Chapter Text
"It's really not as difficult as you seem think it is, Hic." She shrugs as she notches another arrow, her hair pushed back into a messy ponytail. "You stand steady, you aim yer bow at the target," she explains, like she’s tried to do several times in the years that they’ve known each other. She takes hold of the string and pulls it back slowly, the muscles in her arm pulling taut. "You look just over the arrow," her expression becomes more focused, if you look close enough, you can almost see a spark in her blue eyes. "Pull the string up to your eye and..." The arrow flies out of her bow with a hard snap. Hiccup hears something hitting on wood and he turns his head away from her for a moment to look at the target.
"You shoot," She smiles. He raises his eyebrows with an amused chuckle when he spots it. She hit another arrow in the dead center of the target, just next to the last one. "And that's all there is to it." She grins.
He snorts, "You kind of lost me at the eye part." He follows up with mild sarcasm. This is the fifth arrow she's shot in the bullseye, and honestly he'd already stopped trying the moment he saw her walking up the field next to him.
It's the annual medieval fair in Scotland, and this year it's hosted by the Dunbroch family, one of the remaining lordships of Great Britain. He looks around the large, sunny open field, where different targets have been placed next to each other and several contestants are trying their best to hit their arrows as well as Merida's, mostly to no avail. In the distance he can hear people clapping and shouting Merida's name from the sidelines. It's not hard to guess that almost everyone that came to watch the matches at the fair today, is here to watch her compete as well. It's not surprising, as she just came back from the archery world championships in Monaco. He's honestly surprised that she made it here on time.
"Alright, ladies and gentlemen! One last chance to win from the reigning champion in a single round! Who is brave enough to try?" Hiccup hears a man with a heavy Scottish accent say over the speakers. As he looks up he can see Lord Fergus Dunbroch and his wife Lady Eleanor Dunbroch, who has a small pair of binoculars in front of her eyes, look over the field from the commentator booth.
A few people step up next to them on the field. He honestly doesn't see a way where any of them can win.
Merida steps up again as well, lining up next to a guy he can vaguely place as "Young Macintosh”, as everybody likes to call him; he can feel the superiority complex waft from his direction. He's handsome in an almost boring way, and Hiccup honestly forgets what his real name is.
He sees him whisper something in Merida's ear, at which she scoffs smugly, "I'd really like to see you try, Macintosh."
He then smirks and waves his hand across the field. "I don't see anybody here with as much of a chance to beat you at your own game, princess." He laughs out loud.
"Keep tellin' yourself that, Macintosh." She comments absentmindely as she centers her gaze on the target and rolls her shoulders back. Hiccup can see a small smile form at the edge of her lips, and he can tell that this is going to get really good. "Just watch me."
A few people get a good shot in, even some hit the center. As they go on more and more people from the open sidelines start shouting and clapping for the people that scored well. It's always fun to see a supportive crowd.
Now it’s Macintosh' turn. He gives a deep bow to the people around him and walks over to the target. "Get ready to lose, princess!" He grins sardonically. A good amount of people laugh at him for the comment, but he doesn't seem to get that their ire is aimed at him. He stands in front of the target, makes a big show of pulling back his bowstring, and fires... Outer rim.
"Oh! That's a pity, Macintosh! Better luck next time, keep your head up!" He hears Fergus Dunbroch announce. The loser in question slams his bow on the ground and starts wailing. "This isn't fair! Who of you sabotaged my bow?!" He exclaims as he points accusingly towards a group of people, his friends most likely, who are all laughing at him.
"Ah come on, Macintosh! It's wasn't as bad as last year!" He hears Fergus Dunbroch say as Macintosh storms off the field, fuming as he goes.
This is a good thing, because now Hiccup can fully focus on the best part of the game; Merida's winning shot.
"And here is Merida Dunbroch, my astonishing lass who's just won her ninth championship title in Monaco! Make us proud, Merida!" Fergus Dunbroch shouts over the speakers.
Merida takes one deep breath and focuses on the target. The crowd goes silent and time seems to slow down as he starts paying attention to every movement she makes. She pulls back her bowstring, levels the arrow at the target and shoots.
"Haha! Another win for the Dunbroch's!" Fergus Dunbroch announces loudly. Hiccup looks over at the target. She split the last arrow in half.
