Hiccup is so not a Viking (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} hiccup_) wrote in ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} valarlogs,@ 2014-08-25 18:08:00 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
What: Hiccup comes over to make food
When: Friday, August 22nd - After these texts
Where: Astrid's apartment
Rating/Warnings: PG-13
Status: Complete
It’s amazing how much cleaning can be done when you’re expecting someone at a certain time.
Astrid wasn’t really messy, no. Her apartment actually felt more feminine than someone would assume, and it definitely had a lived-in, ‘indie chic’ feel to it. It was the type of small that could be considered cozy, but if more than two people were in it than it would earn that awkward ‘cramped’ vibe. She freshened the living room up by lighting scented candles. After that, it was the waiting game.
She had honestly been paranoid about Hiccup not dreaming. What if he thought she was crazy, a loon, and needed some psychiatric counseling? And then she thought, hey, why should I care? It was strange to even admit a part of her would. Even stranger that they’d coincidentally been sharing the same dream world.
Who knows how things were going to end.
What in the world had he gotten himself into? He didn’t really mean to just invite himself over for a “date” with Astrid. And he was cooking for her. It was like his mother had meddled in this conversation and she was secretly laughing somewhere. He quickly jumped into the shower to make sure that he was clean and then went downstairs to go and find supplies to bring over to her place. He wasn’t even sure what he wanted to make for her, but a few ideas went through his head and he quickly grabbed the supplies.
Once again he was thankful for the handicapped car his parents got him and it made it so much easier to go over to her place. He parked in a visitor parking spot in her lot and studied himself in the rear view mirror. The nerves were getting to him and he was doing his best to just pretend that Astrid was a normal friend of his. With a deep breath he got out of the car and went to the front door to buzz up to her apartment.
The sound of the doorbell made her jolt nervously. She didn’t need to use the peek hole to know who it was, and she had no idea where this sudden strange awkwardness was coming from, but she was going to do her best to not show it.
It was just Hiccup, right?
“Hey, chef,” Astrid greeted with a smile once the door was open. Her hair had been tied back into a side braid - a similar style from how she wore it in the dreams - and she wore a casual set of jeans and a v-neck shirt. Nothing questionable, except for maybe the v-neck. She opened the door wider to let him in. “So, what’s for dinner?”
It was a little strange to see her wearing that same hair style like the dream, but he knew it liked it in the dream and he liked it now. It was kind of amusing to see the similarities between the dreams and their real life, but there was a severe lack of dragons, which upset him greatly. But this wasn’t time to think about that when he had Astrid in front of him. A smile appeared on his face as he entered the apartment, “Mac and Cheese pizza. You’re going to fall in love with me and I can skip the expensive gift step.”
He walked inside and quickly surveyed the layout and figured out where the kitchen was. He immediately started walking over towards it and stopped in front of the counter so he could spread out his ingredients, “Do you want to help cook or are you going to watch me? I’m cool with that if you want me to act like I’m on a cooking show.” It was something he had done growing up when he tried to emulate his dad on his tv show.
“Mac and cheese pizza?” Astrid gave him the strangest look after shutting the door and following him across the living room. She had stools in front of her kitchen nook, considering the layout of the apartment lacked space for an actual kitchen, and she sat on one of them to watch him. “This is either going to be really good, or a total disaster. I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
She leaned back then, crossed her arms, and grinned deviously. “Plus, legends say a guy that can cook is a keeper.”
“It’s amazing, don’t even give me that look,” he quipped quickly as he looked at her over his shoulder. He spread out his supplies and started getting things prepared, “It’s going to be really good. And legends are a wonderful thing. They only become legends if the subject continues to be true.” He left out the part where he was going to say that she sounded like his mom in regards to him cooking for a date.
He started out cooking the pasta first to get it out of the way after he preheated the oven, “So today on the show we’re going to make mac and cheese pizza. It’s so simple even blonde girls who only cook ramen can make it. You basically make mac and cheese like normal, throw it on a pizza crust, and away you go.” As he waited for the water to boil he looked over at her with a grin while he was speaking and waited to see her reaction.
“I have the strangest feeling you’re talking about me,” she said, tilting her head to the side. She wasn’t annoyed, no; that grin she wore definitely said otherwise. “I’m not sure if this is an original recipe or if it’s something you ripped from the internet. I can see you thinking long and hard about, ‘hmmm, what other way can I cook mac and cheese’ and this somehow being the outcome.”
