diff --git a/components/chat.tsx b/components/chat.tsx
index b284b84..a66bd8b 100644
--- a/components/chat.tsx
+++ b/components/chat.tsx
@@ -920,17 +920,20 @@ export function Chat({
 		void send({ type: "text", text: t });
 	};
 
-	/* STEER VS SEND (owner arc 2026-10-03): Enter while a turn runs steers
+	/* STEER VS SEND (owner arc 2026-10-03): a send while a turn runs steers
 	 * it — the quiet queue + the live agent's steering rail; the turn's own
-	 * stream lands the card when pi drains it. Any other state (idle,
-	 * submitted microtask window, a wake turn between our renders) takes the
-	 * plain send — a steer POST with no live turn would 409 and fall back
-	 * to exactly that anyway, so we only branch on the state we trust. */
+	 * stream lands the card when pi drains it. The branch is BUSY, not
+	 * turnInFlight: the own-stream case CLEARS turnInFlight (the local
+	 * dedup, chat.tsx ~370), so branching there swallowed Enter entirely
+	 * during our own turn (owner live report, fixed same day). busy covers
+	 * own stream AND foreign/wake turns — both have a live agent by the
+	 * time the send's POST resolved, so the steer lands. Idle takes the
+	 * plain send; a raced settle 409s and falls back to exactly that. */
 	const doSteerOrSend = () => {
 		if (pending) return;
 		const t = textRef.current.trim();
 		if (!t) return;
-		if (turnInFlight) {
+		if (busy) {
 			applyText("");
 			void steer(t);
 			return;
diff --git a/components/composer.tsx b/components/composer.tsx
index 861fc92..ad4cb01 100644
--- a/components/composer.tsx
+++ b/components/composer.tsx
@@ -98,21 +98,25 @@ export function Composer({
 				rows={1}
 				className="field-sizing-content lh-input max-h-48 min-h-10 flex-1 resize-none bg-transparent px-2.5 py-2 outline-none placeholder:text-muted-foreground"
 			/>
-			{/* No tooltip on the send square — the ↵ glyph is the
-				 affordance and Enter is obvious (owner, subtlety
-				 round 2026-09-25). */}
+			{/* The button follows the text (owner report 2026-10-03): while
+				 a turn runs WITH text typed it stays the SEND affordance
+				 (click = steer — steering must be clickable, not Enter-only);
+				 only an empty composer morphs it to Stop. ESC keeps its
+				 confirm-popup abort in every state, so stop is never
+				 unreachable. No tooltip — the ↵ glyph is the affordance
+				 (owner, subtlety round 2026-09-25). */}
 				<button
 					type="submit"
-					aria-label={busy ? "Stop" : "Send"}
+					aria-label={busy && !canSend ? "Stop" : "Send"}
 					disabled={!busy && !canSend}
 					className={cn(
 						"flex size-10 shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-[10px] transition-colors",
-						busy
+						busy && !canSend
 							? "bg-secondary text-foreground hover:bg-accent"
 							: "bg-primary text-primary-foreground hover:opacity-90 disabled:opacity-40",
 					)}
 				>
-					{busy ? <SquareIcon className="size-4" /> : <CornerDownLeftIcon className="size-5" />}
+					{busy && !canSend ? <SquareIcon className="size-4" /> : <CornerDownLeftIcon className="size-5" />}
 				</button>
 		</form>
 	);
diff --git a/tests/render-composer.test.tsx b/tests/render-composer.test.tsx
index 900079c..8ed36db 100644
--- a/tests/render-composer.test.tsx
+++ b/tests/render-composer.test.tsx
@@ -40,9 +40,12 @@ describe("Composer", () => {
 		assert.ok(!html.includes("Ask, answer"), "the session placeholder must not ride along");
 	});
 
-	it("busy: send button becomes stop", () => {
-		const html = render({ busy: true });
-		assert.ok(html.includes('aria-label="Stop"'), "stop replaces send while streaming");
+	it("busy with text: the button STAYS Send (click = steer); busy and empty: it becomes Stop", () => {
+		const steering = render({ busy: true, canSend: true });
+		assert.ok(steering.includes('aria-label="Send"'), "the steer affordance is clickable mid-turn");
+		assert.ok(!steering.includes('aria-label="Stop"'), "no morph while there is text to steer with");
+		const idleStop = render({ busy: true, canSend: false });
+		assert.ok(idleStop.includes('aria-label="Stop"'), "empty composer: stop replaces send while streaming");
 	});
 
 	it("send button radius is 10px = 25% of the 40px button (concentric with the shell)", () => {