Suddenly married (slow updates)

Chapter 5

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The wind blew violently through Astrid's hair as they continued to ascend above the clouds.

Astrid didn't even notice that she had closed her eyes when they took off.
   It wasn't until Hiccup spoke; "you can open your eyes now", that she heeded, and did, once again doing as he said without thinking twice.

The first thing Astrid saw when she opened her azure eyes the first thing she saw were the auburn hair of her husband being pushed back by the wind.
   They were no longer ascending, but gliding gently in the sky just above the clouds.
   The next thing she saw nearly took her breath away. Just above her head was a clear and beautiful starry night.
   It was beautiful.
    Now she looked down and saw that the white clouds were tinted a gentle blue, colored by the night sky and the moon's bright light.

Only once in a while did Toothless have to bask his wings, just to keep the speed up.
   She studied his movement noting that the sky truly was the dragon's element. Never had she looked upon a dragon flying so gracefully.

Hiccup remained dead silent, wondering if she was as mesmerized as he had been when he first experienced this, or if she was terrified.
   He got his answer when her grip on him loosened, no longer holding on for dear life, but as if she was too distracted by something else to not even consider plummeting down.

She couldn't help herself, she smiled, and without thinking twice about it she rested her head on Hiccup's shoulders.
   She shouldn't have been afraid of this.
   She looked at Berk in all of our glory, lit up by torches that had been lit by the dragons, each tamed and loved by their respective masters. She had thought it was ridiculous when she first arrived, now, however... she supposed she could understand, and she understood why Hiccup had wanted her to experience this.
   This new way of looking at the world.

Suddenly, as she looked past Berk, looking at the horizon she saw the faint lights of northern lights, dancing and waving as if it was for her and Hiccup alone.

"Northern lights are rare on my island" she suddenly said, hushed, almost too quiet to be heard over the wind flowing past Hiccup's ears and pushing her voice back.

"What?" He raised an eyebrow, arching his neck to look at her, and he saw her look into the distance.
   Following her line of sight, he also noticed the lights on the horizon.
   "Do you like them?"

"I would always get so excited on the rare occasion that they'd show themselves. I would stay out all night, either until morning or until the lights passed me by"

"They're pretty common here, so it will be a lot of sleepless nights if you plan to continue that ritual" Hiccup chuckled but then steadied himself. "Although, I'd keep you company...if you'd like that"
   The offer was so kind and so sincere that in spite of herself Astrid couldn't help but blush a little, hurrying her face deeper into his shoulder to ensure that he wouldn't notice, but unbeknownst to Astrid feeling her so much closer caused Hiccup to blush as well. Both displayed at least a tint of feelings for each other, and neither knew.

"I'd like that" Astrid spoke after a few long beats of silence, and she felt a tenseness in Hiccup's shoulder that she had never noticed disappear.
   She knew he was a famed warrior, but she was amused that even with such a title he seemed like a sensitive and awkward guy. She looked forward to getting to know him even better throughout their lives together.

She glanced down at the black dragon she was placed upon. She knew that to get to know Hiccup even better she had to learn to fully embrace his way of life. She might never become like him, but...she could definitely accept it after this day.
   Reaching down, almost automatically she stroked the black scales, and Toothless let out a sound of delight that pulled at Astrid's heart strings.
   "Almost like a puppy"

Hiccup laughed aloud and gave Toothless a few pats on the head. "Actually, a lot like a kitten. Put a ray of light in front of him and he loses all reason and sanity"

Now Toothless let out a sound that definitely wasn't of delight. Astrid thought it sounded like he was offended, and it turned out she was right when Hiccup began mocking him, showing Astrid a playful side.
"What? Oh, are you sulking you big baby boo?" He sounded like he was talking to a baby and Toothless snorted in return, choosing to be the bigger person. Of course, if Astrid hadn't been with them Toothless would have reacted by diving down into the water and soaking his rider to the bone, but he was too kind to do that to Astrid who was still learning to accept dragons and all their antics.
"Something tells me that the next time I fly alone I'm gonna pay for that" Hiccup shuddered as if reading Toothless's mind.

Astrid was about to make an attempt at comforting her husband, but then she heard the dragon let out what definitely was an evil laugh and she made a different approach, choosing not to lie. "I think you're right"

OoOoOoO

Unfortunately, the quite romantic flight as it turned out to be had to end when Astrid let it be known that she was starting to feel a little unwell, perhaps it was the different oxygen level that Vikings of course knew nothing of, but most likely it was because she was getting a bit motion sick, nothing else was to be expected with the kind of take-of they had had.

"Well," Astrid started as Hiccup took her hand and gently helped her off of Toothless's back. "You said this was...a wedding gift?"

"Yeah. Sort of"

Astrid turned her face away from her husband and brushed a strand of hair that had gone loose from her braid behind her ear. "I could...think of much worse presents. It was actually...enjoyable" she finally turned to look back at him to see his eyes light up. "You're pretty incredible Hiccup Haddock"

"Not me" Hiccup shook his head and glanced at Toothless who was watching the two of them in anticipation, Toothless liked the mate that his friend had found.

"Not just you" Astrid smirked.
   He was humble, that was for sure.

A/N
A short one, but rather that than not publishing at all trying to get 500 more words in right?