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Themisto was stretched out, legs dangling over the roof of a 24-hour coffee joint, enjoying a rich cuppa Joe. The warmth in his hands was incredible during this kind of weather, and he was so grateful that powering up and down to get coffee was easy enough.

Something pinged his senses and, without thinking, Themisto flicked his wrist to pull the cellphone from subspace. ""ey, it's froggy..." he muttered to himself, willing the cup into subspace for safe storage in case Nix needed something immediately. Subpace was awesome now that he understood just how to use it.

>[Hey dude, hows it goin? I'm up for training if you are. Sorry about the fog last time. I'll answer whatever I can. I'll bring you a coffee!]

That next step was simple enough, thought Themisto didn't power down this time. He simply hung upside down to hand the cash to the worker at the drive through, who seemed more bewildered than anything. Second coffee acquired, Themisto was off into the night, carrying warm caffeine in the safety of subspace before arriving at the appointed locations. Trotting up to Nix, he pulled the fresh coffee from its safety of we can't explain it and handed it to the boy.

"Hope you like it with cream and sugar? I shoulda asked, but... hell, on a cold night like this? Any warmth is good, am I right?"

Themisto should have thought about that. Someone as young as Nix might not have liked coffee. It was an acquired taste, and sometimes was the only thing keeping him awake during patrols. With a sigh, the eternal senshi bowed his head in apology. "...I'll remember that next time. Guess I wasn't thinkin' too much about it, heh."

Nix's unusual request seemed innocent enough - he seemed like the kind of senshi that gave a crap about what was going on in the world around him. Themisto wasn't like that in his initial stint - too cowardly. He ran while Nix stood in the face of danger. "Nah, nothin' important. I was just gettin' coffee to keep me awake on patrol. Itsuki's with a friend right now and I was gettin' cabin fever. You know how it goes, right?"

The eternal sensehi didn't consider himself an expert about anything senshi-related when compared to others. Themisto's brows furrowed when Nix got around to voicing what was eating him - Did the senshi already lose? Is that why everybody's so disorganized?

Valid, relevant questions.

With a sniff, Themisto placed the cup of coffee back into subspace to give him room to fold his arms. It was a deep sigh that followed, the eternal senshi looking down at the rooftop for a moment. "...Well... now, don't think I'm an expert or nothin'. I've only been doin' this seriously for, like, a year or somethin'. I ran from it, unlike you. I was too scared. But... those're good questions. I dunno... if I know all the answers, but I'll tell ya what I do know."

"You've met my sister - Kallichore. She's been doin' this for like, ever, an' she told me a lot, but I've experienced a lot, too. I wouldn't say we already lost... but the politics are bullshit. Some folks are like, no, we can't kill anybody, that makes us just as bad as them, and some are like, kill all of 'em cuz they're all awful, and then everythin' in between. People b***h and cry and whine at each other, tryin'a come to a conclusion, but in the end, we're still all real divided."

"There're royal senshi out there, but I never met 'em. Seems to me there's real rare and... don't seem to give a flyin' crap about the war. If they did, why ain't they out here? That's what I think about it, anyway." Themisto made to spit off the rooftop, more out of anger than anything else.

"The Negaverse got their claws in the local media - that's why people thought we were the terrorists. Dunno if that's still the case, but... that's what I hear. I mean, anybody will eyeballs and half a brain can figure out it's the Negas and the Dark Mirrors runnin' around causin' problems, not us. I sure don't think we're losin'. I think it's kinda neck-and-neck right now... I dunno, though. I just try'ta... do the right thing. Keep workin' at it, you know? We got you here, so... I'd say I'm doin' okay."

Heavy conversation passed, Themisto gave Nix a thumbs' up.

"When?" Now Nix was getting into experiences Themisto had no firsthand knowledge of. With a shrug, the eternal senshi sighed. "I hear there's meetings... sometimes. Never been to one myself, or gotten a call to go to one. Dunno what happened there. I just hear about it sometimes, how everybody's bitching about how nothin's been figured out and some royal's thinkin' they know better than everybody else. Or somethin'. I dunno, second-hand info."

