#astrid is many things and shy is not one of them

[luvendiary]

👁👁 I'm the anon that asked for a silent/non-talker reader fic with hiccup many many moons ago, but if you still write for him, could it be with a prompt where reader's still not much of a talker on some days but would like to still passionately communicate, therefore inventing a sort of sign language system with hiccup under gothi's supervision, and maybe put in a bit about how stoick knows of their relationship (i visited this hole of fondness in my brain again, forgive me)

a/n: dearest anon. I am so sorry for gettin back to you so late. I haven't been writing much lately, but your request helped me sort of rekindle my love for it. I've been spending way to much time on my phone instead of doing the things I like. I'll try to put out more writing. i'm sorry if the ending is a bit janky, im a little out of practice. also, i don't know much about asl, so i apologize for any mistakes. thank you for your request!

Sweetest of Melodies (pt. 2)

pt. 1

The sound of soft humming flooded the room. You were so focused on the soft lulling sound that came from your throat that you were unaware that the place had gone quiet. When you did, however, you found that all eyes were on you, making you retract your head into your shoulders as the signs of embarrassment appeared on your face. You silently reached out for Hiccup’s hand in order to seek some sort of comfort.

‘Sorry’, you wanted to say, but your words failed you at the moment. You had come a long way since allowing yourself to speak more freely in front of the riders. That didn’t mean that you were still totally comfortable with letting yourself be heard. Instead, you liked being able to hear yourself better; that’s what most of your words were meant for anyway. For you to hear them.

“You should sing more often,” Astrid said as if it was no big deal. You appreciated her nonchalant attitude, it made you feel less judged. You knew the riders didn’t have bad intentions, it was probably still a little strange to hear you make a sound, which prompted their current reaction. But years of overthinking made you jump to the worst possible scenario, even if you knew it wasn’t true.

In return you offered her a shy smile. Hiccup sensed your discomfort and did his best to steer the conversation away from you whilst giving your hand a small squeeze.

Later that night it occurred to him that whilst you were somewhat comfortable speaking to him, it was still a big step for you to accommodate to this while having been mute for years.

He was visibly stressed as he realized that some of your relationship’s problems might stem from that. You weren’t used to communicating with anyone. Anyone besides Gothi.

That’s how Hiccup found himself knocking at your front door one early morning. Gothi opened the door, as he knew she would and assuming that he was looking for you (like he often did), she quickly signaled to him that you had gone to collect some items you had run out of. 

“Actually. I’m here to see you”, he explained with a nervous smile.

Gothi seemed surprised for a brief moment before inviting him inside.

Awkwardly, Hiccup made his way inside and found a stool to sit on. He watches as Gothi -much like you did whenever he came to visit- occupied herself with making tea. 

Once the tea was on the table, and she had poured a cup for him as well as one for herself, she stared at him patiently.

He took that as his sign to talk, and set the cup down after having had a sip. “I need your help,” he stated rather obviously.

The small woman raised her eyebrow before signing your name in the form of a question. 

“Yes,” Hiccup confirmed. “I just-” he sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck. “She’s come so far with speaking out more, and she’s doing great, but…I’ve just now realized that while she’s making all this effort, I don’t seem to be doing anything to understand her better.”

Gothi’s gaze softened.

“She tries so hard, all the time; to understand me, and help me understand her, I just feel as if it’s about time I did the same for her.”

Silence settled between them as Gothi took another sip of her tea before hopping off the stool she was sitting on and staggering off to one of her many shelves. 

“I guess, I was wondering if you could help me. Understand her better, I mean-”

 Not a second later a small book was slammed on the table. Hiccup jumped slightly, marveling at the frail woman’s strength. 

Upon further inspection he realized it was not a book but rather a journal. Littered with drawings of different hand signs and gestures and their respective meanings. Dust covered its pages, indicating how long it had been since someone opened it last.

Hiccup looked up at Gothi with admiration. “You made this?”

The woman shook her head and flicked back to the first page where your name had been scribbled down neatly. 

He chuckled as he stared down at the journal, “this is amazing.”

She nodded proudly. She had been the one to help you come up with this communication method, it had been your idea of course- but as the both of you developed it it made your bond grow stronger. She considered it to be hers as much as yours. 

Hiccup carefully tucked the journal away and stood up. Enthusiastically, he gave Gothi a quick kiss on the cheek and thanked her before bolting out of the house.

‘Good luck’, she signed as she watched the young man ride away on his dragon.

Hiccup was determined. His presence amongst the dragonriders had become sparse. When he wasn’t training or helping out in the forge, he was most likely practicing his signing skills. Even then, work seemed to come second to his newfound hobby. 

He found himself practicing with Toothless, as he signed him orders receiving a confused tilt of the dragon’s head in return. He stole moments in the forge, his hands mimicking the signs in between hammering metal; his usual rambling also appeared to be accompanied by matching signs. Even during dragon races, he would move his fingers in the air absentmindedly, his mind working through the motions while Astrid gave him odd glances.

You, on the other hand, had no idea what was going on. His absence was more palpable as the days went on. He still greeted you, still sent you small smiles and the occasional kiss when you crossed paths, but your moments together felt shorter. Less frequent. He always had somewhere to rush off to. Places to go, people to see, things he needed to do. 

At first, you didn’t think much of it—Hiccup was the chief’s son, after all. He had responsibilities. 

But as the days stretched into weeks, your nervousness grew. 

Had you done something wrong? Was he getting tired of having to put up with you? Maybe it was too much effort, too exhausting. Maybe he had realized that words were easier. Someone else would be easier…

The thought made your stomach twist uncomfortably.

You tried to push the thought away, but doubt seemed to creep into every corner of your mind. 

You found yourself slipping into old habits. Speaking less often and keeping to yourself. You had stopped going to the forge to keep Hiccup company while he did his work.

Maybe he needed space.

Astrid had taken notice of this change, trying her best to include you in whatever plan the dragon riders were currently in the midst of. Whether it was a trip to a nearby island or just having lunch together near the cliffside.

One afternoon as you took residence in the Great Hall while grinding herbs, you felt a presence approach you. Hiccup strode in, and you quickly averted your gaze as you focused on the task at hand.

“Where have you been?” he asked lightheartedly as his arms snaked around your waist and he pulled you closer.

You smiled nervously and just shrugged your shoulders.

“My dad's been asking for you. You don’t come by the forge anymore,” he continued as he nestled his head on your shoulder, pressing your back to him. 

“Just busy,” you replied curtly.

He noticed how your hands seemed to accompany your words now. One of them laid flat, with your palm looking downwards whilst the other stood vertically and moved side to side in a repetitive motion.

‘Busy’.

He hadn’t noticed that before. But now that he thought about it, your hands were always moving. You had been talking to yourself all along, in silence.

“I need to tell you something,” he said then, as he took a step back. His arms leaving your waist. You immediately missed the contact.

Your mind immediately jumped to the worst conclusion. 

Hiccup's hands flexed and unflexed at his sides and his shoulders did that shaky thing they did whenever he had a lot on his mind.

‘Leaving,’ you signed to yourself as you placed down the pestle.

His face turned into that of confusion, as his right hand mimicked what yours had just done.  ‘Leave?’ 

“What? No,” he mumbled, his eyebrows furrowed. ‘I miss you’

Your mind had been too slow to realize what was happening. “What?”

 ‘I miss you’ he signed again. This time followed by an ‘i love you’.

Your breath caught in your throat as a gasp escaped your lips.

His movements were slightly jumbled, not as smooth as yours or Gothi’s were. But the message was there clear as day. He was talking to her, with no words.

You stared at him for a long moment before finally reaching out, your fingers trembling as they brushed against his.

“I miss you too,” you replied. “So much.”

Hiccup grabbed your hand and pulled you in before sweeping you off your feet for a kiss.

“What did you mean ‘leave’?” he asked with a slight chuckle as he pressed a tender kiss to your neck.

Your face flushed, immediately embarrassed for your self-deprecating thoughts. You tried to hide your face in the crook of his neck but he moved his head to search for your eyes.

“Don’t tell me you thought I wanted to leave you,” he said, though the statement came out more as a question. 

“I’m sorry!” you said as you buried your head in his chest. “You just had been spending less time with me, and I thought you were getting tired of having to deal with me.” 

Hiccup pulled back slightly, his eyes searching yours. “Hey, don’t say that,” he whispered. “I could never get tired of you. I just—I wanted to learn. I wanted to understand you the way you understand me.”

You smiled up at him, adoration clear on your face. You stepped back and raised your hand slightly. 

‘I love you too’.

[imagine-riding-dragons]

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Snotlout x Shy Scarred Reader:

• Rumors were quick to spread amongst the masses of this tiny island that you called home. How could they not? With Berks size and the twins being the ones to stir the rumor mill pot everyone was subject for at least one rumor at all times. That includes yourself.

• Growing up on Berk you developed a sort of reputation over the years for being on the more quiet side. That wouldn't be a problem if it weren't for the fact that you don't look the most welcoming either. As you got older the extra tattoos you added onto your body, combined with your stone cold demeanor, and overall silent by nature aura let's just say you didn't have a lot of friends growing up.

• What made it all worse were your scars. Now scars on a Viking are not out of the norm but they didn't help your case any. Before Hiccup became tamer of the Dragons many assumed you got your scars from said Dragons but time would leave people guessing. The twins especially. Since the Dragons are our friends now one would assume you'd stop getting scars, correct? Nope! Each year was worse, and now you have a pretty sizable scar running up your neck and on your chin that definitely wasn't there before the Dragon wars.

•You were eating alone in the Mead Hall as usual and part of this routine Included overhearing the twins come up with wacky theories as to how you got your scars.

• Tuffnut: Well if she didn't get her scars from a wicked Dragon fight then maybe, just maybe, she's actually an assassin!! She goes out every night to go fight pirates on the beach and thats's how she gets her scars.

• Ruffnut: That's so cool!

• Hiccup was there to desculate the situation.

• Hiccup: No not cool! Tuffnut you know we don't get pirates here and stop making up things about people who you clearly don't know anything about.

• Tuffnut: Well I don't see YOU trying to talk to them.

• Hiccup: *Flustered* Ack well I uh . ..I'm very busy you know doing dragon training and managing the school . . and

• Ruffnut: *teasingly* and you're sacaaaared!

• Astrid: *a bit annoyed* knock it off guys, but the twins are right Hiccup. We DON'T know anything about them and yet they're not doing a whole lot of talking either. I mean their our age and they have more scars than your dad! What IS someone like that doing to get that beat up in life?

• That thought process was enough to get the gang to quiet down and it was enough to get you pissed off. It wasn't like you were being quiet on purpose!! But even when you tried talking to other people they always looked spooked. Clenching your fists you felt anger building in you, yet you had no way to release it.

• Fishlegs was the only one to notice your mood sour from across the hall.

• Fishlegs: uh guys . .  I think we might have poked the sleeping dragon.

• Hiccup: Well maybe we should try talking to them ourselves?

• Fishlegs: I volunteer not myself!!

• Hiccup: Twins?

• Tuffnut: I volunteer Ruffnut!!!

• Ruffnut: Hey that's MY line but uh replace my name with yours!!

• Hiccup: *sighing* Astrid?

• Astrid: Hiccup?

• Watching this scene go down before him Hiccup was ready to go talk to you himself that was until Snotlout decided to volunteer for the job.

• Snotlout: Sounds like this requires the good old Snotlout charm. *he says with suave and swagger*

• Before Hiccup could try and stop him, Snotlout was already sauntering over to you. Arriving at your spot he was so caught up in trying do his "flirtatious spiel" he was startled when you got a good look at ths scar on your neck.

• Snotlout: Well hello babe noticed you sitting all by yourself and felt pulled to your presence. Thought I might introduce myseeeeelf . . and Oh Is that new???!

• Feeling immediate embarrassment you couldn't even look him in the eyes as you did your best to try and cover the scar and scramble on out of here.

• Snotlout: *Trying to stop you* No no no wait!!! That's . . . that's cool!! Yeah! I mean I have scars myself too from all the hard workouts and fights I get into *he says while trying to flex*. Yeah uh got some in "hard to see places" *he winks* wouldn't mind showing you if you can handle all of this.

• Well now you're embarrassed for a different reason. A large blush formed on your face as your hands went to cover it. Staring at him you could tell he was a bit nervous himself talking to you. You hadn't said anything at all and you weren't sure where to begin especially compared to an opening like that. Shamefuly all you could muster out was a meek "Ha!"

• Snotlout: . . . .Ha??

• (Y/N): . H  .Hey. .

• Snotlout: *A blush similar to your own was forming on his face* . . .uh .  hi?

• Feeling the embarrassment take hold once more all the pressure in the air was crushing you and you needed to leave lest you keel over and die right in front of him.

• (Y/N): *Softly* Sounds good . . great talk. Goodbye.

• And with that you dipped leaving Snotlout a flustered mess. Trying to hide his own blush you couldn't deny the emotions stiring inside him. Holy shit you sounded so cute.

• Replaying the scene in your head kept you up half the night. Well could you blame yourself? You looked like dork and not to mention you sounded like one too. Though it can't be helped it's not like you had much experience talking to other people before. Not to mention this was the first time someone even attempted to talk to you first. And part of you wished it was the last, as days after that event happened Snotlout made it his own personal goal to try and get you to talk more.

• And it somewhat worked. Kind of? It was rough, like really rough to get you to not only open up more but for the gang to accept you as a new friend. The twins had to learn to not treat you like a spectacle and something to gawk at. Fishlegs needed to be reminded that you weren't going to secretly stab them all in your sleep and Astrid and Hiccup had to learn how to communicate with someone who well . didn't. But with time and much patience all would see that beyond your cold appearance you were a sweet and caring person on the inside. Of course your voice would only be for Snotlout and Snotlout only, not that he minded, but without a voice to be heard people still tried to "piece together" the puzzle that were your scars when in reality there was no mystery to be solved.

• Sitting on a quiet ledge overlooking the waves that crash along the coast of Berk you let out a deep sigh. This alerted Snotlout who was sitting idle alongside you who was sharpening his axe to pass the time.

• Snotlout: What's wrong?

• You didn't realize your thoughts had translated into reality as you tried to play off your emotions as you always did.

• (Y/N): oh . . . nothing.

• Snotlout only gave you an unamused stare not letting up until you spoke.

• (Y/N): *sheepish* Ach well . . uh . .It's nothing really . . just oh I don't know I'm just . . *frustrated* I'm still so sick of everyone making a big fuss of my scars. They're really nothing to talk about.

• Snotlout stopped what he was doing to give his full attention to you knowing how hard it is for you to speak up even to him.

• Snotlout: *teasing* well you don't do a good job explaining.

• (Y/N): . . ..I know.

• Snotlout: They're just curious.

• (Y/N): *sighing* I know.

• As the silence filled the air once more you pondered long and hard about what you wanted to say next. You spent a lot of time recently thinking about speaking. Never having the opportunity to do so until you meet Snotlout. Speaking of him you never did thank him for trying to talk to you before. Nor did you thank him for being your first friend. Glancing at the scars the call themselves home on your skin an idea pops into your head.

• (Y/N): Say Snotlout. . . would you like to know how I got these scars?

• If his attention wasn't on you it definitely is now. Maybe his enthusiasm was a bit too apparent because you nearly jumped back when his body was suddenly planted firmly next to yours. His eyes brimming with overwhelming excitement. He can't deny he was intrigued my your scars too he just never pushed you for answers not wanting to make you feel uncomfortable.

• (Y/N): Ahh . . .well uh ...I got his one *referring to a large scar on your upper right thigh* . . trying to cut an apple.

• Snotlout: . . . what.

• (Y/N): *relaxing a bit* yeah . . .my hand slipped and the knife that I was holding ended up taking a nose dive off my counter and straight across my leg.

• Snotlout: . . . uh huh??

• (Y/N): Oh oh!! And this one *referring to a scar on your left calf* . . .my leg got caught along (Dragon's name)'s claw when I was mounting them. . . . needless to say I learned to wear longer fabric while riding on the back of a sharp fire breathing lizard. *you laugh embarrassed*

• Snotlout: . . . What??

• (Y/N): Yeah . . that wasn't fun but it's nothing compared to the one on my stomach!!

• Snotlout: . . go on.

• (Y/N): Yeah I got that one from a sparring class.

• Snotlout: Ha! Now where talking!

• (Y/N): That one was pretty embarrassing. . . It was my job to pick up disgarded weapons that were thrown around and I . .  I was carrying too many at once . . . and I ended up tripping on myself and lets just say a sword caught my fall.

• Snotlout: What???!?

