"It was nice catching up," Obadiah tells him. "I'm sure I'll see you around."

And if it's slightly flat as rejoinders go, he doesn't care, because the important thing is that he's clearly won this round. Because that's what it can be now, finally, now that he can be himself with Howard: a fight where he doesn't have to check himself and pull his punches. Howard no longer has any power over whether or not Obadiah gets what he wants.