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He has vague memories of Before. Before he was not as angry or sullen. There was no reason to be. He was Determined. In the After he was still Determined but that had been twisted into Spite. And that had been part of the driving force in the deal he had made with this fleshy human who had barely any connection to his beloved Fade. It was less than ideal. The cold, old skin and iron smelling, witch wanted Spite and Lucanis to merge into a horrifying demon that twisted both of them from their purpose. They would NOT do it - out of spite. They would survive, escape, live, kill.
It took FOREVER. (Lucanis informed Spite that it was not actually forever. Spite was not sure he believed. Lucanis lied to himself often and Spite even more. Spite was sure of this.) What Spite DID know for a fact was that they had had help in the form of ANOTHER mage that also smelled of cold on top of their smell of old, fetid, blood. But, above all of that, Rook smelled of wood, rain, and something warm he couldn’t identify. (Lucanis would later tell him it was Cinnamon. Spite decides he likes this thing called Cinnamon. It feels safe.)
He also likes Rook. Rook reminds him of before he became Spite. She’s very determined. She’s also funny and, like Lucanis, not afraid to draw blood. In fact, sometimes, it feels like it's her first response in a tense situation. All the better, Spite figures. Get rid of enemies and you don’t have them later. He greatly approved of her punching the Loud Warden that tried to have her hurt. (Lucanis says they weren’t going to hurt her, only arrest her, but that he also approved of punching him. Spite doesn’t particularly care about the details, only that they were going after Rook and deserved what they got.)
If there was one thing about the two of them that drove Spite a little insane - it was that they were BOTH liars when it came to themselves and held secrets. Spite didn’t like secrets. It complicated things far more than they should’ve been complicated. Secrets were for beings like the old Wolf - twisted and warped beyond what they should be. (Lucanis tried to explain to Spite that Spite was also corrupted past what he had been. Spite wasn’t entirely sure that was correct. After all, he was still determined. Besides that - he did not appreciate the comparison and made it his all day goal to annoy Lucanis. He won.)
Eventually, Spite started taking it upon himself to force the two into situations that would make them TALK. Though, talking was also slow and not nearly fast enough for him. He had forgotten Rook couldn’t swim when he arranged for the Gondola to overturn. But he could not deny its results. Things were not perfect but they were closer and, now, his two favourite humans were doing the touching and wanting together. Which left him free to pursue fire and candles.
Lucanis also did not like those.