581Okay so I lied. This thing is way too big for two parts and I have to make it three. But that's okay, right?
Even though this is basically a PWP the title of this fic should indicate that maybe it's not all fun and games. I'm not going to delve into complete angst, but my fluff is always tinged with a little bit of heavier themes to balance it out.
Anyway, enjoy?
"Is there a comfortable place where I can lay it all out?" Astrid asked, turning to glance at him. A strange look crossed Hiccup's face and she realized the nuance in that phrasing. "You know, my books and stuff. So I can study," she said hastily.
"Um, yeah! If you want to be in the same room as me you can have the bed. I have to work on the computer."
"Okay," she nodded. Her stomach flip flopped. His bed.
"Want anything to drink before we start?"
"Water will be fine."
"Sure," he said, reaching into his fridge and grabbing two bottles of water.
She tried to regulate her nervous breathing as he gestured to his bedroom.
"After you."
"Such a gentleman."
"Always," he said with a smirk, but she had the sense there was a bit of roguishness behind it.
"You just wanted to get me into your bed," she accused, eyes dancing.
"I was that transparent, huh? Can you blame me? Also it totally worked, so there's that."
"Just remember if you're a gentleman, I'm a lady, so don't be getting any ideas."
"Hey, I'm just here to work on my Typography assignment, I don't know what you're talking about."
He handed her the bottle of water with a huge grin. "Let me make the bed, so you have somewhere to sit."
He pulled his disheveled plain white sheets up to the pillows and straightened out the navy blue comforter so she had a clean surface to sprawl out on. She sat down and claimed the space with notes and books and he turned on the lamp beside his bed so she could see. She thanked him as he plopped into his computer chair, opening up Adobe InDesign.
It only took two minutes for her to realize she was never going to be able to concentrate on her notes. The soft motions and clicks of the mouse weren't distracting, but the user certainly was. She kept reading the same sentence over and over, not absorbing any of it. Instead she sneaked glances at the back of his head and his computer screen, trying to see the image he had created. She tapped her pencil on her open textbook page.
"So, what are you working on?" she asked, breaking the silence.
He twisted in his chair to glance at her.
"Oh, ah. We're supposed to take a word or phrase and morph the text into something that represents it. Like, take the word 'fish' and then make the letters into the shape of a fish. I mean, that's overly simplistic, but essentially the base of the assignment."
"So what are you doing with it then?"
"I have the word 'forest' and I'm trying out different compositions to see which one I like best."
"Can I see?" She leaned over his shoulder, placing her hands on her knees.
"Sure. This is the first one I have. It's too intricate."
"Oh, it's beautiful!" The word was nestled, almost hidden in a scene of willow trees, the letters making up the trunks and the branches arranged in pleasing patterns.
"Not very practical. No one could use this as a logo really."
"I suppose. I like it though."
"Thanks. This is the next one."
He parsed down the details of the willows into vector art, bold in one solid color of hunter green.
"That could totally be used as a logo," she said.
"Yeah, if that's what a client was going for," he agreed. "Here's the last one I'm still working on."
It was a mix of the two; he added some of the details back in and used three shades of green to differentiate the branches, letters, and the ground.
"I like that one the best," she said. "It's striking, but captures some of the pretty details from the first one."
"That's what I was thinking too. I'll probably turn this one in. Thanks for your advice."
"No problem," she said, straightening up. She meandered back to her perch on his bed, giving up on ever being able to concentrate. She was disappointed in herself, studying was the numero uno single most important thing she needed to do and here she was, in some cute guy's bedroom on pins and needles waiting for an opening to get busy.
She fiddled with her pencil. Ruff was right, it really had been a long time since she had some fun. It was a Friday night after all, it wasn't like her tests were tomorrow. Every other single person she knew was out partying right now. Well, everyone except for him.
She stole another glance at him. He was contemplating his logo on the screen, rubbing his chin in one hand.
"Ugh," he groaned, scrubbing his face with both hands. "Sometimes you get to that point where you just can't stare at it anymore. I have to take a break."
