When We Hang Out
Judging by the hazy look in her eyes, she'd been here for a while, Snotlout could see. The earthy smell of burnt dragon nip was now so familiar; it would be easy to tell even if he didn't see the rolled dry weed in her slender hand.
He sat next to her on the cool grass and rubbed his lower back. Searching for a lost boat in the dead of the night was no fun, but at least they didn't have to come back shrugging and avoiding answers. After reaching the dock, he sneaked away and left helping repairing the boat's damage until next day. Too bad if they finished it before he arrived.
"Where's Tuff?"
Ruffnut shrugged, she was watching a bunch of teens trying to trick Barf and Belch into lighting something on fire, far away under the torches of the village.
"Asleep."
"Already? It's barely midnight."
"I knocked him out."
"I see."
There was neither surprise nor judgement in his voice; instead he lay beside her and grabbed the nip for a long drag himself. Their days were loud, hectic; usually flammable with chances of raids and blood. He didn't want to do nothing all day every day, however he was not against nights like this when nobody was around to interrupt and Ruff and he could just be, not do much and just chill.
He asked, his voice a bit rasp from shouting too much to make himself heard in the wind.
"Wanna go first?"
"Okay."
'Nip breaks' were nothing new, but this was. It usually happened when they were alone, it was a sort of mutual agreement that neither of them spoke about. Confessions, one at a time, until one got bored or couldn't think of anything. It usually ended with a quiet pause and a sudden change of subject.
Ruffnut's face looked paler under the half-moon, without any expression, just 'there'. One of her braids was grazing his bicep. He wanted to touch her hair but moving his arms for anything other than lifting the nip felt like too much effort.
"I once accidentally poisoned Gobber with clawberries."
"I was the one who smeared yak shit on Fishleg's window frame."
"That's what that was?"
"Yeah."
"Ew. Anyways… I'm scared of losing Tuff."
"I sometimes have nightmares about losing Thawfest and dealing with dad afterwards."
"Once, I had a sex dream about Dagur."
"Once, I farted so hard, I set Hookfang on fire."
Her bursting into laughter was one of his favorite things. And when Ruffnut was splitting her sides, it was hard not to join her. Her guffaw nearly echoed around them and Snotlout started cackling, trying not to drop the roll. They would never find the thing if it rolled down the hill.