Don't ask, don't tell

Valdyr pondered at that for a moment. Then he sighed. "Yeah, I'm sorry. It's true that you can't really chose how you were born."

Horknath snorted. "That's already something. Most people seem not to understand that", he mused. He opened his flask again. Ok, he just couldn't keep himself back anymore. "So, what's in those bags?", he asked, cautiously. "If you don't wanna tell, it's fine by me", he added immediately.

Valdyr closed himself instantly. "Nothing interesting," he replied abruptly. "Just stuff," he added awkwardly, as he dug his spoon into his bowl.

Horknath raised his hands. "Hey, suit yourself. Every man has his secrets." He drank another bit of his alcohol. "Say, you're not the talking type, are you?", he observed.

Vladyr grunted. "No. Not much anymore," he replied a bit bitterly, as he looked away. He then sighed, and finished his bowl quickly.

Horknath tilted his head at him. Then he simply shrugged. After all, talking wasn't something everyone liked to do. He took some food out of his bag - raw meat, and held it over the fire to cook it a bit.

Valdyr couldn't help but take a look at his meat. "... You keep raw meat lying around like that ?"

"Yeah", Horknath just grunted, tearing away a bite of meat. "What's wrong with that? 'm not picky with my food", he added. He didn't even munch. He just swallowed it down.

"...But what if there's worms inside, now ?" Valdyr stated, horrified. "What if you end up getting worms in your tubes ??"

"..." Horknath stared at him in utter confusion. "... I cooked it", he finally blurted out. Though he was eyeing his meal with suspicion and distrust now, a frown on his face.

"But is it fully cooked ?" Valdyr was more offended than he should have felt. "Alright, listen. If you have to keep meat that long into your bag, please cook it first. Do you still have some more ?"

Horknath tried to protest that he actually liked his meat to be more on the bloody side. That it was cooked enough. But he held his tongue instead. He grumbled a bit and brought another piece of meat from his bag. "There."

Valdyr sighed and took the meat, inspecting it closely. But not too closely either. Then he slammed it into a pan to cook. "If you'd rather eat fresh meat - without worms - we should try to hunt on our journey."

"Not to sound too proud of myself but from what I know, I am pretty good at that", Horknath murmured, watching intently to understand what the dwarf was doing to his meat.

"Then you should hunt yourself something tomorrow," Valdyr grunted. "The fresher it is, the less chances you have of catching bad stuff."

Horknath nodded. "It's difficult for me to fall ill. But alright then", he just said, sitting more comfortably on the hard ground. He looked up at the sky. Luckily it seemed that the storm was drifting away from them.

"Yeah, well, you're my only bodyguard so please don't try your own luck," Valdyr grunted as he gave Horknath his meat back. "There, cooked."

Horknath grinned at him, showing his sharp teeth. As if the two tusks jutting out from his lower lip weren't enough already. "Aw. I'm touched", he said with a mocking tone as he grabbed the meat.

Valdyr rolled his eyes, and looked at the sky. "Looks like I won't have to take out the tent. Great." He then unrolled his sleeping bag. "You take the first watch ?"

Horknath grunted an affirmative answer before taking a bite of his dinner. "Sure", he said then. "Have a good sleep." He looked at his flask of whiskey. Well. He had company.

Valdyr lied down next to his bags, still a bit nervous. But he managed to sleep someone, luckily.

Valdyr had better be prepared to see a couple of corpses the day after. Bandits weren't that rare, in that region. Horknath hadn't really slept. Instead, he was cleaning his weapon.

Valdyr went mad the minute he woke up when he saw all of that massacre. "You. Didn't. Wake me up." He snarled, first thing he said when jumping out of his bedroll.

Horknath raised an eyebrow at him. Then he frowned. "What, did you want to get into the party too?", he growled at him. "And besides, believe me or not. I tried to wake you up."

Vladyr's temper went even worse on that last sentence. "Great. Just great. Now tell me, when are /you/ supposed to sleep ? We're supposed to take turns, so that we can walk during the day. And I'm far too nervous to be such a heavy sleeper, trust me," he bursted out, as he began to pack his things together.