"Yeah, good idea," she said. "The words are swimming on the page." Never mind the fact the only studying she had gotten done was counting the freckles on the back of his neck while he worked.
She cleared off the bed, piling her notes and books in a neat stack on the floor.
He flopped down next to her, leaning his back against the wall.
"So, I take it you're not a fan of the music I listen to or you wouldn't be so adamant I turn it down. What do you like?"
"Oh, um," she said, deliberating. "I don't know. The radio?"
He gave her an incredulous look. "The radio? That's it? That doesn't answer anything. That's like asking what your favorite flavor of cake is and you answer 'birthday'," he laughed.
"Hey, shut up!" she said, giving his shoulder a light push.
"What radio station do you listen to then? Pop? Country? Rap? Classic rock? Death metal?"
"Oh yeah, definitely death metal. I mean, I'm hardcore, you don't even know."
"Okay, so the things I know about you are: you're lame and boring and study all the time instead of partying with your roommate, you don't handle stress very well, your favorite flavor of cake is birthday, and you like death metal," he teased.
"Oh, oh okay two can play at this game," she said, narrowing her eyes with a grin. "You have a spoiled cat named Toothless who ironically has all of his teeth, you probably have eardrum damage from listening to your music so loudly, you're just as lame and boring because you're also doing homework instead of partying on a Friday night, and you invite girls over to your apartment after knowing them for half an hour. Oh and also you're the sassiest person I've ever met, and that's including my roommate."
He nodded. "Yeah, sounds about right."
"You're ridiculous."
"You're the one who elected to spend time with me."
"You are not wrong, there."
Toothless jumped up onto the bed with a cat trill, purring and fluffing his tail into her face.
"Oh, hey buddy! Where have you been all night?" she said, sinking her fingers into his fur.
"He likes to nap in his little cat house thing in the living room. And then interrupt at the most inconvenient times."
"He's fine, he's not a pest at all," she said, cooing to Toothless. He ate up the attention, giving his owner the side eye.
"Yeah yeah, I see what you're doing," he muttered at the cat.
"Being adorable, that's what he's doing," she said, scratching under Toothless's chin. He rewarded her with a purr and rubbed up against her arms, ducking under her hands to be petted. "You're just a big sweetie."
"Yeah, until he's had enough and then scratches your arms all to hell."
"Oh, he wouldn't do that, would he," she said, cupping Toothless's face. He rumbled in his chest and crawled into her lap, turning around three times and kneading at her legs. He slipped his feet underneath himself and perched in her lap.
"I'm sorry I threatened to get him evicted," she said sincerely, running her hand over his back. "He's a really sweet cat."
"Sweet? Ha! I wish you would've come over to yell at me sooner," he said. "He's like a naughty kid, an angel for you and a total brat for me. Apparently you're the beast tamer."
"He knows he'll get a reaction out of you." She giggled. "He does it on purpose."
"Hell yeah he does it on purpose! He's my best little bud, but sometimes I think he acts like a dick just cause he knows he can."
As though Toothless knew he was being trash talked, he got up from her lap in a huff and jumped off the bed.
"Yeah, yeah, go pout in the living room. I'll give you a treat later, you fickle little monster."
"No wonder he scratches you!" she said.
"Nah, I tease him but he knows I love him to pieces. Enough about my fluffy roommate. You never answered my question. 'The radio' is a totally lame and unacceptable answer. What station do you turn it to? Smooth R&B? Classic 90s hits? Golden Oldies? Admit it, you totally listen to the oldies station."
"I think I can see where Toothless gets his attitude from."
"Whiny hipster music? Oh, don't tell me you only listen to underground stuff, like stuff no one's ever heard of because it's so not mainstream. Do you only own vinyls? Are you a closet hipster? We can't be friends."
"Not even close to a hipster. Seems to me you're the dick, not Toothless," she said, laughing. "I basically listen to mainstream. Like, whatever isn't country and popular. Not that country's bad, but it doesn't really do it for me."
"I guess I can accept that."
