They have been mostly on a reasonable level before now. Able to block, able to separate their minds, and use the bond only by choice. The monster threw a wrench in things, it was too loud and intense and it required Istredd to dive in deeper. And then this happened and Lucifer tried to block out the feelings for him, and it's a mess.

"We need to be able to do that in an emergency, but ... if it happens again, I think we'll be in a better spot if we've already built-in the defenses." They do need to be ready for if Lucifer loses himself, not to a monster but to his grace, that was an agreement they made. It's why Istredd doesn't feel guilty about what he had to do, but also why he thinks they need to learn from it.

"I'm making this up as I go," he admits. "This wasn't something I trained for. Stregobor trained me to break minds, not love them."