Some people need delusion to make it through these kinds of situations; he's not surprised but still glad to find Watson isn't one of those people.

"Absolutely expected," he replies. "It was..." Horrible. Ugly. An apparently cosmic joke played by a monster pretending to be a man. "Well. It was shit, honestly. Sorry that you had to go through it."

It's clear from his tone that he's already talked to other participants, and sentiment has slowly ground itself down to that simple fact.