#he was ready for Astrid to call him dad even though he had never met her until that point

[herefortheships]

People calling him a creep for that and meanwhile here I am thinking that Betelgeuse waiting to see Lydia face to face again for 30+ years and courting her with love songs, kissing her hand like a total gentleman and all the stuff he did for her, is the most ROMANTIC shit I've seen in modern media in ages.

i see so many people on tiktok saying beetlejuice is a “creep” for waiting for lydia for 30 years and that the ship is disgusting and i gotta say…

shut the hell up❤️

like these the same bitches that swoon over the fact that 117 year old edward cullen was rizzing up 17 year old bella swan, like… is it because beetlejuice “isn’t conventionally attractive”… the double standards are WILD.

[julemmaes]

The Seven Of Us

Cassian and Nesta Archeron modern au - morning cuddles

A/N: THIS. WAS. HAARD. AS FUCK TO WRITE. BUT IT IS FLUFF. A LOT OF IT. AND IT’S FOR MY ONE AND ONLY GIRL, NINA. I LOVE YOU HONEY AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGAIN, I HOPE THIS DOES SOMETHING TO SHOW YOU HOW MUCH I APPRECCIATE YOU AND GUYS SEND PROMPTS FOR THIS AU CAUSE I’M ALREADY IMAGINING EVERYTHING POSSIBLE IN THIS UNIVERSE SO YEAH, ENJOY!!

Word count: 3,584

Nesta liked to sleep in late on the weekends. Especially on Sundays, when she was sure they wouldn't be busy and she could lounge in bed, under the comforter, without the dread of hearing her phone ring at any moment.

What Nesta didn't like was her insistent husband of no less than sixteen years caressing her bare side at an hour far too close to dawn after he'd had the audacity to keep her up all night for a good time.

"Cass." Nesta gave a first warning. She heard him chuckle behind her, but kept her eyes closed.

When the feather-light touch didn't stop tracing its path across her skin, tickling her side, she sighed, "Cass, stop."

She felt him move closer and the warmth radiating from his body was already starting to wrap around her. She could have fallen back asleep in half a second, but he had other plans. Her hand snapped to grasp his wrist and Cassian chuckled again, saying in a sleep-filled voice, "Sweetheart, you're squeezing too hard." with that he moved his fingers over her skin applying more pressure and up to her armpit, where she was particularly ticklish and Nesta jerked, accidentally making the back of her head collide with her husband's nose.

The reaction from both of them was instantaneous. Cassian grunted, turning away from her, bringing his hands to his nose, while Nesta whimpered, raising herself up on one elbow so she could glare at him.

He burst out laughing, trying not to make too much noise, but when he turned back around, his eyes were glazed with tears and he was rubbing the bridge of his nose, squeezing it between his thumb and forefinger.

Nesta felt a little guilty. But only a little.

"I get that you like pain, but I thought you'd be a little more forgiving after tonight," he joked in a muffled voice from his hand, with an amused glint in his eyes. Nesta knew there would be an arrogant grin under that hand, showing the purely male satisfaction for what they had done.

The frown on her face deepened, but her cheeks flushed nonetheless at the memory of him blocking her airways to prevent everyone from hearing her come for the umpteenth time even down the street.

After all, as he had reminded her several times during their little game that lasted hours and hours, they weren't alone in that house either. She still insisted after so many years on receiving those lonely and sacred hours together with her husband, and Cassian always told her that they both deserved it, that with all the work they did during the week, they needed to feel the hands of the other on their bodies without anything or anyone disturbing them. The fact that they had to take advantage of the nighttime hours between Saturdays and Sundays didn't mean they would ever give up sex.

Nesta pressed her lips together in a thin line, "I would have been more forgiving if you hadn't decided to wake me up by torturing me," she whispered.

Cassian made a bewildered face, chuckling softly, "I was giving you an under arm massage, no torture." he pretended not to understand. Then he moved his hand to her side once more, pulling her flush against him, and that cocky smirk appeared on his lips, "Although you didn't seem to mind the torture so much last night either. I don't see what the big deal is about doing it now."

He was teasing her and she knew it.

Nesta let her head fall forward, pushing her forehead against his chest now resigned that she would never sleep through that morning, "Please stop."

His other arm wrapped around her waist as well, pulling her even more until she was completely lying on top of him. Nesta pouted upon feeling that he'd put on his pajama pants and, casting a quick glance at her body from over her shoulder, she noticed she was wearing a tank top and underwear.

She turned around smiling shyly at Cassian, "Thank you for putting clothes on me."

It often happened that their recreational activities would end up exhausting her and she would fall asleep soon after, too tired to even slip into a pair of panties and t-shirt for the night.

He smiled back at her, "I would never want anyone to walk into the room and be traumatized for life by seeing us naked and tangled under the covers."

She looked away, beginning to trace the lines of his tattoos, "Although," she brushed one of his pecs with her lips, "right now I would love for you to be naked."

Her mouth left faint kisses and bites in the places she knew were sensitive, and as she began to slide lower, with a clear goal in mind, she felt Cassian catch his breath before releasing the air through his nostrils.

His hands began to caress her back, in a very different way from what he was doing a few minutes before, "We can't." he murmured with a longing voice, taking her hips and blocking her thrusting movements.

Nesta lifted her head, breathing irregularly despite the fact that they hadn't even come close to her goal, and when she met his gaze, she knew what he was thinking. She sulked again, groaning, "I just want to be able to have sex whenever I want, how long until all this shit is over?"

Cassian's chest jerked repeatedly beneath her as he laughed, "Legally speaking, in fourteen years, my love." he pulled her up until their noses were touching. He caressed her cheek, brushing her mouth with his, "Realistically, it'll never end."

Nesta shook her head, "I hate you when you use logic." she whispered, kissing him properly. His lips parted and he moaned against her when Nesta made their tongues collide.

They broke away suddenly when they heard a laugh coming from down the hall. Cassian cackled as he saw Nesta's terrified expression, "If you hadn't been so sure of yourself eleven years ago, the sex would only be three years away now," he murmured, hurrying to speak when the sound of three pairs of rushing feet began to echo throughout the house, getting closer and closer.

Huffing annoyed that Cassian was right again, she pulled herself up on his lap, pressing her hips against his just out of spite and he groaned, biting down on a fist and closing his eyes. She smiled in satisfaction, shifting from on top of him.

The second Nesta settled back into her side with her back against the headboard, the door swung open and three little girls came screaming in excitedly. A beaming smile spread across the woman's face as she opened her arms wide, ready to welcome her daughters.

"Mommy!"

"Dada!"

Andra, oddly enough, was the first of the group and was the first to reach the bed, but with her only four years of age, she was still too short to make it onto the bed and Cassian, who was smiling mischievously at her and was ready to get up and help her, thanked every saint in heaven for his third-born, Nora, when she pushed her onto the mattress.

Celia, the second of the girls, was already at Nesta's feet and was now climbing through all the blankets to reach her mom.

"Come here, Lia," Nesta said to her, extending a hand. The little girl's tiny fingers tightened around hers and then the two were hugging each other in a bone-crashing hug, "Good morning mommy." murmured the little girl. Nesta kissed her forehead over and over again.

Nora was still helping Andra to walk on that unstable ground when Cassian pulled himself up to sit down - too impatient to wait until they would get to him on their own - and grabbed them both by the waist, pulling them onto him. The two little girls burst out laughing immediately when their daddy started giving them the same attention their mother was giving Celia.

"I had the strangest dream daddy!" cried the oldest one.

Cassian's eyes lit up at those words and as Celia settled herself astride Nesta's legs and laid her head between her breasts, wrapping her hips with her short arms, Andra had managed to escape her father's grasp and was smiling at her mom. She extended her little hands toward her and Nesta reached out to take the latest addition to the Navarro-Archeron family as well and settle her behind her older sister on her lap, but not before showering her with kisses.

"Oh yeah?" asked Cassian, turning Nora around so that she was looking at the other three as well, "Nothing bad I hope." he joked, looking at them all quickly with a funny grimace on his face.

Celia giggled and Cassian's head snapped in her direction. His smile grew even bigger and Nesta suddenly remembered why she had asked her husband for a second child almost eleven years ago. And then another. And another. And another.

Because of that look the man of her life reserved for each and every one of their children.

"You didn't give me any kisses, cutie," he pointed out to her. Celia pulled away from Nesta's chest and leaned in just enough for Cassian to leave a kiss on her nose. When everyone was back in their seats, Nora nodded excitedly.

"We were supposed to have a competition," she began, "and I was in the group with Ezra, Lia, and Dad, while Andra, Mom, and Cal were on the other team."

Now that the commotion was over and no one was moving on the bed, Nesta could get a good look at them. All three of them had what they called the barely-awake-wig on and she felt like laughing, but she restrained herself because she knew full well that if she even made a sound, Nora would start over to tell the dream.

In the common language it could be translated into "my hair is so tangled and knotted that it looks like a bird's nest" and the sight of their three daughters entering their room every Sunday looking like a bunch of strays never ceased to put a smile on Nesta's face.

"...And then Ezra called these huge animals that flew though they had butterfly wings and of course we got there first." she said proudly, high-fiving Cassian who had just raised his hand.

Nesta shook her head, "I'm sorry honey I didn't get where we were going?"

Nora huffed annoyed, crossing her arms over her chest and wearing a twin expression to her own, "To Terrasen, Mom."

Cassian nodded beside her, giving her a faux-offended look, "Yes, Nes, to Terrasen of course."

"Sorry potato, mom's just really tired," she brushed a hand across her face, "because dad kept her up all night," Nesta reminded, widening her eyes slightly at her husband.

Celia pulled herself up sharply, knocking Andra off balance who was leaning over her and fell over Nesta's legs, "Did you have a sleepover?" squealed Celia.

Cassian chuckled, reaching out to grab Andra and the little girl smiled at him in amusement. She started crawling towards him and Nora, "I don't have a dream." stammered the littlest one.

"Me neither baby." said Cassian to reassure her as he sat her down between him and Nesta.

Celia waved her little hands in midair, risking hitting her mom in the face and getting everyone's attention, "Why do you guys always have sleepovers and we never get to?"

Nesta frowned, "What do you mean you never have them?" she asked in amazement, "You're always at Aunt Gwyn's and Uncle Azriel's house." he pointed out to her.

Celia shook her head, snapping her tongue against her palate, "Yes but we never have them with you." she pouted, "Can we have one tonight?" she asked hopefully. Nora and Andra began to nod frantically as well. "And let's watch the princess and the frog!"

"I don't think so," said a voice from the door, "We own the television tonight and we have to watch that new movie on Prime."

"Good morning guys." Nesta smiled affectionately at her two sons, both obviously just waking up with their eyes half closed, as they leaned on each other for support.

Cassian burst out laughing at his daughters' shocked expressions.

Celia was shaking her head indignantly and stood up on the mattress to retort to her brother.

Nesta already knew how this was going to end and casting a quick glance towards her husband, she knew Cassian was thinking the same thing.

"Noooo!" shouted Celia. Andra stood up in turn, keeping a small hand on Cassian's shoulder so she wouldn't risk falling. "The TV is ours."

Ezra yawned as he stepped forward into the room and sat down at the bottom of Nesta's feet, before falling face forward onto the mattress and muttering something incomprehensible.

Cal had remained standing next to the bed on his father's side and was looking at his sister with an equally combative expression, ready to defend his and his brother's TV night, "No, Celia," Cassian grimaced at the use of his full name, "It's Sunday and TV is ours to have. You girls got it last night."

"I want to have a sleepover!"

Cassian loved all of his children equally, but Celia's tone of voice was too high for her to be allowed to speak on Sunday mornings before ten o'clock and if he didn't intervene, that high-pitched squeal would turn into a cry and he knew it wouldn't take them even half a second to throw themselves at each other's throats.

Casting a quick glance at all the children, he saw that Andra seemed just as convinced as her older sister and Nora was sighing so frequently that it didn't take a genius to figure out that she, too, didn't want to hear them fight so early. Ezra seemed to have fallen back asleep with his head in his mother's lap and Cassian felt a surge of affection for his son.

They were the perfect family picture.

When Nesta had told him she'd gotten pregnant almost sixteen years ago, he hadn't believed it. They had only been married a few months and weren't exactly trying to have children. Not that they were taking precautions to avoid it, but it had been unexpected. He had cried at the prospect that in only nine months he would be a father.

Then Ezra had been born, his hair the same shade as his mother's and his gray eyes the exact copy of those of the woman he loved, and Cassian had fallen completely in love all over again. In love with that tiny little creature who already had so much power over him and who he would have died for without a blink. And he hadn't been able to stop himself from thinking that he wished he had more. That if Nesta wanted, they would give Ezra a brother or sister as soon as possible.

As he had held him for the first time, crying as if his life had just begun, Cassian had thought that the love he felt for his son was too much, that the feeling would overwhelm him one day if he didn't find a way to share it and give it to others. For that reason, when Nesta had announced her second pregnancy to him three years later, he had been relieved that he would finally be able to share his love for Ezra with a second child.

He'd been wrong.

Cal was born when Ezra was four and was the exact physical copy of his father. Dark eyes and hair the exact color of Cassian's and the love had only doubled and totally crushed him. He had become as much a slave to the feeling as an addict to the next fix.

Nesta had joked that they were finally even, one child each, a genetic copy of both of them, and for two years all had been calm. Cal and Erza were growing up as fast as any other child and to Cassian it seemed like life was perfect, complete.

He'd been wrong again.

Nora had arrived three years after Cal and Celia only the year after Nora and Cassian had cried for days. Crying in front of those beauties so pure. And they were his and Nesta's. It was he and Nesta who had given life to those little balls of black hair and dark eyes that jumped on their bed every morning, welcoming them into the world every day with love and affection.

However, Nesta had never seen Cassian cry as much as he did the day Andra was born.

Andra, the last of the girls in the entire family, even smaller than the children of their brothers and sisters, had been born only four years earlier, three years apart from Celia.

Nesta had been shocked to see Cassian's reaction when he had first held the baby girl in his arms. She had been seriously worried when his body had started to shake with sobs and she had had to beg him to tell her it was okay, to give her a sign that he wasn't about to die choking on his own tears.

Cassian had looked at her amidst the crying and smiled, sniffling, "She looks just like you."

At that point, even Nesta hadn't been able to hold back her tears and had joined him in the land of the hyper sensitive parents.

It was true. Up to that point, for ten years, only Ezra had acquired physical features from his mother. The other three, though from a character standpoint they were the farthest thing from their father there could be, were the exact physical copy of him. Cal, Nora, and Celia had been mistaken for twins more times than Nesta could remember.

And although Cassian saw his wife every time he looked at his children, especially their first child, when Andra had arrived, the resemblance had been such that he'd simply burst.

Now they were complete.

A frustrated scream interrupted his train of memories and he felt Andra's tiny hand squeeze his shoulder.

He focused all his attention on Celia, who was trying to climb over him to reach Cal with her arms stretched forward - surely intending to rip her brother's face off.

The son had a grin identical to the one Nesta had when she teased him, and he took a deep breath, thinking that no one would really blame him if he accidentally knocked all his kids off the bed.

A smack on the arm made him turn to Nesta, who was looking at him hard, "Either you stop dreaming about throwing your kids out of bed and make yourself useful by stopping the upcoming fight or next Saturday no sleepover for you." then, before he could retort by saying she could stop them just as easily, she pointed to her legs pinned down by the growing body of their fourteen-year-old son, who seemed completely undisturbed by the sisters' high-pitched screams as they circled Cal, "I'd do it, but I'm stuck."

Cassian sighed as he stood up, making his way through the three little girls who seemed to be chanting some satanic ritual and picked up his son, saving him from what would have been certain death. The boy wrapped his arms around his neck and smiled down smugly at his sisters.

"That's enough." he instructed in the authoritative tone that only a father could have, "We have three TVs in this house." then he turned to the three pink and white girls, each with an adorable pout on their faces, "Tonight it's Cal and Ezra's turn to use the one in the living room and I'm sure you can all watch whatever they choose together." he took a deep breath, "But just in case not, you can come over to mom and dad's big bed and watch the princess and the frog here, okay?"

Celia looked on the verge of tears, always the most temperamental of the five, but she nodded once.

Nora took her hand and told her to follow her to their room and Cal wriggled out of Cassian's grasp, following them silently. Surely in five minutes he would have to get up and split them up again, but he cared little as he scooped Andra up off the floor and lay down on the bed holding the little one in his arms.

Nesta was stroking Ezra's hair absentmindedly and looking at him with such feeling in her eyes that Cassian only realized an in later that he had spoken.

"I love you, too," she replied, looking up at him from under her lashes.

Andra flapped her small hands laughing, "Me too."

Cassian looked at her smiling widely, "Come here baby."

The little girl burst out laughing, begging her daddy to let her go and Ezra stretched, extending one arm towards his mom and the other towards his dad.

He looked confused when he opened his eyes, but grunted something gibberish and closed them again soon after.

Nesta's hand stopped in his hair, "What did you say love?"

Ezra pulled himself up on his elbows, looking at her with eyes bright with amusement and Cassian knew immediately that whatever was going to come out of his mouth, he wasn't going to like it.

"Next time you have a sleepover, remember to close the window as well."  

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[slytherinbangchan]

Badboy! Seungmin Part 2 (Gang!Au)

Gang!Au!Masterlist -> Since it’s an AU every member’s story is linked to the other members. Seungmin’s part 1

Pairing: Gang Au! Member Seungmin x Fem reader

Warnings: Smut, exhibicionism(?) swearing, bullying talk

~

-'You heard about that guy from the other school getting beat up by Han?' You hear some guys talking as you watch the game.

-'What are you talking about? I heard he just threatened him and let him go'. Another one says.

-'Whatever. If Han didn't beat him that day he will some other day if that guy keeps bugging him'.

-It's funny how everyone knows Jisung even when he never went to yours or the neighbor school.

-Guess it's only natural for Bangchan's right hand to be known among so many people.

-You turn your head a bit to look at Seungmin who fell asleep as he waited for his turn to play.

-His baseball cap down hiding his face. His arms are crossed and his own bat is resting next to him.

-You wonder if he's hearing any of what those idiots are saying.

-They keep gossiping about the gang for a good while.

-You can't believe they haven't noticed yet Seungmin is sitting right behind them.

-You're all on the same class. It's only logical Seungmin would be there.

-Is not like he ever misses a class.

-Even if it's P.E.

-'Oof, you know who I can't stand? Lee Minho'. One of the guys say and the other one chuckles.

-'Who the fuck likes that guy? He's a bully. And why is he still here? He should have graduated long ago'.

-'Yeah'. He laughs. 'Ah, but actually.. I think Seungmin is weirder. Like seriously sometimes I get goosebumps when he shushes us in class'.

-You turn your head again to look at Seungmin. He's smirking now. You can only see his mouth cause the cap.

-You chuckle silently then your P.E teacher calls Seungmin out.

-'Kim Seungmin, you're up'. He says looking behind those guys and they stop talking.

-Seungmin stands up as he grabs the bat and the guys fearfully turn around slowly.

-Their eyes meet Seungmin's for a second as he walks towards the field.

-'I-I'm sorry' One of them says. 'We didn't mean that..'

-But Seungmin just walks away so they turn around to look at you.

-'y/n, you have to help us please'. They say. 'Tell him it was a joke'.

-'You know he's not stupid, right?' You say. 'Besides, what is he gonna do?'

-That's a genuine question. You've never seen or heard anything about Seungmin bullying people.

-'C'mon y/n please'. One of them begs and the other agressively nods. 'You know exactly what he'll do'.

-You tilt your head confused then look up as you notice your boyfriend walking towards you.

-'Forget it, she won't help us'. The other one says and they turn around again, bowing their heads as they see Seungmin.

-'Leave'. He says and they run. 'You didn't look at me'. He complains.

-'Sorry I got distracted. I didn't expect you to be so fast'. You apologize and he scoffs.

-'What was so interesting about those two anyway?'

-You chuckle. 'Nothing, they were asking me to help them out'.

-'With what?' He asks as he takes off his cap, ruffles his hair and puts it on again.

-'I don't know.. You? They thought you'd do something bad to them'. You chuckle as if that was the most ridiculous idea you've ever heard but he doesn't say a word.

-He doesn't even smile.

-He just watches the rest of your classmates play with a serious face.

-'..Seungmin?' You call his name but he doesn't look at you either.

-Your heart stops for a moment.

-Were those guys right?

-But? No way...

-'Hey, let's get out of here'. He suddenly says.

-'Ah.. Okay. Where should we go?'

-'I actually have to go to Changbin's'. He says.  'Do you mind if we drop by?'

-'No, it's fine but are you sure you wanna skip classes?'

-'Next class is not important. You can stay if you want though'. He says.

-He's more serious lately.

-Mostly after that night where the rival gang appeared while you were all chillin in that field.

-Actually you were the ones spotting them.

-You and Seungmin had found a hidden spot to make out just when you saw the rival gang creeping at Jeongin and his girlfriend.

-Bangchan looked really pissed.

-He wasn't scary in your eyes when you first met him but he's now.

-To be honest you never know what to expect when dropping by Changbin's house.

-Today it seems like they're just chilling.

-There's just Chan, Jisung, Changbin and Felix playing Mahjong in the living room while they chat.

-They stop their chatting to say hi and then Changbin and Jisung keep talking while Seungmin aproaches Bangchan.

-He's whispering stuff while he passes an envelope to Seungmin so you look away.

-Seungmin told you the less you know about the business the better.

-Your eyes drift to Changbin.

-He's telling Jisung about some guy who apparently is after their girlfriend.

-Jisung is not amused at all.

-Like Changbin was kinda joking while telling him but Jisung looks like he's ready to kill someone right now.

-'Why the fuck didn't you tell me earlier?' He asks and Changbin changes his expression.

-'Han, chill. I took care of it already'.

-'Fuck you. Tell me where to find that kid right now'. He says as he stands up.

-A hand on your shoulder takes you away from that conversation. 'Y/n, let's go'. Seungmin says and you wave the guys goodbye, but only Bangchan and Felix say bye back.

-You walk in silence til you're out of Changbin's house.

-'So much drama, huh?' Seungmin asks and you chuckle softly.

-'Yeah, what was that about?'

-'Jisung is a jealous guy'. He says.

-'Yeah... What about you?' You ask kinda joking and he frowns a bit. 'What? You wouldn't get like that right?'

-He scoffs. 'Let's just hope no one will be stupid enough to try and get themselves between you and I'.

-'Are you serious?' You ask and he looks at you.

-'Why wouldn't I be?'

-'But you wouldn't go all mad like Jisung, would you?'

-He tilts his head. 'Why are you asking me that? Is there someone bothering you?'

-'Oh god, no'. You chuckle nervously. 'I just can't picture you like that'.

-'Certaintly I'm way calmer than Jisung'.

-'But?' You ask and he sighs.

-'I'm no saint either y/n. You should know that by now'.

-'What are you talking about? You are not like the others'. You say and he chuckles. 'Why are you laughing? You said yourself you don't like bullies'.

-'And I don't. But I wouldn't take people disrespecting me or those who are close to me lightly'.

-You stop walking so he does too. You don't know what to say though.

-'What?' He asks as he waits for you to start walking again.

-You sigh. 'Nothing I guess. Honestly I think I'd be the same way about people I care about'. You start walking again in silence.

-He doesn't say much more either.

-Is not like you’ll think differently about him just cause of this.

-After all you had an idea of where you were getting into when you started dating him.

-Maybe you just thought he wasn't as 'bad' as the others.

-'Hey let's get some snacks and watch a movie'. He says as he pulls you closer with his arm over your shoulders.

-He pecks your cheek and you smile. 'What about school?'

-'Fuck school. Our class is pretty behind compared to us anyway'. He says then smirks.

-A bit later you’re in your room watching a really boring movie.

-'I thought you said 'fuck school''. You say as you chuckle and push Seungmin's book out of his hands with your foot.

-'Baby, stop that'. He nags at you.

-'No way. You said we were watching a movie'. You pout.

-'Yeah, you chose the wrong movie though. I'm bored'. He chuckles keeping his eyes on the book.

-'Are you seriously telling me you'd rather study than watch this movie?'

-'Yes'. He chuckles again.

-You watch him for a moment as he completely focus on his book. He looks so good.

-Messy hair and those glasses.

-You turn off the tv and crawl to sit astride him but he doesn't take his eyes off the book til you've unzipped his pants.

-'What are you doing?' He asks and you take the book from his hands and toss it away.

-’It's time for biology'. You say and he chuckles.

-'Cheesy'. He says but he's smirking.

-'Shut up'. You kiss him as you palm him and he follows the kiss.

-'Thought your parents were coming home soon'. He says as you bite on his neck.

-'I don't care'.

-You stand up for a moment to get rid of your panties then come back on his lap.

-'How are you this wet already?' He asks as one of his fingers slips inside of you. 'Damn baby is so damp in here, what were you thinking about?' He asks and you blush.

-'You'. You say then bite his lower lip as he smiles and introduces a second finger.

-You moan softly and his hard dick twitches at your voice so you whisper on his ear.

-He kisses you before pulling his fingers out to make room for his dick.

-And you kiss him again as he sinks into you.

-You rotate your hips a bit before going up and down on him.

-Slowly.

-His hands climb your hips and go down again to your ass as you ride him.

-He suddenly makes you stop for a moment as he hears the keys entering your house's door. 'Your parents are back'. He says and you whine.

-'They don't know we are here anyway'. You say as you try to move again.

-He scoffs as he chuckles. 'They won't let me see you again if they caught us like this'. He says and you roll your eyes.

-'Like that would stop you from seeing me'.

-He smirks. 'Right'. He pats your butt so you'd move again. 'Be quiet anyway'. He asks you and you roll your eyes again.

-You have to bite your lips really hard though to avoid any noise.

-You can hear your mom humming some song in the bathroom for a moment.

-But as your orgasm approaches it all disappears and it feels like it's only you and Seungmin there.

-He bites on your tits as you move faster.

-Tiny moans scape your mouth.

-Then Seungmin stops again and you notice the steps coming closer to your room's door.

-Your heart is beating so fast as you see your dad's feet shadow waiting in front of your door.

-Seungmin silently laughs. 'You're not so brave now huh?' He whispers as he leaves a bite on your shoulder.

-You hit him softly cause that bite almost made you whine out loud and he chuckles silenty then pats your butt again so you'd start moving, which you do, making him groan softly.

-'Hello?' You father asks as he knocks on your door and it feels like your heart stops beating. 'Hello?' Your mom replies from the bathroom. 'What's wrong honey?' She asks, distracting your father who leaves to talk to her instead.

-Seungmin laughs and your heart can beat again.

-He kisses you and you calm down a bit.

-Soon all of that is long forgotten as you can only feel the heat and hear Seungmin gasps and the clash of your bodies as you move.

-'I'm gonna cum'. He whispers then softly bites on your neck.

-'Mhm'. You nod and look for his lips.

-His hands grasp on your butt as he releases.

-And you rest your head on his shoulder as you reach your orgasm too.

-Biting him as you try to be as quiet as possible.

-His seed drips out of you as he goes soft inside you while you kiss.

-'Imagine if I got pregnant cause of this...' You say and he smiles.

-'Stop playing, you're on the pill'.

-'Yeah but imagine'. You chuckle.

-'Well, we'd run away together'.

-You scoff as you smile. 'You really want a kid at our age?'

-'If it's yours...' He says as he smiles and you scoff again.