• And on and on and on you went explaining away each and every scar you had on your body. From the scar on your right shoulder from when you walked backwards into a tree, to the scar on your right ankle from when you were a baby. You were crawling around on the floor and got nicked by your brother's axe that was laying around. As each scar was named and explained Snotlout was coming to the realization that you weren't some cool warrior with a deep dark history. You were just some Clumsy Goober?!!! And he has feelings for said Clumsy Goober.

• (Y/N): Haha yeah and that's pretty much it. . . Oh!! The scar on my neck!

• Snotlout: *teasing* let me guess you lost a battle between you and cutting bread.

(Y/N): *pouting* . . no . . .I was trying to cut  my hair. . . and my hand slipped . .  again.

Now it was Snotlout's turn to sigh. Luckily it came with laughter as he pulled you into his side to try and tease you more about it.

Snotlout: Hahaha and here I thought you were some fearsome badass. No wonder you keep these to yourself. Guess you're gonna need me to hold the knives in this relationship Babe. That or your hands will be chopped off.

Blushing you become embarrassed by his words and flirting.

(Y/N): *whining* . . What does that supposed to mean?

Snotlout could only laugh as he held you closer to give you a noogie. Don't worry he's got your back weather you like it or not. Loving and teasing you every step of the way.

[azuremliam]

Aaaaaugh, this took so long and its only 15 of the 53 kiddos aaaaaaa- Oh boy, alrighty, this right here is Scarab's batch of hatchlings right out of their grub forms!

More info about each of the funky bug lizard kids underneath the readmore 👍

First off, Kroko! (Name ='s Crocodile)

The friendliest and most out going of Scarab's batch, and often seen darting around Liam's legs when they're walking around their dimension.

The most curious about things too, often asks Scarab about the multiverse and about their grandparents. Despite being the friendliest, wants to be like Scarab and help him with God Auditing.

Timsah (aka Tim) (And another word for Crocodile)

Unlike Kroko, Timsah is very, very shy. And feels comfortable the most in either with a group of their fellow clutch, or in the presence of their Scarab and Liam.

They're best buds with Guster and be seen tagging along with her often. Likes to sort things to calm themself down or clinging onto Liam's tail.

Guster (aka Gus) (Name ='s Lizard)

Very artistic of Scarab's batch of hatchlings, and also outgoing and a bit of a troublemaker! She really loves painting, and just making a mess with it too.

Usually seen with Tim, but also just roams about by herself. Has painted many things on one side of the Tree Stump house. Almost always asks Scarab to tell her stories about his Auditing missions.

Ogle (Another Word for Lizard technically)

Enjoys watching Liam judge the cosmic entities and other beings. Wants to one day be a cosmic entity that essentially keeps records of other being's past deeds.

Also really loves detective stories and has dressed up as a sleuth on numerous occasions. Despite sticking around Liam a lot, Scarab is their favorite parent.

Bille (Named after Bille the Hero from Liam's Homeworld)

A sweetheart and doesn't really care for fighting. Really wants to be a crystal architect like his grandparents. Gets along really well with Merid and Maxi, both of which also want to become crystal architects too.

Has a collection of crystals in his room that Scarab has picked up for them in other worlds. Loves spending time with Liam the most and is often seen falling asleep on top of their head.

Carri (Named after a (Mail) Carrier)

Thinks Fionna is just the coolest much to Scarab's dismay. It's because when they first saw her they got really excited that they have the same teeth. When visiting OOO with Scarab one day, they became best friends with Astrid.

Often asks their parents to bring sweets back from Fionna's world and is a big fan of Gary's treats. One of the main reasons for Liam's frequent visits to their world in particular and also OOO.

Goliath (Named after the Goliath Beetle)

Lil guy is often put in charge of keeping an eye on all the other 52 kids when Liam and Scarab are away and no one else can watch over them. Quite, but not timid, or a stick in the mud.

Most of the other hatchlings do find comfort in his presence just like their parents. He's also the biggest of all the 53! Also molted out of his grub stage first too.

Has the deepest voice out of all of them. Likes making sure everyone is safe and helping people. Gets along pretty well with any visiting Finn, especially Uncle Finn (Bug world!).

One day, wants to go adventuring just like Liam used to in their homeworld.

Sargantana (aka Ana) (Yet another word for Lizard)

Really looks up to Scarab and tends to mimic his no nonsense attitude. They're also pretty hotheaded- and that worries Scarab sometimes.

Often copies whatever he's doing when he's back home like a little shadow. It used to confuse him when they first started doing it.

Loves taking naps on Scarab and Liam and often relaxed around their shoulders like a boa. Also wants to be a God Auditor like him and studies for it in secret (Both Liam and Scarab know about their "secret" studying though- they aren't very discreet lol).

Lagarto (aka Gar) (Yep- Another word for Lizard)

Really, reaaaaaaally loves gardening and working with plants. Often with Scarab when he's in the garden and insists on helping him tend to the plants.

Wants to research the entire multiverse's worth of plants, so essentially wants to be a botanists.

Also enjoys cooking with Liam (who essentially has it as a hobby now so they won't be bored when Scarab's away- and also so they won't forget Gemma's recipes she made for them and Finn. Leads to a lot of food being made) and really loves making dishes focused with fruits and vegetables. 

Scarab and Uncle Finn bring him plants and he has his own little collection of plants in a corner of the "greenhouse" room.

Sisalik (aka Sal) (Yet again, another word for Lizard)

Likes to bite! A lot. But is another softy who just really likes to gnaw on things. (Scarab jokes that they inherited the urge to gnaw on things from Liam). When they don't have anything to gnaw on- they often resort to biting Liam's tail.

Along with Gremxula, gets very sad when they inevitably tear their favorite toys and pillows and Liam often sews them back together again. Speaking of, the duo are never far from each other.

Liam is their favorite parent, and they'd never bite Sir Ducky. Has told Liam and Scarab that "if their ever was a job for biting we'd (Gremxula included) be the best for it!" which made them both have a good laugh about it.

Gremxula (aka Xula) (Once again, another word for Lizard)

Best buds with Sisalik, they even hatched at the same time! Also loves to bite- but unlike their sibling they love to gnaw on Scarab's ankles lol. Doesn't do him any damage, but ends up with him dragging his leg or walking awkwardly with them latched along for the ride.

He gets slightly annoyed with it but it makes Liam laugh every time it happens so he lets it slide.

Scarab suspects Xula does it to make them laugh specifically. They have their own favorite plush toy, and they named it "Sir Petals". Sir Petals has been through a lot.

Like Sisalik, Liam's their favorite parent, and Vera is their favorite grandparent. They want to be as tall as Deargadaol one day.

Lucy (aka one of the Lucertola kids lol- which was yet another word for Lizard)

Loves to bake and cook with Liam too! But Scarab's his favorite parent, and more often than not, the treats he makes often look like him.

Has told Liam and Scarab that he wants to be a baker one day. Occasionally gets teased (not mean-spiritedly though) by his siblings for looking a bit like a rat but doesn't care.

But eventually grows to like it, especially when Scarab tells him about how Fionna had a prophetic dream and he was essentially at rat bus.

Scarab somewhat regrets telling him about it, because more often than not Lucy makes new treats with his face slapped onto a rat shape. He (Lucy) always gives Liam the first batch of his food, and Liam was the one who encouraged him to make Scarab rats lol.

Wants to work with Gary and learn from him (yet again much to Scarab's dismay but he lets his kids do what they want for the most part).

Vandu (Named after a Jewel Beetle)

Loves helping with anything really, and has a real sweet tooth for Scarab's homeworld foods. Helps out Goliath take care of their other siblings with things a lot.

Doesn't like the feeling of certain textures like fabrics on their underbelly. Wants to be a librarian and often asks Scarab if he's ever been to libraries in the multiverse and what they were like.

Very chatty and loves sharing things they've learned with their siblings and parents. Also helps Lucy find new recipes to try out frequently.

Driezas (Lizard name here we gooo)

She loves flowers, and enjoys planting them and especially eating the edible ones. Along with Lagarto, has a little corner to herself in the "greenhouse" room where she tends to a patch of flowers.

Fascinated by Liam's stories about their homeworld's giant plants and wants to visit there one day.

Loves sleeping in Liam's hair and hugging onto their horns. Is good pals with Eidecshe and the two siblings garden together a lot.

Doesn't like to sleep, and either Scarab or Liam have to essentially cradle her in their arms to get her to knock out. Another surefire way to have her fall asleep is in a bug pile with a big group of her other siblings.

And finally Eidecshe! (Aaaaand name means Lizard)

Doesn't really care for plants, but enjoys spending time with their siblings and dad so they help out anyways. Second biggest of the hatchlings, right after Goliath.

Often naps in the garden right after helping out. Will 100% climb on Scarab's back while he's working on his plant collection and knock out. Scarab's gotten used to it.

Also will climb onto Liam's tail to take a nap, it's their favorite place to nap actually- really comforts them.

More often than not seen sleeping in the oddest of places.

[dragonmasterhiccup]

His eyes were on the fresh bandaging wrapped around the tip of his tail. "It might be a bit of time before I can be fitted for one, but that's not a bad idea. I don't know if it'll be enough to change his mind," he said, turning to her, "but I'll find a way to convince him."

Gobber had seemed nice. Hiccup hoped the smith wouldn't be put off by his true form...it could be fun to work with him, so long as he had enough water to keep him from drying out in the forge.

"...I knew it! I knew they were lying!" Phlegma's voice echoed up the mountain, and Hiccup hung his head.

"She's not going to go easy on us, is she?"

Evidently not. Hiccup could practically feel the Hofferson woman's rage before she finished climbing the steps. Her eyes widened upon seeing him with his tail elevated and sans tunic.

"If you have my daughter under some sort of trance--" she wagged a finger at him accusingly, "you'll lose a whole lot more than just a fin, young man!"

Hiccup shrunk back, putting his hands up as if in surrender. "No! No, no trance, no magic! We just...we met, and wanted to get to know each other more! Just like we said!"

"Then why parade around as a shipwrecked paralytic?"

"How else could we have explained my sudden appearance, my lack of legs? Kept my true form a secret? I'm no guppy, I know what humans are capable of, just like I know what merfolk are capable of. Please, just... just give me a chance to explain," his eyes pleaded, looking between Phlegma and Axel. "then you can choose how you feel about me."

Tongue in cheek, Phlegma glanced at her husband before nodded. "Alright. Speak quickly, merman."

And so he did. He started with how he'd seen Astrid from afar, how she surprised him on the beach the other day. Even the way they hatched their failed plan, and the reason for the campsite. "I slept in the water, and she had the tent and bedroll to herself."

"I just wanted to know what the surface was like, and Astrid wanted to get Snotlout off her back." He reached over, intertwining his fingers with hers. "But...we found we really do care about each other. There's a small chance I could become human, but if not..."

He looked at Axel. "I have some pearls hidden away back in my cave, and I can't speak for Astrid, but I'm willing to make it work, as long as she'll have me."

As he spoke, Phlegma's initial rage seemed to lower to a simmer, slowly beginning to fizzle out. She had seen the way the two of them looked at each other, and could see the truth of why they did what they had. It didn't make it okay, but she was beginning to understand.

Turning to Astrid, her tone softened, "It won't be easy. Being with a merman...there will be many obstacles you both must face. From his people and ours. I know you aren't one to shy from a challenge sweetheart, but have you really thought all of this through? Do you really think you could be happy, living a life with him?"

She quickly turned to Hiccup, "No offense, dear."

Hiccup resisted rolling his eyes. She may have said the exact thing that had been bothering him, but he wasn't exactly sure she didn't mean to offend. "It's fine."

He then looked over at Astrid, his thumb stroking the back of her hand as he waited for her response.

After a long training session, all Astrid wanted to do was cool off on the beach. Maybe a tiny swim, even though the ocean was so cold at this time of year. She pushed through the brush and staggered down to the shore.

Only to find a boy lounging in the shallows.

“Oh!” She dropped her axe in the sand. From his bare torso, she assumed he was naked. “Sorry! I didn’t know someone else would be…here…” as the apologies flowed, she realized from the waist down, he had green scales and a pair of fins.

No wonder she hadn’t recognized him.

“No way…” she inched closer. “A real mermaid! In the flesh! Are the stories true?” She stamped down her overwhelming curiosity for a moment to give him a stern point. “Don’t try anything fishy, mermaid. I’m very capable of protecting myself, got it?”

((I saw the prompt and went feral, hope you don’t mind))

[X]

Hiccup started, the water around him splashing as he sat up straight in surprise, before he moved a little further back, his cheeks flushed.

"No, sorry, I, I shouldn't--" Ducking his head, the merman awkwardly held up a hand, "Usually no one comes here..."

But his movements only caused his tail to briefly break the surface, emerald scales glittering in the sun for a moment before dipping below the water again.

Firmly, he responded, "Merman. I am a merman. And no, don't worry, I, I wasn't going to try anything...I know you'd probably kill me if I did..."

Clearing his throat, he ran a hand through his hair, which had partially dried in his time sitting in the shallow water. "What, what stories are you referring to?"

He knew, or at least had a gut feeling about what she was asking, but he wanted to hear it from her. She appeared wary, but not fearful. Maybe these humans didn't have the same fears of his kind like the others?

[cheerleaderman]

Astrid Primrose

Twst - The enchanted Rose

Known for his roses and for being cursed there are many different views of him in NRC. A Beautiful mysterious person to people who don’t know him but to those who do knows that’s only a fraction of Astrid.

Astrid personality is different from how he usually looks. With his classic blank expression and refusal to look people in the eyes at first some just think he doesn’t like people or is shy. Others think he gives off the vibes of someone unapproachable “not to touch” sort of speak.

Astrid is kinda social awkward as he hasn’t interacted with anyone outside of his family for a long time. A hopeful person but won’t admit it.He’s blunt , there’s no telling what going to come out of this man’s mouth , pretty silly, bit of a perfectionist, resourceful and creative but doesn’t see much in himself you can also say he kinda fears himself

Astrid believes he’s unlovable and is quite lonely with abandonment issues and blames himself a lot. Much as he wants to push those thoughts aside they still creep up on him.

🥀Basic info 🥀

Age: 17

He/They

Height: 174 cm

Birthday: September 18

Voice claim: Eng and Jp - Langa Hasegawa , Sk8 the infinity

Hometown: Briar Valley

Class: 2-C

Dominant hand: Right

Nickname: Ash - Friends | Koi Fish- Floyd | Monsieur rose enchantèe - Rook | Sebek calls him by his name never human | Rose - Malleus and Lilia ( sometimes) | Rabbit food - Leona |

Favorite food: different kinds of bread, chocolate , salad and melon

Like/hobbies: Drawing, architecture, Stargazing, astronomy, astrology, origami, chess , puzzles mainly cross words , Flying, birds, the snow

Dislike: feeling trapped, dumper diving, the smell of rotten meat, spoiled food , talking about his family

Family: Odette Primrose ( bio mom - deceased) Adoptive family- Mother, Father and 3 older siblings ( more than 8 years older)

Club: Equestrian

Best subject: Astrology

Talent: Chess, drawing building, making things out of little to nothing

Unique magic ( Curse) : Beast of the Guilty

Currently Astrid has little to no control over this power but knows it’s main trigger is eye contact. This is the reason why he refuses to look others in the eye calling it his curse

When triggered from Astrid’s pov a shadowy beast will consume the person and both them + Astrid will see what their most guilty of like regrets , something eating them up inside etc.

They person will be tormented by whatever they’re guilty of this could last up to 2 weeks. The reactions depends on the person. Breakdowns, Violence Astrid has witnessed how his power effects people.

Spell: For the selfish and the liars

You must not feel pity

Because soon they will meet

The beast of the guilty

🥀Extra info 🥀

Astrid is part fae he’s actually more fae than human like 80/20 . He didn’t know he was fae until Lilia spoke to him about being part Fae

His markings: Since he is part human Astrid’s powers slowly started appearing as he got older. The first was the marking on his cheek at 5. That’s when he got his roses and he’ll get all 4 markings by 10

His Roses: his most noticeable ability. Astrid can just grow them at will it’s basically second nature. His roses are not like normal roses they don’t wilt and harder to destroy. They react on his mood and others know if it’s Astrid’s roses due to the feeling it gives off He can eat them and they have different flavor based on his mode

Behaviors : It’s actually pretty difficult to really get to know Astrid it comes out in off handed comments and his actions. His eating habits is also noticeable as he eats quickly but with people he’s comfortable with he eats more relaxed.