"It's better than Modest Mouse," she said, giving him a side eye and grinning.
"Oh! Honestly, I'm impressed you even know who they are. I have a slightly alternative off-beat taste in music, but I can listen to mainstream stuff too. My playlist range is pretty random."
"You really seem to like music, huh?"
"You don't?"
She shrugged, apathetic. "It's nice."
"Nice? That's all you have to say? Music is nice?"
"What's so wrong about that?"
"It's not wrong, I'm just shocked. Have you never connected with the lyrics or melody of a song?"
"I mean, sure I guess. I listen to music, I've just never thought about it too deeply before."
"But that's the thing. If you read the lyrics to songs a lot of them are like poetry. Adding in the musical element just makes them even more powerful."
"I'm not disagreeing with you. I understand why other people respond to music. I'm just saying I don't all that much," she said defensively.
"Crazy. What's it like walking around without a soul?"
"Just fine. I get stuff done."
"Apparently. Stuff like studying, huh?"
"Yeppers."
"I've never met someone who doesn't get music."
"I don't see why it's such a big deal. Anyway, now that we have that extremely important topic settled..."
"Trying your hand at the sarcasm, huh? Good, but not great. You still have a ways to go."
She bumped his shoulder with hers. "Maybe you should teach me."
"There's a lot of things I could teach you."
Butterflies burst into flight inside her belly. She raised her eyebrows. "That sounded like a double entendre, sir."
"It was meant to be one, milady."
"Look at you, totally shameless."
"You haven't run screaming yet."
"Don't give me a reason to," she said, shifting her body, inching closer to his face.
"Still a perfect gentleman," he said, holding his palms out.
"Well, I didn't say you had to be completely perfect..." she said, voice dropping low.
"I feel like I should be playing Keith Sweat right now. How do you feel about classic 90s again?"
She leaned in, face tilted, so close she could see the smattering of fine freckles on the bridge of his nose and a little scar on his chin. "Do you always talk this much?"
"Nervous habit. You're- ah... um... you're very pretty-"
"Then do something about it," she said, barely above a whisper, dispelling her nerves with a surge of confidence over reducing that smart mouth to a babbling mess. Her lips were a breath away from his, daring him to make the first move.
He barely brushed his lips against hers in a chaste kiss, testing the waters. It had been so long even this feather light touch had a ripple effect throughout her limbs and a slinky shiver raced down her spine. He pulled back slightly like an apology, as if to give her a chance to push him away or rethink her situation, but she didn't let him escape for long.
She slid her hand around his neck, thankful he seemed to read her signals, dipping back in for another taste. The butterflies quelled as molten hot lava pooled in her stomach, dripping lower until she felt like she was burning from the inside, pulsing and wanting. It really had been so long...
She tilted her head to get a better angle, fingers reaching up and gripping the collar of his shirt. The slow sensual movement of his lips set fire to her belly, but it wasn't going to be enough. She needed more.
She deepened the motion, hoping he clued in on her urgency. He sensed the change and parted his lips, she used the opportunity to brush her tongue against his bottom lip, and the whole dynamic shifted into one of need. He responded in kind, opening his mouth wider and that hot lava erupted when his tongue brushed against hers. He was considerate, taking care not to shove his entire tongue in her mouth like guys had in the past, but teasing, soft, caressing her mouth with talented strokes. If he was this good at kissing, where else on her body could he put that tongue to good use-
She suppressed a moan at the thought of that. Just the idea was enough to spur her into action, gripping his collar again and laying back against his pillows, tugging him down with her. He settled next to her, taking care not to lay his entire weight against her and keeping his lower half a respectful distance, especially his legs. Even though she was grateful he seemed like a decent guy, she didn't exactly want respectful right now. She wanted to know what those narrow hips of his would feel like between hers and she found it hard to care if that was forward of her.
Instead of the bold move she really wanted to do, she bid her time and placed her hand on his side, molding her palm with the curve of his rib cage, walking her fingers up the front of his chest with her other hand.
