The days leading up to a vacation were…amusing to say the least for Mala. She had no need for television or books when she could just watch her husband. Dagur would hurry out of the house, then back, each time carrying some new item. Just that week, she had seen him getting ropes and giant bags she thought could fit people. That day, he was bringing a snake that had wrapped itself around his right arm, torso, and a little around his neck to Mala's concern. Dagur was holding a container for it in his left hand as he entered their home. He gave Mala a kiss and grinned.

"Hey, Malapoo. How was your day?"

"Fine, but it has become perplexing as of now," the blonde admitted. "Why do you have a snake?"

"Not just any snake. It's an Amazon tree boa. Hiccup gave me a discount. Isn't she cute?!"

The reptile turned to look at Mala, flicking its tongue. She blinked at it, then the redhead.

"Quite, but why do you have her?"

"Because, Mala my love, we are going to the Amazon. If we're there and see one of these babies that doesn't feel like being friendly, it'll help to understand its behavior some more. Then, we'll know it's hungry before it tries to eat us. Besides, this is our first vacation together, so anything could go wrong, but I won't let it. It'll be perfect!" Dagur tried to wiggle his arm to get the snake to move into the container. "Go on, enjoy your new place." His breathing changed a little as its grip tightened around his neck. "Now, Slither, we've talked about this. It might be fun to choke people, but it's not nice."

Mala slid her hands between the snake and man, loosening the hold. Once there was enough room, Dagur got free and put the boa in its habitat. He grinned happily at Mala afterwards, then it faded when he saw her worried expression.

"You don't like her?"

"It's not that…Are we keeping her?"

"No, no. I think Strykie and Shattermaster are enough for us unless you want something else. We're just renting her until we fly out." Excitedly, Dagur hugged Mala and kissed her cheek again. "This is going to be an amazing trip! I've got everything we could need. First aid in case one of us becomes too much like Hiccup and loses a limb, firestarters, enough knives for both of us–sorry, you know I don't share those, and–"

"Dagur," Mala said, chuckling softly, "we cannot bring all of those. We are flying. They will not allow you to board the plane with such items."

The redhead nodded. "I know. I'm having it shipped there so that it'll all be ready as soon as we get to the hotel."

Mala smiled and kissed him. "I suppose that I should not be surprised. You always impress me."

This made her husband laugh gleefully and they discussed their plans. In a week, the tree boa was headed back to the exotic pet store. Mala made a mental note to ask Hiccup to call her before the next new friend was brought home. Bags and boxes which must have weighed more than their house were hauled off to be shipped. When all of that was done, Mala had her carry-on that Dagur loaded into the car. He grinned at her as he plopped into the driver's seat. They had plenty of time before the flight, so Mala knew they did not need to rush, but she always enjoyed the thrill of being Dagur's passenger.

The redhead sped down the street, instinctively knowing when to slow down before a cop saw him, then speeding up again when the coast was clear. Suddenly, someone made the mistake of pulling out in front of them without going at an appropriate speed. Seeing Dagur bristling and rolling down his window, Mala put a hand on his arm.

"We still have a lot of time," she assured him.

Her husband glared at the driver in front of them, making the throat cutting motion with his hand in case the person looked in the rearview mirror.

"I know, but that's the third time today!"

"Think of it this way, it gives us more time to be alone."

Dagur grinned at her. "Good point."

He leaned over to give the blonde an eskimo. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted enough room between their car and oncoming traffic, so Dagur accelerated and moved around the slow driver. He laughed in triumph, making Mala laugh as well. They pulled into the airport parking lot and Dagur rolled his wife's bag with one hand as he held hers with his right hand.

"I don't know how you can travel so lightly."

Mala smiled at him. "I do not think there is anything I could pack which you did not already send ahead for us."

"That's true."

The couple went through the doors and checked in, heading over to the metal detectors. Some of Mala was nervous, certain that Dagur still had a minimum of twenty knives on him. She could have cringed when she saw him walk through, but to her pleasant surprise, there was no beeping. After Mala's turn, they collected their things.

"That went…well," she commented quietly.

Dagur nodded, knowing what she meant. "Sent them ahead too. This is the worst part of flying. I feel naked."

The redhead's mouth curved down and Mala held onto his arm. She gave his cheek a comforting kiss and they went to their gate to await the boarding call. During that time, they enjoyed a bit of people-watching.

