Settling Accounts and Divvying the Spoils

"How's it looking?" Roman asked entering. They'd setup in the previous leaders pleasure hall temporarily.

Gabrielle was massaging Carlos's temples as he leaned back in his chair and had his head back resting on her bosoms. "Good timing. We just finished, Sir," she said nodding towards the ledgers in front of them on the table. Carlos and a couple of other's had been absent from the little "town meeting" and other excitement for a reason. They'd been just as busy doing just as important work. Taking care of business.

Carlos sighed patting his ledger. "Hell of a nice score, Jefe. Finished tallying it up, but damn was it exhausting! How's things out there?"

Roman sighed pulling up a chair and plopping into it and Knives came over and started rubbing his shoulders. "Thanks. Also tiring but we got it done. Excised the leadership responsible and several others until the rest reached an 'understanding'. Happened fairly quick. They're 'out' of the game," he slid a note towards Carlos. "Hate to add to your work. Tally of their things to add to your calculations if you haven't already... or I can just show you?"

Carlos shook his head. "No need. Burt came by earlier with your note and if there's anyone who's going to be trustworthy on the score, it's you... do you want to double check ny work?"

Roman quickly shook his head. "No. Same back at you. I would never have appointed you to Quartermaster if I didn't trust you too. Besides I'm wore out. Breaking up fights and preemptive celebrations getting out of hand is more exhausting than the battle was!"

Carlos chuckled and nodded. "But our people like and trust you to be hard but fair. They see you still working and it keeps discipline and order by example."

"It's true," Gabrielle said rubbing Carlos's aching head. "Everyone sees you as fair. Hard and maybe just a bit scary to those who don't know better, but fair.""

"As do the Characters and they should!" Knives added massaging Roman's knots. "The new ones are uneasy but that's to be expected as they await dividing up between new Masters. But they know that your rule of "law" means they won't be extorted into serving even more masters than their owner. Which was happening here. There's a chance that change will be for the better."

Roman sighed and nodded slightly, frowning. "True." Those who were formerly in leadership or positions of power here had extorted the owners/players below them into letting them use their Characters too. They'd had a despotic rule of "Prima Nocta" where Simone and the other leaders got first dibs on **** all characters, even owned ones, and **** Characters in front of their owners had been a regular punishment for both the Characters and players. Felix had told him all about it... after all he'd had to heal them up afterwards, including himself.

Roman sighed. "Fucking stupid despotic thinking. Worse than barbarism. Wasteful and unnecessary harmful. They'd abused their 'subjects' too long. Now with the shoe potentially on the other foot we had to get rid of those who had benefited from it because the others would have never let it go." He sighed, "Not that I blame either."

"Good riddance," Carlos stated dispassionately. "Well the good news is that's more shares for everyone. By our calculations..." he double checked his notes and nodded. "Two Characters for everyone of us and possibly at least one for everyone who was liberated, Jefe."

Roman blinked. "Seriously?" He asked and Gabrielle turned and slid the ledger with their calculations his way. Knives stopped and peered over his shoulder reading along with Roman. "Hot damn! That is a good score!"

Knives smiled. "Soooo... who you taking? You get first pick right?"

Roman smirked. He knew who she was hoping for... and honestly Kim was at the top of his list. "Kim and then Jinx... but I also want both Felix and Subaru."

"Can you do that?" Knives asked as Carlos raised an eyebrow.

Roman shrugged. "Depends. How much are they worth Carlos? If I forfeit my share of tokens and pay the remaining balance is it feasible? You're the Quartermaster."

Carlos smiled and shook his head. "You're the capitán, remember Jefe? You are entitled to a double share... remember?"

Roman blinked... then laughed. "Ahahaha! Honestly I forgot! I've had a lot on my mind! Heheh. Well good thing I'm the Captain then! Those four are my picks," he said.

Carlos shrugged and slid him the pen smiling. "Go ahead and mark them off then. Still I'm surprised. I didn't think trap catboys were your thing. No offense or judgment," he added quickly.

Roman smiled striking them from the list and marking them claimed as his. "They're not. I'm probably not keeping Felix or Subaru. I'll give one or both of them to Kumiko... but with provisions and conditions on Felix."

"Aww! That's sweet!" Knives said hugging him from behind smiling. She was happy they'd be keeping Kim too. "She'll appreciate that! A gift for holding down the fort from her Aniki!"

Carlos shrugged. "What you do with your property is your business but she's probably going to like them. It's a generous gift... but what's this about a condition?"

Roman nodded. "Felix is a healing prodigy making him an extremely valuable commodity. Which is something we've been lacking outside of my supply of healing herbs so far. If someone were unscrupulous they could take advantage of that and charge exorbitant prices for basic healing."

