"Of course he wouldn't," Steven says automatically as they continue downward. "You were a stranger. Even if he had some idea of you being my best friend, it's not always so easy with strangers to take off the small-m mask. And, well, you sort of... I mean, you don't always exude the air of being the most welcoming person ever? As far as his title... hell, I don't know. Could have been both. According to his friend that I talked to, he's a real rat bastard."

There's an odd note in his voice. Steven's not entirely used to people who aren't him using fond insults as a form of affection, the way Gil had. (It wasn't exactly a socially acceptable thing, in his experience, at least not in most normal American circles. Gil was also Australian, so maybe...)

"Is that an Australian thing?" he asks suddenly. "Talking shit affectionately? Maybe it was just a thing with him."