Summary: Stranger-Neighbors lean on each other during the quarantine
A/N: See, I told you all, I never start posting WIPs because I feel too guilty when I don't update them. Now here I am, weeks later, feeling like I've left you all hanging. This one is short and sweet, but hopefully worth it? Hoping everyone is staying safe and healthy out there.
AO3 Link
Astrid:
“Okay, guys, only 30 more seconds, keep those hips up! 30 seconds is nothing, then you’re done for the day!”
Astrid felt silly, talking to her phone camera like it was a crowd of people, but this was currently her source of income, so she was willing to be as enthusiastic as she possibly could.
“Okay, time! Great work everyone, go ahead and come down to your stomach, then shoulders back, stretch out those abs in a cobra.”
As she finished up the stretch routine, Stormfly took the opportune moment to come to rest under her chest. Astrid laughed, turning her head to rest her head against the cat’s soft fur.
“Thank you to everyone who participated today, thank you for taking the time for yourself, be safe, wash your hands, and stay sane! See you tomorrow!”
She reached over to stop the video, Stormfly protesting beneath her as she shifted on top of her. She then collected her yoga mat and weights and stacked them back in the corner of her apartment, wiping her brow as she went.
Settling on the couch, Astrid started reviewing the video. The lighting in her apartment wasn’t great, making the video shadowy and not particularly detailed. She’d have to figure out a better location for the future, because unfortunately, she needed as many people as possible to watch her videos, lest the gym decided she wasn’t worth keeping on the payroll. Still, she made some quick edits and posted it to the gym’s YouTube channel and Facebook page with a peppy message she wasn’t really feeling.
She was already sick of her apartment. When Astrid had decided to live here, she hadn’t been particularly picky, seeing as she normally spent a significant portion of her day outside its walls. Now, every flaw and inconvenience was right in front of her constantly, and she was over it. She had heard Hiccup leave the apartment this morning, presumably to walk Toothless, and was instantly jealous that she couldn’t join them. She vowed to go for a run later, to break up the monotony.
Grabbing herself a mug of tea and one of her books for her thesis, she found her way back out onto the balcony. Hiccup wasn’t out in his area, which she was surprisingly disappointed about: she’d enjoyed their chat yesterday. Still, she didn’t spend too much time on it, instead copying her position from yesterday with her legs pulled into her sweatshirt and delving into her book. She made notes along the margins and nocked pages as she read, finding key quotes she could later incorporate in her writing.
It was cloudier today than the day before, and the breeze was making her slightly uncomfortable. She was about to give up and head inside when the sliding door to her right opened and a messy head of hair poked out. He turned to look at her and smiled, the tiny gap in his teeth clearly visible even from this distance. Toothless slipped out between his legs and darted towards the railing to say hello to her.
“Hey!” He said exuberantly. “I was just checking to see if it was warm enough to bring my stuff out here to work. Are you cold?”
Astrid curled her legs in closer to herself, putting her mug on the ground. “Yeah, it’s not as nice as yesterday. I was thinking about going in.”
Just then, a particularly harsh gust of wind whipped through, making her shiver. She rose from the chair and began to collect her things as Hiccup winced, closing the door a bit to prevent air from getting into his apartment. “Yeah, probably a good call for now. I might come out later for a drink, if you'd want to join me?” He sounded oddly hopeful, which tugged at Astrid’s heart.
She hugged her book closer to her chest and nodded, smiling a little. Hiccup’s smile widened and he waved slightly before ducking back inside, whistling for Toothless. Astrid ducked her head and suppressed a chuckle as she made her way back inside, settling on the couch with her book.
Hiccup
As he got up for the umpteenth time to stretch, Hiccup cursed his furniture choices for the hundredth time in two days. The chair he had at his desk was not exactly conducive to good posture, and his back was aching from being hunched over his monitors. As lucky as he was to have this kind of office setup in his apartment, he’d never really had to use it long term and had picked a fairly cheap office chair from a local big box store. It hadn’t seemed like a big deal at the time, but he was regretting that choice now. He felt like he had to get up every twenty minutes and shake out some kink in his back or hips.
Every time he stood up, Toothless jumped up too, following him around the apartment, obviously hoping they were going for another walk.
“Sorry, buddy, not yet,” he murmured, running his hand over the dog’s silky ears. “Give me another hour and we’ll go out.” He stretched his arms over his head, releasing the knots in his shoulders and neck. The motion twinged something lower in his back, making him sigh in frustration. Finally, he flopped onto the floor, laying flat on his back and straightening out as much as he could to align his spine.
He stared at the ceiling for a few moments before Toothless’ head appeared in his vision, obviously perplexed at why his owner was copying his signature nap position. The dog sniffed around his hairline, checking for signs of distress, before he began to lap at Hiccup’s cheeks with his tongue, making Hiccup squawk in distress and curl into the fetal position.
Toothless barked excitedly, thinking they were playing a game, and pawed at Hiccup’s back to get him to re-engage.
“Toothless, no!” Hiccup cried, swatting his arms blindly to shoo the dog away.
After a few minutes, Toothless fell into his play position, forelegs flat on the ground and rear in the air, tail whipping almost dangerously as his human rolled over to glare at him. Hiccup’s face was sticky and smelly, but he couldn’t hold a grudge against his buddy for long. He reached out with both arms and tackled the dog, pulling him against his chest and rolling around as Toothless yipped in excitement. Their tussle didn’t last long before they were both flat on the rug, both of their mouths open wide in humor.
