#fishlegs

The entire gang was gathered around a bonfire near the Edge's shore- Ruff and Tuff were (once again) arguing about where their boar pit would be (nowhere as long as Hiccup was alive), Fishlegs was talking Astrid's ear off about a new dragon's dropping patterns and Snotlout was talking to his reflection in the water.

Hang in there, Astrid.

The gathering had started as a means for Hiccup to discuss with the others about their plans for the next month- plans that had very quickly derailed. You sympathized, really, you did, but your brain had no bandwidth to put your mind to work about battle strategies and ship plans that day.

It had been a long day.

First, the baby Terrible Terrors had decided you were their new litterbox. Then, the new Monstrous Nightmare caught on fire while you were helping to clean it, earning you a nasty burn on your hand. A burn further amplified when you accidentally touched Hiccup's sword. Then Toothless had sneezed on you- which took forever to clean off. Not even an hour later, Hookfang- well you get the point. You just wanted a break.

Just the memory of the day made you slump where you sat on a log next to Hiccup, your head lolling onto his shoulder.

"Tired?" Hiccup asked softly, just for you to hear. You nodded, shifting closer. His arm instinctively wrapping around you, he pulled you closer still. A touch of his lips to your temple- not even a kiss, just a tiny, almost imperceptible, larger-than-life show of love and care and protectiveness.

"Can we go somewhere else?" you asked in a low voice. Hiccup looked around for a moment- yeah, they weren't discussing any battle strategies today. "Yeah," he said, standing up and taking your hand, "let's go."

Everyone noticed but decided against saying anything.

You trudged up the familiar path through the woods to the cliffside you always resorted to when things got loud- Hiccup somehow knew exactly where you wanted to go. Even before you did.

He lowered himself onto the edge, his feet dangling, and patted the spot next to him. You sat down with a sigh- not one of annoyance but one of relief. Like you exhaled all your tiredness and worries away just because you were next to Hiccup. Your head found his shoulder again- like it had a mind of its own and innately knew where to seek refuge.

The both of you just existed, not weighed down by anything. Like that moment could just exist by itself and nothing else mattered. Not dragon hunters, not Dagur, not Stoick's looming conversation about becoming chief, not undiscovered lands. Just you.

After a while of that peace, Hiccup shot up. Scrambling to his feet with that look in his eyes you knew oh so well. The look that meant he had an idea. More often than not a life-threatening, knee-weakening, air-buzzing idea.

"Wait, come on, I have an idea," he said pulling you to your feet.

"Hicc, no, I'm tired," you said- dragging out the last syllable.

"Please just trust me," he says with those dang glassy, irresistible eyes.

He walked to the direction of the stables and you begrudgingly trailed behind.

"Hurry up," he said and you gave him an annoyed look because this wasn't even your idea. He sighed and turned around walking toward you. He kneeled in front of you with his back facing you and said, "hop on."

You walked the rest of the way to the stables laughing and joking and content.

When you got there, you hopped off and ran to Toothless who let out a low, happy rumble seeing you. Hiccup watched his two best friends bond like family and couldn't help the grin that broke out. When the two of you finally finished your long-awaited reunion (you had seen him two hours ago), Hiccup revealed his plan.

If you can call it that. It was just a ride on Toothless. An almost daily occurrence. But you both needed it. The peace and quiet.

When you got Toothless outside, Hiccup got on and stretched out a hand to you.

"Milady/ Good sir," he said, lowering his head then looking up past his hair in front of his eyes with the Hiccup Haddock Grin™. You got on and Toothless took off.

You would never get over it. Being airborne. The sheer thrill that came from being thousands of feet of the ground- to which you could plummet to at any given moment. The wind lapping at your face like waves would the shore. The only sounds the sea and the gusts of wind. It still got you every time.

You stayed quiet together. Something you always appreciated you and Hiccup could be. With him, you didn't feel the need to fill gaps in conversation or anything of that sort. It was more intimate than anything could be.

You turned around and planted a kiss on his cheek and met his eyes as he smiled down at you, tightening his hold on you as you turned back around to face the sea.

Soon, Hiccup recognized the uniformity of your breaths. You had fallen asleep against his chest.

He pressed a kiss to your head. No chaos of the edge, no dragons lighting things on fire, no sheep on fire, no imminent chiefhood. Just love and peace.

additional note: AGH i'm sorry i took so long. Finals are upon us. It's not very good- the creative juices werent flowing very well. but