#post httyd2

Day 3: Ghost

The house was quiet without Stoick living in it. No heavy footsteps, no roaring snores at night, no booming laughter sitting around the fire with Gobber.

The house was quiet, but his presence was still there.

Unbound

Hiccup knew Astrid’s body well before they married.

For many awkward years he knew it through unbridled staring: he’d lurk in the forge and map her figure in his mind’s eyes as she developed. It filled him with shame and lust and then more shame. An early adolescence of self-loathing and want.

Then he knew her eyes. Blue, like the southern seas; like the rockless beds of the Waterlands. He had caught her attention in the worst way. They would pin him with a narrow, dark stare full of judgement and disappointment. Exasperation. The occasional amusement.

Her hands were next. First, shoving, pulling, grabbing, throwing. Angry, frustrated, and fed up. They became fond – seemingly overnight – and he memorized how the pads of her fingers felt against his neck, the feel of her scratchy, moist palm clamped against his, the nails that drew patterns through his scalp.

He learned of her lips, easy to grin and easy to scowl, and oh so warm and sweet. How they would deliver kisses, pithy and drawing, unexpected and well-deserved. How they felt on his shoulders, and on his chest, and on his thighs.

When the time came, he soaked in the weight of her. In his arms, pressed to his body, surrounding him. He witnessed her scars and her freckles and the strength of her core and her fleshy hips and the honey blonde hair ornamenting her body. He fell in love with every piece of her, well before and long after they married.

But never had he been intimate with her whilst her hair was down. Racket meetings on foreign islands, overstepping bounds in moments of privacy, quick and desperate unions on Berk soil… all of them with her braids frayed and loosened, but clearing her face.

Once, by accident, he had seen her with her hair down, and it was an intimate, blessed moment, but a moment he wouldn’t get to repeat until their wedding.

Even now Hiccup stared, a week after consummation, as Astrid ran a brush through her crimped locks in the early dawn. They had nearly three weeks left of hjunottsmanathr, but Hiccup was becoming painfully aware that this would be a rare occurrence for him; he may possibly be the first Night Owl chief and his wife – his traditional, Hooligan wife – was an early-to-bed, early-to-rise sort of gal. Their hours had aligned for the time being, but all too soon duty and habit would come calling.

He vowed in the first couple days that he would use the month to revel in her unbound hair. He would drink in the excitement of having the loose, golden fall brush over him, to witness it splayed across pillows and cascading down her shoulders. He’d even take it now: calm and still, soaking up the morning light as bone teeth ran through her tangles over and over.

His arm reached out and his fingers brushed the heavy mane. Astrid slowed her strokes.

“Hey,” she greeted.

“Hey.” His focus remained on her hair, threading his fingers through the long cut even as his peripheral acknowledged she tried to catch his eye. If he stared long enough, he’d find a pattern to her highlights. Already he tried to gauge its weight, how heavy it felt, thick between his knuckles. There was so much of it he thought it a task in itself to keep it bound.

“I was thinking of trying some new braids…” she let the comment trail and the heat of her scrutiny prickled sharper than the morning sun on his cheek.

“Don’t,” came his immediate response. A moment later he added, “I mean, wait. Please.” He didn’t feel like elaborating further; she was baiting him into banter he didn’t feel like participating in.

Astrid hadn’t bothered tying her hair up since their wedding. He’d sorely miss it when the braids returned. She looked young, fresh, and something of the girl Hiccup had admired from afar – like a beautiful stranger. Except she was his wife now. Perhaps that stemmed his fascination.

He swiped his fingers along her neck as he gathered the mass in one hand. He raked his nails through it, watching as curled strands escaped to rest against exposed, freckled shoulders. He could do this. He could touch her hair, unbound. A small, young part of Hiccup marveled, because ten years ago this very experience was something he hadn’t dare imagine.

Astrid hummed. “If you keep touching my hair, I’ll have to wash it again.”

Hiccup traced the shell of her ear, drawing in wisps.

“Well, it has been about a week, hasn’t it?”

“I hadn’t been keeping track.”

Hey dragon fans !