Suddenly, Toothless’ ears perked and he jumped up and darted to the sliding door to the balcony. He’d started doing that whenever Astrid opened the door, looking to greet his new friend. The habit made Hiccup smile for more reasons than one.
Honestly, since the quarantine had started (had it only been a few days?), he’d come to realize how much of his social life had depended on his job. He had very few friends outside of work, and though he felt somewhat isolated in his apartment, he couldn’t think of anyone he really wanted to talk to. He chatted with Fishlegs while he was working, and exchanged a few messages with a few other friends, but he always struggled to come up with new topics.
But he really liked talking to Astrid. Their conversations hadn’t exactly been in-depth or long, but she seemed quick and funny and he needed that kind of conversation in his life right now.
He walked over to the balcony window, trying to get a glimpse of the blonde. From what he could see, she was wearing heavy leggings and a zip-up hoodie, and her cheeks were flushed as she leaned over the balcony railing. He slid the door open and poked his head out.
“Hey,” he greeted lamely. As she turned to look at him, he saw the glistening of sweat on her brow and noticed the shirt under her quarter zip was dark along the neckline. “Go for a run?” He asked.
Astrid nodded, still slightly out of breath. “It felt so good to be outside,” she said, popping one of her legs onto the railing to stretch. “I wanted to keep going forever.”
Hiccup’s eyes widened a little as he took in her long, toned legs in her running shorts, but forced himself to meet her gaze again and relax his expression. “I know the feeling. Those walks with Toothless are never long enough.”
“Still working?” She asked, gesturing to his open sliding door as she switched legs. He nodded, shrugging a little.
“Toothless keeps bugging me to go outside” he said, suddenly remembering that he was just nearly licked to death by the lab and he probably looked like it too. He absently ran his hands through his hair, finding it still wet.
“Oh, I could’ve taken him! I didn’t even think to ask!” Astrid said, bringing her leg down and settling into a crouch by the railing closest to Hiccup’s balcony. Toothless shoved his head through the bars as far as he could reach, forcing his eyes closed comically.
“That’s nice of you,” Hiccup replied, smiling down at the dog. “I’m going to go in an hour though, so he’s fine. Maybe some other time if I get caught up in conference call hell.”
Astrid nodded, picking up a water bottle from her chair and taking a drink. “I’m going to take a shower. Can I bug you later for dinner ideas?” She asked, smiling cheekily.
“Sure thing,” Hiccup said, feeling his cheeks flush slightly. Interacting with Astrid made him feel a little bit like a schoolboy with a crush. She was definitely more attractive than any girl he’d ever been with, and seemed friendly and sane enough. He could definitely see himself being friends with her, and then… who knew?
As she turned to re-enter her apartment, she smiled over her shoulder at him.
Hiccup smiled weakly back, turning to go back inside himself. He paused with his hand on the handle, half looking back in her direction, smiling to himself a little more confidently, even as his stomach flipped.
«Good evening, everyone. It’s a hard time, and everyone’s feeling it in different ways. And I know a lot of folks are reluctant to tune into a political convention right now or to politics in general. Believe me, I get that. But I am here tonight because I love this country with all my heart, and it pains me to see so many people hurting.
I’ve met so many of you. I’ve heard your stories. And through you, I have seen this country’s promise. And thanks to so many who came before me, thanks to their toil and sweat and blood, I’ve been able to live that promise myself.
That’s the story of America. All those folks who sacrificed and overcame so much in their own times because they wanted something more, something better for their kids.
There’s a lot of beauty in that story. There’s a lot of pain in it, too, a lot of struggle and injustice and work left to do. And who we choose as our president in this election will determine whether or not we honor that struggle and chip away at that injustice and keep alive the very possibility of finishing that work.
I am one of a handful of people living today who have seen firsthand the immense weight and awesome power of the presidency. And let me once again tell you this: The job is hard. It requires clearheaded judgment, a mastery of complex and competing issues, a devotion to facts and history, a moral compass, and an ability to listen — and an abiding belief that each of the 330,000,000 lives in this country has meaning and worth.
A president’s words have the power to move markets. They can start wars or broker peace. They can summon our better angels or awaken our worst instincts. You simply cannot fake your way through this job.
As I’ve said before, being president doesn’t change who you are; it reveals who you are. Well, a presidential election can reveal who we are, too. And four years ago, too many people chose to believe that their votes didn’t matter. Maybe they were fed up. Maybe they thought the outcome wouldn’t be close. Maybe the barriers felt too steep. Whatever the reason, in the end, those choices sent someone to the Oval Office who lost the national popular vote by nearly 3,000,000 votes.
In one of the states that determined the outcome, the winning margin averaged out to just two votes per precinct — two votes. And we’ve all been living with the consequences.
When my husband left office with Joe Biden at his side, we had a record-breaking stretch of job creation. We’d secured the right to health care for 20,000,000 people. We were respected around the world, rallying our allies to confront climate change. And our leaders had worked hand-in-hand with scientists to help prevent an Ebola outbreak from becoming a global pandemic.
Four years later, the state of this nation is very different. More than 150,000 people have died, and our economy is in shambles because of a virus that this president downplayed for too long. It has left millions of people jobless. Too many have lost their health care; too many are struggling to take care of basic necessities like food and rent; too many communities have been left in the lurch to grapple with whether and how to open our schools safely. Internationally, we’ve turned our back, not just on agreements forged by my husband, but on alliances championed by presidents like Reagan and Eisenhower.
