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((TZKS 5th Anniversary -- Page 19 of 24))
“What are you talking about?” said Roman. “It doesn’t matter if you’re more powerful than them or not. You’re not the only person who would be working for me.”

“Oh yeah? Who else you got, then? Any names I’d recognize?”

“Well, it’s a work-in-progress.”

Leo snorted. “Course it is. No offense, but you obviously don’t understand a thing. And how can you expect me to work for someone like that, huh?”

Roman frowned, not sure how to argue with that. Maybe by bringing up Voreese and how old she was? Eh...

“Ya gotta understand. I’m old as heck. So I know myself pretty well by now. And I ain’t much of a leader, daddy-o. You know I ain’t ever achieved emergence before? Not even once? Just ain’t me. Don’t have the temperature for it.”

“I think you mean ‘temperament.’”

“Whatever. Not much of an orator, either, okay? Nobody’s perfect.”

“I don’t need you to be perfect. I just need you to do what I tell you.”

Leo rolled his eyes. “And what happens when the day eventually comes that I don’t want do what you tell me, huh?”

“You... exercise self-control and do it, anyway?”

Leo threw up his hands. “You ain’t hearin’ me, man! I’m sayin’ I ain’t got any self-control! I’m a mess! I gotta be kept in line! I don’t do well with rules, dude!”

“Well, we could keep things casual, if that’s what you’d prefer...”

“Oh, just forget it!” Leo spun around and made for the door again. “The answer’s no, man!”

Roman just watched him go.

He supposed the guy had a point, in his own weird way. Leo certainly seemed like a loose cannon if ever there was one. Roman didn’t know how he would keep a handle on someone like that, especially since money didn’t seem like it mattered very much to him.

Ugh.

He stood up from the table and started after Leo. Whatever the case, he probably wanted to keep an eye on him. As much as he might’ve liked to just book it out of here and go meet up with Hector, something told him that the kid wasn’t going to be down with leaving all these captured Rainlords behind.

‘...Didn’t go well,’ he told Voreese as he stepped out onto the stony veranda. The view from the bottom of Capaporo was a peculiar one. White and amber lights filled his view, save directly above his head, where the giant pit just kept going.

‘What does that mean?’ said Voreese.

‘He... he turned me down.’

She laughed like a jackass. ‘You fuckin’ loser!’

‘Hey. If I’m a loser, then that makes you one, too, you know.’

‘Yeah, whatever. So why’d he turn you down?’

‘I think because he doesn’t want to work for someone who’s weaker than him. It was a little unclear, though.’

‘Hmm.’

‘I’m following him now.’ Roman had already caught sight of him again. The guy wasn’t exactly speeding along, what with having the walking posture of a limp noodle.