And since he was cooking, she might as well play good hostess and get them some drinks. Astrid peeked into her fridge. “I have...canned rootbeer. And orange juice.”
She paused.
“And tap water. What’s your pick?”
“Internet, always the internet. I get bored and sometimes to searches for how to cook things in new weird ways. This peaked my interest and now it’s one of my favorite meals to have,” he answered her honestly. He was getting a little distracted by that smile and immediately told himself to man up and not think about it as he tried to cook.
“Um, rootbeer? Pizza and rootbeer totally go together,” it took him a moment to answer because it was between that and water. But rootbeer sounded a million times better than boring water. He turned back to the water that was finally boiling and added in his noodles. He hoped that this actually came out good like usual and he could impress her.
Rootbeer it was. She took out two cans, popped them open, and set one aside for him. Instead of gravitating back to the stool she stayed close to him in the kitchen, but not so invasive that she was going to be in the way of him moving around.
“You know, I was worried for a moment there. That you wouldn’t start the whole dream thing, either,” Astrid admitted awkwardly and rubbed the back of her head. “Otherwise I’d really be that crazy chick you’d rather avoid on campus.”
A playful half smile appeared on his face as she spoke about the possibility of him not dreaming and her being the crazy chick. He reached over to grab his can of soda and took a sip, “Actually, I dreamt a few days ago and I didn’t feel like telling you just to make you sweat it. And don’t worry, I wouldn’t avoid you on campus just because you’re crazy. It makes things more interesting.”
He set the can back down as he started to whip up the cheese sauce for the noodles and pulled a noodle out with a spoon. He held it out to her, “Blow and then try it and tell me if it’s cooked enough for you.”
Blow, huh?
Well, at least he was cooking her dinner first.
Whoa. My mind just went somewhere weird.
Shaking off the thought, she leaned in, blew, and ate the noodle. It...tasted and felt like a noodle, so Astrid gave him a nod of approval. “Tastes fine to me. Jerk. So. What’s Toothless like?”
It’s one thing to make friends with a dragon. Another thing to make friends with a Night Fury. Dreaming came with all the knowledge her other self knew, and she knew damn well that sounded almost impossible. She didn’t think Hiccup was lying though, and that’s what made the situation more curious.
If he could read her thoughts he would have turned a deep shade of red. But instead he finished up the sauce and combined it with the noodles, “Toothless is….interesting. It’s like having a giant cat as your pet - well maybe more like a lion or something. He’s dangerous, but also curious and we get along really well. It took a while for him to warm up to me, but now we’re inseparable. Dragons really aren’t that bad and I don’t know why we tried so hard to kill them all.”
He spread the noodles onto the pizza crust and then put the pizza in to the oven before setting a timer on his phone. He leaned against the counter and furrowed his brow, “It’s just weird though because I have all this knowledge of my life before I started dreaming. Like that my Mom is gone in that world and growing up there. I didn’t know that would come with it as well.”.
Astrid listened to his explanation of Toothless and honestly didn’t have much to contribute. The last dreams she had were them training to fight dragons, and Hiccup somehow becoming the Dragon Whisperer. It did make sense in retrospect though, and she wasn’t about to question him. Her dream version may be skeptical and suspicious of him, but she wasn’t.
“It’s like another person’s life jammed into our heads.” There were some blurred lines between her real memories, and these...dreams sometimes. She had to sometimes think and remember which ones were hers, and which ones weren’t. “And we’re getting their stuff, too. I got the axe already. And that headband. Guess if we ever have a show and tell college edition, I’m covered.”
“If you did that for show and tell the whole class would brand you the crazy lady on campus that no one wants to hang out with,” a grin appeared as he took another sip of his drink, “So, I went and looked at my dorm room the other day. It’s pretty nice - being handicapped gives you the choicest dorm rooms on campus. So are you going to live here and commute back and forth?” He was honestly curious even though it was moreso if he was going to have to come here to see her or if she would be willing to spend time with him at his dorm room.
Astrid did not want the crazy reputation, so she was going to avoid that.