And here at home, as George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and a never-ending list of innocent people of color continue to be murdered, stating the simple fact that a Black life matters is still met with derision from the nation’s highest office.
Because whenever we look to this White House for some leadership or consolation or any semblance of steadiness, what we get instead is chaos, division, and a total and utter lack of empathy.
Empathy: that’s something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. The ability to walk in someone else’s shoes; the recognition that someone else’s experience has value, too. Most of us practice this without a second thought. If we see someone suffering or struggling, we don’t stand in judgment. We reach out because, “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” It is not a hard concept to grasp. It’s what we teach our children.
And like so many of you, Barack and I have tried our best to instill in our girls a strong moral foundation to carry forward the values that our parents and grandparents poured into us. But right now, kids in this country are seeing what happens when we stop requiring empathy of one another. They’re looking around wondering if we’ve been lying to them this whole time about who we are and what we truly value.
They see people shouting in grocery stores, unwilling to wear a mask to keep us all safe. They see people calling the police on folks minding their own business just because of the color of their skin. They see an entitlement that says only certain people belong here, that greed is good, and winning is everything because as long as you come out on top, it doesn’t matter what happens to everyone else. And they see what happens when that lack of empathy is ginned up into outright disdain.
They see our leaders labeling fellow citizens enemies of the state while emboldening torch-bearing white supremacists. They watch in horror as children are torn from their families and thrown into cages, and pepper spray and rubber bullets are used on peaceful protesters for a photo op.
Sadly, this is the America that is on display for the next generation. A nation that’s underperforming not simply on matters of policy but on matters of character. And that’s not just disappointing; it’s downright infuriating, because I know the goodness and the grace that is out there in households and neighborhoods all across this nation.
And I know that regardless of our race, age, religion, or politics, when we close out the noise and the fear and truly open our hearts, we know that what’s going on in this country is just not right. This is not who we want to be.
So what do we do now? What’s our strategy? Over the past four years, a lot of people have asked me, “When others are going so low, does going high still really work?” My answer: going high is the only thing that works, because when we go low, when we use those same tactics of degrading and dehumanizing others, we just become part of the ugly noise that’s drowning out everything else. We degrade ourselves. We degrade the very causes for which we fight.
But let’s be clear: going high does not mean putting on a smile and saying nice things when confronted by viciousness and cruelty. Going high means taking the harder path. It means scraping and clawing our way to that mountain top. Going high means standing fierce against hatred while remembering that we are one nation under God, and if we want to survive, we’ve got to find a way to live together and work together across our differences.
And going high means unlocking the shackles of lies and mistrust with the only thing that can truly set us free: the cold, hard truth.
So let me be as honest and clear as I possibly can. Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country. He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is.
Now, I understand that my message won’t be heard by some people. We live in a nation that is deeply divided, and I am a Black woman speaking at the Democratic Convention. But enough of you know me by now. You know that I tell you exactly what I’m feeling. You know I hate politics. But you also know that I care about this nation. You know how much I care about all of our children.
So if you take one thing from my words tonight, it is this: if you think things cannot possibly get worse, trust me, they can; and they will if we don’t make a change in this election. If we have any hope of ending this chaos, we have got to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it.
I know Joe. He is a profoundly decent man, guided by faith. He was a terrific vice president. He knows what it takes to rescue an economy, beat back a pandemic, and lead our country. And he listens. He will tell the truth and trust science. He will make smart plans and manage a good team. And he will govern as someone who’s lived a life that the rest of us can recognize.
When he was a kid, Joe’s father lost his job. When he was a young senator, Joe lost his wife and his baby daughter. And when he was vice president, he lost his beloved son. So Joe knows the anguish of sitting at a table with an empty chair, which is why he gives his time so freely to grieving parents. Joe knows what it’s like to struggle, which is why he gives his personal phone number to kids overcoming a stutter of their own.
His life is a testament to getting back up, and he is going to channel that same grit and passion to pick us all up, to help us heal and guide us forward.
Now, Joe is not perfect. And he’d be the first to tell you that. But there is no perfect candidate, no perfect president. And his ability to learn and grow — we find in that the kind of humility and maturity that so many of us yearn for right now. Because Joe Biden has served this nation his entire life without ever losing sight of who he is; but more than that, he has never lost sight of who we are, all of us.
Joe Biden wants all of our kids to go to a good school, see a doctor when they’re sick, live on a healthy planet. And he’s got plans to make all of that happen. Joe Biden wants all of our kids, no matter what they look like, to be able to walk out the door without worrying about being harassed or arrested or killed. He wants all of our kids to be able to go to a movie or a math class without being afraid of getting shot. He wants all our kids to grow up with leaders who won’t just serve themselves and their wealthy peers but will provide a safety net for people facing hard times.
And if we want a chance to pursue any of these goals, any of these most basic requirements for a functioning society, we have to vote for Joe Biden in numbers that cannot be ignored. Because right now, folks who know they cannot win fair and square at the ballot box are doing everything they can to stop us from voting. They’re closing down polling places in minority neighborhoods. They’re purging voter rolls. They’re sending people out to intimidate voters, and they’re lying about the security of our ballots. These tactics are not new.
