It's almost like he wants to be miserable, though that can't be true. Markus has felt miserable before, and the feeling is just as it says on the tin. No one wants to be like that, at least, he assumes no one would want to be dealing with that feeling for very long. So why does Connor keep pushing himself into it?

"You're all over the place in your argument, though. I'm sure it's true, but it's not the only thing that's true. And the person you're lying to about it isn't really me. You're lying to yourself about it, just by saying it." Markus shrugged again. Maybe if he did that enough times, he could pretend that this wasn't affecting him as much as it might be affecting Connor.

Because it was. He wanted to just shake him, wanted to tell him to stop doing this to himself, to stop lying. He wanted to make Connor listen to him, really listen, but he knew that he wasn't going to get through to him today. If everything he'd said so far didn't get through to him now, well.

There was tomorrow. And the next day. And however long they were going to be here.

"You think this place made a mistake in having us come here?" Markus didn't think that, but he could see how Connor did.