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As the moon began to rise over a sleeping Dragon’s Edge, a soft knock sounded at Fishlegs door. Sleepily, he shuffled out of bed and crept across his small hut to answer the knock. Meatlug grumbled but did not wake at the disturbance.
Standing framed in the doorway was Snotlout. He was dressed in his clothes from earlier in the day, but the ruffled appearance of his hair made it clear that he had been sleeping.
“Um, Snotlout? What are you doing here?”
“I need to talk to you Fish-face,” he said, leaning casually against the door jam.
“Couldn’t this wait for the morning. I was sleeping, and you almost woke up Meatlug.”
“Seriously, Fishlegs. You need to live a little. At any rate, this can’t wait. It’s super important. So, c’mon, go on a flight with me.”
Fishlegs wasn’t thrilled with the prospect of going on a late-night flight. If he was being honest with himself, it wasn’t the company that bothered him; it was just out of character for Snotlout to want to spend time with him outside of mandatory dragon rider interactions, let alone late at night.
“Ok, but I’m not waking Meatlug,” Fishlegs agreed grudgingly.
Moments later they were seated comfortably on Hookfang’s back. He was behaving on this particular night and was proving to be a toasty seat for the two boys.
“I don’t normally go on night flights unless we’re on a mission,” Fishlegs said in awe. “It’s so beautiful.” He stared down at the peaks of the rocky cliffs and the swells and falls of the waves that seemed to glow with the moonlight.
“It’s like a new world when the sun goes down,” Snotlout agreed. He reached back for Fishlegs’ hand and settled it around his waist. Fishlegs stiffened for a moment. If this late-night conversation, that hadn’t even started, was out of character, then this gesture proved that Snotlout had gone completely nuts.
“What are you…”
“Hookfang can fly rough, as you know from experience. He’s no lame Gronckle, so I’m making shore you don’t tumble off and become a Fishlegs Yack cake,” he smirked. Fishlegs let the jab at Meatlug slide simply for the fact that the hand on Snotlout’s waist was tingling with a warmth that he couldn’t place. Slowly he maneuvered his free hand to Snotlout’s other side and held on with a loose grip. They sat in companionable silence as Hookfang dove and made sharp, vertical climbs.
“Snotlout? Why exactly did you ask me to come on a night flight? I know you said you wanted to talk to me about something, so what is it?"
“Let’s land over there and watch the waves for a bit,” Snotlout suggested, pointing towards a flat-topped cliff bordering the ocean. He was obviously avoiding the question for the time being. His voice was different from what Fishlegs was used to; it was gentle, almost hesitant. Fishlegs couldn’t imagine why, but some of the ideas had a slow blush creeping up his neck.
“Ok,” Fishlegs agreed. Hookfang turned sharply and landed on the rock. The boys slid off and he promptly curled up and began snoring.
Snotlout wandered over to the cliff’s edge and Fishlegs followed.
“Do you remember when I kissed you?”
“A bit. It’s all a bit blurry cause of the bone-crusher thing,” Fishlegs admitted. He was surprised that Snotlout would bring that up and wondered if that was what he wanted to talk about.
“Well, I do. At the time, I was just hamming it up, you know?”
“Yeah, like you always do,” Fishlegs agreed, working hard to push down his disappointment. He hadn’t been completely truthful with Snotlout. He remembered that kiss clear as day. He felt Terrible Terrors battering his stomach every time he thought about it.
“Well, I thought I was joking around, but then I couldn’t get that kiss out of my mind. It was a short moment, barely a chased kiss, but it keeps popping up at the most inopportune times.”
“And your telling me this because…” Fishlegs hedged. There was an excited kind of dread pooling inside of him at the prospect of where this conversation was headed. After the kiss, he had been seeing Snotlout in a different way. He noticed the way his hair shone in the sun and blew around in unruly tendrils when he was training. He noticed how lithe his movements were, and sometimes he’d get a glimpse of the gentler side of the Snot when he was tending to Hookfang. He kept telling himself that he was going crazy, or maybe he just wished he could be like Snotlout.
“I’m telling you this because… Because I think I want to kiss you again.” Fishlegs stumbled back in surprise.
“You can’t be serious,” he somewhat squealed. “We can’t."
“Why can’t we?”
“Well, because it’s weird. We’re not supposed to-we’re supposed to find good wives and have heirs and…"
“Fishlegs, we’re nowhere near ready to find wives.”
“We’re pretty close. Another year or two at the most then we’ll be signing marriage contracts.”
“And a kiss is not going to affect that,” Snotlout said, stepping closer to Fishlegs “It’s just one kiss. We do it, laugh it off, and go on with our lives” Fishlegs wanted to give in. Truth be told, he had dreamed about kissing Snotlout again, but his repression of that desire was hard to override. He was a little hurt that Snotlout just saw this as a casual thing that they could sweep aside, but Fishlegs knew that in this situation, that train of thought was probably the most rational.
“Maybe we should…” He protested again, but Snotlout fixed him with a piercing stare that froze the words in his throat.
“Fishy, c’mon. You can’t be a coward forever. You probably want to know as much as I do. Let’s just get it over with.”
“I’m not a coward, Snotlout,” Fishlegs grunted in irritation.
“Then prove it.”
“Fine!” With that, Fishlegs rushed forward and encircled Snotlout in his arms. He pressed his lips to his and the world lit up in neon colors behind his eyelids. Snotlout’s lips were rough and soft at the same time. They tasted like salt water and sky.
Meanwhile Snotlout was in his own ecstasy. At each point that he was touching Fishlegs, his skin tingled and burned. Fishlegs’ lips were soft and sweet. They moved rhythmically across his mouth. He could feel a pounding in his chest and ears but couldn’t tell if it was his own heart or Fishlegs’.
After what seemed like eternity, they broke apart. Fishlegs was gasping for air and he sat heavily on the rocky ground to try and catch his breath. Snotlout turned away towards the waves far below, letting the cool sea spray dry his heated skin. Hookfang’s uninterrupted snores and the crash of the waves were the only sounds in the background.
“Wow,” Fishlegs finally mustered up the courage to say. Snotlout still had his back to him. “You hated it didn’t you?” Snotlout then turned to face Fishlegs again, and the look in his eyes made Fishlegs’ entire world tumble upside down.
“No, I didn’t,” Snotlout said simply.
“Neither did I.” They let another pregnant pause pass between them.
“Where do we go from here?” Fishlegs dared to ask. Snotlout shook his head and to Fishlegs’ utter shock, he saw tears in the corner of his eyes.
“I guess we sign marriage contracts and produce heirs in a year or two.” Fishlegs blinked up at him.
“What…”
“I thought that kissing you would get rid of this feeling I have for you, but it’s increased three-fold. You know as well as I do that Viking men can’t be together.” Fishlegs’ stood and made his way slowly to Snotlout.
“Marriage contracts and heirs are in a year or two.”
“Yes, we’ve both established that,” Snotlout grumbled, making to turn away. Fishlegs grabbed his face and held it gently between too thick, soft hands.
“But this, you and I, can be right now.” Under the glowing moonlight and starry sky, their eyes bore into each other as they both leaned in for another kiss, softer and even slower this time around.