But this is not the time to withhold our votes in protest or play games with candidates who have no chance of winning. We have got to vote like we did in 2008 and 2012. We’ve got to show up with the same level of passion and hope for Joe Biden. We’ve got to vote early, in person if we can. We’ve got to request our mail-in ballots right now, tonight, and send them back immediately and follow-up to make sure they’re received. And then, make sure our friends and families do the same.
We have got to grab our comfortable shoes, put on our masks, pack a brown bag dinner and maybe breakfast too, because we’ve got to be willing to stand in line all night if we have to.
Look, we have already sacrificed so much this year. So many of you are already going that extra mile. Even when you’re exhausted, you’re mustering up unimaginable courage to put on those scrubs and give our loved ones a fighting chance. Even when you’re anxious, you’re delivering those packages, stocking those shelves, and doing all that essential work so that all of us can keep moving forward.
Even when it all feels so overwhelming, working parents are somehow piecing it all together without child care. Teachers are getting creative so that our kids can still learn and grow. Our young people are desperately fighting to pursue their dreams.
And when the horrors of systemic racism shook our country and our consciences, millions of Americans of every age, every background rose up to march for each other, crying out for justice and progress.
This is who we still are: compassionate, resilient, decent people whose fortunes are bound up with one another. And it is well past time for our leaders to once again reflect our truth.
So, it is up to us to add our voices and our votes to the course of history, echoing heroes like John Lewis who said, “When you see something that is not right, you must say something. You must do something.” That is the truest form of empathy: not just feeling, but doing; not just for ourselves or our kids, but for everyone, for all our kids.
And if we want to keep the possibility of progress alive in our time, if we want to be able to look our children in the eye after this election, we have got to reassert our place in American history. And we have got to do everything we can to elect my friend, Joe Biden, as the next president of the United States.
I discovered someone on Youtube called FalconSoundtrack who extracted the UNRELEASED SCORE BITS of Httyd3 in insanely good quality!!! Have all of them please and marvel with me at them!!! Two of my favourite moments (Furies Captured 2:00-2:16 and Stronger Together 0:50-0:53) are in there and dude…he made me squeal and almost cry!
The dude also made film versions of other tracks, such as The Hidden World, Dragon Racing, not to mention of other fandoms like an unreleased bit of Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron, other stuff from Hans Zimmer, or What’s Up Danger. Check him out and give him love! His work is incredible and made me very happy!
Hey guys! So. Three out of four of these videos have been blocked by DWA because of copyright reasons. Is ANYONE still able to access them? (Just press play on the post & you’ll find out.) I mean…I’ve bought all the Httyd movies, I’m buying all the Httyd soundtracks, and they won’t let me have these beautiful extended scores? I don’t have a proxy (don’t even know what that is) or VPN.
Could I ask for a favor, fandom? If ANYONE can still access these, would you mind hitting them through an mp3 converter and sending them over to me?
Summary: Stranger-Neighbors lean on each other during the quarantine.
A/N: It’s cliche and silly, but dammit, I think a lot of us need something cute and fluffy these days. There’s more written, I’m just struggling to focus on continuing, so maybe posting this will make me work on it more. Generally I don’t post things until they’re further along, but if you like it maybe I’ll get my ass in gear.
Day 1:
Astrid
After yesterday’s official announcement, once the panic had settled to a mild simmer, and once she’d stocked her fridge and pantry to the fullest possibly capacity with anything she could find left in the vacant grocery store, Astrid was left sitting on her couch coming to the realization that she had an unknown expanse of open time to fill and not a whole lot of ideas on how to fill it.
Sure, she had her thesis to finish, and the gym she worked at part time had asked her to film a few workout classes a week for their clientele to follow along with, but, in the normal state of things, she was the type of person to fill her days with errands, exercise, and activity. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d been in her apartment past 10:00am. A shelter-in-place was the opposite of all of those things.
Even if she wasn’t particularly social, Astrid thrived on routine. Her days were scheduled, regimented, and tidy, bouncing from teaching classes at the gym to study sessions with her colleagues in her DPT program to her waitressing job at night. She wasn’t really sure what to make of this crazy concept of ‘flex time’. She strolled around her apartment a few times, looking for things to pick up or organize, leaning down to scratch her cat between the ears every time she walked passed. Finally, she sighed, flopping her arms against her side heavily and collapsed onto the couch. She flipped through her Netflix account and selected an old favorite, grabbed a blanket, and tried to embrace her new normal.
Hiccup:
Honestly, he should have paid more attention. He’d known the world was reeling with the impacts of this virus, but he hadn’t really thought about its application to his life until his boss had sent out an email yesterday and then basically forced everyone to leave the premises until further notice. As Hiccup was packing up all of the equipment he would need to work from home for the next… while, he’d joked with Fishlegs that he should have stopped at the store earlier.
It had been a joke, and yet, now, as he roamed the grocery store looking for anything remotely appetizing, he felt woefully unprepared. As someone who didn’t spend a lot of time at home, mostly rolling out of bed, walking the dog and shuffling off to work where he’d stay way longer than he should have, he wasn’t entirely sure what ‘staples’ consisted of. He could cook, was a good cook in fact, he just never made the time for it. Now he was trying to figure out how to make a meal out of kidney beans and frozen brussel sprouts. At least he had toilet paper.
Finally, he stumbled out of the store into the deceptively beautiful day, rolling a cart of completely random supplies to his car and wondering if he should get gas before the world ended. When he pulled up to his apartment a few minutes later, he looked up to his balcony window as he always did to see Toothless’ smiling face in the window, tail wagging hurriedly, as he waited for his owner to come inside. At least he wouldn’t be alone during this.
