“Heather, Heather, wait! Wait… up…”
Heather turned around to find Snotlout, evidently having run to catch her before she departed for Berserker Island. He paused, hands on his knees, to catch his breath.
“Snotlout? What is it?” Heather asked, rather hesitantly. She had no idea what Snotlout would be so desperate to say that it couldn’t be a Terror-mail.
He glanced around, almost looking nervous. Why would he be nervous? “Can I talk to you? Ab-about something?”
Heather huffed. “If you’re gonna ask me out, I’ve already said no before. My answer hasn’t changed since.”
Snotlout scuffed his feet. “Not that, not that. I promise. So, can we talk? Before you leave?”
“I mean, I guess so, but make it quick. Dagur’s expecting me home soon. He’ll worry if I’m not.” Honestly, Heather didn’t really know how to talk to Snotlout one-on-one. There had always been someone else to divert the attention off of her.
It’s not like she felt unsafe around Snotlout, necessarily, but she didn’t feel comfortable, either. He had never given her a reason to; the only times he talked to her were to flirt with her or make a jab at her. She knew he must be a good person at heart, or else Astrid would have kicked his ass so far off the island he landed back on Berk, but she personally hadn’t seen that side of him. Yet, at least.
“Okay, okay, great.” Snotlout seemed to be hyping himself up for something. “I just, I needed to tell someone. You know, get it off my chest.”
Heather was starting to get seriously confused. “Why me, then? Why not Hiccup or Fishlegs?”
“You’re about to leave,” Was Snotlout’s immediate response. “I won’t have to see you for at least a little while.”
“Seriously?”
Snotlout sighed. “And, well, you’re trustworthy. I know I can count on you.”
Heather was astounded. She had never expected such sincerity from Snotlout. She suspected it wouldn’t be the last time in this conversation.
“Okay. So, what did you want to tell me?”
Snotlout took a deep breath, released it, and took another. “I think I may be- no, I know I may be- Goddamnit. I know I am- Ugh!”
“Whoa. Take a deep breath, Lout.” She waited for him to comply before continuing. “Okay, now try again. Slower, this time. Breathe. You know you are… what?”
“I know I am in love with Tuffnut.” He burst out in one big exhale.
Heather blinked. Blinked again. Glanced at Windshear, who looked just as confused as her. She blinked a third time. “What?”
Snotlout scowled. Heather was distantly amused to see a blush creeping onto his cheeks.
“I said, I know I am in love with Tuffnut.” He enunciated carefully, not meeting her eyes. Instead, he glared just to the right of her.
“And,” He sighed defeatedly, “I don’t know what to do about it.”
“Wait.” Heather couldn’t wrap her brain around anything that was happening right now. “If you’re so sure of that, then why are you always trying to flirt with me and Astrid?”
“Honestly, it’s just what I’m used to.” He shrugged. “You know, distract them with your bullshit so they don’t try to look deeper. Besides, Jorgenson’s are supposed to be bold. We ‘don’t take no for an answer.’” He did air quotation marks, rolling his eyes.
Heather was stunned. Was that really why Snotlout acted so meatheaded all of the time? Was he really just deflecting, so no one would try to look beneath the surface? That was both smart and sad. She had never met Spitelout, but based off of everything she had heard about him, she would love to give him a solid swing of her axe.
“Stop pitying me!” Snotlout snapped, startling her. “I know that’s not normal. I know. We don’t need to get into that right now. Just get that look off of your face.”
Heather blinked hard, raised her eyebrows, and scrunched her nose, trying to wipe the expression from her face. “That better?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright. So, you’re in love with Tuff. Wanna talk about that, or…?”
“Not really.” Snotlout was starting to close back up.
“Okay.”
Silence sat heavy over them for a moment. Snotlout broke it, naturally. “Don’t you dare tell anyone about this, though.” He hissed.
Heather put her hands up by her head. “I won’t!”
Snotlout eyed her skeptically. “How can I be sure?”
“Uh, didn’t you just say I was trustworthy?”
“…No.”
Dropping her hands and rolling her eyes, Heather turned to Windshear, fiddling with her saddle. “How about this,” She started hesitantly. “If I tell anyone about this, you can tell everyone about how I… I feel the same way for Ruffnut as you do for Tuffnut.”
She couldn’t see Snotlout from where she was, but she could hear his intake of breath.
“Deal.” He said at last. “And- thank you. For listening, I mean. And for putting up with my bullshit. Thanks.”
“Anytime, Lout. Really. My Terror-mail is always open if you ever want to talk about this more.”
“No thank you.” Snotlout said in a rush. “I’m good. Let’s never talk about this again, actually.”
Heather snorted a laugh. “Bye, Snotlout.”
“Bye.”