Lol remember when I was like 'new chapters every Friday!' and then proceeded to never upload on a Friday again lol! I actually realised Fridays are the absolute worst day for me to post because Friday night is date night SO I've decided on Sunday (which I know it isn't today but shh! One day I'll make it work on a regular schedule haha)

I've literally written up to chapter 36, but ya gorl can just never be bothered to edit lol and also work has been kicking my butt this week! literally loved my job for 2.5 months and then last Friday THE perfect candidate pulled out after i got him a job offer! and I'm still mad lol i was seething and then continued to just have a shit week so far so enjoy my escapism which - yes, that IS Taylor Swift reference once again - in the form of chapter 33! In which the sky is grey and doors are blue!

Chapter 33 - Holy Ground

The estate agent looked a bit ruffled when he greeted Hiccup and Astrid by the door of the small house. To both their delight, it was very close to the sea and had a sky-blue colour that was in stark contrast to today's dark grey sky that announced an oncoming thunderstorm.

"Hi Alasdair, I'm Henry - nice to meet you in person," Hiccup said and met the estate agent's enthusiastic handshake.

"Good to meet you, Henry - hello, you must be Astrid."

Astrid warmly shook his hand, smiling. He was an older guy with a slightly crooked nose, his mouse-brown hair slicked back, smattered with grey hairs throughout.

"Thank you again for letting us reschedule, we really appreciate it," Astrid smiled and Alasdair waved her comment off.

"Nonsense, no trouble at all, of course! Sorry you were caught up in that fire, that looked nasty - I read about it in the paper. Good on you for getting those girls out of there, absolutely incredible! Anyways, the housing market on Berk isn't the quickest as you can probably imagine, so I'm always more than happy to accommodate. Right then, shall we?"

Hiccup and Astrid grinned at each other and nodded. Before they stepped through the red door, they instinctively reached for the others' hand. Hiccup smiled, warmth spreading through his chest and squeezed her hand. She squeezed back as they stepped over the threshold.

Alasdair turned on the light in the hallway and tightened his grip on the clipboard he was carrying.

"So - lovely little cottage, originally built in 1803, but it's of course had some work done quite a few times. It was actually most recently refurbished in April 2016, so just about a year ago. The landlords also recently put in triple-glazed windows and floor heating, which is very unusual for a cottage of this age. If you'll follow me into the living room ..."

The hallway opened into a bright and spacious living room. Grey light trickled through the big windows on their lefthand side, and Alasdair flicked on the light.

"Eco bulbs," he commented as he strode through the room. "Might take a couple of seconds to fully come on. So, here is the living room with a lovely feature fireplace which we can clear out if you'd like, the landlords closed it up a couple of years ago - further in the back we've got a nice little potential dining area space, and then here-" - he turned on the light in the small room at the end of the living room - "is the kitchen. The landlords put in all-new appliances before the previous tenant moved in, so everything should be working just fine."

That statement put Hiccup at ease - he could never help himself with things like these, especially with potential old electrical wiring. He peeked into the kitchen and immediately broke out into a grin. He subtly nudged Astrid's side and murmured, "Gas hobs."

Her flushed cheeks didn't escape him - she was trying her hardest to hide them, of course.

"Of course," she grumbled out but kissed his cheek. The first night they'd met was still so clear in both of their memories. Him, in his gear, taking the steps leading up to the entrance of Astrid's flat's building. Her, in nothing but her underwear, a top and a hastily thrown-on cardigan, clutching Stormfly's cage tightly to her chest. The blush and humiliation creeping onto her cheeks as she realised the state she was in. His eyes widenin and flitting away, his heart fluttering in his chest. Behind him, Snotlout yelling at him to get a bloody move on and to stop standing around, which was so unlike him.

In the present, Hiccup's arm snuck around Astrid's waist and pulled her close. Reflexively, she held on to the fabric of his coat and leaned into his touch, warm and familiar now.

"Looks great," Hiccup commented, turning to Alasdair. "I'm assuming it has a fridge freezer?"

Alasdair nodded. "Yes, there's also space for a washing machine. The previous tenant took it with him again, but I do believe the landlords have a fairly new one lying around that they would be happy to throw in as well. There's also a small dishwasher, so really, this kitchen gives you everything you could want, despite its size."

"Oh, that would be great," Astrid piped up. "I've never actually had a dishwasher before, either, and I must admit, it sounds quite nice."

Alasdair beamed at her, agreeing enthusiastically as he turned off the kitchen light again, leaving them all dipped in the diffuse grey light that trickled in through the kitchen window. The estate agent clapped and rubbed his hands together.

"Alright, are you ready to see the upstairs? There's only one bedroom, I'm afraid, but there is a small space that could be used as a little study if you fancied. But it's not technically big enough for us to be allowed to call it a bedroom."

They followed him up the stairs, and checked out the surprisingly spacious bathroom - in which Astrid couldn't help but turn the shower over bath combination on to test the water pressure - on the left side to the landing that, for some reason, had two sinks, and trailed behind the estate agent into the main bedroom of the house. It was another fairly big room considering the size the cottage had appeared to be from the outside and had a big oriel window on the far right end of it.