"Someone's afraid of flying," Dagur whispered, gesturing to a young man in a seat across from them. A devious look was in his eyes. "I sure hope turbulence isn't as bad as they predicted," he said, louder and catching the other passenger's attention. "Pretty sure sixty mile per hour winds were on the forecast."

The man turned pale and leaned back in his seat. Dagur barely contained his laughter and Mala poked his shoulder.

"You are terrible."

"But you love me for it."

"I do," Mala admitted.

They created stories about the other passengers they saw, including that a woman was a secret agent on a mission and the child with her was a spy partner who had gone deep undercover. Before long, they got the call to board the plane. The couple went to the middle of the plane. Strategically, Mala had Dagur sit next to the window while she was in the middle. She knew that he would be extremely bored otherwise, but the sights could offer something even if it was not a lot.

"Second worst part of flying," Dagur said, looking out at the runway. "Flying. It's going to take forever, but it'll be worth it when we get there."

The pair noticed the third passenger coming up and stifled chuckles as they realized it was the man with aerophobia. Like Dagur had predicted, he nearly hyperventilated when they took off.

"Close your eyes and imagine somewhere nice," the redhead told him.

Too nervous to listen, the man did not hear him, so Dagur grabbed his arm. There was a fierce frown on his face. The passenger was unsure if he was more afraid of dying from a crash or murder. Dagur repeated what he had said and was listened to this time. It began helping and the redhead grinned.

"See? Nothing a little meditation can't help."

He leaned back in his seat and Mala patted his hand, smiling.

"That was sweet of you."

"It's for us too," he whispered. "I'm not trying to spend hours listening to somebody wailing."

Mala nodded in agreement and was happy to see that his plan had worked. She was able to talk with Dagur late into the night. When the blonde could no longer keep her eyes open, her husband went through their homemade itinerary in his mind, going over each detail. In the morning, they landed, so Dagur gently nudged Mala to wake her. She squinted at the bright light of the plane.

"Most of the others are gone," she commented.

Dagur nodded. "You were sleepy and we still couldn't go anywhere before the people in front got out, so I figured I'd wait."

Mala grinned at him and they left the plane. They went outside, feeling the warm weather.

"Ah, Brazil," Dagur said, grinning. "Just makes you want to swim with caimans."

The blonde chuckled. "That it does. Let's see if we can get a cab."

Dagur tried to attract the attention of a driver, but his slightly too wide smile made them keep going. With a frown, he watched them leave.

"Your turn," he said.

Mala moved forward, raising her hand. She seemed to have the cars immediately stop at her request.

Dagur laughed. "It's official. You're on cab calling duty from now on."

The blonde happily accepted her new role and they got into the vehicle. After a half hour of watching the beautiful sights go past the windows, they pulled up at a resort. They tipped the driver and started to leave.

"Obrigado," Dagur said, surprising Mala.

"You know Portuguese?"

"Studied up on it for the trip. Just don't ask me to have a full on conversation, but I think that if we're about to die, I could talk our way out of it. If not…"

The young man's eyes twinkled and Mala understood what the alternative would be. She was not opposed. They walked by large palm trees and entered a hotel with a wooden interior. After checking in, they went to their room. There was a bed in the center, a television, some chairs, and tables. The main attraction was the balcony and its view of the water. It shimmered in the sunlight and the sounds of soft waves entered their ears.

"I love early flights," Mala said, seeing the bright sun shining over the land. "We still have so much time."

"Same here and oh, do we have plans!"

Dagur rubbed his palms together, having a maniacal chuckle building in him. Mala decided that she probably did not need to be concerned and went to get freshened up for the day. Dagur went after her, then they headed out. They headed out to rent the car, but Mala's name was the one registered for its use. As much as she enjoyed riding with Dagur, she also had no intention of spending time in a prison abroad because he either broke a traffic law or had road rage. The redhead did not mind riding along with her and enjoyed seeing everything. They went and got their shipped belongings, then returned to the hotel to go through what all they might need. Once an oversized backpack was attached to Dagur and a reasonably-sized one was on Mala, they went back to the car. The man pulled out a map.

"You could do that on your phone," Mala commented.

"I could, but I want to get a good feel for this map. There probably won't be much service out in the rainforest, so I'll already know what all these little symbols mean." He brought the map closer to his face until Mala thought it was on his eye. "Oh, it's a snake warning. Well, they don't know we're already prepared! Ha! Okay, turn left."

Following the directions, they arrived at the Amazon Rainforest and parked, seeing trees down further where they could no longer see anything at all.

"What do you think we'll spot first?" Dagur asked.