Carlos snapped his fingers. "Oh shit! You're right! I hadn't thought of that! Fucking guaranteed cash cow!! So what? You gonna corner the market on healing? Pretty sneaky!"

Roman shrugged and shook his head. "Yes and no. I want to corner the market and set the prices as low as possible deliberately to prevent that kind of manipulation. Sure it's a great way to make a hell of a profit fast... but it comes at the unnecessary expense of pissing folks off and creating ill will. Not worth it. I'm not doing too badly, getting 'rich' off of someone else's pain and suffering is unnecessary. Healing access effects everyone's quality of life. It's best to make it easily accessible and affordable for all. Honestly I have been hoping for just such a Character to fall into our laps."

Gabrielle smiled. "Smart. By controlling the market early and setting the price so it's easily affordable anyone who later comes along and gains access to a similar talent has to meet or undercut those already low prices! You just ensured everyone can have Healthcare access in one fell stroke!"

"Whoa! Genius!" Knives said excitedly. "So awesome!"

Carlos chuckled. "You're one "evil" step ahead as usual, Roman! And so your condition to Kumiko will be setting up a cheap clinic for everyone? Very clever!"

Roman grinned and shrugged. "I don't know about, 'evil'. More 'dastardly' but yeah... Pretty much. If people know you can get easy cheap healing it not only improves the quality of life in the camp but makes it an even more attractive place to live. That's not only good for us but will attract more people too. As for Subaru I get the sense she is a good Character to help with the enforcement of order and maintaining peace in the camp as well as a bodyguard of sorts. That'll be useful too."

Knives smiled leaning down into his vision. "We are keeping Kim though?"

Roman nodded also smiling. "We are keeping Kim. Period," he said patting her head as he set it at ease. "I kind of like her too and if it makes you happy? So much the better."

Knives nodded. "It does! Thank you so much! And I think it'll make her happy too! And Jinx?"

Roman nodded. "Jinx too. I kind of like her spunk and attitude-"

Knives tugged at her dyed streak smirking. "And her pink hair?" She asked causing Carlos to laugh and Gabrielle to giggle.

Roman rolled his eyes and waved one hand dismissively. "I keep telling you all that's just a coincidence."

"Whatever you say, man," Carlos said chuckling as the girls giggled. The fact was Roman had mostly surrounded himself with pink or red haired Characters so far. "Well then let's see..." he consulted the list. "Still no Xena... Sorry."

Gabrielle smiled and patted his shoulder. "That's okay. I appreciate you trying."

Roman raised an eyebrow but smiled knowingly. After all he'd taken Kim as much, if not more so, for Knives. "You're hoping to be reunited with your Xena of Xena: Warrior Princess? Now that I know if I come across her, I'll try to claim her and she's yours."

"Seriously? You're the best," Gabrielle said excitedly. "Thank you so much!"

"You sure?" Carlos asked raising an eyebrow.

Roman nodded. "Absolutely! Only makes sense. You should have the two main pair since they are so close, right?"

"Right!" Knives agreed.

Carlos grinned. "Thanks! I'll try to keep an eye out for Characters from the settings yours are from too!" He nodded. "Now that that's settled... actually you know what? Go ahead and take another Character," he said sliding the ledger back. "We'll call one of those Characters you're giving Godoh a gift from the council."

Roman blinked. "You're sure?"

Carlos nodded. "Yeah. We can spare a few as rewards for 'distinguished services' to hand out to others."

Roman nodded. "That's actually an excellent idea! Let's do that. Alright let me see this thing again... hmmmm..."

Carlos smiled. "Actually speaking of 'good ideas', that's another good one you had, hey."

"Oh? Which one?" Riman asked listening as he skimmed through the list.

Knives giggled. "You'll have to be more specific, Carlos. Roman's always having ideas!"

Carlos chuckled and nodded in agreement. "Ain't that the truth! I was referring to the idea of a... actually what should we call it? Home guard? Nah. That doesn't sound right. Policia?" He made a face as if tasting something bitter on his tongue.

Roman shook his head frowning too. "No. Definitely not 'police' or anything like that. How about... 'Disciplinary Committee'?"

Carlos snorted a laugh but he was nodding. "Sounds like a Highschool anime... but that's much better. Official sounding but not like cops. I like it but gotta ask why that though?"

Roman smirked. "Well 'Peace Keepers' is accurate but doesn't sound forceful enough. 'Disciplinary' though puts an emphasis on exactly what it's about and implies punishments right up front. Kind of a nicer way of implying 'Fuck around and find out', right?"

Carlos grinned. "Yeah. That's true!"