“Commutting. I like my little apartment too much, even if most of my money goes to keeping it.” And she was honestly alright with that. No rules, aside from not being able to have any pets. Astrid went to stand next to him, leaning against the countertop, and playfully elbowing him. “You know, you’re going to have to give me the grand tour and everything. Also, I’m totally crashing there in between classes for a power nap.”
It was possibly an excuse to see him more, but she’d do it. It’d give her a reason to stay on campus a bit more.
The elbow in his side earned a laugh as he reached over to playfully grab at her sides, “You’re going to actually power nap? You seem more of the straight shots of espresso or 5 hr energy type. I have to admit I’m going to be scared of you come finals week because you may be absolutely insane.” It was nice to be able to joke with her like this. It had been forever since they saw each other, but they were falling into a nice pattern of being friendly with each other. Maybe it was a good thing that he left during his childhood because it seemed to make him appreciate things more.
“Hey, it’d be espresso and energy drinks all the way if I didn’t seen an opportunity to crash some place!” Astrid laughed and swatted at his hands without much effort. “And, really, it’s perfect. Unless you have some creepy roommate that isn’t cool with hot girls over, then expect me there every Tuesday and Thursday. Noon. Naptime.”
“I’m going to have to check my class schedule and make sure I’m booked during those times. And don’t worry, I don’t believe I get a roommate in that room, so no one will bar you from entering the room,” Hiccup raised his eyebrows and wiggled them for a moment before grinning, “Alright, are we going to do a movie as well? I believe that is part of the date as we discussed earlier. I’m assuming you have movies here amongst your collection of Ramen.”
“I’ve got movies and Netflix. I know, your mind must be so blown.” Astrid made a playful grab to his stomach before sauntering back into the living room - a whopping three steps away - and crouched down by her entertainment center. “What are you in the mood for? Funny? Depressing? Violent? I actually do own the movie Ramen Girl…”
He wanted so badly to go after her and tackle her, but he was trying to be good and he really wasn’t sure if his leg would handle that. So instead he batted at her hands and stood by the oven, glancing at the timer, and cocked his head, “There’s a movie called Ramen Girl? I don’t think I want to know. Give me something you think is a classic. My knowledge of movies is extremely limited, so you’ll be doing a greater good by expanding it.”
A classic? Astrid hummed in thought.
And then smiled. Wide.
“Jurassic Park,” she said immediately and grabbed her Collector’s Edition. It had all three movies but the first one was still the best in her opinion. She waved the DVD case at him. “It’s kind of like it has dragons! I mean, what are dragons if they aren’t flying dinosaurs?”
“Jurassic Park…...alright. I’ve heard of it, but I have never seen it. I am down for it,” he commented before hearing the timer go off. He grabbed an oven mitt and opened it up checking to see if it was done. The pizza was golden brown perfection and he pulled it out before placing it on top of the stove to cool, “Oh my god. Do you smell that? It’s the smell of delicious success.” He wanted to make a lewd comment or a comment about her falling in love with him, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He didn’t want to ruin any kind of moment they were having.
“My apartment smells like cheese. I’d have to say it’s a pretty good success.” The whole idea of mac & cheese pizza was the strangest thing ever, but it smelled good, and if it for some reason sucked, she’d never let Hiccup live it down.
But he’d gotten the stuff, had come over, and cooked. That’s certainly something no one’s ever done. And she kind of liked it better than just going out in a restaurant. This was almost a little more...personal?
After setting up the movie, she stood up and waved a hand over. “Cut it up and bring it over. We’ll eat it on the couch like slobs.”
“You’re going to ask the guy with one leg to bring over pizza to you? Either you’re a masochist or you’re just really lazy,” he quipped with a laugh as he found a pizza slicer and then dug through her cabinets to find some plates. He also found some napkins and put together everything and made his way over to the couch. Thankfully he was quite competent with his leg and didn’t drop anything as he set the pizza down on the coffee table and then handed her a plate and napkin, “You owe me for being doubtful when you taste how amazing this is.”
Astrid stuck a tongue out at this lazy comment. “Hey, you need to make an impression if you think I’m gonna fall in love with you. Better work for it, Hiccup.” Yes, she was going to bring up the ‘falling in love’ part. It’d almost come across as a running gag, and if he was actually trying to impress her, that was her way of letting him know she was willing to see what he’d do.
