The clatter of dishes coming from the kitchen was enough to force him to open his eyes and immediately realize that he was not in his bed. The surface he was lying on resembled too much of a wooden floor and his neck was sore to the point of hurting when he tried to stand up. He wiped the drool off of his chin and looked around absentmindedly. This was definitely not his house. The room was smaller, the furniture were not their own albeit being familiar and most importantly, he could see Ruffnut's legs from where he sat. An occasion sadly never a part of his own routine back at home.

He looked at the girl squinting for a moment, trying to decide what the heck he was doing on her floor at the bottom of a table. His last memory of previous night included some particularly strong mead and something that smelled funny. And a brief sight of Tuffnut's bare ass. As soon as he remembered that, the cringe got hold of his face but his headache was too strong for him to react to his friend's nether regions. The cool breeze coming from the open window was helping to recollect his thoughts. He needed water more than anything else. And the weird empty feeling of his stomach told him that at some point he must have had lost his dinner, hopefully outside, because he was starving like he hadn't eaten in days. Before he could manage to talk, Ruffnut grumbled.

"Damn it, I lost."

"Lost what?" It was difficult to care when his body was this weak and shaky but he wasn't going to miss the chance when Ruffnut chose to interact with him. Didn't happen as often these days.

"The bet. I owe Tuff a new mace, he was so sure you were alive. I thought you died after the last mug."

"Thanks. Is there water around here?"

Although hers wasn't a sign of affection, she still hadn't grimaced at his face yet, which was good. When he finally got up, he took the mug full of fresh water like a man back from a shipwreck. It took him a moment to realize that Ruff didn't threw the water at his face or tried to give him more mead to make him barf. He fought the urge to sniff the liquid to make it sure it was just water and looked at her. It had been a rough night for every participant, it showed on her face. Dark circles framed her bright blue eyes and her skin looked more sallow. Yet unlike Hiccup who was literally carried back to his house by Astrid so he wouldn't doze off there, Fishlegs who insisted on seeing two Snotlouts, or himself, she looked quite awake. He wondered what were the Thorstons made of; Tuff was nowhere to see and he was clearly lively enough to leave the house looking somewhat human.

"What DID we do last night?" he groaned as he collapsed on a chair, not even questioning if he should keep staying there. Ruff didn't seem bothered as she effortlessly tidied up the empty dishes.

"Plenty. Astrid was going great but she had to babysit that lightweight man of hers. Fish held up good but he freaked out when I said we should go investigate the caves and just left. You and Tuffnut were up almost until dawn, all you did was dance though."

"What?"

He could feel heat going up his neck; he would be damned if he blushed there and then. Yet he couldn't hide the terror filling his eyes. "What dance? I don't dance."

"Uh-huh. You didn't sit for an hour. Tuffnut was teaching you weird turns and jumps and you were combining them. Then you two wanted to convince Hiccup to have a dance competition every year, but before you could, you fell asleep. Thank Thor."

The snark and amusement in her voice was not lost on him, he sulked as he furrowed his brows. "Lies. I don't dance."

"Riiight."

It was best to postpone the squabble, Ruffnut served something else to distract him that very moment. His gaze was fixed on the fresh bread and cottage cheese on the table. The dancing baffled him much less, if he were to be honest.

"This- you cooked?"

"I just made bread."

"Yeah but- you never cook."

Ruffnut raised one brow, examining the sad excuse for an awake person in front of her. Snotlout looked disheveled at best, with last night's mead scent still lingering on his skin. She didn't know what to make of his shock, so she choose what was familiar.

"Well, if you prefer someone who cooks, Astrid offered bringing lunch. I'll let her know-"

"NO, no. Don't. I beg you."

"Then stop whining."

"I wasn't!"

A bite of the rye bread was enough to spread a pleased surprise across his face as he turned to Ruffnut. Not waiting to swallow, he almost spat out what he chew. "This is GREAT. Wow. You are great." He was too focused on the still warm slice in front of him to realize Ruffnut fought back a smile and turned her back, rolling her eyes. "It's just bread."