The Long Game━ (l. sinclair)

the ghost of christmas campaigns

Mike slumped to the ground, playing dead.

Sam, Lucas, Will, and Dustin all cheered, "YEAH!" together in excitement that they officially defeated the Thessalhydra. Lucas and Will hugged while Sam and Dustin did their handshake (a fist-bump followed by synchronized snaps). Faintly, Sam could hear Corey mutter, "Nerds. Literal nerds," but she ignored it, too happy to care. Sam and Lucas whooped, strutting up and down the open space next to the table, laughing.

"Lucas cuts off its seven heads, Dustin places them into his Bag of Holding, and Sam conjures flames to burn its remaining body," Mike continued. "You carry the heads and tail out of the dungeon, victorious, and you present them to King Tristan. He thanks you for your bravery and service, and—"

"Woah," Dustin quickly interjected with a perplexed look. "Woah, woah, woah, woah. That's not it, is it?"

"No," said Mike steadily. "There's a medal ceremony—"

"Oh, a medal ceremony!" Dustin mocked excitement, clearly unamused. Face falling, he asked, "What are you talking about?"

Lucas nodded in agreement, said, "Yeah, man. The campaign was way too short!"

"Yeah," Sam and Will piped up.

Corey shrugged contemplatively from the couch. "It could've been longer."

"It was ten hours!" Mike exclaimed amidst an exasperated look.

"But it doesn't make any sense!" argued Dustin.

Defensively, Mike snapped, "It makes sense!"

"Uh, no," Dustin said to Mike like he was an idiot. "What about the lost knight?"

"And the proud princess?" asked Lucas.

Nodding rapidly, Will added, "And those weird flowers in the cave?"

"And that centaur Dustin and I had to seduce?" Sam interjected.

"I was also wondering about the centaur," said Corey, just to be an asshole.

"I don't know," Mike shrugged defensively. "It's—"

He was cut off by impending footsteps heading down the basement's stairs. The kids' heads whipped over to the noise vigilantly, but it was only Jonathan walking up to them.

Wrinkling his nose, Jonathan asked, "Jeez, what's that smell? Have you guys been playing games all day, or just farting?"

The Party laughed at Jonathan's teasing words, because sue them. They're twelve years old (aside from Sam, who turned thirteen two weeks ago, and Corey, who everyone knew was held back a grade). Fart jokes are, like, the bullseye for their age group.

"That's just Dustin," teased Corey. "He farted."

Dustin's smile dropped in offense.

Although Dustin didn't find it funny, Lucas thought Corey's input was hilarious. Creating his own jingle, Lucas sang, "Dustin farted," then blew a raspberry.

"Okay," deadpanned Dustin. "Very mature."

"Sam thinks it's funny," said Lucas, gesturing to Sam, who was covering a smile with her hand.

Upon being acknowledged, Sam said, "I'd listen to that song."

"Bye, guys," said Will, who had picked up his bag and was told by Jonathan that it was time for him to go.

Pausing their teasing of Dustin, everyone chimed, "Bye, Will!" and Sam even gave him a high-five for the road. While Will began up the stairs, Dustin provoked Lucas in a wrestling match. The two boys stood up, and moved from the table to the couch Corey was sprawled out on. He didn't have time to move before he was being squished by Lucas and Dustin, and next thing Sam knew, she was being very entertained by a fight between the three of them.

As amused as Sam was, she noticed Mike wasn't as interested. Instead, his focus was on the fort on the other side of the basement. A small sigh escaped Sam's lips as the thought of Eleven crossed her mind.

"Mike," Sam gently called him, and the boy glanced her way, "You okay?"

Mike put on a forced, fake smile and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"All right."

Sam knew it was a lie, but she let it slide. She understood why Mike wasn't fine right now. Hell, none of them were fine right now. But, right now, Sam was going to make the most of every day she had with those she loves. Maybe that, all along, was her purpose — making her friends and family happy, and that was all that mattered.

◦☆＊★ ━━━━━━ ★＊☆◦

short chapter for our OFFICIAL WRAP ON SEASON 1!!

i remember finishing this and being so blown away because this was a story i'd wanted to write for a while, and then i lost the motivation for a year, and when i got that motivation back i wrote the whole season in like a WEEK i was INSANE

we're now going into season 2 which has always been my underrated baby. more of sam and corey (and hughclair and colorwheel) are to come!

thank you to everyone who took the time to actually read this story - if anyone is. i never imagined in a million years i would publish anything i wrote, but here i am taking a leap of faith. if you appreciate this story, i appreciate you <3

what'd you think?