Plans to leave his family after graduating NRC and not looking back

Selective intelligence with all his shenanigans the people close to him sometimes forget Astrid does have intelligence

Astrid isn’t one to just take it especially being in NRC it’s just he’s desensitized to most insults and physical altercation

Astrid wants to be loved but is also scared of it this is also with him making friends. Due to now having good relationships and the one that he thought was true turn out to be fake kinda shattered him

His favorite story is basically beauty and the beast as it gave him hope despite being cursed the beast found someone who loved them

Astrid has a great amount of life and Survival skills it may not be perfect but he will survive. This is from having to do work at the orphanage and living on the streets

Gets mistaken for a girl a lot he doesn’t even realize that he is the person others are taking about

Man has a stomach stronger than diamonds and eats Lilia’s cooking likes it’s nothing

barley at his own dorm always at Savannaclaw or Scarabia to the point if he didn’t wear his vest people with assume he’s part of Savannaclaw

Met Leona and Ruggie in his 1st year during some chess sessions held by the broad game club. Leona and Astrid tied at the end and continued to play against each other after.

Savannaclaw basically claimed Astrid as their own , he played spelldrive, got into the fights, they helped Astrid feel more comfortable using his powers and strength.

Despite being extremely powerful he barely uses due to the hurt it caused others. One his curse and when he first got his strength he almost killed one of the orphanage teacher when trying to protect himself. He’s pretty conscious about his strength and how much to use

Jamil was Astrid’s first friend and the first time Astrid tried to reach out and make a friend. So when Kalim came to NRC and started pulling away he thought it was his fault apologizing to Jamil if he ever made him upset

His horse is named Daisy who is a playful one and loves messing with Astrid. Tried chewing on his hair many times and their first meeting was literally Daisy charging at him

Has a scar on his right side of his waist but doesn’t remember how he got it

His birthday isn’t his actual birthday but the day he ran away from the orphanage

Had long hair before coming to NRC but cut it

🥀Odette Primrose 🥀

Twst - The Enchantress ( beauty and the beast)

Astrid biological mother how died due to her dwindling powers. She is well known in Briar Valley but Astrid doesn’t have any memories of her beside a song she would sing to him. Astrid himself has a feeling that she is his mother but also has doubts until he ultimately decides to stop worrying about her

She truly loves her son but knowing her time was running out she used the last of her strength to drop Astrid off at an orphanage.

Malleus and Lilia truly believe that Odette is Astrid’s mom from their similarities. Especially the roses “it’s practically their being”

🥀Backstory 🥀 - CW Bullying, Violence to a child, Child exploitation

Orphanage

Astrid grew up in a poor orphanage in Briar Valley. Due to being poor the kids were made to work. Sewing, Cleaning, cooking etc “If you don’t work you don’t eat”. He was able to live with his head down spending spare time reading stories and drawings. All he really wanted was to be adopted into a family that would love him like in the fairytales. That until his powers started appearing at 5 It was fine at first with his roses it was a new way to get more money in to the orphanage. This was really much exploded by many of the teachers and this started to push Astrid into being isolated. Others kids started bullying Astrid for being the “favorite” or sucking up to the teachers.

Astrid had to deal with kids putting rotten meat under his mattress, putting bugs or things in his food and many more. Astrid didn’t understand but knew how badly everyone was treated so justified in in his head. Even though he wasn’t really being treated better they used the fact that everyone is struggling to make Astrid overwork himself.

As time went on when he was making another batch of roses he looked the director in the eye. But this time was different there was some kind of showed figure that ate the director. He didn’t know what was going on but snapped out of it to a stinging feeling on his cheek. The director was never known to be violent but now she looked like a monster to the young boy. He didn’t think another thing like that would happen again but he was wrong more marks and incidents happened. He started to grow more scared of himself isolating himself even more. Not even caring about the bullying thinking he deserves it. which also effected his powers like his roses

They day Astrid ran away from the orphanage he was upset. The now 10 year old was currently getting yelled at for not having roses up to standers for the 3rd time. He tried to keep it in he really did but he just snapped. He just wanted to be left alone, just leave him alone. Leave.

Leaving the orphanage

After running away all Astrid had was a small bag with 3 loaves of bread and his favorite story book. He struggled a lot living on the streets but had some sense of freedom.

For the next two years he did whatever he could to live on his own. Luckily from all the work he did at the orphanage and his powers he somehow managed. Sleeping in abandoned places, dumper diving for anything he could use. He was already used to eating little to nothing eating whatever he could get his hands on.

Of course his powers still caused him problems.

By the time he hit 12 he grown accustomed to his life. Some of the nicer people he interacted with felt bad for the boy but didn’t know how to handle his powers. Knowing that Astrid has magic potential contacted a mage to see if she could help him.

When meeting the mage she looked at Astrid in complete shock. There was a pretty awkward moment with her just staring at Astrid but agreed to help him.

Getting Adopted

Being adopted Astrid was excited to have a family that would care of him. Living in some kind of magic tower situation. The mage taught him many things but he was still isolated from others.

Everyone is really busy and a kid like him would be put in danger was what he was told. Outside of him classes he stayed in the west wing of the place keeping himself busy with drawing which he loves. Stars and space, chess and more.

He was happy he loved his new parents though he never really saw his siblings it was okay he heard about their great achievements. He’ll achieve great things too.

But of course the rose will wilt again. At 14 looking for his mother he ventures out of the west wing. Overhearing a conversation his parents were having.

“ She came back to haunt me in the form of her child” Astrid never heard such venoms words from his mother

“We just need to keep his favor until his 21”

“ I can’t even bear to look at that boy’s face and he acts just like her!”

“ If you want to live keep pretending to love him and make him fully believe that”

It was all fake. He was just here to break a curse from his biological mother.

What did he do. Was he born just for revenge. Did his mother even love him? Was wanting to be loved too selfish. Why . Why .Whywhywhywhyw….Is he so unlovable.

After that day Astrid pretend to reciprocate his parents love. “ I love you just as much as you love me”. Is what he charged to

NRC

When getting accepted into Night Raven he was glad to get away from home but also scared. Due to bad experiences with others he wasn’t sure how peers would treat him.

Luckily most didn’t care about him but it was also confusing having to adapt to the more modern ways. But Make friends was also something.

🥀Gallery 🥀

Divider

[goobie-goo]

im gonna send the character cast rq uhhmm ye

resistance

dallas (you know this guy!!! this dude!!!)

Alibi - The Jester/“Zinnia”. all pronouns. literally,, when i was thinking of the identities to give xym, i just wrote down “whoops! all gender” and i think that says a lot about rot. trans, nonbinary, pangender, pansexual, asexual, panromantic. AuDHD (autism + ADHD).

heavily implied to be in a relationship with dallas during walls arc and up to their death in the wilds arc. its all i think about. however idk how to define it. idk if theyd be in a queer-platonic relationship (which is the only one i’d give bc im projecting onto dallas and dallas is the same flavor of aroace i am). i also feel like they wouldnt use a label. theyd just be like “we are best friends. we would live for each other. we would die for each other.” maybe some kind of alterous attraction but i wouldnt know— im quoiromantic/nebularomantic (aromantic microlabels). so since i cant think of it, its just gonna be like unlabeled but Its There and its FUCKING OBVIOUS LMAO (it gets worse when i imagine the scene of: alibi bleeding out in dallas’ arms as they scream for a medic among the screaming crowd, trying not to get trappled by people scrambling for safety from the royal forces. dallas is applying pressure to the wound like skip told them. why isn’t it working? why is it not working—?!) (dallas just turned 16 two months ago. alibi was only 3 months older.)

they wouldnt actually have their title of The Jester unless i tweak some things bc those titles are from the rebellion arc, which alibi had already died and wouldnt be there for. the flower titles do have meanings though. theyre from my floriography book, i can pull it out and share if you like?

it’s legal name is charlemane, but they actually don’t mind it. dallas would call them charlie in serious moments.

Asmodae - The Shield/“Cypress”. legal name: raelynn marie hellings. she/her. cis, lesbian. autism.

largely inspired by astrid from HTTYD! the badass-ness!! the take no shit!! the snark!!! while still being kind!! aaHHABAHHS! now that i think about it, also a lil bit of natasha vibes.

they are always down to fight and WILL fuck you up. they are the protector. they are the one to confront the bully and be like “what did you say about my sibling?!”

Juno - The Dahlia. legal name: june absidee goldborne. they/she/fae. genderfae. idk their romantic + sexual orientation actually— i didnt think about it. autistic *vine boom* adhd *vine boom* anxiety *3 fast vine booms*. hispanic— one parent is something similar to mexican except mexico doesnt exist in this fictional world. i dont have a world map made. the walled-in city doesnt even have a name 😭 has either/both POTS or EDS (cant decide). uses forearm crutches and sometimes a wheelchair!

hella good sniper. the long range fighter of the group. fae is very sweet and hyper-empathetic. instead of being shy, they’re just awkward (relatable)

she’s also known as The Black Dahlia. can unassemble and reassemble a gun in *really fast time idk i dont touch guns*. mercenaries wish they were as good as them when it came to guns.

Skip - “Clematis”. legal name: silas (no last name made). he/him. cis, bisexual. autistic.

THE OLDER BROTHER YOU WISH YOU HAD. THAT I WISH I HAD. AUGH. (RIP skip actually imagine getting tortured— huh what? did i say something? :3)

he jokes around a lot, hes snarky, hes sassy, hes sarcastic, hes caring, hes protective, hes— *chokes on air*

hes the one that gave dallas the name/title striker. hes the adult that believed in dallas (older by like,, 7 or so years i think)

The Family/The Eyes

dallas!!! wooah!!

Aji (ahgee - ă-jē) - The Apogee. any pronouns. literally agender. panromantic asexual. AuDHD.

it normally takes the form of a human teenager or child. xey are older than one could imagine, as they were created when the first world came to fruition.

many actually have a betting pool on how old she is. none of them are winning.

he is very parental tbh -> “no. no, aji. we can’t take in another kid.” “BUT LOOOOKKKKK! THEY WERE ABANDONED AS A SACRIFICE TO THEIR MORTAL GODS— CMONNNNN PLEASEEEE *puppy dog eyes*” “ugh fineeeee”

seraphina! nicknamed sheriff by dallas (seraph said weird). she/they. panromantic lesbians.

as i mentioned, their backstory is dallas’ OG one— er,, a few details of it.

backstory ->

she was like. an amalgamation tbh. mostly human but has enough elf genes to perform minor spells. but then was kidnapped and was experimented on and grew wings when she was still alive. (they stuck into her death and then her ascension where she grew a total of 6 wings. thats the common wing amount for those in The Syzygy.)

there was a trafficking ring for people who were experimented on. she was one of the only older kids in the ring (that survived) so they were babysitting and im :[[[ aWHg my heart

she was sold to a wealthy rich man. the angel from original poem. the angel that saved them is Apogee? probably. or one of the Five. (these are the details from the poem) (since writing the notes ive decided its most likely aji or dallas)

Memphis. they/she/he/it. agender + pansexual. AUTISMM BRR BRR BRRR where da hoes at (/ref)

no backstory or anything theyre still new but OhhOho My goD tehyre. zjsnsjsnntheyre so pretyt theyr Hot- theyre AHHWHSB /p.

RAHHHHHHHHH

these guys look SOO COOL!!!!!!! i want to befriend tgem ALL……….. im obsessed with aji’s design :000000

i want to give them all a big ol hug

[chimeric-art]

Needs a little coaxing

[wonderlandleighleigh]

Hello, Sunshine, 1967

She hasn’t had a lot of time to update her photo albums lately, but with a weekend almost to herself, with Ethan and Esther at Joel and Mei’s and Lenny on tour, it’s a good time to go through things.

The last time she really sat down and did this was for Lily’s baby book, but there’s so many more photos from the last few years that have just been sitting in neat piles, waiting to be slipped into albums.

Midge likely took too many photos of Lenny and the kids. She doesn’t really need this many, but she loves them all so much. Loves to look at their faces, and remember good times. Holidays and school events. She has a photo of Lily taking her first steps towards Ethan, and Kitty and Esther dancing in the living room together.

Photos of Lenny and Susie conspiring together, and of her parents making each other laugh. Of Mei and Lan and even Joel having a good time. Of Noah and Astrid enjoying a romantic moment, and of Chaim doing a headstand.

Baby photos of Will Ford with his doting parents, and of Carly and Javier’s wedding. Of Bonnie, pregnant on the beach just a few months ago. Of Shy and Jerome sitting closely, sharing a laugh. Of Imogene trying her hand at bar tending at the Button Club with a nervous Archie, blurry in the background.

There’s one that she loves, taken at the Stage Deli while she was pregnant with Lily, cuddled up on a bench seat with Lenny, her head resting on his chest as they look at the menu. Some paparazzi took it, and then felt bad because it’s such a sweet photo. Sold it to Midge for just a few dollars.

She puts it in the “to frame” pile, along with a photo of all the kids at the beach together in the Catskills just this past summer; soaked from swimming and sun burnt and happy, and a photo of Susie taken while she wasn’t looking, watching James’ set from backstage at the Copa.

Midge did a run at the Copa just after giving birth, and that was fun. It was fun to make jokes about worrying about lactating on stage. Lenny had actually brought Lily to her gig, so she could nurse right before and after, and surprisingly, the baby had slept right through.

“Are we sure she’s mine?” Lenny had asked jokingly. “I haven’t slept since 1941.”

“Midge?”

She looks up, finding Kitty at the doorway. There’s another photo in the “to frame” pile, of Kitty, holding Lily, both girls smiling widely; the same smile. “Hi, sweetie. Everything okay?”

She nods. “It’s getting late,” the girl points out. “Should I make us something for dinner?”

It breaks Midge’s heart a little that this little girl -- all of twelve -- still feels like she has to take so much responsibility. “Why don’t we go pick up some pizza for dinner?” she offers.

Kitty beams and nods. “Okay!”

“Wear your boots, it’s snowing a little,” Midge orders as the girls whirls around and dashes out. She sighs softly, smiling down at all her photos and taps one of Lenny smiling shyly at the camera, after his first gig after his successful appeal. “To be continued.”

[americxn]

The Evans + neck kisses 💜💜

headcanons for: kit walker, kyle spencer, jimmy darling, james patrick march, rory monahan, kai anderson (pre-cult, cult and prison), mr. gallant

warnings: NSFW, neck kissing, biting, hickeys, mentions of penetration/oral, swearing 

kit walker

Kit adores both giving and receiving neck kisses.

He’s overly generous when it comes to pressing random kisses to the side of your neck throughout the day, knowing exactly what the small gesture does to you and chuckling as you bat him away with a playful glare.

You’re able to read his mood through the manner with which he attaches his lips to your skin, your body relaxing fully into his touch upon contact, the tentative scrape of his teeth against your skin pulling a shudder from you. Kit always notices the impact of his actions, smirking against your skin and attacking your flesh with more persistence; he is equally as attentive during sex, your moans only growing with fervour as the softness of his lips provides a perfect contrast to the sweet pressure of his cock thrusting leisurely in and out of you.

kyle spencer

Kyle isn’t really too bothered about giving you neck kisses. He’ll press a few quick ones to the side of your neck but there are many other places that he would rather be kissing and so he doesn’t waste much time on your neck before moving onto other areas.

He is into hickeys though, sucking them around the base of your throat, along your collarbones and across the sloping planes of your chest, enjoying the small noises that his careful ministrations pull from you.

Franken Kyle would immediately get hard when you kiss all over his neck, especially when you suck and bite on the spot beneath his jaw; he gets so hard immediately, melting into the warm wetness of your lips against his skin. Adores being marked by you, savouring the sharp pain of your teeth sucking bruises onto him, and loves the way they look afterwards.

Always begs you to give him more marks during foreplay and you can never find the strength within you to deny him, not when the small whimpers you’re able to draw from him with your lips are so pretty to your ears. 

jimmy darling

Jimmy goes through phases of wanting to spend all day with his lips attached to your neck, wanting nothing more than for you to waste away the hours tasting his own skin, or completely abandoning the notion of neck kisses and going straight to fucking.

They’re a huge turn on for Jimmy though and anytime your lips stray even remotely close to his neck, your warm breath fanning onto his skin, it’s guaranteed that his cock will be buried in you within a matter of minutes.

Because you’re both performers, visible hickeys can be problematic; the others at the show take the unending piss out of the both of you when the small purple marks appear on either of your bodies, Elsa losing her shit and lecturing the both of you about the importance of professionalism.

When Jimmy is in the mood to grace the column of your throat with kisses, he’s gentle and thorough, tracing the tendons in your neck with hot, wet patterns, reducing you to breathlessness and neediness before he satisfies you with his fingers, tongue and cock.

james patrick march

James is more familiar with the skin of your neck than the back of his own hand and nothing gives him more pleasure than to dine on your sensitive skin for as long as he pleases, relishing in the noises his skilful ministrations pull from you.

