In theory, Ghoul should have had plenty of time to prepare. The smell hits him before Cooper even gets near- it's strong, now that it's closing in on him and isn't as muddled by all the other generic crowd-smells. Ghoul's yet to figure out the meaning or trick behind it, but he suspects it's just a Thing. Like with normal people. Everyone has their own scent- usually not really something to be classified as either good or bad, but sometimes it's just the right amount of... something to freak out his senses.

What actually happens is he ends up making a very weird, pinched-up face as the distance between them closes. By the time Cooper steps up to him and speaks, Ghoul's taking a hasty step back. He lets go of the door and instead waves ambiguously (and slightly hysterically) in a silent warning for Cooper to stay back, which only lasts for a second before he does a little half-turn and sneezes a couple times in to the crook of his elbow.

In his attempt to be a decent person, the hand holding the tea that doesn't belong to him swings outwards in order to keep it safe. Which sends his arm crashing against a fancy-looking awning pole, and the tea to the ground a second later.

Whoops.

"Mother of fuck," is the first thing out of his mouth when he recovers, followed quickly by, "You sure that was yours?"