-'You're crazy'.

-He chuckles as he takes a lock of hair out of your face. 'Yeah, for you'.

-'Wow, you gotta shut up now'. You say as you playfully hit him.

-He holds your wrists to make you stop and you lean over him to kiss as you're still blushing over what he said.

------------------------------------------------

-It's a rainy morning at school next day so your eyes are glued to the window while you wait for everyone to arrive to class.

-Seungmin is later than normal.

-You can see him arriving from the window.

-And as soon as the others see him people start whispering.

-It's nothing weird, it happens everyday.

-But today everyone is being extra careful not to be heard.

-You manage to catch something though.

-It's not gossiping this time.

-They're trying to calm someone down.

-You turn around and see one of the guys from yesterday fidgeting on his chair as your other classmates talk to him.

-Your eyes meet for a split second and he stands up to leave.

-You watch him walking out the class just when Seungmin arrives.

-The guy apologizes and steps aside so your boyfriend can enter the classroom.

-'What did you do?' You ask right away as Seungmin seats next to you.

-He sighs as he looks for his books on his backpack but he doesn't say a word.

-'Seungmin?'

-'I did nothing. Minho had a little talk with him and his friend after what they said yesterday. That's all'.

-'Is Minho your guardian dog or??' You ask and Seungmin laughs making you hard not to smile too.

-'Ah, y/n don't you ever say that in front of him'. He chuckles.

-'Okay and you stop laughin cause I can't stay mad at you like this'.

-'Well, then don't. I already told you he didn't beat them or anything they just had a chat.'

-You kinda growl in frustration and he chuckles again. 'What was that?' He asks.

-'Nothing. I just don't understand why someone who is obviously going to be able to get any job he wants gets into this kind of stuff when he can have a simple and unproblematic life.' You say and he scoffs as he smiles.

-'Do I look like a guy who wants a simple life?' He asks and you feel some kind of butterflies in your stomach as you blush.

-'I... Shut up'.

Pt3 (Soon)

Blog’s Masterlist

[seagreen-meets-grey]

When Lightning Strikes Ch. 11

When your life is nothing but a cloudless sky, lightning can come and strike you so unexpectedly, you won’t even know what hit you.

Or: When Hiccup and Astrid meet, it is as if lightning strikes.

[Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 6] [Chapter 7] [Chapter 8] [Chapter 9] [Chapter 10] [Chapter 12] [Chapter 13] [Chapter 14] [Chapter 15] [Chapter 16] [Chapter 17] [Chapter 18] [Chapter 19] [Chapter 20]

Crossposted on ao3 and ff.net

_______________

Astrid’s energy level was on an invincible high. Even after riding her mom’s bike home at full speed, she felt like she could climb a mountain, run to the South Pole and back and swim through the Pacific Ocean, with a cherry on top. She even skipped a few steps on the way from the garage to the front door.

In the entryway, she tripped over a pair of shoes and bumped her knee on the coatrack. But even the sharp pain and brief frustration couldn’t dampen her mood. Whatever restlessness she might have felt in the past year and a half, it suddenly seemed insignificant, dumb even. Because everything was right with the world today, the spark of energy still pumping through her veins, even though all she’d done was bike to the park and meet a friend.

Him. Hiccup. Her biggest what-if. The only person who’d been able to distract her from everything that’d been weighing her down lately. She wanted to turn around and run back, just for the thrill of the feeling. She felt like she was an addict and he was her energy source, loading her cells with electricity.

Humming contentedly, she slipped out of her sneakers and walked into the kitchen to grab a glass of water. Her mother was just packing her prepared late lunch into her bag, ready to leave for work. She looked up when her daughter entered the room.

“Hello, sunshine, what are you so happy about?”

“Oh, nothing specific,” Astrid told the cupboard when she reached for a clean glass. “It’s just a good day.”

“Where have you been? During all the hurrying and yelling for a tire pump I didn’t get a chance to ask.”

“Met with a friend in the park.” A new wave of energy made her hop onto the counter and ignore the chiding look from her mother. It wasn’t like she was getting dirt on anything; all she did was spill some water on her pants.

“I’m glad to see your mood has improved so much lately.” She pulled her daughter off the counter, overlooking the eyeroll she received.

“One can’t always be a gloomy Gus, right?”

“Speaking of – are you finally telling me what’s been going on with you?”

Astrid crossed her arms. “Just some female stuff. Aren’t you late for work?”

A quick glance at the clock on the wall made her mom’s eyes bug out of her head. “Oh, dear!”

As her mother was grabbing her keys, Astrid pointedly sat back on the counter, waving goodbye as Wilma rushed to the door, put on her shoes in record speed and bumped her knee on the coatrack. Then she was gone, the sound of her car’s engine fading in the distance.

Astrid took her time drinking her glass of water, swinging her legs back and forth, feet bumping into the counter like the beat to her own song. Humming various melodies, basking in the sunlight shining through the kitchen window, she found herself drifting off into a daydream. A very self-indulgent one. One where she could just rearrange her life so she had nothing to worry about anymore.

The chime of her phone shook her out of her little perfect fantasy and she almost rolled her eyes at herself for how silly her thoughts were. Dreaming too much about unrealistic notions was only a waste of time, especially if one could somehow achieve their dreams by actions instead.

She hopped off the counter and, while texting her colleague back that she could take over his shift the next day, made her way into her bedroom to grab her swimming bag. A short drive and change of clothes later, she dove into the pool and cut through the water like she was part of it.

On her way back home, right as she was singing along to Guns N’ Roses, her phone interrupted the song with a call. Glancing at the radio display, her lips curled into a smile when she saw who was calling and she tapped a button on her steering wheel.

“Hey there,” she greeted.

“Hi,” it came out of her speakers a little unclearly, static in the background that sounded familiar.

“Are you driving?”

There was a small pause. “What? Sorry, I didn’t get that.”

“Are you driving?” she repeated a little louder.

“Yes, sorry. My car’s a piece of shit.” He was almost screaming.

“Are your windows down? It sounds like-“

“What?”

She groaned. They were getting nowhere like this. “Hiccup, can you hear me?” she shouted.

“Yes.” The background noise faded a little bit. “I’m in front of a red light, the engine’s quiet, now’s your chance.”

“Mine? You’re the one who called.”

“Right… Oops, yellow light.” The noise was back immediately.

Halting in front of a traffic light herself, Astrid grabbed her phone and quickly typed a message before an impatient honk behind her notified her that the line of cars in front of her was moving.

“Geez, calm down, jackass,” she mumbled and accelerated.

“WHAT?” It almost made her laugh this time. This was terrible.

“NOT TALKING TO YOU!”

That exact moment, the noise faded again. “You don’t have to scream, you know,” Hiccup joked.

“Just be glad I can’t hit you right now.” Before he had a chance to answer and be cut off by his car again, she kept talking. “You know what? I just texted you my address. If you want, you can come by and we can talk in a normal volume like normal people.”

“Define normal.” He chuckled and the noise picked up again. “But um… Yeah, yes, I can do that, I can… Yes. Um… See you in a few then, I guess?”

“Okay, great!” she shouted one last time before the call ended and Axl Rose continued singing about rain in November.

She made sure to be home first. She had just enough time to hang her swimsuit and towel in the garden to dry, kick her dad’s smelly old slippers far underneath the couch and check if there was toilet paper and soap in the guest bathroom, before the doorbell rang.

She made iced tea and they sat on the couch.

“So why did you call me earlier?” she asked, catching the straw between her teeth and taking a sip.

“Oh, ah…” Hiccup fidgeted around a bit, settling on sitting with one leg crossed under him, the other dangling off the couch. “I just… I was wondering… What your favorite color is?”

“That’s why you called me?”

He shrugged, leaning one elbow next to him on the back of the couch. His smile was a tad awkward, as if he didn’t quite know how to explain himself. “Yeah, see, I was on my way home and there was nothing good on the radio and I didn’t have my CDs and I was thinking and you know how I draw for a living? And I can’t exactly recall my train of thought but it ended at favorite color station and then I realized I never asked you what it was, your favorite color, I mean–”

“It’s blue,” she interrupted his rambling with a fond smile.

The hand holding his iced tea stopped midway through gesticulating. “Just blue?”

“I also like gold, but more the soft gold tones, not the flashy ones. But mostly blue.”

He nodded, thoughtful, as if this information was some kind of clue for a puzzle.

“What do you think mine is?” he then asked, brows still furrowed in thought, waiting for the last puzzle piece to click, or something.

“You want me to guess your favorite color?”

“Yeah, I… I’m curious about something.”

She took a few long sips of her iced tea, studying him intently. How should she guess what his favorite color was? Was he wearing it right now? His shirt was black with print in several colors. His jeans were blue, his shoes dark brown with olive green accents. She didn’t have a clue.

When she met his eyes again, which were observing her as if they were trying to read her thoughts or maybe steer them in the right direction, a sudden feeling overcame her. It was strangely familiar, accentuated by a certain smell pulling at the edges of her mind for the fraction of a second. She was still trying to make sense of that when he opened his mouth to say something, but she beat him to it.

“The forest. All the colors you find in the forest. Dark green, rich natural green, dark and light brown, maroon, autumn colors.”

He was silent for a moment before a wide smile lit up his eyes.

“Wait, was that correct?”

He nodded. “All of it.”

“No way! You’re bullshitting me.”

“I swear that I’m not!” He held up his hands.

“Seriously?! How the hell did I guess that right?” She unconsciously leaned closer, as if an invisible rope was drawing her in. “You must have told me that once before!”

“I didn’t! Just as you never told me yours before now, but I immediately guessed it right when someone asked me about it recently.”

Astrid was still having a hard time coming to terms with her one in a million guess. What was this, some kind of uncanny connection? An elaborate prank of sorts? A lottery win? It took her a second to register that the gears she heard creaking in her head were, in fact, a key turning in the front door’s lock. A quick glance at the clock made her hopes that it was her dad returning from work early evaporate into thin air. Because her mother was the one who knew certain things. And certain faces.

Not blind to the sudden twist of panic on her face, Hiccup laid a not-helping hand on her knee. “Are you okay?”

Shuffling in her seat until she reached the spot on the couch furthest away from him, she nodded as casually as possible. “Sure.”

He’s just a friend, she told her rapidly beating heart, feeling almost twenty years younger, caught with her fingers in the chocolate pudding in the middle of the night. Just a friend, just a friend, just a friend, just a friend, just–

“Oh, hello!”

–a friend…

“Hey… Mom.”

Hiccup turned around, meeting her mother’s eyes. Astrid watched her reaction closely. At first, a curious intake of the face before her. Then, the slight narrowing of her eyes, a slowly raising eyebrow, culminating in the most harrowing anxiety-inducing kind of recognition Astrid could imagine.

“Mom, you remember Hiccup?” She sent her mother silent warning thoughts that didn’t seem able to penetrate the awkwardness she could practically see settling around her friend.

“I do,” Wilma said, gaze flitting between her daughter and the young man she remembered thoroughly confounding said daughter’s emotional state not quite so long ago.

“Nice to, er, nice to see you again, Mrs. Hofferson,” Hiccup greeted, shooting Astrid a wide-eyed panicked look.

“HICCUP, LET ME SHOW YOU THE HAMMOCK,” she all but shouted and grabbed his wrist, only to draw back immediately as the skin contact shot an electrical shock up her arm. Not letting that derail her escape attempt, she reached for his elbow and pulled him from the couch, making a bee-line for the garden door.

He gave a last awkward wave towards her mother before most willingly following her away from this encounter.

In a corner of the garden, a comfy hammock hung between an apple tree and a plum tree. She let herself fall into it backwards, sprawling her limbs for a second before making herself comfortable and patting the space next to her. Hiccup gingerly sat down, trying to leave some space between them, but the hammock wasn’t big enough. Slowly, gravity pulled him back towards the middle of the cloth, until their shoulders and hips were touching. Astrid didn’t complain.

“So… That was…” he started, but before he could say the word ‘awkward’, she interrupted him.

“How’s Toothless? How does he deal with having to wait for his dinner a little longer today?”

“Oh, he’ll live. Besides, I’m pretty sure he knows how to open the bag of dry food I’ve stored on the highest shelf.”

When he continued to talk about his cat, she mentally heaved a sigh of relief. She really wanted to avoid talking about why him meeting her mother again had been awkward, because then she’d have to acknowledge that there’d been something to talk about, and she’d rather not open that can of worms. Ever. So she just started idly rocking the hammock back and forth, pretending the motion was the reason for the pleasant fluttering in her stomach.

_______________

Wilma Hofferson liked to spend the end of a workday on the couch, newspaper or a magazine in hand and a pot of tea on the table. Sometimes, when her husband came home early, he’d join her, and they’d chat about their day or sit in comfortable silence, passing over parts of the newspaper every once in a while. It was her favorite way to relax and wind down after a stressful day.

Today, however, she was having trouble concentrating on the latest news from the sports industry and the discourse surrounding politics. The tea on the couch table was already cold and the muscles in her back wouldn’t quite react to the pillows.

One of the windows stood ajar and she could hear occasional bouts of laughter and exclamations waft over from the other side of the garden. For the past week or two, she’d been worried about her daughter. It was obvious that there was something bothering her, something serious she refused to talk about, or even acknowledge. And Wilma hated it, hated not knowing what was going on, what was causing her child such inner turmoil.

Now, however, it seemed the most important piece of the puzzle had appeared on the very couch she was sitting on right now. The urgent looks Astrid had thrown her and her escape into the garden only magnified Wilma’s suspicion that her daughter was, in fact, not exactly done with the topic of Hiccup Haddock. And even if the two ultimately were just friends, she still couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to the situation than Astrid was letting on.

Her thoughts were interrupted by sudden loud voices approaching the door to the garden, a discussion playing out between the two entering the living room. If she hadn’t had her daughter’s entire life worth of time to learn to distinguish between her girl’s angry and her daring, competitive facial expressions and body language, her initial assessment of the scene before her would have been a tantalizing fight between lovers. The grin tugging on the boy’s lips, however, only amplified the rays of playful banter shining off the pair.

Astrid caught Wilma’s look. “What?”

“Nothing, I’m just curious what this is about.”

“He thinks I’m being a coward.” Astrid jutted a finger in Hiccup’s direction.

“What?!” he immediately exclaimed. “I never said that, when- when have I said that? Didn’t you hear me? I said you’re crazy and you shouldn’t do it. I didn’t say that you wouldn’t.”

“That’s right, because I would. And I will.” She crossed her arms, nothing but daring determination written across her features. Then she walked away towards the kitchen with the same energy, Hiccup hurrying after her.

“No, Astrid, don’t actually do it!”

Now that the two were out of sight, Wilma strained her ears to further hear their conversation, trying to understand what was going on without going after them like a parent making sure their child didn’t do anything stupid. Although, in this particular case, that didn’t sound like such a bad idea.

She could hear the sounds of body parts colliding with furniture or the occasional other body part, as apparently a scuffle broke out, accompanied by the occasional giggle or huff. Something clattered to the ground.

“Ha!” Astrid seemed to have won the scuffle.

“Astrid, no, put that away!” There seemed to be more wrestling, followed by a groan of pain from Hiccup and a stifled, “Bad Astrid!” According to the lack of more jostling, he had given up taking away whatever she was crinkling in her hand.

“I’m gonna do it.”

“Astrid, no, I was joking earlier! Don’t actually do it! Don’t- No- Astrid- I will tell your mother-“

“Cheers!”

There was a beat of silence.

“Oh my god, she actually did it.”

Cries of disgust rose over his muttered expression of awe and disbelief alike, then spluttering.

Muffled by something in her mouth, Astrid’s words were barely discernible. “Fuck, tha’sh dishgushting! An’ sho dwy!”

Someone turned on the sink and presumably filled a glass with water.

“Don’t swallow it, spit it out. I’m sure eating it wouldn’t be good for you.” The amusement in his voice was unmistakable.

Sounds of spitting and gurgling filled the pause before a triumphant Astrid spoke again. “Told you I’d do it.”

“Were you like that during High School?”

“Oh yeah. Sometimes even worse.”

He chuckled, somewhat softly. “High School me would have been crushing on you so hard.”

Silence. Wilma caught herself holding her breath, almost rooting for something to happen. But after a minute of quiet, there was only a loud sneeze and more exclamations of disgust.

“EW! That stuff is so sticky and dry at the same time!” More water ran through the sink.

“You don’t say! What did you expect?”

Wilma couldn’t hold still anymore. She made her way over to the kitchen, where she found one of them spluttering into the sink and the other leaning against the counter right beside her, arms crossed, shaking his head with a grin.

“What on earth are you doing in here?”

Slightly startled by her sudden appearance, the pair looked up. There were traces of a white powder on Astrid’s chin and shirt.

Hiccup’s voice sounded deadpan, but his eyes shone with amusement. “She bet me she’d eat a whole sachet of baking powder.”

Wilma’s eyebrows climbed up to her hairline. “Do I need to know why?”

“No, mom. You really don’t.” Astrid rolled her eyes the same way she used to when she was a kid and her parents interrupted her mid-playdate. Or when she was an ambitious teenager and someone brought up the topic of boys. Or when she was in college and tried to vehemently deny that she was not sleeping with that gorgeous new ‘study buddy’ of hers. “We’re just messing around, don’t worry, I’m old enough not to break the kitchen.”

Astrid threw her a look and Wilma could only decipher the message it carried through mother-child-telepathy.

Don’t even start, it said, we’re just friends doing stupid friends stuff.

Wilma wasn’t convinced, judging by the pair’s body language, even if unintended. They seemed to gravitate towards each other. If one moved a shoulder, the other changed the angle of a foot. If one ever so slightly leaned in another direction, the other followed. There was always a part of them angled toward the other. Two magnets. She wanted to think it had been the same with Eret, but she had to admit she’d never paid enough attention to notice.

After one more gulp of water and a last disgusted shudder, they left the room, leaving a trail of electricity in the air, akin to the remnants of a summer storm.

She was extraordinarily stubborn, that girl. If only she were less tenacious with herself.

_______________

Astrid watched his car disappear down the street before she turned and headed back into the house, feeling content and giddy at the same time. The cheerful smile on her face, however, disappeared as soon as she entered the kitchen and found her mother waiting for her.

Preparing herself for the imminent interrogation, she took a wet cloth and cleaned the rest of the baking powder off the counter and threw the empty paper sachet in the trash. She didn’t have to wait long.

“So we’re eating baking soda now to impress boys?”

“It wasn’t baking soda; it was baking powder.”

“And?”

“And I didn’t do it to impress anyone, it was just a stupid dare!”

Her mother sighed. “Astrid-“

“No, don’t start with that tone. I told you, everything’s fine, and I met Hiccup by chance a few days ago. We’re just friends!”

Wilma crossed her arms. “That’s not what I saw.”

With a huff and a little too much force, Astrid put the empty water glass into the dishwasher, and it dangerously clinked against a mug and a saucer. “Whatever you saw, it’s not what you think. We didn’t do anything.”

“I am not trying to chastise you.” Her mother came closer and stretched a hand out to her, but Astrid turned away, leaning against the kitchen table. “I just want you to talk to me about what’s going on with you, and don’t you say that there is nothing, because I can sense that there is!”

Astrid huffed again. “If there was something for me to talk to you about, then I would tell you.”

“Okay, then don’t.” Astrid winced. She could tell her mother was losing her patience. “Keep bottling everything up until it breaks you from the inside. Keep pushing away the people that want to help you be happy. And please, Astrid Hofferson, keep denying everything to yourself and stay miserable!”

“Like I said,” Astrid whispered, suddenly feeling queasy, “there is nothing.” Her phone chimed in her pocket with a familiar tune. “And now excuse me, I have an online date with Ruffnut.”

Ignoring her mother’s disappointed expression, she turned and ran up the stairs to her room, closing the door and leaning against it for a few minutes. Her stomach clenched itself together and she concentrated on breathing until it calmed down.

She banished the conversation with her mother from her mind, changed into her sweatpants and deliberately put on one of Eret’s old hoodies. Then she crawled into bed with her laptop, opened Ruff’s chat and checked her phone while she waited for her friend to come online.

There was one new message and it sent another jolt threw her stomach. It was Hiccup, asking her if she wanted to come to Raven Point forest on Saturday, just for a little nature quality time. With a fluttering in her chest and a still queasy stomach, she texted him yes.

Just when she sent the text, a chat window popped open on her laptop’s screen, followed by an incoming voice call.

Twenty minutes later, after Ruff told her every single detail about her family vacation in Spain so far, including an in-depth analysis off all the butts and abs she’d seen at the pool of her hotel until now, they switched from shooting enemies online to sharing a screen and playing The Sims.

“…so he offers her the rose and she takes it, sniffs it good, and winks at him. Poor Tuff is in waaaay too deep at this point.” Ruffnut cackled, finishing her story about her twin brother’s affair with a lady who stayed in their hotel as well and was almost ten years older than him. It was kind of hilarious how he hadn’t really planned on going through with anything, but then he’d found himself in the situation and hadn’t backed out. And now he was in way over his head. But knowing the twins, Astrid could only imagine this ending in absolute chaos, and couldn’t wait for the full story once they came home.

“I’m almost done with the Sim, how far along are you with the house?” Once they were both done with their creations, Astrid would upload her character for Ruff so she could share her screen and they’d reign over it together in her built house. It was how they’d been doing it since middle school.

“Almost. Still deciding between a garden of cow plants and a dungeon.”

“Choose the cow plants and we’ll have the Sim feed only every second one,” Astrid suggested while clicking through her Sim’s wardrobe options for formal wear. On a whim, she had made her character small and chubby, with very short and spiky platinum blonde hair, gray eyes and the most ugly nose and ears she could create.

Ruffnut burst out laughing once she saw it. “Hot. Almost like Eret.”

Astrid snorted at that. “Uncanny resemblance.” And yet it wasn’t even Eret she’d tried to steer away from while designing the Sim. But Ruff was right, in her effort to do just that, she’d also created a non-Eret. All the better.

Two hours later, the guy was still alive and kicking, despite the hungry carnivorous plants in his garden and the plenty fire hazards Ruff had installed in his house. He had even found love in one of his neighbors, after spending comparatively little time with her.

“Sims logic,” Ruff sneered. “As if you can fall in love after one ten-second conversation about light bulbs. And get married right after.”

Astrid chose not to comment on that. She shifted in her bed, sitting up straight again so that her laptop didn’t sit on her stomach so much, suddenly feeling queasy again. She’d probably accidentally swallowed some of the baking powder.

Her thoughts drifted to Saturday. She hoped the weather would be good, but after these weeks of sunshine and temperatures almost too high for May, she wasn’t worried. She could already smell the beginning of summer in the woods, see the sunlight catching in–

“Yo, jackpot!” Ruff’s voice tore her from her daydreams.

“What? What happened?”

“Weird neighbor girl got knocked up!”

The warm feeling in Astrid’s chest shrunk into a tight little ball, rising into her throat. She tried to swallow it, but it stayed where it was.

“Ruff?”

“Huh?”

“Can you imagine me with a child?”

“Sure, you already act like my mom sometimes.”

“No, I don’t!” Astrid protested. She did, though. She realized that herself.

“Yeah, you definitely do. Why are you asking?”

Astrid took a moment to answer. “Just thinking about it. Because of the game.” She grimaced.

“Cool. Tell me when you’re seriously thinking of trying, my friend Kelsey did that last year so I can give you all the deets. You know I’m good at advice.” She cackled.

“Hmm. Will do. Hey, go back to the first floor, I think the toilet just exploded!”

Long after midnight, when she and Ruff had ended the call, she slowly opened the bottom drawer of her dresser and took out the pregnancy test she’d bought and hadn’t had the nerve to use yet.

With the lump in her throat growing and the queasiness in her stomach uncomfortably increasing, she tiptoed into the bathroom and unwrapped the stick with shaking hands.

When she was done with it, she sunk onto the floor, leaning against the tub, the test lying next to her. With a pounding heart, she refused to look at it, staring at the underside of the sink until her tailbone started to hurt from sitting in this position for so long. There was really no use in waiting any longer; whatever the result was, it was real, no matter how long she put off finding out. Still, it took her several more minutes before she took a deep breath and reached for the stick.

She released the air from her lungs when she looked at it, the result staring her in the face, unmistakable and clear.

Hands still shaking, she took out her phone and dialed a number before she could change her mind. He picked up after the fourth ring.

“Hello? Astrid?”

“He-“ She cleared her throat. “Hey.” She didn’t know what to say. Their last exchange had been nearly two weeks ago and it had been less than friendly.

“How… How are you doing?” Eret didn’t know what to say, either. It went unspoken between them that they left things too messy to have a casual conversation right now, or an even remotely serious one over the phone. But she didn’t want to fight anymore, and neither did he. She knew that she needed to apologize for some of the things she’d said. All of them if she were honest. But the words died on her tongue when she made out voices in the background.

She heard a woman call for him, and the old fire flared back up in her chest, hungry and destructive. A male voice joined her.

“Um…” Eret paused, unsure how to continue.

With bated breath, she waited for him to say something. Anything. Feed the raging flame.

“We were just about to go out for drinks, me and a few colleagues, Timothy… Timothy’s waiting for me, I’m sorry. I gotta go. We’ll talk when I’m home, okay?”

Who the hell was Timothy? “I… Yeah. Okay.”

“See you on Sunday.”

He ended the call and left her in the eerie silence of the bathroom. She just sat there, slumped against the tub, tailbone complaining, swallowing the rocks in her lungs.

With a frustrated huff, she threw the stick at the wall, a lonely tear rolling down her cheek.

[jloves-pp]

The Story of Merida and Hiccup- prologue and part 1

Once. In Scotland, a Great War began between the Scottish and the Vikings. A Viking tribe called the Hairy Hooligans, led by their new chef. Stoick the Vast sailed to find a new home away from the dragons that plagued their land of Berk. At the time the clans of Scotland weren't on good terms, attacking each other so the Vikings thought they could come in and build their new homes, without the Scots knowing but they found them, the clans bonded together and fought the Vikings off. The Scottish clans cheered as the Vikings left on their boats, Stoick filled with rage, promised that he would return and finish what he'd started, once and for all. This battle united the Clans and they made the leader of Clans DunBroch, Fergus their King. The Clans were wary but time passed and the Vikings and the Hooligans did not return. Even if the Scots and Vikings paths never crossed, the hatred was still there and they would tell tales making the other heartless, violent monsters. Things may have still been this way but fate had other ideas.

Chapter 1-the Viking and the Princess

"And even if our spirits were crush, even if our bones ache, Stoick stood at the end of ship and told those barbarians. "I, Stoick the Vast will have my revenge on the lot of you. Once and for all"

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third sat by a table as Gobber was told young children about the tale of his dad's battle with the Scots in the great hall.

He disliked this story ever since he was little, he won't sure why. Maybe because what he went toward this himself.

A soft groan made Hiccup smile and turned to his best friend, Toothless. The dragon smiled back before they continued watching Gobber.

"Yeah, that happened before I was born, it about my dad and the other Vikings travelling to Scotland. I don't think I ever went there"

"You did, when you were five" Hiccup and Toothless turned and looked behind them to see Hiccup's dad, Stoick. "It was your first trip outside Berk, I remember it well, mostly because you were seasick but you did managed to over it before we returned home"

"Yeah, I think I remember the last day at sea" Hiccup commented.

