Usually, that's a good way to end a conversation, to get people to stop asking questions he doesn't want to answer, but when he's saying it to Ned, he has the feeling that it could almost be true. Maybe he will be fine, so long as Bob doesn't say anything to anyone else, so long as Ned doesn't decide, for some reason, that this is reason enough to want to stop seeing him.
Ned's hands running through his hair are reassuring, though, as is Ned's forehead resting against his own. Reassuring enough that he's able to offer a relatively genuine smile, and wrap an arm around Ned's waist, squeezing him with a sudden burst of affection.
"Are you gonna be okay?"
That's really what he's concerned about, after all. That's what it always comes down to, in the end.
There's still audible worry in Ginsberg's voice, which is what keeps Ned from dismissing the question altogether. To him, it's obvious that he'll be alright. What power does Bob really have over him? Ned doesn't think of himself as invulnerable - far from it - but he has a realistic notion of the situation. Bob wouldn't stand to gain much from trying to blackmail him, and it would take significantly more effort and trouble for him to even try to do so.
But of course, he also knows that worry is far from rational. His concern is not correctness, but reassuring Ginsberg that the only person he ought to be worrying about is himself.
"You eaten anything today?" Ned asks, because feeding people, taking care of them, is one of the ways he expresses affection, and he wouldn't put it past Ginsberg to have forgotten, in his agitation.
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no subject
Usually, that's a good way to end a conversation, to get people to stop asking questions he doesn't want to answer, but when he's saying it to Ned, he has the feeling that it could almost be true. Maybe he will be fine, so long as Bob doesn't say anything to anyone else, so long as Ned doesn't decide, for some reason, that this is reason enough to want to stop seeing him.
Ned's hands running through his hair are reassuring, though, as is Ned's forehead resting against his own. Reassuring enough that he's able to offer a relatively genuine smile, and wrap an arm around Ned's waist, squeezing him with a sudden burst of affection.
"Are you gonna be okay?"
That's really what he's concerned about, after all. That's what it always comes down to, in the end.
no subject
There's still audible worry in Ginsberg's voice, which is what keeps Ned from dismissing the question altogether. To him, it's obvious that he'll be alright. What power does Bob really have over him? Ned doesn't think of himself as invulnerable - far from it - but he has a realistic notion of the situation. Bob wouldn't stand to gain much from trying to blackmail him, and it would take significantly more effort and trouble for him to even try to do so.
But of course, he also knows that worry is far from rational. His concern is not correctness, but reassuring Ginsberg that the only person he ought to be worrying about is himself.
"You eaten anything today?" Ned asks, because feeding people, taking care of them, is one of the ways he expresses affection, and he wouldn't put it past Ginsberg to have forgotten, in his agitation.