It wasn't just vanity pushing Sirius to ask that question. There had been a few questions in mind after that exchange in the journals, but this one - about liking him - seemed the most upbeat, happy. That was a good place to start. While Pads liked Remus's mind in the gutter, he didn't want the other boy down in the dumps.
His body stretched out a little more, a little closer, when Remus sat down. And Sirius listened, almost making a face at 'inexplicable.' That was just like something of Remus to say and not in a good way. Sirius wanted explicable - wanted answers. The older boy smiled back with an easy grin. "Strong, good, free, crazy," he summed up, "If I were you, I might call you mental. But I like you like this."
He looked up a bit more, "Why the incident with Snape though?" That he didn't get, at all.