"Most likely birds. Maybe it will be a toucan."

The couple held hands as they entered the forest. Shortly, Dagur grinned and pointed to a bird with a large, colorful bill.

"You were right!" He spotted a vibrant blue bird flying next to the other avian. "Ooh, and a blue macaw."

Twenty more macaws were with this one, making a blanket of blue cover where there were once trees. The duo watched in awe and then kept going. They stopped when they both noticed some movement in the brush.

"Think Toothless will like knowing we saw a cousin of his?" Dagur asked.

He stayed still as his eyes locked onto a jaguar. This one was not black like his friend, but it was watching them. Mala took in the rest of their surroundings to see where possible places to move were located.

"Perhaps."

After a moment, a loud howl was heard. It intrigued the jaguar, so she decided she did not want to be bothered with them and left.

"Howler monkeys to the rescue I guess," Dagur said, grinning. "Want to look at one?"

Interested, Mala nodded. "I believe that I would."

"Then, let's see what we can find."

Dagur began leading the way deeper into the forest. He pointed at a sloth dangling upside down from a tree branch.

"Not what we were looking for, but still fun."

"Extremely. They are interesting as well. I heard that they have moths in their fur in addition to algae and fungi," Mala revealed.

Dagur made a face. "Guess they never grew out of the 'not wanting to take a bath' phase."

Mala agreed and continued going deeper through the trees. She came up to Dagur's side and looked down at a rushing stream. Before she could ask what he wanted to do, the redhead reached into his backpack and pulled out an inflatable raft. It expanded and he set it on the grass near the water. Dramatically, he bowed and gestured to the item. Mala smiled and sat down, then Dagur pushed on one side so that it moved to the river. He lightly hopped on, hugging Mala around the waist. She laughed and hugged him back. Her eyes lit up when she saw a pink head surface.

"A pink river dolphin," she pointed out.

Dagur grinned and the sea mammal started swimming over to them. Happily, the pair petted its head. It swam off, so Dagur began rowing. A five foot, furry body swam alongside the raft.

"And a giant river otter," the redhead informed his wife.

When they saw a scaly, lumpy body a little distance from them, Dagur rowed faster. He brought them to the edge with land and they got off the raft. A sheepish smile crossed his face.

"Okay, maybe swimming with caimans wouldn't be fun. Not when they're that size at least."

"I am honestly quite relieved to hear you say that," Mala admitted, amused.

They kept going and her amusement increased when Dagur yelped. Something hopped down and landed on his head. Its body was fluffy and it had a bushy, white mustache. Dagur reached up to grab the animal, but it would hop before it could be caught.

"Get back here!"

It went from his shoulder to back to head again. Defeated, Dagur gave up trying to grab the creature. He saw Mala trying her best to not laugh too much at him, but she failed.

"Is it at least cute?"

"It is," she assured him. "It is a bearded emperor tamarin." Mala took a breath to let her voice come out calmer. "Come here, little one."

Quickly but carefully, she caught the tamarin. Dagur grinned at the primate.

"You can't escape Mala!"

The tamarin looked at him, then tensed and scurried off, leaping from Mala's arms. Turning to where it had been looking, Dagur saw the reptile they had grown familiar with in the previous week.

"And this, Malapoo," he said, "is why I like to be prepared for trips."

"Can you tell if it is about to come this way?" Mala asked quietly.

"It's watching that poor tapir over there. We'll be good, but let's not get in the way in case we annoy it."

Speedily, the pair kept going, moving under more trees. They had to use the machetes Dagur brought to cut some of the vines that kept trying to slap them. The sounds of howls acted as their beacon and finally, they saw the monkeys in question. They found the troop, each one picking bugs out of another's fur.

"Aw, now isn't that nice?" Dagur commented, grinning with his hands on his hips. "Over there debugging each other."

Mala chuckled. "I'm not sure if that is the normal meaning of that word, but it does apply marvelously here."

She frowned slightly as the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Something was on her. Dagur noticed the blonde's change of demeanor and visually scanned her body. Moving behind her, he spotted a pink toe tarantula on her neck and whacked it. The tarantula flew into a wide leaf and slid down. Dagur cringed afterwards as he watched the arachnid look like it was limping off.

"Those aren't endangered, are they?"

"No, they're not."

Dagur sighed a breath of relief and they kept walking. They spent the day out here, trying to spot as many creatures as they could. When Mala spotted a poison dart frog, she had to convince Dagur that it was still risky to touch it with a glove on. Aside from that, they did not have too many more close calls with death. The day was moving quickly and Mala stopped.