He exhaled though his nose at her touch and she used her knee to caress his upper thigh. She felt his responding jolt and tremor in his arms. Curiosity gripped her, wondering if he was enjoying himself as much as she was. Shifting herself closer to him, she arched her hips and placed her right thigh between his legs, gliding up, just to see what he was working with. He was unable to contain his groan and he shuddered. She grinned against his mouth.
He was definitely enjoying this.
She edged her right leg under him, pushing her hips into him until he got the hint, settling on top of her like a puzzle piece fitting into place. She bent her knees and curled her legs around his waist. She sighed appreciatively, hands on his hips and pelvic bone nestled against certain things that felt way better than they should. If she weren't careful she might get carried away, although at this point if he went with her it didn't seem so bad.
The close proximity brought the scent of him with it, boyish with the hint of day old cologne, mostly gone but for just a trace. His bedding smelled the same, and she threaded her fingers into that mop of unruly hair, endeavoring to make it even messier.
Their kisses had become frantic and deconstructed by this time, the focus now on exploring the points of contact between their bodies rather than studying each other's kissing technique. So far his hands had strictly remained in safe platonic areas of her body, her sides, gripping her thighs, palm flat against the small of her back to arch her hips into his. She stifled a moan, this felt better than it ever had before and he managed to press into that specific little spot between her legs so perfectly she was seeing stars in her vision. His hand slid down to cup her backside and she tightened her grip on his hair.
He deviated from her mouth for the first time, kissing her cheek, the soft skin in front of her ear, sucking on the point where her jaw met her neck. The hand that had been appreciatively fondling her fleshier areas drifted up past her shoulder and tugged the hair tie off her braid. He raked through the plaits, loosening them so her tresses flowed free. His fingertips brushed against the back of her neck and she shivered at the faint reverent touch.
This time that clever hand had a much different destination in mind, and a particularly deep kiss distracted her while it landed on her side just below her breast. She knew this game however, and she traced her fingertips against his wrist and forearm, up and down, take the hint, jump in, it's fine. His hand inched a little higher, fingers brushing against the under-wire of her bra. She increased the pressure of her touch, nudging his arm and he smoothed his hand over her. He squeezed once and she grinned and pushed up into his palm, indicating his hesitance was unnecessary. He swirled a firm fingertip over the padding of her bra where her nipple resided underneath and she sucked in a breath through her nose. He broke away to peck kisses at the corner of her mouth, trailing down, placing a kiss atop the swell of her breast above the neckline of her tank.
He was talented at kissing and she discovered he was also just as gifted at necking. Lips traversed the column of her throat, the day old scruff on his chin scraping her delicate skin, making her tremble and quake all over. Light electric caresses with the tip of his tongue, using just enough saliva to make it slippery, but not wet or sloppy. One second he was breathing cool against her slick skin, the next his mouth was solid against the base of her neck, sucking hard. Her entire body went taught, arching into him, fingers and toes curling and she gasped next to his ear. The air was chilly when he pulled away and checked his handiwork, a patch of purple red blooming on her skin.
Oh, he marked her, she twisted her hands into his shirt and clenched her thighs around him, pressing her mouth firmly to his.
She contemplated going against every rational thought she had ever had and taking Ruff's advice for once, throwing caution to the wind and letting this stranger work his magic on her. This wasn't high school anymore, right? It wasn't like she didn't have prior experience. She just normally reserved this for a relationship.
She wanted to give in to temptation, she really did, but her rational side clawed its way to the forefront and halted everything in its tracks.
"Hey, um," she said, breaking away from his mouth and panting. "I just want you to know, I don't usually do this. I mean I'm having fun but I'm also not going to, you know, go any further than this-"
"Oh, no I don't expect you to, don't worry," he said, voice low and husky, placing little kisses along her neck, licking the mark decorating her pale skin. "I don't... really do this either."
"Lying to me already?" she teased him. "I have evidence to the contrary."
He flushed, embarrassed. "Okay, I meant with girls I've just met. She was- is- um... a friend."