Follow this link to read the first 9 pages of “The Serpent’s Heir” ! ;-)

Yes it's another one. I wrote a few drabbles in my notebook a while back and I'm just now typing them up. I hope you like it.

Drabble 10 – Snoggletogg Blues

The wooden tree was up and adorned with shields; the wreaths hanging on antlers with bells were above the doors; holly and lanterns decorated buildings; and the smell of hot mead filled the cold air. Snoggletogg was fast approaching. Everyone was full of holiday cheer. Everyone that is, except the chief.

Hiccup was feeling anything but cheerful. Sure, the village was safe, and back to normal… But it was his first Snoggletogg since his father died and the gaping hole he left in Hiccup’s life felt dark and cold and profound. He slumped slightly at his desk and rubbed his eyes with one hand. This was going to be the worst Snoggletogg ever.

And it was Drago’s fault.

Drago was the reason his father was not here. Drago took his family from him. For a few brief shining minutes, they were a family. For a moment everything was going to be alright.

Then Drago ruined it.

Hiccup felt bitter and angry. Drago deserved to suffer. Hiccup wanted to see him suffer, to make him suffer.

But that had not worked well in the past with Viggo. Viggo nearly killed Astrid once and…

Astrid.

He still had his Astrid.

Speaking of…

The door of his hut opened and a fur covered Astrid walked in. She didn’t immediately speak to him. She stoked the fire and hung her fur cape and gave Toothless an affectionate scratch first.

Hiccup could not help a small smile when he saw her. Drago had not taken everything from him. He had Toothless. His best friend in the world. He had his mother, Gobber and his friends. He had Astrid. She turned around and smiled at him, approaching him and putting her arms around his neck and over his shoulders. He leaned into her

“You can’t stay here all holiday. The people want to see their chief. You’re meant to lead the celebrations.” Hiccup opened his mouth to protest. “And I need to see you. It’s Snoggletogg, Hiccup. And I know you’re missing your dad…” He sighed. “But Hiccup… He’d want you to celebrate.”

“Astrid, what have I got to celebrate?”

She punched him in the arm.

“How about the fact that you have Toothless? That the village is safe? That your mother is here? That we got married?!” He shifted awkwardly. “Or the fact that this is our last Snoggletogg just the two of us? Next Snoggletogg we’re going to have a baby with us… Is the fact you’re going to be a father worth celebrating?”

Hiccup looked up at her. There was something sad in her blue eyes. He sighed again. He was such an idiot. He stood up and faced her.

“I’m sorry, Astrid. You’re right. All those things are worth celebrating. Especially our marriage and the pregnancy.” He placed his hands on her belly where the smallest of bumps could be felt. “I just miss him is all.”

“I know you do. But instead of sitting here alone and missing him, come to the hall and raise a toast to him. We can all miss him together.” He smiled weakly at her. “Do something in his honour. Something to help bury the sadness.”

“Please not Yaknog.” Hiccup groaned teasingly. Astrid punched him lightly and grinned. “Ah, alright. Come on, milady.”

*****

Stormfly arrived back a little unexpectedly. Hiccup looked up when she landed and stared. She had babies as expected but… Toothless warbled and approached.

“Oh you are kidding me… Astrid!”

“What? Oh my…”

Toothless nudged a hatchling towards Hiccup. A tiny blue and black Night Fury with a spiky tail like a Nadder. Astrid laughed as she held a dark blue and purple one. Hiccup laughed too, scratching the hatchling’s chin.

“Toothless… You cheeky bugger! Ha… Ah bud… You really never do cease to amaze me.”

“Well this is unexpected.”

“Let’s not tell Fishlegs or he’ll be with us all holiday.”

“Agreed.”

“Dad would have thought this was hysterical.” Hiccup said as the little hatchlings charged around, crashing into things and scrambling up anything they could get their claws into.

“He would. I guess Toothless decided since you’re going to be a dad he wanted to as well!”

“Yeah…”

“Well happy Snoggletogg from Toothless and Stormfly!” Astrid laughed. Hiccup pulled her to him by her waist and rubbed Toothless on the head. Stormfly stood beside Astrid who still held one hatchling, the other two still running around their feet. All three were shades of blue.

