Adalinde sighed and slumped a little as she felt her energy being carefully pulled away. Leaning against the table where she sat, the purple haired girl raised a hand to signal that she was tapping out. She felt, rather than saw the withdrawl of the mirror wraith and yawned.

“There has to be a better way to do this,” she muttered tiredly, reaching for the orange juice and donut that were being pushed towards her by her foster mother. “I know we’re careful, Chariklo, but we can’t do this forever.”

She paused long enough to wolf down the food before sighing again. She’d take a nap in a bit and when she woke up, it would be Chariklo’s turn to be drained. Every couple of days it was the same. They’d take turns pulling energy from the other and using that to feed the Black Mirror. Once in a rare while, they’d take someone inside the city, someone that they could verify as actively assisting the Negaverse without being an officer themselves. Even more rare were the ones who would volunteer their energy as a way of thanking the Dark Mirrors for their help. When that happened, Chariklo tended to be careful to an almost paranoid degree, taking barely enough to give the wraiths she commanded even a hint of shape.

Once the juice and donut were gone, Chariklo powered down and set more food in front of her, this time a giant grilled cheese and avocado sandwich.

“You’re spoiling me.”

“One of the benefits of maintaining a harmless cover in the city, babe. As long as Arilee and Adalinde Selvig are good model citizens who show up to make their required donations, no one will bother us. Besides, I have a couple spare coolers packed with some good stuff for the Oasis. We can go whenever you’re ready.”

Nodding, Adalinde inhaled the sandwich. This was another of Chariklo’s rules. For as long as they were stealing energy from each other, they made sure to eat and drink plenty both before and after. And she was pretty sure that once the last crumb was gone, Arilee was going to shove her into the nearest bed-like surface an order her to rest. Which would not be a difficult order to follow at all.

If they went to the camp after her nap, they could see Avacyn and the babies. Brightening at the thought, Adalinda finished her meal and stood up.

“Then we can go once I’ve gotten some sleep. Wake me up if anything interesting happens?”

Not that Arilee would. But she always asked and made it clear that she wanted to help. Then, with a sleepy smile she stumbled over to the couch and threw herself onto it. Barely noticing as Arilee drew a light blanket up over her, Adalinde murmured a sleepy thanks and drifted off into sleep.