âanyone touches you, says anything to you, so much as looks at you the wrong way- you come get me, and iâll set them straight. understand?â ~@galacticforces ((Joan taking him out somewhere with her friends))
MORSE'S STOMACH DOES A FLIP. That makes him feel... something. It definitely shouldn't, but it does. Quickly, he tries to backtrack in his mind, reverse the sudden warm feeling before it takes hold properly.
FOR A START, THAT WON'T HAPPEN. Why would somebody touch him? Why would somebody say something to him? And if they did, he could definitely handle it himself. He doesn't need protecting. If something happens, he'll be fine, because he handles that sort of thing every day at work. Teasing, jokes made at his expense, being looked at in a particular way... he deals with that just fine. Doesn't he?
HE DOES. He knows he does. He ignores it all, from the rolling of eyes to the pointed jabs and cruel teasing about his interests and hobbies. But... hasn't he thought, every now and then, about what it might feel like if someone did say something? As soon as his mind goes there, instead of successfully finding its way back to a normal response, he's burning with shame. Not only does he like what she's just said, but he's thought about it before! To even acknowledge it is excruciating. Morse likes the thought of being defended, being protected. How completely humiliating. He's not supposed to indulge those thoughts when they happen as fleeting wishes or fantasies, never mind when he's supposed to be having a normal conversation with Joan.
THIS ISN'T GOING WELL. His eyes are wide and he's definitely blushing, and he really needs to say something or this silence is going to linger too long. "Well, I'm sure... nobody I know will be there. So..." he trails off. Really? That's the best he can come up with? All he's really done is suggest that if there were people he knows there, then something might happen. Great. "I'll be fine," he clarifies quickly, shaking his head. "But, um, thank you."