The couch wasn’t very big, and whether it was for comfort or something else, she had gotten up close to Hiccup to where they were practically glued next to each other. She gave her plate a suspecting look. “Moment of truth. This can either be ingenious, or a complete disaster.”
So then she took a bite, and then slowly chewed, looking strangely thoughtful.
“I would be so lucky if you still fell in love with me after I trip over my own prosthetic leg and went face first into the pizza,” it came out as a laugh as he sat down beside her and she kind of moved close to him due to the dispersion of their weight on the couch. She really needed a bigger couch, but he wasn’t going to complain about her being this close to him. He watched her with raised eyebrows as she took that first bite of the pizza. He wasn’t going to take a bite of his until she gave him her thoughts, “And? I need to know if I accidentally poisoned it before I take a bite.”
Astrid didn’t know what she almost choked over - the comment over him tripping or the poison. Chewing and giggling at the same time wasn’t a skill she mastered, so she ended up covering her mouth until she finally swallowed.
“That’s...actually pretty good. Holy crap. I mean, if I ate this all the time, I’d get some clogged arteries or something, but it actually might be worth it. Good job. I’m almost in love with you.”
The choking earned a playful grin from Hiccup and he wanted to start laughing, but he resisted the urge in case his laughter caused her to choke even more. And then finally she gave her assessment that his pizza was amazing and that she was almost in love with him. “Hell yeah,” he remarked before taking a bite of his pizza and leaning back against the couch, “I told you. Never underestimate the power of me. Let’s start watching your crazy dinosaur movie.”
Astrid hit play to start the movie, and played with the cheese on her pizza before she asked something.
“So am I the only girl you’re making macaroni and cheese pizza for?”
Hey, she needed to know if she was a special case, or if he was trying for something else. Which most boys tried to do with her, but never succeeded.
His cheeks immediately flushed when she asked that. It was such an open and honest question and he could see that she truly wanted to be the only girl. He lightly bumped his shoulder against hers with that dopey half smile on his face, “You are.” Short and sweet and to the point. There was just something about her that caused him to keep coming back around to her and wanting to impress her.
Any other guy, she’d question pretty hard. Astrid was suspicious by nature and often disinterested at what was thrown practically at her feet.
But coming from Hiccup, she knew there was honesty. He was awkward and harmless in both worlds.
“Lucky me.” Her fingers crawled up his chest, just to playfully poke at his cheek a few times. “You should come over and cook for me more often. Maybe then your mission will be completed.”
Innocent flirting, right? That wasn’t a bad thing, right? For some reason she didn’t think the night would lead to them close like this on the couch, making cute little passive comments at each other, but here they were.
When those fingers came to poke at his cheek he reached up and took them into his hand. He held onto them as he lowered his hand to his lap and didn’t let go. A smile appeared as he turned slightly to be closer to her, “I wouldn’t mind coming over to cook for you again. You just have to promise that you won’t drag me off to an island full of dinosaurs. I don’t think I can tame them half as well as I could tame the dragons.”
Totally innocent flirting. Too bad he never wanted to let go of her hand and he couldn’t help but let his eyes wander to her lips. He may have limited experience with girls in his lifetime, but he knew how he was feeling about her right now even though he may not be the most suave at making a move.
“No promises,” she whispered with a smile. She didn’t squirm from his hold on her hand, so that was a good sign. And it was an even better sign when she played with his fingers. She didn’t want to overthink the situation; that would come after the night ended, and there would probably be some internal spazzing she’d keep to herself.
Astrid played the game and leaned in, their noses a centimeter apart. She wasn’t opposed to making the first move and something told her he wouldn’t run for the hills, either. But she was going to test the waters, and instead of doing something aggressive, she placed a gentle kiss on his lips.
Just to see his reaction.
He would have to be absolutely stupid to run for the hills if she was going to kiss him. He could feel his heart starting to pound as they closed in and then she placed that kiss on his lips. It was almost surprising to have it be a gentle kiss, but it was all he needed. He lifted up his free hand as he leaned back in to capture her lips with his own and intensify the kiss.
There was no way he was going to let her get away with just a simple kiss. It was on.
