THE MOMENT
"Think we'll clear the dungeon this time?" Gus asked. He was the party leader, but they'd all been friends for years. He valued the group's opinion, and they'd reached the mid-point hub. The dungeon was an official Sharp Development standardized layout. 30 floors deep with a safe zone on the 15th floor to serve as a checkpoint. The less official result was that merchants regularly set up shop on the 15th floor in dungeons and Gus' group had stopped to rest. They weren't the only ones taking advantage of the merchants, but they arrived at a small table in a dim corner next to a booth serving drinks.
"We'd better," Devon, the rogue, nodded with a chuckle. "I promised Annette I'd bring her back something from the final boss."
"Hah, I'm kind of in the same boat," Lucius, the mage, laughed along with them as put away his spell book. It'd been a few months since they decided to form an adventuring party, and this particular dungeon was the one they frequented the most. They were sitting at what could be considered their 'regular table', and the waiter delivered their favorite drinks without needing an order. By now, they'd been through there enough that Lucius knew the drill, and he changed his spells appropriately. Now that he was done, he reached for his cold glass of beer.
"Oh, wait," Gus put his hand out to stop Lucius from drinking. "That's two votes for finishing. Let's decide that first before we get too comfortable," he turned to their fourth member. "Will? What's your take?" he asked.
"I can't stay for the whole thing," he shook his head. "But, I don't mind if you guys recruit another healer...," he chucked and looked over at Devon. "... don't want anyone getting in trouble."
"You can't stay?" Lucius asked. He was mildly annoyed. He'd changed his schedule to be there, and it was interesting to learn not everyone was willing to. "Why'd you come at all? We could've done this run another day when we all had more time." Will's eyes opened wide.
"It didn't even occur to me," he shook his head. "I'm sorry."
"It didn't occur to you that we wanted to finish the dungeon?" Lucius asked. His volume was louder than normal thanks to the frustration, and he heard his own question clearly as he asked it. It also drew his attention that Gus and Devon looked up at him with questions in their eyes.
"Son of a mother...," he chuckled as the realization struck him. "We haven't finished this dungeon once, have we?" The group broke out into laughter. It'd been the same story ever since they reached the 15th floor bar. They got together every weekend to go 'adventuring' and somehow, the adventures always ended at the bar.
"Well, we don't need to start today," Devon grinned and shook his head. "I'm sure I can buy something for Annette from someone headed back out."
"Lucius?" Gus asked the mage. "You said you were in a similar boat?"
"Well, similar in that I wanted a drop for me," he chuckled. "It's fine, I'll wait until we can actually finish things as a group," he smiled and lifted his beer. "Cheers," he said as he began chugging it.
"Great, then I guess it's just our normal adventure tonight afterall. Great teamwork guys," Gus laughed as he reached for his beer.