"Magnus you can submit those forms first thing tomorrow," Zeke commanded.
Magnus nodded firmly then continued eating away.
The dinner went smoothly after that, the boys were talking away and discussing about all the general topics that are currently happening in Loneharv. The day-to-day activities and happenings are usually mild and uninteresting, ranging from requests from the townspeople and some minor stuff that they have to deal with, Zeke wasn't given any of these tasks but he helps whenever he could.
"That reminds me boss the guild master has something to announce tomorrow, I asked what is it that he wants but was denied of any further information," Wulfric turned to Zeke, "he wanted to at least have your presence there with me when he divulge anything."
He proceeded to eat and chew slowly, "I would assume that it is another major request for an expedition, considering everyone in town as well as us are only limited to eating potatoes, I know it's not that dire but eating potato salad, potato fries, potato chips, potato soup and all the recipe of potatoes that you could ever think of everyday is currently a huge problem."
"People are tired of eating basically the same thing but with different variations everyday for the past four weeks, I don't mind this at all but I would admit that we haven't been that active in the dungeon for the past couple of weeks due to workload of course but, we need to get back into it."
"I kind of agree with the townsfolk," Dirk said after gulping his glass of water, "don't get me wrong, I love potatoes but eating it nonstop is honestly making my taste buds sad and exhausted."
"Keeping that in mind, we mustn't let leave things the way they are, and I am pretty sure you can hold stand up for yourself now boss, so another long expedition would be good to keep those skills on improving," Wulfric said, "at your decision you and I can go there tomorrow and receive the request."
"Yes I agree, this will be a good opportunity not only to improve our skills and how we work as a team but to learn more about the dungeon," Zeke replied, "the handbook that was given to me only has the basic knowledge about it and I am curious to know what else we can discover."
Sooner or later this event would've happen anyway so Zeke has so reason to decline, it's basically what he signed up for, thinking about the whole thing what other crops could they find at the dungeon, potatoes are pretty common, anything edible or familiar would be practical. He was actually excited to eat something different other than potato.
"This shall also be a great opportunity to familiarize ourselves along with our newest recruit," Wulfric glanced at the draconian with scrutiny, "I hope you can work with with our group and boss, I can tell that you are used to giving orders rather than following them."
Sensing the tension from the way Avin's body moved, Zeke started to open his mouth to deescalate the situation but the draconian has already spoken before he could even utter a word.
"I can assure you with absolute certainty that I can take orders, anything that I've ever had in my past life I've already left behind, including my position, so as of now I am the same as rank as every farmhand here, isn't that what you and the Mayor explained, Dirk?" Avin retorted while wiping his face with a paper towel, his movements fluid and with coordination, like a noble speaking with his subjects.
Zeke has now truly realized the gap between him and his boys, while all of them has some sort of defining background he was just some corporate worker spending his days overworked and most probably underpaid. He shook his head in shame, shame in himself and shame about how he was thinking of himself just about a second ago.
"That's right, the Mayor had specified every little thing about being a farmhand and I know how meticulous he gets so," Dirk rubbed his chin, "in any case this expedition will be great to test how loyal he really is so just lay it off for now, will you Wulf?"
"I apologize if I made anyone uncomfortable, I didn't mean to bring this up while we're having a dinner and I thought we were only playfully testing each other," Wulfric shook his head in defeat, eyes closed and smiling a bit.
"Think nothing of it Sir Wulfric, I am going with the flow of the conversation as well and didn't mean to offend," Avin fully smiled, baring all his sharp teeth and fangs, "but, on the topic of this expedition, I am very curious as to what the whole thing actually is."
"Heh, don't worry you shall soon experience it, and don't expect us to be experts about the whole thing, this is actually only our second major expedition," Dirk added.
"Is that so?" Avin said while contemplating.
"U-huh."
"Hm, then I shall do whatever is necessary to assist everyone."
The easy flow of conversation went by after that, everyone was enjoying the food despite it only being a potato soup, everything is indeed delicious when people are hungry, Zeke wondered if he should just leave every townsfolk starving, that should fix the problem of them being so picky about food. He inwardly laughed about the thought, imagine everyone eating potato for a century, whoa alright maybe that is indeed not a great idea.
The dinner was finally finished and everyone was putting their plate on the sink and as usual Magnus took it to himself to clean them, Zeke tried to offer help but once again denied by the huge guy.
"Just wipe the table and pass me all the used glassware boss, that should be enough if you really wanna help," Magnus chuckled fondly, "you still need to go with Wulf tomorrow to the guild so you should sleep early while you can boss."
"Shouldn't you be sleeping too? You are going to come with us and submit that commission right?" Zeke said in protest.
"This request of the town is first priority so I decided to let you and Wulfric go in there first, I will do my rounds first thing in the morning then go there after I'm done so it should be fine," Magnus reassured while arranging the dirty dishes, "you can go on ahead boss, I would be really sad if you don't let me do this."
Magnus gave Zeke that look that never fails to always make him feel guilty and fortunately for him, it does work all the time.
Zeke sighed, "if you really say so."
"Yes I said so, now go to sleep," Magnus shooed Zeke away hitting him with his tail lightly, "good night!"
Zeke gave him a lazy, goofy smile then finally left.
The rest of the boys were already by their rooms by the time Zeke has gotten into the hallway, Dirk has already shepherded Avin into the room that he was going to temporarily stay which was Magnus' quarters. The bull already gave him the permission to lead the tired draconian, he might not show it but Zeke could tell by the way his eyelids seem to close and open frequently like a baby raring to go to bed.
He chuckled at the unintentional cuteness and vulnerability of the guy, he decided to keep the adorable information to himself.
Yawning and stretching both of his arms as he go up the stairs, Zeke decided to take a shower since he still got some time to kill, hopefully no one is using the bathroom upstairs. Once he got a glimpse of the darkened bathroom he released a sigh of victory.
Slowly rushing to his room he grabbed a towel an underwear and some sleepwear and rushed back into the unoccupied bathroom. He was honestly surprised by how well-kept the bathroom is still because five men living and sharing one space could honestly turn the house into a pigsty, but maybe that is an unhealthy stereotype back in his world and maybe it could be that they are clean because they're kind of half-animals? And animals clean themselves, ugh, again that is another stereotype from his world and back when animals are, you know, animals. In any case, he should stop thinking about these kinds of random, useless thoughts and just think about the cool night shower that he's about to do.
The shower was nice and removed that icky feeling of a days worth of sweat so Zeke was feeling extra sleepy now, he brushed his teeth and washed his face really well making sure to get those nooks and crannies then, after he's done he wiped his face and wore the clothes that he brought with him.
Feeling his eyelids closing already he turned off the lights and closed the bathroom door, he heard all of his boys snoring and sleeping peacefully already, with Dirk being the loudest he looked down the stairs from the railings and saw that Magnus is also tucking himself as well on the couch, after checking on him he finally went back towards his room and tucked himself in for a deep sleep.