"So, we've got a lovely feature window in here," Alasdair commented, pointing to the window. "And a built-in wardrobe along this wall here. Tell you what, I actually think this is the only property I have at the moment that has built-in storage, so you'd be quite lucky there. Would you like to also have a look at the other room?"

They both nodded - perhaps a bit too enthusiastically - and he motioned for them to lead the way. Alasdair had been right, the room was indeed quite small, but it had a window that looked out towards the sea, and Astrid couldn't help but imagine her ancient wooden desk in here, picturing Hiccup bringing her a steaming cup of tea and some biscuits as she marked history papers. She grabbed hold of Hiccup's arm, somewhat hoping he might share her vision through osmosis somehow.

Hiccup grinned down at her, and Astrid knew at that moment that he'd already decided. That actually, they'd made the decision the moment they'd set foot into the little cottage. Their cottage, hopefully.

"I could definitely see a study in here," Astrid said to Alasdair and smiled.

"I did think you might appreciate this, being a teacher."

He paused, then added, "So - what are we thinking? Do take your time, feel free to wander around a little on your own before you dec-"

"We'd really love to take it," Hiccup and Astrid blurted out at the same, exchanged a look and beamed at each other. Alasdair laughed.

"Well, that was a unified decision! Excellent! Let's go back downstairs and you can fill out the paperwork in the kitchen, so you actually have somewhere to write on."

The three of them made their way back downstairs. Alasdair told them about his estate agency, which he ran with just one other colleague - mainly due to Berk's size - but that despite everything, business was actually going quite well.

"I just love what I do," he explained, hands in his pockets. "I think that really helps. Remind me what you do again, Henry? Obviously, I know that Astrid is a teacher."

"I'm a firefighter," Hiccup answered. "I absolutely love it. I've been doing it since I was eighteen, so it's been more than six years now. "

Alasdair's face lit up with genuine interest, which Hiccup couldn't help but smile at, growing to like the estate agent and his positive attitude more and more. "Oh, that sounds very rewarding and exciting! So I'm assuming you were there when the fire at the school broke out?"

Hiccup nodded.

"Gosh, that must have been quite scary, no?" Alasdair asked and Hiccup nodded. That's an understatement, he thought.

"It was. She gave me a real fright," he replied, putting his arm back around Astrid's shoulders, pulling her closer. She chuckled and gently removed his arm shortly after to fill out the form Alasdair had given them

"I bet!" Alasdair exclaimed. "Well, hopefully, this will be the last one. Big fires like that don't happen that often here, do they? At least I rarely ever read about them."

"The last reasonably big fire we had was down by the docks last year in October. That wasn't too bad though, and we managed to contain it fairly quickly. I think Berk is quite lucky as far as things like that go," Hiccup replied and absentmindedly took the pen from Astrid's hand to fill out his copy of the form.

"Honestly, we're busier with storm prep and emergency responses because of storms than with fires sometimes," he said as he scribbled down his details quickly, pausing quickly to jot down his salary. "But, you know, it is a fairly small island so we're not overly busy luckily. Lucky for Berk that is."

Alasdair chuckled. "Seems to be something our professions have in common. People just aren't moving that much in places like this. Sometimes I'm considering widening my radius, but I don't know if I could be bothered to take the ferry every day."

"I get that," Astrid chimed in. "It is a bit of a trek, especially if you're then going on to other islands. Well, you know what, if someone we know is thinking about moving, we'll just give them an extra nudge and refer them to you."

Alasdair beamed at her and took the form from Hiccup, thanking him. "That would be great if you could, actually! The best advertising still is word of mouth. Anyway, I will put this forward to the landlords today - but, you know, just between you and me, I don't see any reason they wouldn't accept you as tenants. You're both an absolute pleasure and have well-paid and stable jobs. That's all landlords want, really, just someone who can definitely pay the rent and won't wreck the place."

Hiccup laughed. "Well, that seems like a bit of a low standard, but no judgement from me. And they're definitely fine with an indoor cat and a bird?"

Alasdair nodded enthusiastically. "Absolutely, I did clarify with them a second time. They're pet owners themselves, so they understand. Obviously, as long as you clean up after them, but I don't think they'd have to worry about that with you. Anyways, I'll e-mail those to the landlords this afternoon and then let you know as soon as they've made a decision."

Astrid and Hiccup were outside again, waving goodbye to Alasdair, as the breeze started picking up again. Astrid shivered and tried to hide in Hiccup's arms, who chuckled and wrapped his arms around her.

"Let's go home, milady," he murmured and pressed a kiss on the top of her head, breathing in deeply. She'd recently switched to a new brand of conditioner and shampoo and now smelled like coconut and vanilla.

Astrid smiled up at him and turned around to look at the cottage again.

"I really like the colour," she said. "It's like the summer sky. I think we could use more blue around here, you know?"

Hiccup smiled, watching her glance up to the windows and thought, That's what I thought when I met you, too. Out loud, he replied, "Plus, I think the window sills would be great for growing flowers on, don't you think?"

DID YOU SEE THE WAY I PULLED IT BACK TO THE FLOWER ON BALCONY THING FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE STORY