The big Viking chuckled before continuing "Well we never went near any shores that the Scots could spot us" he then noticed Gobber and the children had already leaved the hall. "It's getting late, time from bed"

It had been some months since Hiccup first met the Night Fury, the Vikings and Dragons now lived in harmony. Well as Vikings and Dragons could. Hiccup and his dad's relationship change for the better. In the past, Hiccup wanted to show Stoick and the other Vikings that he could be one of them but no matter what he did, it went wrong one way or another and the worst part was Stoick disappointed in him. That changed one night when Hiccup shout down a dangerous dragon, he found it and plan to kill it but he wouldn't do it. He released and befriended the dragon who his named Toothless. For a long time, Hiccup kept Toothless hidden pretty well but it didn't last long. His dad was more than angry and took Toothless away, they ten proved themselves by saving the Vikings and defeating a huge dragon called the Red Death. Hiccup and Toothless brought peace to their home.

They didn't have to walk far to their home. Hiccup could feel that his dad was bothered by something.

"Dad, when did we and the Scots began enemies? Hiccup asked.

"Actually, no one really knows now. It happened decades ago" Stoick sighed before adding "but what I try to do become one of losses of life" He said seriously clutching his thirst, even though it was terrible, he know the worst day of his life was.

"Dad, the past is the past. We move on, they've probably move on too." Hiccup explained.

"I know but it was a blow to my reputation, it made me question myself, if I was good enough as a leader but this war go beyond that, it's gone on for decades, you'll understand when you're older" Stoick told his son.

Hiccup looked over to Toothless who had a concerned as Stoick opened the door to their home. Stoick still had his Stoick moments but it's hasn't less and he and Hiccup become closer. Stoick listened to his son and he could talk without expecting much.

"Oh, I've got something for you son" Stoick said more cheerfully as Hiccup and Toothless was half way up the stairs. They came back down as Stoick opened his hand to reveal a wooden circle with curved design of a dragon, held by a string.

"I find this when it was looking for my axe" Stoick explained as Hiccup and Toothless looked at the necklace.

"Well it's...its nice and...ur it's interesting" Hiccup managed to ask while his dragon sniffed it.

"It was your mother's" Stoick then said which made both Hiccup and Toothless look up at him. Hiccup didn't know much about his mother, so finding something that had belonged to her was a big deal. "I gave her this when I ask her to marry me. And now, I want me to have it" and he placed this treasure into his son's hand. Hiccup looked closer at the wooden pendant; he slowly ran his hand around it. The pendant was definitely a better gift than the helmet.

"Thanks dad" he then said giving his dad a warm smile.

Stoick smiled in return before saying "Well I hope you will give to Astrid, I probably...

"Oh dad, me and Astrid, we're just friends" Hiccup quickly said.

"Oh," his dad replied clearly confused "I just though you two..."

"I know, I had a crush on her and she did kiss me but I don't want to rush into anything right now" the young Viking explained rubbing his neck nervously.

"Oh that's understandable" Stoick said but Hiccup could hear a bit of disappointment in his voice.

Hiccup heard a loud yawn; he could see Toothless was getting tried. "Ready for bed, aren't you bud" Hiccup said gently stoking his best friend's head.

"Well see you two in the morning, night son, night Toothless" Stoick said before turning and heading to his room.

"Good night dad" Hiccup said as he and his dragon climbed the stairs to Hiccup's room.

The young Viking laid on his bed, he looked over to the night fury who that was falling asleep. He kept looking at the necklace in his hand, rubbing the grooves. He wouldn't sure why but the story of the war still linger in his mind, now there was peace here and the Scots never attack them, so why was his father still thinking about it?

"Maybe in a few years, he'll let it go and think of the here and now" Hiccup thought to himself. He then put the necklace safe in his fur vest and soon he too was fast asleep.

At the same time in Scotland. The kingdom of DunBroch was winding down; many people were getting ready to bed down for the night. In the castle, the royal family were enjoying a story before bed. King Fergus was telling his four children about his and the other clans victory over the Vikings.

"...and soon they retreated back to their ships, we cheered till are lungs hurt" Fergus said lifted his sword as he spoke.

The children were dressed in their nightgowns, they all enjoyed the stories their dad told them. His tales were full of exciting fights, about far of landed and terrifying beasts. The triplets, Hamish, Hubert and Harris were sitting cross legged, grinning from ear to ear as they listened. Their older sister, Merida had her arms around her legs, picturing it all in her head. Queen Elinor listened along, while she sat sewing in a chair behind her children.

"Of course their leader vowed that he'll get revenge but we never heard of them again" Fergus continued putting the sword against the wall.

"Then what happened?" Merida asked.

"Well, we feasted for weeks and made the peace treaty between the clans and we never had any problems" her dad said.

"Never dear?" Elinor then added with a knowing smile to her husband.

"Ok, we're not perfect but we're trying" Fergus said chuckling slightly.

"And now, it's time for bed" Elinor then said, this was followed by groans from her children.

"Oh mum, it's too early" Merida said before letting out a loud yawn.

"It's about at this time you should all be asleep" her mum said helping Merida up as Fergus carried the boys in his arms and shoulders. As Fergus went to put the boys to bed, Merida and Elinor headed to Merida's bedroom.

"Right, in you go" Elinor said merrily after she pulled away the sheets away on Merida's bed.

"Oh mum, I'm not five anyone" Merida pointed out but has to smile when she heard her mum chuckle softly.

Months ago, both mother and daughter weren't as close as they were now. Both wanted different things, Merida wanted her freedom and enjoy her hobbies like riding and archery while Elinor wanted her daughter to be an ideal princess and future Queen. Things became worse when Elinor told Merida that at the Highland games, suitors will try and win her hand in marriage. On the day, Merida found a way out of this arrangement by picking archery and winning her own hand. Her mum was furious and the two had a huge fright. The princess found a witch and got a spell, hoping it would change her mums mind but the spell ended up transforming her into a bear. After escaping the castle, Elinor and Merida grew closer as they search for a cure. Meanwhile King Fergus and the other clansmen did try to kill Elinor (the bear) and the demon bear Mor'du. Mother and daughter broken the spell and their bond was mended.

"Mum, have you ever met a Viking?" Merida asked as she watched her mum pulled the curtains closed.

"Thankfully no, I was far away from that fright. Pregnant with you, actually" Elinor replied "and I hope I never have to deal with them, ever"

"Well, I happen to think it would be exciting meeting a Viking" Merida admitted, putting her weapons away.

"Merida!" her mum said in surprised and turned to her daughter. "They evil, heartless barbecues who care for no one but themselves"

"Mum, you know I face evil monsters before, I think I can handle one of those" the princess protested, folding her arms.

"I know you can, you probably scare them off with your skills and fiery Highland spirit" Elinor commented which brought a smile to both of their faces.

"Well now. Tomorrow, the MacGuffin clan are visiting so please don't get mud on your dress again" Elinor joked as she Merida climbed into her bed. Elinor notices a sad look on Merida's face.

"Merida, what's wrong? Is this about the recent news?"

The redhead sighed and tried to find the right words.

"I'm happy for Young MacGuffin that he met someone, Penelope sounds like a nice girl" she explained sitting up against her headboard.

Elinor knew what she was talking about. The queen broke the tradition for marriage so that Merida and others could marry for love. Since then, Merida's former suitors had moved on from trying to win Merida's heart. First, Young Macintosh and Wee Dingwall told her that they didn't have romantic feelings for her and now, Young MacGuffin had a girlfriend. Merida was fine just being friends but she felt a bit disappointed and she didn't know why.

"You think you won't found love" Elinor softly uttered. Merida didn't want to talk about it but since the bear incident, they became closer than before. The two were able to sit down and talk easily about personal and everyday things. They also enjoyed going out riding together some days.

"Maybe" Merida murmured then added "but it's not like I'm looking for thing. I'm perfectly happy without it"

Elinor took a moment to think what to say; of course her teenage daughter wasn't the romantic daydreaming kind of girl. She was happy being wild and free rather than being someone's wife but lately Elinor could sends that Merida had become curious about it even know she won't wouldn't admitted it.

"Merida, love isn't just for marriage. There's love for your family, your home, even friendship like you and Angus is love" Elinor explained. Merida couldn't help but chuckle when her mum mentioned her horse. "You have all the love in the world already"

"You're right mum, I have love. I don't need to look for it" Merida said smile up in her mum which she returned.

"Trust me, yes who know? Love may found you, when you least expect it. Now time for sleep" now with that, the princess lay back as her mum pulled the cover over her, kiss her head and blew out the candle. "Good night Merida" she whispered.

"Good night mum" Merida said replied before her mum gently closed the door behind her. Merida thought over her words for a moment before her fell fast asleep.

[howtodrawyourdragon]

Ok but trans hiccup??? Like,,,, I love the idea of it! Thoughts or head cannons?

I’m not actually trans myself, but I can come up with a few headcanons for a trans!Hiccup. Sorry it took me so long to get to them too. I wanted to put enough thought into these.

If anybody, particularly anybody who is trans irl, has any thoughts or grievances with this post, be sure to let me know! I’ll be basing this on what I know and what I’ve been reading about trans people here on Tumblr.

Some Hiccup headcanons:

The first time Hiccup realized he prefered he/his/him pronouns, it was after he met Toothless and the Red Death had been defeated. He wasn’t sure why he felt the way he did, but he knew that it felt right. His father, Gobber and his friends take to calling him by his prefered pronouns quite well.

Hiccup doesn’t have dysphoria. He once thought he had a problem with the way his body looked because it didn’t fit with his prefered pronouns, but as he grew realized his problems with his physique lied in how skinny and “runt-y” he was while his father had seemingly prefered buffer offspring. A problem that solves itself as he grows older, matures and becomes more confident in himself. (*)

He’s still tall.

Hiccup still wears the same clothes as he does in canon. Fur vest, tunics, (leather) pants, lots of belts later as he reaches his twenties. They still look the same as he wears them too.

He likes to keep his hair short. Or, well, as “short” as it is in canon. Hiccup has a lot of hair. He used to have long braids, something Stoick wanted him to have to keep Valka close to them both, but decided to cut his hair short not too long before Httyd 1.

Cutting his hair short caused the rift between hiccup and his father to grow bigger. After Httyd 1 has happened and Stoick understands Hiccup better, he made sure to help Hiccup out the next time his son’s hair was up for a cut.

Hiccup and Astrid still end up together. Astrid loves her boyfriend (and later on, her husband) for who he is.

Hiccup carried Zephyr, which is why she still gets to have Stoick’s flaming red hair. Nuffink was carried by Astrid. This is something they talked about and agreed on when they both felt ready to expand their family.

Hiccup wouldn’t mind carrying their third either, should it ever come to that. This is something he and Astrid always discuss thoroughly. They both love the children they already have and wouldn’t mind one or two more.

* Hiccup has issues with his physical body in canon, but this is something we see mainly in Httyd 1 and RoB/DoB. It’s a direct result from the main misunderstanding he and Stoick suffer from in Httyd 1, in which Hiccup believed his father’s problem with him was the fact that he was skinnier and smaller than the other teens his age when Stoick’s actual problem with Hiccup was the fact that he never listened and never fit it. From RttE onwards, Hiccup doesn’t seem to have too much of a problem with his body anymore.*

Some Rider-related headcanons:

Snotlout was the first human to know.

Toothless was the first ever.

At first, Snotlout had some trouble understanding, but he used the right pronouns. As he grew up and learned more about himself and his sexuality, he also came to understand the way Hiccup felt about himself. From RttE onwards, Snotlout has come into the habit of punching whoever misgenders Hiccup.

Astrid has a tendency to punch people who misgender Hiccup too. Unlike Snotlout she’s “less friendly about it” according to her.

Zephyr and Nuffink never questioned Hiccup until they were both already well into their teens. They never found it strange that they called one “mom” their dad.

Tuffnut once suggested Hiccup should make himself a beard out of bear fur (and one for Astrid too) so he and Astrid can finally “rub each others beards” after Snotlout mentions it back in RttE. In fact, he made it their wedding gift.

Tuffnut once swung an arm around Hiccup and told him “you and I, we understand each other, my friend” after having one too many in the Great Hall on Snoggletog as Tuffnut mourned his inability to grow a beard.

Fishlegs felt quite awkward around Hiccup at first, always worried to misgender him, always worried to offend him. After time passes (filled with plenty of reassurances on Hiccup’s part) this disappears completely.

Ruffnut is often misgendered herself in canon. (Dagur asking Savage “wait, there’s more than one?” as a response to Savage’s question which girl Rider they should take hostage comes to mind.) This gives her a deeper understanding of the way Hiccup feels and even makes her surprisingly protective of his identity.

Valka remembered leaving a daughter on Berk after she decided to stay with Cloudjumper. When she and Hiccup finally reunite, that her daughter turned out to be a young man instead caused for some confusion at first, but Valka adapted accordingly.

Eret had absolutely no idea until Hiccup one day happens to mention it in a casual conversation with all the Riders. It changed nothing about their close friendship. In fact, all it does is make Eret join the “We punch people who disrespect the Chief” Brigade. (*)

Gobber may have known for years before even Hiccup knew.

* The “We Punch People Who Disrespect The Chief” Brigade members are: Toothless, Astrid, Snotlout, Gobber, Stoick(prior to his passing), Valka, Ruffnut and Eret. *

Some other-related headcanons:

Dragons have more than two genders. Hiccup being trans isn’t a strange concept to them.

Vikings probably didn’t know there were people that were transgender. Hiccup going through life as a man may have caused a bit of an uproar, but so does every little change that the Berkians are not accustomed too before they get used to it.

Much like Gobber, Gothi, magical as she is, already knew too. It was her advice to Stoick to “treat his daughter like he would treat his son”.

Prior to his redemption, Dagur was quite unwilling to accept Hiccup the way he was. The day Dagur decided to redeem himself, he also decided to make a conscious effort to change that.

Queen Mala figured out that Hiccup was afab upon their first meeting, but never even mentioned it. What mattered to her was whether Hiccup and his Dragon Riders were friend or foe. To her it was a passing realization and nothing more.

These are all the headcanons I can think of at the moment. Might add more if I can think of any.

@evilwriter37​ Was also asked for some Trans!Hiccup headcanons. You can found their post here. Be ready for some NSFW headcanons dealing with the OT6 as well, though.

And, again, if any of these headcanons rub anybody the wrong way, don’t hesitate to tell me.

[queerchoicesblog]

Marlinspikes (ILB, Danni x F!MC)

This is my last February prompts fanfic and...I warn you that it’s pretty ANGSTY/SAD (to say the least xD). Just so you know, the inspiration for this one came from Castle of Glass by Linkin Park (quoted below).

Requested by @darley1101, this fanfic takes place two months after the Pine Springs flood. Danni notices that Harper (F!MC) is still hurting badly for the events and the secrets they uncovered and encourages her to open up with her. Warning: this is pro-Josephine even if, as you’ll see yourselves, it’s a tough call for Harper. Also, special thanks to @brightpinkpeppercorn: our ILB conversations were essential for this fic...and I give you full credit for the “sin sentence”!

Prompt: “Let me love you”

Word Count: 1994

Perma tag: @brightpinkpeppercorn @psychopathdreamer21 @abunchofbadchoices @bbaba-yagaa @silverhawkenzie @begging-for-kamilah @melodyofgraves @bhavf 

Tags: @esteladannishreyakamilah 

Warning: occurrences of bad words

________________________

Bring me home in a blinding dream

Through the secrets that I have seen

Wash the sorrow from off my skin

And show me how to be whole again

Harper had been unusually quiet since she was discharged from the hospital after the flood. Sure, she had every reason to be shaken but it'd been almost two months now and she didn't seem to make any progress. She hanged out with the group, celebrated Parker's promotion to Chief of Police, went on dates but every now and then you could still see her gaze sadden and wander into the distance. She was there but at the same time, she was far away. Danni noticed and decided to investigate. So here she was, knocking on Harper's grandpa house with a box of food in her hands. She was concerned: Harper, well they all went through a bunch of traumatic experiences lately but Harper was Josephine's granddaughter and the whole thing really took a toll on her. Understandably, of course. Danni wasn't under no false illusion to see her finally happy but she would have loved to see her a little less haunted than she was -Danni could tell - beneath her tough, jokester appearance. And, on top of that, it was no mystery that she would have come back to Hartfeld in a couple of weeks. The mere thought of it made the girl frown. She didn't have to wait long, When Harper opened the door, the young woman couldn't help but notice the dark circles around her eyes badly hidden with concealer. Danni put on the brightest smile she could manage and raised the box. "Special taquitos delivery for Miss Vance" she beamed.

Harper's tense jaws relaxed visibly. "Well well aren't you the most adorable girl on earth?" the Vance girl said, pulling her in a quick hug and brushing her lips against hers. "Thank you so much, Danni. Please come in and make yourself at home: mi casa es tu casa, that's how you say, right?" Danni walked in and made her way to the kitchen. Harper followed her and lazily leaned on the threshold. "Will you stay for dinner? Elliott is out with Grandpa, they went to pay a visit Tom and I think they won't be back soon...so we have the place for ourselves" The last line was supposed to be flirty but the smile on Harper's smile didn't reach the eyes. Danni put down the box on the table and asked: "Depends, do you want me to stay?" Harper wrapped her arms around herself. "I...I could use some company. Especially your company" Danni's heart tightened seeing the infamous Harper Vance who won't turn down a tumble so vulnerable. She felt that if she had hugged her a bit too tightly at that very moment, she would have crumbled to pieces between her arms. "Then I'll stay. Let me heat them a little, they're tastier that way. Why don't you dress the table in the meantime?" The other girl nodded and mechanically gathered a tablecloth, plates, forks and knives. Then she opened the fridge. "Hey it's your lucky day, beers are on the house" she announced picking up two bottles. "Sounds like I won the lottery" Danni winked, heating the pan. Then, as her girl handed her one the bottles she opened, she spoke again: "It's none of my business but why didn't you go with Elliott and your abuelo? I mean Tom's is a friend of yours too" Harper took a gulp of her drink. "Yeah but Grandpa wants to ask him to repair his boat and frankly, I'm sick and tired of boat talks and of water in general." "Preach to that" Danni toasted. "And...I just needed some alone time. You...you are welcome to stay though, obviously" "Alone time you said...something's troubling you, isn’t it? I mean, more than usual. You have a lot to process..." "No, I just...I just wanted to relax at home" "You sure?" "Yep! Are your legendary taquitos ready? They smell delicious!" When the food was ready, the sat down and Danni filled Harper in on the latest events in town, her new photojournalist work at ClickIt, how she got to have a Skype chat with Leah Myers...anything to keep the other girl’s mind busy. However, she was taking a sip of her beer when it happened again. Harper's slowly diverted her eyes and looked out of the window. Her gaze wandered off into the horizon and she went quiet. She had barely touched any food. "I messed up this time? I mean, my taquitos" Danni asked tentatively, hoping to bring her back. Harper shivered and her blue eyes fell on her again. She looked like someone who woke up from troubled dreams. "Sorry, I spaced out" she said, smiling grimly to herself. "Hey Harper, are you sure you're okay?" "Yes, I'm...I guess I'm less hungry than I thought" "Forget my tacos, talk to me" Danni pronounced it as if it was a prayer. "You know, at least I hope you know that you can come to me for anything. I know that something is troubling you, I can tell even if you're trying to hide it. Talk to me, let me help you" Harper looked her in the eyes for a while as if pondering her words. Then she hung her head in defeat. "I don't know what to do, Danni. And I...I wish my mom was here cause she always knew the right thing to do, unlike me" Her voice cracked and she grabbed her head, covering her face to Danni. The photojournalist immediately dashed towards her and squatted down beside her, gently stroking the girl's back. "Harper, it's okay, I'm here" "Nothing is okay Danni! Nothing" Harper muffled against her own hands. "Hey, move those hands aside, look at me" A sob escaped Harper as she started shivering again underneath Danni's palm. The former barista pulled her a bit closer, always stroking her back reassuringly, and gently removed Harper's hands from her wet cheeks with her free hand. "You have every right to be upset after all that happened, let it all out, I'm not going anywhere"  she said softly, cupping one of her cheeks. "I thought I was strong, Danni but this, this is so much to process, too much" "You're one of the strongest people I've ever met, sweetheart! You always kept your cool and brought us together even when you were scared too: that's strength in my book" Danni gave her a sympathetic smile "You miss your parents, yes?" Harper's eyes welled with new tears. "Yes and the scene, blood everywhere, their bodies laying on the ground...I still replay the scene in my head sometimes, it's brutal" "I'm telling you what to do: next time it happens, you pick up your phone and call me, deal?" Danni squeezed her shoulder affectionately. "I...I have no one to talk about that" Harper admitted "Elliott has nightmares too and I don't want to upset him even more. When we found them it was hard enough" "What about Grandpa?" A flash of anger gleamed in her eyes. "Grandpa got them both killed! I would never talk about that with him: he would give me pathetic puppy dog eyes when he was the one who sold them! He told those fucking pricks and now mom and dad are gone. They literally laid on the ground in their own blood...because of him!" "Okay okay, sorry Harper!" Danni tried to calm her down before speaking again. "You hold a grudge to your abuelo, don't you?" Harper shattered her jaw and nodded, as warm tears streamed down her face. "I can hardly look at him...I try to play along for Scooter's sake but the truth is I think I hate him or something like that. I don't think I will ever forgive him for what he did to my mom, my dad and Josephine" "But Josephine almost killed us all, almost killed even you..." Harper looked fiercely into Danni's eyes. "She was betrayed by the man she loved and who made a vow to protect her and their daughter, Danni! He knew who those assholes of the Society were and yet he told them everything and didn't even try to save Josephine. She did no harm to anyone, she knew the dangers of the Power and carefully avoided them but then Grandpa handed her to those bastards. They threatened him to hurt their daughter instead, mom, because obviously he told them about her too and he helped them torturing grandma. She told me the whole story, Danni...it was awful: he handed Astrid the marlinspike that bitch stabbed into my grandmother's heart. They tortured her and forced to turn into the monster we all saw. But she was right..." "Innocent people died, you could have died...while your grandpa was maybe weak but-" "Weren't Josephine, mom and dad innocent too? But they died because of him! He is a coward and that was his sin" Harper cried "He ruined everything, Danni..we could have been a happy family, we could have been happy and safe if they were all here" Danni sat on Harper's lap and wrapped her in the tightest hug, gently cradling her girl as she cried herself out on her shoulder. After a few minutes, the Vance girl spoke again, her voice rough and tired. "It's so hard to pretend but I want Elliott to heal and be happy. I just...I will never forgive Grandpa and I'm on alert every time they are together, like if there are still cultists out there and they find them will Grandpa protect him or hand him to those pricks only because they yell louder? Elliott is all I have left...”

Danni stroke her cheek, wiping away a tear with her thumb.

“Can I speak now, Harper?” 

The other girl nodded.

“Harper, you don’t have to go through that alone. This pain you feel now-”

“This pain is all I have left of them. Of my family” Harper grimaced “But you’re right Danni...Grandma Josephine killed so many innocents blinded by her wrath. I can’t change that. The people here will always remember her because of that: she will always be the Lake Monster to them, to anyone...maybe I should leave this place after all”

“Stop it, Harper! If...if you leave this godforsaken town” - the mere thought of it made Danni frown- “you will do it because you want to: on your terms, not like a fugitive or something like that! You can’t feel guilty for all those deaths, you have nothing to do with them. You may be Josephine’s granddaughter but you’re not her. She would be proud of the woman you are now, for what it’s worth"

Harper winced, diverting her eyes.

“I know that...I rationally know that, Danni...I just” her voice cracked “I just feel like that marlinspike they pushed into her chest, the one I used to let her go...I just feel it burning in my chest too all the time as if I have no air left to breathe-”

“Then let me help you remove that marlinspike. I cannot assure it won’t hurt, but I will be at your side every step of the way. I will hold your hand and wipe away your tears. I will steal an oxygen mask from the hospital if need be! But please, Harper...let me love you, let me help you heal. We can do this together” 

Danni pronounced the last words, resting her forehead over Harper’s. Seeing the girl she fell for so broken inside was killing her. They both kept quiet for a few minutes, cherishing the moment.

“Will...will you show me how to be whole again, Danni?” Harper asked tentatively as she parted to show the weak smile on her face to the other girl.

“Of course, I will show you how to be whole again, H.” Danni confirmed before placing a tender kiss on Harper’s lips.

Then she added, gesturing at the girl’s plate:

“I believe you can get started taking a bite of those tacos. We will write a full list of survival tips later, okay?” 

[wolfie-dragon-rider]

Bursts of Light, Day 19: In Formal Wear

Another one with the kids! This one takes place when Thora is 12, and Clay is 10. Hiccup and Astrid are in their early thirties.

Also, thank you very much for the reviews and comments! They help a lot in getting me to write this!

--------------------------------

"But Mooooooooom! I don't like this dress! It's so itchy and frilly!" Thora shouted, and Hiccup involuntarily smiled. His little girl was so much like her mother.

Still, she would have to wear the dress for a few hours. It was expected for such an occasion. Hiccup had often wished he could see his family, and although he knew that he never would, that didn't mean he didn't want as many other people as possible to see how amazing they were. Even people dozens or hundreds of years from now.

"Come on, Thora. It's just for today. Don't you want to look pretty?" he asked, kneeling to get little Nadder, Quickclaw, screeched and flapped his wings, flying right past Hiccup's face to land on Thora's shoulder where he often perched. Honestly the dragon was getting too big and heavy for it, but Thora insisted she could still carry him.

"What's wrong with my normal clothes? They're comfy! Who cares about looking pretty if I can't breathe in this?!" she said loudly, and Astrid sighed, her knees hitting the floor with a soft thud.

"Oh, it's not that bad. It's a very roomy dress. Look, I get how you feel. I don't like long dresses or frilly stuff either. But when people hundreds of years from now look at our portrait, do you really want them to see you covered in mud and in torn clothes? You still look strong in this outfit. Even more so, I'd say. Look, the bare sleeves show off your muscled arms!" Astrid laughed.

"I don't look strong despite this fancy outfit. And I have to have big puffy pants to hide my cast. At least when people look at you they see someone who can stand on their own," Claybones muttered from his nearby chair. Hiccup frowned as he turned towards his son. The boy had just turned 10, and was getting moodier and moodier. At least he wasn't complaining too much about today's activities.

"Yeah, but you're not the future chief. People won't care about how you look," Thora shot back, and Astrid sighed. Clay's dragon, a Woolly Howl hatchling called Thinker, growled from his spot on the young boy's lap. Quickclaw screeched back, leading to Hiccup quickly jumping in between.

"That's enough, both of you. None of us are perfect, and the goal isn't to look perfect. The goal is to simply record the people we are right now," he said, hoping to defuse an argument before it started.

Thora and Clay had been very hostile towards each other lately. Hiccup suspected Thora was taking out the stress she got from puberty and the pressure of being the heir on her little brother who didn't have as many responsibilities, while Clay was hurting from an increasingly broken body. They hadn't really talked about it openly yet, but it was becoming clear that the dozens of fractures over the years were weakening his limbs. His legs were misshapen from all those splints and hastily set bones, and could bear less weight even when the fractures were healed. He was completely unable to run by now, and would often use a crutch while walking.

It was only late at night that he whispered about his fears with Astrid, talking about when his boy would have to use a wheelchair permanently.

Hiccup wondered if Clay knew about it. It was almost scary how perceptive and smart the quiet boy was. Unlike his father, however, he applied his intellect to observing people, learning secrets and mannerisms, figuring out their hopes and fears just by looking at them. So it was difficult to hide their worry from him.

