Responses
I think they just needed more time to develop. Toguto is ridiculously slow, so it took a long time for Alta’s words to actually cook properly in his emotionally repressed peabrain. Slen felt emotionally betrayed, so he betrayed Toguto to get back at him and regain a sense of control, but he never stopped feeling affection for him. The toxic environment and Toguto’s emotional density/laziness prevented either of them from moving on. It makes sense structurally, but it should have been a slower process
People always love the spin-off story of the broken heart character from the main couple, but Toguto/Slen story was so weird and not convincing enough for me, sorry.