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He'd been skulking in the shadows, lurking in wait of finding an opportunity to present itself in which he could retrieve a good amount of energy from - be it a shopper out too late in the evening, someone stumbling out of a bar, an aimless hobo. It didn't matter at this point, no, all that mattered was finding some sort of replacement energy to satisfy the Powers That Be.

When his communicator flashed, it briefly startled him. As his sister's voice echoed from the purple crystal, he found himself clutching the glowing stone even tighter than before. What did she want this time? Had she found Kari? Her voice had lacked the usual enthusiasm it held, sending him nothing but foreboding feelings.

Sighing, he straightened up his shoulders and disappeared into the shadows, making his way towards their usual meet-up spot.

Wait, what?

She hadn't even give him the opportunity to defend himself, immediately rushing at him and pulling out her oh so intimidating lanyard. What was with her - he had said he was sorry and it still wasn't good enough for her??

The thought didn't settle well with him, especially considering how he'd been nearly eaten by ghosts and beaten up several nights that week in his desperate attempts at gathering enough energy to make up for the loss of her pet senshi's easy energy gathering. Didn't she see how hard he was trying? Why couldn't she just accept that the Kari thing happened and they needed to move on?!

"What are you going to do, scold me to death?"

His eyes rolled as his arms crossed over his chest. He felt a nudge from the remote in his pocket, giving the teenager a spur of the moment idea.

Reaching down, he pulled it free from his waistband and moved to point the rather pointless device in his sister's direction. Making an exaggerated point of clicking one of the buttons, he said allowed, "Hey, maybe this can prove useful for once. Mute."

Clicking the button again, his gesture's intent was obvious: he was tired of hearing her nagging.

The lanyard came whipping down across his arm and although he wore sleeves, the metal clip left a stinging after-effect that forced him to let out a pained noise as he looked down at the mark. The distraction proved successful, allowing the Lieutenant's slap to hit him directly across the face. Reeling, he stood there stunned for a moment as his free hand moved to cover the offended cheek.

"Hey, what the hell, Stella?"

He backed up several feet, the anger growing in his own expression as his left hand clutched tighter around the remote. Instinct told him to throw it at her, to get revenge on her for the assault, but brotherly habit reigned him back. Epidote was taller and stronger than his older sister and he knew from previous experience that using force could end up hurting her more than intended.

Even if he really wanted to punch her back at that very moment.

"Cut it out, you're being ridiculous."

Pause.

"More than usual, at least."

His cheeks reddened further at being called an embarrassment and it hadn't been from the recent slap he'd received. His hand left his face and fell to his belt, where he quietly tucked the remote back into place. No, he was better than that.

"Hey, at least I tried something, instead of just standing around! It's not like... it's not like I'm throwing my body at every senshi just to get a little bit of their energy!"

He stepped forward, towering over his older sister as his own eyes narrowed in return. That same green color that they shared, daring her to call him out again, daring her to insult him and push him over the edge further.

"I told you I was sorry and I've been making up for it ever since. Mistakes are going to happen - you can't expect perfection when I'm just starting off at this."

The same, familiar pang of fear revisited his heart as it had that night when he'd confessed his failure to his angry sister. She was even more volatile now than she had been that horrible evening when he'd nearly killed Kari. It didn't take hold of his entirety as it did that night, though the reminder of what could go wrong definitely still hung over his head like the figurative Sword of Damocles.

But he was tired of her tossing it out there, a quick and easy dig at reminding him at how utterly inferior he was.

"No, I get it. We wouldn't want to tarnish your reputation, since you were the one to vouch for me at the start."

His now free hand moved up to offer the other Lieutenant a mock salute as he assured her, the bitterness clear in his voice. "You got it, Stella. Your brainless muscle will do as its told from here on out, don't you worry."

Nevermind that bringing Kari's starseed would probably have awarded him with praise from any other General. Why Alkaid had interest in such a trusting twit was beyond the blonde teenager's rash comprehension.

The high level of sass within him dissipated as Stella's impervious attitude began to shake and break down. He wasn't prepared for her to cave first - he'd already known that he'd lose in the argument, he always did. She was smarter, she was the thinker - he really was the muscle of the two, with her the brains behind the operation.

"Look, I get it, okay?"

One arm reached out and held to her shoulder. Compassion wasn't his strongest suit - girls did better with all that emotional junk, but he couldn't just stand there and do nothing. "If we don't snag Kari, we'll find someone else. There's always another path - just like in the video games. No tutorials, but there's always a side door that nobody ever thinks to look for."

Offering a smile (though it was also fairly forced), he shrugged his shoulders. "You're the best thing the Negaverse has ever seen, Stel. Trust me, you'll impress Miss Alkaid something fierce with whatever idea that comes outta you next. And I'll be there, helping out."

His arm slid over her shoulder while she hugged against his waist. "Sounds like a plan."

He gave her a squeeze as he navigated the abrupt turn-around. It worried him that Stella was so concerned on his behalf, but he had to remind himself that for as much as she thought things over, she was notorious for over thinking as well. Maybe, just maybe, this was one of those situations.

"Dinner can even be on me, tonight."

Failing to mention the fact their father had given him his allowance early, the two shifted back into their civilian forms as they made their way to Penny's apartment complex, where an hour later a pizza would find its way to her kitchen table.