Roman nodded and made his final choice, marking it in the ledger. "Speaking of I think all the council members should pick out Characters to join this disciplinary action group as well as assign them to Council work in general." He looked Carlos in his tired eyes as he passed the ledger back. "You've been working hard. Maybe too hard. It's time we all stepped up and invested into this at least through the support of Characters."

Carlos smiled shaking his head. "If anyone's working hard it's you, Jefe! But we'll gladly take the help," he said parting Gabrielle's hand on his shoulder causing her to smile too. Roman was a good leader and friend to have... though he frowned a bit then whistled when he saw Roman's final selection. "Phew! You sure about that one, Roman? I see your thinking but that's one bad Puta!"

Roman shrugged, smiling. "Yep. She is. She's perfect for the job though."

"May I see?" Knives asked and when he nodded she went around the table to read over Carlos's shoulder with Gabrielle. "I don't know her. Meiko... it's a pretty name."

Gabrielle nodded. "I don't know her either. Is she an Amazon?"

That caused Carlos to laugh and Roman grinned. "Ahahaha! That's almost accurate. She's quite strong with a bit of a sadistic side!"

Roman nodded. "A natural disciplinarian though."

Carlos shrugged but nodded. "She also doesn't like men much! You're going to have your work cut out breaking in that one!" He winked though. "But hey! You sure? You're braking your streak of pink and redheads you know?"

Roman rolled his eyes but smiled at the good natured teasing. "I'm sure... and I told you all it was just a coincidence. Knives here's hair is actually mostly black and I love it. So beautiful."

"You do?" Knives asked beaming. "Well I love the colored streak I got but hearing that makes me happy!"

Carlos shrugged and winked. "Well we'll have to alert the betting pool all the same," he said grinning as he caused Roman to roll his eyes again. "Alright my turn! We'll if you're going to be brave enough to take on Prison School's Meiko Shiraki maybe I'll consider doing the same?"

"Is she really that bad?" Knives asked rejoining and looking at Roman with concern.

Roman shrugged. "I'm not extremely well versed in their setting but I know enough. She is tough and a bit sadistic but a lot of it comes from her adoration of her man hating friend. She was actually bullied in her youth concerning her body and then timid, gentle nature. She's not all bad, which is a recurring theme in their story that people forget."

"Oh?" Knives asked surprised. "Why would people forget that?"

Carlos snorted. "Because the author gave their story a sudden, crap ending. It was a pretty popular story until that point. Some say it was because he was just sick of it and bad at endings but the most widely accepted theory is while it was popular, he had another story he was writing at the time that was more personally meaniningful to the author... but it wasn't nearly as popular. The publishing company noticed the quality in his writing had gone down a bit so they put the other story on hiatus, **** him to concentrate his efforts on the more popular story which was more loved by fans... and he purposely phoned it in until he could tank the ending on purpose. It's shitty and kind of a big middle finger to the fans who support an artists work, but it happens. Intentionally bad and unsatisfactory endings." He shrugged. "I read them. Burt's a fan. He was particularly upset with how poorly the fans were treated with that ending. It was as bad as they say. Very unsatisfactory. Trollish, even."

Roman nodded. "That's what I'd heard too."

"Is that... common?" Knives asked resuming rubbing Roman's shoulders.

"Endings and stories in general can be... difficult," Gabrielle said. She was the 'Battling Bard of Potidaea' in her setting. "An author needs to connect with their audience. Telling the story that they want to is important... but they at least need to make an attempt at making it palatable to the reader. A shock or a surprising twist is fine... a slap in the face ending however rarely goes over well, especially if one has an invested audience. That's the kind of thing which gets an audience in a throwing rotten produce kind of mood. Sometimes a bad ending cannot be avoided but intentionally making a terrible ending is usually a bad idea."

Knives nodded. "Like a bad ending in a video game. I get that! Nothing worse than putting in tons of hours for a troll ending... was, uh... was our ending considered a 'good' one?" She asked a bit nervously.

Roman blinked surprised by the question then smiled patting her hand. "From my understanding of it, yeah, it was mostly well received. And it transitioned over from comicbooks into a movie, a video game, an animated series and more offering fans more and even different, multiple 'ends' beyond the main one, I believe."

Knives eyes got comically big. "Wow! We were that popular? That's great! Heehee! That kind of makes me happy!" She said smiling cutely.

"Hey," Risty said entering with Saya and all the new Characters and even more following in. "Hope we're not interrupting."

Saya jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "Some of these guys said they got an update on their ownership status so we figured we'd better bring them."

Burt grinned as he and Darlene led the rest in. "Is it dividing up time?"

Roman chuckled and nodded. "Yup! I made my picks and Carlos...?"

