A good thing, then: Stephen is distracted enough by the chaos around them, and bad enough at reading people to begin with, that he’s adequately deflected and doesn’t notice, doesn’t suspect.

(But perhaps it lodges there in the back of his mind; a little splinter, to be noted down and considered later.)

He snorts a laugh instead. “I’m sure. You know, there was a doctor in my own world, shortly before I came here— they became accidentally popular for some niche analysis into olfactory ethics in literature. Their department was completely overwhelmed by requests to read their thesis before its embargo was even up. Everyone else can only dream of such academic success. Point being, I think you’re right; at least Bonheur would be glad to know someone’s paying attention and he’s not simply shouting into the void.”