He always rips off his own shirt whenever he is given the privilege of having full access to your neck, shuddering in delighted gratification when you walk your fingers up and down his scar littered spine, running your nails across the pronounced planes of his back whilst your breathing becomes laboured as he kisses, licks and bites the entire surface of your throat, each trail of your fingertips adding to the steadily growing hardness of his cock.

It is the definition of intimacy for James to have you surrender your neck to him, trembling in exultation as he works his mouth on your skin, scraping his teeth and flicking his tongue across the hot skin beneath his lips until you’re beginning him for more.

James doesn’t often permit you to subject the overly sensitive skin of his neck to the same treatment, jerking away from you the moment your lips brush against his skin with a bit too much persistence, shivering and shying away from your touch. He prefers you to be rougher with his skin, his mouth parting slightly if you use your teeth on him, biting forcefully and bringing dull red marks up onto his pale skin.

(also the big ass slice across his throat kinda gets in the way)

rory monahan

Rory definitely prefers to be on the receiving end of neck kisses and literally melts into your touch the moment your hot lips come into contact with his skin.

His hands come to tangle in your hair as soon as you begin giving the sensitive skin of his throat attention, his chin lifting to give you better access.

With Rory, it doesn’t take long before he becomes feverish with need, gripping your hips from your position astride him and forcing you up, moving you so that your knees are braced on either side of his head before returning the favour, your hands now coming to tangle in his roots as he feasts upon you, either taking you into his mouth or licking you with as much fervour as you licked up and down the column of his throat.

pre-cult kai anderson

Loves giving your neck attention with his mouth but is often too timid to initiate it. Knowing this, you are generous in your encouragement, taking his head gently in your hands and leading his face to the crook of your throat, offering him hushed praises as he works the soft skin of your neck with his warm lips.

He steadily gains more confidence, much to your delight as the gentleness with which he attends to your neck sends a flurry of excitement fluttering through you.

Although he adores your lips on his skin, becoming instantly engorged, the stimulation can be overwhelming at times, especially when you use your teeth to mark his skin. You know his boundaries and you know how much he loves being granted full access to your neck and both of you are more than happy to indulge to each other’s needs.

cult kai anderson

Kai will only kiss your neck if you ask for it, enjoying the way that your eyes avert his when you finally give in and request his lips on your skin, forcing you to beg before providing you with what you want. 

He can be rough, using his teeth and biting hard enough to bruise, or he can be dizzyingly gentle, running his tongue softly across your throat and tenderly pressing his warm lips to your skin; there’s rarely any in between and you can never gauge which mood he is in until he shows you.

He’s very into hickeys, not only because of the noises he coaxes from you whilst sucking them onto your skin, but also because he likes you to display them at cult meetings, painting the underside of your jaw with them and watching with delight as the cult members eyes immediately flick to the marks when you enter the room.

prison kai anderson (the best kai anderson)

He secretly loves when you attend to his neck and covertly aches to feel your hot lips and tongue on his skin. Although he would never ask for it, you oblige him occasionally, usually when he’s generous enough to let you ride him, leaning over his body and attacking his neck as he thrusts up into you from underneath.

Hickeys aren’t really his thing, he dislikes the way the marks linger and feels as if they make him look submissive, which isn’t true. You’re occasionally able to sneak some onto his hips bones however, and he hisses in pleasure when you do, gripping onto the back of your head and forcing your mouth further onto his skin. 

He is very attentive when it comes to having his lips on your skin, sucking and biting a sizeable collection of marks onto your neck and collarbones, biting down on your skin hard enough to break flesh, stopping only when you yelp out in pain, releasing his firm hold on your skin and licking softly over the hurt in contrasting tenderness.

malcolm gallant

Gallant takes his sweet time with your neck, dining on the supple dip at the hollow of your throat, licking at the bump of your adam’s apple at nipping at the soft flesh at the underside of your jaw.

Only when he’s reduced you to a panting mess beneath him will he progress down the planes of your body, lower and lower as you buck your hips into the hand he has cruelly rested on your hardening bulge, eventually granting you with the pleasure he made you so desperate for, following through with his hot mouth.

He gets equally as riled up when you get a turn at attaching your lips to his neck, knowing the exact spot that makes him whimper: the tender spot where his neck meets the slope of his shoulder.

It becomes a sort of competition, to see which one of you would be the first to become sated under the touch of the other’s lips, one of you smiling in victory against the skin they attended to as the other submits to the tongue licking intoxicating stripes up their skin.

taglist: @kitwalker02 @three-eyed-snail @forevercountess @kitwalkerangel @milly-louise @thecountessesglove @undeadcortez @kitwalker64 @samsassinparvismagna @xmaximoffic @divineruler @liandav @tatesweaterweather @evanmybeloved @tatelangdonsupremacist @ikkleroniekins (dm to be added or removed <3)

[dayeongi]

10 first lines Tag Game

Thank you for the tag @sessakag​ !!💖💖

Rules: share the first lines of ten of your most recent fanfics and tag ten people. If you have written less than ten, don’t be shy and share anyway!

From most recent to least recent!

1.- Burning

“Everything that glitters is not gold” was a simple saying Shikamaru didn’t usually think too often about. After all, life had proved it right to him so many times, more than a saying, it had become general knowledge.

Just like he didn’t have to think that the rain would soak him if he were to stand under it.

Just like he didn’t have to think that the sun burned him if he were to stand under it.

And burn it did; the glittering decorations, the colorful fabrics draped from the walls, the beautiful shape of her, dressed in finery.

2.- Kisses in the Rain

“You didn’t have to come all this way,” Temari said, huddling closer to him, the cold air seeping through her wet clothes. “You’ll get a cold, and then you’ll say it’s my fault.”

“The usual phrase is ‘thank you’.”

3.- SETTING SUN

The biting night air whizzed past her through the window of her bedroom like an arrow, but she didn't flinch. Temari would never, she had promised herself, for as long as she’d had a memory.

It was a wind coming from the Demon Desert, she knew, coming from the same direction as the hospital.

North.

4.- Sign of the Times

They must think he doesn’t know what they whisper.

“Kazekage-sama is always alone.”

5.- Riptide

“Martha says you were late.” Ingrid’s reproach entered the room before she did, fingers tapping on her smartphone. She squandered a fleeting glare in Astrid’s direction before resting her tall, waifish body in the vanity of the dressing room.

6.- hopefully

To the general agreement of everyone everywhere, letters don’t have the decency to arrive at a time when one is idle and must instead be delivered to their recipient when and where they might find it the most inconvenient to open.

One such letter had arrived for Mrs. Haddock in the early morning as the family broke their fast, and had she bothered to see the sender’s signature, she would have disregarded the inconvenience and opened it immediately, but as she was enjoying talking to her husband and his newly-discovered father, she paid no mind to the delivery entirely.

7.- With Love Comes Loss

Hiccup stood on the cliff where the dragons left them, a warm summer breeze failing to wash away the deep sense of ache and loneliness he still felt when he closed his eyes and just remembered.

Three summers had passed since them, Toothless crooning a reluctant goodbye, the majestic sight of wings spreading in the sky behind them both.

8.- The Rose and the Dare

Astrid tightened her grip over the flashlight, scowling as she stumbled over a tree root.

Stupid Ruffnut. Stupid dare. Stupid stupid stupid. She’d only done it because she hadn’t seen her friends in a while and had taken the time to fly back for the weekend.

It had been 2 a.m. They were playing truth or dare, and after that terrifying moment of the bottle spinning, Ruffnut had dared her to go into the woods and get a flower from the huge rose bush next to the abandoned church deep in the forest.

9.- When you look in the mirror

Hiccup (otherwise known as Henrik) was pretty sure of a couple of things.

Number one: He was pretty sure the date was June 22nd.

10.- Morning daze

There was something hazy still taking over her as Astrid blinked bleary eyes against the light coming in from the window.

(I SO BADLY WANTED TO SKIP SOME OF THESE but then what’s the point in the game?

I won’t tag anybody so nobody feels pressured (which I didn’t but just in case), but if you do it, please tag me! I’d love to see a sampling!💖)

[aaami]

4 the most recent ask game.... all of them!!!! >:D

or at least, all that you feel like answering. i love hearing you rant about your special guys! :D

Okie dokie, let's gooo!!!

Long post, so it goes under a read more :^))

I'm going for my canon, so I will be skipping some questions that don't fit (stuff that are more suitable for like the modern au and so on)

❣️ - What are their love languages? Quality time and acts of service are important to her in romantic and platonic relationships. She enjoys spending time with her friends and helping them in any way she can!!

Physical touch is extra for a romantic relationship, but she does hug and give cheek smooches to her platonic friends too! She's not very good with expressing her feelings, so she prefers to show her affection through actions. Cuddling and holding her loved one close is important to her.

🌙 - What’s their sleep schedule like? Kajo likes to think that her sleep schedule is fine (at least compared to Cicero's), but honestly? It's a mess. Sometimes she goes to bed at a decent time and doesn't sleep too long, but it's far more common for her to go to bed at early hours of the morning and then sleep until afternoon. Or sometimes she might go to bed in the afternoon and wake up in the middle of the night.

🎁 - How do they feel about their birthday/birthdays in general? She loves them!! Especially everyone else's and is always super excited to celebrate her friends' birthdays, spend time with them and give them fun gists. And eat cake.

She is a bit bummed when she finds out that Cicero isn't absolutely certain of when exactly his birthday is. But he knows the month and that's enough for Kajo! They'll spend the whole month celebrating it!

🧑‍🦰 - Have they ever dyed their hair? Ever cut it themself? No dyeing, but she does cut her own hair. She does a decent job at it and luckily her hair being so floofy and always a bit of a mess, so little mistakes aren't super noticable.

🍷- How do they feel about alcohol? Kajo rarely drinks to get drunk, but every now and then she does enjoy a mug of ale or mulled wine to keep warm. Those are not enough to get her drunk easily tho (she's a bosmer after all, resistant to poison and so on), so she brings out the stupidly strong bosmeri beverages when she really needs to reset her brain.

🗣️ - How do they handle public speaking? Not the biggest fan of it, but she will do it if she absolutely must. Kajo is not a very shy person when it comes to things like this and she isn't afraid of public speaking, however does sometimes worry that she might say something absolutely stupid. And then laugh at herself like an idiot.

💓 - What are some signs they’ve fallen for someone? How do they show their affection? Kajo tries her damndest to hide it, because romantic feelings make her nervous. What if her crush doesn't like her?! What if they laugh at her for having such feelings?!! What if being in love will make things weird and difficult? Usually there is nothing to really worry about, but... what if...

But anyway, Kajo cannot hide it completely. She doesn't even notice how her gaze might linger on them longer than before, how she smiles when she thinks about them, how she stands closer to them.

🤡 - What’s something dumb they’re embarrassed about? The older she grows, the less embarrassed she feels, but as a young girl she did many silly things that made her want to hide forever. However, she is a bit embarrassed about the whole "hide in the Night Mother's coffin, because it's a very good place for eavesdropping!" thing Astrid got her to do. Even if it was how she found out that she is the Listener, it was still really stupid and even disrespectful in her opinion.

👪 - What’s their relationship with their parents like? Kajo has a good relationship with her mother and father, Mal and Farenin. She has always been close with them and is so grateful for all the love they have given her and the things they have taught her. They taught her to be kind and understanding, but tough when she must.

When Kajo was little, Mal's stories about her adventures inspired Kajo to become an adventurer one day. Her mother also taught her how to use a bow, how to fight and survive.

🐒 - What’s their favorite animal? Kajo loves all animals, but... this isn't a surprise... her absolute favorite are frogs. There is just something so fun about those little critters, even she doesn't really know why she gets so excited when she sees some.

🧳 - What countries provinces have they been to? Kajo has travelled a lot around Tamriel, but mostly the west and middle. So, she has been all around Valenwood (obviously, that's where she is from), Summerset, Elsweyr, Hammerfell, High Rock, Cyrodiil and Skyrim (where she currently resides). Solstheim is the closest she's been to Morrowind, but it was her plan to visit after spending some time in Skyrim and after that finally going to Black Marsh. However, her plans changed drastically with all the dragonborn stuff and the Dark Brotherhood.

She still might visit Morrowind and Black Marsh some day, tho!

🤔 - What’s something they’ll never understand? A lot of things, really. One thing that really boggles her mind is that how people are trying to pull her into the civil war, just because she is a dragonborn. During the peace talks, Kajo makes it perfectly clear to both sides that she isn't part of what is happening in Skyrim and she is only getting briefly involved because of the dragon situation, but are they really listening? No.

She isn't from Skyrim, hasn't lived there long enough, and doesn't feel like it's her place to decide anything.

🎨 - What’s their favorite color? Green! Red is a close second and she does dress in red most of the time, since it's one of the colors of the Dark Brotherhood.

☂️ - How do they feel about rain? Somewhat indifferent, really. The rain in Skyrim is pretty cold in her opinion, tho, very different from the refreshing rains back in Valenwood.

🎶 - What’s a song they really like? Any upbeat, fun tavern song!! Some more melancholic ones too, if she is in the mood.

Not the biggest fan of the songs about the dragonborn and so on.

🖌️ - Do they have any hobbies? Archery, murder, napping. What else does a girl need?

💤 - What do they absolutely need to have to fall asleep? Kajo has the incredible talent of being able to fall asleep pretty much anywhere and whenever, so nothing really? Okay, perhaps she must feel safe first, know that there won't be dangers lurking nearby when she is getting some shut eye.

A nice, warm fur blanket is a great bonus, tho.

🗺️ - What languages do they speak? Kajo's mother tongue is Bosmeri, however her family has always spoken Tamrielic too. Through her mother (who is half altmer), Kajo has also learned Altmeri (not very fluently, but enough to hold simple conversations), which she sometimes speaks with her cousin Cailon.

She also speaks the Dragon Language, although, like Altmeri, not fluently, but enough to understand the shouts she uses and some texts and if dragons are insulting her. Knows the Daedric alphabet too.

🍳 - How well can they cook? & 🍪 - How well can they bake? Kajo is a decent cook, even though she doesn't enjoy cooking very much. She'll much rather trick people into thinking that she cannot cook at all, that she would only destroy the food. Did that to Cicero too, who for a bit believed her, but then realized that she must know how to cook or she wouldn't have survived for long on her own.

💘 - What do they find attractive about their partner(s)? To Kajo, Cicero feels like the most real person she has ever met. He is unapologetically himself. Crazy? Yes, but Kajo doesn't care much, because there is so much more to him than that (and she is a bit crazy too, so...). He does hide parts of himself, his past and the pain he has been through, but once he begins to open up to Kajo, she understands it. The jester persona was a mask first, but now really part of him and he is happy with who he is now.

Cicero makes Kajo laugh, he has a special talent of making her life brighter even when everything feels doomed and gloomy, and that's something she finds really attractive.

As for physical qualities, Kajo does find Cicero attractive in that aspect as well. She thinks that his ridiculous smirk is rather cute and that he has such a nice nose. Red hair and freckles are a huge bonus too, Kajo is especially mad about the freckles.

👗 - How comfortable would they be wearing a skirt or dress? She isn't the biggest fan of skirts and dresses, but does wear the latter in some occasions, usually when she gets invited to parties and such because of her dragonborn status.

💝 - What gestures do they really appreciate? How do you get on their good side? Be loyal and trustworthy, someone she can depend on. Open-minded, she doesn’t really like judgy people. Just be a friend!

☕ - Coffee or tea? Not the biggest fan of either, but does drink tea sometimes to stay warm.

💖 - How and how often do they try to impress their partner(s)? How and how often do their partner(s) impress them? Honestly, Kajo doesn’t need to try too much to impress Cicero. All she needs to do is her usual thing, be weird and do contracts. Even better if she comes up with some really elaborate and gorey plan for the contract, that makes Cicero’s heart flutter.

Cicero doesn’t really have to try either, it just happens. When he helps Kajo with pretty much anything, be it dealing with dragons or doing contracts with her (and helping her to come up with those plans) or whatever. Most impressed she is when she gets to watch Cicero do his Keeper tasks, it’s so neat to see him so calm and focused, a glimpse of his old self. She loves who he is now, the joyous and eccentric jester, but it feels special that he allows her to see this side of him.

🍽️ - What’s their favorite food? Although Kajo doesn’t fully follow the Green Pact anymore and has introduced some vegetables to her diet, she still does prefer meat dishes over everything. She also has a sweet tooth that cannot be satisfied, so honey glazed meat is her absolute favorite. During her time in Skyrim, she has also grown fond of various stews and soups (even if they have veggies in them), since those help you to stay warm.

🧑‍🍼 - How do they feel about kids? Kajo has never been one to like dream of having children, it’s sort of whatever to her. If it happens, then so be it, but it’s not really in her bucket list. She does think kids can be cute and funny! 

Later in her relationship with Cicero, they do joke about having children, but aren’t seriously planning it.