Carlos nodded. "Yeah. I've decided too. If there are no objections I'll take the Gangsta Alex Benedetto, the Danmachi Aisha Belka and the Casino Royale Vesper Lynd."

Roman nodded as the trio stepped forward. They were all sexy, Aisha was a Powerhouse and had fought Risty in the battle. And of the other two one was former prostitute turned secretary and the other was an accountant. All were beautiful and would be useful to Carlos in other ways and some would require minimal levels of effort to "break in" during their adjustment period. Solid choices.

"You're up Burtie boy," Carlos said offering him the ledger.

Burt grinned shaking his head though. "Nah. No need. I already know as I picked out who I want earlier! I'll take the Game of Thrones Shae, Totally Spues Mandy and since Roman took the Prison School Meiko, solid choice Bee-tee-dubs, I'll take Hana!"

Carlos shook his head chuckling as he marked them down and Darlene rolled her eyes as they stepped forward. Roman chuckled nodding. Burt had chosen 'bitches' again. He definitely had a type. Still... "Did you want Meiko?" He asked. "Carlos said you were a fan of the series-"

"Nah," Burt said eyeing the Hana Midorikawa up and down lusciously. "I'd wouldn't mind both but Hana here's the one I want," he said grabbing her chin and turning her his way and ignoring the look of disgust she gave him. "Don't you worry, babe. I know how to treat a 'dirty' girl like you! Hahahah!" He laughed as she blushed and shivered with impotent rage, disgust... and excitement?

Darlene smiled though as none of her particular picks had been claimed yet. "Same. I already know who I want too but let me look over the list just to make sure." She scanned the ledger and the crowd of Characters both before declaring her picks. "I claim the Game of Thrones Ygritte, Food Wars Rindo Kobayashi and...," she said pointing. "Kei Kamatori."

Roman blinked. Ygritte was a fine choice a beautiful wild redheaded hunter. An excellent choice for a fellow hunter. And he understood picking Rindo. Her personality was odd but charming and she was another redheaded beauty who specialized in cooking with exotic ingredients. A very handy skill in their current situation! But- "Weirdo glasses goat rider guy? Really?" He asked surprised recognizing the guy.

The Kei in question adjusted his glasses as Darlene nodded smiling looking the overall clad guy up and down. "Don't let looks fool you. He's surprisingly quite attractive and yummy under those overalls... and he is a farming prodigy!"

Roman nodded understanding now. Darlene had again picked skilled individuals adding a fellow hunter, a chef and now a farmer to go with her blacksmith/sailor. Half her 'harem' were fighters as well as split between pretty men and women and offering a variety of different survival skills. A farmer type would be beneficial to their overall survival. Hunting, fishing and gathering were fine for now but planting sustainable crops would be a big game changer for them. "I stand corrected. Nice choices!"

They all had different things they were looking for in Characters and reasons for making the choices they did... And honestly that's why they worked well together. Burt taking 'bitches' most wouldn't want to 'break' into potentially useful ones. Carlos chosing ones who'd help him with his duties. Darlene valued ones who brought useful survival skills... and he chose similarly between Carlos and Darlene picking ones who'd be strong in different ways for battle and adventure both, helping fulfill his various roles as well.

They chose, valued and prioritized differently... but their choices were viable because of that. More they reinforced the others in different ways. Their differences made it work. Made them strong.

"Well that settles that," Roman said nodding and the others did too. "Alright. Let's get the others in here one so they can make their picks... and then we can all cut loose a little bit!"

"Aye!" Was the enthusiastic response to that.

"I'll see to gathering the others things and informing them how things are done!" Knives volunteered giving Risty a wink, causing even Saya to giggle as she joined her in leading the new girls away to gather their meager possessions.

Risty smiled stepping forward and placing her hand on Roman's shoulder, looking around. "Soooo... afterwards should we brake in your new 'throne room'?"

Roman smiled. He wasn't sure he wanted to claim the place as his exactly. It had been cleaned up (thankfully) but he still associated it with the former despot. Still it was probably important for appearances sake... and he knew what she meant and nodded, patting her hand. She was next afterwards! "I don't know about that. But I suppose we shouldn't keep everyone waiting any longer... or ourselves for that matter." He rose and holding her hand they walked towards the crude throne.

Risty blushed at the hand holding but smiled. Roman was as eager as she was too! She could hardly wait.

Roman sat on the throne throwing a leg cockily over one arm as Risty stood next to him. "Let's not keep everyone waiting any longer. On with the show!"

[Roman Stark - Knives Chau - Saya Takagi - Risty - Kim Pine - Jinx and Meiko Shiraki featuring extra guest appearances by Subaru Konoe and Felix Argyle

Will Return In

Unwinding After the Battle. Roman & Risty Get Together

Coming Soon]