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It has been almost half an hour now and Hiccup is still nowhere to be found. Everyone in the gang has already arrived at the clubhouse to have their breakfast. Even Snotlout who is notorious for being the last to wake up every morning is already stuffing his mouth with his second serving of yak butter sandwich but…
“Where’s Hiccup? Isn’t he always the first person who arrives here every morning to do his drawing so that he wouldn’t wake Toothless up with the light?” Snotlout asked, his question hard to be heard with only muffled noises coming from his mouthful of sandwich.
“How are you supposed to know who arrives here first every morning when you’re always the last to get up from your bed?” Fishlegs replied, questioning the validity of Snotlout’s presumption.
“Well, that’s because I actually heard it from… Rrrgghh… shut up, Fishface!” Snotlout stopped upon realising that his point wasn’t going anywhere before sucking his fingers clean of the butter that dripped from his sandwich.
“Actually, I’m the one who usually arrives here first every morning.” Tuffnut pointed out. “Chicken is an early riser and I have to feed her her favourite chicken feed and give her daily wing massages before she starts off the day.” Tuffnut added on as he dragged a finger across Chicken’s back and ran it down her spine, earning a fit of delighted clucks from his feathery companion.
“What? That’s the reason why you’ve been waking up so early these days? I thought you were suffering from insomnia like Uncle Gorstag!” Ruffnut exclaimed.
“Hah! Please, Ruffnut. If I was suffering from insomnia, I would have been behaving disturbingly eccentric by now.” Tuffnut chortled.
“And since when were you ever not disturbingly eccentric? You have a pet other Vikings would kill to eat.” Astrid shot a gaze at him.
*GASP*
“How dare you mention that Chicken is a Viking’s favourite meal! Never mention that again! You’ll give her nightmares! And I’m sure we all know what happens if Chicken has a nightmare!”
“Let me guess, you’ll have a nightmare as well?” Snotlout stated, unfazed by Tuffnut’s exaggerated warning.
“Yes! Wait.. How did you know?”
“Oh, wow! Really? That was honestly just a guess.” Snotlout said, pretending to be amazed.
“And we all know what happens if I have a nightmare, right?” Tuffnut continued warning the gang.
“I would be at a potentially dangerous risk of becoming permanently deaf because your screams are equally as loud and piercing as a Thunderdrum!” Ruffnut yelled to express her exasperation.
“Oh, so you think my screams are terrible? Have you ever heard your own…”
“Enough! Where’s Hiccup? We’re supposed to be training by now!” Astrid asserted, gaining the attention of everyone seated around the table.
“Maybe he overslept? I mean he does that from time to time, especially whenever he’s working on something till late at night in the forge.” Fishlegs raised a finger to suggest his point.
“Hmm… I don’t think so Fishy, what if something terrible happened to his hut last night? Maybe let’s say a hurricane? Or maybe his hut was struck by lightning by Odin himself!” Tuffnut burst into laughter as he shared his ridiculous answers.
“That’s impossible. If there was a storm last night all of us would have felt it.” Fishlegs affirmed.
“Maybe it was a storm that happened in his hut. You know, those small personal clouds that Loki randomly puts over your head so that you’ll be the only one who is… under the weather.” Tuffnut struggled to contain his laughter behind closed mouth as he watched his sister deliver the finishing line.
“Aarrghh.. The two of you are ridiculous! What has Hiccup been working on this time? I’ve told him many times to never put work before sleep. He’s going to wear himself out one day if I don’t keep an eye on him.” Astrid shot up from her chair and marched out of the clubhouse to go look for Hiccup.
“Why does she have to be so concerned over Hiccup’s sleeping habits? Can’t she just let a man decide how he wants to live?” Snotlout commented.
“Well, Astrid is known to be quite motherly at times.” Ruffnut teased.
“Heh! She’s never been motherly to me.” Snotlout pouted with arms crossed over his chest.
“Poor Hiccup, he might be the chief of Berk someday. But still, he can never escape the onslaught of naggings he’s going to receive from that little fireball, especially with the two of them planning to get married in the future.” Tuffnut shook his head with a laugh.