(Faurin isn’t part of the canon, I think, so we’re leaving her out for now. But even in the Faurin AU, Kajo thinks the same way.)

🐾 - Do they have any pets? She wishes that she could keep pets, but unfortunately her lifestyle doesn’t really allow it very well. Of course, a dog could be a fine companion on her journeys, but she would much rather have a dozen of frogs. Sometimes she does keep frogs in her pouches for a bit, but lets them out when she finds a nice pond for them.

💬 - What are some filler/buffer words they use? (Like, um, etc.) She uses filler sounds a lot (like “um, oh, ah”, so on), but also “I mean” and “I suppose”.

🏳️‍🌈 - What do they identify as? What are their pronouns? Kajo is a demisexual bi or pan!! Romantical love is nice, sex is a bit whatever (she can live without it), but she does enjoy it too once the emotional bond has been established.

She’s cisgender woman, she/her.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 - Do they have any siblings? She has two younger sisters, Kuisma and Kuura! They are twins and have always been a pain in Kajo’s ass, but in a loving, sisterly way. The three look a lot alike and Kuura too has very fluffy, messy hair (keeps it short, tho), but the twins are much taller than Kajo, having clearly inherited more of the altmer genes from their mother.

🥰 - What pet names do their partner(s) use for them? How flustered do they get by them? They aren’t really pert names, but Cicero has a couple of nicknames for Kajo! Before she turned out to be the Listener, he called her Stripes, because of the red lines she likes to paint on her face. Sometimes he also calls her a Magpie, since she likes to steal shiny things from people’s houses during their contracts (stuff she knows the Thieves Guild will like, which means some extra coin for the DB). 

Mostly he calls her the Listener, tho. Usually Kajo wants people to just call her by her name, but Cicero is allowed to do whatever. 

But oh, he does call her by her name sometimes and it drives her absolutely mad, because it’s quite rare and always makes her heart flutter. And Cicero has noticed that and can be a bit mean with it, trying to make her blush in situations where she should remain composed. He thinks it’s adorable.

🌳 - What’s their extended family like? Her dysfunctional, yet functional extended family is very special to Kajo. 

She does consider the whole DB part of her extended family, but especially Nazir, Babette and Cicero are close to her. (She also cared about the other now late members of the Falkreath Sanctuary and considered them family even though she didn’t get to spent a lot of time with them.)

Then there is Neyon, a breton mage she escaped from Helgen with and they have been friends since. Neyon works closely with Cailon (Kajo’s cousin and the new Arch-Mage) in Winterhold and Kajo visits both of them regularly. Neyon is very kind and smart, and she has helped Kajo with a lot of things. She isn’t the most adventurous type, but did tag along when Kajo and Cicero travelled to Blackreach to find the Elder Scroll.

Serana is definitely family, too! Kajo grows very fond of her and often jokes that the vampire is like a daughter to her, even tho she is much, MUCH older. Serana thinks that Kajo (and her partner) is really weird, but in a funny, even endearing way. Certainly an unexpected, yet refreshing friendship! 

[e-wills-afterhours]

Vetrnaetr, Chapter 3

Chapter 1 | 2

---------

Astrid swore under her breath as her fingers caught in her hair, botching her second attempt to braid it that morning. Higher thought was not required for something so mundane and automatic, but her fingers twisted faster than usual with her mounting guilt. Twice, they had snagged in a web of blonde, pulling at strands that stuck out oddly. With a huff, she undid her messy work, feeling frustration mingling with the internal disquiet twisting her stomach in knots.

She had not seen Hiccup since he had fled the archive. Her full apology remained unspoken, gnawing at her while the image of her hurt and betrayed boyfriend replayed in her mind. She wanted to scream, throw and break things; inanimate object would only be a stand-in for her pride.

The last time she had seen Hiccup cower like that, eyes full of fear, was in the Kill Ring before he had learned to communicate with dragons—back when Meatlug was a fearsome thing. Sure, Astrid swatted at Hiccup, or delivered a light punch to his arm when warranted, but she never caused him any undue physical pain. Not in several years. She could not imagine it. He was her lover, and it was a long, bumpy path for them to get there. To see him clutching his bad shoulder—an injury he had sustained on her behalf, no less—regarding her like she was some vicious dragon not to be trusted, was the froth atop the yaknog that had been their relationship over past couple of days.

She had not meant to do it. He was rarely slowed down by injuries and she had simply forgotten about his shoulder. She could explain that to him, and he could understand that—if she could only hold his attention long enough…

Slower, deeper breaths calmed her enough to manipulate her hair into a presentable state. She pulled on her boots and grabbed her axe.

She hoped to find Hiccup, to sit him down a properly apologize and talk through whatever rut they were in. If she could not find him, target practice would suffice to work through her frustrations. A backup plan was necessary when seeking him out. He was distracted, flighty, and unreliable when it came to keeping dates. He was a leaf in a summer’s breeze, carefree and without direction. For someone as punctual and attentive as Astrid, she found her boyfriend’s scattered-brained tendencies baffling best, irritating at worst. Indeed, he only displayed any real focus for his own projects, which he apparently had all the leisure time in the world to tinker with. Then, he was like a dragon on its prey, with a precision and mental fortitude that fell just short of his capacity at all other times. He was a two-sided silver coin but could not be so easily flipped.

Yes, Hiccup was fortunate to be the chief’s son with all of its privileges, and perhaps he had spent too many years miserable to realize it. The two of them were finally together, his father was proud of him, his birthright was going to lead him to great things—yet he seemed to find any reason to shy away from it all. She just could not understand it and she knew it exasperated her lover, like he had written out an entire essay on his inner workings, but it was in a language she could not read.

She, on the other hand, was in charge of assembling her family’s offering to the Dísir, and for sewing her own garb for Vetrnaetr—two domestic tasks her mother insisted were necessary to master. In the meantime, she still had to tend to Stormfly, her usual chores, and she would help her father by livening up the façade of their home. He would be too busy on the festival hunt to do it himself. Food was always in abundance on Norse holidays. A shortage of meat and ale might have very well been the one thing that would cause Berk to revolt.

It was not that Astrid could not handle the workload, but it left her only occasional breaks as Vetrnaetr drew nearer. She wanted to spend her free time with Hiccup, after everything they had been through, after three years of viewing him through a fog—obscured and haunting, just out of her reach. Their leisure time was now theirs, but Hiccup invested it in Inferno prototypes, and whatever else he got up to when he was not tinkering or flying. She could not understand what glowing, unfeeling metal had to offer him that she did not. She burned just as fiercely for him, but he spent his time staring at sketches on parchment, his hands otherwise preoccupied.

She intended to search the smithy for him first, stepping out of her bedroom. If Hiccup was not off on Toothless, Odin knew where, he was likely wasting more of his plentiful time hammering by the forge. She would have to speak louder to be heard, provided he was even listening to begin with.

He usually was not.

She peeked into the common living space as she crept from her room. Her mother was busy in the pantry nook, and Astrid’s path to the front door was clear. She steadied her axe over her shoulder and began a quick, stealthy pace across the room.

But her mother was every bit a Hofferson as she was.

“I have some items I need you to pick up for me this afternoon, dear,” her mother said, without turning around.

Astrid flinched and came to a stop, her shoulders falling in defeat. “Yes?”

“If you will take some eggs to the Jorgensons for me, to trade for some butter, that would be helpful. Also, a pound of lamb from Sven fer tonight’s stew.”

Astrid committed the mercifully short list to memory. She should have known better than to ask, “Anything else?”

Her mother turned, wiping her floured hands in a kitchen cloth. Her brow was heavy and her lips were drawn into a tight, forbidding line that seemed to encompass her whole face.

“I’ve been meaning to say, your father and I forgive you” The significant tone in her voice was anything but healing. Instead of a salve, it was a finger, prodding the still festering sore.

“Oh. Well. I’m glad that’s settled,” Astrid responded politely—for she was a Hofferson: one of the few Viking clans with any social graces, Her mother was a caged tempest as much as she was, just waiting for an excuse to open the latch.

“Far from it, though,” her mother said, and Astrid found herself wondering what more she could be reprimanded for. She was a good daughter. Nearly perfect—but it was the “nearly” that would do her in. Her mother went on to explain, “We’re no longer bound to the Svensons. A blessing, I suppose, considering they were a miserable lot—but it’s taken a toll on the family, going back on our word. It doesn’t reflect well on us.”

“We didn’t go back on anything,” Astrid scoffed. She let her axe slip in her hand until the butt of the handle hit the floor with an austere rap. “Hiccup decided—“

Older, greyer eyes narrowed in an ever-growing nest of crow's feet. “There are some who say the two of you conspired; that there are strong reasons you might do such a thing.”

Yes. Reasons—ones wrapped in moans and sweat; ones Astrid would not divulge but that sharp maternal scrutiny seemed to inherently know. There was some kind of mysterious ability older, more experienced women had to simply sense such things. Was she exuding a presence? A pheromone—detectable only to those women who had unlocked some kind mystic feminine energy.

“I didn’t encourage him,” she replied, dodging the weighted implication. But her pale complexion burned with the truth her mother undoubtedly knew. “I didn't want him to fight! I’ve already told you that. I don’t know how many other ways I can say it. When Hiccup gets his mind set on something, he doesn’t always see sense—but I won’t deny I’m happy with the way things turned out.” Her chest inflated. She would defend her relationship with Hiccup until her last.

Her mother waved a hand, as if brushing aside the bit of stale, old argument she had no interest in rehashing. “Regardless, you uncle’s having a hard time negotiating the terms of your cousin’s marriage to the Larsons. They seem to think agreements with our clan are flexible and subject to sudden change. The Larsons are seeking’ more insurance from your uncle that this arrangement will stick—that their family won’t be the next to suffer such grave embarrassment.”

“I don’t see why my circumstances have any bearing on—“

“But they do, Astrid,” her mother said calmly, but with the faintest edge that discouraged any further disagreement. “You’ve always known that. What you do reflects on all of us. You represent your family every time you step out that door. Right now, you bring suspicion on us. That is just the way of things. You're a smart girl and I know you can understand that.”

Astrid cast her eyes to the ground, indeed feeling the weight of the Hofferson reputation forcing her into submission like it always had, and like it always would. They were not jarls, so the family name was their wealth, their currency, and any tarnishing of it had to be dealt with.

“How should I fix it so I’m not such a disappointment?” she muttered.

“You’re not a disappointment,” her mother sighed, pulling her in by the shoulder guards and kissing her forehead. “Not to your father. Not to me. But now we do have a crisis of reputation.”

“That I caused,” Astrid added, because she knew her mother wanted to.

Floured hands fell on matronly hips. “That your father and I had a part in as well…”

Her mother managed a cracked smile in as close to an apology that Astrid would likely receive for the terrible marriage they had tried to arrange for status, and for the wealth they did not have—as close to being jarls as they might ever hope to be.

Unless…

Astrid laughed dryly and shrugged her shoulders.

“So, what now? I have to…marry Hiccup?” she teased, and she could not meet her mother’s eyes as she said it.

“That would be the plan, yes,” her mother answered. “Sooner rather than later.”

Astrid was dumbstruck. After the bubble of tension that filled her house since she had gotten with Hiccup, since she defied her parents and social norms in pursuit of what she wanted—most unbecoming for a Hofferson—her mother was outright saying that a marriage between her clan and the Haddocks was desirable. Almost a priority even, as if Astrid had not endured critical stares and loaded remarks in a concerted effort to displace parental blame on to her. Hiccup was painted the source of the problem—though she was painted the instigator—now he was the remedy.

“Isn’t that kind of up to him? To ask, I mean,” Astrid replied, though she doubted any such thoughts were in Hiccup’s head. Not lately. He was repelled by anything that even suggested responsibility, including the attentiveness of a committed boyfriend.

“To ask, maybe. Then it’s up to his father, mostly. And up to yours. But it isn’t quite as simple as that.”

Astrid’s brow furrowed. She set her axe down on the table. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t tell me you never considered where Hiccup stands and where you stand?”

Astrid understood perfectly: heal the Hofferson image and patch the void of a lucrative marriage contract gone sour with better prospects. The older generation was still set in social norms of wartime necessities—social maneuvering for better survival—calculated, as if Berk was one large table game. There were no more dragon raids, though; no outstanding threats that might prematurely claim her hypothetical husband, leaving her disadvantaged without the right connections to see herself taken care of in widowed years. Berk had a hierarchy, and people lived and died by it still. The younger generation, with its leash loosened in peacetime, did not see the virtue in remaining tethered to outdated norms. Not in a new world, still being shaped by their potential and gumption. Surely, there were new rules to be made and a more relaxed social order to establish—one in which the division between her and Hiccup's respective social strata was not so pronounced.

“I really don’t think the Haddocks think that way,” Astrid remarked, folding her arms to ward off her mother’s plot.

“Hiccup might not, but his father does,” her mother responded. “Oh, Stoick won’t push the lad into anything as long as Hiccup is interested in you. He feels he owes the boy too much. But if you and Hiccup were not to last, the boy is at a ripe age for a political arrangement.”

“Yes, I know that.” Astrid wished to the gods she did not—that it was her mother’s own wild imaginings, and the norms of a different village from a different time.

“Make sure he doesn’t lose interest, Astrid. I fear your marriage prospects will dry up with Hiccup’s affections for you.”

There was something pointed in her words, and Astrid wondered just how much the woman knew. Did mothers really have eyes and ears everywhere, tapping into the spiritual channels that ran through Berk? Could they commune with ancient and mystic forces to forever keep their children in line?

Astrid’s nails dug into her bare arms as she seethed, “Then at least I’ll still have my axe.”

She strode off to begin the day’s chores before her mood could be dampened any further.

--------

The butter was last on the list, since Astrid did not make it a habit to visit the Jorgensons unless she absolutely had to. She already dropped the cut of lamb from Sven back at her house, much to her mother’s approval. She dragged her heels on the last errand, trudging toward the Jorgenson family home with a heavy sigh. The longer she waited, the greater the chance Snotlout might be swerving through the sea stacks on Hookfang or burying his boredom in the mud of the north fields, challenging the twins to some contact sport. The filthier they became, the more they would enjoy it; and Astrid hoped the promise of bruises and grime called Snotlout away as she set about her chores. He was harmless, really, but an irritating troll nonetheless; and she was out of patience to spare him.

Thankfully, he was not home. She traded eggs for the requested butter, thinking herself fortunate until she turned back toward her own house. Lingering in her path was Stefnir and his friends—the former social circle from whence she escaped. She could only imagine her misery if things had gone unchanged. She would have been standing beside Stefnir, laughing hollowly at his jokes, pretending his friends were a delight to be around while longing for the days her own desires mattered.

Thank all of the gods she was free of him. Pretending to care, to be infatuated, was her strength. Her hollow gestures had not gone unnoticed in the last few days before their engagement had ended. Eventually, Astrid would have grown too weary of the forced smiles and the affectionate lies she hissed between her teeth. On their wedding night, Stefnir might have ended up castrated by her own hands had he laid hands on her. Not very conducive to the dutiful bearing of children…

He glanced over as her pace quickened. The jangling of her skirt and pauldrons caught his attention, and she figured he must be attuned to it from those years of trying so desperately to keep her under his thumb. He spotted her, grinning like some sort of sly fox of whimsical lore. She could not help her own lip curl of disgust.

It was Hiccup’s way to avoid conflict, not hers. Her mild-mannered boyfriend often turned on his heel or ducked to the side whenever their paths crossed with Stefnir, dragging her along with him, but Astrid was too proud to do so of her own volition. Hiccup did not want to endure the other man’s ineffable smugness and invite further conflict, but she reveled in every opportunity to stare Stefnir down. His life may have rebounded from their imploded engagement, but he had not beaten her in the contest of satisfaction. She made it a point to walk tall past the man who still fancied himself more important than he was.

“Astrid!” Stefnir exclaimed, all too jovially. He bounded over to her, the steam of his breath in the cool air giving off the impression of a dragon poised to strike. He left his friends without so much as a hasty explanation or excuse, far more interested in tormenting her, it seemed.

It was good to know his priorities were the same.

“Don’t you have a wife to lord over?” Astrid huffed, not missing a step.

Stefnir only continued to grin in that superior way of his, like her contempt for him was nothing short of adorable. She contemplated a swift kick to his groin. Surely hindering his ability to procreate would only benefit Berk in the long run.

“You almost look domestic, carrying that basket,” he teased.

He tried to peer into it and Astrid shifted it to the other arm like butter was something fiercely private.

“And you almost look blissfully married, standing there with your friends,” she retorted.