Day 2:
Astrid
Astrid never would have believed that you could get sore from sitting on the couch all day, and yet, as she rose from bed that morning, she felt the unmistakable pull of pained muscles in her lower back.
“Gods,” she moaned, “This is going to be the month ever.”
She’d stayed up way later than normal, watching old episodes of her favorite tv shows to bring her comfort, though in reality, she’d mostly just stared through the screen and let her mind wander. Now, bending over to touch her hands to the floor, she knew that if she was going to survive this pandemic, she’d need to figure out a way to schedule her days, even when there was nothing to fill them with. Maybe she could learn to cook? For someone as health obsessed as she was, she lived predominantly on protein shakes, microwaved lunches and cheese and crackers. Half of the groceries she’d bought over the last week she had no idea what to do with.
Astrid turned on her coffee maker and fed Stormfly, continuing to stretch out cramped muscles as the scent of coffee filled the apartment. The sun was shining brightly from her balcony window, so once she’d filled a mug just the way she liked it, she opened the sliding door and curled herself into one of the padded wicker chairs her mom had dropped off one day after cleaning out her garage in preparation for her move across the country.
As she sat there and sipped at her drink, she tried to remember the last time she’d actually been out here. It wasn’t exactly secluded: the balcony itself was only about 12 feet long and 5 feet wide, with a few feet of gap between it and the one next to it, though it looked out onto a fairly nice part of town with a park.
She didn’t really know her neighbors, either. The man in the unit to her right seemed to work opposite schedules as her, waking up later than her and coming back when she was getting ready for bed. She’d only really seen him from afar, walking his dog or getting in and out of his car on the weekends, but she thought he was about her same age. Her other neighbor was a cranky old man that never spoke to her and made it clear that he preferred it that way. The few times they’d bumped into each other at the mail slot he’d been gruff and rude, and honestly, she hadn’t tried to be nice after that. It hadn’t seemed worth the effort.
It wasn’t exactly warm out, being late March and all, but she pulled her bare legs into her hoodie and enjoyed the quiet. Astrid tried to remember the last time she’d felt like she didn’t have to be somewhere, turning to face the sun more directly. After a while Stormfly edged out onto the balcony and curled up next to her, adding to her feeling of contentment.
An explosion of noise erupted from her right, jerking her out of her trance and spilling her remaining coffee all over the cement as she jumped. She whipped around to find the source, noticing her neighbor’s black dog with his nose pressed against the window, staring intently at Stormfly, who had poked her head up to return the glare, apparently unimpressed with the dog’s theatrics. Astrid swore under her breath as she wiped coffee from her hoodie sleeve, cursing the dog for ruining a nice moment.
“Toothless, Gods, what is wrong with you?!” She heard from inside the unit. She looked over to see the dog’s owner glaring at the excited animal before he opened the door slowly, letting the dog onto the balcony. The dog - a black lab - slinked onto the balcony like spilled ink and came directly to the railing, still looking at Stormfly and sniffing interestedly but refraining from barking. “I’m sorry if he scared you,” the man said, running his hands through his longish hair and looking decidedly sleepy. “He’s not actually trying to attack you or your cat, he just wants a friend.”
Astrid nodded, still feeling a little annoyed at the disruption, but accepting the apology. She shifted, picking Stormfly off of her lap and putting her down. “It’s okay, he just surprised me.”
“Sorry, he’s always crazy in the morning.” The neighbor-guy said, his tousled hair falling over his eyes as he scratched the dog, who wiggled ridiculously in response, looking up at his owner adoringly. “Once he’s had his walk he’ll calm down.”
Astrid smiled despite herself at the dog’s happy reaction. “You still get to take him on walks?”
Neighbor-guy shrugged. “I’d assume so, as long as I stay away from crowds and other people. Otherwise I’m going to have to send the government a bill for carpet cleaning.”
Astrid snickered. “I’m not sure they’ll have that in their budget after all this is over.”
Neighbor-guy smiled, and Astrid was struck by how cute it was. “I’m going to go take him out. Wish me luck.”
“Good luck.” Astrid replied, standing from her chair as they went back through their sliding door. She then made her way back inside to refill her mug before opening her computer to work on her thesis. Maybe she’d lucked out and found someone to keep her company during all this.
Hiccup
As eerie as it had been to walk Toothless in the nearly deserted streets and parks of their town, Hiccup had taken advantage of the extra time in his day to really tire his buddy out, walking for nearly two hours while simultaneously calling into conference calls for work and enjoying the sunshine.
Now, settled back in his apartment, his stump was throbbing as a result of the extra activity. He wrapped a cold, wet washcloth around the base of his left leg and settled onto his balcony with his computer and a beer, because why not? It was after noon!
Popping in his headphones, he opened his CAD program and began refining some specs on his latest project. While the extra screens on his workstation would have been helpful for this, he was perfectly content out here. Toothless nestled against him at the seat of his chair.
Hiccup lost track of time, alternating between chatting with Fishlegs and uploading revisions to their project board. He hardly noticed when his make-shift ice pack dried and fell off his leg. He was finally jostled out of his focused state when Toothless jumped up from beneath him, trotting over to the railing bordering the neighboring unit. Hiccup turned to see what the dog was getting up to, only to see the woman next door coming out onto the balcony again, her cat curled around her heels. She smiled at him, waving hesitantly. He pulled the headphones from his ears and returned her wave. “Hey.”