Thora was the opposite, always rushing headlong into any situation without bothering to wait and observe. She'd take charge, assuming she knew what was best for everyone, but always somewhat aware of the village's eye on her.

"I still hate this dress," Thora muttered, and Clay scoffed but didn't respond otherwise. Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"That'll be Grandma Kirsten. And look, kids, I hate my dress too. And I'm sure your father isn't a big fan of his outfit either. That armor is heavy!" Astrid said, standing up again and walking to the front door.

"She's right. Look, sometimes we have to do things we don't like in the moment, but that'll pay off for the rest of your lives. I never had a portrait like this with my parents. Just the one traditional coming-of-age one with my dad. Because of that painting, and I might add that the process of making it was very painful and involved a fight with Alvin the Treacherous, you two can see what your grandfather looked like. And what I looked like as a kid. But you'll never be able to see your grandma Valka again, because there is no portrait of her," Hiccup said as Astrid opened the door for her mother.

"So if you want to show your kids, or even your grandkids one day, what we looked like and where you came from, I'd suggest you stop complaining and get ready for the painter. He came all the way from London, you know," Hiccup's tone was harsher than he normally used with his children, but he didn't want them to miss the opportunities he never had.

"Exactly. There's no portrait of your Grandpa Tolfdir either. Nor of me, that's why I'm here today. And I know your father doesn't like to talk about it, but keep in mind that he will never be able to see this portrait, just like he can't see the portrait he made with Stoick. He knows better than anyone how important being able to see other people is. So you might want to think about that," Kirsten added, pushing a silk tunic in his hands.

Both the children went quiet at that. Knowing Kirsten would watch them, Hiccup went to the bedroom with Astrid to change.

"I'm sorry they're being difficult," Astrid said, and he sighed, taking off his regular shirt to put on the fine tunic.

"No, they're just… growing up. It's not easy being that age. But at least they're getting more opportunities and chances than we did. Even if they don't always understand why," he said as Astrid put his chestplate on him and latched the straps around his arms.

"You're always so understanding. I love them always with all my heart, but some days I don't… like them very much, you know? But then they smile and play and talk and I instantly forgive them," she whispered.

"And that's why we're doing this. So those smiles will be immortalized forever," he said, putting on his ridiculous silver vambraces.

"Exactly. So let's get back there before they start another fight," Astrid chuckled, fiddling with his armor for a bit before leaving the room again. Hiccup smiled, following.

"And so the prince and princess of France stood together as the evil warlord approached!" Kirsten was in the middle of a story when there was another knock on the door.

"Ah, that'll be the painter. Get ready everyone! Dragons as well!" Hiccup said, walking to the door and letting the man in. "Welcome, Master Frost. I hope we'll all fit on the canvas!"

Mr. Frost hesitated for a moment, but then Toothless and Stormfly pushed him inside in their eagerness to join the family. A yelp escaped the man, though at least he didn't run. Better than some dignitaries Hiccup had met.

"Uhhhm, let's see how we'll do this. Alright, boy, girl, you at the front. Chief Haddock, behind the girl please, and the Lady Astrid behind the boy's chair. Ah, Lady Kirsten, it's so good to see you again! You will be joining the picture as well? Next to Astrid would work best, probably," the painter said, fussing over them when they moved into position. Hiccup's hands on Thora's shoulders, Astrid's axe visible next to the chair, Claybones sitting up a little straighter.

"And finally the dragons! This is Toothless, right? He can go next to the chief, and this beautiful Nadder can join the equally beautiful lady. And of course, these little dragons shall join the children. That one on the boy's lap, that'll make him blend in well with the cloth, but still be noticable for the keen observer! Oh, and the little nadder curled around the young lady's neck? Ah yes, very fierce! The yellow hide works well with this red cloth! Now, just hold still!"

Hiccup did his best to keep smiling despite his daughter's dragon's claws gripping his hands. Just a minute in and he could already tell Thora was getting anxious, so he tried to squeeze her shoulders reassuringly.

Toothless crooned at one point, rubbing his face against Hiccup's side and earning himself a light scolding from the painter, but mostly the dragons and people were all on their best behavior.

"How does it look?" Hiccup asked Mr. Frost when they stopped for a break, stepping around the canvas he couldn't see.

"Oh, you have a lovely family, sir. Though I could tell the girl was getting… annoyed. Hence the break. But my sketches are all done, and now I can start the base layer of paint. After that I can finish it on my own, so you won't have to pose anymore," he said, and Hiccup nodded. Faint shouts came in through the window from where Thora was running around the house with Quickclaw.

"What kinds of paint do you use? This red is richer than anything I've managed to mix," Clay asked, the click of his clutches accompanying every step.

Hiccup stepped back a bit to let his son talk to the painter. Clay had been discovering a talent for art over the last few years, and he would often spend entire days drawing and painting. Hiccup just wished he could see what it was. His son always became defensive when he asked, so he decided not to push too much.

"You okay?" Astrid softly asked, sitting down next to him and grabbing his hand.

"Yeah, just… thinking about how happy I am we got to do this today. And how lucky I am with the family I have," he whispered with a smile.

"We are. Even if I sometimes want to scream in frustration at them," Astrid chuckled. As they spoke, Thora ran back inside, and Clay wrote down everything the painter explained about his process. Hiccup could almost picture in his head what the scene looked like. It stung that he would never see the ones he loved so much, but this portrait was close enough.

Even if they had to wear these awful outfits for it.

[p-artsypants]

No, You Go First (Part 1)

This ones been rolling around for some time. Changed a little bit here and there…kind of thought about making it longer. Maybe someday.

What would happen in the first movie if Stoick listened to his son at a key point?

FF.net | Ao3

—

Hiccup snuck in the door quietly. The run in with the Nightfury had taken much longer than expected, and he only hoped no one noticed he was missing.

Who was he kidding? No one would miss him.

Though, when he entered his house, Stoick was sitting at the fireplace, whittling, and waiting for him. The boy bit his lip and fled to his room, hoping to not be spotted.

“Hiccup?”

“Dad! Hey! Uh…I-I have to talk to you…”

“I have something to say to you too…”

They both spoke at the same time, mashing their sentences in a mess of scrabbled words. Then, “What?”

“You go first,” urged Stoick.

“Okay…” And he took the chance, because when would his father ever listen to him?

“I was thinking, you know we have a surplus of dragon-fighting Vikings, but do we have enough bread-making Vikings, or small home—“

“Get on with it Hiccup.” Stoick said, crossing his arms.

“I don’t want to fight dragons.”

Stoick stared at his son, blankly, and then laughed. “Come on, yes you do.”

“Rephrase, I can’t kill a dragon.”

Stoick was prepared to rebuttal, but seeing his little son so hunched, so withdrawn…so un-viking, made him hold his tongue. “What was all that bravado about then earlier? You were begging me to let you out there!”

“I know I know…” Hiccup rubbed his arm. “But I…realized something.” He glanced up shyily, wincing all the while. “Promise you won’t get mad?”

Stoick let out a massive sigh doing everything in his power to stay calm. “I promise. I’d rather you not hide things from me.”

Hiccup nodded meekly, still holding his arm. “I…I did shoot down that dragon. So I went down to Raven’s Point to make sure, and maybe finish the job if I needed to. When I got there, I saw him…and I raised my knife, ready to strike…and then I looked into it’s eyes. It was…scared, terrified…I saw myself in it. I couldn’t…I just…I cut it free.” He clenched up, waiting for the onslaught of anger from his dad.

But it never came.

Hiccup peeled his eyes open to see his dad red in the face and a frown on his lips. Then Stoick puffed out air. “So you cut it loose. It didn’t hurt you?”

“He pinned me to the ground and roared in my face. And then he took off.”

“What kind of dragon was it?”

“I think it was a Nightfury…”

“A Nightfury! And you let it go!?”

“I know!” He cried. “I’m sorry! I just…”

A heavy hand fell on his shoulder. “Look, Hiccup.”

He looked up and met Stoick’s eyes.

“Your mother was a lot like you. She was convinced that dragons weren’t as evil as we believed. Even up until the day she was taken.”

“They are still a pest! They do make it hard to live! I just—I just—…” He gestured helplessly.

Stoick steered him over to sit him down at the fire.

“When your mother was here, most of us only used hammers as weapons. We agreed that the beasts weren’t evil, but after she was taken…” He sighed. “Hiccup, I understand where you’re coming from, I really do. But I can’t lose you.”

“Dad…”

“I have to know that you’ll be safe in a raid. But you can’t lift a hammer, you can’t swing a sword…”

“Dad, dad!” Hiccup interrupted. “I’ll stay in the forge.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’ll work. I’ll lift heavy stuff and build up my arms and learn how to use weapons…”

Stoick, who was now calming down, saw the slight tremble in his son and the fear that persisted in his eyes. “Son,” he said softly. “It’s alright. The forge is a good idea.”

“You don’t look 100% sure…”

“It’s not the most honorable. Everyone loves the Blacksmith, but not for a chief. But, you’re only 15. Things may change.”

“Yeah.” Hiccup vocally agreed, but that look in the Nightfury’s eyes had been so haunting, he knew he couldn’t raise a weapon against a dragon ever again. “But…I’ll start to win everyone’s favor by staying out of the way.”

Stoick managed a laugh. “A start it is.”

The little family fell into silence. Stoick continued his whittling while Hiccup sat by. He felt like there was more to be said.

“Dragon training starts tomorrow. I was going to have you start…but while Gobber’s training the new recruits, someone will have to be in the forge.”

Hiccup nodded in agreement, some of the tension coming off his shoulders.

“You’re not a warrior.” Stoick declared, giving him a side eye. “You aren’t bursting with muscle, and weapons are useless in your hands.”

“Thanks…”

“But you have something most of the vikings in this village wish they could have.”

This was news. All his life he had been called useless and a screw up. What could he possibly have that no one else did?

“You have brains, capable of resourcefulness and creativity.”

Hiccup just stared at his dad, open mouthed.

“You couldn’t throw a bola, so you made something to throw it for you. I’ve seen your craftsmanship, I’ve heard your wit. You’re different from all of us, Hiccup.”

Hiccup hunched his shoulders. “I don’t want to be different. No one likes different…”

“Of course they don’t. Because they can’t understand it.” He leaned forward, beckoning Hiccup to look him in the eye. “You won’t be able to lead the tribe like I have, or like my father before me. But you will lead it, one day. You just have to find your niche.”

“Well, what do you want me to do?”

“If you truly believe that the beasts are capable of something more, find a way to make them stop raiding us. A thousand years of fighting hasn’t changed a thing.”

Hiccup considered this thought heavily. His father was putting a lot of trust and faith on his shoulders.

“But son, if you don’t find that solution…one day, you’ll have to put your reservations aside and be like the rest of us. Deal?”

Hiccup glanced to the duffle bag by the door. Stoick was leaving, and this could very well be the last time they saw one another. He nodded. “Deal.”

“Good. Well, keep up the good work. I’ll be back. Probably.”

“And I’ll be here. Maybe.”

—

The next day, Hiccup went down to the training academy, and sat along the upper edge with a notebook.  

“Welcome to dragon training!” Gobber called with gusto.

“I hope I get some serious burns.” Declared Tuffnut.

“I’m hoping for some mauling, like on my shoulder or lower back.” Added his sister.

“Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it.”

Hiccup chuckled a little as he watched.

“You sure you don’t want to join us, Hiccup?” Called Gobber.

“Pul-lease,” interrupted Snotlout. “He wouldn’t last five seconds in the ring.”

“You’re right Snotlout,” Hiccup called with a smug little grin. Though, no one could see it from that distance. “I’d much rather you be in there.”

Gobber interrupted the little spat. “Let's get started! The recruit who does best will win the honor of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village.”

“Which we all know, is going to be me.” Said Snotlout, with a flourish. “I mean, come on. Who else could it be?”

“Maybe me?” Said Astrid, hand on her hip.

“Yeah maybe, if you weren’t a girl.”

Hiccup had to hold back a laugh at the absolute rage that crossed her face.

Soon, Hiccup realized he had made the smart choice of declining dragon training after all. Since Gobber was merciless in his methods. The Grockle sputtered around the arena, it’s eyes focusing on the shields and the weapons. Gobber hung back by the wall, and the dragon paid him no mind. Neither did it notice little Hiccup who sat above. Hiccup noted this. But knew the solution of just ‘not having weapons’ would be received with a firm kick off of the cliffs.

In the end, Astrid careened the shield into the dragon’s snout disorienting it.

“The dragon will always, always, go for the kill.”

Hiccup wrote this down, and then scratched out ‘always’. “Then why didn’t he…?”

—

The Nightfury was not as free as Hiccup had first thought.

Now that it was trapped in the cove, sans tail fin, he had a chance to double his efforts on observation, and perhaps even befriending the Nightfury. Perish the thought!

But he remembered his father’s words and returned to the cove day after day. Every once in a while, he would go the academy and sit on whatever wisdom Gobber seemed to be preaching.

From the look of things, they weren’t fairing very well. He had always assumed Snotlout would be the winner of the class, but it seemed like his ego was his downfall.

And his lack of common sense didn’t help.

Astrid on the other hand, took training extremely seriously. Almost to the point of alienating herself from the rest of the group. She was trapped in her head, focused, with death on the mind.

It was one night at dinner when he took a look into her head. All the other tables were filled, as he sat at one, sketching some ideas for Toothless’s tail. Nothing too noticeable for the other vikings around.

But he was startled when she sat across from him.

“Uh hi Astrid, hi Astrid.” He stammered. Smooth.

“Mind if I sit here?” She drawled as an afterthought.

“No- not at all, you’re fine. I love you—I’d love to have you! Here. Sitting. Just sitting.” He over corrected, his voice too loud.

She stared at him, wide-eyed as he blushed and covered his face with his hands. Then she snorted. “Now I can see why you’re not training with us. Jumpy little thing, aren’t you?”

“Sorry, words aren’t my friend.”

She hummed in amusement and took his notes closest to her. “So what is the great Hiccup Haddock up to this time? What mess will we have to clean up?”

Hiccup snatched his notes back with a frown. “I’m not up to anything.”

“Right. Why do you keep watching us in the academy?”

“Why do you care?” He didn’t mean to sound harsh, but it came out that way. She had never cared about him before. Not unless he did something stupid. Then she was there with her perfect blue eyes, and rolling them.

Astrid shrugged. “I don’t. I’m just curious.” She picked at her food. “You just seem like the only person around here with any decency is all.”

“Oh…did Snotlout do something?”

“He always does stuff.”

“But he didn’t like…you know…”

“Gods no, Hiccup!”

“Okay! I was just making sure!”

She flipped the switch on him. “Why do you care?”

He smiled, “As future chief, I want to know of any drama before it happens.”

She scoffed, “Future chief?”

“I mean…I am the next in line. The only other option is Snotlout, and who would you rather have?”

“You got me there.”  

He cocked his head to the side. “Why are you talking to me again? Not that I don’t enjoy your company or anything...”

“I mean, you said it. You are the future chief. My parents mentioned that I should be nicer to you.”

He shrugged. “Well, I don’t know if I want you to be my friend just to take advantage of my status.”

She cringed. “Yikes, I really didn’t mean it like that.”

“Then how did you mean it?”

“I meant that I want to support you to be a good chief. If no one is here for you and no one believes in you, how are you supposed to lead us?”

He shrugged. “My dad thinks I still have some time.”

“Maybe...” she acquiesced. “But you know, there’s something about you that’s refreshing.”

“What? That not everything I have to say is about strength and death?” He said with sarcasm.

“Basically.”

He wasn’t expecting that. “Oh.”

“You know, I’m kind of surprised your dad didn’t have you enter dragon training.”

Hiccup scratched his cheek. “He wanted me too...but I didn’t think it was a good idea.”

Astrid nodded in understanding and glanced at his notebook again. “So what are you doing?”

He blushed, prepared with a half truth. “Observing dragon behavior. My dad kind of gave me a task, I’m assuming to keep me busy and out of the way. He wants me to see if I can find another solution to our dragon problem...since fighting isn’t changing things.”

“Did I just hear you say you’re trying to get out of fighting dragons?” Snotlout interrupted, approaching the table. “I saw Astrid sitting with you and I was trying to figure out why she would do something so crazy. Now I get it, she’s worried you’re going to doom us all.”

Hiccup bristled, closing his notes. He prepared to leave, but Astrid held a hand out.

“For your information, I’m sitting with Hiccup because he’s my friend, and he’s not a complete idiot.”

Snotlout scoffed. “Like I actually care...” and he walked off.

“Wow...” said Hiccup, breathlessly. “I’m…I’m not used to people sticking up for me.”

“So you made a few mistakes. But you’ve tried to be helpful. I don’t think you should be ridiculed for it.”

Hiccup swallowed, a lump in his throat. “Thank you, Astrid.”

She spared a smile. “If Stoick gave you this task, then I’ll make sure to help you.”

“It’s...it’s kind of a secret. I’m not sure how the others will take it.”

“Can I see your notebook?”

“Why?”

“Because you’re not always at the academy for classes. I’ve had more up close encounters with dragons than you have.”

He shrugged and handed over the book. Debatably, he had more up close encounters with dragons, since the few times he visited Toothless and learned from him. But she didn’t need to know that.

Astrid opened to a new page and began to write down her observations and thoughts from dragon training. They sat in silence for a while while she scratched away, thought, and then wrote some more.  

“Here,” she had dated the page and titled it ‘Astrid’s thoughts on dragons’. “This is my two cents.” Then she stood with a smile. “Your dad is a really good chief. I’m glad he found a way for you to help in your own way.”

“Yeah.” Hiccup didn’t want to mention that he was the one that had come up with idea in the first place. “And, Astrid?”

“Hmm?”

“Thanks.”

She grinned at him. At him! “See you later, Hiccup.”

—

Over the next few days, something began to form between him and Astrid. Nothing romantic…well, at least not on her part. He was pretty obviously smitten with her, and blushed every time he saw her. But she had the decency to never comment on it.

No, there was something like a feeling of camaraderie between them. A sort of friendship, but without the deep emotional talks.

Those were reserved for Toothless.

At meals, and only then, did Astrid join him at his lonely table and share her wisdom. Likewise, he told her some tricks, like the fact that the dragons didn’t like eels and that if you reflected light off a shield, they’d chase it.

She was doubtful, but filed these tricks away for a later date.

Everyone else in the tribe, on the other hand, were being to be merciless to Hiccup. He was of age, and yet refused to go into dragon training? What a brat. Pathetic. Worthless heir. There was talk of him being a dragon sympathizer as well, curtesy of Snotlout. And since Stoick wasn’t around to set the record straight, things only escalated.

Daily, Hiccup was pushed, tripped, and shooed away from vendors and food carts, and even children.

Hiccup thought he couldn’t be any more lonely. He was wrong. The only kind faces waiting for him were Astrid and Gobber.

Even his work in the forge was becoming a problem. People would come to get their knifes sharpened and refuse to let Hiccup do it. If they picked out a weapon he worked on, they’d drop it like it was still hot from the forge.

“Lad, maybe you should just work in the back for a while. Until this all cools down.”

Hiccup scoffed. Like this would ever get better. If one thing was certain, it was that Vikings were stubborn.

Astrid came in one day, Hiccup could hear her. “Is Hiccup here?”

“Depends, are you here to bully him?”

“No, why would I do that?”

“Because that’s all anyone wants with him these days.” He gestured with his thumb. “‘Es in the back.”

Hiccup stood quickly, however, and stepped outside to hide his secrets. “Hi Astrid, hi, how are you?”

“I should be asking you the same thing.”

His shoulders hunched, “I’m…I’m okay.”

She shook her head, but didn’t argue. “I need my axe sharpened.”

“Uh…couldn’t you just Gobber to do it for you?”

“Nope. I know you’re the one that’s been servicing my blade for the last few years. You’re the one who knows it.” She handed the axe over willingly.

It took a little effort to lift it. Like most things did. Put he held it sturdily. “You sure?”

“Absolutely.”

He smiled broadly at her.

—

There will be a part two. I’m just on vacation and wanted to publish this chunk first.

[ellisstark]

Devil Twins

note: this is a long one shot. it was originally going to be an actual story but i decided not to do that, so now it’s a long one shot. I also want to give credit to @asteriakace on wattpad for creating this amazing spacer (above). please go check out her stuff on there she is an amazing writer and if you are a writer and are looking for book covers or spacers hit her up cause she’s AMAZING.

reader x han

reader x jeongin (twins)

word count: 1787

summary: You and your twin brother, Jeongin have always been close, that is until you fall for one of his band mates, Hyungjin. Jeongin later tells Hyungjin, and you find yourself being rejected by the one guy you never thought would reject you, but lucky for you, an unexpected person walks into your life to pull you back into reality.

gif creds: @realstraykids

“Y/n!!” your younger brother yelled as he ran up the stairs to your room.

“We’re going to be late, hurry up!”

“okay okay i’m up” you said as he turned on his heel running back through your bedroom door. you hopped out of bed and headed to your closet. Today’s going to be a grunge kinda day, so you throw on a pair of black skinny jeans, a white long sleeve shirt with your favorite oversized t-shirt over it. you brushed your hair, put on your make up and ran out the door grabbing breakfast on your way out. 

“ you ready for your math test today?” you said to jeongin

“yeah i stayed up ‘til 3 this morning studying. I swear my teacher can’t teach for shit” he replied.

“i see, well i’m sure you will do great! also there is a new band playing tonight in someone’s garage and i kinda want to go check it out, wanna come with?”

“ uhhhh i can’t i have... um... history to do. we have a big project due next week and i haven’t started yet, sorry y/n you go ahead though” he said with a shaky hestitant voice.

“ okay well i’ll tell you all about it when i get home” you said as you pulled into your schools parking lot.

“ have a good day okay? don’t stress you’re going to do great!” you said as you have your brother a hug.

“thanks y/n” he said and ran off through the doors and disappeared from your view.

you got out of the car grabbed your backpack and strolled up to the school when all of a sudden you collided with something. “Y/N!! why didn’t you text me???” screamed your best friend.

“i’m sorry astrid. i was busy all weekend. by the way wanna come with me to a garage concert tonight? i heard a new boy band would be playing and i wanted to check it out.”

“ omg hell yeah i would!”

“sweet, i’ll meet you after school by the car”

you waved goodbye to your friend and walked into your first class of the day, english.

the day went by really slow, but you made it through and before you knew it you were waiting by your car for your friend.

“y/n!! i’m sorry my math teacher held me back to talk about our last test, but we good now so let’s go!!”

you nodded and walked to the drivers side sliding into the seat and sped away.

when you arrived it looked like the band had already started playing, but there weren’t a ton of people there yet so you and your friend were able to get good spots.

when you first walked into the garage you couldn’t really see the faces of the members, but when you got closer you realized one of the vocalists was your brother.

“jeongin???” you said nearly screaming.

you and your brother made direct eye contact. his eyes widened when he saw you but continued to perform as if you weren’t there.

when they were finished, jeongin immediately ran up to you and started apologizing for lying to you, but you were too shocked to even care.

“oh by the way, y/n this is my friend hyunjin, he’s one of our dancers. i thought maybe since you were getting into dancing he could give you some tips about it.”

you looked up and saw the most attractive person you had ever saw right in front of your face.

“hi i’m hyunjin. let me know when you want to practice together.” he said holding out his hand

“ uh... i’m y/n” you said grabbing his hand 

“haha nice to meet you y/n” and before you knew it he was gone. 

“y/n? earth to y/n” said your brother waving a hand in front of your face.

“huh what??”

“ you zoned out”

“oh sorry. i’m just so surprised i never thought you of all people would be in a band.” you said turning to face your brother. there were times in your life where you never understood what your brother was thinking, but this time you wouldn’t question it because you realized while you were watching him perform, he was genuinely happy and you didn’t want that to be ruined.

“i’m so proud of you innie!” you said hugging your brother from behind catching him off guard. you could feel him tense up, but he soon relaxed and laid his hands on yours.

“Thanks, y/n that means the world to me” he said as he walked away to go talk to his band mates.

it has now been three days since you saw your brother perform, and the one thing you can’t get out of your head is hyunjin. You decide to shoot him a text asking if he wanted to practice after school, he replied within seconds confirming the time and the place. your heart jumped a little when he replied, you think you are slowly falling for Hwang Hyunjin. 

“you are what??” your brother yelled later that night when you got home from practice. you were on the phone with your best friend spilling the tea about Hyunjin just as your brother was walking by. he overheard and burst into your room. 

“please tell me you didn’t just say what i thought you said?”

“astrid i gotta go. innie it’s not what you think. i know we only met last week but he and i have gotten closer through dance and i think i like him. like a lot.”

“you can’t like hyunjin. he’s my best friend and i know for a fact he doesn’t like you beacuse he has a girlfriend” jeongin replied furiously

“I dont believe you innie. if that was true im positive hyunjin would have told me already.”

“fine if you don’t believe me ask him yourslef.” he said in a very irritated tone and stormed out of your room

“fine, i will” you said. you picked up your phone and texted Hyunjin.

y/n: what are you doing rn

Hyunjin: nothing why?

y/n: meet me at the studio in 10

and with that you ran our of your room, down the stairs and out the door before your parents could say anything to stop you. driving to the studio was nerve racking. your heart rate continued to increase as the minutes went by with thoughts and feelings rushing through your head. when you arrived at the studio you saw hyunjins car already parked in it’s normal spot, so you parked next to it and walked inside.

when you saw hyunjin sitting in the studio your whole body started to shake.

hyunjin saw you and turned his body to face you looking you up and down

“y/n... what’s wrong” he asked concerned due to the fact that your whole body was shaking rapidly

“i... uh... i like you hyunjin” your voice shaky and your palms filled with sweat 

“oh y/n. I have a girlfriend, im sorry i didn’t mean for this to happen i thought this was strictly professional as we are dancers. im sorry again. also, will you lock the door on your way out? thanks” and with that hwang hyunjin walked right past you before you could say anything and was out the door in a matter of seconds. 

what...

your mind was racing. innie was right. as you started to try and process what just happened you could feel your eyes start to fill up with tears. you knew you couldn’t drive home, so you decided to just stay at the studio until you felt like you could face your brother.

who knows how long you were there, seconds, minutes, hours, but you knew you still weren’t ready to go home. you had many unread messages from your parents and 2 unread messages from jeongin probably just saying ‘respond to mom and dad’ or ‘i told you so, so come home you’re worrying mom and dad’. you threw your phone away from you and fell back onto the hard wood floor, slowly letting your eyes close, not knowing when you would get up, but in that moment nothing mattered to you besides escaping into a deep sleep.

“hey. hello? are you alright?” 

you woke to someone poking your arm. you looked up and saw a boy around your age looking down at you. you couldn’t look away, it’s like his eyes were pulling you in.

“what’s your name?”

“y/n. where am i?”

“you’re at the dance studio, what happened? are you alright? your eyes are all red and your face is swollen”

“oh yeah im okay i just--” 

before you could finish your sentence your memory started to return and you remembered what had just happened a few hours ago. you started to feel the tears swell up again, and before you could do anything they started to fall down your face one by one.

“oh my. uh y/n are you alright?”

“no”

after you said that one word you felt the warmth of this strangers arms around you. you felt protected and safe inside his arms, slowly leaning into it. you felt bad for getting his shirt all wet, but you knew this wouldn’t stop anytime soon.

after about 10 minutes of sitting with this mystery man, the tears slowly started to stop.

