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There was a degree of, if not pleasure, then certainly amusement in cruising bars and the like for people who wouldn’t miss a bit of energy–or more. But Evan had been scheduled for night shifts lately, which meant he was only free during the day. So he’d gotten home, changed out of his uniform, taken a long, hot shower, and then stood before the mirror in his room trying to decide if he should wear black slacks or khaki.

He was going to trawling the business district for harried professionals rushing back and forth, who would be too busy with their phones and rushing to their meetings to notice him. He would probably just take energy, this time. Unless he got lucky, there would probably be too many people around for a starseeding to go unnoticed. They weren’t instant, after all, and a struggle would be seen by someone.

So Evan picked out clothing he could wear over his senshi uniform without wanting to die from heat stroke. It was cold outside, luckily, but if he had to go into a cafe or something, he didn’t want to melt. And so he henshined up, took another gander at the clothing he’d picked out, switched to a long-sleeved shirt, and carefully dressed himself over his already-existing clothing. He tucked some cash into a pocket, just in case, slid on a coat, and headed for the train.

The rush-hour train would be a good place to start. A lot of people crushed together trying desperately to ignore one another.

A short train ride later, Tincalconite sent the gathered energy on its way and, whistling, set about weaving in and out of the crowds trying to get to their jobs on time. Crowds huddled so closely at crosswalks that no one noticed a hand on a back here or there. Taking only a little. Not enough to notice.

At least, not yet. He would see how his patience held out.

Tincalconite didn’t see the source of the energy that flared into his periphery, but he definitely felt it. He swore quietly under his breath, wondering if he should leave, but in the next second deciding to stay. He was disguised, coat and jeans over his normal senshi outfit. His hair was hopefully doing a reasonably good job of hiding the hole in his forehead, and Tincalconite reached up to brush some more strands down, disguising the motion as if he was brushing away dust. Granted, speaking of his hair, it did trail behind him in the long braid it always appeared as, but surely long hair wasn’t that uncommon.

Either way, he stayed moving through the crowd, following the throng of people across the street, down the sidewalk a bit, and then finding another crosswalk teeming with people. He followed them back across the street, back up the street, back to the first crosswalk. He didn’t see anyone dressed in a lurid costume, which would have made him think he’d lost them, except he could still feel that Order aura lingering.

They were probably looking for him.

Tincalconite followed the crowd across the street again, but this time, he followed several businessmen into a cafe. He thought about powering down in the bathroom, but there was a thrill to this cat-and-mouse game. Let the other person see if they could find him, catch him. They’d still have to try to stop him, of course, but that would come later.

He figured he had two options at this point, when he didn’t feel the order aura going away. Either he could leave, cutting short his escapades, or he could continue what he was doing and risk getting caught. Tincalconite rolled the feeling of the aura over and over in his mind, contemplating it. There were a lot of people around. The chances of anyone starting an out-and-out battle with him was probably low.

Tincalconite would stay. Waiting at the counter, he asked for a macchiato, paid–of course–in cash. He brushed his hand surreptitiously across the hand of the cashier when he gave him his change, taking just a little tiny bit of energy with it while the cashier gave him an odd look. The look was summarily ignored as Tincalconite gave him a winning smile and wink and moved toward the pickup counter.

This gave him a good view of the door. He’d definitely see it if someone came in looking for him.

Was the girl that had just come in the person looking for him? Tincalconite could still feel the Order aura loud and clear. He watched her surreptitiously from the corner of his eye as she flitted around. Seeing that the aura probably belonged to a teenager at best gave Tincalconite quite the boost of confidence. Surely he could handle her if it came to it. She was half his size.

He needed to figure out if it was her, though. She could just be convenient timing, with the actual culprit still bebopping around. Once she came to stand with him and the other people waiting, he turned to her as if making small talk. "I don't see you in this cafe often--good choice!" Truth be told, he didn't go to this cafe often either, but she would have no way of knowing that. Not in a city this size.

Did he want to try and lure her out if she were Order? With all these people around? Well, truthfully, Tincalconite didn't care for the people around them. They would either get out of the way or they wouldn't. More importantly, she would probably care about the people around them. How best to go about that? It took only a moment of thought as someone else jostled in with them to wait for their orders. Tincalconite reached up and oh-so-gently put a hand on the small of the man's back--not enough that he'd feel, but enough contact that Tincalconite could start pulling threads of energy from him.

He would never admit to it, but it took him by surprise when she spilled the coffee on him. It made him take a step back, breaking contact with the man whose energy he'd been covertly draining. He took another step back, "no, no, it's alright--" as she grabbed napkins and bumped into him. "I said," Tincalconite reached to grab her wrist before she could try 'helping' him any further, "it's alright." His tone was pointed, an undercurrent of venom under his words. "Stop touching me--"

What was her game? She had to be the Order aura he was sensing, didn't she? She'd done that to get him to stop draining the man in front of him, hadn't she? Tincalconite took another step back, muttering in affected disgust under his breath.

There were people staring, now, so Tincalconite quickly reconsidered his course of action. He took a step back from her, brushing himself off. "Don't... worry about it." He didn't make any other moves in the time he was waiting, now quite keen on getting his coffee and leaving. The fake name he'd used for his drink--Cal--was called after a couple minutes of them standing there in their protracted stalemate, and Tincalconite moved toward the counter. "Just grabbing my order, if that's alright," he muttered at her, playing up the part of the offended customer just there for their hit of caffeine.

If he moved quickly enough, he could get out of the cafe and away from her and find somewhere else to continue what he was doing. Taking advantage of his height, Tincalconite lengthened his stride and moved for the door quickly. As he walked, he made sure to mutter about 'being late' to continue his act in the eyes of the people around them. Hopefully if she continued to bother him, other people would intervene.

The sunlight hit his face as his feet hit the sidewalk, and Tincalconite paused just a moment to consider his next course of action.

Tincalconite turned, swearing none-too-subtly when she ran into him. "I'm busy. I don't have time to entertain you." He took a long drink of his coffee, it scalding his throat as he guzzled it down. "Get lost." He tossed it into the trashcan by the door and turned to leave. He'd find somewhere else to do his draining work.

Actually...

He didn't trust that she wouldn't just follow him and make it impossible to find somewhere to power down. He could try running; with his stride, he would probably outpace her. But Tincalconite didn't consider himself the type to run away. But, then again, he was busy.

Over his shoulder, he shot, "just let it go before we have to get into a fight." But under his breath, he was already whispering the word, 'Listen'.