Bill was a little surprised in all this, sure Eddie was ticked off and a little green about his joke, but he was just not what he'd expected. Richie was a disaster, that had been immediately obvious, but he was charming and maybe Bill had just expected the guy he'd been smitten with to be slightly less of a wet blanket. Instead of what appeared to be the soggiest blanket Bill had ever some across, but let's face it Bill was a fun guy and didn't have much to do with damp manchester. If this was the reaction Bill's mild every day manor had got, lucky walls couldn't talk and Eddie hadn't overheard any actual conversations.
"The part where you're bothered and it's clearly because of something I said," Bill said after a pause. "It wasn't my intention to rub you the wrong way or cross a line and I'll be less familiar in future," he said, a little formal without his usual warmth. Like how you spoke to Professor McGonagall when you were in a spot of trouble, which you never outgrew no matter how old you were.
"He adores you though, you're all he talks about. I hope you don't let a cad like me sour something special, that kind of thing doesn't come along every day," he added, because he couldn't not. Bill wasn't in the business of telling people what they should want and this was a small place.