eachdraidh | ( ✈ SEVENTH FLIGHT; video

Hi, everyone! Hiccup here, Unseelie Court if that ... matters to you. I was wondering if anybody else felt like getting to know each other. I'm That Guy With The Night Fury, also known as Why Are You Riding A Dragon and Is That Thing Going To Eat Me.

I'll start us off.

I've been talking to Jon about marriages and weddings, stuff like that. You can all settle down, me and Snow aren't getting hitched any time soon — I know you'll all be deeply disappointed to hear that — I'm just wondering how people do things in other lands.

When you're a Viking, you only ever get married if the other person proves their worth to you and it's unheard of for anyone to be pressured into it. You could be a guy or a girl, it doesn't matter. Women and men decide for themselves that that's it, they want to marry, do it, and then sometimes one of them might decide to divorce the other. Is that such a weird concept to a lot of people here? And, uh, on the subject of ... bastards — sorry about the language if that's also a thing for you, as well as the actual meaning — why is it that if one half of a married couple has another child with someone who isn't their spouse, everybody thinks said child is worth less? That seems insane.

[ Hiccup certainly looks confused, and a bit offended on behalf of said illegitimate children. ]

There are lots of cultures clashing in the Drabwurld and I'm finding out new things every day but this is fascinating to me, maybe because it's crazy and I've never explored anywhere far enough away to encounter such a weird way of thinking. Where I come from, no one gets to offer you a serious insult unless you yourself have done something to deserve it. You should be as brave as Thor himself and stand up for what you want, no matter what anyone else thinks.

Then there's this whole weird attitude about other people bothering to voice their opinions about who you sleep with, as if a guy choosing to bunk with another guy is a huge deal, or girls doing the same. Where does that entitled nosiness even come from? [ Hiccup snorts. ] Surely if you're not there getting down with them, it's not your place to even have an opinion on their bedroom shenanigans. My dad's friend Gobber would put his metal club-hand through the face of anyone who decided to get vocal about his private life.

Jon said that Berkians sound like the Free Folk where he comes from, because we do whatever we want and we keep our honour through our own actions, not the reputations other spin for us.

[ Sitting back against a snoozing Toothless, Hiccup toys with the strings on the neck of his green tunic, armour set aside. ]

Does anyone want to chat about their own lands, their people? I'm ... the only Viking in either court, I think, at least currently. A few of my gods are here — Sif, Loki, and I think Thor might be or was, and I'm still kind of thrilled that Elves and Dwarves and Trolls are real in the Drabwurld. The latter less so, maybe. If you want to ask me anything about my home or our customs, go right ahead! I'm probably going to be bugging people if they respond to this, so fair's fair. Sorry if I already managed to offend you somehow, I guess that's the sort of thing that happens regularly when lots of different people are stuffed into the same place.

I suppose I'm just homesick for that craggy, freezing, rain-soaked rock I call home. [ (Hiccup was always able to sit down and talk to Stoick at night about his day, or he was until this whole Chieftain Handover thing began to crop up.) He pauses as he remembers to ask one more thing before he closes the locket. ] Also, uh. Do you ever think about — about settling down here permanently? In the Drabwurld. With someone ... new? If we get three times our normal lifespan, it's worth it. Isn't it? Building a new life.

Anyway, thanks for listening. I know I go on. Feel free to talk to anyone else in this broadcast if they pique your interest, I don't mind.

[ Threadjack away, bruhs. ]

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[...well shit.]

...sorry. I wish I could say something comforting now, but I'm the first one to know how much that sucks. Ah... [How is he supposed to go on with this conversation now, geez.] What's her name? Does she have a dragon too?

Astrid Hofferson, she has a Deadly Nadder called Stormfly. Yours? Minus the dragon, obviously.

[He chuckles at the dragon comment, then reaches for his phone - may as well enjoy the Station while he's staying at it. He shows Hiccup a picture of the two them arm in arm in Central Park, the high buildings of New York noticeable in the back.]

Rebecca Barnes. Becky. Her thing is music. I've liked her since we were kids but only started to date her around a week ago. Then I was dragged here.

[WHY CAN HE NEVER ENJOY THE FEW GOOD THINGS THAT HAPPEN TO HIM.]

Same with me and Astrid, only we've been officially dating since I was about fifteen. On and off. It's complicated.

Your, ah, Becky even looks a little like her.

Yeah? Wow. [His surprise sounds a bit... unsure. What started as a simple coincidence between them is getting bigger each time they talk. And according to Balthazar, there isn't such a thing as coincidences. He stares at the picture with a sad smile before putting his phone away and turning to Hiccup again.] Then I... I shall say you have good taste in women.

Blonde and beautiful does seem to be my type.

[ Facepalming. Draaaaagging that hand down. ]

Becky's nice, then? She must be if you've been pining over her for so long.

[He raises his eyebrows at that - why is having a type facepalm worth it? But again, he isn't one to talk when he facepalms all the time. ...and that's totally not a coincidence, moving on.

He doesn't hesitate when he has to answer that question.] Becky is-- she's amazing. She's funny, and smart, and gentle, and... she never made fun of me, you know? Everyone else did, but she... she actually told me she liked how I saw the world.

Wow, okay, no. She sounds nothing like Astrid.

[ Because Hiccup's girlfriend is loving and kind etc etc etc but also smacks him around both emotionally and otherwise, such a troll. Sometimes. She's less intense than she used to be, admittedly, but loving Astrid is loving getting your ego bruised only to have it patched up again. ]

Becky sounds very sweet, though.

Edited 2014-12-15 05:18 (UTC)

[He can't help it, he has to laugh at that. Because Hiccup's reaction was a funny interruption to all his sap, but also because he has to admit he is kinda relieved they aren't that similar after all.]

She is. And brave too. [He'll forever own her everything he is now.] What is your Astrid like then? If not sweet that gives me, ah-- rough around the edges?

If I had to choose one word to describe Astrid, it would be dominant.

[ He's not joking, bro. But he does relent on a real explanation. ]

She knows exactly who she is and always has. She's the best warrior I know and the most beautiful girl on Berk, about ten times physically stronger than any of the guys and able to split a log with an axe from twenty paces away. She's ... kind and supportive, and a good person. We've barely been apart since we were born, never more than for a few days at a time since the archipelago isn't exactly massive.

We're very different even though we care about each other, and I intended to marry her someday.

[ Except now Hiccup is here, in the Drabwurld, with no way of getting back or knowing if he ever will. ]

[It seems coincidences finally stop appearing, because Dave really can't see himself with such a dominant person. One part does call his attention though.]

Knows exactly who she is? Think she has any tips to share on how to do that?

[Because damn, he could do with them. The next part is sadder, though, and Dave isn't sure how to take it.]

...past tense, huh.

( ✈ SEVENTH FLIGHT; video — both courts )

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