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(Backdated to October)
Rakovanite did not prefer for nights to deviate from his norm. He had a schedule, and all he wanted to do was stick to it. It was consistent, predictable for the most part, barring when altercations with the enemy turned particularly nasty. But typically, no one had to wonder where he was or what he was doing. His boyfriend knew when to expect him home (and knew to be concerned if he wasn’t timely). His subordinates knew when they would most likely find success in contacting him and knew when he would be expecting things from them. It was convenient for things to work on a schedule. Everyone was on the same page.

...It was less convenient to very specifically not be under the same command as everyone else. His strict schedule wasn’t adequate when more was expected of him. ’I am not increasing everyone’s quotas. I am increasing yours.’

Do. More. It was not up for debate, and it wasn’t something he could pass off to his recruits carelessly. He could probably get away with issuing Calaverite more work. He was- not necessarily obedient- but he was dumb and wouldn’t ask questions. If Rakovanite brought him a treat and told him to bring in energy or starseeds or anything else, Calaverite would do it, probably.

Cervantite was a somewhat similar situation. He could make up an excuse about better preparing the newly-upgraded super for more responsibilities. It meant they would have to go together (which was such an abhorrent thought…), but that was still more efficient than Rakovanite shouldering it alone.

And safer than sending his baby brother out unsupervised.

The rest…

They didn’t have the experience to patrol alone. They needed to learn, so it was fine to switch off between bringing each of them in turn and saying it was just part of the training, but so many of them were so fresh, and it didn’t seem like the night went any faster or had any surges of productivity when Rakovanite brought Diasporite or Weissite with him. They were eager enough. ...Just not really helpful toward the ulterior, secret motives.

And it just did not take much to wear Rakovanite down. He had been (and still was) very content to give over whatever time he had to the Negaverse. There just wasn’t extra beyond what he was accustomed to giving. He didn’t have much more in him. But he was no one worthy of arguing with Queen Laurelite, and his personal comforts and abilities hardly mattered when she expected something.

The holographic screen of his tablet flicked to life as Rakovanite split his pen, bathing his face in a dim, purply glow. 2:45. He had to go to work in five hours. He hadn’t slept yet. And he was out here, hanging around the bars around campus like a sleaze, just desperate to be done and it wasn’t happening fast enough. It had just rained, with slow, misty droplets still spilling out of the sky, so foot traffic was minimal.

His thick, dark clothes were damp and clinging and chilly, despite the summer’s dying warmth. He shuddered, and wanted to go home so badly he felt it like a physical manifestation in his gut.

Since his tablet was already open, Rakovanite scrolled through his contacts. Something to get this done faster or make it easier or any other out he could come up with.

He thought to summon Calaverite to him because he was sure the younger boy was in Negaspace right this second and it would be so easy to just pull him here and send him into one of these buildings-

But it would be messy.

Far from discrete.

Instead, he paused over Sylvite’s name and the little bubbly pink confetti heart he’d set as her icon. She knew everything that he knew, already. He wouldn’t have to strain himself guarding secrets from her. And she very well might be up, doing exactly as he was doing. ’Will you meet me?’ He messaged. ’I’m in the O’Brandy’s alley, across from the university.’




The secret mission hadn’t started out fun, exactly, but it had started out as something to focus on. Sylvite couldn’t keep getting all caught up on the Rift mission and the fallout from that when there were aliens to get ready for. The other Generals were feeling it, too. Sylvite hadn’t seen anyone getting into weird arguments since the meeting with Laurelite, which was more than she could say sometimes.

Sylvite and Faustite had mostly worked stuff out. She’d reconnected with some of the others. She’d brought back some impressive hauls of energy, even if she was kind of annoyed that she’d missed a second chance at nabbing Cybele’s starseed.

That had all been during the first week, though, right after the announcement. At that point, it had seemed cool and important to spend all her nights bouncing around the city with whoever she could talk into coming with her, then getting through class and work on a couple hours of sleep and all of the caffeine and sugar that her body could manage without exploding.

As time went on and there didn’t seem to be any sign of Laurelite saying they could stop, it was starting to catch up with her a little bit.