She had the sense that particular relationship was something complicated. She squirmed beneath him. "Am I, um, intruding? I don't want to mess anything up-"
"No, no," he said, quick to reassure. "That was... like I said, that was a mistake. I'm glad it didn't happen. And it's not going to happen."
She looked down and toward his door. "Okay."
He rubbed a hand over his face. "Yeah, I guess that's kind of... a mess. I'm sorry, I didn't want to involve you in that."
"I sort of made myself be involved when I caused that fight."
"Which, once again, turned out to be a good thing."
She shrugged, looking sheepish and awkward. She straightened out her legs, rubbing her feet down the length of his, toying with the fabric of his sweatpants and feeling along the muscle of his calf. He jerked his left leg and she frowned when her toes caught on hard plastic. He straightened his arms and hovered over her, looking spooked.
"Sorry," he said quickly, wincing as she sputtered out her own apology.
"I didn't mean to- are you okay? Was that-"
"Yeah, I um... Shit. Sorry-"
He rolled off of her, casting an arm over his eyes. She sat up.
"Do you wear a leg brace?" she asked curiously. "Is that why you walk with a slight limp? I mean it's not that noticeable, don't worry, but I've been listening to you walk around for two weeks and it's just- "
He heaved a sigh. "It's okay. It's not a brace."
"No?"
"I guess you might as well know. I have a prosthetic."
"Oh..." she said, shifting her gaze to his leg. Her stomach twisted, not from fear or repulsion but simply the startling realization that he was missing a body part most people had intact and she couldn't contain the natural wonder at how that came to be. She didn't want to offend him, but she didn't have any first hand experience interacting on a personal level with someone with a disability. Curiosity won over tact.
"Can I ask how it happened? You're just so young. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."
He removed the arm from his eyes and rubbed it through his shaggy bangs.
"Ah, car accident. When I was sixteen. Drunk driver T-boned me from the side, near the front wheel. They had to use the Jaws of Life to extract me. Car was totaled."
"Oh, God," she said, touching his arm tenderly.
"Yeah. They just... couldn't save it. I was lucky to be alive, if he had hit any farther down on the driver's side door I wouldn't be talking to you right now."
"I can't even imagine."
"Yeah, it was ah, pretty crazy. Thankfully I don't... remember most of it."
She frowned. He avoided her gaze, eyes barely open and staring at the wall. She imagined this subject was hard for him to talk about, especially to a girl he had officially known for a few hours, but they did just spend the last sixty minutes getting intimately acquainted with each other's mouths. None of her actions so far warranted his skittishness.
"Hey, are you okay? I'm sorry about what happened to you." She placed her hand on his shoulder more firmly.
He glanced at her. "Look, I probably should've told you, but it's not something I go around advertising either, so if you want to leave now that you know, I'm not going to stop you."
She tilted her head. "Leave?"
He shrugged. "Yeah. I mean, if it freaks you out I get it."
She shook her head. "It doesn't freak me out."
He frowned at her. "You don't have to spare my feelings, I'm used to it-"
"I'm telling the truth, you're fine. I mean, it startled me at first of course, because I wasn't expecting it, but seriously. You're fine, don't worry about it."
He sat up, leaning his back against the wall and placing his elbows on his knees. She studied him, at how flighty he was acting. Now it made sense why he was conscientious that his leg didn't come into contact with her while they were making out. She assumed his gait was due to a brace, which is what made her sneakily go exploring with her toes in the first place. His body language suggested resignation, like he was waiting for her to screech in disgust and storm out for his deception.
It struck her that his behavior indicated he had been through this before.
"Hiccup? How have other girls reacted to this?"
"Ahh... not always favorably, to be honest."
"Did you seriously have a girl walk out on you after figuring it out?"
"Well, not exactly I guess. I've never had someone discover it in the moment, so this makes it doubly awkward. It's more, I had a shred of game, and then they'd figure out the leg and I no longer had any game."
She shook her head. "That's horrible. Dumb girls."
A small smile pulled at the corner of his lip. "Thanks."
