Rewind to the South Africa home series in early 2012, when Williamson saved the test with an unbeaten 102 over more than five hours. The knock included an early delivery which cracked his protective box.
For a split-second, Williamson must have felt like his world was imploding, yet he endured a further 181 balls to survive the day.
He injected his venom antidote when Steyn ventured across for a chat post-test. It's possibly the first and only fragmented box Steyn has autographed.
This writer can't be alone in longing for the day when - insert name of 'macho' Australian pace bowler here - engages in the infantile brand of white-line fever to which we've become accustomed across the Tasman.
In a perfect world, and for the betterment of the game, Williamson will swerve inside the line of their spittle and invective to pull them for boundaries.
As far as joyous sporting moments go, it will be like reliving Daniel-san's cranekick in The Karate Kid. Such an opportunity for him to wax onside and wax offside might come as early as next month at the World Cup.
The 24-year-old has moments of vulnerability like any other batsman, but they occur less often.
His 242 not out to help New Zealand win the second test against Sri Lanka was not chanceless but, as a technician, he is supreme. His wagon wheels look like a freeze frame of a helicopter blade at full throttle.
Williamson's batting is probably more pragmatic than romantic. His drives are often checked without winding into a pose and his attacking shots on the legside are rarely aerial, but such conservatism does not stop him using his feet to spin.
Williamson's cricket is more snooker than golf. His test 4:6 ratio is 53:1 compared with Ross Taylor's 16:1 and Brendon McCullum's 8:1.
After 39 tests, he has become one of eight players to have scored nine or more test centuries before the age of 25, joining Sachin Tendulkar (16 in 61 tests), Don Bradman (13 in 23), Neil Harvey (11 in 29), Graeme Smith (11 in 43), Garry Sobers (11 in 37), Alastair Cook (nine in 49) and Mahela Jayawardene (nine in 42). He's surpassed Viv Richards (eight in 23), Martin Crowe (seven in 36) and Javed Miandad (seven in 40).
Yet one of Williamson's most effective qualities is modesty. He referred to himself drily as feeling like "the library in the theme park" when Brendon McCullum made 195 in Christchurch.
The team ethos drives him. There doesn't appear to be a skerrick of arrogance, just as there wasn't when he scored his maiden first-class century for Northern Districts against Auckland at Eden Park in 2009. That should be celebrated as the catalyst delivering a brand of professionalism which leaves nothing to chance as he matures into one of the game's best.
