Snippet #2558448

Of all the people who could have tapped him, it had to be the one person he least wanted to see. Robbie stood beside him, looking like he just woke up with the mess of bedhead and wild eyes he showed. A hint of anger erupted in his chest; this was the guy he should have been getting mad with, not Nick. Speaking of whom, he wasn't in the warehouse. Now would be the perfect time to detail to Robbie just how pissed off with him he was. What was Nick going to do, kick him out twice? Roman was still feeling tense and uncomfortable, stiff even, and he was too tired to work up a worthless battle. Still though, he didn't bother masking his agitation, lightly slapping Robbie's foot away. Roman stood up.

"What?" he said tightly.

He realized looking Robbie in the eyes and actually speaking to him face to face proved a lot harder than he would have imagined. Killens didn't realize just how upset he was with the guy, but he still wanted to maintain his composure, something that had slipped his mind the previous afternoon during his rampage. He was as raw right now as he had been in a long while, since before he took the pills from the Robbie. Maybe that was why he was weighing his options out, why he didn't want to be the same person he was at night around the people he lived with by day. Nothing was running through his veins that could thwart his personality, or at least nothing strong enough, which was why he did take on some of the responsibility for his change in demeanor. It was him, not Robbie, who sought him out. It was him, not Nick, who was keeping a secret. He was keenly aware that this all fell on him, something he'd chosen to ignore for a few weeks going. Still, a remnant of his new self remained in tact and Killens allowed it to curse the very presence of Robbie. Whether or not Robbie felt guilt, or even realized all that had happened, was unbeknownst to Killens because Robbie seemed to lack any formal expression. Regardless, it was him who had managed to get thrown out, and he tried to remember that as he awaited Robbie's response.

"Make it quick too, yeah?" he said as he turned back to his things. He wanted to be out long before Nick returned. Whether it was shame or fear that drove this necessity was beyond him.

What he wanted to talk about was beyond Roman. They had nothing in common which was likely by default given their personalities. Roman sought friendship about as much as he sought enemies: hardly ever. He had Nick and Brooklyn, or at least he used to; that was enough for him. Robbie, too, seemed content with his own company, or the company provided by recreational drugs. There was no wonder neither of them were close. In fact, both of them weren't close to the lot of the warehouse. Had it not seemed so out of character for Robbie to want--no, "need"--to talk to Roman, and had his anger not been so profound with the boy, Killens would have easily dismissed him and left the warehouse for good. But just a few short weeks ago, Roman had approached him seemingly out of random, and at the time it did confuse Killens as to why Robbie was so lackadaisical about being approached by him--though it was predictable in his indifferent behavior, so it shouldn't have come to be much of a surprise, in hindsight--but it could have been the sheer curiosity that drove Robbie to allow the conversation. As such, Roman allowed his own curiosity to get the best out of him, deciding he would determine later whether or not it was worth his time.