She still went out at night. She still drained. She just didn’t have quite the same bounce in her step when it hit, say, 2:45 in the morning, especially after she’d gotten caught in the rain. She’d powered down at that point, waited some of it out in one of those all-night convenience stores, and come out of it with an energy drink that she was sipping on, but still.

Refreshing her outfit hadn’t done much to fix the fact that her hair was soaked, the usual careful style reduced to a stringy pink mess. It didn’t do much to fix the humidity, either, or the chill in the air. She was thinking about just going to bed and trying again later when the tablet went off.

Rakovanite wanted to meet up.

Exhausted or not, she wasn’t about to leave her friend hanging. She texted him back, saying okay, with a smiley face, even.

As a college student, she had a good idea about where he was, and she teleported over. It probably wasn’t the best use of energy. Her head spun a little bit when she landed, but it still felt better than walking across town and keeping him waiting.

He was there, like he’d said, and she waved, very sleepy and not smiling nearly as much as her emoji had. “What’s up,” she asked, even though he probably could’ve made some guesses.




He’d expected she would be out and about (it seemed like most of them were trying to do whatever was asked of them), and it was mere moments before Sylvite had sent him a response agreeing to come find him.

Rakovanite exhaled a terse little sigh and folded his tablet back into its pen, clipped the pen to his pocket, leaned back against the brick behind him, and waited.

It was another moment before she landed in front of him, looking bubbly, and chipper, and in her flouncy uniform- Oh, wait. Rakovanite righted himself as he looked at her, and he knew what he expected to see anytime he and Sylvite met up.

But he wasn’t blind. Even Rakovanite could look at the younger girl with her frizzy, unstyled hair, tired eyes, and dimmed smile and see that she was having as much a time with it as anyone else. Regardless of what he ‘expected,’ she was still only human. It couldn’t be easy for anyone to keep up with an entire civilian life and then a secret identity with a secret mission on top of that. He wasn’t alone in that regard. He did not make a point of trying to conceal the way his dark, assessing gaze scraped over her, though he looked suitably unafflicted by her appearance.

But the clipped edge to his voice was gone. Still quiet, but softer as Rakovanite eyed her. “Are you well?”

He knew only minimally about her civilian life, having met casually just once. But he knew she was a student, knew she had a job on top of that, knew that she was a competent general who cared deeply for those in her care, knew that she had boundless energy to achieve her goals- For the most part. Right at this moment, he could see, staring at the can in her hand, that she was subsisting on other things to keep her going.

Of course Rakovanite could will himself into finishing his chores. Sylvite was an adult. She could do the same. But it wasn’t really… healthy to be out in the rain, catching cold, going on a handful of days with a couple hours of sleep. Rakovanite believed in maintaining a healthy relationship with his limitations. He knew them. He could push them, but it shouldn’t become a danger to him.

And there was always the very real possibility that someone else would be out on any given night, in better condition than a couple tired and overworked generals. It wouldn’t do anyone any good if they were out then, would it?

He cleared his throat, extended a hand toward her, palm up, so that she could pass him the can. “Do you want me to walk you home?” He asked softly. Completely unnecessary, since she could get there in a blink, if she willed it. But it was ever-dangerous to be powered too close to one’s own residence, which was where she clearly needed to go.




When Sylvite saw the way that Rakovanite was looking over her, her hands went straight to her hair. She shoved the wet, stringy pieces out of her face, tried to shove the whole mass of it back and readjust the headband so it wasn’t as obviously terrible. He was about to see just how frizzy her hair got when she didn’t put it into the careful curls, but that didn’t mean she wanted to look like a drowned racoon.

He was a good agent, the kind who got promoted to General in just under a year, who got all kinds of senshi and stuff recruited who didn’t end up running away afterwards. She wanted to be the kind of person who he thought was worth working with, which probably meant being put together even if it was the middle of a wet night.

She took another sip of the energy drink and tried to smile a little bit wider, but that didn’t end up being enough to cut it.

When he asked if he wanted him to walk her home, she deflated a little bit.

“What?” she asked, all innocent, even though she was blinking way too fast in an attempt to get her balance back. She did hand him the drink, though. “You text me in the middle of the night to see,” she paused, and tilted her head, which was possibly not a good idea, “If I wanna go to bed?”
Her tone went just a little bit sarcastic at the end there. She wouldn’t put it past, like, Axinite, to send her self-care reminders, but Van didn’t seem like the type.