“Looks like a blue Snoggletogg.” Hiccup chuckled. He kissed Astrid on the cheek. “Happy Snoggletogg milady. And happy Snoggletogg to our little dragon family!”

He had a family here with the dragons. And growing in Astrid’s belly was the beginning of their own little family.

I’m SO HAPPY I’ve actually finished this piece(es)!!!!! The whole thing took FOREVER but I had great fun doing it and I really, really hope you guys like it! This is inspired by a scene in one of my most loved TV series (Chuck), in episode 4x17 (Chuck VS the First Bank of Evil). Just imagine there are actual enemies on the ground around them - sorry, I was too tired to draw them as well. ^^ You can watch the actual scene here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17MhVB74wfU (from 2:38 to 3:10). Yvonne Strahovski would make such a great  live!Astrid. ^^

Months had passed since Drago’s devastating attack on Berk.

The village, thanks to rather enormous efforts from both Vikings and dragons, was now finally completely repaired, and stood proud and sturdy against the unyielding force of the Northern winter winds that blew as strong as ever.

The repairs being over enabled Hiccup to spend some more time helping Gobber in the forge – something he’d been more or less forced to forgo for a while in the face of much more urgent matters.

Sweat trickled down the young Chief’s brow as he hammered away on an unfinished sword, trying to work as efficiently and as fast as humanly possible. In spite of an underlying, relentless fatigue that made his bones feel heavier than they really were, Hiccup found a sense of peace in the work he was currently engaged in. Whilst it was true that blacksmithing certainly required all his attention lest he wanted to lose another limb, it also allowed him to escape from all other worries that weighed on his mind. Each precise pound of his hammer against the scalding blade before him reverberated in his spirit as if it were his own negative thoughts he was trying to mold into something useful and sharp.

The sun was about to descend into the sea when a particular squawk reached Hiccup’s ears, cutting sharply through his mental fog, and he looked up just in time to see Astrid basically stomp towards the workshop – not unlike Stormfly, actually, and the comparison amused him – whilst muttering what he could only assume were all sorts of swear words he’d rather not repeat out loud.

The young man quickly dumped the sword into the nearby bucket of water, making the metal hiss angrily. Once the blade was cool enough, he retrieved it and carefully placed it alongside the other items he’d managed to take care of that day. After having cleaned his hands and removed his apron, Hiccup made his way to the counter of the workshop to greet his betrothed before she went on a rampage.

“Astrid! What brings you here tonight?”

Apparently, if only for the way her axe hurled through the air and came lodging itself into the wooden beam beside him, the young blonde woman did not deem his welcoming posture and voice sufficient enough for her to calm down.

“Remind me again why I agreed to marry you!” She all but growled, jabbing her pointer finger on his chest for emphasis.

Hiccup chuckled, feeling more amused than annoyed. “And a good evening to you, too, my fair lady!”

“Answer my question, Haddock!”

“Well, technically, it was more of an order than an actual question but –

“HICCUP!”

“Okay, okay!!” Retorted Hiccup, showing both of his palms in a gesture of appeasement. “We agreed to get married because we love each other.”

Just like that, Astrid let out a huge sigh and all the fight in her seemed to leave her body instantly. Turning round, she leaned against the wall of the shop and let herself slide down until she could sit on the grass and draw her knees against her chest.

Hiccup felt like his guts were being drenched with icy water as irrational panic made his heart came to a short stop. She couldn’t have changed her mind, now, could she? He cautiously sat beside her and lightly caressed her arm with all the tenderness he could muster before he spoke again, fear tainting his voice.

“Unless, you know, you don’t…feel that way anymore?”

Astrid’s body recoiled at the idea, as if she’d been struck in the gut, and a look of utter disbelief quickly passed over her face.

“What?!? No, of course not! I love you! Why would you think that I-

The pointed look Hiccup was giving her made her stop in her tracks and she quickly backpedaled, choosing instead to lace her fingers through his in a gesture of comfort and reassurance. Leaning over to his side, she kissed him gently, several times, mumbling soft apologies against his lips and to say he was utterly confused would have been the understatement of the year.

