"Noted." Cain and Abel was only a sidebar, anyway - easy to put the topic aside and return to the point.

As he's snuggled like a teddy bear, half-pulled into John's lap, he shifts slightly to drape his legs over John's.

"It might if you act it to his face," Arthur admits softly, letting his free hand trace one of the tattoos on John's forearm. "But you can't push it down, John, or it'll explode in a way that hurts both of you even more. That's how this all started, you realise? Because Edwin did just that, in not telling you things."