And didn't it work out so well that the verboten topic himself was the very thing making sure neither Marc nor Steven even knew to ask about him?

For Marc's part he was happy to move on from talking about Konshu. It wasn't a sure thing but sometimes if you mentioned him enough he showed up to remind you why you shouldn't.

But that left the hippo adjacent topic in the room and Marc wasn't going to ask about Layla. It was bullshit to think she would be with him and happy, no matter what this version of Watts tried to claim. Entertaining the idea was nothing but an exercise in delusion, which normally defined Marc's whole life but some things were too painful.

At which point Marc noticed a flicker of movement in the reflection on the television. Marc bit down a sigh, because of course Steven woke up for this. Him and his fucking empathy.

"It's fine," Marc told him. Steven wasn't fully there enough for replies but that didn't matter for him being able to hear. "We're good."