"At least one of us does," Steven says, shaking his head. "Well. No. That's not completely true--I do understand him a little better than I did once. And-- hell. Maybe you can persuade him into a menage a trois. Stranger things have happened."

He's smiling at Hythlodaeus. "I'm glad you decided to make a project of me," he says suddenly, surprised not so much by the sentiment as the desire to suddenly tell Hythlodaeus of it. "I really am. It's nice to have someone else that I can... well. Speak freely with." He laughs suddenly. "Who'd have thought you'd turn the House of Hades into a safe space for psychopaths?"

(It's what he is, Steven thinks, undiagnosed as he might be. He can at least own it, if only with Hythlo.)