"They don't know what they're missing," she said honestly.
"Okay, don't overdo it."
"No, seriously. You're the best kisser I've ever been with."
He raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
She nodded. "Yeah. Honest."
"That's... you're just admitting that?"
"Why not?"
"Cause you're a girl and you're supposed to play all those mind games."
"I hate playing games," she said, fiddling with a strand of her hair. "Sometimes I wish people were more straightforward and just say what they're thinking. Why waste so much time being stupid about all of it."
"Careful, you'll bring down all of society," he joked. "People don't like to put themselves out on the line."
"I guess."
"No one wants to just hand their heart out to everyone. That's a good way to get it broken."
"Well I know that. I just think people waste a lot of time instead of clearing the air and communicating, you know?"
"So is your way of communicating banging on your neighbor's wall?" he asked slyly, giving her a look.
"Hey!" she said, gently punching him in the bicep.
"Ow," he complained, mostly in jest.
"Maybe I should just bang my neighbor instead?"
"Excuse me?" he squeaked.
She winked. "I'm sorry, you set me up. I had to say it."
"I mean, I'm not saying no..." he said, teasing.
"See? Communication!"
He shook his head in disbelief. "How are you still here? You're... you, looking like that, and I'm me, some random guy with one leg. It doesn't make any sense."
"I think it makes perfect sense. You have a leg and a half, don't discount that. And you're not entirely random. I've been listening to you for two weeks, I probably know more about your habits than you even realize." She paused, then laughed at herself. "That doesn't sound creepy or stalkerish at all."
"Should I be concerned?" he asked, mirth in his voice. "I'm kidding. Honestly I'm shocked you came back."
"Why wouldn't I come back?"
"Because your first impression of me was a two week build up of annoyance over all those habits, you know, while you were not stalking me, culminating in you storming over to yell at me in person and threatening to have my cat evicted."
"I'm really sorry about that," she said genuinely. "You've been going through a rough time and I made it worse."
"Yeah, maybe. You definitely made up for it tonight, though."
She trailed a finger up his forearm. "I'm not done making it up to you."
"Still don't know what I did to deserve this."
"Your dumb cat was really obnoxious and you played your music too loud and then you turned out to be really hot."
"You think I'm hot?" he grinned.
"Nah, I make out with random dudes who disturb my beauty sleep at two in the morning all the time."
"Oh, well I'll never disturb your sleep again, if that's your secret for being so beautiful." His eyes widened at the same time as hers, and he blushed brilliantly, like he hadn't meant to speak that thought out loud.
She lightly balled her hands. "Beautiful? You think I'm beautiful?"
"Wow, did not mean to let that one slip, but you said you appreciate honesty, so yes. You're very beautiful. I'm sure you already know that."
Her blush matched his. "Well, I guess. I mean, people say things. But no one's ever said it so sincerely before."
"Well I meant it."
"You're actually very sweet underneath all that sass," she said, leaning into him, drowsiness tugging at her eyelids.
"I can be sweet now and then, if I try really hard."
She scooted closer, resting her cheek against his collarbone and yawned. The exhaustion that had slowly been creeping up on her seemed to hit all at once, brought on by the satisfaction and contentment after being physically close with someone. "What time is it? It must be getting late."
He glanced at his alarm clock. "It's one thirty in the morning." He snorted. "Is it past your bedtime?"
She dug her fingers into his stomach, disappointed when he wasn't ticklish. "I stay up late studying a lot. But I prefer to do it in quiet solitude, without boys blasting their annoying music."
"Seriously?"
"Oh I'm never going to let that one- go-" she said, the last word of her sentence lost in another yawn. "It's been a long day, I guess." Her eyes drooped closed without her permission. She felt warm, cozy and relaxed. His arm slid around her waist, fingertips drawing idly across the skin of her lower back peeking out from between her sweat pants and tank top. She hummed, his action strangely intimate for their situation, but she couldn't find it in herself to care and she gripped his shirt, cuddling into him. It didn't take long before she was out.