At least he was drinking tea and eating cookies not looking at Bill like he might have poisoned him. They were off to a good start. Tea made everything better, or at least warmer and he sipped from the cup, before balancing it on the arm of the chair.
A laugh was good and Bill was glad to get one out of him. "Handsome is a fine start, we can upgrade to sexy later if we need to," he assured easily. You kind of got used to reading people when you were queer, actually making people uncomfortable wasn't something Bill was interested in. But Richie had looked, didn't withdraw and Bill responded to that. "Not nothing, we've got to laugh, right?"
It was a hard place to get used to, more so for some than others and a little kindness, a little mindlessness. It helped.