“y/n did you drive here?” he asked

you nodded your head in response 

“let me take you home, okay”

“okay” you said quietly giving him the keys to your car. 

he stood up and held out a hand for you and helped you up to your feet. he walked with you to your car hand in hand. once you got to the car he opened the passenger side for you and motioned you to slide into the car. you did just that and buckled your seatbelt. he soon joined you as he slid into the drivers seat.

“oh by the way, my name is Han Jisung, but you can just call me Han cause i have a feeling you and i will be seeing each other more often”  

when you got through the front door of your house and walked into your room closing the door behind you, you slid down it and clenched your first around your shirt. something didn’t feel right, but it wasn’t a bad feeling. after your encounter with Han, something inside you changed.

your heart leapt for the first time

and in that moment 

you knew Han was going to be with you forever

as it occurred to you 

that in your moment of heart break

you found your true soulmate

author note: thank you for reading this awful story. this is my first story on tumblr, but i hope you enjoyed it. My masterlist will soon be posted with more short stories for each member of stray kids along with some other stories for other bands.

[thatsnicebutimmarried]

The Unfortunate Mrs. Haddock

Hey...so...I have had this thing in my head for like...years now, and I have no idea if anyone will even care about it, but I decided to write it anyway. I’m not cross posting this on ff.net or AO3, because I know how this fandom is and I don’t want to deal with all the people yelling at me because this isn’t their cup of tea and they don’t know how to just stop reading. 

Because this is hiccstrid, but like...not openly? Like. I wanted to play with the idea of an arranged political marriage AU and it turned into angst and Hiccup and Astrid kind of being jerks but then Gustav showed up and became a major character? Like...I know what kind of response this would get. So I’m just posting it on tumblr. Plus I’ll probably only update it super sporadically, because I still need to finish posting Persephone (which I haven’t done because the last round of reviews pissed me off and I’m just avoiding it for a while) and because this is such a loose thread of a story. And there’s hiccstrid in the background, but it’s narrated by an OC that most fans would probably hate simply for existing so...I’m just posting this here for now. I like it and I wanted to write it. So here’s the first chapter of a weird AU in which everyone is kind of a jerk. 

X

The room feels far too quiet after the revelry and noise of today. I mean, it was pretty quiet when the witnesses were here to watch my new husband remove my bridal crown, but at least then there was the shuffling of feet and the odd cough or cleared throat. Now even the sound of their footsteps leaving our new house has faded off into the distance, and it’s just the crackling fire and our breathing.

I’m not really sure what to do now. My mother told me what to expect from this night, but so far nothing has quite gone like I expected it to. I’m nervous, of course, but kind of excited. I guess I expected that as soon as our witnesses were out of earshot my husband would sweep me off my feet and into the big bed in the center of the room. Instead he just sighed, took a flask of something I assume to be alcoholic out of a drawer of the desk in the corner, and collapsed into the chair and started drinking, not looking at me the whole time.

He…he hasn’t really looked at me much at all today. I mean, he has looked at me. He has smiled vaguely in my direction at all the right times, but I don’t think he has met my eyes more than a handful of times all day, and never for longer than a second or so. I think he must be as nervous as I am. Maybe more?

Did I look that pretty today? Mama and the other women from my village spent hours braiding my hair, applying the kohl around my eyes and the paint on my lips just so, and my dress was so beautiful. Our island is known for our access to precious metals and gemstones, and my dress was decorated with hundreds of tiny gemstone beads. I thought I looked really beautiful, but my groom barely seemed to notice, I thought. Or maybe Mama was right; I was so pretty he couldn’t meet my eye.

I sit down on the edge of the bed and the sound makes my new husband look up. I give him my sweetest smile and pat the bed next to me. He stares at me for a moment before taking a long swig of his flask.

He’s been drinking a lot today. I know it’s a Viking wedding and those usually involve mass quantities of mead and ale, but I’m starting to wonder if the amount he’s been drinking is normal. He looks too skinny to have that high of an alcohol tolerance.

When he doesn’t look back at me I clear my throat but he ignores me, staring into a corner. He must just be really nervous. Or drunk. He seemed so nice when I met him before. Maybe that was the problem; we didn’t get to spend enough time together before the wedding.

Maybe I need to…maybe I need to entice him. I stand up, which earns me a quick glance, and start pulling my night dress over my head.

“Woah, woah, woah, stop! What do you think you’re doing?” I freeze, my night dress around my arms and chest, and look at my husband. He’s looking determinedly in the opposite direction with one hand outstretched towards me.

“I, um, I’m getting undressed?” I answer with a nervous giggle.

“Well stop, put your clothes back on!” He snaps, and I frown, letting my night dress fall back into place.

“Why?”

“Why,” he repeats, and chuckles bitterly under his breath before taking a drink from his flask. “Why the hell are you undressing in front of me to begin with?”

“Well,” I begin, trying to keep the nervous giggles at bay, and step slowly towards him, “I mean, today was our wedding day. So, tonight is our wedding night.” He actually looks at me this time, and I give him my biggest, sweetest smile.

He frowns at me. “How old are you again?” he asks.

“Sixteen.”

“Fuck me,” he groans, and drinks from his flask, but, he doesn’t say it the way I expected he might. It’s not a request, it’s a lamentation, and I frown.

“Is that a problem? Am I…too old or something? I promise I’m still a virgin.” I’m halfway through this sentence when he chokes on his mead.

“Too old?” he splutters, wide eyes staring at me. “Gods fucking…” He hasn’t even finished coughing up his first gulp before he starts chugging his flask again.

I start to fidget, picking at the lace hem of my sleeve. He’s definitely drunk, isn’t he? “If you’re nervous, don’t feel bad, I am too,” I say, trying for a smile again. “We can take things slow. I mean, we haven’t even properly kissed yet. You just sort of pecked my cheek at the ceremony.” I flop back onto the bed and strike a pose that I hope is seductive. “Come on, we’re married now.” I grin at him. “We’re allowed.” For all my bravado I’m honestly a bit terrified. I mean, I’m excited too, anxiety and anticipation all wrapped up into a ball of nervous energy in my stomach.

I did as Mama always said. I was the good girl. I waited, I kept myself pure, kept my honor intact, and the gods have rewarded me with a handsome and powerful husband. That’s part of why I’m nervous, to be honest. I know I’m pretty but I think I’m pretty in a young sort of way. The young chief of Berk is older than me, handsome and grown up and strong somehow despite how thin he looks. When I first met him I thought he had the kindest eyes I’d ever seen, all warm green and smiling. He was nice to me for those two days. He hasn’t been as nice to me today, but I guess planning a chief’s wedding is a lot of stress, and he’s probably just tired.

But I’m…I’m ready for this. I’m ready for this handsome young man to make me his wife.

My husband rubs his eyes and sighs. “Okay, look, Ma-mag, fuck, what was your name again? Something about maggots,” he mumbles, and my smile slips.

“Maggotha,” I offer.

“Right,” he looks at me, “Maggotha—“

“Or Maggie,” I cut in, smiling. “Or Mags.”

He blinks at me, swaying slightly. “That’s too many names. What do I-what do I call you? Pick one.”

I’m fighting to keep my smile now. “Um, I guess most people call me Maggie.”

He takes a deep breath. “Okay, Maggie, look, you need to—“ While he’s talking I start slowly pulling the hem of my dress up, uncovering my legs. The hem reaches my thighs when he notices, and his eyes bulge and he stops talking.

He lunges towards me and grabs the hem of my dress. For a moment my heart hammers because oh my gods it’s happening, but then he yanks my hem down over my legs and stumbles a few steps back, panting.

“For gods’s sake, Maggie, would you stop it!” It’s not a question, it’s an order, and he’s outright glaring at me now. All that kindness I saw in his eyes has evaporated, and he’s looking at me like an angry parent. “I’m not going to sleep with you!”

My smile is gone now, and I sit up. “What? Why? Are you too tired? Because it’s been a long day, and if you want to wait until tomorrow, I mean, we’ve got our whole honeymonth to—“

He’s been rubbing his eyes again and holds his hand out to stop me. “Stop, stop,” he interrupts finally, and turns a hard look my way. “I’m not sleeping with you tonight. I’m not sleeping with you tomorrow. I’m not having sex with you at all. Ever.”

My heart drops into my stomach. “You don’t mean that. You can’t mean that. You’re teasing me. Right?” That hard look doesn’t leave his eyes. “Why?”

“Why?” he laughs, but there’s no humor in it. “Because you’re fucking sixteen, that’s why. You’re a godsdamn child.” He starts back to his desk and his flask and I sit up on my knees glaring at him.

“I am not a child!” I proclaim, and almost wince when my voice goes shrill in just such a way to make me sound like a child. “I am a grown woman, and your wife. I am old enough to be fertile, and I’m old enough to be taken into my husband’s bed and bear him children and—“

“Oh my gods!” He exclaims to no one in particular. He looks at me over the rim of his flask. “You sound like such a kid right now and you don’t even realize it.” He takes another drink before fixing me with a stare. “You’re six-fucking-teen. You think you’re so grown up because that’s what everyone thinks at that age. Thor knows I did. But you’re a kid. And I know you’re a kid because I’m not.”

I frown indignantly. “You’re not that much older than me.”

“I’m five years older than you.”

“That’s not that many. My dad is almost a decade older than my mom.”

He rolls his eyes, and everything about this conversation feels unfair. He’s talking to me like I’m a child, and I’m not. “My dad was exactly a decade older than my mom, but she was at least an adult when they got married. If you were a few years older then five years wouldn’t be that big of a difference, but you’re not. You look like a kid, you act like a kid, and I’m not sleeping with you. That’s final.”

He turns away from me entirely and I feel fury rising in my chest and coursing like shockwaves through my whole body. I clumsily climb off the bed and stumble to my feet in front of him, standing my ground even though he has at least a foot on me. “I am not a child! I am a grown woman, and I am your wife, and this is my wedding night!”

He rounds on me. “It’s not supposed to be!” He roars, and I go silent. He’s glaring, practically snarling at me now. “This wasn’t supposed to be your wedding, or your wedding night! You were never supposed to be my wife!” He waves a hand around the room. “This isn’t supposed to be your house, or your bedroom, or your marriage bed!”

I find my voice. “Yes it is, and yes I was, that’s what the whole point of the contract you signed with my father was about!”

“Oh my gods,” he throws his hands up and turns away, pacing around the room for a moment before stalking back to tower over me. “Do you remember what I said to you the day we first met?”

I swallow. “You said a lot of things that day, how am I—“

“Come on, you’re not this stupid, what did I say to you, that very first day, the first moment we had alone, on the specific topic of us getting married?”

I lick my lips and clear my throat. “Mama said that men often pretend not to be interested in order to make you want them more, and that if I just continued to be sweet to you and---“

“Oh for fucks sake!” My husband looks ready to pull his own hair out. “You have no idea how naive you are, you stupid, selfish child!” I take a step back. He takes a deep breath and glares at me. “I told you that I didn’t want to marry you. I told you that the only reason it was even on the table was because your father was threatening war against my people, and even with dragons we’re still recovering from our last war and are in no position to start a new one if it can be avoided. I told you that I wouldn’t make a good husband for you. I told you that your father was the one pushing for the marriage contract, not me, and that he wouldn’t take no for an answer from me. I told you that he’d listen to you if you told him that you didn’t want to marry me. I told you to tell him that you didn’t like me, that you didn’t want to move to Berk to marry someone you didn’t even like and that he should make a different peace arrangement because you refused to marry me.

“He wouldn’t listen to me because he thought I was trying to get a better deal out of the negotiations, and he wanted his only daughter married to a powerful chief because he cares about you so much. But if you told him you wouldn’t marry me he would have listened. We would have worked out different terms, we would have avoided war, and I would be spending this night in bed with the woman I was supposed to marry!”

“M-mama said that-“

“Well your mother lied,” he snaps, and I flinch. “Or else she was overly optimistic. I had to set someone aside for you, do you realize that?” I can’t look at him anymore. I don’t like this. I don’t like being talked to like a naughty child on my godsdamn wedding night by my own husband. “I’d been engaged for over two years, and the only reason I wasn’t already married by the time your war-crazed father came into the picture was because I pushed my wedding back in order to grieve after my dad fucking died!” I hear him huff and I just want to leave. “You have no idea how many lives you’ve ruined because you believed that if you were just cute enough and nice enough I’d fall madly in love with you. I married you because I didn’t have any fucking choice, not because I wanted to.”

“If you just give me a chance-“

“Do you know what this has done to the girl I was supposed to marry?”

I don’t want to hear about this. I ball my hands into fists. “I’m sure she’ll find someone else.”

His bitter laughter is my answer. “You don’t know how anything works, do you? I was with her for six years. I’d already deflowered her and everyone knew it, but no one dared say anything because they all knew I was going to marry her and you don’t start calling the future chief’s future wife a slut. But now? Her prospects are shot. Her family isn’t nobility. The bride price I already paid has helped them but they were counting on the social standing this marriage would have given them. She won’t find another match like this. And fuck, it’s not like I want her to.” He sighs again. “I was supposed to be with the girl I love, and instead I’m stuck with some kid.”

I stare at the floor while he stomps back over to his desk and collapses into the chair. When I look up he’s got his elbows on his desk and his face buried in his hands. He breathes deeply for a moment, and we he lifts his face from his hands to speak he sounds calmer.

“I shouldn’t yell at you like this, I’m sorry,” he says, though there’s still an edge to his voice. “You didn’t do all this on purpose; you’re just too young and dumb to realize what you’ve done.” He turns to look at me, and his face is like stone. “I can’t promise to love you. I can promise you that I won’t ever love you. I can’t promise to make you happy or give you children. I won’t sleep with you. I won’t consummate this sham of a marriage, which will make it a lot easier when you wise up and decide to get out of it. I won’t give you children. If you try to get pregnant through someone else and claim it as mine then I won’t recognize it as my child and I sure as shit won’t make it my heir.  If you want to sleep around then I don’t care, I won’t promise you fidelity anyway.” He shrugs. “I’ll try to be nice and I’ll try not to yell and I can promise I’ll never hit you, but I can’t promise that you will ever be happy here. This village doesn’t want to accept you and you’ll have a hard time fitting in. Your honest best bet for happiness is to go home and tell your father you want out.”

“You…you tried to tell me all of this once before.”

“And you didn’t fucking listen, and now we’re here. Here’s your chance to fix your mistake.”

I’m shaking. My whole body is shaking and I think I might cry. This isn’t what’s supposed to happen. This isn’t what I wanted. He’s supposed to fall for me. That’s what Mama said. I have to be sweet, and kind, and loving, and in time he’ll see me for the amazing person I am and he’ll fall in love with me. It takes time in arranged marriages, that’s what she said. It just takes time.

“I made my vows,” I say quietly, still staring at the floor. “I’m not backing out of this. I’m not giving up. You just don’t know me yet. Once you do, you’ll see. And…and we’ll be happy.”

I don’t look up at my husband’s disappointed sigh. “Then I guess we’ll all just be miserable then. That or I’ll wait until the rebuilding is done and go to fucking war.” I look up at that. Berk’s young chief, my handsome and unwilling new husband, is pulling on a jacket and slipping his flask into his pocket. “We’ve got dragons for Thor’s sake. I should have just taken the Honor Guard and decimated your father’s armada when I had the chance. But no, I wanted to be diplomatic. I didn’t want my first act as chief to be the destruction of another tribe’s fishing and trading ships.”

He walks to the bedroom door and yanks it open. “Wait!” I follow him through the main room and watch as he grabs his helmet and pulls open the front door, whistling for his dragon, who drops from the roof to meet him. I stop in the middle of the room, still too scared of that great big dragon he claims is friendly to go any closer. “Where are you going?” I try for demanding, but it just comes out sounding pitiful. He throws another dismissive glare over his shoulder as he mounts his dragon.

“It’s my wedding night,” he sneers derisively. “I’m going to get laid.” He takes off before I can say another word.  The cold air blows in through the open door as I stand in my quiet house, that isn’t really my house.

I wrap my arms around myself. “Mama said marriage is hard,” I remind myself. “It takes time.” I try to hold it back but I start sniffling anyway. “It just takes time…right?”

There’s no one there to answer me.

X

I have been married for a week, and my new husband has said maybe seven words to me in that entire time, aside from all the yelling on what should have been our wedding night. That boils down to a word a day, and even that is being generous. He's the chief, so I get that he's busy, but I would have thought he'd carve some time out for his honeymonth...and maybe he would have, if I was the mysterious girl he set aside for me. As it stands though, I'm just me. Just some stupid kid that apparently ruined his life to such a degree that he feels justified taking out his anger in this petty childish way by ignoring my existence completely. 

He's out so late there's no point in my waiting up for him, and he's always out the door before I wake up, assuming he came home at all. When he does sleep here, it's in his old twin bed in the loft upstairs, while I curl up alone in the big bed in what used to be his father's bedroom downstairs. I tried climbing into bed with him one night, but his stupid dragon woke him up and he yelled at me. 

I think that accounted for most of those seven words. What other interaction has mainly been grunting. For my part I've spent most of my time trying to turn this house into a home, putting out my things, blankets on the back of chairs and tablecloths on any surface I can find. Anything to make it feel like I sort of belong here. I cook for him, because I'm good at cooking and Mama always joked the way to a man's heart was through his stomach, but I don't think he's touched a bite I've cooked, other than maybe some leftovers when he's desperate. He eats in the Meade Hall most meals, or else makes his own or eats at his mother's. I keep trying though. I don't know what else I can do.

The people from my village leave the day after our wedding, Mama nudging me and whispering that no one wants to tear me away from my honeymonth, and that the sooner I'm with child the sooner he'll fall for me completely. 

I didn't have it in me to tell her how unlikely that seems.

I try doing his laundry, which he seems begrudgingly thankful for, though I get the feeling he would rather I didn't. 

Maybe because there are stains in his pants that my gut tells me are evidence of infidelity. Maybe. Maybe not. I...I honestly wouldn't be able to tell. I have only a theoretical knowledge about what such stains are supposed to look like, and I can't know if this is the result of him...taking care of things himself, or if his former fiance helped him out. 

Speaking of which, I still have no idea who she is, but I do know that the entire village probably likes her more than me. I’ve actually ventured out of the house today, heading down to the market to get more food so I can try yet again to entice my husband with my culinary skills. I try smiling at everyone I make eye contact with, and about half of them give me awkward, pitying smiles, like they know I don't belong here and don't want to say it to my face. The other half look away quickly and start whispering to those grouped around them. 

I'm wondering through the market, taking in the sights and trying to get an idea of where everything is when I collide with someone. I stumble backwards and trip on the hem of my dress, nearly falling over, but hands catch my arms from behind and steady me. I glance back to see my savior, and a boy with black hair and a patchy beard grins at me. He looks about my age, maybe a little older, that awkward handsome stage between teenager and young man. “You okay?” he asks, and I nod, smiling in thanks. I turn back around to see the person I ran into. It’s a young woman, maybe my husband’s age, and she doesn’t look happy.

“Um, I’m sorry about that,” I tell her, stifling nervous giggles. It’s a terrible habit and I hate it, but I can’t seem to help it. I get nervous, I giggle. For years it was okay, because it made me seem younger, and I’ve always been short for my age, so it was like a defense mechanism; remind people I’m just some tiny helpless girl and they’re less likely to get mad at me. As I’ve gotten older and reached the age where I need people to see me as an adult, it’s been less of an effective form of defense and more of an effective way of ensuring that everyone sees me as a child. I clear my throat and put on my most diplomatic smile. “I wasn’t looking where I was going, I really am sorry.”

The older girl continues to look at me with something like bored annoyance. Like I’m a minor inconvenience she’d rather ignore. Her blue eyes are piercing and I shift uncomfortably on my feet and offer her a hand. “I’m Maggie, by the way.”

She rolls her eyes. “Yeah, I know who you are. It was a very public wedding.”

My smile fades but I try to keep it in place. “Well, I guess so, yeah, everyone kind of knows who I am, but um, no one really knows me yet, so I figure I should start introducing myself to people, properly, you know? So, uh, hi, I’m Maggie Haddock.”

To my surprise the older girl scoffs. “No, you’re not,” she says flatly, rolling her eyes again. She glances behind her, and I see a group of people her age standing near a stall nearby catch her eyes and start snickering amongst themselves.

My hand is still awkwardly hanging in the air and I’m honestly not sure what to do with it. “Uh, I mean, I kind of am.” There’s that stupid nervous giggle again. “I mean, like you said, public wedding—“

She rolls her eyes again, still not actually looking at me. “You’re the chief’s wife but you’re not Maggie Haddock,” she intones, like I’m a stupid child who should know better. “I don’t know how they do it where you’re from, but around here women don’t take their husband’s family name. You’re still Maggie…whoever.”

I frown and drop my hand. “But I’ve heard plenty of women around here introduced as Mrs. Whoever, and it’s always their husband’s name.”

The girl sighs and crosses her arms over a chest far more impressive than my own. “That’s different,” she explains, forced patience dripping from every word. “That’s a title, a formality. You’re Mrs. Haddock,” and honestly she says it like it’s an insult and I don’t understand why, “just like my mother is Mrs. Hofferson, because that’s the house she’s the lady of, just like you’re the lady of the Haddock house.” She sounds bitter as she says the last part, and I wonder if she’s friends with the girl I replaced. “But while Mrs. Hofferson is a title and a form of respect, my mother’s name is still Ingrid Bjarnsen, and always will be. So no, you’re not Maggie Haddock.”

I finally drop my hand. “Oh. I uh. I didn’t know that’s how it worked around here. Where I’m from women are usually called by their husband’s last names, and a chief’s wife always takes his surname.”

“Well you aren’t there anymore, are you?”

This isn’t going well. So much for good first impressions with my new citizens. “Well, no. But, um,” I try smiling and holding out my hand again, “I’ll try again. Nice to meet you, I’m Maggie Rolvsdottir. Or Mrs. Haddock. Whatever you prefer.”

She stares at me for a long moment and then mutters, “Yeah, no, I’m not doing this,” and turns on her heel, stalking away from me and back to the group of friends. When she gets there another girl puts a hand on her shoulder which is swiftly shrugged off.

“Oh, okay?” I say to no one, and drop my hand. Well. That went great.

“Yeah, you’re not going to get the warmest reception from her,” says a voice behind me, and I turn to see my savior scratching the back of his head and looking after the girl with a crooked grimace. He catches my eye and smiles, holding out his hand, which I shake gratefully. “Gustav Larsen, by the way.”

“Maggie, or Mags. Whatever. Nice to meet you. I think you’re the first person to actually be nice to me so far.”

He shrugs. “I figure you didn’t purposefully dive into this fireworm nest.”

I only manage a hum in response to that. I start browsing the fruit at a nearby stand and glance at the girl who snapped at me. “So, why won’t I get a warm reception from her?” I nod at the girl.

Gustav looks surprised. “Has no one told you? That’s Astrid Hofferson.”

When this fails to elicit the response he was expecting Gustav winces and starts scratching at his patchy bead. “Ooooh, you don’t know, do you? Ah, well, let’s just say that’s the Fireworm Queen whose nest you dove into.”

I’m not totally stupid. It takes me a second of staring at Astrid Hofferson’s back but Gustav’s words and her attitude click together in my head and my stomach drops. “That’s the girl my husband was supposed to marry.”

“Yeah,” Gustav says slowly, like he’s apologizing. “You’re probably better off avoiding her and anyone close to her for a while. A long while. She’s not really someone whose bad side you want to be on, believe me.”

Astrid is still talking to her friends and I try to observe her surreptitiously over the fruit stand. At first glance it’s easy to see that she’s everything I’m not. She’s tall and thin but there’s obvious strength in her arms, and her chest and hips are far more impressive than mine. I’m short and skinny. Not thin, not lithe but strong, like she is; just skinny. Skinny and straight with a waist roughly the same diameter of my chest and my hips and legs like sticks. Her sleek blonde braid falls over her shoulder and shines in the sunlight. My mousy brown hair never shines like that no matter how much I wash or condition it. My hazel eyes have nothing on her blue ones.

I’m pretty, but I’m not that pretty.

My shoulders slump. “So that’s what I’ve got to compete with. I’m screwed.”

Gustav sucks in a breath. “That’s…not quite how I’d put it,” he says, but the way his voice cracks tells me that’s exactly how he’d put it. “You’ve uh, you’ve got a bit of an uphill battle, that’s all.”

I sigh. This all seemed a lot more doable before I saw who I was up against. “So. You said I need to avoid anyone close to her. Who all does that mean?” It would be nice to know who else is going to be mean to me before I get yelled at again.

Gustav sighs. “Okay, well, pretty much everyone she’s talking to right now.” The group is ignoring us and he points as subtly as he can. “So for sure the Thorston twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut. They’re hardcore loyal to Astrid and she and Ruff are best friends. The guy with black hair, I don’t know if you’ve met him yet, but that’s Snotlout Jorgenson.”

“He’s Hiccup’s cousin,” I fill in. It’s strange, but it feels odd calling my husband by his name. Maybe it’s because I feel like I haven’t even actually met him yet. We’re married but still not on a first name basis. It somehow feels less personal to just call him ‘my husband’. “I met him during the negotiations.”

“Yeah, I thought you might,” Gustav says, “He and Hiccup were never exactly close, but they’ve been in the same circle of friends for years, and he’s one of the original dragon riders, so he’s loyal to Hiccup and Astrid. He’s got a thing for Ruffnut, that’s part of it too, I guess. Ruff is loyal to Astrid, and Snot’s gonna stay in Ruff’s good graces which means taking Astrid’s side too. Then next to him is Fishlegs. He’s way too nice of a guy to actually be mean to you or anything, but he’s one of the original riders and one of Hiccup and Astrid’s friends, which means you can expect him to be really awkward around you. The tall muscular guy is Eret. He might be nice to you just because he hasn’t been on Berk long enough to be as invested in the Hiccup/Astrid romance as the rest of the town has, but he was an outsider and they were the ones who made him a home here, and he owes a lot to them both so, he’ll definitely be on their side.”

“Great,” I murmur. “So I have to avoid all of my husband’s closest friends.”

“Unfortunately, pretty much yeah,” Gustav gives me an apologetic smile.

I sigh and idly examine and apple. “Anyone else I should avoid at all costs?”

Gustav leans against the stand and frowns pensively. “Well, the entire Hofferson clan is understandably pretty pissed off. And there are plenty of people in the village who aren’t happy about this but I don’t think that many are going to be openly hostile to you. Eh, you should maybe avoid any high-ranking military people though.”

That makes me frown. “Why? I’m the chief’s wife, I figure I’m going to have to interact with political people at some point.”

Gustav winces. “Oooh, yeah, that’s gonna make things awkward.” He sucks in air through his teeth. “I mean, the dragon riders are all on the council, and well, Astrid’s the military general.”

Wonderful. So everyone on this island hates me. I square my shoulders.

It doesn’t matter. Hiccup is the one that matters. If I can make my husband fall for me, the rest of the island will do the same. His old flame will just have to get over herself. I glance back at her despite myself. She’s just…so much prettier than me. And older. And apparently my husband has already slept with her.

I was always told men wanted their wives to be virgins. That feels stupid now. There have got to be some men who want wives who know what they’re doing.

“Hey Gustav,” I ask, because he’s been nice to me so far and hel if I know who else to ask these things, “You seem to know the chief and his friends pretty well, right?”

