Joel grabbed the paper out of Noel's hands before he could fold it into something destructive.
He sat down closer, close enough that their arms were touching, and waved the paper in front of Noel's face, as if he were removing a sharp object from a child.
"Don't let it get to you," he said. "It's bait. That's all it is."
Noel's fist was tight in his lap as he exhaled through his nose.
"I'm not going to see any of them again," he said. "So there's no reason even to read what they print."
Joel looked at him.
Then he tossed the paper sideways and it landed on the floor and neither of them looked at it again.
"I remember when you were trying so hard to get me arrested," Joel said. He rubbed his chin with the fond expression of someone revisiting a pleasant memory. "You were genuinely committed to it."
Noel turned to look at him.
"You were genuinely trying to make my life miserable," he said. "Following me around, grabbing my wrists, threatening me in alleyways."