Now that he was being asked these questions, Themisto found his knowledge woefully lacking in some areas. While his sister might know more of the ins-and-outs of the war and its history, Themisto liked to think he had a fiery passion she lacked.

"I... heard some stuff. Dunno if it's true." The admission came quietly, as if Themisto didn't like its implications and tried to keep them buried. "...I heard there's a lotta Negaverse everywhere else. That's we're... kinda the last bastion. I dunno if that's true, it's okay hearsay, you know? I just... try to focus on what I can do... and... savin' people, that's what I try to do. Sorry I don't know all the answers."

Themisto looked more disappointed in himself than anything else, as if he was letting Nix down in some way. Brown eyes dropped their gaze on his fellow senshi and he sighed deeply, looking away into the night sky.

"Honestly? I think that's all we can do, right now. Just... try'ta keep the city in one piece. If I'ma go down, I'm not goin' without a fight."

Curling one hand into a fist, Themisto punched his open palm. Nodding to Nix, Themisto couldn't help but internally applaud the kid's guts. He had a good heart, and to Themisto, that was extremely important in the war. Nix seemed like the kind of person who would do the right thing, and save as many people as possible. Actions spoke louder than words, and maybe with enough senshi banding together, they could prove to the normal citizens of Destiny City that the senshi weren't the terrorists people thought they were.

"Alright, no fog this time though. You already know what it does!" he chuckled, launching himself at Nix. Themisto wasn't out to straight punch the kid, but wanted to give Nix a better idea of what it was like to go toe-to-toe with someone that outranked him. A General would be even faster, but with any luck, Nix wouldn't run into any prematurely.

A few punches here and there, and Themisto stepped back to ponder Nix's request. What else did the Negaverse typically do?

Nix suggested a race, which brought an idea to Themisto's mind. With a grin, he started rocking back and forth on his heels. "Yeah, how's about... a race. How's about... you get a head start, and I come after you. I'll count to ten. If I catch you, you buy snacks. Sound good? Keep an eye out for anyone that might try'ta interrupt us. I'll keep an eye out too. Generals are even faster than me, but this'll give you a good idea of how far you gotta push yourself sometimes. 'Kay?"

With a nod, Themisto started to count out loud. "One... two... better get goin'!"

Once the eternal senshi reached ten, he'd start slow to give the frog senshi just a little bit more leeway. He was curious to see how well Nix could think on his feet, and how well he was starting to learn the layout of Destiny City. Anything could be used as a distraction or an obstacle when it came down to life or death.

Keeping up with Nix wasn't a problem, as they could both sense one another. Ducking around DirecTV antennae and other roof paraphernalia, Themisto kept to the high ground, keeping an eye on the frog senshi below. Thankfully there weren't any Chaos signatures around to interrupt their training. The night wind, the city lights and the occasional parked car were their only companions on this run.

Themisto was easily able to keep up with Nix, but was interested to see what would happen if he veered close to the frog senshi. At their next turn, running parallel to Nix, Themisto used a fire escape as a means of dropping down onto the street level. His signature beamed brilliantly on the blonde's supernatural senses, indicating how close the eternal was.

"Looks like I'm gainin' on ya!" he called ahead. It was all in good fun though Nix would benefit greatly from testing his stamina and his ability to think on his froggy feet!

As soon as the frog senshi ducked around the corner and disappeared, his signal dropped from Themisto's radar. The eternal laughed, having reached the same corner himself and finding a Walgreens standing right there. Shaking his head, still chuckling, the senshi took to the roof to sit and wait. It wouldn't take too long, knowing how much Nix liked to get out and do things. Wandering around a Walgreens could only be interesting enough for so long before the blonde would get bored and leave.

Once Nix - as Toby - had exited the Walgreens through those automated doors, Themisto dropped down near him to clap him proudly on the back. The senshi made sure they weren't being followed and that regular citizens didn't accidentally get a glance of Toby hanging out with a terrorist. "That, my man, was real smart." he said, still grinning from Nix's excellent idea. "Dropping outta sight like that, couldn't have come up with somethin' better myself. Guess I owe you dinner, huh?"

Nix was turning out to be an even greater, smarter senshi than Themisto had initially realized.