Man in the Middle Chapter 4

Neither of them knew who woke up first the next morning. They both pretended to be asleep so they wouldn't wake the other. But the pretending ended when they heard many footsteps approaching the door.

"Are the happy newlyweds awake?" Stoick called from outside. If they had been asleep, his bellow would have awakened them, so it wasn't a very useful question.

"Yes, we are," Hiccup called. Astrid's eyes eased open. Toothless picked his head up alertly.

"Are you going to... going to try again at, uhhh... you know?" the chief asked.

The bride and groom looked at each other nervously. After a few seconds, they both nodded glumly. They knew there was no escaping this. "Yes, we will," Hiccup said out loud.

"Very well. Bring in the witnesses," Stoick said, and flung the door open. Apparently, he'd forgotten about the dragon.

Toothless sensed Hiccup's rising stress level. Suddenly he understood. It wasn't the girl's fault at all! She had made peaceful gestures, with Hiccup's full approval. They had slept next to each other all night, and there was no question he liked that. She made Hiccup happy. It was all those other people who had upset him! It was their fault! And here they were again!

The witnesses started to file into the house, only to find the doorway suddenly blocked by a large, intimidating, extremely angry Night Fury! Slitted pupils, bared teeth, angry snarls, flapping wings – they got the whole package. They stopped in their tracks, wide-eyed and... well, none of those courageous Vikings would ever admit to being afraid, but they came close to it. They certainly weren't going to try and get past him.

"Oh, my gosh! Call him off!" Astrid half-screamed.

Hiccup started to speak, and then stopped. She glanced at him in surprise, and saw him wearing his Hiccup half-grin. He'd just thought of something that would never occur to any other Viking.

"Good dragon!" he said. "Very good dragon!"

Toothless took a quick glance back at Hiccup. Sure enough, his friend was pleased. The dragon resumed guarding the door with even greater zeal.

"Hiccup, what are you doing?" she demanded.

"Like my father said, there's something that you and I have to do, with witnesses," he explained, talking into her ear so she could hear him over the dragon's roaring. "All the witnesses are here, just like the law requires. But with him in the doorway, they can't see much. That's not our fault, is it?"

Her shocked expression slowly changed into that smile. He had first seen that smile right after she first kissed him in public, and only a few times since. It had always been a promise of better things to come. Now, it was time. He smiled back. She flung both arms around him, and they fell back together onto the furs.

Outside, the men suspected that the bride and groom were doing what they were supposed to be doing. But, thanks to the agitated dragon, they could see almost nothing, and could hear even less. Every time someone got closer, or shifted positions to try and see better, it set Toothless off again, and everyone backed away. Now and then, the Night Fury would glance over his shoulder at the ones he was protecting, but his vigilance never faltered. He stood guard, angrily and noisily, for over half an hour. At last, they heard Hiccup call off the dragon.

They cautiously filed in. The newlyweds were sitting on the broken bed, fully dressed. Hiccup looked relaxed and rather pleased with himself. He hadn't liked the part where he'd had to cause Astrid some pain, but that really was unavoidable, and he never had to do it again.

Astrid was still nervous about being the focus of this kind of attention. She might have put up a brave front if she'd had her axe and her battle gear, but all she had was her wedding dress. What was worse, they all knew what she'd just done. She felt naked under their scrutiny; she clung to her husband's arm for comfort. She'd never felt so frail in her life.

Toothless sat next to them on the floor, no longer raging, but still staring down the intruders with half-bared teeth. The witnesses kept their distance as best they could.

Stoick was the last to enter, glaring at his son. "What were you thinking?" he demanded. Before Hiccup could answer, the chief held up a hand and shook his head. "No, never mind. I know exactly what you were thinking. I ought to be angry, but..." He turned to the witnesses. "You can check the sleeping furs for the proof that they've done their duty to Freyja. After that, I think we're done here." Astrid's uncle found the fur with the telltale dark stain.

"What kind of public consummation was that?" someone complained.

"Should we make them do it over?" someone else asked.

"It was all done according to law and tradition," the chief answered solemnly. "But the law and the traditions don't say anything about dragons getting in the way. The bride and groom acted in good faith. They've done their duty. The rest of us can go back to the Mead Hall and make the announcement. They'll join us in an hour or so for the presentation of the morning-gift." They all filed out, glad to get away from that insane dragon, with Stoick bringing up the rear. He winked at them just before he quietly closed the door. They were alone at last.

"Now I'm glad you couldn't put the dragon out last night," Astrid said softly as she snuggled up against Hiccup. "Is he ever going to jump on me again?"

"I don't think so. I think he's reached an understanding with you. Maybe you didn't notice, but when he was guarding the door, he kept looking back at both of us, not just me."

"I didn't notice; I must have had something else on my mind. Anyway, how could he look at one of us and not the other, when we were..." she broke off in embarrassment.

"Trust me, I know him; I can tell these things," Hiccup smiled. "I think, when he pounced on you, that was his way of saying, 'That's for making Hiccup unhappy,' or so he thought. When he slept next to us, he was saying, 'That's for everything else.' And the guardian-at-the-door part? That was Toothless being Toothless. After all, he is a dragon, and he's going to do dragon things sometimes, no matter what we say or do."

He stroked her cheek with a finger. "You may not have a perfectly peaceful friendship with him, but then, you and I probably won't be perfectly peaceful the whole time, either. We'll make it work out. I know we will."

She smiled and kissed him lightly. Then she kissed him again like she meant it. They embraced, and as she looked over her husband's shoulder, she gazed into two large, contented pale-green eyes.

Hiccup was happy, so Toothless was happy. That wasn't so hard to figure out. She decided she was happy, too.

"Good dragon," she whispered. "Very good dragon."

THE END