Meanwhile at Hiccup’s…
“Hiccup? Are you awake? Hiccup?” Astrid knocked repetitively onto the front door of his hut to draw his attention.
“Yeah, I’m up, Astrid. Come on in.” Hiccup responded, a short yawn trailing at the end of his sentence.
“Whoa, what happened here? This place looks like the Great Hall right after a Snoggletog party.” Astrid stated as she walked into the hut completely unrecognisable, the neat and organised items Hiccup usually hangs on the wall all spread aimlessly onto the floor, his closet spilling with clothes he had just washed and his weapons not in tack on the section of the wall where he uses as his armoury.
“I guess Ruffnut’s silly under the weather joke isn’t so silly after all.” Astrid thought to herself.
“Yeah, it was certainly quite a party, don’t you think? Someone sure had lots of fun last night.” Hiccup dragged the length of his last sentence, making an eye roll at the same time to indicate his sarcasm.
“Judging from the grouch in your voice, I assume you didn’t enjoy the party? Who’s the party planner? And why weren’t any of us invited?” Astrid teased.
“Well, you can blame the guilty dragon hiding in the corner of the room for failing to send out the invitation letters.” Hiccup riveted his gaze towards the Night Fury sulking apologetically with both paws above his head, using them as eye shields to cover the shame on his face even though he knows very well that it’s not working the way he intends it to.
“Aww, poor fella. What did you say to him? Whatever criticisms you’ve given him, he must not have taken it lightly.” Astrid walked towards the said dragon to caress the top of its head. Toothless looked up to see who it was with his eyes peeking between the gaps of his claws but immediately closed them together to hide his face and continue in his glum.
“Well, he deserved it. Look at all the mess he made.” Hiccup gestured at the wide array of miscellaneous items scattered all over the floor. Not a single item in Hiccup’s hut was where it’s supposed to be. Even Astrid had to be careful not to accidentally step onto any of his belongings when she walked towards Toothless just now.
“You sure none of this was partially your fault?” Astrid snickered. “I mean you were probably enjoying the party as much as he did, weren’t you?”
“If by enjoy you mean being the person who cleans up the mess after the party, then yes!” Hiccup’s grouchy tone grew thicker by the second.
Astrid could go on firing irking questions at him and Thor knows when will she eventually stop if she continues on like this. She has a habit of being playful around Hiccup after all.
Another second or two went by before Hiccup continued, “So are you going to just stand there and side with the guilty dragon and watch me clean this mess myself or what?”
“Heh, don’t need to be so cranky. Of course I’ll help.” Astrid scoffed before she walked forward to pick up a piece of miniature figure from the floor and put it into Hiccup's Maces and Talons game set.
“Thank you, Astrid. Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you. I didn’t really get a good sleep last night with Toothless jumping all over the place, so… that’s why.”
“Don’t need to apologise, I was just being playful. I didn’t know you had a lack of sleep last night because of Toothless.” She flashed him a smile. “So, care to fill me in on what actually happened in your hut last night?"
"Fireflies." Hiccup said bluntly.
“Fireflies? Are you cracking a joke right now? Because if you’re trying to get me to laugh, you need to try harder.” Astrid snorted, contempt filling her voice.
"Please Astrid, you know my jokes are much better than this." Hiccup shook his head with a smile.
"You're obviously giving yourself more credit than you deserve."
"Well, can't blame a Viking for trying to impress a girl, can you?" Hiccup chuckled, making Astrid's heart flutter like a butterfly when the sound reached her ear. Sweet Freyja, it has been three months now since she and Hiccup had sealed their relationship through their betrothal and every single time, his laughter never fail to make her heart skip like a fish caught on land. To say she was engrossed with his voice was an understatement.
“But seriously, a group of fireflies caused all these.” Hiccup repeated. His smile faded away to emphasise his seriousness.
“And how exactly?” The blonde arched her brow.
“Remember when we were going out on patrol last week?”
“You mean when we pretended to go out on patrol?” She smirked.
“What? No we didn’t. We...”
“Just accept it, Hiccup. We were caught red-handed when Snotlout and those two muttonheads followed us to that island and totally ruined our date.” Astrid almost snapped the pencil she was holding in half as she fumed over the incident last week.