People from all around them come running up the field to congratulate her. After a while Fergus comes running onto the field as well and hoists her up his shoulders. "Everybody give a round of applause for my lass!" He shouts. The people around them begin clapping and chanting her name in unison.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I hereby announce the end of the games. Thank you all for coming to the fair and we very much hope to see you next year." Lady Eleanor Dunbroch announces. Clearly wanting to take her leave and go prepare for tonight.
"Let's get this party started!" Hiccup hears a guy next to him shout. Well, a party for some, he supposes. A high class dinner for him and all the other invitees to the Dunbroch manor. He doesn't mind going there though, he thinks as he looks over at Merida, who makes eye contact with him from across the field, laughing heartily on top of her father's shoulders, “Just like I told you, Hic! You just shoot!" He never does.
------
It's at the end of the dinner party that it starts.
Every socialite has split off into different groups across the grand ballroom. Some are making backroom deals about national politics, others are looking for a new benefactor, some are definitely looking for old, rich and unmarried bachelors or bachelorettes, and some are, like himself, dancing with a lady from a place in Wales. Who he can't remember the name of, but who is definitely at least sixty years older than him.
She keeps asking him about where he’s from, what his parents do, saying what a handsome young lad he is and, oh how could he forget the; “Do you see my lovely granddaughter Susana over there? You two would make such a lovely couple.” That last one she's repeated at least twenty times by now. Not that he’s counting.
Well, to be fair, not that he’s counting much of anything at the moment, with the amount of beer, champagne and wine flowing through his and everyone's veins. He’s surprised they’re all still standing.
It's been a really good evening though, so he can't complain. His mom, dad and him arrived as one of the first honorary guests of the evening. Old allies and brothers from a far away past, Lord Dunbroch had jokingly remarked. It also helps that his mom and dad both work for the Norwegian government and that his mom is running for a term as Prime-Minister. He also got to spend time with friends he hasn’t seen in a few months, spent a good portion of the evening talking with an old navy commander about the schematics of a new jet they want to introduce into the army and he played a few games of champagne flute pong with Merida in the kitchens, her 'high class' version of beer pong, and he did pretty well against her.
His friends, Merida included, and him also played a dumb game they used to pass the time with at these events when they were younger, a game they like to call “drunkard drama”; where they observe the people in the room and start gossiping about each and every one of them. Then, they subsequently try to smoothly ask the hopefully drunk enough person in question about said gossip and see who has it right. If it's incorrect, you do a shot. If you get slapped or told off for even asking, you do one more. Say what you will about the Scottish, but they can certainly hold their liquor. So, all in all a pretty great evening.
And well, then there’s Merida herself, who's a whole different kind of great.
She'd made a toast about the fair, talked about her upcoming championships in horse riding and archery and spoke about the importance of goodwill and companionship, all in one speech. A real diplomat. He doesn’t really know how to put into words what he feels about her, she just seems larger than life sometimes, you know? And he likes her a lot.
That’s also the only answer he can come up with when the lady he is currently dancing with asks him about his relationship with Merida and the Dunbroch family. Maybe he’s a little tipsy.
“Yes, yes, a fine lass, that, but you need someone who will care for the children later on and not someone so brash, do you understand? Like my granddaughter Susana over there, do you see her? She is such a sweet lass, perfect for you I must say.”
He begins to say the same thing he’s said to her so many times already, “Well, I’m sure your granddaughter, you look like you could be her mother by the way, is a really nice person, but I’m currently not really looking–-”, when someone taps the old lady on her left shoulder.
“Excuse me Lady Anglesey, but I think it’s time to switch partners, if you don’t mind.” Hiccup smiles at Merida over Lady Anglesey’s shoulder. His hero in his time of need.
Merida looks stunning tonight in a slim red dress that comes up into a loose V-neck with matching gold accessories and her hair tied back in an elegant knot. As soon as she came through the doors with her parents and brothers, he knew she was going to be the center of attention tonight. Not that he minded, or anything.
“Oh, of course lass, you have fun, but perhaps don’t take him off the market just yet! I have yet to introduce him to my granddaughter!” She says whimsically as she taps Hiccup on the shoulder a few times and strolls towards the champagne table.
“Well that could have been a disaster.” Hiccup confesses as Merida takes Hiccup’s hand and they start dancing slowly across the ballroom again.
