"Two down, about eight to go," Amanda said as they were walking down the street towards a house where Melinda's friends lived.
"You don't have more women?" Melinda wondered.
They had explained the precarious situation. Melinda had been very understanding. For someone so aggressive, she sure did have a considerable amount of empathy to give to her new captain.
Alas, they were interrupted.
Captain Vicarious walked up to them with a girl by his side. He looked so drunk that Bastian considered just letting him pass by, but then something occurred to him. A possibility. An idea.
He could start a fight and the man would not be able to defend himself. As Vicarious was a lowly captain, he would lack the support needed to get back what Bastian was about to rob from him.
This was not exactly the most virtuous plan Bastian had ever fashioned in his mind, but he couldn't blame himself, he was desperate.
"You…" Vicarious was slurring his words. The woman he had with him looked anxious, like she was truly ashamed of her benefactor.
"Aye, me, and then there is you, bootlicker," Bastian said casually, with the cruelty he had learned from Roy. "You think you're doing the world a favor by being a complete spineless sack of shit?"
Needless to say, he did actually hate this man already. People who sucked it up in front of evil bastards like Gorgo were very much not his kind of people.
"What didddshyou jusssht -"
Then Vicarious threw the most anemic punch at him, and all three women laughed. It was a glorious sound, full of astonishment and genuine evil joy.
Bastian dodged the punch with a needlessly dramatic move and took a hold of the man's arm. The woman who had been with Vicarious was wheezing with laughter. It sounded like she could die from a severe oxygen deficiency if this farce continued any further.
"Just hand me some gold for the pain of talking with you and we will be done here," Bastian said, now twisting both of the man's arms behind his back. "I am being extremely generous here. Us poor folk should look out for each other."
"Fugggkkk…"
"This will not do," the laughing woman said between her gasps, drying her cheeks as she had laughed herself into tearing up. "We must take him to the brothel. I work there…I am the doorwoman."
"They couldn't get the doorman to do your job?" Bastian wondered.
"I have a sharp tongue, Captain Black. My name is Emmy, you can call me Em. Please, empty his pockets so that we can share the loot and then let's bring him somewhere he can sober up. He'll be kicked to death if he falls asleep on the street."
"Great idea," said Bastian, caught Amanda's eye and winked towards Em.
Now that was a suitable prospect for the crew if there ever was one! A woman so deeply amused by violence…a woman who worked as a bouncer. A perfect addition to a group of female scallywags!
Now, he had Amanda and Melinda secured, with Em being a likely newcomer.
Name: Amanda
Traits: black hair, sly, dark eyes, a slender and beautiful face, big bosom for such a small woman, caring, sarcastic, may have healer tendencies, wily, very intelligent, calculating
Name: Melinda
Traits: tough, very strong despite being so slender, blonde and fair, will fight anyone and anything, loves the sea, collects frivolous items, likes knives, knows her way around knots
Name: Em
Traits: redhead, good sense of humor, persuasive, cunning, sharp-tongued, probably even mean at times, crazy laughter, will scare almost any men without having to fight them physically
Having finished his mental "inventory" Bastian helped Em get all the gold from the pockets of the other pirate. It wasn't much, but it was still a good start in addition to what the Maiden's Mercy had in her hold.
Bastian knew for a fact, from his old self and his memories, that the Mercy was carrying enough cheap tobacco to fund a voyage across the sea, but not much further. And if he was to hire more crew members, he needed more gold to pay for their expenses.
"Oh, gods…" Em sighed heavily, scrunching up her cute button nose. "We have to drag this bastard all the way up to the Red Horse House."
That was a detail Bastian did not remember, but the previous owner of this body had probably been drunk during his adventures in the Red Horse House, so the new guy didn't think about it too much.
He did know, though, that he had to find someone magically capable enough to explain to him why Roy was suddenly here despite…despite having been in the normal world, too, and having looked perfectly healthy.
"Let us help," Bastian said.
They all grabbed the semi-conscious pirate and began to drag him towards the brothel despite his protests.
"Nooo…I want my bottle!"
"You smashed it into a wall when you got angry," Em said. "I won't even bother to call you Captain because that is not the name you deserve. Filthy drunken animal…"
Bastian made a mental note to never get too tipsy around these ladies.
"Say, Em, do you get paid enough to do this?" he asked.
The woman snorted. "No, Captain Black, not anywhere near enough. I would rather shovel dung for a slightly better pay. I hear that they are hiring in the countryside."
"Well, I am hiring, too," Bastian said, careful to make his offer seem casual enough that it would not sound like a plot. Em was probably a bit suspicious about him already.
Em took a look at him and giggled a bit.
"I only do it for free, though," she replied with a smile.
"I was talking about piracy. Wouldn't it be better? More lucrative?"
Em stopped them. They were in front of a house that looked a bit too gaudy for its surroundings, a bit too bright with its ruby red paint.
"We must ask the mistress about how she feels. She will be losing her best bouncer," Em said thoughtfully.