“I don’t understand,” was all the young Chief of Berk could tell his fiancée when she parted her mouth from his own.

She sighed again, more for herself it seemed, but nodded her comprehension. “It’s because of my Dad.”

The thought of Arvarodd Hofferson getting on his daughter’s nerves seemed so strange to Hiccup that he couldn’t prevent his eyebrows from shooting upwards in astonishment. If anything, Astrid and Arvarodd were very close and the latter had only ever displayed obvious pride for the former.

“What about him?”

“He’s being…over-enthusiastic about us.”

“How is that a bad thing?”

“Hiccup! He’s constantly bragging about my mundr, stating how valuable he apparently always knew I would be! As if I were no more than a freaking yak!”

The young man smiled, amused again, and affectionately pecked Astrid’s cheek, nuzzling his nose in her hair. “An unbelievably gorgeous-looking yak, if I may say so myself,” was all he could comment upon before she elbowed him in the ribs, making him yelp in pain.

“Ow! What was that for, woman?!”

Gods help him, she actually snorted at that. “Well, what do you think, genius?!”

“Do you even realize I’m your Chief?”

Astrid shook her head tolerantly before cracking a smile, her eyes shining with unhidden affection and mischief. This woman, Hiccup knew, would be the death of him someday.

“Seriously though,” he continued, “Is your mundr the only reason your father is upsetting you?”

Astrid’s eyes narrowed dangerously but she otherwise remained non-violent…for the time being. “Is that not enough?”

“Hey, I’m just trying to understand. Please don’t bite my head off.”

“…”

“Astrid?”

“Sorry. You’re right. And no, it’s not the only reason. Both of my parents, but especially my Dad, have been pestering me about learning how to be a good wife and I just – I snapped, Hiccup. I mean, I don’t mind learning about all that stuff, really, I don’t, but I don’t want to focus on that only either! I’m a warrior first, you know that, right?”

“Of course.”

“Right. So that’s what I told them, and then my Dad had to go and remind me I was going to marry the Chief and that, as such, I needed to set an example for all other women on the island.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“And then?”

“Nothing. I just grabbed my axe, slammed the door and came to see you. I was so furious, Hiccup.”

The young man could not help but laugh at that last part. “Really? I never noticed.”

Astrid looked down for a second, a faint blush coloring her cheeks. “I’m sorry, Babe. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

Hiccup just waved his hand dismissively, indicating she was already forgiven. She smiled in response and cuddled closer to him, laying her head on his shoulder, never letting go of his warm hand. A long moment passed before either of them felt any kind of need for conversation.

Eventually, though, Hiccup lightly squeezed Astrid’s fingers to get her attention.

“What are you going to do now?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean with your Dad.”

The blonde huffed, clearly unimpressed with the question the man she loved was asking her and not necessarily happy at the prospect of having to answer it.

“I don’t know,” was her reply, for she did not want to dwell on that topic for much longer. She’d much rather have returned to their wordless cuddling session.

“I think you should go back to your Dad and explain how you feel and why. Just try to make amends, Astrid.”

“What?!” cried the blonde, her anger visibly returning at full speed.

“You heard me the first time.”

“If I go back right now, we’re only going to end up quarreling some more! So why should I do that?”

Hiccup frowned, displeased, and let go of her hand as he rose to his feet in bitter silence. Never one to back down from a fight, Astrid immediately imitated him before reiterating her question.

“Go on, tell me, Hiccup! Why should I do that?”

The young man contemplated her severely for a second, and she was surprised to realize how much she hated it when he looked at her that way. Finally, his shoulders slumped and he sighed, exhaustion visible in every move he made.

“Time is a fleeting shadow, Astrid. You should make the best of it while you can.”

“What does that even mean?”

The Chief of Berk smiled sadly as one of his hands brushed against his beloved’s cheek before he turned away from her and slowly made his way towards the Great Hall, but not before she could hear his answer, and Astrid honestly never could have anticipated how words so softly spoken could feel like such a slap in the face.