"Aw, wish I could tell those guys off for ya buddy. No one crosses a friend'o mine more than once," there's a bit of a snarl at the end of his words; a poised viciousness that peeks into his tone and vanishes just as quick. "Maybe this'll help?" He carefully slides an arm around Eddie's shoulder so he can cover one of his ears with his large flat palm.

Yes, yes, he's not actually hearing things, but the brain is tricky about things like this; perception is sometimes easy to manipulate.

"Here, look!" his free hand tugs his purple shirt up a few inches and his pinstriped pants down half an inch, showing the fresh green ink on the hard white line of his hip bone.

"I made the e bigger," he all but purrs, before carefully placing his free hand against Eddie's other ear, so most sounds should be muffled soft. His smile switches from sly to kooky in half a second, and he mouths 'any better buddy?' to continue the illusion of silence. He's also left the inked skin on display for Eddie to take a closer look.