From Mitch4:
He might be solving a crossword or, more likely, composing a letter or document. I prefer the latter, because then we can ask “What is the word he intends?”.
And then the CIDU points are: Are we supposed to know/guess it? If so, what is it? And finally, how does that become a joke?
Comics I Don't Understand 
Trustworthy? And it appears she isn’t.
“Woke”? Because he’s not very, um, aware?
I’m lost on this one. I went to thesaurus.com it gives the following “strongest” synonyms: diligent, fastidious, fussy, meticulous, painstaking… none of which give me any insight to why his wife is cuddling with another guy in their bed.
Maybe because he is working in bed, ignoring her?
I guess my question would be, are we sure the guy screen left is the husband? Either way I don’t get it.
Conscientious: Moral, honest, ethical…
Neither of them are going to have any clue about that concept.
My idea of the implied backstory here is that the guy in green (screen left as has been usefully said) and the woman are a couple, but with some sort of “open marriage” arrangement. And the other guy is there in bed as an instance of the woman exercising her privileges under the agreement.
And then the word he’s asking for may be “faithful”. Because of the open-relationship arrangement he can’t directly complain of her infidelity, or even use that label. But he has found a way of introducing it into the subtext…
“Conscientious uncoupling” was a phrase used by Gwyneth Paltrow when she was splitting from Chris Martin. To go along with Mitch4’s comment, he may be formalizing their arrangement, or drafting divorce papers.
Maybe the guy in green is their financial advisor, trying to figure out an optimal path to retirement. :)
My real guess is that the guy in green is the husband, who’s ignoring her so she’s seeking solace elsewhere.
Um, if “screen left “is analogous to “stage left”, meaning left from the performer(s) point of view, the fellow in green is “screen right” of the embracing couple, isn’t he?
Well, I didn’t coin “screen left”, but in re-using it I took it to be analogous to “house left” and not “stage left”. That is, on the left from the viewer’s pov.
I think “screen left” might be fine normally. But since there’s also a screen in this image, it could be ambiguous which one is being referred to.
I’d stick with “stage left” and “house left,” as they’d be pretty much unambiguous.
As for the comic itself, everything I start to suggest makes no sense as I try to explain it. Bottom line: I have no idea what Bliss is on about.
I was a conscientious objector in the sexual revolution, and I’m guessing that Pajama Man is too.
Bliss being Bliss, I’m not certain there’s an answer to the question or that it’s even intended as a punchline per se. It makes me feel a little uncomfortable and that vibe may be all he was going for. I like the general direction of Mitch, Voodoo, and Mark’s comments but I’m not sure there is a specific answer – or a need for one.
I used “screen left” as a way to indicate “on the left of the screen as seen by viewers.” Sorry it seemed a bit complicated, I was trying to be simple.
Perhaps they are a thruple? Left side fellow needs to finish his work so he is leaving his fellow members of the thruple on their own as he works – but as couples do – when one is missing a word they are looking for they ask their significant other(s)/
I was thinking “faithful”
@beckomingchasm, I thought “screen left” was perfectly clear!
Paltrow’s phrase was “Conscious Uncoupling.” Conscious might have worked better in the cartoon.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscious_uncoupling