with a mischievous grin of his own "You know, now that I think about it." She walked towards him, stalked would be a more appropriate term, the sway of her hips was nothing short of dangerous as she placed a finger against her chest.
She moved her hand along the muscle and forced her face to remain completely composed as she dragged her nail lightly along it, secretly enjoying the way his breath hitched under her hand and the way the muscle tightened under her hand "I never did thank you for saving me." She purred into his ear as she moved passed him towards the baths.
Hiccup stood with a dumbfounded expression on his face, a small grin fell on his face as he followed after her, adrenaline and reckless abandon fueling their actions.
They arrived at Berks natural hot springs relatively quickly, the moment Hiccups foot touched stone, Astrid practically slammed into him, lips claiming his heatedly as her arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him close, Hiccup deepened the kiss quickly hands finding her face and drawing small circles on the side of her stomach in a slow methodical motion as he moved her backwards.
Her back touched a stone and his hands wrapped around her legs and pulled her into the air, her legs wrapped around his waist as her broke the kiss only a moment to breath, while Astrid caught her breath he moved down her neck, nibbling, biting and suckling experimentally her breath caught in her throat as he found a spot on the side of her neck, his eyebrow raised and she could see the smile reflected in his eyes as he focused on that spot, Astrid bit her lip and attempt to stifle a moan, the action only succeeded in making him double his efforts, eventually producing the desired sound effect from her throat, he claimed her lips again quickly, tongue probing lightly on her lower lip.
She parted her mouth enough for them to poke at each other carefully, neither had any experience it was all feeling and instinct as the contact quickly became a war, each battling each other inside their mouths as Astrid pushed Hiccup back, breaking the kiss long enough for her top to be pulled over her head and discarded, the clothing barely left her hand when Hiccup pulled her flush against him, the sensation of his skin against her set her whole body on fire as her chest binding did very little to shield her chest from the onslaught of new sensations.
Astrid lifted an eyebrow and paused Hiccup with a hand on his chest, he gave her a questioning look, until she gave him a sharp shove, a surprised cry escaped his mouth as he toppled backwards and landed in the hot spring, his head broke the surface of the water a moment later and he grinned, padding towards her carefully and wincing.
Astrid's eyes widened and she rushed over to him quickly, had she hurt his leg when she pushed him? the moment she reached the edge of the water his hand shot up and grabbed her wrist she gasped in surprise before she was submerged in the water, she broke the surface and glared at him as he tossed his leg over the edge followed quickly by his trousers, leaving the pair of them in only their undergarments.
Hiccup tilted his head slightly and flashed a wide grin as he moved towards her, his hand paused on her waist as he pulled her into him, if only dry undergarments provided new sensations, matted wet ones were an entirely new set of feelings, Astrid moaned as he rocked against her slowly, his mouth closing over hers in her moment of distraction his tongue snaked around her mouth as his hand fumbled with the clasp of her chest binding as the fabric was finally snapped loose Hiccup abruptly stopped and his eyes widened.
"Ah, it's a wonderful day for a bath!" Both of them new that voice, Stoick was moving towards them, Astrid's head darted around the pool, he was close enough that if she got out there's no way she'd avoid him, her clothing was pretty well hidden by the steam, Hiccup glanced a low rock jutting from the edge of the pool and the quickly moved around it, Astrid got as low as she could and Hiccup positioned himself to block her, his eyes widened in terror as he noticed her chest binding still floating in the centre of the bath, he dived for it and managed to make it back to the rock before Stoick came into view.
"Ah, Hiccup it's one of those days isn't it?" Stoick announced excitedly as he disrobed and climbed into the pool, sighing in contentment as he sat down.
"Yeah," Hiccup replied nervously, they were in such a position that he could feel Astrid's chest pressed against his back, he couldn't hand her the binding because it'd be too obvious, so they were forced to stay like that "Gobber didn't let me rest at all."
"Aye," Stoick chuckled as he relaxed further "Can't ever be too prepared for a war."
"Of course," Hiccup nodded his head slightly "I finished the last order before I came here."
"Egil and his wife approached me after the war meeting," Stoick announced, Astrid's breath hitched, what if Stoick was against them getting together? Neither of them had thought of him being opposed "Pretty bold, declaring your intentions to the best axe wielder in all of Berk."
"Astrid would nev-" Hiccup began before he was cut off.
"I was talking about her mother, before she was the kind woman you know she was a fearsome shield maiden," Stoick explained "I have a feeling you'd have lost more than one limb if you had said something else."
Hiccup laughed nervously "So how'd the meeting go?" He could tell Astrid was nervous behind him, although he couldn't really place that nervousness on any one thing.
"You decisions are your own son," Stoick inclined his head respectfully "If you care for her who am I to attempt to stop you?"
Astrid breathed a sigh of relief that Hiccup covered with a chuckle and a cough "Thanks dad, she…really means a lot to me."
"I can tell." Stoick smiled
The silence remained for a few stagnant moments before Stoick slapped his hands together "You want some advice?"
