Not Necessarily a Cowards Way Out

"Guys, I need money." Lucas informed his friends/team as he sat down.
"Lucas, why do you think we need money?" Lyra asked.
"Well, unlike you guys, I do not have any supernatural powers and blah blah blah, so while you guys can just go and live in the woods, I need to pay bills and such," Lucas informed her. "Now, Lyra, Matthew, Jessie," Lucas nodded to them, "We need to think of a plan."
"Oh, I've got one!" Jessie yelled, jumping up from the couch.
"What now, Jessie?" Everyone groaned. Jessie always came up with absurd ideas.
"Why don't we steal gold from a dragon?" Everyone stared blankly at Jessie.
"That's a bad idea, Jessie." Lyra chided him.
"No it isn't Lyra! It's a perfectly good idea! Dragons have a lot of gold, I'm sure that a dragon can spare a few gold coins."
"Yes Jessie, but a dragon!" Mathew stressed.
"C'mon, you and Lyra are werewolves, I'm a sorcerer and Lucas is a human. We could totally sneak some gold from a dragon!" Jessie boasted. Everyone sighed and gave in. They might be able to live off of no money or just go and join the supernatural society again, but Lucas couldn't. He was only human and they had to look after him. That much they owed him for saving their lives a long time ago.
"Okay," Lucas sighed. "Let's go steal some dragon gold."
"I know where a dragon cave is!"
"How on Earth do you know that Jessie!?"

~~~~~time skip~~~~~

"Okay guys, here it is!" Jessie waved his hands at the entrance of a cave. It's ceiling level was low while it's width was wide, what sort of dragon would live in here? Truly a mystery. Everyone entered the cave with their backs hunched over. When they got deep enough that it was too dark to see, Jessie lit a small fire from his hands and they continued on. Eventually, they came the end of the tunnel and instead were presented with a large room. A really large room. A room so large that you would expect it to have it's own weather.

"It's... Golden." Lucas exclaimed at the light reflecting off of all the gold in the room. And right in the centre, stood a huge golden chalice.
"Shhhh!" Lyra shushed him.
"Oh let him be, Lyra. The guy's never seen a dragons lair before!"
"But we have to be quiet, Matthew!"
"Okay, now what's the plan?" Lucas asked and everyone went silent.
"Maybe we should must step back for a moment so our voices don't echo off the walls and discus a plan." Jessie suggested.
"Okay, now that we've stepped back, what's the plan?" Lucas asked with a raised eyebrow. You would expect better from supernatural beings, wouldn't you?
"I say, we sneak in and still that chalice."
"Jessie that is a bad idea. It's in the centre of the room!"
"C'mon Lyra, I can't even see the dragon! Plus, were all light on our feet, what could possibly go wrong?"

Ahhh, famous last words. And apparently, everything can go wrong. Even though it was the elephant in the room, everyone kept forgetting that Lucas was a human. A human that didn't have the inhuman powers they did, nor the experience and training. And that's were the plan went wrong. Because everyone had managed to sneak over to the chalice and start climbing the mountain of gold it rested on. Everyone, but Lucas. And so while everyone was ninja-ing their way towards the chalice, Lucas was slipping and falling down the mountain of gold, creating the most obnoxious noises that just echoed off the walls.
Everyone stayed still but the damage was done.

When the roar answered back, everyone ran for the tunnel.
"Look, there's the dragon!"
"Jessie, shut up!" Lyra whispered angrily at him. "And now that the dragon is awake, what's the plan?"
"Lucas earns an honest living?"
"Matthew!" Lyra and Lucas cried out in unison. No one said anything after that. Lucas turned around and looked at were the dragon now stood. It was a terrifying beast, that's for sure. It stood on two legs and had no arms. Black as night and with horns complimenting it's head, it truly looked like the devil.

Lucas shivered.

"Okay," Lyra started, "Why don't we go in, and attack the dragon. And while the dragon isn't looking, Matthew can go grab the chalice. And once that's in the tunnels, we can make a run for it. Clear?"
"Sure, but what if a sudden retreat is needed?" Lucas asked, his voice shaking slightly.
"Ah, a safe word. Maybe, I dunno, retreat?" Matthew replied sarcastically.
"Okay, now that everything settled, fortify and CHARGE!" Jessie yelled out as he ran towards the dragon, using his magic to send out fireballs towards it. Lyra and Matthew ran out after him in their werewolf forms. Matthew aiming for the chalice while Lyra helped distract the dragon. Lucas however, was not so keen to fight a dragon. He waited a few seconds, took a deep breath, and then charged in as well. But as he got closer to the dragon, he noticed something.

That dragon, was huge.

Actually it was quite small for a dragon, but to Lucas? Nada. No way. This isn't happening. And with only two people distracting it, and it raining fire balls down on them? Matthew couldn't find an opening and things just weren't working out.

Lucas stood still and look at the dragon. Yeah, that was one scary looking dragon.

"RETREAT--!" Lucas yelled and everyone ran back to the tunnel.
"Okay, what was the problem this time?" Lyra asked angrily.
"That dragon is way to dangerous to fight. We had no chance." Lucas replied. He wasn't going to just say that he ran away from the fight because he was to scared.
But someone picked up on it.
"Lucas was to scared to help fight the dragon." Matthew announced as he crossed his arms.
"Is that true, Lucas?" Lyra asked.
"No comment."
"That its self is a comment."
"Matthew," Lyra sighed, "How about we think of another plan? Let's not start being mean to each other."
"Oh, I have an idea!"
"Not again, Jessie." Everyone groaned, shoulders slumping.
"Well, I have already mentioned that dragons have a lot of gold, why don't we just ask for some gold? I am sure that dragons, just like every other supernatural being, has some humanity!" Jessie exclaimed, waving his hands around.
"You know what Jessie?" Lyra put her hand on his shoulder, "That just might work."

So that's what they did. They stood at the archway of the tunnel and called the dragon over and explained the situation. The dragon wasn't to happy about them trying to steal the gold nor trying to fight them, but it was surprisingly understanding and actually gave them a valuable item form it's pile.

They thanked it profusely before leaving.

~~~~~time skip~~~~~

Lucas stood outside of the antique shop, &3500 in hand. It wasn't as much as he thought he would get, but for now, it was enough. He turned towards his friends.
"I'm sorry that I was a coward back there. I know that I am useless and quite frankly a nuisance." Lucas admitted and finding his shoes oddly interesting.
"Oh Lucas, we don't mind. You're our nuisance." Lyra said endearingly. Everyone nodded in agreement. Because when you live in a world of supernatural, you want something normal in you life. But when you live in a world of normality, you want something supernatural in your life.

Ah yes, there's a saying for that.

The grass is greener on the other side. And sometimes, when you want something, you just have to ask because asking is not necessarily a cowards way out.