Curious eyes followed the two of them as they hurried through the village, and Astrid felt her face burn at the unmistakable sign of gossip—women leaning in, trying not to glance at the former couple who, by all accounts, should not been seen together. She moved even faster, feeling the strain in her legs as she all but sprinted. Stefnir kept pace rather easily with his greater height.

“I am blissfully married,” he replied.

She scoffed, picturing the demure young thing often latched to his arm, youthful and naïve. “Seems like an awfully one-sided affair.”

“My wife knows her place,” he said.

Astrid shot him a sardonic smile, “Where's that? Licking your boots?”

He snorted, using his wide stride to cut in front of her, forcing her to stop before she collided with his chest. She took two steps back, the close proximity making her insides squirm.

“Why don’t you stop the games?” He asked, frowning. “You’re far too bitter for someone who supposedly got the better deal.”

“I’m not playing games.”

“Then Hiccup’s aware you’re stringing him along too?”

Astrid recoiled, eyeing him indignantly. A muscle twitched in her upper lip, and the phantom blow to her gut was the not-entirely-misplaced blame weighing heavily on those words. Her fiery emotions betrayed her, and Stefnir’s eyebrows raised in surprised.

“Oh. Oh, he’s not,” he mused. “No. In fact, are you the one being strung along?”

He was far too giddy about the notion, unaware he was digging up deeply buried insecurities she was not keen to admit, even to herself. They had not been there when she was still high of the initial excitement of Hiccup’s victory; but she had been distracted for too long, refusing to see what her mother saw. Hel, the village saw it too, most likely. Her penchant for tunnel vision when focused on any single goal had blinded her from the seeds of an uncomfortable truth being sown. In her desperate attempts to cultivate the reality she envisioned for herself and for Hiccup, maybe she had overlooked some crucial details, so obvious to everyone else?

Her pale cheeks flushed red, more from a nauseating embarrassment she could not bear for Stefnir to see. He was not privileged enough to look upon her weaknesses. She swallowed thickly and pushed passed him, taking care to bump him hard with her shoulder.

“No one is stringing anyone else along. What are you even babbling about?” she growled.

He grasped her free wrist and Astrid wheeled around in the mud, wrenching her arm from him. She flinched at the shoulder as her fingers curled into a fist. The temptation to hit him was strong.

Her jaw clenched; it was the first time she dared to think her once coveted relationship with Hiccup was anything less than worth it—that it was the misguided passions of youth. The more Stefnir spoke, the deeper he pushed the proverbial knife.

He grinned again as he said, “I assumed Hiccup ended our engagement so the two of you could enter your own. But even now, three months later, you two remain…well, whatever-it-is you are to each other. How unprecedented. Whatever you’re selling, he’s not interested in buying, is he?”

Astrid tossed her braided hair back, letting a whisper of cold air soothe her heated neck. “Watch yourself. I’m no longer obligated to be civil to you; and you’re wandering into dangerous territory.” She leaned in with eyes narrowed, but he held his ground.

“Why? Does the truth hurt?” he replied.

There was that irksome word again. Truth. Astrid was not sure what that entailed anymore, but when did everyone else become so certain?

“Look,” she hissed, the coils of her breath in the cold air hopefully offending him as they assaulted his smug face. “I don’t know what you or anyone else thinks they know, but Hiccup and I are doing just fine.” She pulled back, straightening up to magnify what little confidence she could muster. “Better than fine, actually. We genuinely enjoy each other’s company: and we don’t need to be married to do that—something I think is lost on you, and everyone else for that matter.”

He had the audacity to chuckle, waving a flippant hand. “Yes. Your relationship is so secure you feel the need to stand here and defend it to me.”

She glanced away, hoping to communicate disinterest opposed to self-doubt. “Did you want something, Stefnir? Or do you just relish in being an incorrigible asshole?”

“I just wanted to make sure what happened between us was all worth it in the end. For you.”

She stared back at him, exasperated. “I’m not your concern.”

He shrugged. “I guess you aren’t Hiccup’s either.”

The chill in Astrid’s veins was more potent than encroaching winter. “How dare you—!”

“Do you even know where he is?” Stefnir interrupted calmly.

She fumbled for a minute, carding through her brain in case Hiccup had told her something—but as was typical of late, she could not answer with any kind of certainty.

“The forge. Probably,” she replied as if it was obvious. After all, he had been spending more time there than he spent with her. Stefnir, however, was disconcertingly knowing. She snapped, “We don’t keep tabs on each other!”

“I’m intrigued to see how far this goes between you two—with him being here.” Stefnir leveled his hand high above his head. Then, he dropped it to his chest. “You being here. It’d be a first for this village, you know: a chief marrying so far beneath him.”

Astrid was nearly deaf from the blood rushing in her ears.

“I didn’t know you cared,” she retorted.

Stefnir, satisfied, began to saunter off. “A lot of people care, Astrid.”

“Too many!” she called after him, but he just kept walking with a languid swagger.

Indeed, it seemed like she was as much the center of public concern as she had been when Hiccup had challenged Stefnir. Nosy neighbors were less than subtle, casting sidelong glances in her direction.

She stormed off, taking the longer way home that passed by the smithy. Only Gobber was inside, and she realized then that she did not know where her lover was or what he was doing; and it was just more the norm as far as her supposedly solid relationship was concerned. She was not sure what was more painful: the reality that she and Hiccup did have some kind of wedge between them or that Stefnir had been right about it.

She resisted the urge to throw the softening butter to the ground.

---------

Perhaps it was yet another sign of a doomed relationship when a dragon’s tracking abilities were better suited for locating a missing lover than one’s own intuition? Astrid had searched everywhere she could think of—the stables, Hiccup’s house, the Great Hall, the former Dragon Academy, the cove, the skies around Berk—before enlisting Stormfly to find her boyfriend. It felt like a defeat, finally yielding to her Nadder’s sense of smell and admitting that she was clueless about Hiccup’s activities.

Only a few days ago, she felt so secure in her life’s trajectory, but those feelings were getting harder to recall as of late. She never would have guessed that two years of heartache and of mutual pining away in an uncharacteristic desperation, could ultimately amount to nothing; or that those who tried to warn her to keep on the straight and narrow path could have possibly been right. The very thought was maddening that she, Astrid Hofferson, so sure and so put together, could have been so wrong about what she really wanted—or rather, what she really needed.

Hiccup was always the answer to every question she dared to ask about her future—not the heavy questions her mother posed, but the more satisfying ones: who would she always fly with, who would she always confide in, and who would always have her back? No other name ever flashed in her mind, and she had been so confident in her own autonomy to choose in love and matters of the heart. What reason did she have to doubt her own romantic interests? So, she buried the nagging concerns. All of the things in Hiccup’s behavior that she found problematic, she ignored. She was not going to be wrong about him, because they were not wrong. When he kissed her, it was nothing short of perfect. They desired each other so ardently for so long that being wrapped up between layers of furs in the night had been enough to carry them.

For a while.

Then Astrid could no longer overlook Hiccup’s flightiness: his aptitude for losing himself in his own interests in spite of everything else going on around him. His mind wandered when she talked. He was late to scheduled dates and platonic rendezvous with friends, or he missed them entirely. She had to go to him. He never came to her. Everything except their physical intimacy felt one-sided, and Hiccup resisted all of her efforts to point it out to him—to fix it. He always had his excuses. For someone who liked to tinker, he found the idea of improving their relationship particularly scathing.

Perhaps she had been too proud to recognize what was really going on, as Stefnir suggested? But it did not seem like Hiccup, to use her.

It did seem like him, however, to grow bored and lose interest.

Astrid shifted in her saddle, biting her lip.

She would not go there—not until she heard it from Hiccup. Despite their recent struggles, she owed it to him to talk, to give him a chance to explain and put things in context—if he even bothered to try.

Her stomach did a little flip as Stormfly glided over Berk’s lush pastures. Even in the colder months, they stayed resiliently green before the snow moved in. On the brilliant, rolling expanses of fertile land, three Norsemen stood out among the tiny white puffs of sheep. The animals bleated and scurried apart as Astrid landed her Nadder gracefully among them. Her heart beat a little faster, but not from the same rush of infatuation that had once spurred it on. While Chief Stoick and Sven nodded to her cordially, Hiccup stood beside his father with a peculiar expression on his face: one often saved for trying to comprehend the twins’ antics. The light of adoration faded in his eyes as well, it seemed.

“There you are,” Astrid said, dismounting her dragon.

“Here I am,” he replied flatly. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you—nothing unusual.”

Hiccup gazed toward the mountains in the distance, with a vague nod. “Mm.”

Astrid saw Stoick nudge Sven from the corner of her eye and was thankful the two men ambled along to survey the flock.

“Why are you really here?” Hiccup asked the moment his father was out of earshot.

He was not angry, but he was clearly exasperated, looking as though he had not slept well. The shadows beneath his eyes were conspicuous above his otherwise lively constellations of freckles.

“Looking for you, like I said,” she replied. “I was asked where you were at, and I realized I didn’t have an answer. I never really have an answer.”

He frowned. “I don’t see why that’s a problem.”

Which was an answer typical of his whole scatterbrained approach to life and to her. He was dense; she wondered if he was intentionally being so.

“No. Of course you don’t,” she huffed. “Just like you can’t see why being perpetually late is a problem, or being so unconcerned is problem. You don’t really listen—“

“Unconcerned?” Hiccup folded his arms, squinting. “How am I unconcerned? What am I unconcerned about, Astrid? You come to the forge and—”

“The forge!” She threw her arms in the air. Gobber’s shop was the center of gravity around which their entire relationship spun by Hiccup’s design and her own thinly worn patience with it. “Always the forge, where I have half of your attention. You couldn’t care less about— “

She stopped, thinking of her mother and Stefnir; and the heavy cloud of expectations settling over her. She did not want to argue with Hiccup about it all right at that moment, throwing out the subject of marriage and social status right there in the middle of the otherwise peaceful glen, so close to his father. Stoick had to know the current of Berk’s gossip; the man had eye and ears everywhere, it seemed. Astounding, then, that Hiccup did not know—or rather, it would have been astounding if he were not the kind of person that preferred glowing metal and dragons to regular human interaction.

“I couldn't care less about what?” Hiccup pried, quirking an eyebrow.

“Forget it. I don’t see why repeating my grievances for the umpteenth time would suddenly matter now.”

“Ah, yes. Your problems. They’re so numerous” he replied dully, and she bristled. "I cannot possibly know what that's like, can I?"

The roll of his eyes was a clear comparison of their respective stresses.

“Don’t!" she snapped. “Don’t play the future-chief angle, Hiccup. It’s beneath you.”

“Again, Astrid, what part of reality would you like me to change?” He rubbed his forehead, like he did when trying to impart some manner of wisdom on Snotlout or the twins.

He could, when irritable, play a self-righteous martyr to rival his cousin's most woeful performances.

“How about the fact my parents have me on a short leash, or that the entire village still looks at me like I’m some kind of troublemaker?" she replied.

She was nearly shouting, but she lowered her voice when she noticed the Chief and Sven turn in her direction. The two men quickly realized they were eavesdropping on a lover’s quarrel, and Sven called Stoick's attention to a rather plump sheep.

“The name and the image I’ve built for me is falling apart because of you!” Astrid hissed, recalling her mother’s blame and the village’s whispered accusations.

Indignation rippled across her boyfriend's face, and she grimaced, reining in her temper. Her hands found her hips but she glanced at Stormfly for the moral support.

“Not that it’s intentional,” she continued. “I know that it’s nothing you’re purposefully doing. I’m trying to put things back to the way things were before everything: before the fight, before Stefnir. Back when things were simple, when they made sense.”

Hiccup’s shoulder’s fell and he shook his head in a way that was so pitying—so condescending. “Things are different now, Astrid. We’re older, for starters. We both have more responsibilities.”

She raised a hand. “Spare me the lecture, Hiccup. I’ve got enough on my plate as it is, and everyone’s got their opinions. I’ve heard more than my fair share about what I ought to do and how I ought to feel.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, but it was hollow. Compulsory. He probably did not even know why he said it, only that it was polite and he wanted to diffuse the situation.

“You know I’m essentially currency?” she asked, thinking about what her mother had said, reducing her to little more than a bargaining chip for status. "That's how anyone discusses my future these days—like a business deal."

“That’s ridiculous,” he scoffed, lip curled like the very idea was repulsive.

She was a little reassured that she was still a person in his eyes—not a plaything, nor an object to own. If only the rest of the village felt that way; but a woman’s place was a construct of generations of societal norms, born of a certain practicality and desire to survive.

“No, Hiccup. It’s not,” she replied. Again, he failed to understand, because the world he lived in was one of his own design, separate from the world the rest of their tribe lived in, but with enough overlap to still deem him sane. “You keep talking about changing reality. Well, that’s certainly something I wish I could change. I mean, do you even notice? Are you aware of the gossip going around? What the buzz is?”

“I don’t usually concern myself with—“

“And that’s your problem,” she remarked, feeling validated that he admitted as much with his own mouth. In the end, it kept coming back to the same thing: he was willfully ignorant.

She concluded their relationship was, in fact, one-sided.

“You know, Astrid, my situation isn’t exactly ideal either,” he said; but she felt he was merely evading the issue at hand.

“Oh, is it particularly taxing, spending all hours of the day doing whatever you want? Expecting me to just be there when it’s convenient for you, like I’m one of your projects?” she chided.

“If you think that’s all I—I’m very busy! Hiccup gestured to his father, Sven, and the sheep. “I have to—!”

She was not interested in his excuses. “I’m busy too, Hiccup. Do you think I just sit around, sharpening my axe all day?”

He scowled. “No, because I do that for you.”

He had no idea: cleaning the stables, tending to the chickens, learning to sew and weave and cook at her mother’s behest, tedious chores that took a great deal of time. She was also the bridge between Hiccup and the other teens, maintaining lines of communication, delegating tasks related to dragons and what remained of their academy duties. On top of all that, she found time for physical training and Stormfly—and for Hiccup. Yet, he thought his struggles were the only ones that mattered.

“I have my chores. I have my responsibilities—usually picking up your slack. I still find time for you,” she pointed out.

“Well, don’t you worry. I’ll be far less of a problem for you during the holidays,” he retorted.

He sounded resigned, then. Defeated. He was rolling over and playing dead to end the argument, and she hated it. She wanted him to fight; she wanted a resolution one way or the other, and Hiccup’s tactic of surrender was not the same thing as solving the issue.

“What are you talking about?” she asked impatiently.

He was rather monotone as he answered, “I’m leaving for a week. Before Vetrnaetr. During the festival, I’ll be busy helping my dad.”

Suddenly, all of the plans they had made and the perfect holiday she had imagined—that she was hoping to recapture from years ago—went up in smoke. She clung to the hope it could reset everything. What was worse is that Hiccup did not seem terribly upset. He just seemed tired.

“Wait, what? You’re leaving? But we—I thought…When were you going to tell me?” she asked, feeling the fire within her quickly fizzle out.

“When you stopped berating me long enough.”

She sighed, unsure of what the point was of standing her ground, rather than climbing on Stormfly and speeding off amid a flurry of well-chosen swears.

“Hiccup, I’ve only been trying to get you to hear me. To be more attentive. To care! Why does this have to be a chore for you?” she asked earnestly.

She had lost sight of the point of all the bickering. She only wanted thing to be right between them again. Just days ago, things had been blissful between them. How could they get it back? That was all she wanted, because for that brief amount of time things made sense; he did not fully appreciate how much he made things make sense. Without him, Astrid was still herself—but set adrift in a violent sea of uncertainty.

“We were supposed to be easy," she said. "It was easy.”

Hiccup did not say anything, he just looked at her full of regret, as if he was seeing the same widening fracture in what should have been their refuge from the world.

“What about the festival preparations—the races?” she asked, as if it might make him reconsider the trip, as if he had any power to decide.

“I’ve already spoken to Fishlegs about it,” Hiccup explained. “He practically burst with excitement when I asked him to take over for me. I thought he was going to faint when I told him to watch over Toothless while I’m gone.”

Astrid was taken aback. Sure, their friend could handle dragons and would view the opportunity to look after Toothless as unfettered access to study the Night Fury without Hiccup hovering around. But there was something inherently insulting about Fishlegs being asked to watch Toothless instead of her. Having a basic capability to keep a dragon alive and fed was not the same as truly caring for the animal. She was admittedly hurt that Hiccup entrusted Toothless to anyone else. The dragon-related festivities being delegated elsewhere was only an additional irritation. She was undoubtedly more adept at running things than Fishlegs.

“Fishlegs? You think he can handle all of that?” she asked, making no attempt to hide her bitterness.

“I was going to ask you, but you told me you were busy the other day. Your mother’s been particularly demanding, isn't that right?" Hiccup started walking backwards toward his father and Sven. He held his hands out. “See? I listened.”