“No, no, no, you did fine with her, the old sweetheart." She says as she starts mimicking the old lady’s voice. "She just wants to couple every single bachelor to her granddaughter, haven't you heard?”
They both laugh a lot louder than they would have if they were sober, but the joke was a good one in the moment, in their defense.
“Seriously? I was starting to think she was up to something, but I couldn’t tell you why.” He quips back, a big smile fixed on his face.
“Well, if we're talking about potential suitors in the crowd,” Merida intonates suggestively, “is there really no one whose caching your eye tonight?” She starts blinking rapidly a few times to get her point across.
“Well, you of course, who else?” He says jokingly enough. Dammit, that wasn't what he'd planned on saying, curse his uncontrollable tongue.
“Oh haha, very funny," she laughs as she rolls her eyes at him, "but seriously, not even the few ladyships who are all swooning for you back there?” She nods her head at the women standing together, all looking in his and Merida’s direction.
“What do you mean swoon?” Hiccup asks, trying to calm his sudden nerves. “They've just asked me the questions everyone else has asked me. I thought they were just being nice.” He shrugs. The ballroom gets kind of hazy with all the swinging and turning they’re doing, so he tries to focus on Merida to not get too dizzy, though she's looking at him like he’s crazy with her big, curious, blue eyes. Oh come on.
“I'm not that oblivious, am I?” He chuckles nervously.
“Oh, poor little viking, ye have much to learn of the woman's heart. It’s all about the touches, and the gazing and the longing stares with the lot of them.” She laughs, "It’s like they still live in the 19th century, sometimes. I thought you would have attended enough of these by now to fully grasp the concept. But alas.” Merida says jokingly.
“Sadly, Norwegian politics isn’t as romantically involved as your guys’ side of the equation.” At that statement Merida pouts her lower lip, “Oh, poor you.”
“Yes I know, it's truely awful, isn’t it?” He says, rolling his eyes with a grin.
Suddenly the music picks up its pace and they begin swinging in wider arches, forgoing conversation to stay in check with the music. They laugh out loud when one of them almost falls down or bumps into another dancing couple in their haze and then all too quickly, the music slows down again.
They stop turning after the music changes, laughing and still pressed up against each other even though they've stopped dancing. Merida places her head on his shoulder for a second to catch her breath before looking up at him. In her eyes, he can see that same blue spark that he saw this afternoon. He really thinks that he could look at her forever if she let him, his tipsy mind tells him.
It's at that same moment that they begin to notice that they've been staring at each other a little too long, both letting go with an slightly awkward smile and start walking back towards the tables at the side of the room.
As they make their way towards their mutual group of old boarding school friends, Merida takes his hand and looks at him with a certain sincerity that stops him in his tracks as they near their table. “Well for what it’s worth, I really like you, Hic. You’re a great lad and I think you’re pretty hot. So, go swoon some of those ladies already.” She pats him on the back with a smile and walks off to another corner of the ballroom.
Hiccup stands there, rooted to the spot as he watches her leave. He stares into the distance for what feels like an hour until a friend clasps him on the shoulder and starts talking to him in drunken, excited tones.
He doesn't see her much afterwards, just from afar a few times as she's dancing with friends, joking around with her brothers or talking to other important diplomats and royalty. Nevertheless, his mind couldn’t let go of what she said the rest of the evening.
He can’t quite remember what happened next, just that, like with most people at these events, he was pretty tipsy at the end of it.
-----
He finds her smoking a cigarette in a small alcove in a deserted part of the manor, the windows overlooking the garden and their private woodlands behind that. He doesn't know how he's able to find her, to be honest, because the manor is an absolute maze, even after all these years.
The lights are turned off in the hall, so the only source of light is coming from the garden and the moonlight outside. The soft light almost seems to make Merida glow a litte as he moves closer. She smiles at him when she sees him approach, waving a hand at him while she tips some soot from her cigarette out the window. "Want one?" She asks as she takes another one out from under her dress and offers it. He laughs at the sight as he takes the offered cigarette from her hand and sits down across from her in the alcove, the warm summer night breeze coming in from the open widow as he lights it up and blows smoke into the garden. He is tipsy, more so than he has been in a long time, so the nicotine immediately makes his head feel a little light and he begins to cough.
"Wow, haven't had one of these in a long time." He laughs, wiping a tear away from his eye. "Me neither, but special occasions and all that." She says as she takes another drag.
