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It was late, and Titanite was making her way through the darkness, trying to figure out how it was that she had not found even a single person of loose morals, or one of her usual 'friends' for a quick and dirty source of energy. She was running low on her quota this week too- she had spent far too much time bouncing around and trying to make some more friendly- oh, who was she kidding. She had been philandering and adulting, or whatever it was, and drinking way more than she needed to. It was just so pleasant to get a little extra warmth in your gut when you were the a**-end of

If it was not so cold, she might not have to drink so much. It would be a shame, but she would have to find something else to do. Shahar had no end to other vices she could purse once winter was over, though she was looking forward to paintball again. Still, such musings were unimportant, with energy on the line. And she desperately needed to collect herself another sum. Which meant.... either the red light district, or that one road near the homeless shelter, and one was infinitely more pleasant than the other.

But was she really up for getting distracted again? Homeless people it was. Better to feel a disgusting human being than a dead one. Making her way through the snow, she began her unhappy work. By the gods this aspect of the job sucked, but when it was them or her... maybe she did not have that high a moral standard.

Quietly, she bent in the snow, taking a bit of energy from her first victim, wondering why- and how- she had gotten to this place in her life. It was not what she had expected, or planned for. Then again, how much of her life had been lived using a plan?

Titanite would shortly count herself among the lucky that she had finished collecting her first bit of energy and sent it away before the voice startled her. Draining the victim was like bending to touch them, focusing, considering; if she was careless, if she let her attention lapse, then she would lose what she had so carefully collected. And truly, she was not overfond of having to touch them in the first place. Not because they were repulsive or homeless, but because she felt almost bad for them.

Some of her superiors considered them cattle. Titanite herself had likened them to batteries. Either word dehumanized them, and thus minimized the fact that she was harvesting the energy from living creatures. And even if she didn't like it, it was required. For Queen and Chaos, as it were.She settled the unconscious 'battery' backwards, stroking her hand carefully over their coat.

"You may ask," she said, accented voice thick, "I would not argue with a question. I do, however, have to decline. I mean them no harm. I simply have to do my job."

Her eyes flicked over to him at the sigh. "You cannot just take my word that I will not harm them? I am not killing any of them. They will not miss this energy, and will actually sleep all the more soundly for this tiny, missing bit." Not a single one of her drains had frozen to death in the snow yet, probably.And it wasn't like she went inside the shelter to try and gather from there.

Overall, this one seemed at least willing to speak, instead of just attacking her. "It would be easier to just look away. Or, you can give me some of your own energy, so I am not forced to do this. If it is your job to stop me, show me an alternative. Give me one. My superiors would surely not care where I get my energy from, so long as I can provide it."

Stepping over to another huddled potential victim, Titanite carefully checked to make sure she had not already taken energy from them before settling her hands on them, and beginning to drain.

Titanite sent away the second ball of energy, and turned her head to look at the boy. "Brave child," she complimented him, and tucked her second victim carefully away, out of the breezy pathway in which they had fallen asleep before they got here. She had drained enough that she could risk this little knight betraying her, and trying to drive her off.

And, perhaps, she could make a connection that would be beneficial. At least for her.

Pulling herself up to her full height, the slinking walk through the snow felt not unlike that of hungry predator towards desperate prey. "Very brave." the lieutenant stalked her way around him, in a slow circle. "I am quite surprised. Not many would make the risk. For all you know, I could be coming in this close just to hurt you." she reached out, aiming to lightly touch the front of his uniform. No further. Titanite had no designs on his starseed.

"It is not a deal I would make lightly. Not to save them. If not me, it could be someone else from the Negaverse. So why?"

Oh. Oh, this brave little child. He was going to get himself killed, and think that he was doing what was best for someone else. Close as she was, Titanite took advantage of her height and reach to shove him back with supernatural fury against the rough brick wall outside of the shelter. She was not trying to be gentle now, and if her face was lit with irritation, how was he to know what it was?