---------

The next few days were mechanical. Astrid saw her lover briefly. They nodded to one another and conversation at mealtimes was shallow, much more reminiscent when they were pretending not to have feelings for one another.

But they were not acting then—not when their hands brushed, reaching for the same piece of bread at supper, and the resulting smiles were forced and without eye contact. They were not pretending when neither went out of their way to see the other in the remaining days before Hiccup was scheduled to leave. Astrid saw him in the skies, gliding silently over the village on his dragon. He saw her, chopping firewood and touching up the paint on her house as he trailed behind his father.  When their eyes locked, it made Astrid tense with that familiar hint of discontent that once plagued them.

If anyone asked, they were fine. Of course, they were! How silly it was to suspect anything different. They were Hiccup and Astrid, and they were so much better than fine. They were in love, after all. Madly so.

Astrid had to remind herself of that fact as she made her way down to the docks, her skin pricked by the icy spray off the sea. Her pauldrons rattled on her shivering frame. Sails billowed and planks groaned as ships pulled against their moorings; yet the Stoick's crew worked on, loading provisions. Thor would carry Hiccup’s ship quickly to Helgafell. That much was certain, judging by the howling wind.

He admittedly looked regal, standing there watching Sven guide an obstinate sheep onto the ship with his arms folded, draped in his best fur and gilded decorations. Even with his auburn hair dampened into a dark brown, clinging haphazardly to his face and forehead, he was handsome: every bit the future Chief of Berk he denied he wanted to be.

“Hiccup,” she said, just above the wind.

He gave a small start and turned. “Astrid,” he replied calmly. He betrayed no feelings about her presence there.

“I came to see you off,” she said. “It…it seemed right.”

“I…Thanks. You didn’t have to...Thanks.”

She nodded and reached out for Toothless, scratching his jaw. The Night Fury seemed subdued, knowing something was about to happen and that he was not to participate. He crooned softly, nudging Hiccup.

“Are you sure you still want Fishlegs to—?"

“It’s already settled,” he interrupted, not meeting her eye. Instead, he held his dragon’s gaze. “Sorry bud. I’m going to miss you.”

Astrid swallowed hard as her boyfriend embraced the Night Fury with sadness and remorse. He patted the dragon’s head, and they shared a silent goodbye that was more heartfelt than whatever would transpire between her and Hiccup.

For a moment, she was jealous.

“I’ll be back in a week,” Hiccup said, finally turning his attention to her, though he continued to stroke Toothless’s snout.

“I’ll be waiting,” she said.

He flashed another forced smile that was little more than an obligatory twitch of his lips.

“I have to get going,” he told her, picking up the sack at his feet. His green eyes lingered on her as he straightened back up. “Take care, Astrid.”

He sounded so wooden, so formal—it was absolutely maddening.

“I’ll write to you!” she blurted out in a final attempt to hold on to something.

“Uh, yeah. S-Sure. That sounds…fine.”

He leaned in like he was going to kiss her, but thinking better of it, he pulled her into an awkward one-arm hug. She was no more comfortable with the contact, patting his back awkwardly. Her chin rested on his good shoulder, and it was then she remembered she had yet to apologize for hurting him. When he pulled away abruptly to board the ship, she realized it did not matter anymore.

[makairodonx]

New draft of my upcoming story, “The Sorceress of Leaf and Sand”. This loving homage and tribute to Hayao Miyazaki is about a young girl who uses her supernatural powers to save the world around her from the corrupting forces of delusion, greed, ill-will and industry. It will also be divided into four books themed after the four elements of Water, Earth, Air and Fire. Hope you enjoy!

“On the Day the Last Trian Dies,

The Golden Orb shall Fall Upon the Lonely Tree

And Two Dragons of Steel shall Plunder the Entire Land

For Control over it and its Awesome Power

To Conquer and Destroy….

But only a Black-Haired Sorceress Dressed in Red

Who Hails from the Southern Glens and is of the Age of Fifteen

Can put an End to the Coming Age of Darkness and Despair…

Only She can use Her Mastery of Water, Earth, Air and Fire to Foil the Plans of the Dragons of Steel,

Only She can Turn their Greed and Ill-Will into Kindness and Love for Others,

Only She can Bring them to Justice with the Trust of the Gods and Spirits,

And only She Alone can Destroy the Golden Orb Herself,

So that Once She is Raised from the Ashes,

The Sorceress of Leaf and Sand shall Witness for Herself

The Sight of a Hundred Thousand White Birds

Flying over the Forest of Hope.”

-Thus went the ancient Prophecy told by the seer Magellon the Wise hundreds upon hundreds of years earlier, when the Dynasty of Trians was at the height of its power over the many realms of Sekaia.

On the great continent of Aetheria, where some of the Trians’ greatest tributaries were to be found, there lived on the Southern Glens a well-known family of respectable sorcerers known as the Yamamotos. Soon after their twin sons Hakaru and Satoru were born, Minami and Hitoshi had a daughter, and they named her Keiko. Over time, Keiko grew up to be a strong, independent young girl with a curious mind and a kind, loving heart. She loved apples and apple pie. She loved cats and crows. She liked to hang out with nature or with her friends. And She loved to read books. All sorts of books. At school, though, Keiko was quite shy at times…mainly because she and her family were practitioners of sorcery…and also because some of her classmates used to mock her for her long black hair, which was tied into two pigtails, for looking like “rabbit ears”…so the sorceress would play magic pranks on those who bullied her…which sometimes got her into trouble with the grownups. But anyway, Keiko learned much about the world around her from her school’s history and geography lessons, from the books she read, and from the stories and tales that her parents used to tell her.

Fifty years have passed ever since the last of the Trians passed away without an heir to the throne of Triania, the most powerful realm of Sekaia. And since then, a great armed struggle was being waged abroad by Goblins and Men over their most sacred possession, which was the key to ruling the entire world…and over who shall succeed the Trians as Sekaia’s supreme rulers.

Meanwhile, Keiko Yamamoto was celebrating her fifteenth birthday, and for that occasion she received a few gifts of magical importance: a new, crimson dress that comes with a hat and grey boots, a staff made of apple tree wood, a journal that comes with a pen full of everlasting ink, and a scrying stone for seeing things from afar. Keiko also eats a huge apple pie and rides one of her brothers’ hand-made flying machines.

But that night, a giant airship from the goblin kingdom of Thuban crashed into the fields near her family’s house, and Keiko went to investigate the incident with her parents. The ship, which was attacked by a flock of angry pterosaur spirits from a nearby forest, was carrying important documents pertaining to the Golden Orb’s use and a human princess who was captured by the Thubanians. Princess Astrid of Basisa told Keiko about the war happening abroad and that she tried to stop a Thubanian invasion of the Southern Glens. She convinced the sorceress to burn the documents since they were important to Thuban’s victory in the Great War against the rival Goblin kingdom Arpan. She also told the young sorceress to go to the Forest of Hope and destroy the Golden Orb that sits upon the Lonely Tree with her magic before either Arpan or Thuban take over the nature-ruled world with the use of its highly-destructive power.

“This shall help you on your quest,” Astrid gave Keiko a magic comet-shaped turquoise gem, “This is Osaris, the legendary Comet of the East. The Elves of Tumàn, who praised the comet in their songs and held it in high regard, gave this magic gem made in its likeness to me when I was thirteen. Once you raise it up towards the sky, it will flash a blue light that points you to the direction of the Forest of Hope.”

“Thanks, your royal highness…” said Keiko, “I am saddened to know that your kingdom, once the greatest of this land, has now been in ruins, and that there is too much evil, hate and suffering now that needs to be cleaned from this world. And I shall keep your promise…to keep the Lands of the Trians safe…from the corrupting power of the Golden Orb.”

“So be it…” The princess gave her last breath and died in front of Keiko’s eyes. A giant Azhdarchid spirit emerged from the wreckage of the ship and was about to attack the bystanders who tended the victims of the crash when Keiko lured it away into the nearby woods with a magic crystal moth that she conjured.

The next day, the warnings of Princess Astrid were true: Thubanian troops led by the sorcerer-emperor Tarsus the Just invades the Southern Glens, laid waste much of the area and ransacked the Yamamotos’ house for anything pertaining to the Trians and the Golden Orb. They also torture Keiko’s parents for allowing their daughter to burn the important documents that Thuban desperately needed to win the war against Arpan for control over the object and over the Lands of the Trians. Keiko tried to retaliate against the goblins with an attack spell but was restrained by her old companions, the adventurous and mischievous wood-elf Robby Hide and his wise, talking raccoon Venki. As they consoled the girl, they both tell her that fighting the Thubanians is futile and proceed to take her to the Borderland Woods that separated the Southern Glens from the Green Marshes. Meanwhile, Emperor Tarsus the Just, whose forces have held Keiko’s family in captivity, addressed the people of the Southern Glens, urging them to provide crops to feed his troops in return for protection from the Arpanians and the “wild, wild woodland beasts” of the Green Marshes. Much to the horror of the humans, the power-hungry goblin who sought to conquer more of Aetheria with civilization and industry also intended on using the Golden Orb’s power to wipe out his enemies and “burn the Forest of Hope” in order to “resurrect the civilized nations of the earth.”

Just before she left the Southern Glens with her loyal companions, three very little girls gave Keiko a souvenir that would never let her forget of home: a bag of nuts for her to eat in case she goes hungry. “Thank you very much,” Keiko’s told the girls, “you may go now.”

In the Bordeland Woods, a still-traumatized Keiko told Robby and Venki about everything that happened from the day she turned fifteen. An excited Robby and Venki tell Keiko about a secret cave which situated on the other side of a stream, and proceed to take her to it. Inside the cave there was a great tapestry whose illustrations recalled the events of the prophecy…a prophecy that only Keiko could fulfill…the Prophecy of Magellon.

After leaving the cave, Keiko and her companions sat together and ate marshmallows around a campfire in the middle of the night. The sorceress enthralled elf and the raccoon about her family’s history; her parents secretly traveled far and wide to find secrets behind the making of the Golden Orb, and sought to protect the object from the clutches of the Goblins of Arpan and Thuban. Afterwards, Keiko sets out on the great journey to the Forest of Hope-with the help of her trusty companions Robby and Venki.

And all along the way, the Sorceress of Leaf and Sand will be using her magic and spells-including her mastery of Water, Earth, Air and Fire and control over the other forces of nature-to whisk away the evils that have corrupted and polluted the world around her.

[lifeofkaze]

Meet the Pendletons

A/N: This family tree focuses on the line of Carolyn's and Bradford's first child William Pendleton that eventually leads to Mina Pendleton. For Ava Campbell - my other OC coming from the Pendleton family - there is a separate family tree here.

Bradford Pendleton IV belongs to the wonderful person that is @kc-and-co, Dahlia Nott belongs to my favourite @the-al-chemist.

Carolyn Acelia Nyberg

Faceclaim: Natalie Dormer

Even though she is technically only half-Swedish, Carolyn knew from very early on that the North was where her heart was lying. For the longest time, her grandmother's estate on Gotland was the only place the usually a little stuck-up and reserved Caro was able to let her hair down. Sharp-witted and incredibly gifted in anything involving potion making, Caro is never shy to withhold her opinion from anyone, even if - or especially so - it might hurt. She never had many friends because of that, but those she has are most precious to her. Among them is Bradford Pendleton IV, the boy she was betrothed to by her parents, then resented, and eventually learned to love. The potions shop she runs in Diagon Alley and passes on to her descendants was Brady's wedding gift for her.

Bradford Elijah Pendleton IV

(Character and summary by the wonderful@kc-and-co)

Faceclaim: Will Weaton (find Bradford's profile here)

The last thing Bradford Elijah Pendleton IV expected to do with his life was to marry Carolyn Nyberg as his father had insisted. Not only did she save The Pendleton Apothecary, she saved Brady’s opinion of it. Upon their union, Brady was able to focus on his own dreams or freedom and art. He went on to open galleries in Hogsmeade, Amsterdam, Paris, and New York. Though he was initially unhappy with his sorting into Slytherin, he learned loyalty and ambition are not a prison but a privilege.

William Anders Pendleton

Faceclaim: Ian Somerhalder

Being Caro's and Brady's oldest child, lots of expectations were placed on young William's shoulders - most coming from his paternal grandfather Bradford Pendleton III, who hoped his grandson wouldn't turn out quite as disappointing as his actual son. He was delighted when William's ambition and cunning secured him a place in Slytherin, the traditional house of the Pendleton family. William never exhibited the same talent for potion making his mother displayed, but had a knack for numbers and business decisions, which was why Caro was all too happy to hand the administrative reins of her business over. It was William who renamed the shop back to its old name Pendleton Potions & Apothecary as it was his grandfather's condition to hand the family fortune over to William. Once the money was transferred into William's vault at Gringotts, he cut ties with Bradford Pendleton III and never once looked back.

Astrid Lyanna Pendleton: Faceclaim: Vanessa Kirby

As the second child, Astrid was always more free to pursue what sparked her interest, which was primarily gathering knowledge of all kinds. She was sorted into Ravenclaw and couldn't have been a better fit. She delved into natural science after her Hogwarts education and helped improving her mother's potion recipes by deepening her understanding the interactions between the different ingredients on a deeper level. Her love for learning and her sharp mind eventually passed on to her daughter and even her granddaughter Ava.

Cassandra Acelia Pendleton: Faceclaim: Emily Van Camp

Cassandra is the older of the two twin sisters and as you would suspect the more sensible one - but not by much. She was sorted into Gryffindor at school, which her grandfather found scandalous, and her favourite subject quickly turned out to be Potions. She wanted to help run the shop alongside her brother after graduating, but Caro wasn't ready to step back from her life's achievement just yet. Not wanting her light to be dimmed by her mother, Cassandra agreed to accompany her twin sister Cressida when she decided to leave England for the United States. She pursued her studies there and became a Potions Master in her own rights, eventually teaching the next generation of potioneers at Ilvermorny.

Cressida Ingrid Pendleton: Faceclaim: Taylor Swift

Cressida isn't only the younger twin, she is the youngest of the family and it showed very early on. Loud, bubbly and adventurous, Cressida was sorted into Gryffindor, just like her sister Cassandra, much to their delight. Contrary to her, however, Cressida had no intention of working in the family business after school and instead continued what she had started at Hogwarts - not missing a single party in sight. Her craving for fun and glamour eventually took her and her sister across the pond and to New York City where she enjoyed life to its fullest.

Dahlia Pendleton née Nott

(Character and summary by the fantastic @the-al-chemist)

Faceclaim: Scarlett Johansson

The Nott family, though wealthy and powerful, lost a certain amount of respect among the elite members of wizarding society after Malvolio Nott’s wife Ophelia and youngest daughter Marguerite disappeared without a trace. Malvolio and Ophelia’s older daughter Dahlia took it upon herself to maintain whatever remained of the family’s diminished reputation, taking over her mother’s duty of managing the household expenses, having inherited Ophelia’s talent for budgeting, but not her tendency to hide money for personal use. Her talent for numbers caught the eye of fellow Arithmancy student William Pendleton, and after their marriage, she became the financial manager of the Pendleton Estate and Apothecary. (Summary by @the-al-chemist)

Boreas Alexander Pendleton

Faceclaim: Rob Lowe

Boreas Pendleton inherited neither his parents' knack for numbers, nor was he a Potions prodigy like his grandmother. He wasn't bothered too much by it, however, and happy to leave the business at the Apothecary to those who actually cared about the work. He was more interested in learning more about his Swedish roots and the culture of the Scandinavian people. He travelled around Scandinavia for a while after school but it was only when he returned to Gotland - traditional home of the Nyberg family - that he should meet the future love of his life.

Sonia Pendleton, née Sjöberg

Faceclaim: Julia Stiles

Sonia Sjöberg was born and raised on Gotland. Her father, a magical sculptor specialised in the limestone found on the island, and her mother, a dedicated Herbologist, took Sonia outside to enjoy the singular flora and fauna of Gotland whenever possible, instilling a deep love for nature in their daughter. She returned to Gotland for a while after graduating from Durmstrang. There she met a handsome young wizard from England whom she'd known to visit the big estate on the coast every year with this family. Sonia was eager to help him learn more about his roots on her beloved Gotland and they quickly fell in love. Her condition if she was to follow him to England was at least one trip back home per year - a request Boreas was only too happy to comply.