“I see you survived.” She said with mild amusement. Her bright blue eyes - so bright that he could distinguish their color even from this distance - trailed down to Toothless, before catching on his half-leg. “Oh!” She exclaimed softly, her hand flying to her mouth.
Hiccup instinctively folded his knee, tucking his stump underneath him. “Don’t worry, that wasn’t a casualty of this morning’s trip, it’s old.” He said, trying to lighten her reaction. “As far as I know, this virus isn’t known for removing limbs.”
“No… I…” The blonde blushed, her hand clenching reflexively at her side. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have reacted that way. It just surprised me.”
Hiccup smiled kindly. “It’s fine, really. People don’t expect it. I guess Toothless and I both are full of surprises.” He said, gesturing to the dog’s own stump, which fell just short of his hock. Astrid’s eyes widened again and she came to crouch at the bars of her railing.
“I never noticed when I saw you walking him, he moves so well!” She said, reaching towards the lab instinctively, though her hand fell a few feet short. “You two match.”
“Yeah, we took that dog / owner costume thing one step too far.” Hiccup joked and she laughed. “He has a little mini-prosthetic to match mine, he just doesn’t need to wear it in the house.”
The girl pulled her chair up closer to the bars and sat down. “I’m Astrid.” She said, reaching down to scratch her cat between the shoulder blades. “And this is Stormfly.”
Hiccup reached towards her and mimed shaking her hand. “I’m Hiccup, and this is Toothless.”
“Two very unusual names.” Astrid commented.
“Yeah, we’re aware.” He responded with a smile. “I was a runt, his baby teeth were late coming in… it’s amazing we’ve survived this long.”
Astrid smiled - Gods, she had a nice smile - and stood. “I’ll be right back.” She ducked back into her house and came back a few minutes later with a glass of wine. “I liked your idea.” She said, gesturing to his beer, which was nearly empty, it’s dregs warm. “Though it seems a bit early.”
Hiccup shrugged. “Maybe. It honestly feels like there are no rules right now.”
“Are you working? I don’t mean to disturb you if you are, I was just getting a little stir-crazy in my place.”
“Yeah, but nothing too time consuming. I could use a break.” Hiccup replied, reaching to drink the last sip of his beer. “Let me grab another one.” He stood from his seat, hopping on his good leg through the door. He’d intentionally set up his apartment furniture at perfect distances so he could hop without his prosthetic or a crutch when he needed to, using chairs, tables and desks as handholds along the way.
In a few minutes he was seated back outside, facing his new neighbor-friend.
“Is this six feet, do you think?” He said jokingly, gesturing to the distance between them. “I am just over 6’2”, I could lay down across the bars to measure it more accurately.”
Astrid smiled into her wine glass. “I think we’re probably good, as long as we agree to sneeze in the other direction.” She took a sip before gesturing to his computer. “What were you working on?”
“It’s a diagram for an artificial knee,” he said, “trying to improve the rotational capacity of an older model of knee replacements.”
Astrid’s eyebrows rose. “Wow, that’s…. Cool. What do you do exactly?”
“I’m a biomechanical engineer for a company that basically improves medical equipment. You?”
Astrid tucked her hair behind her ears. “I work as a physical trainer at a gym, and I’m getting my Doctorate of Physical Therapy and a masters in history. I work as a waitress too, but obviously that’s probably not going to last with all this happening.”
“Cool about the Doctorate, sorry about the waitressing gig.” Hiccup replied, noting the concern on her face.
“It’s fine, it’s not like that was what I wanted to do, it just helped pay the bills. I’m still getting paid for the time being, and the gym pays me as long as I keep doing a few online videos, but it’s just generally going to be a little scary for a while.”
Hiccup felt instantly guilty and lucky for his own situation, knowing that he was in stable employment that wouldn’t be severely impacted. He instinctively wanted to offer to help her in any way she needed, but bit his tongue. He hardly knew her, after all.
“I’m sorry.” He said, not knowing what else to say. “Hopefully everyone gets with the program and we can shorten the lifespan of this thing so we can get back to normal soon.”
Astrid nodded, frowning slightly. “Yeah, hopefully.”
They sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes. Then, Astrid laughed weakly. “There’s no reason to play the pity game, though, right? We’re only on day two. Honestly, I’m more worried about how I’m going to feed myself for the next few weeks.”
Hiccup smiled weakly, noting her attempt to deflect from her real anxieties. “Were you not able to grab groceries?”
“Oh, no I’m fully stocked, unfortunately, I have no idea how to cook half of the things in my pantry.”
Hiccup laughed, glad for the break in the tension. “Well, I could probably help you with that. I myself have the most random selection of food known to man in my fridge, so I’ll need to get really creative with my meals.”
Astrid laughed. “Maybe we can potluck this situation. I have a startling amount of ramen in my pantry for someone that doesn’t like ramen.”
“How do you not like ramen? Even when you put an egg in it?”
It was Astrid’s turn to look at him skeptically. “Why would I put an egg in it?”
Hiccup’s jaw dropped. “What? You don’t know?” Astrid shook her head. “It changes everything, it makes it totally amazing. How did you possibly make it through college without adding egg to your ramen??” He said jokingly.
Astrid shrugged, giggling. “By not eating much ramen, I guess. It’s not exactly health food.”