They fall into a comfortable silence then, watching the wind blow across the trees in the garden. "Had fun?" She asks after a while, throwing the end of the cigarette unto the stone walkway outside. "I always have fun here, you know that." He replies, placing his head against the wall to make himself feel less dizzy. "Yes, of course, I know," she grins, "but to be honest, I'd thought that you'd be galavanting around somewhere else right now, if you know what I mean." She smirks, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
They tease each other like this often enough, but he feels his chest tighten with a feeling that after tonight, he thinks he can place better than before. Longing. He plays along regardless.
"Why are you so keen on hooking me up with someone, Mer? I'm fine right here." He smirks, flicking away his cigarette into the garden as well.
Merida chuckles. "Oh come on, Hic, live a little. Yer not going to tell me no one's--"
He laughs, "Mer, shut up."
She drops whatever she was going to say next and turns her gaze towards the garden.
"You're my friend, I just want you to have a good time." She shrugs loosely with a laugh. When he doesn't respond, she turns her head back towards him and inspects him curiously. It's now or never, or else he doesn’t know if he'll ever have the courage again.
"Then do something about it." He smirks. Time stops for a moment, and then she grins.
------
The door closes with a bang. As soon as it does, they're pressing up against it. Their lips meet simultaneously while Merida shoves her hands into his hair, pulling him in as he throws his dinner jacket on the ground behind him. She keeps kissing him fervently as he settles his hands on her waist and pushes her against the door again, grinding their hips together. One hand comes down from his hair and begins to pry open one of the buttons of his dress shirt. He quickly pries one hand away from her waist and brings it up to his neck to help.
Merida suddenly takes his lower lip between her teeth and bites down, stopping his movents momentarily, the sensation enough to make his head swim, giving him the feeling that he's drowing in her touch already.
Meanwhile, she quickly goes in for the second button, but can't fully reach it from her position against the door and grunts in frustration against his lips. She tries again, but they are so pressed up against each other that her hand gets stuck in-between their bodies as they kiss.
Hiccup repositions himself by putting one hand against the door next to her head and leans back a little while he keeps putting chaste kisses against her neck. "Help me or I'm pulling this thing off." She says in the small space between them. "Your wish is my command, princess." Hiccup smirks, his voice an octave lower than usual.
Merida makes a frustrated sound at the comment as they both begin to pull at the buttons with a desperation so great, it feels like an eternity before it clatters to the ground. As soon as it's off she takes her now empty hands and feels up and down his--- undershirt. Curse these formal dinners, too many layers.
Merida starts pressing hard kisses against his neck while she pulls him in close again. He clutches her around her waist and can hear himself moan softly against her hair, the feeling almost too much, making his body feel like it’s burning up.
They lose themselves in the sensation of feeling and touching each other for what seems like hours. Her pressing her lips against everything she can touch, his jaw, his neck, his mouth, while he kisses back, running his hands up and down her sides, stopping slightly under her breasts and going down again. They keep pushing and pulling at each other until he's certain the heat will melt them together.
Eventually, Merida pulls back a little and starts tugging at his undershirt until he, through his haze, gets the message and lifts up his arms.
"Isn't this a little forward? Should we tell your mom we eloped?" He laughs against her ear.
Merida groans. "Could we not talk about my parents right now?"
"Your wish is m--" Merida shuts him up by pulling softly on his exposed nipple and grinding her hips against his.
He gasps audibly but presses his mouth against her neck to muffle the sound, afraid that even while this part of the manor is empty except for them, someone could hear. The hot breath billows against her throat and Merida visibility shudders under his hands. He feels like he could burst. "Don't say it again." She breathes.
"I'll keep it in mind," he says, winded, as he pulls back and looks at her for a moment. "Turn around, Mer."
"Finally," She sighs softly as she turns herself towards the door against him, and Hiccup starts looking for the zipper and buttons of her dress in the dark. They work in tandem as Merida starts pulling at her jewelry with a drunken precision learned only from years of practice. Hiccup undoes her dress one button at a time and presses kisses against her back with each one he opens, going lower and lower.
By the time her dress and jewelry fall to the floor, Merida's put her hands against the door to find some semblance of support while he keeps kissing her lower back from the crouched position he's in. He, slowly, trails deep kisses up her back and sees stars every time her back presses up against him as he goes up again, almost to keep his mouth there, and isn't that a thought.
