Merida stared at Hiccup, who was currently sitting on the edge of the bed, directly across from her. He seemed nervous, and that made Merida grin. She was going to have a real fun time with that.

"So ye've never actually done…" she gestured in front of her, "this before?" She smirked when she saw him stare down at the space between them, seeming to concentrate on it, as he gave a small shake of his head. "Guess I'll have tae teach ye a thing 'o two."

"Ok, I'm ready," he said, letting out a breath.

"Now we're going tae take this nice and slow at first, all right?"

"Sounds good." He took a quick drink from the glass of water then set it back on the dresser, turning his attention back to the girl sitting cross-legged before him. Merida looked down at his hands; they were placed on his lap, his own legs crossed, but his fingers drummed nervously against the metal leg.

"Ye seem nervous, Hiccup."

"What if I do it all wrong? What if I'm no good?"

She reached forward and playfully pushed his shoulder. "Don't ye worry, it just takes practice. Besides, this is yer first time, so I do nae expect ye tae do very well."

"Oh, well that's certainly reassuring!" he said sarcastically.

"Come on, let's get started," Merida stated, drawing his attention back to her. "Now, ye need tae move closer."

He scooted closer until there was only a foot of space between them. She sat there patiently, waiting for him to begin, but he just stared back at her awkwardly.

"What?" she snapped, growing irritated.

His eyes widened innocently. "I'm waiting for you. Go on."

She rolled her eyes. Did he know absolutely nothing about how it was done? "Yer supposed tae make the first move, Viking."

He bit down on his lip for just a second, then looked up to meet her sapphire gaze. "But I…I don't know what to do."

She waved a dismissive hand. "Don't ye worry, I'll help ye out if ye need it."

Hiccup took a deep breath and moved his hand to what he thought was the right spot. He wasn't sure where he was supposed to put his hand, but he might as well start somewhere, right?

"Ok, here?"

"No," she said, and his hand froze. He moved it over to another spot.

"No."

He started to get frustrated. Just what was he supposed to do? He moved his hand to yet another spot.

"No, definitely nae there!"

He pulled away and scowled. "I don't know."

"Now dinnae get yer pants in a twist." She grabbed his hand and guided it to the right place. "There, that's fine. Now push it forward." Hiccup did as she said and was rewarded with a grin. "Now, it's my turn. Let me show ye how it's done."

She knew that in about an hour dinner would be ready and they would be called down. She wanted to be finished by then, because she didn't want anything interrupting them right now. Merida's nimble fingers reached down and Hiccup's eyes widened.

"Yer turn," she said, grinning at his reaction. After a few minutes of Merida coaching him on what to do and showing him a few moves of her own, he finally felt a little bit more confident. When she asked him to show what he had learned he bit down on his lip before reaching down and copying what he had learned.

He heard her sharp intake of breath and looked into her blue eyes to see that he had done something right. "Oh! Oh! That was really good!"

Hiccup beamed at her compliment and continued.

Elinor was taking care of some last minute preparations for the clan's dinner with the Vikings that night, when she heard shouting and yelling coming from upstairs. She panicked for a moment, thinking maybe a clan member had gotten into a fight with a Viking, but then felt a wave of relief wash over her when she heard the sound again and realized it was shouts of amusement and pleasure, not aggression and hostility. Making a mental note to check it out later, she walked around the kitchen with the head maid scurrying after her, jotting down whatever the Queen asked on a piece of parchment.

After years of fighting the Scottish clans and the Vikings had agreed to put aside their differences and draw a treaty between them…or, more accurately, the clans had heard of the fearsome dragons the Vikings had managed to tame, and not wanting to risk going to war with them, had offered a peace treaty that benefitted the Vikings and assured that the Scottish clans would not be attacked. They had invited the tribe to DunBroch castle for the week, showing off their beautiful highlands and planning a huge feast for all the clans to attend on the last day of their visit, with the Vikings as the guests of honor.

Elinor had been pleased when her daughter took an almost immediate liking to the Chief's only son, Hiccup. Within minutes of their meeting he had fumbled up his words, stuttered out an apology, and had, overall, made a fool of himself. Merida, in response, had laughed, declaring that she liked him before dragging him off to show him Angus and asking to meet his dragon. Elinor had made a vow three years ago to no longer push her daughter towards marriage, however she couldn't hide her joy that the son of their newfound allies was at the very least, a prospect.

Elinor was absentmindedly planning their wedding when the triplets burst into the kitchen, their eyes alight with amusement and mischief. Elinor instantly felt her panic return. Had they pulled another prank? Gods forbid they had played a joke on the Vikings and somehow angered them.

"What are you lads grinning about?" she asked, scooping one up. He laughed and turned to his brothers.

"Can we take a plate of cakes up to our room, mum?" Harris asked, and Hubert and Hamish nodded in agreement.

"Your room? Why? Dinner will be served shortly."

"We want something to eat while we listen! Hurry, we don't want to miss the end!" Hamish exclaimed, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.

Elinor furrowed her eyebrows, wondering what kind of mischief they were talking about, her unease slowly growing. "Listen to what?"

"The fight!" Hubert said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Elinor's blood ran cold, and she realized that maybe she shouldn't have been so quick to dismiss her earlier suspicions. She quickly set Harris back down on the ground. "Where was the fight?"

"In Merida's room. She and that Viking boy are wrestling!" Hubert said, arms making a grand gesture. "We're listening from our room. I have five on Merida!"