Wilhelmina Wren Pendleton

Faceclaim: Jennifer Lawrence

Whatever Mina does, she does it with all of her heart. She loves brewing potions as strongly as her great-grandmother Carolyn did, the greenhouse where she grows her own ingredients is her happy place, and she hates anything even remotely resembling a reptile or amphibian with a passion bordering on hysteria. She had a tough time being sorted into Slytherin, even though she combines all of the famous traits of Slytherin House - ambition, a strong sense of self-preservation and a resourceful mind. Her great-grandmother Carolyn has been her personal hero from a very young age and she learned the subtle art of potioneering from Caro herself. She showed so much promise that Caro decided to step down from her work at the Pendleton Apothecary with an easy mind. Her wish for self-preservation was put to the test when her cousin Ava Campbell got her involved with an underground group called The Phoenix Resistance (@kathrynalicemc) during the Second Wizarding War, and her whole world got burned down to the ground.

[moxfirefly]

Hi!

Can I ask you to do a fic about some numbers of the 200 prompts? If it's not a problem for you... ✨🥺👉🏻👈🏻✨

Maybe 51, 110 and 144 with Donnie and a fem reader? 🥺💜✨

I imagine that he's alone with the reader and she's listening some music. They're talking and then some songs with 'hot' lyrics or with 'sex vibe start to play, u know? Like Call Out My Name (The Weeknd), Chateau (blackbear)... They like each other so they get horny and end up fucking like animals. :)))

(The + kinky the better. I'm a horny™ girl xd)

Ps: If it's too much work or something don't worry. I don't want you to do something that you don't want/can :)❤️✨

Ps 2: I love your blog ❤️

As a member of the Donnie thirst brigade I’m more than happy to just give out some shameless smut with that tall sassy nerd. Also you had me at The Weeknd so yes. Took a small liberty with the music hope you dig it.

Goes without saying,

Rated Explicit (18+ Years Only)

“You give me energy, make me feel lightweight”

It starts with a simple question, a small fixation you’ve had when it comes to Donatello and your rapidly growing crush on him.

It’s a silly question, possibly even a comical one, but nevertheless an interesting one.

You’re both in his room, the ever changing LED lights accompanying the two of you while music drones out of his speakers. Inside the nook he barely sleeps in but still smells of him. Opposite each other, with your foot buried beneath his strong legs because you’re easily cold. That small detail of having Donnie’s hand resting close to your ankle making you smile.

Being best friends naturally meant that all manner of conversations have been had. Fun topics, curiosities of life and even some personal things you wouldn’t actually discuss with just anybody.

So you ask it,

“What’s a must have song in a sex playlist” You grin, wondering if this might be the time you both reach a TMI moment, but Donnie doesn’t disappoint. “I believe the mood is a big factor there, there is no sole correct answer” He throws back with a knowing smile. You slip your feet from under his thigh and opt out to prop them up on his lap, and on auto pilot he grabs them giving the soles of your feet a squeeze.

“Define mood? mood for sex is pretty straightforward and there’s gotta be a must have on said sex playlist” You retort back, enjoying how he just starts massaging your feet. “True but what I’m referring more is the mood of the moment, is it a loving mood? A kinky mood?” You wiggle your toes when he catches a ticklish spot. His answer absolutely delights you so you prod just a little more.

“Ok follow up, you’ve got a girl on your bed and she’s got the hots for you, what are you playing to set the mood just right?” You lean back, proud of yourself with the sheepish smile Donnie sports, making him flush was one of your favorite past times.

“Depends, is this girl kinky? Is she vanilla?” He pushes up his glasses when you make an ‘oh’ sound. “I think you like vanilla girls” You enunciate your statement by poking him with your foot.

“Y/n I’m seriously hurt, all this time as friends and you think vanilla girls are my favorite?” He shook his head with a snort.

“Donatello well I’ll be, we gotta circle back to that in a bit. So final answer, what are you playing when this hypothetical girl is giving you bedroom eyes?” You found his gaze, a shy smile gracing his features. Donnie leaned over plucking a tablet from his many little Knick knacks in the nook. He scrolled for a bit, swiping his finger upwards before a pleased look appeared on his face.

The familiar bass beat made your eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “Streets by Doja Cat? Really?” He nodded placing the tablet back in its stand. “Don’t approve?” He asked, you shook your head. “Au Contraire, I’d jump anybodies bones who’d play that to set the mood” The two of you looked at one another, Donnie eyes carefully scanning over your features, assessing a mile a minute in that brilliant mind of his.

“Are you trying to seduce me?” He followed the tip of your tongue sneaking out before you bit down on your bottom lip.

“Depends. Are you seducible?” You felt his hands run down your feet, gripping your ankles.

Donnie moved your legs, scooting closer to you with an unreadable expression. You didn’t register holding your breath until you reached for his glasses. Setting them aside you inched closer towards his lips. Donnie closed the remaining space, catching your lower lip between his lips, he kissed softly chastely leaving you somewhat hanging for what you hoped would be a deep kiss.

“You’re such a needy baby” His smile spread and you felt your heart skip a beat.

Oh. So that’s how he wanted to play.

You were ready to crash your lips onto his but felt his hand wrap around your throat, the way your pupils dilated only made him chuckle softly. “Call me vanilla again” His thumb caressed your throat, the sensation soothing but only making your stomach flip flop on itself. You were about to let another sass laced comment fall from your lips when his hand slid up, cupping your chin, rubbing the pad of his thumb across your lips.

God if he didn’t jump you by now you were going to scream.

“Donnie-“ He slid said thumb into your mouth and on command your eyes closed, where the fuck and how the fuck was he being this cocky and sure of himself?

Feeling the bed dip and said digit in your mouth disappear your eyes shot open. Donnie was pleased as punch with how stricken you looked. You bit the inside of your cheeks, pressing your thighs together. Time to level the playing field. You smoothed out your skirt, sitting up better to entice him with your legs.

“Chicken” You smirked.

“You can do better than that, Y/n” Donnie made sure the space was safe and no interruptions would take place, he toned down the colors of the lights. For a fraction the air of cockiness left him. “Are sure about this? Do you want to keep going?” Ever the gentleman, you gave your answer by hooking your fingers in his belt loops and tugging him closer. You backed up into the nook, Donnie knelt on the bed, astride your hips, eyes focused on taking in the details he’d often fantasized about.

“You already know how this one will end” You ran a hand up that hard plastron, the sensation making you curious, gently you placed open mouthed kisses. You felt him inhale deeply as you slowly undid the button of his pants. His hand came to rest behind your hair, digging into the scalp as you continue your trail of kisses.

“This your plan all along?” You snapped off his suspenders. “Too obvious I’ve been wanting to fuck my best friend silly?” Donnie swallowed, hands untying his signature mask, he tugged you down onto his bed, he’d never seen an image so beautiful and right. Without hesitation his hands cupped your breast through the thin fabric of your shirt. He buried his face between them, all tension rolling off those broad shoulders in shuddering breaths. “You smell perfect” Came his muffled reply between your breast. You raised your hips, trying to find some friction which Donnie was happy to provide with a roll of his hips.

That felt big, that felt way too good. “I feel better I can assure you” That definitely caused a deep churr to vibrate from within him. Explorations can be resumed for another time, right now you wanted him to feel the mess he had caused with such simple touches and words. Somewhere around breathing each others hard gasps, you felt your skirt being pushed up, as you nudged his pants further down with your foot. Donnie was super glued to your lips, even as hands explored, cupping, grabbing, running along the product of his torture.

With a plead that you pressed against his throat you felt Donnie throw your leg over his hip, your hand disappearing between the two of your to guide his hard slick cock to your aching core. There on your sides you met eyes as he pushed into you so deliberately slow, not just to not hurt you but to watch that very second where your gaze comprehended the sensation of him. Your knuckles ran the edges of his shell before landing at his neck. Each thrust sending waves of dizzying pleasure.

Donnie pressed his forehead against yours, that cockiness replaced by pure bliss, mouth agape and eyes shut tight as he moved with each of your wanton sounds. “Donnie look at me, want you to look at me when you cum” Your voice trembled when his eyes fluttered open and you saw such a debauched display. This time you grinned breathless as you wrapped a hand around his neck. “Yes, just like that baby, for me come on” You moaned when his hips began to stutter ruthlessly.

Kissing Donnie as he started to cum was possibly going to be your favorite thing from now on. He went to limp against you but still kept a bruising hold on you as he filled you up and made you so warm. Running the tips of your finger across his cheek you saw that sated smile appear. Slowly disentangling you he slid down moving your legs apart, and already you knew that there was no stoping this.

You were both simply hooked.

[youarejesting]

Sly like a... ? Part 4

[Master list] [Sly Master List] Beta: n/a (at the moment) Rating: All Pairing: Hybrid!BTS x FailedHybrid!Reader Genre: Hybrid au, fluff, action, adventure, angst, drama, slice of life. Some marked chapters will contain mature/smut scenes, BUT they will not have plot in those scenes and are 100% skippable without losing your place in the story. Words: 1.8k

Summary: Human’s strive to be better, faster and stronger looking to animal DNA. Thus Hybrids are born. As the rise for designer and Pedigree Hybrids increase, so do the failed attempts. There is one species scientists are unsuccessful in creating, but, folklore says they have been here all along, hiding and blending in with the humans for many millennia. How clever they are.

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Deciding to sleep in the lounge was not only because you had grown too tired from cleaning to retreat for a bed, but also as you had given up your room so each hybrid had their own personal space. Another and more pressing reason you had slept on the couch was to perhaps talk Yoongi down from leaving. 

It was understandable he was apprehensive about the trials and after your in depth conversation he agreed to truly think the offer over before making any rash decisions. That’s all you could hope for, that he tried for the sake of himself and other hybrids in his position. The first day hadn’t gone as successful as you had hoped but you had developed a good impression with the initial three hybrids.

“The story of the fox goes back to Chinese folklore, in a book called the classics of Mountain and Sea. The book was filled with monsters and mythical creatures that roamed the earth hidden among the humans. They called the fox ‘Huli jing’ and said they had immense power,” Felix spoke quietly tucking you into bed, his silver hair shone by the faint glow of the night light in your room. 

“Some say that every ten years a fox grows a new tail, and others say when a Fox falls in love it will only have one.” He explained seeing you sitting up he pressed his finger to your forehead trying to push you to lay down, “Are you laying down, this is supposed to be a bedtime story.”

“I know but your stories are so good I don’t want to fall asleep again,” You whined but reluctantly gave way, “I am laying down, tell the story, tell the story.”

“In the mountain lived a young man, who spent his days gathering wood, food and water, one evening he wished under the moon for a wife that could love him and give him a family. The next morning he was visited by a beautiful woman, she was everything he wished for and the two fell in love. She told him she would marry him and give him a family if once a month under the full moon she could disappear down to the river and he would never follow. So he obeyed never following and the two had two children, she took the children to the river every full moon and the man started to grow curious.”

“He followed her to the river and saw her remove and wash her skin. She was not a human but a fox and their children splashing in the water were foxes too but they didn’t need to remove their skin. They were part human and were good at disguising themselves. The fox saw her husband standing there and she fled with their children never to be seen again.” Felix saw your eyes drifting and gave a low chuckle, “That will be it for tonight you have lessons in the morning.” 

Growing up in a government facility had everything a real home would, except love, you didn’t have a mother or father to care for you. But you did have a young researcher named Felix who would often visit and dote on you, giving gifts and teaching you about Hybrids. He helped you to understand that you were in fact a Hybrid even if you didn’t appear like one. Felix often told you stories, myths and legends about foxes. He made sure to never treat you like a failure, unlike the other researchers.

“Am I ever going to be allowed to leave, no one will want a hybrid who doesn’t look like a hybrid, but no one wants to deal with a human who has animal tendencies?”

“The right people will accept you when the time comes” He smiled, a knowing glint in his eye, he always looked like he was hiding something. You had a way of getting information out of everyone who worked in the facility but not Felix, he was the exception always calling you out when you tried. “They are out there, now it’s time to sleep.”

He left and after a few moments the lights in the hall switched off. The door creaked open and you shuffled over in your bed and lifted the blanket. Jimin slid under the covers and the two of you fell asleep cuddling. Everynight Jimin snuck from his room to yours if he wasn’t caught and the two of you fell asleep beside one another. His tail nervously in his hands where he would twist it gently.

“Jimin is out of bed again!” 

A head of red locks poked into the room, Felix’s eyes met yours and with a playful wink he turned to leave and you swear you saw three silver bottle brush tails trailing behind him, “They are asleep Astrid, leave them be,”

Woken by something soft brushing against your hand, you opened your eyes taking in your surroundings. That’s right you were staying in a government house, you hadn’t lived in one of these buildings since you were a teen. The buildings all smelt the same, like the same disinfectant and carpet shampoo, you were used to this even if the disinfectant made it hard to relax. It was hard to adjust to a place that smelt like nothing, everything smelt like something. 

Turning towards your hand you found Jungkook rubbing the sides of his face against your hand and letting your fingers brush over his head. It was a natural reaction cat hybrids have sweat glands in their cheeks that are filled with their scent and well when they nuzzle or rub their faces against something it transfers that scent. 

You scratched behind his ears, he stopped closing his eyes and purring happily in response and you hoped your scent would soon occupy some of the house to ease you discomfort

“Good morning Jungkook!” You greeted him, scratching more diligently behind his ears. He leaned into your touch, you assumed from his purrs that he felt safe and happy to live with you. “Have you had breakfast?”

“Uh, no” he whined a pout prominent on his lips, either he was really hungry or he was upset that you had stopped petting him. You were heading into the kitchen and starting to prepare a large breakfast. Before you had the chance to set the table there was a knock at the door. Jungkook ever so curious slinked across the room to peek out the window.

“Your friend Jimin is back and he brought two new hybrids,” Jungkook's voice died off towards the end and Seokjin stepped out his tail all messy from his sleep. Seokjin petted Jungkook’s head tired and the younger hybrid followed you to the front door.

Pulling the door open you saw Jimin dressed beautifully in a suit and with some rather beautiful make up, he was fresh from his photo shoot. “I look good huh?” He leaned in kissing your cheek and walking inside, muttering something about the smell of the government houses. 

Behind him was Kim Namjoon looking bored. He carried a small potted plant in his hands and practically stumbled up the steps but tried to play it off with a look of contempt lacing his features. He was the tallest out of all the hybrids you had met and you could see Jungkook’s wide eyes already admiring the older Hybrid. 

“It is a pleasure to meet you,” He took your hand and kissed your knuckles and stepped inside. Asking Jungkook to lead him to the room beside Jimin’s he nodded and led the taller feline hybrid to his room. Namjoon seemed a little taken back by Jungkook’s admiring stare.

Jung Hoseok was just full of smiles so excited to see everything the city had to offer, his eyes shone, he would be a ball of energy. His reaction to the house was just a series of loud sound effects, clapping, and giggles. You grinned greeting him with a smile. He was quick to give you a hug talking about how his previous owners had given him some food as a gift. The farm where Hoseok was born were breeders of deer and similar hybrids.

Hoseok had a kind of silly face like Jin's. He was very expressive and when he smiled you just knew he was happy. You could tell he was from the country as he was very lean and yet still muscular. He wasn’t on to shy away from hard work.

With the two new hybrids in the house you felt the tension build, especially between Seokjin the oldest, Yoongi who wasn’t one to follow someone's orders and Namjoon who thought of himself superior to the other hybrids. This was going to end badly if you didn’t step in so you did.

“I would like for you to have no fighting and as of right now I am the leader and the boss, when the time comes that you have grown accustomed to one another then we will vote who will be the leading figure. But for arguments sake I will take the leadership role do we all agree?”

“Yes, of course” Seokjin smiled, he respected your decision and also would rather not start a fight with two predatory hybrids.

“A smart decision.” Namjoon nodded watching Jimin searching for something in his bag, a familiar scent catching your attention. Yoongi smirked seemingly amused by the two hybrids who were quick to bow their heads.

“For now,” Yoongi muttered, slinking off to his room, his dark tail the last thing you saw as he turned down the hall.

“Oh, Y/nnnnn?” Jimin cooed from across the room he had a dark bag filled which from what you could smell was full of fruit, “I got you a present?”

“Blueberries?” You went to run over to inspect the bag but he held up his hand, freezing you to the spot.

“And?” he smirked, rustling the bag letting more of the fresh fruit aroma fill the air,  “What else can you smell?”

“Mulberries?” You sniffed the air stepping forward slowly, “and what is the last one?”

“Grapes and Plums” Seokjin sniffed the air coming closer, you had a bit of a laugh, at least there was someone in the house with similar taste as you. The two of you tipped the bag into a bowl and ate together, the others all enjoyed the breakfast you had made especially the grilled mackerel but you couldn’t help but notice Jimin pouting. Perhaps he didn’t like that Seokjin was enjoying the gift he had gotten for you.

“Thank you so much Jimin, these berries are my favourite and I am so proud of you for letting me share with Seokjin, as he loves them too. You are making such a good first impression, you are such a good boy” Jimin’s face flushed in response apparently he didn’t expect to be praised but you knew how much he loved words of affirmation. 

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