"I'm not playing." Howard is the best sport, clearly. Total trooper. "So no, you can't."

He doesn't like where this is going. Howard's not especially intimidating in his own right, so he can't just say 'stop' and get people to leave him alone when he's feeling picked on - and Reno's behavior now, whether she means it or not, is starting to remind him of the years of torment he received from his peers before finding a social niche.