"Merida is in her room alone with a boy?!" she nearly cried, but when a few servants glanced up to stare at her sudden outburst she composed herself and continued in a more even, quieter tone. "How do you know they were wrestling?"

"Merida said, "I can't believe you've never done this before!" and "Oh! You're good!" and then there was a lot of shouting," Harris said. "I've got five on the Viking. He tamed dragons, he can take on Merida."

The boys' words attracted a few surprised glances from the servants, but when Elinor gave them a stern look they quickly turned their gazes back to their work. It wasn't proper or appropriate for Merida to have a boy in her room, and even worse was the fact that they were alone in her room…and, apparently, wrestling! Elinor was going to give her daughter a stern talking to, and remind her that princesses did not allow boys into their rooms, and furthermore, did not allow themselves to be in a room alone with a boy, much less engage in a wrestling match with one!

Elinor turned to the head maid. "Watch the boys and keep them here until I return," she ordered. The boys' let out protests, but Elinor dismissed them as she turned and quickly walked up to her daughter's bedchambers.

When she arrived outside Merida's room she could hear the noise coming from inside. She was about to knock when she heard a distinct conversation going on inside. The boys had said they were wrestling, but it sounded as if they were simply talking. She leaned close to the door, her ear facing the worn mahogany wood.

"Ha! Take that!" she heard Hiccup exclaim.

"Shush, do ye want my mum tae hear us? She always puts a stop tae anything fun!"

"This isn't exactly what I would call fun," Hiccup replied.

She heard Merida snort. "That's nae what ye were saying a couple minutes ago!"

"It's enjoyable enough, but I could think of a lot more things I would consider fun."

"Like what?"

"Well, riding Toothless, and racing Toothless, and—"

"Anything that dinnae involve dragons?"

"Hm, well…this!"

Suddenly there was a grunt. "Give it tae me, Hiccup!" she heard her daughter's voice demand, sounding agitated. "Give it tae me!" Elinor raised a hand to her mouth to cover the gasp. She was horrified; they most certainly were not wrestling!

"What's the magic word?"

"Now!"

Suddenly there was the sound of the bed creaking. Elinor went to reach for the knob, but her hands were shaking so badly she missed entirely. She took a deep breath to steady herself, mentally preparing her mind for whatever she might see.

"Fine!" she heard Hiccup reply.

"Now concentrate!" she heard her daughter say.

"Hold on, just let me—" There was a short pause and then the sound of something wet splashing on what she assumed was her daughter's bed.

"Oi! Now ye've gone and spilt it all over my bed!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It slipped!"

"Just help me clean this mess up before my mum comes up here. She'd have a bear."

Elinor had heard enough. She barged into the room, ready to ground her daughter for all eternity and the next life too, but when she saw what was going on she let out a sigh of relief.

Both teenagers froze when they heard the door open and looked up to see the Queen standing there. Merida and Hiccup were sitting on her daughter's bed, with Hiccup holding a white towel in his hand, while Merida held a glass filled with just a couple inches of water. Both of them were fully clothed. She let her gaze travel down to see a dark stain on her daughter's bed sheets, and made the connection that it was the water that had caused it. Her gaze traveled even further and noticed the chessboard sitting between them.

Elinor didn't even get a chance to open her mouth before her daughter raised her free hand and pointed an accusing finger at Hiccup.

"It's his fault, he dropped the glass and spilled the water!" she declared.

"You were trying to tackle me!"

"Only because ye stole my Queen!"

"Well, you were cheating!"

"How would ye know? Ye've ne'er even played chess before!"

Elinor raised a hand to massage her temples as the teenagers continued to argue with each other. She supposed she should probably put a stop to their fight, but right now she just wanted to let the fact that she daughter was still pure sink in.

Hiccup stood at the docks, saying goodbye to Merida as his father and the others loaded the longships.

"Was your mother really mad?" Hiccup asked. After they had both calmed down and let the thrill of competition wear off, they went back to their regular selves and quickly forgot their little dispute.

"Eh, nae so much now. She calmed down a wee bit when she realized the water stain would come out, but she made me promise no more glasses of water near my bed." Merida drew in a breath and then let it out with a long sigh.

Hiccup dug the toe of his boot into the black dirt of the loch's shore. "So…I guess this is it."

Merida's blue eyes snapped up to meet his. "No, ye have tae come back sometime."

He smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And why is that?"

"Because we ne'er finished our lesson, and I promised I would teach ye how tae play chess," she replied with a grin.

"I know how to play chess now. I learn fast," Hiccup declared. Merida gave him a sly smile.

"Well, then next time I can give you a different kind 'o lesson," she said. At that statement Hiccup turned a bright red and looked down at his shoes, the dirt of them suddenly becoming the most interesting thing in the world.

He couldn't help but ask. "What kind of lesson?"

Suddenly he felt Merida grab his arm and drag him away from the docks. As soon as they were a good distance away she pulled him behind a large shrub and gave him a kiss on the cheek. When she pulled away her cheeks had a slight pink twinge to them, and Hiccup felt as if his face was on fire. He felt breathless and it was all he could manage to look up and meet her gaze.

For the first time since Hiccup met Merida she seemed nervous. She dropped her gaze to the ground for a brief second and then looked back up at him with a grin. "I'll give ye a clue: that was lesson number one."

This story was inspired by Slave2Writing's piece, Black Moves First. If any of you are Harry Potter fans, you should go check it out, it's hilarious. I tried to put my own spin on it.