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If Ilmenite knew just how much people worried about him -- about his discipline -- about his being angry -- he probably would have laughed out loud. Or, maybe, he would have been a bit impressed. It was what a Negaverse Officer was supposed to be. Or so he'd been told...

Well. Acanthite would learn quickly, at least, when she approached the building. All bright lights and young men in tight clothing, a line around the block. The wafting, mixing scent of tobacco and marijuana. A mini dance party among the group of too-well-dressed, somewhat-impatient would-be patrons.

He'd sent her, it seemed, to a gay bar.

At least she wouldn't have to go inside. She'd be able to sense Ilmenite as she approached, and would spot him easily where he stood: leaning up against a wall and smoking with a dark-haired young man who looked high as a kite. As they spoke, that exciteable energy started to go out of him, the kid fading from cheerful impatience to leaning, lethargic, against the stone wall --

"Really cheap pot, yes." Not that he really minded. Ilmenite reached out absently to pluck the joint from the kid's fingers and offer it over to her. He just stared at them dazedly, blinking slowly, most of the way toward unconsciousness. Ilmenite didn't give him the final push. Just left him there, grinning as he stepped back.

"Have at, if you want it."

"I always smell like smoke, all the time, so I have no idea." He flashed her a grin, though, and something in that grin was daring -- live a little, take a little taste. It was a good thing the Negaverse wasn't like college. All things considered, Ilmenite would have made a terrible RA.

"You can let me know later. How long were you watching...?"

Ilmenite looked down at her, amused, took one draw on the joint himself -- and then froze. Suddenly realizing that the girl was right, and he didn't have a damned clue if the smell would stick to him even out of uniform. He also was pretty sure that Zac wouldn't be a fan of drugs on the job. It was a miracle he tolerated the cigarettes --

Smoke still pouring thoughtlessly out of his mouth, Ilmenite dropped the joint and snuffed it out. Oops.

"It was both. Mixed." He didn't cough, but he did blink a couple times. Shaking his head. "We can find another one. Your choice: inside, or wait for someone to come out for a smoke?"

A beat.

"He might well have friends..."

It was her choice; at the moment, things were quiet. Quiet enough that Ilmenite took a look around the empty alley and quirked a smile, eyes resettling down onto Acanthite. It wasn't likely they were just going to bump into someone immediately.

"Or you could wander up to the crowd milling out front and give him some sob story to get him back here...or be creative. This is what it's about. Come up with a story. Get someone alone." He paused. "Preferably someone who's kind of a d**k."

Perhaps someone else would have been offended by the comment -- would have taken it out on his hapless charge. Maybe someone else would have argued, all flashing eyes and dangerous scowl at the poor kid.

But that wasn't Ilmenite. Instead, after one startled blink, his mouth split into his usual smile, hopelessly amused. He still had a cigarette between his lips and, absently, he tapped the brim of his hat up to take the kid in better. How could he be offended? It was true. The only thing really hot about Ilmenite was the clothes, and the clothes hardly made the man, did they.

"This is already an improvement, you know. Better than the speed dating. You got him alone, right?" He looked past the kid, now, down the empty alley, and then his eyes locked onto Acanthite. "You know what to do next,.."

Ilmenite's reply was brief; a shrug, a long moment of silence. Yes, she'd successfully drained someone, and perhaps that had been the goal. Everyone would have their own methods of filling their quota. But. Somehow, he didn't think she could always force-hall people into quiet alleys and drain them before they realized.

so.

"Do it again. Another one. But this time, try to make it so he doesn't realize what you're doing." Like that, he disappeared for a moment -- only his voice alerting her to look up to where he perched on the roof of the building above her. "Subtlety. Convince him things are normal."