periodiic:

               a second look confirmed that yes, he was holding the rake with the
               actual rake bit towards the ground. sure, swinging a plain stick around
               might too do some damage, but it was a bit ridiculous looking with the 
               prongs on the bottom side. silently and rather embarrassedly, he sets
               the rake back against the bannister of his porch. “ my apologies– you
               had yet to announce yourself. all i saw was the flash of an unfamiliar 
               shadow and heard were the sounds of hurried footsteps. it could have
               been anyone– or anything. “ 

               had he truly felt threatened, he would’ve swung that rake around in the
               blink of an eye regardless of who or what it was. although he was right. 
               knowing who it was, he had no reason to truly be afraid, at least not yet. 

              “ how many times have i urged you to remain within your residence at 
                this time of night ? stalking about in the dead of night might give cause
                for worry. “ 

    _{❝I was heading here, anyways. Figured I’d catch you at the door. Suppose not, though, considering that you almost took the chance to maim me with a rake,❞ a dry laugh. ❝Can’t say I have any hard feelings about it. I probably would of let you take you best shot it I didn’t have other plans… Would of been neat if I were a fuckin’} cryptid, _{yeah?❞ he steps closer, calloused fingers outstretched before they run through Damien’s hair, brushing it behind his ear.}

    _{❝Are you going to let me in tonight? Your kid should be asleep by now, yeah?❞   he wasn’t sure} HOW _{he felt, truth be told. Easily, Damien could send him away and he wouldn’t even bat an eye. It never felt like they were using each other– they’d known each other for} YEARS _{and never had it once came across that way– at least in Robert’s eyes.
    Perhaps, though, since his disappearance} from _{and reappearance back into Damien’s life, things had grown more…} PAINFULLY CASUAL_{. Still, Robert hadn’t a clue on how to deal with other’s emotions} ( or his own, for that matter ) _and sincerely, _{he didn’t know what it was like to properly interact unless it involved booze and sex, or taking out his own pent-up rage. A lot of the time, that went hand-in-hand.}

    _{❝And how many times do I gotta say, I sleep during the day. It’s just how I work.❞}