The Achievement Junkie

"Lina, you have to be careful to not smother people in your sleep."

"But Bis Sis, I didn't mean to…" Lina looked back up at Maura with pouting eyes.

Maura sighed and patted the girl on the head. "Just be careful next time, okay?"

"Okay!"

With that over with, both of them resumed eating their breakfast. Maura had decided to make a breakfast fit for kings, or at least her father, according to her mother.

There was an egg frittata filled with local herbs and tender, roasted pork belly that melted in your mouth with every bite of the fluffy egg. To garnish there was a light salad that Maura adjusted to use a citrusy berry vinaigrette, using the local delicacy known as relst berries. And to top it off, Maura had pulled out a bottle of morning ale. It wasn't heavy and it was quite diluted compared to most alcohol, but the gentle warmth it gave the body was a great wake up call along with the meal.

Finally, someone exited the main bedroom in the courtyard. Jack was already dressed and prepared for the day, taken aback to find Maura and Lina with such a feast for breakfast.

"Come on, Jack. If you don't eat it now, the eggs will get cold," commented Maura, moving on to her next bite.

Jack smiled and patted Lina's head before sitting down beside his wife. He kissed Maura on the cheek, quietly responding, "Thank you."

Taking a bite of the frittata, Jack's senses were instantly alerted. He felt his entire body waking up, recovering all the energy he had spent the long night before. It didn't take Jack long to finish his frittata and help himself to another serving.

Seeing that, Maura giggled, "Don't forget the salad. If you don't eat well, how can you expect to keep up with all three of us?"

Caught off guard, Jack's throat tightened up while guzzling his morning ale. A few drops managed to leak out of his mouth as the hero coughed, pounding a fist into his chest. Jack forced the drink down and glanced a Maura, who was still calmly smiling like nothing had happened.

"Right…" Jack then slowed down a bit, taking more time to savor the meal and notice the balance it had. "You know, this reminds me of your mom's cooking. It's really good!"

"Who did it better?"

"Do I even have to say it? I never would've thought a salad would work so well as part of a breakfast, but you've proven me wrong. That berry flavor goes well with the pork," replied Jack. "You should show her this sometime, maybe she'll ask for the recipe."

Smiling, Maura changed the subject. "How's Eliza?"

"She's still in bed," replied Jack. "She didn't get much sleep last night and faced the most mental exhaustion of everyone yesterday. So there's nothing wrong with her sleeping in. I'm sure she'd like to talk with someone other than me, so maybe--"

"Jack, of course we're going to talk." Maura chuckled and gave Jack's shoulder a light jab. "If you dropped such a bomb of a decision on me, I'd be even more devastated than Eliza."

With that in mind, Jack asked, "Maura… how do you feel about that?"

"About what?"

"You know… having kids? We never really talked about that…"

Maura hesitated to reply, but stated, "Well, what do you want, Jack? Are you asking me if I'll--"

"No, it's not like that," Jack clarified. "I just want to know your honest thoughts. I always thought girls had planned how many kids they would have and have their names picked out, or something like that. And since we're husband and wife, I thought it was a topic long overdue…"

"... I wouldn't mind having kids," Maura replied after a pause. "Though, I'm not sure I'd want them right now… But it couldn't wait too long either, cause you'll become a god eventually and that means having kids would get more difficult."

"You know you'll become a god too, right?" added Jack.

"Maybe in the future… But I'd rather we try it before you're a god, just to make sure I can have at least one…" Maura was blushing slightly, however, her smile and tender gaze remained unmoved. "Is… that okay with you, Jack?"

"Maura, I think it's an obvious yes. If not, do you think I would've brought up such an idea to Eliza in the first place?" Jack chuckled. "Also… Eliza may need someone to rely on other than me. I'll always be busy, even while the party is resting, so it'll be hard for me to be there for Eliza whenever she needs help. Could you--"

"Enough stupid questions, Jack. You know Daliea and I will be there for her. We are sisters now, remember?"

"Right… Sorry about that."

Maura sighed and smiled back at Jack. "But I'm glad that you're not forgetting about her… That shows that you're not ignoring us after all."

"I may get busy, but I wouldn't dare ignore you, not on purpose," admitted Jack, scratching his head.

Jack looked back to his plate, wanting to hurry and finish his meal, but he found it emptied and licked clean. Maura noticed the same thing with her plate. Both of them then looked to the side, finding the culprit patting her belly, satisfied with the meal.

"Well… I guess I'm off to handle a few things. I'm sure the elven messenger will arrive soon and I've got to deal with those two councilmen as well…" stated Jack, getting up from the table.

"Sure thing, Jack," Maura took Jack's plate, stacking it on her own. "Then I'll wait for Eliza to wake up."

"Don't cause too much trouble while I'm gone, Lina!" Jack shouted as he neared the courtyard's exit.

"Don't worry, Big Bro! I'll be good!"

Exiting the restricted area, Jack strolled through the guild. He caught the eyes of many, especially the newest recruits who were speechless as the former ancient hero walked past them.

On the way to his office, Jack found Ilgor leading a young, pointy-eared woman with a petite build. Smiling, Jack called out to Ilgor, "Is that the elven messenger?"

Noticing Jack, Ilgor nodded. "Y-yes, Master-- I mean, yes, Jack."

"Since she's here, I'm guessing it's for me. I can take the lead from here," stated Jack waving off Ilgor with a thank you.

The elven woman followed Jack, twiddling her thumbs every now and again. When they entered Jack's office, she sat down and sighed while Jack took his center seat.

"So, what has Gwendon decided?" Jack asked bluntly.

The woman coughed to gather herself and answered, "Chief Gwendon wishes to meet with you, Master Jack. He didn't mention anything about terms you may have discussed prior, but he did say that he was interested in discussing some sort of agreement between the Leisure Guild and Korten."

"Okay… I guess that's a start." Jack nodded, thinking about his words. "How soon is he willing to meet me?"

"Actually… He's already in Gilga," replied the woman. "We arrived late last night and rented an inn just outside of the guild. He and some of the elders have come to meet you, Master Jack."

"So he's taking the initiative this time… I can admire that. Tell him that we can start discussions immediately. He and the elders are welcome to stay in the guild as our guests should they wish, and we'll be glad to host a meeting in one of our conference rooms. Would that be ideal?"

"Thank you, Master Jack." The elven woman heaved a sigh of relief and stood up with a bow. "I'll inform them immediately."

"Then I'll have the conference room prepared ASAP," stated Jack.

"Um… yes." A bit confused by Jack's expression, the elven woman lifted her head and left with a smile.

Jack then contacted all the big shots he had under him. With the elven elders arriving as well, the least Jack could do was bring some of the big guns of the Leisure Guild. How else could he silently intimidate Gwendon and the elves?