Chapter Text
"This is great!" Dustin exclaimed, beaming from ear to ear and for good reason.
The party had just gotten back from the caves, it had been three long months, living off stringy meat from few the malnourished animals who clung to their lives the harsh conditions of the mountain, three months, of sleeping in the cold, in the dark, with nothing but the light of the moon to guide them, three months, dreaming of their homes, their wives, their children, wondering if they'll ever make it home to see their smiling faces.
But they had done it, and my god it was worth it.
From the moment they go back they were showered with money and presents.
Each of them was wearing the most beautiful set of handmade garments, their old, bloodstained clothes abandoned in the wash room after a nice warm bath.
They were surrounded by the finest food in the land, honey roasted pork sat high atop mountains of carrots and parsnips on ornate trays made of pure sliver.
Ruby encrusted bowls held stews made from mushrooms hand-picked by the fair maidens in the high-lands with their rosy cheeks and sweet smiles that have broken so many hearts.
Soft breads that melted on the tongue lay next to a platter of the creamiest cheese's to be cut with a wooden cheese knife hand-carved specifically for this purpose.
Men and women drank from shiny cups filled to the brim with the finest mead wine. Children danced to the ballads wrote in honour of their victory. Mike almost couldn't believe it was real.
"Yeah" Mike agreed giving him a sideways smile
"Hey, you guys, come here and eat some of this food before it goes cold, its really good" Lucas mumbled around a mouthful of stew
"Eww dude" Dustin complained, getting up from his haybale (people had put so much effort into the food and entertainment they forgot about seating and added the haybales as a last minute thing) "Don't talk with your mouth full"
Mike laughed a little at Dustin's disgusted expression before getting up to go and try the food, he wasn't particularly hungry, despite not having a proper meal in days, but he thought it would be rude not to eat any since the villagers put so much effort into it, besides he had promised that elf earlier that he would try her bread.
-
Mike got back home late that night, completely drunk and still buzzing with their victory.
He collapsed into bed, barely noticing that his wife wasn't there, probably with Jace.
Jace was the guy she was cheating on him with, Mike had known for a while now that he was being cheated on, but he just couldn't find it within him to care. The only reason they really started dating was because of a bet Mike made with Will a while ago.
Will and Mike were at a celebration together, a smaller one for one of their earlier, less notable achievements. Mike had never had a girlfriend, or even kissed anyone before and Will was teasing him for it. Mike, in defense pointed out a random woman and told Will he bet him £100 that he could make her fall in love with him by the end of the week, not expecting Will to take him seriously however Will took his bet. Now Mike at the time was actually in debt so he could not afford to loose this bet. He did try to win her over the normal way, buy her a drink ask her to dance, but she just wasn't interested, in desperation he went up into the mountains; not the high mountains in the north where they had defeated the dragon, the lower mountains in the east were dark wizards and sorcerers traded recipes for deadly poisons and illegal spells. Eventually he was able to find a wizard who was willing to cast a spell for him, if he went and got him some rare ingredients from the forest. This was relatively simple since Mike made a living finding and killing monsters, so finding the right colour bunny and a hand full of mushrooms wasn't so hard. With the help of the spell Mike managed to make to convince the Woman to date him and then they just kind of never broke up.
Sometimes Mike regrets it, making Quinn (his wife) fall in love with him.
Especially when he see's Lucas and his wife who found their relationship rather than made it.
But most of the time he's just happy he's not a single looser like Will, even if his wife is cheating on him.
Which wasn't supposed to happen now that he thinks about it, maybe the spell was starting to wear off.
Mike didn't care, not really he had more important things to worry about, like this new scratchy duvet that was on his bed, he was definitely going to to have to change that