Rufflout? From me? Unimaginable!

HTTYD © DreamWorks

"You can't just sit there all day."

Ruffnut's voice, biting and harsh, pulled Snotlout from his thoughts, the dark-haired Viking glancing up at Ruffnut slowly. She towered over him as he sat on a cliff edge of Berk, looking out over the ice-covered village.

Snotlout shrugged his shoulders without a spark of emotion, turning away from the blonde Berkian without a sound.

"Hey, muttonhead," Ruffnut barked, smacking Snotlout's helmet with a sharp clang, "you need to get up and move. Sitting here and moping isn't going to do you any good."

"Leave me alone," Snotlout grumbled, shifting further away from Ruffnut, who let out a snort of disbelief.

"Oh, get over it, Snotlout," Ruffnut growled, glaring daggers down at Snotlout, though he did not notice for his gaze was distant and staring over the ruined Berk. Ruffnut realized and looked down at Snotlout, observing the way he sat on the cliff edge, hunched over, arms tight across his chest, head hanging.

"Snotlout," Ruffnut breathed, bending down to crouch beside the shorter Berkian, head turning quizaically towards him. Snotlout slowly turned his gaze to Ruffnut and she was surorised to see streaks of tears running down his face.

"What do you want?" Snotlout asked, his voice cracking with pain as he glared at her, though Ruffnut didn't see anger in his glare but pain instead.

Ruffnut slowly angled her legs out, sitting down beside Snotlout with a word to him. Snotlout watched her, confusion and pain warring in his steel blue eyes as she looked towards him. Slowly, almost nervously on her part, Ruffnut reached out and put a hand on Snotlout's shoulder. Snotlout stared at her and tried to pull away but she didn't allow him.

"Talk to me, Snotlout. Something is obviously bothering you," Ruffnut said, her tone friendly, "and I want to know."

Snotlout began to shake his head, almost as if he didn't want to say it but, slolwy, Snotlout hesiatted, looking towards her - at her - then sighed.

"My father is dead. He died when Drago and his Bewilderbeast attacked Berk. I only realized when I found his body run through with ice. I… I-"

Ruffnut shushed Snotlout by giving him a tight hug, Snotlout jolting in shock at her unusual show of kindness. Slowly, Snotlout leaned into Ruffnut's hug, hands clenching agaisnt her arms as agony, born from the loss of his father and the stunning death of Stoick, rushed into his heart.

"I understand, Snotlout. I do. I don't know what I would do without Tuffnut, I would be lost, scared, I can't even imagine it. But it's okay to mourn for someone. It's okay to cry. I will stay with you, Snotlout."

"Thank you, Ruffnut," Snotlout whispered against her skin, his voice broken by sobs as he cried for those he had lost.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I tried.