Hiccup smiled, tweaking his eyebrow at her. “Feeling adventurous?”
10 Minutes Later -
“Okay, the water is boiling.” Astrid called from her kitchen. Hiccup sat on the railing of his balcony, legs hanging over the side as he gripped the bars.
“Okay, add the noodles and seasoning, then crack your egg into a separate bowl and whisk it.” He called, only able to see her part of her back as she worked at her stove. “Once the noodles start to soften, add the egg mixture and start stirring it in.”
Astrid complied, turning around to look at him. “It looks gross, it’s all clumpy.”
“You gotta stir it more, really mix it in there.”
“Okaaay…”
After a few minutes, she looked over her shoulder at him, her expression changed. “Oh, it looks creamy now.”
“There you go, that’s what should be happening.” Hiccup said, heart warming at her smile.
“That’s so cool!”
“Right? Once you get the hang of it, you can add all kinds of veggies and stuff to it to make it even more delicious, you just have to get the timing right on it.” He maneuvered himself down from the railing back onto his porch.
“One step at a time, Gordon Ramsay.” She said sarcastically. There was the sound of dishes clinking, and after a few more minutes, she came out onto the balcony holding two bowls with paper towels under them. “Err.. I am not really sure if we’re supposed to be sharing dishes and food, but… it’s too much for me to eat alone.”
Hiccup shrugged, reaching across the bars to take a bowl from her. “I’ll accept the risk in this situation.”
They sat in their respective chairs, enjoying their late afternoon snack and chatting. Hiccup couldn't remember the last time he’d enjoyed a conversation with someone this much, especially someone he’d never spoken to before that day.
They sat out in their separate spaces until the sun began to dip, only going inside to grab drinks or use the facilities, or once, for Hiccup to let Toothless out on another short walk. Finally it got to be a little too chilly to be enjoyable, and they began to clean up their areas.
Before she went inside, Astrid turned to him with a small smile. “See you tomorrow?” She asked, a teasing sort of hope in her eyes.
For the first time ever, I had friends, three great friends. Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and James Potter. I was terrified they would desert me the moment they found out what I was. But of course, they worked out the truth… And they didn’t desert me at all.
If you are still taking commissions, maybe Astrid sitting on Hiccup's worktable in the forge and the two exchanging a kiss of some sort? Thanks!
Hi! So sorry this is like half a year late--I had recorded the process of this a while ago but never ended up actually posting it to youtube and I just realized I don’t think i ever posted the finished drawing to tumblr either ?? Anyway, I think I must have misread your prompt originally because I totally messed up the ‘forge’ part haha but anyway, hope you like it! Thanks for the request!!
This might be wierd, but one of my first impressions from seeing the way they act and move around each other in this shot is that they look like a couple who has definitely been intimate. In other words, they look like a couple of young people who have definitely done the do…with each other.
which, come on, they’ve been with each other for 5 years and they’re 19/20 at this point, so that shouldn’t be a shocker, but I just kinda chuckle when I see fandom posts about whether or not these two are flirting. They look and act like a couple who is WAY past that phase.
So, I guess, yay Viking birth control? It’s obviously working.
(Yes but also in the viking culture that if they were to do anything of the sort before they were married Hiccup would be killed by Astrid’s family for he would have not only ‘dishonored’ her but her entire family as well. In order for them to be together he would have to pay her family a dowry of 8-12 gold pieces and they would be married within weeks after paying the dowry and most often viking couples did not marry for love. however hiccup and astrid are special case as they do love each other. Astrid is probably one of the most sought after girls in the village but she ignores all her other suitors and gives all her attention to Hiccup so it’d be no shocker that the two would be married. Hiccup would be allowed to ‘woo’ her but any sort of initmate contact made by him would be frowned upon. I’m not sure how it works if she were to show him affection in public… *stops rambling now*.)
Ah, good point, but then that would hinge upon how realistic Vikings in Httyd are in comparison to actual Vikings, and so far, most evidence seems to indicate they’re very different. Not to mention the fact that they have dragons and Hiccup has effectively trained his entire tribe to be peace loving (which is soooo different from real Vikings). So yeah, I’m just gonna assume the movie-verse follows modern, westernized mores of love and romance. ;)
Nope, viking birth control was virtually non-existant, if we want to take things in a more historically-correct POV.
Even the whole “courtship” thing was very, very dangerous for young suitors. Poetry was basically a death sentence (they believed it betwitched a woman and that only men who knew the woman intimately would write such things).
But of course, this is not 100% historically correct. Of it were, even their clothes would be different (the women would wear dresses outside of battle sitatuations). Also the hairstyles as well - Hiccup and Snotlout might wear theirs longer, though the Berkians don’t seem to have a tradition of keeping slaves. And it’s likely Hiccup wore his shorter because he was “the runt”.
Astrid might not have kissed Hiccup publically - three times! - or if she had (despite their young age) the village might have married them off soon. Yes, Vikings were known to marry as young as 14. Yikes.
Or not, they might tolerate their little romance anyway. But courtship wasn’t easy back then. XD they were very keen on honor.
Curious fact: Snotlout technically could get into a lot of trouble due to his persistant advances. :p
In any way, this isn’t 100% historically accurate… But they could get married for love - they seem to be pretty much enamored. Also it is a politically convenient marriage, Hiccup being the heir to Chieftainship and Astrid being… Astrid. Strong. Dedicated. Focused. Wide-hipped, good for birthing. Although I bet she has long-since loosened up, she’s still very driven and strong. Her house, Snotlout’s, Fishlegs’, the twins’, they’re nearest the Mead Hall so they may not be Jarls but they have somewhat of a privileged status.