“Well, technically, they were nice enough to let us have our time before they err..”
“Light Snotlout’s butt on fire so that he will look like a giant firefly?”
“Yeah, that.” Hiccup said sheepishly.
“But it was a nice island to visit though, the forest was dark and windy. The moon was glowing above the clouds. The insects were each making their own individual noises. And there we are, surrounded by a thousand tiny flickering lights that dazzled like..”
“The blue in your eyes.” Hiccup interrupted, earning a pause from Astrid as she stared blankly at him.
“Err… sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt…”
“I was about to say like the stars in the skies but… that was sweet.” The blonde tugged a lock of hair behind her ear. Her cheeks a visible shade of pink as she stared idly at the items spread across the boring wooden floor. She picked up one of Hiccup’s sketchbooks and suddenly remembered why they were talking about the island in the first place.
“So, what exactly happened last night? You still haven’t explained how Toothless going crazy and turning your whole hut upside down is related to fireflies.”
“Long story short, a grist of fireflies somehow entered my hut last night. And since Toothless is known to behave like an overgrown cat, he was leaping all over the place trying to catch them in his paw.” Hiccup sighed as he took the sketchbook from Astrid’s hand and placed it on a table.
“Oh, yeah, I forgot Toothless likes catching things with light. He was so lost in his own world that night that Stormfly ended up spending most of her time watching him chase after those fireflies instead of playing with him. Aww, poor girl. Fortunately, Stormfly wasn't alone for long since Snotlout and the twins were there to entertain her. But how did those fireflies enter your hut in the first place? We don’t have any fireflies flying around our island.”
“I’m not sure but if I have to guess… it’s probably the twins. They probably went back to that island to pull this prank on me knowing that Toothless would behave like this to turn my hut into a mess.” Hiccup slapped his face with his palm.
“Ugh... those muttonheads. No wonder why they were both cackling at the clubhouse just now. It’s a good thing I’m here to help. Come on, the sooner we get this place cleaned up, the sooner you’ll forget this mess ever happened.” Astrid gave him a firm pat on the shoulder, turning the frown on Hiccup's face upside down.
OOOOOOOO
“Alright, that’s it. I’m done arranging the weapons in your armoury. Do you need help with anything else? I see you’ve gotten all the different variations of Toothless’ tail all hung up as well. What are you still busy with?” Astrid questioned as she walked up the flight of stairs to his loft, seeing Hiccup knelt onto the floor with a few piles of fabric arranged neatly in front of him.
“Oh, just folding my clothes before I put them into my closet. I forgot to ask but are my books arranged on the shelf as well?”
“Of course, I’ve made sure everything on the lower deck is all sorted out according to the way it’s supposed to be. That’s why I came up here to check on you.” Astrid sauntered over to where Hiccup was before she knelt next to him.
“Why, thank you, m’lady. I just need to get these clothes into the closet and I’ll be done.”
Just as Hiccup was putting one of the piles of clothing into the closet, Astrid took notice of something, an article of clothing that stood out from the rest.
“Is that…”
Astrid grabbed the green tunic placed on the very top of the pile to examine the said item. It was one of Hiccup’s old tunic, the one he used to wear years ago while he was still Gobber’s blacksmith apprentice, the green fabric he used to wear while she was still taller than him. The material was still soft and in excellent condition. There were no extra holes, no threads coming out of place and most importantly, not eaten by moths. She couldn’t believe how well Hiccup had preserved his old tunic. It looks and feels almost as new as his other newer ones. Astrid wasn’t sure what random tricks her mind was playing on her at that time but she suddenly felt a strong urge to bring the material towards her nose and gently sniff it. So that’s what she did.
It didn’t smell bad… No, far from it. But the smell wasn’t particularly good either. It just smells… Hiccup.
His odour, the scent of the forest, ashes accumulated from years of blacksmithing, his sweat that was constantly absorbed and washed away from the fabric. Such a variety of combinations shouldn’t make a tunic smell this good… at least that’s what Astrid’s common sense was telling her. But taking another sniff from the material, she can’t help but find a particular liking towards it. Something about this smell captured her. It was as though breathing in the very essence of Hiccup himself just feels… refreshing.
