renegades, httyd

xli. Home Away From Home

renegades
chapter forty-one

    "Okay," Clueless held up his fingers in the firelight of the Clubhouse fire at the Edge. Legs crossed on the set of blankets we had set up, he tried to explain to us his favourite game. We were deciding to stay the night after the incident with the Skrill, for it was too late to take the journey back to Berk━and far too tiring for our dragons (and ourselves). I had been offered to stay at Astrid's and Revna's huts, but I wanted to be with the boys, and this was exactly why.

    "So basically," Clue held up his polished stones in his pouch and poured them out between us. "You set out the stones like this ..." he grabbed a few and positioned them strategically in the gap of our group. "And your opponent has to use their stones to knock them away━" he picked up another and set it on the ground. With his teeth in between his lips and one eye closed, Clueless flicked the stone and it rolled across━one of his placed rocks were knocked to the left. He sat back happily, "Boom! I win!"

     I grinned, clapping my hands together. "Yes! I'm going to win!"

     Wartihog scoffed, "In your dreams."

     "We all know I'm really going to win," Speedifist grabbed his pile of rocks and gave them a small shake. "I always win Dragon Races, Fireball Frenzy, Dragon Tactics━"

    "Blah blah blah━" Clueless rolled his eyes, setting back his knocked stone into his position. "We know you're all talk."

    "Just you wait," Speedi held out his stone threateningly. He readied it against the wood between us by the fire, eyeing his aim. He seem satisfied with his view and flicked the polished stone.

    It went a few inches and would have hit Clueless's set-up, only except it dropped into the cracks of the wood just beside it. I grinned, amused at the fall of Speedifist's face. Wartihog snickered while Clueless smiled, very proud of his strategic placing. "What?" Speedifist exclaimed. "You got to be kidding me━I saw you easily knock that rock away before!"

     "Maybe you just have to admit that for once," I sighed, giving him a sympathetic squeeze on the shoulder, "you're a loser."

    I think Speedifist might have hit me for the comment and I would have laughed, when the door of the Clubhouse rolled open a little. The boys all gasped and quickly threw themselves to their bedrolls, pretending to be asleep. I rolled my eyes at them, smiling before glancing over my shoulder. Without fail, there was a jolt to my heart to see green eyes glimmer in the firelight.

    I pushed it aside a little to frown, "Hiccup? What are you doing up late?"

    "I ... uh ..." he arched a brow at Clueless's obnoxious, fake snoring. "I need to talk to you."

     Despite being 'asleep', Speedifist coughed into his hand and said, "Gross."

     I stood up with a nod to Hiccup. On my way towards him, I gave Speedifist a swift kick to his side. He yelped, clutching it with a high-pitched, dramatic cry.