Dirk closes his orange eyes behind his shades, just for a moment.

Hythlodaeus hadn't told him shit about what the crystal was, or that it was one of a set. Except that Dirk had already put that latter part together without his saying; if Azem had a stone, so did the rest.

"I can make some guesses based on what he told me, but he was mostly focused on hyping Azem up and kept it vague when 'explaining' what the title really meant." Lifting both arms, Dirk crooks a finger on each hand to decorate the otherwise impassive delivery of 'explaining.'

Then he takes a deep breath and holds it, letting it go only after holding Hades in suspense for a good couple of seconds.

"He was pretty intent on the idea that Azem meant something to you. Which is--that's fine. I'm not. Mad."

He'd considered, in some versions of this conversation, taking off his shades. Making a point with his eyes--not with eye contact, but with the sight of them. Soda orange.

Now, though, he can't bring himself to do it. Instead, he just drops a single, allusive sentence--one that a less deadpan voice might have delivered better.

"It definitely explains some things."