Elaenar had Snaga link chainmail and told him to wash the floor of the lavatory when he was finished. The elf had his back turned to him, but Snaga peered over his tall frame and watched curiously as Elaenar deposited a green substance into a small piece of paper that he held in his hands, and then rolled it and licked along the edge of the paper to seal it shut.

"I'll be back in a moment…finish your chores." He said sternly, with a subtext to his command that said "And don't cause any trouble while I'm away"

He promptly exited the room, leaving Snaga alone, but the orc stealthily followed Elaenar out to the courtyard and watched the elf depart the fortress from the gated entrance. He hesitantly followed; a few men and elves in the courtyard gave him suspicious, untrusting looks but no one bothered to stop him since he was following behind Elaenar (at this point, everyone in the barracks knew that Elaenar was the orc-prisoner's custodian). Snaga observed as the elf walked a short distance into the woods and leaned with his back against a tree and lit the blunt in his hand.

As Snaga drew closer, he recognized that smell instantly, it was unmistakable. As he approached the elf, Elaenar looked up and noticed him standing there and said:

"Snaga, what are you doing here? Get back inside the barracks!"

But Snaga didn't leave. He stood there staring inquisitively, with his head cocked to the side. "What are you doing? He asked.

"None of your bloody business, now scram! I didn't tell you to follow me."

"I know what you're smoking." Snaga taunted.

"I'll bet you do." Elaenar replied, rolling his eyes.

Snaga reasoned that if it was permissible for an elvish soldier to get high, then he wouldn't be doing it alone out in the woods.

"Are you allowed to do that?" He asked outright.

"If you disobey me one more time, I'll punish you." The elf threatened, but it did nothing to scare Snaga; to the contrary he became even more bold and said:

"I want you to share with me."

"Absolutely not!" Elaenar replied.

"If you don't share with me, I'll tell your captain."

"Why, you insolent little orc brat!" He exclaimed, outraged. Elaenar shoved Snaga so hard that he fell backwards to the ground on his rump. "Get back inside of the barracks this instant before I whip you!"

Snaga scowled at his elf master before picking himself up and walking away; he returned to the military barracks emboldened with a vindictive spirit. He walked up the stairs to the west wing of the stronghold (the elvish side of the barracks) and happened upon the elvish captain with two of his subordinates (Lúthian being one of them).

Despite being terrified of Thrandar, Snaga approached the captain and said tersely:

"Elaenar is smoking pot in the woods."

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Snaga quickly made haste to scurry away, but before he could flit past the elvish captain, a firm hand gripped his arm and slammed him with his back to the wall.

Thrandar leaned down to Snaga's level and said sternly:

"You do not tattle on your superiors."

Snaga tucked his head low and nodded submissively but said nothing.

"And furthermore, you do not speak to your superiors unless spoken to first. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir," Was his meek reply. Captain Thrandar let go of his arm and walked away, the other elf followed the captain, but Lúthian stalled behind and smirked at Snaga.

"Good boy, Snaga." He snickered; with all the smugness of someone who had been waiting too long for his frenemy to finally get in trouble.

Snaga stuck out his tongue at Lúthian and walked away.

For the rest of the day, he nervously anticipated the consequences of snitching, but was hopeful that no action was going to be taken against Elaenar since his captain had (disappointingly) not been pleased that Snaga had tattled on the elf. He had just drawn a bucket of water to wash the floor, as he'd been ordered to do, when he heard an angry voice behind him say,

"You little bitch!"

Snaga dropped the bucket of water, letting it splash to the ground, and had no time to pick it up because Elaenar grabbed him forcefully by his wrist and dragged him into the courtyard. Snaga braced himself to receive whatever punishment was coming his way.

He was led outside of the fortress and Snaga wondered why the elf thought it necessary to whip him out here, in the woods. But instead of being punished, Elaenar gruffly lit a blunt and stuck it in between Snaga's own lips, then took another one out of his pocket and lit one for himself. Snaga, delighted, gladly accepted it.

"I can't believe you snitched on me to my own captain." Elaenar grumbled.

"I told you I would, if you didn't share with me."

"Yeah, well I didn't think you'd actually have the nerve to do it. But don't try your luck with me ever again. The next time that you try to extort me, I'll put you in your place, so will Captain Thrandar."

It must have been the drag from the blunt because Snaga's tongue become loose, and he blurted out all-too honestly:

"I hate him."

"I hate him too sometimes." Elaenar said nonchalantly.

Snaga's jaw dropped; he was shocked to hear Elaenar speak so brazenly against his own commander (in front of an orc). But when the initial shock wore off, he broke into a giggle; he thought it was terribly amusing to be privy to Elaenar's subversive, disrespectful attitude.

"What?" Elaenar chuckled. "Did you suppose I get along perfectly with my officer?"

"Did you get in trouble?" He asked.

"Did you want me to get in trouble, Snaga?"

Snaga shook his head no. "I just wanted you to share with me." He said sheepishly.

"Well, to answer your question: no, I didn't get in trouble." Elaenar said smugly.

"Not at all?"

"He sternly reminded me that I could get court-martialed for possessing illegal substances in the army. Funny enough, Captain Thrandar is always threatening to court martial me, but he never actually does." Elaenar said with a smirk on his face while exhaling a puff from his blunt.

"And you better hope that I never do. If I get expelled from the army, who's going to look after you, hmm? You ought to think twice before you rat me out to my captain; lest you want to fend for yourself." He warned.

Snaga considered what Elaenar had just told him, and a pang of anxiety gripped his heart. What exactly would to him if Elaenar weren't around to be his acting custodian? The possibility of Elaenar being driven out of the army distressed him greatly, and he vowed to never jeopardize the elf's military career ever again.

"What's wrong, Snaga?" the elf asked. "Why do you look so upset?"

"What happens to me if something happens to you?" Snaga asked.

"I don't know. You'd be handled in accordance with whatever the law dictates. Come to think of it, I'm not sure that we have any laws on the books about what to do with orc prisoners. This is a very unusual situation, you know that?"

Snaga didn't like what he'd been told. He realized just how dependent he was on Elaenar for his protection and safety, and he didn't trust that anyone else would look out for him the way that Elaenar would.

"Don't look so sad, there's nothing to worry about." Elaenar assured him.

"Who becomes my warden if something happens to you?"

"Aeründal will take care of you." He answered. Snaga shook his head.

"I don't want Aeründal, I want you."

To Snaga's confusion, Elaenar burst out laughing.

"That's the first time anyone has ever liked me more than Aeründal." But Snaga didn't see anything funny about it, and he continued to frown sullenly.

"Oh stop, we didn't come out here to worry and borrow trouble from the future. We came out here to have a good time. Come along now, take another drag."

Snaga did as he was instructed and took another hit from his blunt.

"There, that's better." Elaenar cooed encouragingly. "I've been fighting as a soldier in the auxiliary armed forces for longer than you've been alive, and nothing's happened to me yet. So don't worry about me."

Snaga hoped that nothing would ever happen to Elaenar for a number of reasons; one of them being that he was fairly certain none of the other elves smoked pot, and even if they did Elaenar was probably the only one who would actually share with him.