Very very late update, I forgot to post this chapter here. Next two chapters will be merged (meeting parents/modern au), stay tuned. *I'm probably talking to myself.*
Silence took over as they sat across each other, without a thought and without a word. Every muscle in their body concurrently ached, their lids kept falling half way down whenever they tried to keep their eyes wide open. Ruffnut was considering dipping her fingers into the camp fire so the pain would stimulate her enough to stay awake. Everything in her mortal being was reaching towards sleep; comforting, safe, calm, beautiful sleep.
She sighed; even her voice did not bother coming out strongly. Her eyes, moments away from giving up, had focused on Snotlout. The boy who never was enthusiastic about this exploring trip to begin with. The boy who claimed this was pointless. Ruffnut thought him a lazy wuss when he was complaining, but now, in the dead of the night and stuck in a rocky corner of a Thor-forsaken island, she saw his point. Fishlegs and Astrid were missing, Hiccup and Tuffnut were looking for them high and low and at no point of the adventure did they get to blow anything up or do something remotely exciting. Now, many hours into the evening, the moonless sky provided little illumination besides their sad fire. Either they were lucky that the weather was tepid, or her limbs had given up on her senses long ago. Feeling her eyes falling down, her brain was protesting fiercely inside her head, but not until the harsh poke to her ribs could she stop it.
"Ow!"
"Up, you're sleeping."
"I'mup, what the Hel!"
"If you sleep, then I'll sleep too. Stay awake."
"Ugh, this is the lamest trip ever…"
"Well babe, I can make it v- oh crap, I'm too tired for this…"
It was the first laughter of the night; Ruffnut snorted at his exhaustion and surrender as Snotlout rolled his eyes and let his attention be distracted by her weak cackle. Talking made staying up a little easier but neither of them felt creative with conversation starters. Soon, the blank stares and silence fell back on them. It was Snotlout who broke the long pause.
"We'll both fall asleep like this; we have to find something to do."
Ruffnut looked unimpressed, she would snuggle up to him if it meant closing her eyes for a moment but she would rather eat hot coal than admit that. Besides, Snotface was probably offering something to keep them awake.
"Stories won't help and I can't move a finger."
"Neither can I."
"What then?"
His shrug helped little, Ruffnut was rolling her eyes by the time his stare focused on his knees. Unless absolutely insane, nothing they could do would help.
That musing sparked something in her mind and if even the thought could make her stiffen up and blink continuously, it could help the situation. It could. Neither of the pairing wanted to be caught snoring if the others came back. They were up for a reason and helping was out of question when Snotlout's biceps looked like study pillows rather than anything else. The more she thought, the less she wanted to do it, so she stopped thinking.
She pushed her back away from the rock, crawled towards Snotlout, shut her eyes and forced her lips on his. It worked like a charm; her heart was pounding in her ears and nervous tingling was invading her limbs. The alarming thoughts eventually made her pull back harshly; all she knew was that she never wanted to do it again. She opened her eyes and studied his expression cautiously, it was exactly what she hoped for – sheer shock.
"There you go, we're awake," she mumbled, even if the short kiss was over in a couple seconds, the odd shakiness did not abandon her body as quickly as she thought it would. And her body did not jerk back like she planned. Their faces remained close and their gaze traveled each other's features. "Yeah," was the only answer she could take from Snotlout, even if the voice was uncharacteristically frail.
A few seconds passed, they each felt like a pause in time and against all reason, Ruffnut found that her stare kept going back to his lips. The night was pitch black around them, warm and humid air hung between their faces like a veil, exhaustion made all her limbs wake up with protest. Her arms shook under the weight of her own slender body and she reached forward when Snotlout's hand gingerly touched her cheek.
As their tongues met for the first time, she noticed how out of ordinary it was to learn his taste, the texture of his lips, how his breath felt against her skin and how she could picture his face with clarity when her eyes were shut tight.
