[Can I stop, now? Stephen wonders. Have I convinced everyone I'm an idiot enough to let my brother clean me up? He thinks it might work: if everyone knows Cyrus Reagan brought his brother to heel, it'll look like Stephen can barely take care of himself. That he just does what Cyrus Reagan says.

And, honestly, Stephen thinks, Cyrus can probably be relied on to do everything he can to make Stephen look less like a traitor. Taking cues from Cyrus is probably going to be the best thing, here.

...he's glad he's stopping. He doesn't particularly like waking up sick most mornings, and his vanity has taken a terrible beating.]

...but it's you who it's caused the most trouble for. You didn't need me making your life harder, especially when you'd been working so hard on that Tribute legislation.

[He sounds defeated, repentant, and more than a little ashamed.]

I'm really sorry. I hadn't thought it was that bad.

[That last isn't defensive anymore. It's an apology. It's an if I had known, I wouldn't have.]