"Hic, just--" She says as she turns around and pulls him against her lips with a desperate force, licking into his mouth.
"You're perfect, you know that?" Hiccup says as he cups her face with one hand, pulling back a little to look at her face in the moonlight, which is the only light in the dark spacious bedroom they're in. Merida's pupils grow darker, almost eclipsing the mesmerising blue colour that he seems to always lose himself in momentarily.
She kisses him again in lieu of responding, then takes his hands and lifts them to cup her bra, where he can feel her nipples through the soft fabric. He starts running his hands over them absentmindely as they kiss.
Merida sighs softly and reaches behind herself to undo the strap of her bra and shrug it off quickly. When it falls to the floor, he can't help but look, so captivated that he doesn't notice that he's staring. How did they even end up here? He really can't remember anymore, but he's certainly grateful.
Merida spurrs him out of it quickly, taking his head in between her hands and lifts it to make eye contact with him.
"Just do something." She sighs, seemingly frustrated with the loss of touch. All his thoughts fly out the window then and there.
He quickly takes her breasts in his hands and rubs over her soft pink nipples, and it's as if an electrical shock goes through her, her body going taut against him. She grabs at his hips as her eyes close and her head presses against the heavy mahogany door behind them.
"I didn't know you were that sensitive, Mer." He chuckles as he keeps circling them, going fast and then slow again.
"There's seems to be a lot you don't know about me yet, Henry Haddock the third." She smirks gleefully. The last name title is something he definitely forgets to tell people about.
"Well, your definitely not wrong there." He chuckles, "There's a lot about you I'd like to find out about." He puts his lips against her neck and sucks up and down her throat. Merida moans audibly against his collarbone, not as concerend about the sound as he is. She grabs at his waist and starts to undo his belt, but oh no, he certainly has other plans.
He takes both of her wrists in his hands and presses them against the door and then trails and kisses his way back down to the floor slowly. He then crouches on his knees and stops kissing her body just above her underwear. He places a kiss against her inner thigh and Merida almost jumps up from the sudden pressure.
"What are you---" she gasps quietly. "I'm just going to take this off for you." He interrupts as he grabs her waistband with both hands and tugs it down. Merida opens her legs a little to guide it off better and, thank you for that Mer, great help.
He looks up and sees her staring at him with a look so intense, he feels his breath hitch in his throat, his lungs sucking in air. With a quiet moan he starts pressing kisses to her inner thighs and stops just close of anything sensitive. Merida shudders against him so intensely that her clit almost touches his mouth anyway.
"Please, just--" she begins to say and sighs as his tongue finally touches her and he starts trailing his tongue and mouth in slow circles. Merida lifts her hands and puts one against her mouth and the other in his hair and pulls. He moans softly against the pressure as he keeps going slowly, the vibrations of it visibly going up her body. He feels like he could go on forever like this, feeling her come undone above him, but Merida's legs seem to buckle a little after a while, and he's almost sure she's going to fall on top of him any minute now. Not the worst thing to happen.
"Hic," her voice sounds winded, "let's go to bed." Then she staggers, tugs hard at his ruffled, long strands and presses her head against the door again when he takes her clit between his lips one last time and sucks.
"Well it's good that you say that," he says as he stands up and presses a soft kiss to her lips, "because we're almost there already."
Merida smirks. "You're cute when you try to act cocky, you know." With a huff he grabs her by the waist and hoists her up against his hips. She goes with him easily, presses her legs around him and laughs. Her muscle tone becomes more visible in the moonlight. Even with her slim figure he can see the lines of hard earned muscle you only get through rigorous training. As they make their way across the room in between pieces of clothing, she takes his head between her hands and places chaste kisses against his mouth, and the thought occurs to him that this, in this moment with her, is really all he's wanted, if he lets himself think about it honestly.
His coordination while drunk isn't the best, he can tell. He keeps pressing up against pieces of furniture in the multiple chamber bedroom that definitely aren't a bed, and while he does Merida keeps quietly laughing at him against his lips. "You try this if you find it so funny," he laughs quietly. "No, you do yer thing, I'm fine from up here," Merida chuckles. He rolls his eyes. "Right, letting me do all the hard work as usual."
Finally, he finds something that closely resembles a bed and falls down. Merida yelps as she falls on top of him on, luckily, the bed. "Well, if you're talking about hard work, I can definitely help with that." She grins and he wonders if he's ever seen her this sly and mischievous before.