The wrong agent would take him up on this. They would grab his arm, drain him until he could not move, and then yank his starseed from his chest, and he would feel- what? "This is what you think is your duty, little one?" She pushed, pressing him until she hoped he was uncomfortable, and then began to drain him. "It does not hurt, does it? You are just tired. So is this worth the risk, to you? Where is the benefit to you?"

Others who let her drain them got a benefit from it- the touch of her skin, a kiss, something sensual or otherwise beneficial in a mutual arrangement- but this child was just- ugh!

The feel of his knee in her gut made the kickboxer stumble back, then laugh breathlessly, holding one calloused hand to her side where he had made weak but well-placed contact. "You should not offer your life for duty, little one. You are not in a military. If you get no benefit, do not take such a risk as letting another agent so close. I could have killed you, had I wanted."

She did not want to do him harm, however, and she dismissed him with a wave of her hand, stepping back another step to let him away from the wall. "Go home, child. I only have one more person to collect from tonight, and I will not allow myself to be punished because of your aimless generosity." Titanite did not turn her back on him, however.

He could still yet try to more violently defend them, and she could not drain his power while in combat. "Or if you still wish to sacrifice your energy," one gloved hand extended, "take my hand. Never let one of us closer, if you can help it."

Titanite had spent most of her twenty-five years of life doing one combat sport or another, so when the young man said he refused to leave, the kickboxer's face shifted, settling into a mask. "You will fail," she told him with a brittle smile, feeling excitement and anger boiling in her veins. Such a brave little fool. And such a waste of her time. She would not be punished for his attempt at bravery.

It would be easier to back down, to step away. Find another victim. But easy was... boring, when there was a little violence to spice up the night.

"I slammed you against the wall to make a point. I guess you did not learn it." he rushed her, and she breathlessly laughed at him, letting him kick at her, letting him make painful contact- and then reaching out to grab his leg in her gloved hands, turning his momentum against him, twisting her body and shoving as she released his leg, intending to propel him backwards and further in to the alley.

Then she bent, near one of her victims, sliding her hand into their chest. She could feel the starseed pulsing. Pumping.

Gentle, the corrupt had told her. Do it gently, and they feel no pain. Titanite didn't have the patience for gentle. And it mattered little, right now, if they felt no pain. "Leave," she told the child. "Leave, or I will be forced to take my prize another way. I have not taken a starseed in over five years, do not be the reason I have to break that record. I will always put my own hide above theirs if I must. Do not have their life on your hands."

If she couldn't drain their energy, she would have to take their starseed. It would be a personal failure-- and it would, she decided, be all his fault.

She would never forgive him.

"I do," Titanite told him with a bitter laugh. "Pain is an excellent teacher. It is how I was taught, and it is how the most valuable lessons are shared." Pain was the way she paid for her mistakes, and pain was the price she would pay if she failed again in bringing back what she must. "Your temper is adorable. I am meeting so many little ones who do not seem to realize that it does them no good to be angry."

He pushed back, and Titanite shook her head. "I was doing no one any harm, you <********> child. I was hurting no one." her fury permeated her voice. "I was doing the same as I have done a hundred nights before, and you come in here thinking you are some kind of a brave knight, to save the poor and the downtrodden. You ruined this. You caused this. Your ignorance."

She jerked the starseed, shaking with her anger. "This death is on you. Out of all the times I have drained a man, this is the first time I am forced to kill one. I want you to see his face when you sleep tonight, Page. I know I will." Still, Titanite had her prize. She was, if nothing else, an Agent of her word. There was no further purpose for her here, tonight. She rose from her crouch, spiriting the starseed away, and staring at him. "Yours is next, if you follow me."

Titanite leaped upwards, away. He didn't want to kill her. What a load of s**t. He just wanted to force her to kill someone else, or have her in a position where her betters killed her. She had told him- it was always her life above theirs. And now, for the first time in five years, she had been forced to kill. Astaghfirullah.