Ned springs to his feet, hands raised in a calming gesture at the man who had just barged over and hauled Meyer off the ground. He doesn't want to get involved in whatever kind of squabble they have going on, but he can't just sit there and do nothing. What this situation needs is someone calm, reasonable, level-headed. Too bad Ned has never been so good at the calm part

"I'm guessing you're Charlie?" he blurts. "Meyer was just telling me about you. It's n-nice to meet you, I'm Ned."

He holds out a hand for Charlie to shake, his nervous smile not reaching his eyes. What the hell is he hoping to accomplish? It's unlikely that some niceties would calm the man down, discourage him from taking out what is clearly a very bad temper on his friend. But he doesn't know what else to do or say.

Their little housemate tiff doesn't explain why Charlie is giving Ned that actually quite unsettling look, though. He half-laughs, anxiously, starts to draw back his hand.