Well no, he certainly has, basically all the time.
Merida crouches on top of him and guides them up the bed against the pillows and headboard. He doesn't really register this though, as his mind's very strongly occupied with Merida on top of him. She shifts down his body a little and takes the already loose buckle of his belt and tugs it off. She then places a kiss just under his navel. She starts to loosen his zipper as he suddenly just registers that he is very, very hard.
Merida begins to tug at his pants and looks at him expectantly. "A little help?" She grins. "Oh, yeah, of course." Hiccup says, too dazed and out of it to say anything else as he lifts up his hips. Is this even real? Is she? "No clever remarks? That's a first," She chuckles as she tugs off his pants completely, "thanks for the help though, it makes this a lot easier." She says as she begins to rub over his underwear. Hiccup stiffens at the touch, a blush forming on his chest as he groans.
Merida grins as she tugs off his boxershorts as well. "You can just tell me that it feels good."
"Now who's being cocky--" Hiccup stutters as Merida takes him in her mouth slowly, starts to make circles with her tongue and goes up and down with her hand to match the rhythm. Now it's his turn to muffle his groans as she quickly picks up speed around him. "Your making me lose my mind here, Mer." He sighs. Merida hums against him in response, the feeling spreading a deep desire and heat through every part of his body.
His breath begins to hitch just as he feels like he can't take much more, but before he can say anything about it Merida seems to get the clue and stops, crawls up his body and grins down at him, completely satisfied with herself. He feels his lungs pressing against his chest as he takes one hand, cups the back of her head and kisses her deeply. After a while he begins to notice his mind making a few more coherent observations, like; Merida, still on top, naked and absolutely beautiful.
Hiccup drags himself up a little, places a hand against her back and turns them around. Merida shrieks in surprise and looks up at him mirthfully, seemily happy enough to let him set the pace again. With that, he begins kissing every part of her he can find.
Merida's breathing and moans pick up quickly while he explores downward across her nipples and stomach, kissing every birthmark he can find. She clenches her thighs around his head when he finally settles between her legs and starts teasing her there again, too. It's perfect. He takes a while with it, and starts using his fingers when she begins tugging at his hair again. When he enters her with them she makes a hitched sound in the back of her throat, like all the breath is being pulled out of her as he pumps his fingers, and delights in the way she responds to him. It's not long before he can feel her clench around his fingers, keeping his tongue on her as the fingers in his hair dig deeper.
"You wanna go on?" Hiccup asks, after she comes. Merida lets out a loud jovial laugh, heaving and beautiful in the afterglow of her orgasm. "Yes, or are you going to tease me to death here?"
"Only if you want." He smirks, climbs back up her body and feels her legs wrap around his waist as he lines them up.
They both let out a soft groan when he enters her. The slick sensation he feels when he presses into her astounding. They pick up a slow rhythm of grinding their hips back and forth against each other, not wanting to go too fast immediately. He trails kisses along her neck and shoulders as they take their time to find a good pace.
Nevertheless, after a while the smouldering heat and drunkenness seems to get to them, and they both pick up speed, going back and forth faster just at the right times. "Beautiful. You're so pretty like this, Mer." He mutters against her shoulder. Merida moans softly and clasps her hands around his shoulder blades, "Just go faster, Hic." And yes, he can definitely do that.
Hiccup changes the angle slightly by lifting one of her legs over his shoulder to be able to go faster and deeper. While he does, his thumb starts circling her clit, making her clench against him with each thrust.
"Hic-- oh god," It is not long before Merida lets out a large gasp and tightens around him as her eyes close and he helps her ride out her second orgasm of the night. He's sure he can't go on any longer either. With just a few more fast thrusts as Merida's hands grip his lower back, the bruises probably visible in the morning, he goes over the edge, his vision turning white around the edges.
-----
They stare at each other in the dark for a long moment afterwards, breathing heavily as they come down from the high, both not wanting to end what happened just yet.
"Come here." Merida says, pulling him towards her. Tired and incredibly satiated, Hiccup falls down next to her, her body a warm expanse beside him, and closes his eyes for a what feels like only a few seconds. Yet, when he looks at her again, she's already asleep. He then also, promptly, passes out.
