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He was asleep. He was finally asleep. Backing silently away from the demon curled up on his couch, Banda breathed a sigh of relief only when he had safely reached the small kitchen. Not that there was much cause for worry; Venoch was a heavy sleeper when he was sleeping. It was getting him to sleep that was the problem.

Lately, it had seemed like he hadn't even needed sleep...but only took it for his own pleasure whenever he had nothing better to do. These rare moments were some of the better for Banda nowadays. Those, and the times when Ven was off 'hunting', or whatever it was he called it, and Banda could stay at home and help Lyrus direct his mini worlds, or even be alone in his room to paint a picture. Lyrus might be a demon in the making, but he was noting compared to Venoch.

Again sighing, he shuffled around in a drawer and pulled out his pack of 'cigs', tucking the lot into his pocket and silently slipping back through the living room for the front door. Once outside he relaxed considerable, walking around to the side of the small building and slumping down against the wall, withdrawing one cig and lighting it. Finally, a moments peace....

Ahhh...much better. Between Venoch and Lyrus, Banda hadn't had a chance for a nice relaxing smoke in a long time. He took a long drag, lazily exhaling the smoke, and let his head fall back against the wall. Still, blissful peace.

Or...perhaps not. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a movement and quickly looked over, expecting to find Venoch complaining about being left alone. He relaxed only slightly when he realized it was Jo and, quirking a brow, watched her curiously from where he was seated. Raking complaints, eh? ...Maybe he should help?

....Just five more minutes. He was too comfortable to stand right now.

Banda wasn't laughing, though he was hard pressed to hide a smile. Continuing to watch her antics, he lazily resumed his smoke. However, at her expression when she looked over, he choked somewhat and actually dropped his cig, coughing a few times before catching his breath. Flushing bright red, he turned his eyes away and snatched for his cig, looking up in time to catch her words. "Hey Jo.. Yeah, uh, nice day."

"I'm fine, I'm fine.." He shook his head, waving his free hand slightly in a gesture for her to calm down. He tensed slightly with her following words and, forcing a smile, reluctantly grounding the rest of his cig out on the ground. So much for that. "Bad habit, I'm trying to quit..."

Not.

Once he was sure the butt was out, he tucked it away in his pocket, remaining silent for a moment longer before genuinely smiling, cocking his head up at her. "How've you been?"

"Congrats," he praised, but as he was about to continue, she cut him off. He paled slightly with her question and quickly scrambled to his feet, shaking his head. "You make it sound like, um.. Nothing happened, I mean, you know I wouldn't have, eh..."

Trailing off, he hesitated, taking a moment to clear his thoughts. Finally sighing, he averted his eyes so that he would have an excuse not to pause if she interrupted again, then explained. "I was already asleep when you got there. I guess.. You'd been out drinking and had mixed up the houses? You came in my bed, and that woke me up. I kinda freaked--fell off the bed, in fact. 'Cause I couldn't see who you were in the dark, and I couldn't hear you to know, either. I thought someone had broken in or something."

he paused briefly, but quickly lapsed back into his explanation. "I got around to the light and turned it on, relaxed some and we talked for a bit. I tried to convince you to go back to Doomi's, but you wanted to stay with...ah, with me, um.. So after a little bit I agreed, 'cause it didn't seem like I'd be getting you back to Doomi's, and even if I did, something might happen and you could get sick, and then it'd be my fault because I hadn't helped. So I let you stay the night to make sure nothing'd happen, and then the next morning.." He shrugged, glancing up slightly, "Well, you know that much."

Flushing faintly himself Banda shrugged, managing a faint smile. "No, it's, um, natural to think that way. Prob'ly for the best too, uh..." He trailed off and fell silent, not sure exactly what more to say, but when she started off, stepped after her, reaching out a hand. "Wait, Jo."

And freeze. What exactly had he been about to say? Letting his hand fall, he automatically slipped it into his jacket pocket, faint, somewhat hopeful smile returning. "Need any help with that?"

"Yeah. I'd be happy to help," he insisted, accepting the rake and immediately starting to work. He jumped slightly when a bundle of leaves attacked him, pausing and glancing slowly back over at Jo. He quirked a brow, watching her a moment before silently getting back to work. Only to snap the rake up and fling leaves backwards at her.

Laughing, he turned to face her, using his rake as a shield while edging around behind the other leaf pile--the one Jo had already built up. Ducking down, he grabbed a handful of 'ammunition' and sent leaves flying over in retaliation to Jo's. Not that leave were very good for throwing, but still.