Nel waved a hand dismissively. "You're not that bad," she said, "but he is an opportunist. As well as a tart." She smiled and shrugged. "Sometimes I think he does it just to see how people react," she told him. "Did he have anything else to say for himself, or was it all him making you feel welcome as only Szayel can?"

If Nel was asked to put money on it, she'd guess that Szayel had shared some of the gossip, but since it was Szayel, he'd share a very biased version of the gossip that painted all parties other than himself in the worst possible light.

Which piece of gossip he might have chosen for this, however, was harder to discern.