"Sure?" Hiccup responded carefully.
"Your both young and inexperienced," Hiccup really wished he had declined the offer with just that sentence "You won't be great on your first time, believe me, I was horrible, I could barely look your mother in the face for days!"
"Oh." Hiccup let out in embarrassment.
Astrid's eyes widened, they had been just about to! Now she was listening to Stoick giving advice about it too Hiccup, what kind of cruel game were the gods playing today?!
"Believe me, it's all about taking your time," Stoick explained with a smirk "In fact the longer and more teasing you make it the better! Hel make them beg for it if you have to!"
"Uh." Hiccup sounded nervously "Yeah, I'll be sure to do that."
"Good, well I've got cheifing to get too," Stoick exclaimed, sensing the awkward mood even if he himself created it, he figured it would be better for Hiccup to know earlier "I'll see you later."
"Yeah dad, see you later." Hiccup sounded, curbing his enthusiasm so he actually sounded normal was difficult for that one, he realized Astrid was struggling to contain laughter behind him, her shoulders shuddered causing good or bad friction against his back depending on how you looked at it, Hiccup's hand moved slowly to her side and she froze as he drew a small circle on her inner thigh, effectively quieting her.
Stoick retrieved his clothing and moved down the hill slightly, both of the teens waited in complete silence until his thudding footsteps had completely faded out of earshot before they breathed.
Hiccup pushed away and turned away, thankful the steam hid everything but Astrid's face from view, the pair of them glowed a new color palate of reds as Astrid climbed out of the pool quietly, quickly retrieving her clothes and pulling them on, Hiccup did the same and neither looked at each other until Hiccup was pulling on his arm guards.
"Well that was uh…" Hiccup trailed off.
"The part where your dad walked in? embarrassing," Astrid agreed quickly, she grabbed his arm and pecked him on the cheek lightly "Everything else was great."
Hiccup titled his head as she sauntered away from him, that shake of the hips was definitely intentional he concluded as he followed after her, retrieving the new fin as they made their way to Toothless and Ghost.
Toothless lifted his head tiredly as Hiccup emerged from the trees, Astrid a few steps behind him, Toothless snorted, he recognized the small wafting off the teens easily although he could conclude they hadn't completely mated as of yet, they were close, no doubt about that in his mind.
"Hey bud," Hiccup smiled calmly as he held up new tail, similar to the old one, only it had two distinct functions, first and most importantly "This will let you fly on your own." Hiccup explained, Astrid's eyes widened in surprise and Ghost stared at Toothless in surprise, she really hadn't believed him when he said this human was different.
"Of course I can still fly with you and I can even hook in like I do now," Hiccup explained "Just thought you'd like the extra feature," He leaned towards Toothless and whispered quietly "Just in case."
Toothless gave him a look and Hiccup chuckled as he put the new device on, Toothless gave the tail a few experimental waves "I said I'd help you look for a cave correct?"
"You did." Ghost nodded
"I propose a wager," Toothless turned to the female with the dragon equivalent of a grin "If I beat you around the island, you'll stay here with me."
Ghost's eyebrow lifted questioningly "If you win, I'll find you the cave and I'll leave you alone."
Toothless finished, Ghost considered for a moment "Done, you had better know a good cave on this island!"
"Hah! You're a hundred years too early to be that confident!" Toothless challenged as he lowered his body towards the ground, both dragons poised for a moment before slamming into the air with a powerful wing beat.
Hiccup admired his work from the ground as Ghost and Toothless sped over the village, he had faith Toothless would be back, he trusted his friend just as Toothless trusted him.
"I should probably get home." Astrid announced glancing at the sun, the orb was now setting on the horizon painting the sky orange, red and blue hues, the glow on Astrid's face caused Hiccup's breath the leave his body of its own accord.
Astrid glanced at him, a small smile on her face as she walked over to him and placed a small kiss on his lips "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
Hiccup nodded his head "Definitely."
A/N: Will everything really go so smoothly?! Find out next time! Honestly this entire chapter was kind of played by ear, I had a very basic outline and not a lot of content and this is what my mind ended up producing so I hope you enjoyed!
Now for some replies!
Winner123: Yes, Hiccup will get Inferno eventually, as well as the Gronkle Iron shield he wielded in the show I have an arc planned out that will require the sword and the shield so it will be coming in soon!
Discardless: It's fine, useful criticism is always helpful! But as you said my style is a pretty much a habit at this point, I'll try and bring it around and correct more mistakes as I go but I can't promise massive changes in the format as of now! I'm glad you've enjoyed the story so far though!
Midnight510: I've made Mildew an elder for a number of reasons, the most obvious one is his age, but I think his opinions were always respected to some degree in the show so he had to have some kind of importance beyond just crabby old man.
I'd like to thank each and every one of you for reviewing, you guys are awesome, I'll try to respond to questions in these segments that remain unanswered, if I don't reply to you directly it's because the next chapter will likely explain the question you have with that, If you liked it, drop a follow, check out my poll and other stories if you are interested and I will see you in the next one, peace!