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The idea starts, like most bad ideas do, with Dustin.
“We need a wedding,” Dustin announces, already halfway through rearranging the table like it’s an altar.
“For the quest. It’s worldbuilding.”
“That is not how worldbuilding works,” Mike says immediately, peering over the top of his DM screen.
“It absolutely is,” Dustin shoots back. “Every good campaign needs a marriage at the end.”
Lucas snorts. “Between who? The only girls here are—”
Max cuts in “ No way, I do not want to get married.”
Jane shakes her head "me neither"
There’s a pause.
Everyone actually stops to think.
Dustin’s eyes light up.
He snaps his fingers. “I know! Who else but the wizard and his paladin?”
Silence.
Then, slowly, everyone turns.
Mike face turns beet red “No. No, absolutely not—”
“You’re the paladin,” Dustin says, pointing at him like this is obvious. Then he swivels. “And Will’s the sorcerer. Boom. Done.”
Will blinks. “Wait—what?”
“It makes perfect sense,” Dustin insists. “Holy magic. Arcane magic. Unity. Symbolism. It’s beautiful.”
“It’s stupid,” Mike says, his voice going up. “It’s really, really stupid.”
Max grins from the couch. “I think it’s cute.”
“It’s not supposed to be cute,” Mike snaps.
“Too late,” she says.
“No,” Mike says again, firmer this time, like if he just keeps saying it, it’ll stick. “We are not doing that.”
“We already are,” Dustin replies, dragging a chair into place. “You’re literally standing at the altar.”
“I’m standing near a table,” Mike argues.
Lucas steps behind him and nudges him forward. “Not anymore.”
“Traitor,” Mike mutters.
Will is still sitting cross-legged on the floor, looking between all of them
“…Im fine with a pretend wedding... Only if mike is okay with it" he looks to mike
Mike glances at him, his cheeks faintly flushed.
“We could do a wedding… it’s just pretend,” Mike says quickly, like he’s trying to make it sound normal for both of them. “For the campaign.”
Will hesitates.
Then nods. “…Okay. For the campaign.”
Five minutes later, it is somehow definitely happening.
Dustin has appointed himself officiant, because of course he has.
Lucas is “captain of the guard,” which mostly means standing there with his arms crossed, trying very hard not to laugh.
Max and will are upstairs waiting for the “official signal,” though nobody has really explained what that means yet.
Jane sits on a chair quickly working on the rings
Mike is awkwardly standing near the table, a towel tucked into his shirt like a makeshift cape. He keeps shifting his weight, glancing toward the basement door every few seconds.
Like a groom waiting for his bride.
And that thought makes him freeze mid-motion.
Dustin clears his throat dramatically. “Alright! The ceremony is about to begin!”
Mike exhales, rubbing the back of his neck.
Will still hasn’t come down yet.
Mike tells himself that’s normal. That it’s just pretend. That this is all just part of the game.
Still… he doesn’t look away from the stairs.
He hears the soft click of the door and looks up just in time to see Max stepping down carefully, tossing little bits of toilet paper like flower petals as she goes.
Lucas, trying very hard to be serious, hums what is absolutely supposed to be a wedding march.
It lasts for about three seconds.
Then it slowly, unavoidably turns into the Star Wars theme.
Max shoots him a look. “Really?”
Lucas doesn’t stop humming. “It has rhythm.”
“It does not have wedding energy,” Dustin whispers loudly, but doesn’t intervene.
Mike, despite himself, lets out a small breath of laughter—quick, surprised, like it slipped out before he could stop it.
Then the basement door creaks again.
And everything in him stills.
Because Will is there now.
And suddenly the whole room feels a little too quiet, like even the jokes are holding their breath.
Max finishes her “petal” toss with exaggerated seriousness and steps aside like she’s presenting royalty.
Lucas keeps humming, now somehow even more confidently off-key.
“Okay! Ceremony time!” Dustin claps.
Mike stands a little straighter without meaning to.
Still pretending. Still just a game.
But he doesn’t look away from Will.
Will slowly walks down the stairs, a paper crown tilted slightly on his head and a white bedsheet wrapped around his shoulders like a cape. It drags a little as he moves, making him look vaguely regal in the most improvised way possible.
He steps off the last stair and walks toward Mike.
And just like that, the room shifts.
The noise doesn’t stop—Lucas is still humming something that started as a wedding march and somehow morphed into a dramatic space opera remix, Dustin is whispering “this is so medieval-coded,” and Max is still scattering the last bits of toilet paper like confetti and Jane is still furiously braiding the threads—but it all feels farther away now.
Mike and Will are standing across from each other.
Close enough that Mike can see the uneven fold of the paper crown, the way Will is trying very hard not to smile, and failing just a little.
Close enough that the “pretend” part suddenly feels like something everyone agreed to, but no one is fully believing anymore.
Mike swallows.
“…Hi,” he says, like it’s the only thing he can safely say.
Will’s voice is softer. “…Hi.”
Behind them, Dustin stage-whispers, “Oh my god, they’re doing the thing.”
Jane immediately hushes him. “Let it happen.”
Lucas, still off-key, lowers his humming slightly like even he can tell the moment changed.