"We should head back," she said. "We do not want to be stuck out here after dark." A knowing look crossed her face. "Though, I doubt that you would run out of batteries."

"You're right about that, Malapoo. I've got enough to put a store's supply to shame," Dagur declared proudly.

"Still, the nocturnal creatures would know this area far better than we would and I would rather only evade predators during the sunlight hours."

"Good point. I'm cool calling it a day here."

An excited spark was in the redhead's eyes and he held Mala's hand, starting to bring her upwards on a hill.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

The duo continued walking until they reached the top. Dagur's grin did not leave his face and he dug into the backpack again.

"What are you searching for?" Mala inquired, peeking.

To answer the question, Dagur pulled out a black rope. Then, he kept pulling out the rope. Mala's eyes widened as she watched the process.

"How long of a rope did you pack?"

"Long enough to get the job done," Dagur said, smiling. "Walking back would be boring."

Picking up on his meaning, Mala watched as he climbed a tree to tie one of the rope. With a hard tug, Dagur checked to see that the branch was strong. He got down and went back into the bag. Next, he pulled out a collapsible bow and arrow, making Mala want to see what else was in there. Dagur tied the other end of the rope to an arrow and pointed it downwards. Once he found the tree he wanted, he fired his shot. It made a line with the rope. Dagur got a strap to put over the rope, then checked its tautness. Satisfied that it was fine, he winked at Mala. She smiled and went over to him. He scooped her up in one arm and she put both of hers around him. Taking a running start, Dagur jumped off the elevated land and they went down on their makeshift zipline. He let go in time to avoid hitting the tree and released the strap so that he could hold Mala in both arms, nuzzling his face against hers.

"This was fun," the blonde said, smiling happily.

"It's not over yet. After all this trekking, I think you'll enjoy what's next too. This one's at the resort."

Intrigued, Mala went with him to the car, then drove them back. They got the smell of outdoors off them and headed down to the lobby. Dagur walked up ahead to speak with someone, then gestured for Mala to come as well.

"What are we doing now?"

"A couple's spa," Dagur informed her, grinning brightly.

The sound of a massage sounded wonderful after the day spent in the rainforest, so Mala eagerly joined him. The massage therapists were spectacular and even Dagur had to admit that he felt relaxed, which almost made him not relaxed simply because of how strange the concept was. After this, they had the mud bath treatment and sauna. Mala ended hers with getting a manicure, adding a deep burgundy to her nails. Cucumbers were put over their eyes as they were left in the room to relax more for a little. Dagur lifted a cucumber to see if the people were gone, then ate his. With a devious grin, he started getting up from the seat and heading over to Mala. She held up a hand, eyes still covered with the produce.

"I know you are up to something."

"Who? Me? Never. I just want my amazing wife to know how special I think she is."

Mala made a soft sound of doubt as Dagur kissed her cheek. He kissed her forehead next, then her eye felt like it was suddenly lacking a cucumber. She opened her left eye to see Dagur joyfully chewing. He grinned and kissed her forehead again before sucking up the other one. Mala just chuckled and leaned back to enjoy cucumberless relaxation.

"No more spa kisses for you," she said. "That is a new rule."

Dagur made a sad face, which made Mala laugh.

"Do not blame me. You caused this."

They did not stay in the spa for much longer, then traveled to a local restaurant for dinner. Mala realized that Dagur had understated his Portuguese when he was able to get the waitress to give her real opinions on the best menu items. After a meal of cheese bread, Brazilian black rice for Dagur, and seafood stew for Mala, they ended it by sharing a passion fruit mousse. They enjoyed some of the night life out in the city, fascinated by all the new sights. Much later, they got back to the resort. They got ready for slumber and Dagur watched as Mala got into bed.

"So, what did you think of our first day of our first vacation?"

"I thought that it was marvelous," Mala told him. "I am looking forward to what tomorrow will bring."

"It'll be filled up from breakfast to when we're too tired to stand."

"I am certain that will be incredibly enjoyable." The blonde paused, a blush coming to her cheeks. "There is only one way I think today could be better."

Mala gestured for Dagur to come over. He felt anticipation coursing through him and began approaching, then stopped. Turning, he went to their door and put the "Do not disturb" sign on the outside.

"Just in case we don't stick to the strictest schedule," he said, grinning.

Mala smiled as he got into bed and began kissing her. This was definitely going to be the first of many vacations they had.