She liked the smell coming from the green fabric. There’s no denying it. Heck, she even found herself subconsciously taking in several breathfuls of the material as though her lungs could never get enough of it! What’s wrong with her?
Stopping herself from endlessly breathing in his tunic, Astrid forced the tunic away from her face and unfolded it to spread it over her front, seeing if it really was the same old tunic she recognised as she examined the size.
“Is that what, Astrid?” Hiccup questioned, his head still in the vacuum of his partially filled closet.
“This! I can’t believe you still have this!” Astrid exclaimed, her eyes glancing over the fabric to and fro to see how the old tunic fits with her slim frame.
“What are you talking about? You sounded like you just found a treasure in my… Oh! Oh… umm… Why are you holding my old tunic?” Hiccup turned around and was met with the image of Astrid holding his green tunic in her hands, spreading the material across her shapely body. His mind wondered what in Thor's name was Astrid doing with it, holding his old tunic as though she was trying on a new set of clothes at the market.
“Why do you still have this? Who are you keeping it for? Our children?” Astrid teased, rendering the one-legged Viking speechless and instantly flustered as his cheeks flushed into a deep shade of red. Gods! No matter how many times Astrid has brought up the topic of building a family together with him, he can never not talk to her about ‘their children’ without his face turning into an oversized strawberry.
“No…no! That’s not what I had in mind but… But that could work!” Hiccup coughed the words out, his hand instinctively scratching the back of his head as Astrid smirked contentedly at the reaction she managed to get from him. He still wasn’t comfortable talking to her about the topic of ‘family’ but… that’s okay. He just needs time to get used to it. But as for now, she’s using it to her own advantage to make him all flustered and worked up whenever the opportunity presents itself.
“That’s sweet.” She smiled. “But really, what’s this tunic still doing here? Sitting in your closet and taking up unnecessary space.”
“Well, I… err… didn’t want to get rid of it even though I outgrew it years ago. So, that’s why I still have it kept.”
Astrid exchanged glances between Hiccup and the tunic and couldn’t help but grow curious to know how much his body had changed in just a short span of four years.
“Let’s see how this tunic goes on you now.” Astrid smirked as she walked towards Hiccup to spread the tunic over his body.
A surprised gasp escaped her lips when she saw how short the tunic was compared to his current height. It wasn’t that short when she spread it over her body. Had the tunic just shrunk? Or was she that short this whole time? Sure she knew she was much shorter than Hiccup this whole time but still… She didn’t notice he had grown this much since puberty decided to hit him like a mace to the head. Heck, she still remembered those days when she had to tilt her head down to look into his eyes.
Has he really grown that much? She splayed her hands over the different parts of his body, sliding her hand down from his shoulder to his wrist and then to his chest. He has grown so much. He was no longer the little dork who could be easily picked on anymore. Now, he’s a grown man. A leader. A strategist. And… her boyfriend.
“Wow, look at you. So tall and handsome. You’ve grown so much. Especially your shoulders, they’re much broader now. And your arms, they don’t look so wiry anymore.” Her eyes followed wherever her hands went as she continued observing Hiccup with deep interest.
Who knew that the scrawny little Viking Astrid only saw as cute back then would turn into a walking wet dream in just four years time. Although most of his physical features have changed, his character certainly didn’t. He was still the same Hiccup she always had a crush on. Just… much hotter. Plus, he belongs to her now.
“Err… yeah, I guess all those years of blacksmithing did actually help me gain a few bits here and there. But I’m still a Hiccup, just… taller and a little bigger.” Hiccup commented as he observed the way Astrid seemed to be drooling all over his body even though he still doesn’t look anything close to his father or the other stronger and more muscular Vikings back on Berk. Perhaps lanky boys with wiry arms are just her type. Or maybe she just loves him for who he really is.
“Yeap, you still are a Hiccup and will forever be. That’ll never change. And I’ll never want you to stop becoming a Hiccup because I love you, Hiccup. I just love you for you know, being you.” She placed a hand over his chest and smiled, an action she does instinctively to show her affection towards him.