“Merida!” Merida groans and turns around on her pillow to face away from the door. It’s way too early for this, whatever time it may be. “Merida Dunbroch!” She hears her mother sigh from the other side of the door. “Are you awake?” Merida groans in response. She hears and feels something shift beside her, but at the moment she doesn’t really want to see, or feel anything but the pillow against her head and the soft sheets around her, which she snuggles in deeper.
“Merida! I don’t know why you locked the door, but you're needed at breakfast in fifteen minutes.” Merida shoots awake at that. Shit, the guests. “Get ready, please.” She hears footsteps retrieve down their long hallway. “I'd be glad to see you down there in ten minutes!” She hears her mother repeat while her voice grows further and further away down the hall. Mum is always so stressed with so many people around the house.
Merida opens her eyes and stretches her limbs. She's slept well, she realizes as she rubs at her eyes. No hangover, which she always contributes to her very powerful Scottish genes. A well used genetic trait from a long line of heavy drinking royalty. Thank the gods for them.
If anything, she's glad she's not too groggy to get ready quickly. She goes over last night's events as she gets out of bed. She won the tournament, obviously, gave an incredible speech at the charity dinner, drank several lords and other socialites under the table, danced with Hic--- Oh shite, Hiccup.
Suddenly all the memories come flooding back; how he came looking for her in a low lit corridor as the night wound down, how they stumbled upstairs, how she led them to her room, what they did when they got there. There’s a mirror against the wall and, fuck her, she is fully naked. When she looks past herself in the mirror, she can see the slowly waking form of an equally naked Hiccup. She turns around and is too stunned to do anything else but look at him as he sits up and stretches his arms above is head, his toned upper body uncovered around the white sheets.
“Ehrm.” Merida coughs. His eyes shoot open, immediately locking with hers.
“Why are you-- oh.” A glowing red colour creeps up his face, the same colour she suspects hers is as well. O shit, she’s still fully naked.
“Well, don’t just stare at me!" She shouts as she takes part of the sheets in her hands to cover herself quickly, knowing it won't really help anyway.
“I wasn’t looking! You are the one who's staring at me!” He shouts back as he buries himself a little deeper under the covers and quickly averts his gaze to everywhere else but hers. She closes her eyes and breathes in a deep breath.
She can’t get herself to regret last night, she has to admit. If anything, she just hopes they haven’t ruined their friendship with this.
“We should talk,” She opts to say after a few awkward seconds of silence, as a million different thoughts cross her mind. “Yeah, you're probably right.” Hiccup says as he turns towards her again and decidedly only stares at her face, clearly not comfortable enough to look anywhere else at the moment.
“Merida, please!” She hears her mother shout from far away. Shit, shit, shit. She doesn't want to cause her even more stress then she most certainly already has. Why did this have to happen last night and not any other?
“I-- I really need to go.” She runs across the room and goes to the bathroom to pull on the clothes she knows are already waiting for her there. “It's fine, Mer. I'll see you later.” He shouts after her.
Merida dresses herself completely in record time and looks in the mirror to see if she doesn’t have a too bad case of bed hair. While she quickly inspects herself she sighs, having to conclude that her messy locks will not be cooperating today, and pulls her hair up in an easy but true and tried style behind her head. She sees Hiccup leaning against the doorway, already halfway clothed, hair still deeply tussled.
“We’ll talk after breakfast, I swear.” She says as she turns around and leans against the basin. He shrugs, luckily not seeming incredibly bothered. “I trust you.” He smiles. "Now go, make sure your mom doesn't stress herself out too much." Merida snorts, "I'll try." He can be so understanding sometimes, and she's always really liked him for it. More than she figured she did.
Well, it's at least one thing sorted for now, she concludes as Hiccup walks with her towards the door to collect his shirt and the rest of last night's attire. She presses down the handle of the door and is ready to sprint her way through the hall when Hiccup softly puts a hand on her shoulder.
“Hey, wait, I---, why did—,” He begins to say, as she turns around to see vibrant green eyes look at her uncertainly. “What you said last night, during the ball." He shifts his feet, "If you hadn't said anything, I don't think I'd even ever considered--” he stutters anxiously, rubbing the back of his head before looking back. "Why did you?" He finishes, a red tint high on his cheeckbones.
She thinks about it for a few seconds, inspecting his face. She breathes slowly in and out through her nose, “Well,” she grins, ”sometimes you just shoot.”