He shrugs. “I mean, I guess so. I’m a few years younger than them and while I’ve never qualified for Berk’s Honor Guard I’m still an official dragon rider, so yeah, I guess I know them as well as anyone outside that immediate circle could.”

“Do you…I mean, my husband made it pretty clear that he wasn’t exactly happy with this arrangement and that I wasn’t his first choice in a bride.” I can’t take my eyes off Astrid. I know what Hiccup said but… “Do you think that Hiccup would—I mean, he was drunk and angry when he said it but, he kind of implied he won’t be loyal to me. I don’t—I don’t know him well enough to know if that’s true.”

Gustav whistles. “Shit,” he swears. “I mean, I know Hiccup and Astrid were super serious and everything, but I think Hiccup is probably too honorable to cheat, even if he’s not exactly happily married. And last I heard Astrid wasn’t even talking to him she was so pissed.” He shrugs. “I wanna say no but this is all so complicated I really don’t know what to tell you.”

“Oh. Okay.” I’m screwed, aren’t I?

Or, actually, I’m not screwed, and that’s the whole problem.

Gustav places a conciliatory hand on my shoulder. “Hey, I know this is kind of a crazy, messed up situation, but I’m something of an expert in crazy messed up situations, so if you need someone to talk to, I’m around. I’m usually in the stables or at the academy. I teach the intermediate dragon handling classes.” He puffs out his chest. “They finally trusted me to teach. It took years of shoveling dragon dung but I finally moved up in the world.”

He’s as serious as he is joking and it makes me laugh for what must be the first time since my wedding day. “I’ll keep that in mind,” I tell him, smiling.

He grins. “Speaking of which, I’ve got a class to teach soon so I gotta get going. But it’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Haddock.”

I shake my head. “Maggie. Or Mags. Mrs. Haddock feels too formal.” And it’s not even technically true. But I’m not really comfortable broadcasting the unconsummated state of my marriage, even if most people probably assume that to be the case.

“Alright then, Mags, I’ll see you around. If you need anything, you can just count on, a-Gustav.” He winks, and it’s stupid and it makes me laugh, and then he’s whistling and being picked up by a purple Monstrous Nightmare and taking off before I have time to ask him about the dragon.

Well, at least today was worth leaving the house. I managed to make my husband’s jilted ex hate me even more but at least I made a friend.

Someone clears their throat and I turn to face the painfully polite smile of the woman running the fruit stall. “Are you going to pay for that?” She asks, nodding at the apple still in my hand.

“Oh. Right. Sorry.”

[araminia16]

Late Night Meetings

So! Since my little drabble that I had to write with my plot bunnies was so well recieved and there was some requests for more I decided to write more! Instead of writing in my novel (about halfway done) with my muse newly awakened I wrote this 4k word story! Be ready for some sweet and some heat! 

Hiccup lit the last candle carefully and when the amber light danced from the small torch onto the waxed wick he lifted his hand and gave a quick exhale to snuff out the torch. With a small smile and a swell of pride he surveyed his hut. Small fires danced in the darkness and he watched the shadows play with the subdued atmosphere. He turned to Toothless, who had been watching his running around the room quizzically. “So what do you think, bud?”

Toothless lifted up from his haunches and walked daintily toward a small candle, giving it a sniff then pulling back to look at Hiccup with a shrug.

“Thanks.” He said dryly to the dark scaled dragon. “It’s a good thing that your opinion isn’t the one I’m concerned about tonight.”

Toothless gave a small indignant huff before he leapt up carefully onto their bedroom area.

Hiccup honestly didn’t know if Astrid would really show up. I mean, she would, but maybe not for the reason that they had discussed this morning. Whatever…that had been between them. He felt his cheeks start to burn at the memory.

Her eyes, bright and shining, the sounds that spilled from her lips that only spurred him on. He spent quite a bit of the morning involuntarily playing the scene between them in his mind. And it had also taken quite a bit of time to will his hardness down. The cool air of the morning and the altitude that Toothless had flown had helped that endeavor.

Hiccup loved flying, loved it almost as much as his dragon did. He looked up at his loft and smiled up at his friend. They had hardly had any real time together, Just the two of them. Not since the island with the Shadow Wing and Small Shadows and that had been not the most ideal bonding situation.

Looking back from Toothless to the table he had arranged he walked over to grab a candle and set it down in the middle of the table. His metal food thudded against the wooden floor and he readjusted the plates that he had made anxiously.

After Hiccup had flown up and away he noticed that Heather was accompanied by Fishlegs, which he already should have guessed. They were cute together as Astrid had told him many times before.

And she had been out all day with Heather as Fishlegs had come back just after the two girls greeted each other. After he had been satisfied with his observations they had flown for nearly two hours, racing above water, cutting through cloud after cloud, the telltale sharp scream of a Night Fury’s path through the air sounded around him. Almost like a lullaby.

So deep in his own thoughts he had been that when the door had opened suddenly he nearly knocked over everything he had so meticulously put together. “Ah!”

Green eyes focused on a blonde hair and blue eyes, “Astrid! Don’t sneak up on me like that!”

“I wasn’t sneaking! I knocked. And called for you three times. It’s not my fault you can’t pay attention.” Astrid sauntered through the door and shut it with a firm click.  When she turned back to him he stiffened…in more than one way. Her blue eyes were dark and narrowed and she was looking at him like he was a tree and she had her axe in hand.

She tensed and he braced for her to come at him. Two strides across half the room and she paused, her gaze going from predatory to confused. The shadows and light from the candles wavered in the disturbed air and she took her eyes from him to look at the room. Her stance relaxed and her visage softened, going from passion to adoration as she met his gaze again. A small smile tugged at her lips and she immediately seemed out of her element. Nervous, and shy rather than fierce and determined. No matter what she always made his heart race. “Hey. Uhh. So I wasn’t sure when you last ate since you’ve been out with Heather all day and so I wanted to make you a sort of snack dinner thing. And so. Here it is. Dinner. Fruits there, and yak sweet cream and some fresh bread. Have I ever told you that I know how to make bread? And I had a lot of candles around somehow. I’m pretty sure that the Twins have something to do with that. And I had a small cask of mead too. Also the Twins. They don’t think that I know that they have some. But I do. So. Uh. What do you think? Is it too much? It is, isn’t it?”

But before he could get a second wind to ramble on still longer she finished her walk across the room and grabbed him by the front of his shirt to silence him with a firm kiss.

After a few seconds, she pulled back and gave him a look, “I love it. And I am a little hungry.”

“Good.” He took a deep breath and let it out. Hiccup moved to the left and twisted around to stand behind one of his chairs. He pulled it out with a small scrape, “A seat for you milady.”

Astrid rolled her eyes but sat down in front of him. After she was seated he scooted the chair to the table and took his own seat.

“So, what did you do all day?” Hiccup asked. His curiosity took the lead on his first question. As he cut into the fruit on his plate and speared it.

Astrid already had her first mouthful in and had to chew and swallow to answer, “Caught up. Girl talk.”

“Does Girl talk involve axes?”

“How did you know?” Astrid took another spear of fruit and dipped it into the fresh cream. She let out a light moan of appreciation at the taste. “Heather showed me some her new moves she’s been learning and her new axe blades.”

“Just a feeling. Most things that involve you also involve axes.”

“You aren’t wrong.” Another bite of fruit, then bread and a sip of the mead. “And you?” She cocked an eyebrow up and Hiccup spied a slight twitch of the corner of her mouth.

“Mostly flying. There hasn’t been much to do lately aside from the volcano. Just keeping things going, keeping the Twins out of trouble. Toothless and I needed some time together and so we flew. It’s cleansing.”

“I’ll bet. So… did you do all this to try to distract me from that deal we made?” Her tone had darkened and a spark of heat washed through him. Astrid gave him a calculating and measured look from across the small table. While keeping her gaze locked on his she brought a red coated with cream to her lips and bit down on the juicy fruit. Red liquid traveled down from her lips to chin and cream coated the corner of her mouth.

Hiccup was sure his gulp was audible as he stared at her, speechless. Where had this come from? Sure they had flirted, coy looks, playful banter but nothing this…forward. He liked it. “Of-Of course not, Astrid.” He stammered, reddening.

“I think you were. I think maybe that you thought I might forget about it, or come to my senses. Is that about right?”

“Ye-. Well. I mean. Agh.” He stammered again. “It was different. More than we have talked about.”

“We can talk about it now. Were you afraid that I would push you away afterward? Be embarrassed?”

“Aren’t you?”

“Are you?” She fired back, feeling just a little defensive.

Hiccup internally sighed, but kept his face plaintive, “No. Not really. I mean. If we had been caught by anyone they would have never let us hear the end of it and somehow it would have gotten back to my dad and I would get yet another lecture from him. This time about responsibility and how I should treat women.” He gave a growl of exasperation, “And I already know all of that. Astrid--. Astrid. What are you--?”

Astrid, while he had been about halfway through his tirade had stood up and her chair clattered to the floor. Her eyes were downcast and he couldn’t see her expression clearly. But she took two steps around the table and her hands darted out to his sides and latched onto his chair. With a heave, she pulled it from the table and twisted it around so that they were face to face.

“Now.” She began slowly, “I’m only going to say this once, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, I spent about an hour today fuming to our dear friend Heather about her horrible timing. Then we spent the remaining time talking and sparring. I think better that way. We came up with a plan and before I even got here you had to ruin it. I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I would have come in here and made you lie down on the nearest flat surface and I would have ridden you like a dragon until this ache inside me goes away. I’ve been empty and achy all day long. Frustrated, irritable.”

Hiccup was about to tell her that she was nearly always frustrated and irritable to the right people but he wisely kept his mouth shut. That and his mind was already racing and coming up with that image she described to him and oh, there it is. His groin was stirring to life slowly in response to her closeness, the tone of her voice and her plan. Oh, her plan.

“But no. You had to do something silly and romantic instead and threw me off of my plan. And you looked so hopeful and happy when I was looking around. Those eyes and that smile always make my heart race. And you are so utterly dense at times. And now I have no idea what I was about to say because you keep looking at me.” She growled the last part out, exasperated.

“You are so beautiful.” He uttered and she narrowed her eyes at him and blushed. “So fierce and strong. My dragon riding Valkyrie from Valhalla itself.” He reached up and gently began to untie her braid.

Astrid could do nothing but wait, powerless against gentle fingers working through her tight golden braid. Long, nimble fingers that continued up and up until her hair was loose and falling around her shoulders. The look of arrested wonder on his face prompted a response and she closed the distance between them with a kiss. She poured her heartbeat into where their lips met. But this kiss was different from the one this morning which was filled with passion and aggression. It was no less powerful though as a wave of warmth began in her belly. His hands and fingers were buried in her free locks and she pulled back with a coy look which prompted a lopsided grin. She took her hands from the chair and gave a squeal of surprise as Hiccup moved and turned her around to pull her into his lap and she nearly jumped when her backside met something hard and big…not that she had really any experience with those sorts of things at all.  “Hiccup!” Her tone was slightly breathless and it made the outrage a lot less effective.

“Shh. You are done talking now. I don’t think you’ve had enough to eat.” He used a tone of voice that he reserved for giving orders and she couldn’t help the wave of heat that it brought. He used his right hand and picked up a fruit, dipped it into cream and brought it slowly to her lips.

At first she was slightly enraged at attempting to feed her or change the subject and certainly at him for telling her when she was done talking but another part of her wanted to do as he said and take the fruit from his proffered hand. And so, just to see what he was going to do, she leaned forward slightly and bit into it slowly, chewing and swallowing before taking the remainder of the fruit from Hiccup’s calloused fingers, letting her tongue brush the digits before she pulled back to close her mouth.

And his breath caught, just a small hitch but it was a victory all the same. He repeated his motion and she ate from his hand while his left, the dominant hand stroked small circles over her side.

Four fruits later and she really was starting to feel full and so she nipped at his fingers this time, catching the skin lightly and latched her mouth around two of his fingers to suck the cream and juice off of them.

Her cheeks hollowed and his hips jumped up, grinding that hardness into her rear and prompting a surprised noise from them both. The hand at her side clenched tightly until she released his other hand. “Cheater.” His mouth was at her ear, and his tone caused another wave of heat along with the small nip he gave to the shell of it.

“All’s…fair.” She half gasped out.

Hiccup gave a dark chuckle and continued to nip at her ear, his left hand still drawing over her side.  “Hmmm. I want to try something. Tell me if you don’t like it.”

Astrid nodded as his left hand lifted from her side and he placed it on her collarbone, tracing the cloth over skin with patterns before dancing them lower and lower until he reached the top of her breast. She was stiff, stock still with anticipation and wariness before Hiccup seemed to make up his mind and ran his entire palm down the fleshy mound before cupping and squeezing it lightly.

Her back arched and she rolled her hips while letting out a gasp at the spark his touch ignited. And could have sworn she heard him whisper something about “Snotlout” and “right.” But she must have been hallucinating or something because that would never happen. Ever.

Hiccup smirked and used his free hand to brush her thick tresses behind her ear and he switched sides and his lips were at her free ear, then crept down to the top of her neck at her pulse point. It hammered under his closed lips and she tilted her neck to give him better access which he took full advantage of. His palm was still at work on the supple cloth covered flesh and as he worked he felt a ridge of flesh which he then pulled softly and rolled between two fingers. She gave a soft cry and thrashed in his embrace. Abandoning that breast, he moved to the other and gave it a similar treatment while kissing up and down her neck. Astrid was panting and shifting her hips, making short bolts of lightning course through his frame as well each time her hips moved just right. But she was moving too much and so he used his free hand to wrap around her lower belly and pressed her down. She fought him, fought his iron grip to move but he held fast while she gave small moans, guttural sweet cries right in his ears. She was magnificent.

And Astrid, being Astrid, impatient and bold, grabbed his hand that was keeping her still and yanked it downward. She ached and needed something before she screamed from the wanting. Hiccup shied away from her plea and tried to pull his hand back. “Please. Hiccup. Please. I ache.”

Hiccup was about to tell her exactly why that was a bad idea when his attention turned to the other side of the room where Toothless was looking worried and pensive and back on his haunches down from the loft.

He continued his soft manipulation of her breast and kept her hand in a vice grip, “Everything’s fine, bud. You can go back up to bed.” He murmured soothingly to Toothless who still looked unsure. He had never heard noises like that come from the female. They sounded pained. The dragon crooned to them softly and sniffed the air. Sweet smells floated around him and it reminded him of the morning.

Astrid roused her attention enough to smile at Toothless. He and Hiccup were just alike. “I’m fine Toothless.”

The dragon still looked skeptical, “Why don’t you go outside?” Hiccup suggested and gestured at the upper floor to the pulley door there that they used often. He didn’t want Toothless worried about them. That wasn’t fair to the dragon because he’s never seen anything like this before.

Toothless cocked his head one more time and gave a snort before hopping back up to his perch. He wasn’t going anywhere. Like his rider he was of a curious nature as well. And now that he was satisfied that no harm was coming to either of the humans he cared for he was calmer.

Hiccup’s hand had stilled on her breast and some of Astrid’s urgency had faded. She turned her head and caught his lips in a kiss. “I want you to.” She murmured to him and gave a light tug to his hand on her midsection.

“Are you sure?”

“Hiccup.” Her tone was a warning that he quickly heeded. And her hand left his while it hovered over her lower belly and past the metal spiked skirt and delved into the forbidden space between her thighs.

The heat there surprised him. Even through the leggings and smallclothes she was hot there but he didn’t immediately dive for the most obvious spot. Instead his palm landed on her inner thigh, stroking softly, waiting for her to pull back her consent, maybe even hoping for it a small amount. This was almost too much. When no sounds of dissent came two of his fingers traced that small space at the apex of her thighs.

She arched up with a startled gasp and her legs clamped together at the almost ticklish sensation. “Sorry. Sorry.” He whispered to her and she elbowed him.

“Wasn’t expecting is all.” She relaxed her legs and they splayed open as he lifted his hand, then with firmer pressure, caressed that heat. The gasp was deeper, softer, slower this time and her hips twisted to gain friction.

Hiccup set to work then, watching the rise and fall of her chest, listening to the changes in her breathing and the movement of her body to guide him. Mouth still at her neck and hand at her breast the other played her gently and his arousal was secondary to the astounding female at his tender mercy.

Two fingers, then three stroked and pressed along her cleft and she twisted her hips frequently so he changed his movements, circular rather than linear, tracing the alphabet. And she gave a sharp gasp when his fingers dipped down and pressed against a spot near the top. Ah. There it was. With a grin and a set determination he went to work properly, concentrating all his efforts on that one spot.

Fire ripped through her, tearing her apart as he stroked her. His panting and small sounds of appreciation fed into the blazing that was threating to burn her up. She writhed and gave breathy moans and cries, pleading for something.

“Gods, Astrid, you are so magnificent. So beautiful. I could watch this all day. Stroke and touch you for hours.”

Astrid moaned lowly, and felt something wind inside her, tighter and tighter and his words only propelled her higher. It was too much, too much too fast. “Stop.” She managed to gasp out. “Stop.”

He jerked back immediately despite knowing that she was so close he could practically taste it. Astrid, unbalanced, dizzy and lightheaded nearly fell forward but managed to catch herself on the table with a hand.

“Are you--.”

“Quiet.” She interrupted as she tried desperately to regain feeling in her legs and wind back down. The place between her legs was damp, more than damp and tingled with every movement. “That’s not…what I had. My plan.” She began and stopped again.

Hiccup was confused, single minded and it took him a moment to remember. The plan. Oh.

“Here or your bed?” Astrid looked around and found his workbench. “There.” She pointed to it.

“My desk?” He gulped. Every time he would sit at it he would have to think of this.

“Yes.” Astrid’s voice brooked no argument and so he lifted her to her feet and watched her curls tumble down her back. “Get up there and lie down.”

“You sure you can make it?” Hiccup danced away before she could take a swing at him. And mounted his desk before lying back on the hard wood. Luckily he didn’t have anything on it or else they might have broken something. Astrid swayed her hips as she walked toward him and climbed up onto the bench alongside him.

“Ready?”

“You know it.” He challenged and she gave a smile before lifting her leg to settle on the other side. Her hips hovered over the prominent bulge in his pants and she gave a quick smile. Her hands settled onto his shoulders and her curls tumbled from her shoulders down her face, framing it in the most divine way. The first few movements were off, unbalanced but when she found the place they both gasped and she gave a triumphant grin before setting off.

Her hips twisted and rocked up, and down, bringing her core to his bulging manhood over and over again. It was Hiccups’s turn this time to groan and he brought his hands to her hips, steadying her while bringing her down more firmly. Broken breaths echoed between them as they danced. Higher and higher, like dragon flight it drove them single mindedly to a complete destination. Fire arced through her once more twisting and clawing at her lungs while she moved. She bent forward and braced her knees to roll in firm circle while Hiccup’s fingers dug into the leather at her hips and he panted and groaned lowly in response. His green eyes were locked on her and she blushed slightly at the intensity. It was like he was trying to stare into her soul and the thought escalated her pleasure. But she wasn’t used to this kind of activity and her rhythm started to falter slightly. But Hiccup wasn’t about to let her leave here without hearing the sounds she made when she finally broke apart.

It seemed to be friction that gave the most result and so he stopped her hips and pulled her fast to him before moving her back and forth along the ridge of his erection bringing him the most exquisite pain.

Astrid spread her legs further and let him take over. Waves pulsed through her body with each movement up, then down. She gave whines and pants as she drew closer and closer to some insurmountable peak while trying to keep her eyes open to watch him. The intensity his gaze was arresting. It was reserved only for complex plans and his innovative instruments. She had his complete attention. That was power.

He kept driving her down, pushing his hips up and she gave a high-pitched whine. So high she was but couldn’t seem to break, the pressure was too much.

Hiccup heard her distress and slowed down his movements. With his left hand, he reached up to palm the back of her neck through her hair and brought her down. “Astrid.” He murmured softly to her. “Give it to me. Now.” He growled out roughly and brought her in for a bruising kiss.

Two more rolls and thrusts and she was flying. Vision blurred, shaking, wondrous flight. Her body trembled and thrashed as she cried out into his mouth, panting screams that he swallowed as best he could. Waves of sensation consumed her, her core clenched and she felt a flood of slickness coat her smallclothes. Dizzy, free, trembling and filled with relief and relaxation consumed with the scent and taste of Hiccup and that was all she needed as she crested a smaller wave while she shook in his embrace.

Hiccup was not far behind. Just the knowledge of her climax was enough to spur his own. His erection pulsed several times, staining his underclothes and pants with his fluids. He let out a guttural groan and shudder of equal parts ecstasy and relief.

A few more rolls of her hips and she stilled. They were both panting, breathless and hearts racing while she lay atop him. Hiccup traced small circles and lines on her hip and side while they regained some semblance of conscious thought.

Hiccup was the first to speak, “Did that go to plan then?”

She lifted her head and gave him a halfhearted glare and even weaker punch to the shoulder. “Quiet.” She mumbled and nuzzled into his neck. “Sleepy.”

“That was pretty intense.” He observed quietly.

“Quiet.”

“This isn’t going to be very comfortable.”

“Then I want you to carry me. Cause I’m not sure if I can walk.” She mumbled again.

Hiccup chuckled and kissed the top of her head. “I’m not sure I can either.”

“Hmmm.” She sounded pleased with herself.

“Nap?”

Astrid nodded against his chest and he rolled them both onto their sides. His desk was big enough for it, thank Thor. And he gazed into Astrid’s sleepy blue eyes. His languid, well sated little Valkyrie.

Hiccup watched as her eyes drifted shut and her breathing slowed. And soon he joined her while Toothless watched them from his perch. Two legs were so very odd.

&*&*&*&*

Was it good? Let me know! My muse craves feedback like chocolate. I don’t often take prompts. My creativity doesn’t do well with someone else’s dreams but if I feel up to it you can make some suggestions for possible future one-shots and I might do something about it. 

[astridthevalkyrie]

Here Comes The Groom: Chapter 5

Hiccup has ten days to convince Astrid to marry him, or both of them could meet a fate worse than death. The good thing is that he has all of Berk by his side, ready to help. The bad things is, Astrid hasn’t been friendly with him for over a year and very much hates him.

Day 5

Oh my gosh, I want to work on Dead of Night and I Knew You Were Trouble, not this.

Prologue    Day 1    Day 2    Day 3     Day 4

It starts off with just not having time for her.

Hiccup doesn’t truly realize he’s doing it, that he’s pushing her away. He has chief duties, he needs time for Toothless, he wants to spend time with his mom. He just seems to get generally upset when she’s there, but that’s only the beginning.

He starts keeping her from things. Astrid is his general, but he orders her to stay out of battle. A small voice in his head says she could mess this up as much as she messed up the battle where he lost his dad.

Astrid seems to accept it at first, as though agreeing with him. That she deserved some form of punishment. She does nothing but glare at him when he orders her to another task during battle. She doesn’t like it, but she does it. She punishes herself. They both subconsciously think that she is the one who is responsible for Stoick’s death.

It’s all tense, but it explodes one day when the chief orders someone else to take Stormfly out into battle while Astrid stays back. Pirates are attacking.

She asks him quietly, then. She says that the man doesn’t know how to fly Stormfly like she does. She says the man could die. She says Stormfly could die. She pleads gently, but he doesn’t listen.

She is proven right.

“I still don’t completely understand,” Hiccup said, a little nervously, “why you agreed to do this.”

He was talking to Eret, son of Eret. In other words, someone who had not known him and Astrid since childhood. Hiccup was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt - he had doubted Snotlout and the twins, but they had come through for him.

And he and Astrid had kissed yesterday. Not a small, short kiss either. It was more forceful on both their parts, as though they were to somehow make up for all the time they had missed in that one kiss.

It had been silent, Astrid had left when Toothless landed. It was still progress.

Eret shrugged. “Like I said, you two are my friends. I - I owe a lot to you and Astrid.”

“You don’t owe us anything.” Hiccup shrugged. “You changed sides. If anything, we owe you.”

Eret frowned. “Did you never know exactly how I changed sides?”

At this, Hiccup frowned. Now that he thought about it, he really didn’t. No one had told him the exact circumstances - he just knew that Eret was riding on Stormfly and he had changed sometime while he himself had been reuniting with his mom.

“Astrid and the others kidnapped me, to make me take them to Drago.” He chuckled. “I was terrified. Stormfly had me suspended in the air. Anyway, Drago had ordered for my head, but that Nadder saved me. And after I helped them escape, we bonded.”

“You were close to Stormfly too,” Hiccup murmured, a familiar feeling of crushing guilt entering his stomach, “you -”

Eret put a hand up. “Don’t apologize to me, please. I was still nowhere near as attached as Astrid was.”

There was the barest hint in there, and Hiccup felt himself back away slightly from the older man. He had clearly heard a lot from Astrid.

“Maybe...” Eret continued, a bit hesitantly, “maybe you two should talk about it.”

Hiccup ran a hand through his hair. “You’re right, a-and I would. But we’re on a time crunch. I can’t risk possibly messing things up.”

He shrugged. “You said you kissed yesterday, right? And it was because you commemorated some big moment in your relationship. Maybe - maybe just spend time talking about those days. At least then she’ll remember what it was like.”

“That’s -” Hiccup gaped. “That’s actually a good idea.”

“Let me guess. For the first time since this all started?”

“Exactly.”

“Not now.” Astrid held up a hand. “I have a class.”

Hiccup paused, staring at her. “I didn’t -”

She stepped closer. “You want to talk about yesterday. Or do something together. I know. You want to be friends. But I have a class to teach.”

“Can I watch?” he tried.

Astrid looked conflicted, but then sighed and said, “I don’t see why not,” before walking into the arena. Hiccup followed, seeing a bunch of little kids sitting on a log.

“Alright!” the general said loudly. “You’re all here to learn! Not to sit there, or to talk to each other, or have fun! Now grab an axe from the box!”

They were small weapons, thank Thor, although even then a few kids struggled to pick them. Hiccup stepped forward to help, but Astrid’s arm was in front of him in a second. “Don’t. Let them do it.”

The smallest child eventually got it, putting an axe over his shoulder and giving a wide smile to the chief, who smiled back.

Remembering Eret’s advice, Hiccup asked, “You’re not going to ask them to drop and give you twenty, are you?”

Astrid’s lips quirked in a smile.

“Not this particular bunch, no.”

“Ah, right, because none of these kids are related to Snotlout.”

“Exactly.”

They both laughed, before Astrid picked up her own axe and stood a few feet from the target, narrowing her eyes at it. She aimed - crack. The weapon met it’s wooden target.

“Your turn.” She turned to the kids, pointing out each respective target. They were all a good distance away from each other.

Hiccup watched as all the kids failed because they were trying too hard to get it dead center like Astrid had. She walked around, directing kids on their grip.

“Can the chief do it?” one of the little girls asked, sneaking a glance at Hiccup.

“No,” Astrid said right away.

Hiccup gaped. “Hey! I could do it! In case you’ve forgotten…” He leaned in. “I’ve beaten you, Hofferson.”

She scoffed as the kids tittered, placing her hands on her hips. “Oh, please. You only used the sneak attack. You cheater.”

“Fight! Fight! Fight!”

“Oh, there’s no need for that -” Hiccup began, holding up his hands.

“Why not?” Astrid challenged, raising a brow. “Scared of me?”

More like terrified, but not exactly of her sparring skills. He could take her, right? Right?

