i think something important to keep in mind about spamton treating relationships as transactional or always wanting things from people is that everybody hes ever been around has treated him the same. its all he understands.
the addisons left him when he became too annoying or too successful- his relationship with them hinged on him being lower. based on the way they talk about him, he was more a pity case to them.
his relationship with swatch was only ever as a wealthy patron. when swatch recalls his time with spamton, he doesnt call him a friend- he calls spamton a “valued customer”.
his connection to queen was based on success- once he fell, he was quickly evicted and she plastered her own posters over his.
his relationship with tenna, while clearly having eventually run deeper, was founded on their agreement. and with spamton there to hear, tenna only ever recalls it from the business side- as far as spamton knows (if you never find the pipis), tenna never truly cared about him and just wanted to use him as a stepping stone to success.
and, of course, the relationship he had with his benefactor. while the details are still heavily obscured, based on the state hes in by the time we meet him, it was clearly a relationship based on spamtons ability to provide… something. entertainment, information, who knows.
which is why when he regards kris as a friend, its intertwined with their “deal”. he literally cant conceptualize that you can be friends purely for the company of somebody, that a person can care about you even if you have nothing to offer them. its shitty, the way he acts, but his interactions are tinged with tragedy, that the world hes existed in has taught him that love and kindness are extremely conditional, and with dire consequences if you fail to provide, so its safer to just take what you can from somebody, then cut and run.
man needs to unlearn a few patterns of behavior 😔
