#ecoutez

Chapter 67 - Tomorrow and Everything After 

Astrid had little time to change after a day of flying, distributing food, flying again, assigning tasks, and helping Sigrid and Gothi. Her home was silent when she ran through the door and leapt up the stairs to her room. She unbraided her hair and combed it quickly, leaving it loose while she dressed. Her clothing still carried the scent of the cavern, she noticed, as she set it aside, rushing around her room, sprinting through her preparations.

But it was when the sunlight through her window lit her skin that she stopped moving and breathed deeply.

She looked down at her body, reliving moments of sensation and thrill, as if her skin were a map of hidden pleasure and invisible memories hidden in softened marks and secret tenderness.

She’d seen Ruff from the air, and signaled to meet her behind the stables, hoping Ruff would be able to ditch her brother long enough to talk. They’d had a few scant minutes, but it was enough to align their stories should they be asked about their night, though Ruff was very sure they wouldn’t be.

Before she’d run off to avoid her brother, whom they could hear thundering toward them through the village, Ruff had said, “Now, remember what I asked you. Oh, and do you want those pages back?” Her voice was teasing but kind.

“Pages? Oh, no. No, thanks.”

She recalled them perfectly. And she wanted to go back to the cavern to experience what she recalled.

But there was a celebration to attend. One more before life went back to how it had been, but a little better now. Or a lot better.

Read on: ff.net | AO3

A note from me: 

I am not sure if I can even post an excerpt, since it links to a work with spicy content, but hey, friends. New chapter! 

The changing light caught his attention, and he couldn’t look away.

As much as he didn’t want to notice or remain aware of it at all, time was passing. It seemed as if the hours were flying by faster the longer they stayed. The light in the cavern didn’t change dramatically, but he could tell that it was nearly morning, that the time they had left to themselves was coming to an end. That last day, the last day of feasting, when Hoark and Turid went into seclusion, would end the celebration. Their guests would leave, and the island would return to normal. As normal as Berk ever was, anyway.

They would find more time to be alone together, he knew, but not for awhile. And not for this long, unless Ruffnut managed to distract the entire tribe. He didn't want to think about what that would look like, and how much fire or yak butter would be involved.

Astrid was curled on his chest, her breathing beginning to slow. He didn’t want this time with her to end. He didn’t want to leave. But they’d have to head back to Berk, to the feast that would end the wedding celebration.

He still had one more gift for her, the "armor" he’d teased her about, but he wasn’t sure how, or when he should tell her.

Her voice interrupted his attempts at estimating their remaining time, and planning how to spend it. “Can we go into the hot springs for a bit?”

They looked at pages together, one after another. Hiccup repeatedly asked her about different illustrations. The look on his face, the way he focused on her when she spoke, or on the page when she pointed to an image, was intoxicating. As was the fact that he never stopped touching her, like contact with her was vital to him.

She’d flipped through the Not Dragons, and looked at the pages Ruff had given her, but looking at this book with Hiccup beside her was an entirely different experience. It transformed knowledge she’d had and a handful of pictures she hadn’t learned much from into a collection of ideas that made her insatiably curious.

A few times, he was confused by an illustration, or about what an image was trying to describe. She was happy, eager to explain the answer - her answer, anyway. It was delightful and humbling to be able to explain what she knew, especially since each question led to more questions, and more answers.

And sometimes the answers made them stop reading for a while.

Read on: FF.net | AO3 

Hiccup woke up from a deep, almost disorienting nap some time later, not sure of where he was until he saw Astrid curled onto her side, facing him, the book open in front of her. She was watching him closely, watching the moment he woke up, a quiet, piercing intimacy he savored. Her smile curled warmth around his heart.

He drank some water, then, passing some to her outstretched hand, he rolled over onto his side to face her.

"It's funny," Astrid said, her voice quiet. She put the water aside and pulled at her lower lip as she looked at a page of incredibly complicated maneuvers.

“What’s funny?”

She glanced up at him, then back at the page in front of her. “I can’t stop reading this book.”

Her smile was quick, but instead of tempting or sly, it seemed tentative. Vulnerable.

Moments passed before she spoke again. “I really didn’t think I would….”

He waited after she stopped speaking, but she didn’t continue.

"You didn't think you’d what?”

She tilted her head, then turned a page, and he recalled what she'd said hours earlier. That it was so much more interesting ‘now.’

“You weren’t…curious?”

“Oh, I was curious, a little, but not until…not for myself. I didn’t think I’d ever want to.”

They stood in the darkness inside the doorway to the cavern, looking at the too-bright world outside.

“Definitely morning.”

“Yeah.”

Neither of them moved. Hiccup leaned against the rock wall behind him, shifting the weight from his prosthetic to adjust the cuff without touching it. Astrid slid her hands around his waist and leaned into him. He put his arm around her. She rested her head on his shoulder, savoring how his touch, the feel of his body against hers made her shiver but also made her feel calm, welcome. Safe.

“Thank you.” Her voice was a bare whisper.

He didn’t answer at first, and she thought maybe he hadn’t heard her.

Then his arms tightened around her, and again she reveled in the strength, the resilience, physical and emotional, that he carried but kept partially concealed from the world. “Thank you.”

Stepping into the sunlight would mean going back to Berk, separating after so many hours when they were able to touch one another with little effort.

She didn’t like it. “This isn’t the end.”

They curled together beneath the furs and beneath the shadows of their cave, her head on his shoulder, her fingertips idly tracing the line of his shoulder and arm. She could feel him following the coil of her braid, still wound against her head. It hadn’t taken them long at all to reach agreement, or orgasm.

She frowned.

Honestly, the way his mind worked. Challenging him to take his place. What had he been thinking?

She thought back again over their match. They’d definitely scored points against one another that hadn’t been seen by Hoark or anyone in the crowd.

Something about that bothered her still. Not the challenge part.

That was ridiculous.

But her mind wouldn’t stop replaying the match, going over specific hits they’d scored against one another.