Jack and I made our way over to the Rose-Boar Pavillion around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Jack was dressed down. Wearing a hoodie, over a sundress dress, and some comfortable flats. I was wearing some sweats, an old-world style t-shirt, and some sneakers that I bought in a flea market the other day.

Put plainly, neither of us looked like we had any right walking into a place as swanky, and high-class, as the Rose-Boar Pavilion. Yet we went in anyway, and got through the doors with basically no problem, because we had the arrogance of the strong, and the phrases “fake it till you make it” and “refuge in audacity” weren’t just band names.

The clerk at the counter was the same one we’d met the first time we were in here. The petite, dark-skinned, rabbit-kin, was wearing a flattering black dress suit. We waited in line while she helped another customer. Even going as far as temporarily stepping out of line when another clerk made themselves available, because we were already used to the first clerk and considering that this might end up being a protracted transaction, we didn’t want to have to get to know somebody new.

“Welcome to the Rose-Boar Trading Pavilion and Auction house. My name is Alisha Fayad. How may I help you today,” said the clerk. Repeating the same spiel that she’d no doubt repeated countless times just today alone.

“Hiya,” said Jack. Drumming her sharp pointy nails across the counter.

“It’s us again,” I said. Giving the clerk a little wave.

“We’re Jacqueline and Jilbert Calloway. We put some items up for auction during our last visit. The confirmation number was Auction Lot#4043829430481,” said Jack.

“Oh...Oh! I remember. Actually, if you wouldn’t mind following me, we can get started on that right away,” said the clerk.

“Sure...Lead the way,” said Jack. Giving the clerk a broad, sharp-toothed, smile.

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The Clerk led us to a room that was much larger and much nicer than the room we were taken to during our first visit.

“Um, would you like some coffee or tea?” said the clerk.

“Coffee for me,” said Jack.

“I’ll take a tea if it wouldn't be too much trouble,” I said.

“Of course, one moment please,” said the clerk. Running out of the room to procure the beverages, and then coming right back a few minutes later.

When the clerk returned to the room, she didn’t return alone. A familiar face trailed behind her. An aloof-looking woman, with a tallish height, average build, olive skin, gray eyes, and silver hair. Our old friend, and former neighbor, Alina Sachs.

“Hey, kids...Or rather, you two clearly aren’t kids anymore. You two sprouts have turned into redwoods. But still, my, it’s great to see you two,” said Alina. Smiling lightly as she greeted us.

“Great to see you too, Ms. Sachs,” said Jack. Getting up and going in for a hug.

Alina reciprocated and I ended up getting pulled into a hug as well.

“So you made Senior-Executive huh? Someone’s clearly doing pretty well for themselves,” said Jack.

“Well, a certain pair of precocious adventurers built a radio tower, and satellite network, that suddenly made it a lot easier to communicate in the depths of the Bellgrave wildlands. I had a failed shipment to recover for...There was some politics involved...and some very fast, talking, and after one thing led to another, I ended up becoming the head of a very lucrative venture, harvesting wood, and other flora, from the part of the Bellgrave that we’d been living in,” said Alina. Giving a small smile that made it feel like if she were a cat she might be on the verge of coughing up feathers any moment now.

“Heh, making lemonade out of lemons. We figured it’d be something like that,” I said. Nodding in appreciation.

“I ‘was’ a bit concerned when during all those trips back to the Bellgrave we never saw any sign of you,” said Alina. Her smile dimming.

“Ah, well, by then we’d gone deeper in the jungle,” said Jack.

“Much deeper,” I said.

“Ah...Any chance you might have made some charts of your journeys, because if so, I can assure you the Rose-Boar Trading Company would pay top dollar for them,” said Alina.

“We can probably help you with that,” I said.

“While you probably won’t get too much of following our tail. Jill took some scary accurate maps of the areas we passed through,” said Jack.

“That’s wonderful news,” said Alina.

“*Ahem*...” said the clerk. Clearing her throat and reminding us all that we were here to do more than shoot the breeze.

“Ah, right...So you auction off quite a few nice items. Especially those spirit-metals and beast bones,” said Alina.

“Oh, that sounds promising,” said Jack.

“In total, if you take out the 5% service fee for use of our auction house, you were able to make either 2 million spirit-crystals….or 200 billion gold, depending on how you’d like to be paid,” said the clerk.

“Not a bad haul,” said Jack. Eyes shining.

“Would it be possible for us to get a mixed payment?” I said.

“Of course, that’s actually a pretty common request, since its hard to find places that will properly exchange spirit-crystals for gold and vis-the-versa,” said Alina.

“Great, in that case, could we get that sent to our account?” I said.

“You two already have an account with the Banks. I hope you choose a good one?” said Alina. Looking concerned.

“We have an account with Kaylan-Asphodel Financial,” I said.

Alina’s eyebrows jumped.

“Impressive...The prices for opening an account with them are pretty steep, but rumor has it they’ll keep your assets safe even if the whole damn universe ends. Plus they have depots everywhere, and pretty much everyone takes their cards. An excellent choice,” said Alina.

I took my bank card out of my inventory and slid it over the table. The clerk took the card and used a tablet computer to type in the details. Alina leaned over and took a peek. Her eyes widened.

“Oh ho, Mister and Missus Calloway? When did ‘that’ happen?” said Alina.

“The official date is barely a few weeks ago. Basically right after we got back to civilization...But we’ve been pretty serious for a while now,” said Jack. Blushing.

“Yeah...It just sort of happened,” I said. Also blushing.

It really “did” just sort of happen. Our romance wasn’t a whirlwind affair. We were a trickle, that became a stream, that became a long and steady river. Until that river spread enough, and expanded enough that it became a world-ending ocean that drowned everything on the planet.

Most folk in the Shattered World were technically longer lived thanks to the abundant spiritual energy, but few actually got to grow old. Thus romance was a thing that people around here moved on quickly. People got together quickly, because death came just as fast, and the population was always direly in need of replenishment.

There was no will they, won’t they, for Jack and I. As soon as we both realized we liked each other, we told each other, and shortly after that, we briskly went through the stages of innocent puppy love, then we started actually dating. Then about a year, or two, after that, we eventually got around to having an open and frank discussion regarding contraceptives, and our expectations regarding sex, and life in general.

Technically, speaking we’d only legally been married for a little under a month, but in practice, we’d been wearing the rings we wore for almost four years now. As Jack elegantly put it, the feelings we had for each other were like herpes, or like a really, really, good kitchen knife. A lifelong affair.