“Say sorry, don’t complain, a man-cave and extra showers.”

They had been wicked. They had tried to manipulate me and ruined my experience with Clara. It wasn’t their intent, but still. I wasn’t happy with it at all. And they realized it too. Despite me being so teasing about it, or insufferably about it, they knew they had to reign in a bit of their excesses. I taught them well to try to control their situations, they were taking over some of my habits and each other’s, like in all relations, but the way they experimented with me... If Ella’s cure hadn’t worked I could have been in agony for a lot longer. If Emma had been hurt in the process, I would never have forgiven myself. If this all leaked out to Clara, it would ruin her experience too.

So they agreed. They all apologized. And I knew they meant it. As for the rest... well, that was a bit wicked of me. I have to admit that, but I never expected them to comply with all my ‘demands’ so easily. Perhaps they needed the extra showers too. Their own idea to set up a kind of bath-sauna was a good one too. They stopped complaining about their frustrations as they also became aware I couldn’t do more than I could handle. They were a handful at times, it worked on everyone’s nerves, so they respected my wishes in that regard. Not that it stopped the teasing, but secretly I loved their teasing at times. To be fair, it wasn’t that much of a secret.

The man-cave was completed in two days. A bit longer than usual, but they agreed to do it just for me. Like a present of sorts. They made a sturdy desk, a few chairs, but for some reason they insisted on two extra supporting beams from floor to bottom. The man-cave was dug deeper into the hill, behind, but not connected to Ambra’s room. It connected via a crooked tunnel to the main tunnel, and was remarkably sound proof.

Mina’s lessons were set in motion. She had decided we needed a better understanding of German or English or both. She was a good teacher and I complimented her for her hard work, teaching unruly students at certain times. It was a good outlet for her too, being cooped up in her own room all the time wasn’t optimal for her. Ambra joined the lessons too and progressed a lot faster that we had suspected. Clara was still happy with her experience, but told me she would wait a before another experience. She wanted to be less insecure about sex and all that surrounded it. Clara and Ambra decided to share a room as she no longer had her own room and she didn’t want to join the group yet.

“All in your time, Clara. You decide what is best for you.”

The masters’ bedroom was largely unoccupied, but once or twice Kylie and Kate had their fun in there. Ella preferred doing her private sessions there as well. Kara chose to stay in the group room and Sophia chose Emma’s room, with or without assistance by Emma. Emma was back to normal, subservient as ever, but, as Ella predicted, with a bit more devotion to me. She had realized she should be less subservient with me and was caught joking a few times, being a bit less reserved.

Things calmed down a bit, the platoon was a bit more oriented on platoon business than on just relational issues. We planned for the villagers to undergo extra training after the radiation would finally be dissipated a bit more. Tactical and strategic plans for the protection of the villages were brainstormed. We also tried to figure out how the sociological changes would impact all of us, the rise of lawlessness being one of them. Since there was no institution anymore to protect them, nor to uphold the law, it would either fall in the hands of the villagers, or... to us. The reports Tom was giving us didn’t encourage us to leave it in the hand of the villagers. Some infighting, some domestic issues occurred while we were still in lock-down. Eventually it could burst in the open as soon as the weather was clear. We had to try to unite the villages as they would need to protect themselves as a group, rather than individuals each on their own. And giving them arms as long as they were in-fighting was not going to happen.

Did it mean all things calmed down? No. Oh no. Sure they weren’t complaining about it anymore, but they made quick work of their fantasy roleplays. Whoever delivers the best idea in writing, at adequate moments, gets priority, I had advised them. And they had to keep in mind my mood wasn’t always up for it, so they needed a back-up fantasy should the first one not succeed.

So they eventually came up with some ideas and soon a list was compiled, placed neatly on my desk by Emma.

“So... Kara first, then Kate, then Sophia, then Kate again, but with Kylie, then Ella, oh boy...” I sighed. This would be quite the week for me. I felt a bit obligated too, as they had managed to meet my greatest expectations of making it up to me.