And in the middle of all of it, Mike just stands there—towel-cape, flushed cheeks, completely out of words—watching Will like he forgot how to look anywhere else.
He awkwardly takes wills hand in his
Mike stares at the floor
“…This is dumb,” he says under his breath.
“Yeah,” Will agrees quietly.
A beat.
“…But,” Will adds, glancing up, just a little, “it’s kind of funny.”
Mike exhales through his nose.
“…Yeah,” he admits. “A little.”
Dustin clears his throat loudly.
“Dearly beloved—”
Mike groans.
“—we are gathered here today to witness the union of Sir Michael the Brave—”
“That is NOT my name—”
“—and Will the Wise.”
Will huffs a quiet laugh, shoulders loosening.
Mike hears it.
And despite himself, he smiles.
Just a little.
“Vows!” Dustin announces. “Mike, go.”
Mike freezes. “No.”
“Mike.”
“No.”
Max leans forward from the chair. “Say something romantic.”
"I need more time!" Jane says from her seat " just do the vows"
“i dident prepared anything though!" Mike shoots back
“thats not good husband material,” Lucas says.
Mike glares at him.
Then sighs ,his thumb moves up and down wills hand to calm himself
“…Fine.”
He looks at Will.
And for once, he doesn’t rush to fill the silence.
“ will…You’re—” he starts, then stops, like he didn’t plan this far ahead. “You’re my best friend.”
Will stills.
“And… you’re really good at all the magic stuff,” Mike adds, a little awkwardly. “And you don’t give up. Even when things get… bad.”
His voice dips there, just slightly.
He shrugs like it’s nothing.
“…So yeah. That’s it.”
It’s not polished.
But it’s real.
Will swallows.
“…thank you,” he says softly.
Dustin nods. “Will, your turn.”
Will fidgets, lightly squeezeing mikes hands
“…Mike,” he says, voice quiet but steady, “you’re brave. Even when you don’t think you are.”
Mike looks away.
“And you always come back,” Will adds. “You don’t leave people behind.”
That lands harder than anything else so far.
Mike doesn’t joke this time.
“…Yeah,” he says, softer now.
“Rings!” Dustin says, a little too brightly
Jane hops off the chair and produces
There are two small “rings” made out of colorful thread messily braided together.
" Its handmade" she says proudly
Will steps forward first. Taking the ring from her
His hands are careful—just slightly shaky—as he slides the loop onto Mike’s finger. It’s too big, slipping down immediately.
Mike lets out a small, surprised laugh.
Then he takes the other one.
He’s more careful than he means to be when he slides it onto Will’s finger.
This one fits better.
“i now pronounce you husbands”Dustin says, grinning again,
Mike immediately turns red
" End of wedding" Dustin claps
"But-but aren't we supposed to kiss?!" mike blurts out
Everybody looks at him
" for the campaign" he quickly clarifys His face turns red " you know what nevermind!!" He quickly says
"Sure we can do that" Dustin leans in, grinning. “You may now—”
“End,” Mike repeats firmly, pointing at him.
“—share a moment of magical bonding—”
“No.”
“—with a ceremonial—”
“Dustin.”
“—kiss!”
The room erupts.
Lucas actually coughs from laughing. Jane leans against Max for support, and Max looks like she might fall off the chair.
Mike looks like he’s about to combust from how red he is.
Will freezes.
“…We don’t have to,” Will says quickly, already shaking his head.
Mike glances at Will.
Will immediately looks away again, like eye contact has suddenly become a very complicated.
“…It’s just pretend,” Mike says, quieter this time—like he’s reminding himself more than anyone else.
Will nods. “…Yeah.”
A beat.
Then, barely audible: “…for the campaign.”
Mike exhales. “…Yeah. For the campaign.”
Mike glances at him—quick, uncertain.
“…Just—really quick,” he mutters.
Will barely has time to respond before Mike shifts forward.
They move at the same time without really planning it.
It’s not dramatic.
It’s not careful in the way movies make it look.
Mike bumps their foreheads by accident.
Both of them freeze. Smiling before continuing
It’s awkward.
It’s fast.
But it’s gentle, too—soft in a way neither of them quite knows what to do with.
Then they pull back almost immediately.
Both of them suddenly very interested in literally anything else in the room.
The silence doesn’t last long.
Dustin is the first to break it.
He claps.
Once.
Then again.
“YES!” he announces.
That’s all it takes.
Lucas starts laughing. Max is full-on grinning. And Jane starts clapping
Mike and Will are still standing there, slightly frozen, hands still loosely clasped like neither of them noticed when that happened.
They “walk down the aisle” afterward—more like Dustin insists they do it properly while everyone else plays along.
Hand in hand.
Mike looks like he’s trying to pretend this is normal. Will looks like he’s trying not to think about the fact that it feels a little too easy to just… not let go.
Dustin sighs dramatically and drops back into his chair like a defeated playwright.
“Wedding over.”he says.
Mike immediately points at him. “Thank you.”
A pause.
Then Dustin perks up again.
“…cake anyone?”
Mike groans, burying his face in his hands.
Will laughs under his breath.
And for the rest of the night, nobody lets them forget it, but , neither Mike nor Will takes the rings off.