Yeah, I think the Httyd courtship is a big clue to how different Vikings are in the movie-verse vs in real life. Hiccup and Astrid would not still be suitors at the age of 19/20. They’d be married and starting a family. All of their interactions in the movie mimic the behaviors and courting rituals of modern, non-Viking couples. Astrid kisses Hiccup freely in front of everyone with no consequence, Hiccup isn’t pressured to propose to her at the age of 15, and so forth and so on. For modern, non-Viking couples, they’re normal and would most likely be sexually active as well. So…that’s where I’m gonna stick my headcanon.
I agree with this (and they are finally at an age where I don’t feel like too much of a creeper speculating on their private life, boy that’s gonna make writing Hiccup/Astrid easier) and omg one of these days, I really want to write a giant essay on how Berk Vikings are absolutely unlike historical Vikings in like a million different ways, since that’s a popular take in fandom but it basically makes no sense from what we’ve seen. (And it bugs me that some people use it to reintroduce some insidious sexist ideas and stuff back into Berk society in their fics, which is kinda bleh, since they seem pretty egalitarian as long as you can properly lift an axe).
But yeah, I totally agree: If Berk Vikings followed actual Viking culture at all, than the Vikings wouldn’t have basically had the attitude of ‘geddit gurl’ and gone “wooooh” when Astrid smooched him in the first movie, because it would have been a social nono. Instead, they were more like ‘oh you crazy kids.’ Women didn’t have the worst rights in Norse society (better than quite a few societies at the time actually) but love was like not the deal for them, because marriage was much more of a legal/political arrangement.
And the horned helmets and spiky costumes alone tell us Berk Vikings aren’t like normal Vikings and are meant to be their own fictional culture. They look and act pretty much nothing like actual Vikings (I mean, Christ, Hiccup could walk right into a leather bar dressed like that) and don’t even celebrate the same holidays. (Snoggletog instead of a Yule Blot, for instance.) All they have are the same gods and the fact that they’re both pretty metal. Thassaboutit. A shared love of Led Zeppelin unites them, but nothing more.
I really don’t think the historical stuff applies and EVEN IF IT DID. when they have free reign to fly all over the place, what’s to stop them from flying off to some island somewhere with a fluffy blanket and a nice picnic basket and telling Toothless and Stormfly to go scarper and entertain themselves elsewhere on the island? They have the ability to fly, no adult supervision that we’ve ever seen, and two dragons that would probably be good, ahem, wingmen. (Geddit? See what I did there?) Those are primo circumstances for being a pair of horny teenagers. They can go do all the dos they want anywhere doing can be done. Real Vikings did. That’s why the scandals and poetry and all that existed - because even when shit was illegal and dangerous, young folks still sneaked around and did it anyway.
And they don’t really need birth control, ‘cause…well. There’s lots of doing that can be done that doesn’t involve babymakin’.
It probably just depends on where they are in their relationship because they are totally personal space invaders here but they’d also likely be that way as friends that had dated a while but had a very amicable breakup back to best friends. So it depends on if they’ve been a solid thing all these years.
If they have? Then it is most likely an affirmative: They did the do.
Yes, I am of the mind that they did the do. Even if they’ll never mention it outright… I think we all know.
Ah, the issue of how accurate is HTTYD in history. A dur, it’s not. It’s not a traditional Viking society by a long shot, but it’s not completely fantastical either, which is well appreciated. People like to run away with the idea of what power Viking women had historically–and while it was more than most other societies, quite impressively so, it was still very much a patriarchy. HTTYD isn’t a completely equal society either, it doesn’t always seem, but rather a much more modern take on equality. “A man’s world” Tuffnut called it, but with women playing an equal role and calling out that shit. But that was the appeal of HTTYD altogether–mixing Viking with Modern. A place with “doctors” and “dating” but also longships and Things. Magical.
In fact, I personally prefer the idea that the Barabaric Archipelagoes actually existed in our same history, but was so separated by the war and by dragons, that it developed more necessary equality, so that their structure, as stated before, reflects today’s. Still developing.
Either way, filling in the story gaps with what we research of VIkings to help emerge us in their world is, I think, great, so long as we don’t forget obvious differences. Particularly when it comes to marriage rites–which we know little of in this society (HTTYD2 might change that??).
As it was stated, quite simply, above–Vikings didn’t court. And we knew from the get-go that HTTYD Vikings did (“…maybe I could even get a date!”). Hiccup and Astrid have been “dating” for years now.
With that in mind, there’s the thought that forms of birth control also existed. *Speculation Post* They don’t have to have sex, there’s plenty more i’m sure they’ve done, but there are options.
So yes, with the way history is mixed with our own familiar traditions, I think Hiccup and Astrid have totally done it. Particularly given the length of their time together, their pastimes (a lot of ‘flying off’ for alone time), and just their general relationship.
I never saw them as puppy-love, more like… thrown together and causing friction as they try to stay together in a “romantic” sense, despite being completely compatible as besties. That’s a recipe for sexual tension right there.
snowghoul
kaledo-art
theartofmadeline
prguitarman
janainaart
gummygunk
romaincrisis
tangentwithtanner
titsay