He took a deep breath and said, “You’re on.”

The kids cheered, clearing the targets and little axes lying around. They pressed to the side as Hiccup took out Inferno from it’s compartment on his leg. He and Astrid circled each other.

“Call it a draw?”

“He needs a flaming sword to back him up,” Astrid taunted before running forward and charging. Hiccup sidestepped and that was how they went, with her on the attack and him on the defense.

“Not on your life!”

Hiccup did make a few jabs at her. She dove under him and knocked him down and before he could complain that he taught her that move, she had her axe to his throat.

“I win,” Astrid said, satisfied.

Hiccup made a big show of surrendering and the kids giggled as she rolled her eyes, helping him up. The kids were dismissed.

“Astrid,” he began, trying to steer the conversation back to them. “We should -”

She put a finger on his lips. “No. I don’t want to talk about yesterday. Not another word. Not yet.”

“But -”

“Not another word.”

Hiccup fumbled for something to say even as she narrowed her eyes, before finally giving up and crossing his arms. “You really are impossible.”

“I know. But you’re the one trying to be my friend.” She shot him a grin, kissing his cheek and running out of the arena.

[aristocratlegacy]

Chapter Sixty-Three: Our Fifteen Minutes

[Hey everybody! Sorry for the really long wait within chapters, and the sort of confusing order- this chapter was written and published AFTER the last one was. A lot of stuff happened [spoiler] [basically I Beatrice and Lorne died, and Lucky literally became a ghost, but then get famous came out and I was literally horrified that Beatrice had died before getting to be in a hollywood chapter so I made a fake family, revived her, and got famous. Anyway, sorry for any confusion, onto the chapter!!]

Dusty: “Gee, Lucky, I sure am worried about Taffy.”

Lucky: “I know! Ever since she got a crush on that Johnny guy, she’s been acting really different.”

Lucky: “I just wish she knew how cool she is when she’s being herself!”

Taffy: “Hi guys…”

Lucky: “Not too cool to play with us anymore?”

Taffy sighed.

Taffy: “I’m sorry I acted that way guys. Johnny...didn’t like me as much as I thought he did- I saw him kissing another girl after our beach date!”

They gasped.

Dusty: “Well, he’s stupid anyway.”

Lucky: “Yeah! And we like you just the way you are, Taffy!”

Taffy: “Aw, you guys are the best! I’m so happy that the Aristocrat family sticks together!”

The sound of canned applause starts as Beatrice walks into the room.

Beatrice: “That’s right, kids, stick together, that way you always have a wingman to make you look good in front of strangers. Oop, Lorne, sweetie, my simsmapol- oh, thank you dear”

She said as a new drink appeared right in her hand.

The kids laugh.

Beatrice: “Well, you look better, sweetheart. All that black makeup wasn’t doing anything for the bags under your eyes. Chin up!” She said, and sauntered away to the bar in the background.

Actual Lucky: “Aaaand...Cut!”

*one week earlier*

Lorne: “Breakfast! I made breakfast for everybody!”

The sound of groans and too many people for one house yawning sleepily down the stairs spreads out to the kitchen, where Lorne smiled and dished out the pancakes he made for everybody.

They all sat around the table, shoving elbows out of the way when they ate their food.

Lorne: “So, what’s on the agenda for today?”

Beatrice: “You know none of us really...work….right?”

Lucky: “Hey! Courtney and I work, we run our own business!”

Beatrice: “When was the last time you went to work.”

Lucky: “...”

Beatrice: “I’m not shaming you, sweetheart, I’m just stating a fact. Today, we are all going to lay in our respective beds, reading our respective magazines, and then take intermittent naps.”

Lucky: “And what would you rather do?”

Beatrice groaned.

Beatrice: “Anything- “ She held up a hand to preemptively silence her husband “But going to work.”

Courtney: “We could always volunteer as a family.”

Courtney was met with the iciest stare yet.

Courtney: “One day I’ll get you to do it.”

Beatrice: “But you’ve noticed it too, right, ever since this boring mr boring guy moved in, everything has been boring. I mean nothing fun has happened to us since my last awesome party.”

Lucky: “No. We are not throwing another party. It’s too much. Nobody ever shows up wearing the right thing and we have to stay there for days without sitting because nobody can stand still long enough to take pictures. Out of the question.

Beatrice: “Fun things used to just fall in our laps! The phone would ring and it would just be somebody telling us what awesome thing to do next!”

Lucky’s phone started to ring.

Beatrice: “Oh thank god I wasn’t sure it would work that time! I wish I had a fancy hat!”

Beatrice: “Oooh, this is fun, isn’t it?”

Patty Alexander: “Lucky, how have you been?”

Lucky: “Aunt Patty? It’s been good, how are you?”

Patty Alexander: “No time for chit-chat, Lucky. I recently found a VHS tape, I watched it out of curiosity, and it was the pilot that your Glammother made for a reality show. It had been recut by my father, but the show never got any traction at the agency. I work at the agency now, and I think we could come up with a project based on you legendary family, don’t you agree?”

Lucky: “Um...yes?”

Patty Alexander: “Great, come up with ten ideas by tomorrow I will call you at exactly 8 am to talk about it.”

Lucky: “8 am? Really?”

Patty Alexander: “Pleasure doing business with you.”

Day 1 of Production

Chloe: “I can’t wait to be famous, guys!”

Pierce: “I don’t really think this is going to take off, what about you, Vivi?”

Vivien: “If it doesn’t I’m going to drown in a sea of ennui. This is a chance to really let my creative prowess as an actress shine!”

Lucky: “Okay, everybody, say hello to the cast. Let’s just stay cool about this, it’s just a little sitcom. I think if we keep it light and fun we’ll all come out of this ahead- yeah?”

Lucky:Cherish will be playing my mom, Beatrice. My mother is not on set today, value this time, Cherish, it will be the last productive moment for you on this set.”

Lucky: “Darren, you are my dad, Lorne. All you have to do is smile, agree with anything my mom says, and constantly be churning out drinks from the bar in the background. Do not stop even for a moment, even if the bar is completely covered in undrunk Bridgeports, you keep going.”

Lucky: “Leslie is playing Glamma Astrid, uh...I dunno. Act ignored. Like you had a lot of potential and then no follow up. You’re Walt from Lost. I don’t have my step-grandpa in here, the casting fell through since I couldn’t find someone with as perfect a head of hair. Courtney- make a note to find a wig guy, and then find me a Roscoe.”

Lucky: “Tessa is playing my older sister Taffy. She’s smart, lovesick, and a snitch. I want a cross between Rory Gilmore and the sister from Phineas and Ferb.”

Lucky: "My niece will be playing Three, the alien girl that we found in the woods. She’s not here today- we’re gonna film her when I’’m supposed to take her to the library next week, nobody tell her dad.”

Lucky: “And, of course, these are my three children, Chloe, Pierce, and Vivien. Chloe will be playing me, you’re the main character, you’re brother is missing, shenanigans ensue. You love dogs and antagonising people, you know the drill.”

Chloe: “Yes!”

Vivien: “But I thought I would play you!”

Lucky: “Pierce you’re playing my brother Dusty. He’s kinda dorky, and then finds this alien girl in the woods and bonds with her. It’s cute.”

Pierce: “I think I can handle that.”

Lucky: “And lastly, Vivien, you will be playing my little brother Milo, who is kidnapped in the begining and then we find him later. Any questions?”

Vivien: “Wait- am I even in it?”

Lucky: “Um….yeah. Eventually. You’re gonna do great, cutie. Everybody read through the script and be ready to shoot the first scenes by tomorrow!”

Day 4 of Production

Luchloe: “Quick! Hide! Mom is coming this way!”

Fake Beatrice: “Hey cuties, gotta go do a video kiss kiss please subscribe!”

Fake Two: “She didn’t look up from her magic rectangle.”

Dusty Pierce: “Shh!”

Lucky: “Okay, I think she’s gone. Phew. For a second there I was really worried she would catch us and Strider and we’d have to take him back. Good boy!”

Dusty: “Also the alien girl we found in the woods, Lucky.”

Lucky: “Yeah, but that’s a person, mom is definitely not going to notice some random kid in our house if she doesn’t make a mess. This is a good puppy!”

Real Lucky: “Cut! Nice job, guys, let’s take 30 for lunch!”

Vivien: “Mother. I’m going to have to insist that you switch my role with Chloe’s. I have ten times the acting chops she does! Not to mention how much I work drama into every day life!”

Lucky: “Don’t worry, Vivien, nobody would ever forget about that.”

Chloe: “Hey, Vivi, wanna eat lunch?”

Vivien: “No! I’m running lines, trying to prove that I’m actually serious about the business to my mother. Chloe, I swear, you getting to play our mom in the sitcom that she’s making about her childhood is the finest example of nepotism I have ever seen in my life.”

Chloe: “Didn’t we all kinda get hired because of nepotism, though?”

Vivien: “Ugh! I’ll be in my trailer!”

Chloe: “No fair! Why does Vivien get a trailer!”

Lucky: “Oh, no, honey, she just went to pout inside the puppet theater.”

Courtney: “Hey, girls. I have the latest shots for you to look at, babe. Great take, Chloe, you’re a rockstar. Where’s your brother? Why are you rolling your eyes.”

Chloe: “Because he’s trying to talk to Tessa again.”

Lucky: “Oh, for god’s sake I told him….I’ll go handle it.”

Pierce: “So, you know, just because we play brother and sister on this show, doesn’t mean we can’t date in real life.”

Tessa: “Oh my god, I didn’t even see you there. Did you need something?”

Pierce: “Yeah...you’re heart- hey!”

Lucky: “Sorry, Tess. Won’t happen again! You did great today!”

Lucky: “Pierce, I told you to stop bothering the actresses.”

Pierce: “But we’re in love!”

Lucky: “No, you’re not. Keep dreamin, kid. She’s not into you. Okay, back on set in five, people!”

Cherish: “Hey, yeah, I feel like my character is just like...a super bad mom? Can we do something about that in the script?”

Lucky: “These are all based on true stories. You’ve met her. She was on set yesterday, is it really that surprising?”

Cherish: “No, I get it, but, like, that magazine just released that story about me being, like, a really bad mom. And I don’t want people to take it the wrong way, y’know?”

Lucky: “Um, use it in your performance. We have a schedule to stick to everybody! Two minutes!”

Day 6 of Production

Vivien: “Mom! I need to talk to you!”

Lucky: “Sweetie, I love you, but I don’t have time to talk about your part right now. Right now I need to keep your Glamma away from the actors.

Beatrice: “Why is she out of costume. Lucky, you’re the director, do something.”

Lucky: “Fine. Excuse me, Cherish? Yeah, my mom wants to know why you’re not wearing the costume.”

Cherish: “I think my character would wear this. I have a rockin’ bod, if I have to dress conservatively, I’m gonna do the bare minimum.”

Lucky: “You’ve really….taken to your character, haven’t you? Keep the dress, honestly, if I wasn’t constantly lowering her hemlines she’d have put that on already.”

Beatrice: “You’re the one that keeps adding fabric to the bottom of this dress? Lucky! It’s practically down to my knees!”

Lucky: “Good, you’re too old to be wearing clothes like that mom. Cherish- you look fine, Mom, you also  look fine in exactly what you’re wearing.”

Beatrice: “I could still pull it off! I’ll show you!”

Lucky: “I’m not looking forward to how that turns out. But maybe she’ll do it off set. Hopefully.”

Lorne: “No, you idiot, you don’t shake it like that, you shake it like this.”

Darren: “Isn’t that what I’m doing?”

Lorne: “No, and, ugh, what are you wearing?”

Darren: “The costume notes just said to dress up like Willy Wonka’s brother that runs a flavored vodka factory.”

Lorne: “Gosh, y’know, Lucky is just the sweetest daughter, isn’t she? Keep it, it’s fine, but I expect you to keep up the color, alright? Navy blue. It’s a brand.”

Lucky: “Hey, you kids doing ok? Pierce, great job out there, looking silent and quiet and waiting for your turn to speak. Very Dusty, I love it.”

Vivien: “Mom- why can’t I play you? I’m not even in it and I have to play you’re kidnapped little brother? This stinks! I’m a ferrari, you don’t keep a ferrari in the garage and roll out a barbie jeep and a tricycle.”

Chloe: “We can hear you.”

Vivien: “I’m speaking from the heart of an actress, Chloe, you wouldn’t understand.”

Chloe: “We’re all child actors, dude, chill out.”

Lucky: “I’m afraid I’m going to have to side with mini me, cutie. Chill out a little, Milo is a great part.”

Vivien: “Milo now would a great part.”

Lucky: “I really hope you have no idea what you’re saying, keep reading through your lines, I’m gonna watch the last runthrough. Love you!”

Pierce: “You know, if I was your boyfriend, I would never kiss another girl.”

Kelly: “Excuse me?”

Pierce: “I mean...I….bye….”

Pierce: “I couldn’t do it. I tried, but she’s too pretty. I was blinded by blonde.”

Chloe: “You know that she’s playing your sister, right?”

Pierce: “I know. She’s not my sister, though.”

Viviens: “You two are barbarians, I’m going to read lines.”

Chloe: “Nerd!”

Pierce: “Teacher’s pet!”

Chloe & Pierce: “Nice.”

Day 9 of Production

Lucky: “This is no good.”

Courtney: “Why not? What’s wrong with it?”

Lucky: “It’s not saying anything. We’re talking about self esteem here, this is real gritty stuff! We could change lives, Courtney.”

Courtney: “I mean, it’s a sitcom we made starring our own untalented children. I don’t think expectations are going to be that high.”

Lucky: “Courtney, Courtney, Courtney,”

Courtney: “Yes?”

Lucky: “Courtney, Courtney, Courtney, Courtney, Courtney,”

Courtney: “Please stop saying my name like that.”

Lucky: “We’re making art here, baby. Expectations are higher than they’ve ever been.”

Courtney: “Um…”

Lucky: “Let’s take it from the top, guys, and remember, the words are raw, and gritty. E M O T I O N A L, do you hear me people? She’s changing who she is for a man is that acceptable?!”

A non committal murmur of ‘no’ calls out from the cast.

Lucky: “Yeah. This is serious. TAKE IT FROM THE TOP!”

---

Chlucke: It’s okay, Taffy! We like you just the way you are!”

Lucky: “Cut!”

Chloe: “What’s wrong?”

Lucky: “Baby, you have to think about the stakes here, your sister is heartbroken, she’s lost her whole identity, she’s on the verge of collapse, you need to feel this.”

Actual Taffy: “I thought it was fine. I mean, it was just a crush. I wore that dress with the storm clouds on it for a couple of days but-”

Lucky: “Taffy,”

Courtney: “Oh no.”

Lucky: “Taffy, taffy, taffy, taffy.”

Taffy: “Yes?”

Lucky: “I remember this. I saw the pain in your eyes. Johnny was the love of your life, and he threw you away like garbage.”

Taffy: “He still works at the movie theater so I think it’s fine. I’m married and happy. I have two kids that you didn’t cast in you’re show- thanks for that, by the way. What’s gotten into you, Lucky?”

Vivien: “I can do it mom! I can deliver the line with vivacity.”

Chloe: “She’s been waiting to use that one.”

Vivien: “You! Taffy! Don’t lose yourself in the sea of the unwashed masses! You shall rise above them! Walk among the stars as the women you are and will become!”

Pierce: “Yeah...that…”

Lucky: “That’s pretty good. Lucky, do that.”

Vivien: “But it was my monologue!”

Lucky: “I know, but it wouldn’t make sense coming from you, you’re still kidnapped.”

Vivien: “No fair!”

Lucky: “Honey, you’re not in this shot.

Day 11 of Production

Chloe: “Pierce, I do not want to go back in there.”

Pierce: “Me neither. Maybe if we just hide in here she’ll just recast us and let us go home.”

Chloe: “Is she being crazy? It seems like she’s literally gone crazy.”

Lucky: “Where are the children!? I need them! For my art!”

Chloe: “Oh no. She’s gonna make us do the heart to heart scene again, I know it.”

Lucky: “Vivien, where’s your brother and sister? You’re on today.”

Vivien: “I am?! Really?”

Vivien: “CHLOE! PIERCE! You’d better get out here now or I will cyberbully you forever!”

Chloe: “She’s gonna find us eventually.”

Pierce: “Maybe if we stay here, mom will let her play our roles.”

Vivien: “Found them! Saboteurs!”

---

Luchloe: “I sure am glad you’re home, Milo! I can’t believe we found you!”

Milovien: “Happy that I’m home?! Is that all you have to say? Since you’ve abandoned me to the wills of a madman in an underground bunker? I may be shy,”

Milo: “I may be talented in a quiet way- but that does not mean that I do not have something to say! Hear me, brother and sister! For I don’t know if I can forgive your indifference in my heart, and I know for sure, that I will never forget it. But ho-”

Lucky: “Cut!”

Vivien: “What’d you think, mom?”

Chloe: “Here we go.”

Lucky: “It….was…..exhillerating. We’re gonna win an oscar for this, guys.”

Chloe: “I don’t think they give out oscars for single-camera sitcoms, Mom.”

Lucky: “Vivien, you and I will create art. Baby,  we’re going to hollywood!”

Day 15 of Production

I live for my art

I breathe for my art

I live for my art.

If I can just get the hug at the end right. I know.

I just know.

I can make a difference.

Day 22 of Production

Lucky: “From the top!”

Chloe: “Mom, there’s only so many times we can hug. We’ve been doing this for days.”

Vivien: “She said from the top, Chloe! We have to do this right!”

Chloe: “Why though? I just wanna go hoooome!”

Vivien: “Mother? Permission to slap an actress.”

Lucky: “What? No, Vivien. But you do have to take it from the top! Take two hundred and eighteen!”

Courtney: “You know, Luck, I think we’ve got it.”

Lucky: “We don’t have it.”

Courtney: “Maybe take a break and do some other scenes? Or let everybody go home? I’m sure that we got it and-”

Lucky: “Are you questioning my vision, Courtney?”

Courtney: “Um...no?”

Lucky: “Good. Because if you were questioning it, then I would have to fire you.”

Lucky: “I’d fire all of you if I could! I’ll star in the show myself! Me and Vivien- my only talented daughter, who isn’t afraid to commit to something!”

Vivien: “Yeah!”

Lucky: “So if all of you want to quit! Fine! Quit!’

Chloe: “Is that an option?”

Lucky: “Only if you think you can live with yourself, Chloe.”

Chloe: “I mean….yeah. I quit. Right guys?”

Pierce: “Yup.”

Everybody: “Yeah, bye”

Day 27 of Production

Courtney: “Hey...Lucky?”

Lucky: “What do you want, traitor?”

Courtney: “Well, you’ve been sitting here at an editing table in the middle of an empty warehouse set in the dark for 5 days.”

Lucky: “The show is due in 2 days, and since everybody abandoned me, I had to to do it myself.”

Courtney: “Nobody abandoned you, Lucky. You just got a little crazy. Plus, we did film all the scenes from the original script. The only ones we didn’t do are those really rambly meta ones you added later. I think if you stick with what we thought of at first, then you’d see that we made something pretty cool.”

Lucky: “I don’t know if I can do it- cut apart my vision…….”

Courtney: “Do you want my help?”

Lucky: “..........Yes please.”

Premiere Day

Chloe: “This is so exciting!”

Vivien: “We’re gonna be on tv!”

Courtney: “Lucky, you gonna join us?”

Lucky: “Oh… I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. I know I ruined everybodys tv experience by getting too in my head about it. I was in an art spiral, there’s no excuse. I’ll just go watch it upstairs by myself so I don’t bother anybody…”

Chloe: “Mom! Come watch with us!”

Pierce: “Yeah, we’re not mad.”

Vivien: “You had a celebrity meltdown. Very chic.”

Beatrice: “I’m with Vivien- an epic meltdown is a very Beatrice move. I’m proud of you!”

Lucky: “So...we’re all a happy family again?”

Courtney: “A big happy family that’s about to watch itself on tv for the first time! C’mon, it’s starting!”

-----

That’s all for now! Thanks for reading and don’t forget to drop a comment if you liked it!!!!!! Also thank you so much to boolprop for making us January’s story of the month that was awesome!

[jloves-pp]

Merida and Hiccup’s wedding day-part 3

Chapter 3

The princess was just outside her home. Merida knew in the back of her mind that they knew she had gone. She had thought of a plan, it was to return Angus to his stable, get to her room without being seen and change into her wedding dress. She jumped off the saddle then led her horse to the stable before anyone noticed, Merida's thought her plan was working but when they made it to the stable she heard someone cry out...

"There she is"

Merida turned and was mobbed by the female servants, the poor princess couldn't find a way out, the women called and shouted to her all at once, she couldn't understand what was being said it was just a big noise, it felt overwheming until a familiar voice shouted,

"Hey everyone back off. Do any of you want to be in jail for attacking your princess? I thought not, so all of you back off. Especially you"

Merida sighed in relief to hear her friend Ruffnut and the crowd slowly started to back away. She could see Ruffnut, Astrid and her mum coming near. As the two viking girls stood between Merida and the crowd, Elinor hugged her daughter.

"I'm Sorry that I went out" Merida apologised

"No need, I thought you would "her mum replied. "Sorry about this, ( Elinor glanced at the crowd of women and lifted her eyes to the sky) I am sure you all have things you have to do". The women reluctantly began to dispurse.

"Is Hiccup awake?" Merida asked, she didn't ask if he was back yet! because she didn't want anyone to worry"

"Well, he just come back on Toothless" Astrid said looking over her shoulder "He's probably getting dressed now"

"As should too dear" Elinor added "now let's get you washed and dressed" but then the servants called out and began to move closer to the princess.

Merida stood still, took the breath in and shouted "SHUT IT"

Everyone stopped and it went very quiet, Merida cleared her throat, straightend up and looked at the crowd.

"I thank you all and I do appreciate your help" she began as calmly and as controlled as she could be "but I really wish my mother to help me dress today"

Merida felt something touch her shoulder, she turned the see her mum smiling thoughtfully at her. The queen looked at the women "now everyone, back to your work. Maudie, please get some food for Merida"

The group bowed and left to continue their work.

"Oh Angus needs brushing" Merida remember.

"Don't worry, we'll clean him" Astrid said. Merida thanked her and Ruffnut before her mum took her to get ready.

Hiccup had finish getting dressed. He wore a clean green skirt, boot , he also had on a kilt with the DunBroch colours. Not only was he to marry Merida, but he would be at part of the clan, he would wear the kilt but he wanted to wear trousers underneath it as he usually did, With the help of his bride, Hiccup was allowed to wear trousers, his father in law had allowed this bend with tradition.

Hiccup look at himself in the mirror. sighing deeply, feeling uncomfortable. He then heard Toothless growling he turned to see the dragon smile with his gums showing made the Viking laugh softly which made him feel better.

Hiccup wasn't done yet, he put his belt over the kilt, he notice his old helmet on his desk. Slowly picking up the helmet he remembered his dad had given him it and that was so awkward. Hiccup could smile not at that memory. He missed his dad; he wished that Stoick was here to be a part of the wedding. He remembered when Hiccup, Merida and Toothless stumbled across his mum, and Stoick, Elinor and Gobber had tried to find them. It was wonderful seeing both his parents together but it ended badly when Drago attacked and Stokie died after saving both his son and future daughter in law.

The former cheif had met Merida years ago and said that he couldn't have made a better choice for his wife, maybe because she seamed more Viking than he was.

He was still staring at the helmet when he heard the door being opened. It was his mum.

"Sorry I thought you were done" Valka said as she close the door.

"No but I'm nearly done, how do I look?" Hiccup asked his mum.

"Like a prince" she with a proud smile " and me?"

"You look great mum" he replied, he held up his hands, she smiled and gave a twirl.

"Well I never wore anything this fancy before" she laugh " if I had this on my wedding, your father wouldn't have said his vows"

Valka noticed the sad look cross her son's face.

"Mum I wish dad was here, he wished for this day since me and Mer were together" Hiccup admitted as he stared at the floor.

"I miss him too, I know he would be as proud of you as I am" he heard his mum say softly as she place her hand to his cheek. Hiccup pressed into her hand.

"Thanks mum" he said and added "was dad nervous on your wedding day?"

She thought about it before saying "well, yes. I never seen him sweat so much, even as we said our vows the only thing he could say was, I...like...er"

Hiccup and Toothless tried to control their laugher " was dad really like that?" he said after he was done laughing.

"Yes, he told me later that he was so scared he lost his words" Valka laughed.

Hiccup took in a deep breath before he said " mum, I'm still worried about today"

"It's normal to be nervous on your wedding. I was and I know Merida is as well" his mum said comforting her son.

"I know, Everything is so perfect, that I fear something will happen"

"Like what?"

"I don't know, the world ending".

The Viking woman let out a soft laugh at this "it's just nerves Hiccup and it's making you think the worst. Your fears shouldn't stop your happiness"

Hiccup knew his mum was right. Even if he was nervous, his and his wife's happiness was more important than everything.

"Oh, I all most forgot" he heard Valka saying, Hiccup noticed something wrapped in a cloth on his bed that hadn't been there before, Valka unraveled the cloth he saw an old sword that looked like it had been in hundreds of wars.

"It's usually a fathers job to do this but I wanted to perform this tradition" Valka picked up the sword, she then held the weapon with both hands. "This sword had been in the Haddock family for centuries, past down from father to son. Your dad give me this on are wedding day and ask me to hold on to it so I we could pass it down to the son we both wished for. Now Hiccup I give this to you" she handed the ancient weapon to her son.

The young Viking studied the sword, every Haddock mans first son had held this sword and now the weapon was in Hiccup's hands. His father must have used it at least once, this thought reminded him of his father and a particular awkward conversation that he would never forget. Now he could smile fondly at the memory. He sighed and slid the sword into his scabbard and put his helmet on his head.

"My young man" Valka softy commented, seeing her son remembering him as a tiny baby to the dragon rider he was now. Hiccup turned to his mother and they embraced in a mutual bear hug "I'll see you at the ceremony" she said before giving him a kiss on his cheek and leaving quickly.

The groom turned to his dragon who purred to him.

"Well, ready bud?" Hiccup said and Toothless replied with a growl. Just before they left, Hiccup rubbed his pendant, not knowing that his princess was rubbing her pendant at the same time.

The pendants was made by Hiccup to replace the wooden one he had give Merida (that was his mother's) on the first week they had met, but it was broken in pieces when Hiccup told them the Vikings were made two metal pendants with a design of a bear and dragon, which had become their symbol, he had given Merida her pendant when the treaty was made.

Merida was sitting as Elinor who was carefully braiding her long and ever curly hair. Her hair had grown a lot longer over the years, so she would braid it so sticks, leaves and other things wouldn't get tangled in it.

As the queen was doing her daughter's hair, she asked

"Merida, have I ever told you how I met your father?"

"No"

"Well I was 16 when I was told I was to marry the only son of a neighbouring tribe, even though I never met him. I yelled at my parents saying I will have nothing to do with the marriage of this man"

"You?" Merida interned. She always thought her mum would have just gone along with the marriage with no fuss.

" I went off to clear my mind, I just sat down to rest when I heard a commotion near by. I went to investigate until I saw a boy, trapped in a net hanging in a tree. He asked me to cut him down which I did, he told me after that he wanted to trap a bear for no one had done it before. It would have worked if a squirrel didn't come along to take lunch."

The princess let out a small chuckle at that.