She waved a gloved hand at the can. “Should’ve asked before I drank like half a Monster.” The caffeine kept her focused. The sugar kept her awake. She would crash even harder in like an hour, and she wasn’t sure if she liked the way it made her feel, but here she was.

“Did you want help with something?” she asked, glancing at the bar. She knew lots of people used them for draining, but she wasn’t one of them. Hopefully he wasn’t expecting her to go in there, since she looked, like, fourteen.





“It is not why I messaged you,” Rakovanite admitted. “But I am not unable to adapt…” He was always proud to see her working, proud to have been under her tutelage for however short a time it was. He knew she worked hard, and he wanted to make sure he tried as hard as she did. But they were only human, prone to weaknesses and exhaustion.

She slipped the can of energy drink into his hand, and for a moment, he only stood awkwardly, arm extended as if he didn’t know how to handle it now that it was in his possession. It wasn’t like he wanted it for himself. Too much sugar and foreign, chemically tastes- but there was a short flutter of thought: maybe if he just tried it, they could get back to what they ought to be doing.

No, no. He wasn’t that desperate.

They were in an alley littered with garbage, so one more can could hardly hurt. He dropped it unceremoniously off to the side, to splatter amidst the rain-soaked trash from the bar.

Afterward, he wiped his hand against the pants of his uniform and kept the little thread of a disgusted grimace mostly off his face as he turned back to Sylvite. “I believe very strongly in maintaining a healthy state that is conducive to performing necessary activities. Physically and mentally and emotionally, if it can be helped. Sometimes it is more difficult to manage. I know and you know that there is a lot being expected of us, and that we must push ourselves if we hope to be ready for whatever the Queen expects us to face.” But they didn’t know when that would be. Tomorrow? A week from now? A month? A year?

They were tired and wet and grouchy now, and if it was to be a long haul, better to be awake and rejuvenated.

Rakovanite cleared his throat. “Not ‘help,’ exactly. I was lonely. Getting frustrated. I thought it might be beneficial to have someone more chipper and energetic along.” And he should have expected she was working herself very hard too.

Another beat passed, silence as Rakovanite considered how to approach this. Home and bed would probably be best to restore their tired bodies, but he didn’t think it would improve morale. He was not so great at that, though. He barely knew how to do it for himself, let alone anyone else. Livi would have better ideas than him. He sucked in a steeling breath. “Do you want to try something else?” Rakovanite offered.

And then, as an offering, more so she had an idea of what he was open to than an actual suggestion, though his tone took on something almost like frustration, “Have you ever played Monster Hunter?”





When the can fell from Van’s fingers, any thoughts about draining or aliens or complaining about how late it was slipped out of Sylvite’s mind. Instead, her eyes went wide. Her gaze flicked up to his, and he looked as cold as ever, maybe even, like, calculating.

It hadn’t been an accident.

“Hey!”

Sylvite dove for the alley floor, knocking up a pile of dust. At least she managed to grab the drink again before all the liquid splashed out of it, or before it rolled too deep into a pile of trash, or something. “That cost like three dollars,” she said, and when she looked back up at him, she was almost pouting. Yeah, she finally had a tiny bit of disposable income, but not enough to let people just throw her stuff away.

Even more than the money thing, people didn’t get to throw her stuff away as a way to try to tell her what to do. Keeping eye contact, Sylvite wiped the rim of the can off onto her glove, and then she chugged the rest of the energy drink right there, only shuddering a little bit as the strong flavor hit her system. Then, she sent the can off to subspace so that she could throw it away properly later.

A beat passed.

“I haven’t played Monster Hunter,” she said, because she was pretty sure it was going to be useless to tell him that she could be chipper and fun to be around again if she tried hard enough, or if the sugar hit her system. “Right now I’m mostly into League of Legends and Animal Crossing. I heard Monster Hunter’s kinda hard to get started on, but maybe you could show me?”

Yeah, they had the quota, but Rakovanite didn’t seem that interested in draining anymore, and Sylvite wasn’t really one to say no to something fun.
“I was thinking of heading in anyway, but it’s not like I’m gonna be sleeping anytime soon.” She kept her eyes on him, daring him to say anything.