“I know. I love you for being you too, Astrid.” He whispered into her ear.
“Anyway, I don’t suppose you could still wear this, right?” She looked at the tunic then looked back at him.
“No, I mean I technically could but... It’s too short for me.”
“Well, how about if I try it?” Hiccup didn’t even have a chance to respond and the next thing he knew, Astrid’s shoulder armour had already dropped to the floor and the piece of green tunic was now worn over her body.
“So, how do I look?” Astrid gave her body a twirl to allow Hiccup to have a better look.
Hiccup's brain was utterly fried, like a rotisserie chicken over a fire pit. Astrid was drop-dead gorgeous wearing his dull and boring tunic. The tunic didn’t even fit perfectly. It was slightly baggy, so not the type of clothing Astrid usually preferred, which is a skin-tight tunic that fits her shapely body just right so that she wouldn’t feel the drag from the extra space in her tunic while she’s doing her training. Besides, her tight tunic which brings out the shape of her well-defined breasts even bothered Hiccup so much that he had to constantly restrain himself from looking anywhere below eye level when Astrid was being extra flirty with him. Although Astrid never expressly mentioned it, Hiccup was sure that’s one of the other reasons why Astrid likes wearing tight clothes that make her body stand out, the lady loves it when she is able to draw his undivided attention to herself.
With that goddess-like body, Hiccup will never want to see Astrid wearing any loose-fitting clothes. It will only cover up her true beauty. At least that’s what he thought. But looking at her now, it looks like he has a sudden change of mind. For some inexplicable reason, she looks so achingly attractive in that thing. He was crushing on her all over again. The way those long sleeves covered up her normally sleeveless arms, and the way his tunic hung loosely around her body like an outer garment, she looks like she’s wrapped cosily in a nice warm blanket he made specially for her. She seemed to be enjoying it immensely too, feeling all warm and cosy wearing his tunic. It was as though she basically belonged there, like she was always meant to wear his tunic. To add on, the fact that Astrid was wearing his tunic like her own felt really personal.
“Like you're a part of me…” He gasped without realising the words that fell out of his mouth. “Uhh... I mean… It's perfect! It looks great!” Hiccup quickly brushed off the last sentence when he realised how awkward it probably sounded when he said it out loud.
"You know, I love being a part of you. Wearing this tunic makes me feel like you’re always holding me in your arms. It feels endearing to have something so tangible and personal from you such as a tunic. Are you sure it doesn’t fit you? It looks pretty nice on me.”
“Yeah, it doesn’t. The tunic suits you more. Probably because you’re… uhck-uhhm..” Hiccup pretended to clear his throat. “Shorter than me.” He sneered, emphasising the height difference between the two of them as he towered his gangling figure over her.
“You do realise I’m only half a head shorter than you. So that doesn’t make you that much taller than me.” She glared daggers at him for regarding her as short.
“Unfortunately it does, m’lady.” He smirked victoriously, earning himself a surprised yelp when Astrid suddenly grabbed him by the collar and flipped his body over to make him land flat onto the floor.
“Well, now I’m taller than you.” Astrid looked down, pleased with herself for teaching Hiccup to know his place.
“Haha, very funny.” Hiccup groaned lightly as Astrid helped him up the floor.
“I’ll go to the clubhouse to prepare a yak butter sandwich for you. Make sure to come right over to have your breakfast once you’re done sorting your clothes.”
“Thank you, Astrid. I really appreciate the help. I’ll meet you at the clubhouse soon. I should be able to finish arranging my clothes the moment you’re done making my yak butter sandwich.”
Astrid smiled before removing the green tunic she had been wearing and picked up her shoulder pads to buckle them back into place.
“Oh, and by the way, I’m keeping this.” She folded the green fabric nicely before waving it at him.
“Uhh… sure. It’s all yours. But why do you want it though?”
“This makes a very good nightwear. Plus, it reminds me of you.” She winked at him before walking down the stairs.
Hiccup stared at her with admiration as he watched her descend from the loft, silently muttering to himself. “She really is something else, huh, bud? Bud? Oh, I forgot. He’s still hiding downstairs. I need to apologise to that dragon. Hey bud!”