"We ended up talking and getting to know each other, we said goodbye when the sun was setting. After that we met up everyday but I didn't tell him about my family, knowing if I did, he would be bowing and calling me your highness" The queen said which made Merida remember when Hiccup found out about her being a princess, he had bowing like crazy, Merida smiled at this.

"I told him I was engaged to someone and he told me that he also engaged. He had never met her but he was to marry her, I felt sorry for him and jealous if I was honest. I really wished he was marrying me because I had fallen in love with him" Elinor admitted.

"Marrying dad?" Merida said smiling, she knew that her mum was talking about her dad. The queen returned the smile before continuing with her story.

"Well after a month or so on the day the neighbouring tribe was visiting my home and I just wanted the earth to swallow me whole, that's how much I didn't want to be there. I was to meet the man I would marry, but to my surprise that it turned to be your father, needless to say he was shocked as much as I, then our parents found out that we had already met. I think they were relieved we liked each other" Elinor sighed as she finished the curly braid after a moment she said "Your father said to me he was glad that he was to be married to me and then he kissed me for the first time"

This was the first time Merida had heard their story. She had always seen her parents showing their affections to each other, it made sense now because they were a love match just like her and Hiccup.

"There, perfect" her mum said finishing Merida's braid. The princess stood up and Elinor held a small mirror, she really like it, mostly because it was not too tight and some of the wild curls were still allowed to stick out.

After adding the final touches. Merida look an actual princess in her wedding dress. The dress was simple with the only detail at the bottom showing a hand stitched image of a bear and a dragon. She had green shash that nearly reach the floor. And matching green shoes that had a secret in them. It was tradition for the bride to put a coin in one of her shoes, Merida knew she would be annoyed if she could feel the coin knocking against her foot all day, she told her husband to be about this, and a few day later Hiccup showed her he made a coin shaped holes in her shoe. The final part was Merida's crown, that Elinor carefully place the crown on Merida's head.

"Oh, your look absolutely beautiful" Elinor softly said after she stood back to see her child better.

Merida beamed and twirled, she heard those words before but at least she can breath and move.

Months ago, her mum had shown her wedding dress to Merida, but to Elinor horror the dress was eating away by moths and stained. Elinor cried and hugged her dress she said it was her dream for her daughter to wear it her big day. Merida had hugged and comforting her mum. Then she worked on a design and made her own wedding dress and made the dress herself. After a few weeks she reveal her finish dress to her mum, Valka, Astrid and Ruffnut, they all loved it, especially her mother.

"Merida, I wanted to tell you this years ago but I never did. So I think this is the right time to tell you" Elinor took a breath and calmly began " Merida, all the things me and your father have done was because we love you and wanted give you things we never had, I thought you just needed to listen... But you weren't the only one who needed to listen. Back then, I did what I alway knew what was expected of royalty. You maybe a princess but you're also a grand archer, a fearless warrior and a wonderfully daughter."

Merida felt a tear pass down her face as she smiled she felt such love for her mum.

"I know I've said a princess strives for perfection but now I really want is for you to find happiness...that and grandchildren"

"Mum!" Merida laughed at the last part.

After letting out her own laugh the Queen finished by said

"and you couldn't pick a better choice for husband than Hiccup"

Elinor then noted Merida slightly turning her head and sighing. "What's wrong, sweetheart" she asked softly, Elinor could see something was clouding her daughter's mind. Since the bear incident, the two were more open with one another. If Merida needed advice on things, most with her relationship with Hiccup. Merida felt upset that she needed to tell her mum.

"Mum, do you worry about change?" Merida asked

"Change?" Elinor questioned

"I mean if someone you care for, began to change into someone you don't even recognise" the princess thought that maybe this wasn't a good idea.

"Are you worry about Hiccup" Elinor asked softly, Merida slowly nodded in agreement.

Her mum thought for a bit before looking in her daughter's eyes, taking her hands she said reassuringly " the future isn't written in stone, even if someone tries they maybe wrong. People don't change over night and you both had change alright"

Elinor chould see a bit of confusion in Merida's face so she continued "even since you and Hiccup met, you've become better people, you've given each other something like you're calmer and more caring and he's stronger mentally and physically.

Merida bit her lip, Elinor could tell that Merida was still unsure.

"But if your still worried, we can call off the wedding"

"What? No!" the redhead cried out, shaking her head. "I can't just throw it away, you're planned it for months, everyone is so excited and I love Hiccup so much. He means the world to me"

"And that's why the both of you have a strong relationship, your love is like fire that will never be extinguish"

Hearing her mum's supportive words, she felt hopeful. She and Hiccup being together was what they had been looking forward to so much for years. They beat their enemies, saved lifes, it was their love that brought their lands together. She shouldn't fear what could be, they would always have strength to work things out.

The Princess gave her mum a hug.

"I love you mummy" Merida murmured

Elinor returned the warm hug, even if her daughter was a grown woman now, she will always be her little girl " I love you too" Elinor said and gave a motherly kiss on Merida's head. The Queen smiled, picked up Merida's bouquet and handed to the Princess. In the bouquet were thistles, bluebells, oslos and heathers, all tied together with a tartan ribbon.

"Well, we better be off. There is a young groom waiting for his bride" Elinor said with smile. She headed to the door, turned and saw Merida looking round her room. This had been her room since she was small, so many memories were here, some good, she thought she would miss this room, she knew after their wedding she and Hiccup would share a new room together, which made her feel excited but a bit saddened to leave her old life behind..

"Merida, are you ready?" Elinor asked.

Merida turned and smile " of course "

[teasoundsgood]

(Artichoke) Hearts Chapter 3

banner by styleslegends

Read here or on 1DFF (soon?)

Toss My Salad

***

From: Harry So Niall and I are placing bets on how long until Pia gives Liam the boot. Any insider information for me?

To: Harry Why Mr. Styles are you asking me to help you cheat?

From: Harry Not cheating… just phoning a friend

It had been almost a week since I’d given Harry my number and he definitely wasn’t abiding by the three day rule—which I was one hundred percent okay with. After his first text, we’d been texting pretty consistently. I found out that Harry was a Classics major and Econ minor. I was a Business Econ major, but I wasn’t surprised we hadn’t met before because it was a pretty large department. We’d also talked about our friends, which mainly meant Pia and Liam. Apparently Liam had been moping a bit because Pia hadn’t been nearly as interested in spending her entire week with him as Liam had been. Yeah, Pia was definitely going to end it soon.

To: Harry Well in that case it’s totally fine I’m betting three weeks tops. Possibly two I better be getting half of whatever you win in this bet

From: Harry We’re betting who cleans the dishes for a week so not sure how you’d get in on that but I’ll think of something to repay you for your help…

To: Harry Looking forward to it

From: Harry You still coming out tonight?

But, no matter how much we’d been texting, I hadn’t seen Harry since last Sunday when I gave him my number. He suggested meeting up at a party Thursday night, but my dad was away for a conference in San Diego from Thursday to Saturday afternoon so I had to stay at home to take care of the dogs. While it would’ve been nice to see Harry and all of my friends, it was nice to spend a night home alone with the dogs and practice a few salad dressing recipes for my next blog post. But now my dad was back in town and I was ready to go out with my friends and possibly end my night with Harry. I didn’t want to jinx it, but, based on the number of times he asked if I was coming out, I was pretty confident.

To: Harry Planning on it. Are you still coming out tonight?

From: Harry I was planning on it too

To: Harry Wow what a coincidence maybe I’ll see you there

From: Harry You’ll definitely see me there

“That’s an ‘I’m getting laid tonight’ face if I’ve ever seen one,” Pia said from the doorway of her room.

Our group of friends were going out together tonight and decided to pregame at Astrid and Pia’s apartment. I went over early to get ready because, no matter how much I love living at home with my dad, it was much more fun to get ready with my friends. Even if Astrid and Pia had spent the entire time making comments about Harry and me.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I shrugged innocently, even though we both knew that was a total lie.

“Astrid, Teddy’s telling lies again!” Pia yelled over her shoulder like a child telling on her sister.

“Now, Teddy,” Astrid scolded as she appeared in the doorway next to Pia and rested her arm on Pia’s shoulder. “What did we say about you lying to your sister?”

“You can’t tell me what to do, Mom,” I played along. “I’m thirteen now, I’m an adult!”

“Not while you still live under my roof young lady,” Astrid threw back, immediately taking on the role of the strict parent. For someone who insists on never having children as much as she does, Astrid was surprisingly good at pretending to be a mom.

“God we’re actually so dumb,” I laughed and fell back on Pia’s bed.

“Yeah, but I’d rather be dumb than boring,” Pia said as she flopped down next to me. “I’m almost done in the bathroom if you want to use my curler.”

“I don’t think so. It takes so much effort for my hair to hold a curl. Not worth it for some apartment party.”

“Especially considering your hair is going to be very messy by the end of the night,” Pia said.

“So does that mean Teddy and Harry are a go for tonight?” Astrid asked, but didn’t join us on the bed. “Oh and Pia, can I still borrow your black lace up booties tonight?”

“Go for it,” Pia replied. “And yes, Teddy and Harry are most definitely happening tonight.”

“P, don’t jinx it,” I whined.

“T, I’m not jinxing it,” she rolled her eyes. “You’ve been texting this whole week, he’s asked if you’re coming out like a hundred times, and Liam told me Harry told him that he’s excited to see you tonight. It’s definitely happening.”

“So you’re talking to Liam then, hm?” I asked, trying to take the attention off of me.

“Don’t change the subject, missy,” Pia scolded. “And it’s not like I can avoid talking to Liam, he’s everywhere.”

“Is that over then?” Astrid asked as she pulled out Pia’s shoes from the pile in front of her closet.

“Ugh, I don’t know,” Pia groaned. “Like he’s so boring when we text or see each other in passing, but then he’s coming up to me in the library and suddenly we’re fucking in the stacks and it’s so good.”

“There’s more people at this school than just Liam who know how to have sex, Pia,” Astrid told her.

“Yeah, but can they lift me up with one arm?” Pia threw back and sat up to look at Astrid.

“I mean, I’m stronger than I look,” Astrid wiggled her eyebrows.

“If you think you can seduce me into letting you borrow my things then you are absolutely right,” Pia jokingly flirted back when my phone buzzed with a new message.

“Who’s it from?” Pia asked, but, instead of waiting for me to check and tell her, she grabbed it instead. “Ooh, it’s Harry.”

“Give it back,” I told her and reached out for my phone.

“No way,” Pia refused. “Then you’ll never tell us what it says.”

“Well, I changed my passcode so you can’t even get in anymore,” I taunted.

“Yeah, but I bet you didn’t take my fingerprint off your Touch ID,” Pia taunted back then used her fingerprint to unlock my phone. “Dear Teddy, I count the minutes until I see you next. My heart aches for you and the moment I get to put my big, fat, co—”

“Okay that’s definitely not what it says,” I lunged and grabbed my phone out of her hand, dodging Pia’s attempts to get it back as I laughed.

“I was paraphrasing,” Pia said and got off the bed. “I’ve got to finish my make up.”

“I pray to the Lord above that it’s uneven,” I called after her before turning to look at my phone.

From: Harry We’re going to a pregame with some of our soccer friends, but text me where you end up and we’ll meet you there

“So how accurate was Pia’s paraphrase?” Astrid asked and I showed her the message. “Very accurate—wow Teddy, I never knew you had this much game.”

“I don’t think I do,” I replied. “I think he’s just a very direct person.”

“That’s a good thing, right?” Astrid asked.

“Yeah,” I confirmed. “I’m not interested in playing games. I just want a nice guy to hook up with.”

“Well it seems like you’ve found it,” Astrid said as she stood up. “The others should be getting here soon so I’ve got to hide my weed so Reese doesn’t try to steal it again.”

Just like Astrid said, the rest of our friends got there ten minutes later while Pia was making margaritas and I was deciding between red or peach lipstick. Pia was voting for peach while Astrid was voting for red and I needed the others to settle it, but they weren’t being much help at all. Cole said he didn’t know, then changed his vote to peach because that’s what Pia said. Reese said purple and then sulked over his margarita when I said that wasn’t an option. Dom argued that just because he’s gay doesn’t mean he knows anything about lipstick and decided to abstain from the vote. Rose voted red after making me try both, so I went with red because I trust Rose the most.

An hour later we were all drunk off margaritas and tequila shots (none of us wanted to wait for Pia to make more margaritas) and ready to go. Harry hadn’t texted me since I texted him saying I’d let him know where we end up, but we’d snapchatted a couple times and I watched his story so I knew he’d moved on from the pregame to a party in an apartment two streets over from us.

“We have to go there,” Rose said as she looked over my shoulder at Harry’s snap story. He’d geotagged his location so I knew what apartment building he was in. “Text him and ask what apartment number it is.”

“No need,” Pia said as she sipped a margarita (none of us had wanted to wait, but that didn’t stop Pia from making her own because she was the worst at taking shots). “Liam texted me the number. He’s asked if we’re coming soon like 10 times.”

“Well we wouldn’t want to disappoint Liam,” Cole said sarcastically as he stood up and put his phone in his pocket. He was such a pouty drunk and, if one thing was for certain, I would not be the one dealing with him tonight. “Is everyone ready to go?”

“Teddy just has to fix her make up and then we’ll all be ready,” Reese replied.

“I don’t have to fix my make up,” I frowned.

“I’d rethink that,” Reese suggested as he looked me over. “Purple really would’ve been a better choice.”

“Reese,” I rolled my eyes. “I’m not wearing purple to an apartment party.”

“You’re weak, Teddy Roosevelt. Weak,” he replied before taking another shot of tequila. Which earned him a glare from Cole who told Reese to stop because he didn’t want to be taking care of a vomiting Reese, like he had to yesterday. “Last one, I promise.”

“We should go then because you definitely won’t keep that promise if we’re here much longer,” Cole said before turning to Pia to ask what the address was.

“My makeup is still good, right?” I asked Rose who was still standing next to me.

She looked me over before reaching out a hand to swipe her thumb under my eye.

“It was a little smudged but you’re good now,” she confirmed. “Maybe reapply your lipstick? It’s fading.”

“Thanks,” I replied before running to the bathroom to fix it and pee. “Hey!” I called from the toilet with the door open (we’d all seen each other pee at this point). “Everyone should pee before we go.”

I had no intention of waiting in line for the bathroom once we got there, but if I didn’t make them all pee now then one of them would grab me and make me go with them the second we got there.

“You’re the best, mom,” Astrid grinned at me with red eyes as she came into the bathroom a minute later while I was reapplying my lipstick.

“So you and Dom did sneak off to smoke while we were taking shots,” I commented.

“Dom smoked more than me,” she replied. “He wanted to be high, but I just wanted to be a little crossed.”

“Can you hurry up?” Dom asked when he appeared in the doorway. “You know I get pee shy when I’m high.”

“Dominic, you can’t rush a pee,” Astrid rolled her eyes, but stood up and pulled up her shorts anyway. “You’re lucky I was already done.”

Dominic shooed us out of the bathroom (not before I made Astrid wash her hands) and shut the door behind him. We joined the rest of our friends who were taking pictures in the kitchen with Shah Rukh Khan the fifth, her most recent fish that she named after her mom’s favorite Bollywood actor. Well, Cole was the one taking the picture. Pia, Reese, and Rose were vogue-ing with the fish.

“How dare you take pictures with Shah without me!” Astrid protested and ran over to get in the pictures. “Teddy come join us!”

“You have to smize,” Reese instructed. “If you don’t, you’re out of the running to become America’s Next Top Model.”

“Leave the fish alone and let’s go,” Dom said as he came out from the bathroom approximately 50 photos later (we were in the middle of trying to candidly laugh because that’s what you do when you’re drunk).

“Fine,” Pia sighed and carried Shah Rukh Khan the fifth back to her room. “Liam’s texted about a hundred times and Harry’s probably getting pretty impatient too.”

“Rule for the night,” I announced. “No innuendos about Harry and me when he’s around, okay? I don’t want him to think we’ve been talking about him.”

“Just don’t play too hard to get, Teddy,” Astrid warned. “You <I>are</I> trying to hook up with him.”

***

To: Harry You’re at the party with Liam right?

From: Harry Yeah you on your way??

To: Harry In the elevator

From: Harry I’m in the kitchen. Find me when you get here

“Teddy!” Niall exclaimed as I pushed through a group of people standing in front of us. “You’re here!”

“Yeah, Teddy’s the only one who just got here,” Dom responded and rolled his eyes.

“Harry’s been looking for ya,” Niall continued, ignoring Dom’s comment. “Not sure where he is now though.”

“He texted me,” I replied and held up my phone. “He’s in the kitchen.”

“We’ll go with you,” Pia told me and grabbed Cole’s hand so he knew he was the ‘we’ in this situation. He wasn’t complaining about it.

The others stayed behind with Niall while the three of us weaved through the crowd of people to the kitchen. The kitchen wasn’t nearly as crowded as the rest of the apartment and I found Harry easily.

I liked apartment parties more than frats because they were much less crowded and didn’t feel like a sketchy sauna, but no party was immune to that mugginess that only a bunch of drunk college students in a small space could create. Everyone was sweaty and gross, but it was okay because we all were. Harry, it seemed, was the exception.

I don’t know if it was the tequila or the fact that I hadn’t had sex in months or Harry just being that attractive, but he seemed to be immune to the college party grossness.

“Teddy!” He announced when he noticed us at the entrance to the kitchen. He’d been leaning against the countertop with a red cup in his hand, but he put it down and walked the few steps over to us.

“Harry!” I copied as he appeared in front of me, easily wrapping his arms around me in greeting.

“I was starting to worry you’d stood me up,” he confessed as we hugged.

“Sorry about that,” I said and pulled back.

“Wanted to text you, but I didn’t want to seem too desperate,” he said with a lazy smirk that said he was confident enough to show he was interested in me. It was not something I was used to and I liked it.

“I don’t mind a little desperate,” I shrugged.

“Here,” Pia interrupted and held a cup out to me. “Hey Harry.”

“Hi Pia, hi Cole,” he greeted them both and stretched his arm out to grab his own cup before leaning against the counter with his side pressed against mine. “I think Liam’s on the balcony if you’re looking for him.”

“I’ll see him at some point,” she shrugged and took a sip before turning to Cole. “We should go back to the living room. I want to dance.”

“Fine with me,” Cole nodded, acting like he didn’t just come in his pants right then.

“Text me,” Pia told me and even though she didn’t add the ‘when you leave with Harry’, I knew Harry heard it by the way he shifted closer and his hand slid along the counter, behind my back.

Cole and Pia left, leaving Harry and me alone for the first time since I’d seen him last Sunday. We’d been texting, but seeing him at a party with a possible hook up at the end of night was very different.

“I have a feeling I’m going to win that bet,” Harry turned to face me, his hip against the counter.

“You mean I am going to win that bet,” I corrected and poked his chest. “Don’t forget you owe me.”

“Trust me,” he smirked and I felt it zip through my body. “I haven’t forgotten.”

Harry and I spent the next half hour in the kitchen pressed against the counter as people walked by us, sometimes stopping to say hi to one of us. He told me about his week, but we avoided talking about how my father is one of his professors because talking about your dad when you’re going to have sex is a little weird. I told him about my week, which was mainly him pouting about me not going out Thursday night and me showing him pictures of Fairbanks and Cactus Jack.

“They’re cute dogs,” Harry hummed as I swiped through photos of them. “Why’re they called Fairbanks and Cactus Jack?”

“They’re our Vice Presidents!” I exclaimed and turned my head to face him. “Charles Warren Fairbanks and John Nance ‘Cactus Jack’ Garner!”

“You’re really running with this dead presidents thing,” he commented with a smile.

“We’d be wasting a good joke if we didn’t,” I said. “We’ve all learned to embrace the absurdity.”

“I'm—”

“Harry! Teddy!” Niall yelled as he walked into the kitchen and pulled us into a group hug. “What are ya still doing here? Shouldn’t you be headed back to Harry’s room by now?”

“Wow that’s not invasive at all, Niall,” Harry deadpanned. “Shouldn’t you be somewhere else, not bothering us?”

“Someone’s in a mood,” Niall rolled his eyes at me then pointedly looked at Harry.

“No clue why,” I laughed. “You’re being a perfect gentleman.”

“Well, not perfect,” Niall corrected. “But, from what I hear, Harry’s quite close in the bed—”

“Shouldn’t you be smoking on the balcony or something?” Harry interrupted. “Instead of bothering me.”

“I’m leaving. I’m leaving,” Niall repeated and walked over to the sink. “Just getting some water.”

“How responsible of you,” I commented and Niall sent me a cheesy grin as he filled his red cup. “Bye Niall,” I said as he walked past us.

“Hopefully I won’t see you here later,” he replied with a suggestive tone. It seemed that I hadn’t been the only one talking to my friends about tonight.

“Sorry about that,” Harry apologized once Niall was gone and we had resumed our old positions. “Niall’s an idiot when he’s drunk—and when he’s sober.”

“Yeah, but he’s not wrong,” I said and took a sip of my drink.

“That’s not a sentence I hear a lot,” Harry replied. “What isn’t he wrong about?”

“Us still being here,” I replied, trying to keep my voice calm so I don’t come off as a total idiot. “We’ve just been talking the entire time. I feel like there’s more quiet places where we could talk.”

“Why, Teddy Roosevelt, are you propositioning me?” Harry gasped and pressed a hand to his chest in mock shock.

“Good diplomatic relations are very important to a successful presidency,” I joked.

“Not sure this is the method most presidents used,” he replied.

“To each their own,” I shrugged. “So what do you say?”

“I say my place is only a few blocks away.”

Harry slid his hand into mine and led me through the apartment to the front door. A few people said hi to both of us, but we didn’t stop to chat. We were out of the apartment and in the empty hallway waiting for the elevator when Harry turned to face me.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked and, while I knew that was the path we were headed down, I still felt a jump in my stomach.

“Yeah,” I nodded and looked at his lips as he leaned forward.

Harry’s hand left mine and both of his hands went to cup my face as he leaned in. Harry was tall enough that it was difficult for me reach up to his hair without being too awkward so I bunched my hands in his shirt at his hips. Our lips had barely touched, but my body was buzzing and I felt myself tugging him closer. I felt his tongue at my lips as my back pressed against the wall and the elevator dinged.

“We’ll take the next one,” Harry said against my lips and I didn’t object. I wanted to end up in his bed by the end of the night, but for now I was having fun kissing him in the hallway with my back against the wall and one of his hands pulling my thigh up against his side.

“Teddy!” A very familiar (and currently unwelcome) voice called from down the hall. “And Harry! What a coincidence seeing you two here.”

Harry let go of my thigh and pressed his forehead against mine before letting out a sigh. “Your friends have really great timing.”

“The best,” I agreed sarcastically then turned to face Pia, Cole, and Rose. They all looked far too pleased with themselves. “Hey friends, how are you?”

“Doing well,” Pia nodded because she was obviously the leader of this. “And how are you?”

“Better now that you’re here,” I smiled sweetly and leaned back into Harry who had settled in behind me.

“You know, we’re going to go get pizza,” Rose said and shared a glance with Cole and Pia because my friends are lame and I hate them. “You two should join since you aren’t busy or anything.”

“I’m down for pizza if you want,” Harry whispered in my ear. “I’ve got to make sure I have a lot of energy for later.”

“Did you just turn getting pizza with my friends into a sex joke?” I turned and asked him.

“You tell me,” he replied with a dumb smirk and I felt even dumber for being turned on.

“So what do you say?” Rose asked as the walked down the hall and Cole pressed the button. The elevator immediately opening from when we’d called it a little earlier.

“Sure, why not?” I replied and we all got into the elevator.

“Where are the others?” Harry asked.

“Still inside,” Pia replied. “We asked if they wanted to come, but they’re lame so they didn’t.”

“What are they doing that’s more important than pizza?”

I’d delayed having sex for getting pizza. I was committed.

“Well Reese and Astrid are trying to figure out if a guy is gay or not—he definitely isn’t. And Dom is smoking with Niall and Liam and some other guys.”

“And you decided not to stay there?” I asked and looked at Cole, who hadn’t said anything yet. It was probably because he was too busy trying to keep a ginormous grin off his face.

“Didn’t feel like it,” she said. “Cole and I were there for a bit, but it was boring so we left and found Rose.”

“And then we saw Joey,” Rose added and I felt my phone buzz in my pocket, but decided to leave it until Rose has finished. Joey was her ex who she dated for exactly 3 weeks before dumping him because he was always constipated and screamed when he vomited (which was a lot). “So we decided getting pizza would be fun and now we’re here with you.”

Everyone started talking about pizza so I took the moment to get my phone from my pocket. I checked the screen to see a message from Harry. When I looked up at him he was staring intently at Pia who was telling a story about the time she tried to make pizza and burned it when she was 14 (I was away on vacation so I wasn’t there to make it for her—a tragedy in Pia’s life), but he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye so I knew he’d been waiting for me to check my phone.

From: Harry I’m definitely going to win the bet. Early reward for your help tonight?

***

“Cole, that’s gross,” Rose wrinkled her nose as Cole sat down at our table with a slice of pineapple and ham pizza.

“Oh don’t pick on him,” Pia said and rubbed Cole’s shoulder as she sat down in the last free chair next to Cole. “We give him shit for everything else. Let him eat his pizza in peace.”

“Thanks Pia,” Cole said. “At least one of my friends is nice to me.”

“Hey, I’m definitely the nicest person in our friend group,” Rose argued. “But pineapple on pizza is where I draw the line.”

“I’m going to pee,” Harry announced and stood up. “Be back in a minute.”

“Oh my god, finally,” Pia groaned. “I thought he’d never leave.”

“What?” I frowned. “I thought you all liked Harry.”

“Yeah, but how are we supposed to gossip about him if he’s here,” Pia rolled her eyes like it should’ve been obvious. “So how was the kiss? It looked hot as fuck.”

“Yeah it was great until you interrupted,” I said. “Why did you do that by the way?”

“Pia thought it would be funny and we agreed,” Cole explained. “But in all fairness we didn’t think you’d actually come get pizza with us, so that’s on you.”

“A small detour,” I shrugged, but decided not to tell them what Harry said to me because I knew they’d start laughing and say something the minute Harry got back because they’re all terrible friends.

“Well it’s time for you to get back on track and for me to go to sleep,” Pia announced. “Cole, Rose can I sleep at yours? I don’t feel like getting an Uber and we can just make Reese stay at my place so I can sleep in his bed.”

“Sure,” Cole replied. “I’ll text him.”

Rose made the whip sound this time.

“I’m glad to see you didn’t steal my pizza,” Harry commented as he sat back down in his chair, his arm finding its way onto the back of mine.

“My pizza is better,” I told him.

“We got the same type,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, but mine is still better.”

“Wow, I’m so tired,” Pia announced and yawned then looked pointedly at Rose.

“Oh! Me too,” Rose seconded and yawned as well. “So, so tired. I’m ready to go back to the apartment.”

“Cole looks tired too,” Pia said. “We should go.”

“Oh, I—” Harry started.

“Bye Harry and Teddy,” Pia said. “It’s been so nice getting pizza with you both, but we’re going to go now. You two should go too—but somewhere else. Not with us.”

“Your friends aren’t the only ones who aren’t good at being subtle,” I told Harry as Pia, Cole, and Rose threw away their trash and left us.

“Nice to know I’m not alone,” he grinned then wiped his hands off on his jeans. “You want to go then?”

“Thought you’d never ask.”