"Like you?" Czes says it almost slyly and regrets that tone immediately. Steve seems the most trustworthy out of all the adults Czes has dealt with here so he really didn't deserve it to be said like that.

"Sorry," he says almost immediately. "I'm just..."

He glances around, then sighs. "Look. You've been really helpful, Mister Rogers, I'm not trying to be ungrateful or anything. There's just more to this situation than you know, and--" he shifts his weight, debating it to himself, then straightens as he makes a decision. "Well, if you want to know, we should talk somewhere more discrete than here."

His voice is still light, the intonation of a child, but a heavy quality enters it as he talks that makes him seem older despite his bearing.