She had assumed he would blush and mumble and do the awkward thing, but lo and behold, his participation surprised the living hell of her. Not that she was complaining about it either, but while there were dinosaurs in the background with a looming T-Rex about to make an appearance, Astrid kissed him back with a bit more aggression.
That was when her hand wiggled from his hold and she slid it behind his neck, keeping him there.
The screaming from the movie was about to put him out of the mood and he was almost tempted to grab something to turn it off. But he was currently far more concentrated with her lips on his. It was better than he had day dreamed about and he was a little surprised it was moving this fast, but it felt like there was something drawing them together.
His hand moved down from her face to her waist and he pulled her slightly to press closer to him as he leaned backwards on the couch.
The new location of his hand was another surprise she hadn’t been expecting, and she was actually kind of…liking his forwardness. Maybe because she still considered him awkward and goofy and incapable of taking things further. Which, apparently, he was proving her wrong, and Astrid had been perfectly fine with that.
With gentle force, she started to push him down to lay him down on the couch, in all attempt to get on top. She was asserting a sense of dominance and she wasn’t against the full-blown make out. They were hormonal teens still, technically, and it’d been awhile since she let herself break loose with someone.
And she knew Hiccup wouldn’t try to take it any further than this.
He moved his hands to scooch himself back further on the couch. However one of his hand slipped down into the couch cushion and he felt fabric at his fingertips. His brow furrowed as he broke the kiss and turned his head to see what it was. His fingers gripped it and pulled it out and his jaw dropped in horror as he saw what it was.
“Why are there underpants in your couch?” he asked with wide eyes before turning the pants slightly, “Men’s underpants? Oh my god, gross!” He quickly tossed them away from him once he realized they were male.
Underpants?
Whatmen’s underpants and why would she have--
Damnit Logan!
“Okay, it’s not what it looks like!” she blurted out, climbing off him and the couch. She kicked the underpants up with her feet and then picked it up, making a face. “Those weird explosions going on last week or something, you remember those, right? And how a motorcycle shop got destroyed?”
The confused look stayed on Hiccup’s face as he watched go and pick up the underwear. There were all sorts of explanations that she could come up with but he wasn’t really sure what to believe. There were underpants…...in the couch…...that they were making out on. What?
“You brought the motorcycle shop dude home?” He raised an eyebrow. He made sure to phrase it in a way that he wasn’t accusing her of doing anything. Maybe it was innocent, but he had no idea. He was completely inept in this social situation and he hoped it wasn’t anything bad. An owner of a motorcycle shop sounded like he could kick his ass.
“His name’s Logan, and yes. I went to pick him up. His shop had just gotten blown up, he didn’t look so good, I helped him get some important stuff out of a safe, and let him crash on my couch for the night.” Astrid faceplamed. Literally. Hand slapped right over her face and she groaned.
She knew exactly how it looked like and she was doing her best to reassure him that’s not what happened.
“He’s a friend. He’s been teaching me how to ride the motorcycles, and use my axe. Offering my couch was the least I could do.” She held the underpants like they were toxic, right between her thumb and index finger. “That’s it.”
His cheeks were finally starting to turn back to a normal color. This was one of the weirdest situations he had ever been in. It almost made him want to run onto a plane and go back into the wilderness with his father and avoid girls for the rest of his life, but alas. He was stuck here and he let his head fall back with a groan, “You have the weirdest life on the face of the planet.”
Astrid almost contemplated burning the underpants. Or shoving it down her garbage disposal. One of those.
Way to kill the mood, underpants.
She tossed it into her bedroom somewhere. Out of sight, out of mind. Hopefully. But she was still flustered because holy crap, that was embarrassing.
“Soooo…”
Awkward.
Incredibly would be the choice word to emphasis this situation in Hiccup’s mind. He didn’t think it would be polite to just get up and leave right now because of the underpants situation, but he couldn’t imagine making out with her anymore after that.
“Um, maybe we should just try to finish up the movie,” he sat up from his place on the couch, running a hand through his hair, and then reached over to grab a piece of pizza. He should probably finish eating as well. And he hadn’t paid any attention to the movie.
“Sounds good,” Astrid responded, clearing her throat. She sat back down on the couch, this time with a small gap between the two of them, and picked up her plate. She’d discarded it once they were getting close and touchy feely. It cooled down significantly, but it was still good.
Oh my god, was the rest of the night going to be like this?