The Top 100 Things I'd Do
If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord

You know, it kind of really hurt when you forced me break my own fingers.

I'm sure that seems like an incredible insight when INT is your dumpstat but the idea that broken fingers cause pain isn't exactly news to the rest of us.

I'm an HP tank - getting injured is my day job. The first time I had to save against Death From Massive Damage for losing 50+ points in one hit, I was level 3.

Broken bones, I can bear with.

What hurt, this time, is I was trying to be your friend.

What do you want from me, an apology? 

I mean, I wouldn't turn my nose up at one.

I want to talk about what happened, so I know what I did wrong and can make sure not to do it again. 

Why don't you just not press me for answers that I don't want to give?

That would have solved everything. 

You didn't seem to mind as much on, say, number four. And it seemed like you found it useful? After, you took pains to reassure me that you valued my advice.

I was lying.

No you weren't. 

Are you calling me a - uh. 

Ileosa was going to say "liar," there, but. Well.

Choryon would laugh but doesn't know how Ileosa would take it.

Ileosa has at least +14 on Sense Motive - more, the higher a level she is in this thread - and is perfectly capable of being offended at Choryon's thoughts. 

...She isn't, though. Or - or maybe she is! She's sick and ashamed of herself but that doesn't mean that she isn't offended by Choryon's plaintive fucking smug superiority.

If Choryon is angry, but not... hateful and terrified, like you'd expect someone to be, that's an opportunity; there's an obvious play and the only reason for Ileosa not to do it is sheer self-destructive foolishness. Just apologize. Is Ileosa an idiot? 'I've terribly abused our friendship, can you ever forgive me?' Kiss and make up. Done.

But why should Ileosa have to be one who apologizes?

She was willing to let the matter rest. Why can't they just both move on, and both preserve face?

Well, there is a second-best play. 

Talk Choryon into thinking she was the party in the wrong.

This will admittedly take some doing. There's probably a circumstance penalty for having just made Choryon break her own fingers.

(If that even happened. Maybe it didn't! Ileosa probably doesn't have geas yet. It's Choryon who insists on saying that this actually happened in the thread's continuity. Choryon who doesn't want to just sweep it under the rug. How fucking sanctimonious.)

But talking people into absurd things is Ileosa's mastery. 

Ileosa does need to calm down, though. It won't work if she keeps trying to force her version of events down the samurai's throat.

Ileosa will take a breath and: consciously shift her emotional state to wounded sadness, unconsciously slump her shoulders, curl her legs in where she's sitting and hug her knees, and say in a soft and quiet voice, "I do value your advice. It's just that I'm... I'm so afraid. I've lost so much today already, or, I've realized that so much was already lost. I don't want to lose what's left, or... looks to be. There's so very little of it left that I can see."

Oh, Ileosa, I'm sorry. I think I've been taking things too fast, piling too much on you all at once.

It's impressive how well you've taken things so far! I've thought it was impressive, multiple times, and I should have been more vocal about that.

I'm sorry.

Hook, line, and sinker.

"Can things go back to how they were before?"

...

...Probably not? 

When you were angry, instead of explaining why, you decided to hurt me and make me feel helpless.

That's not something I can afford to forget, while I'm still in your power.

That response is terrifying for some reason that Ileosa doesn't have time to puzzle out.

Disingenuous oaths on his Law are part of how Aberian Arvanxi maintains his NE. Ileosa really is LE (or at least, was a few months ago, she hasn't actually checked since before she killed Eodred) which is part of why she's better than Aberian ever was, but that just means that she needs to be sincere in saying -

"I've - I've terribly abused our friendship, and, and you would be wise to never forgive me, but if you do anyway, on my Law, I'll make you wise to have forgiven me!"

Pharasma will hold you to what's sworn on your honor.

Self-knowledge is a strength, and one I think you've done much to develop. 

Take as long as you need to think it over; I won't think any worse of you if you realize you shouldn't swear this.

Ileosa basically apologized and Choryon is throwing it in her face.

...No, Choryon is too Good to her. Ileosa would have broken that promise. 

Why did Ileosa hurt Choryon earlier? That was an unforced error. And now Choryon is wary of her and doesn't like her as much and when she was feeling sad earlier Choryon pulled her into a hug and that was nice but it's not going to happen again unless Ileosa does something and the only way she knows to repair a damaged relationship like this one is with grandiose gestures and high-intensity love-bombing but that usually sours when she runs out of energy for it and then she's trapped in an endless loop of making up for what she did after she flagged in making up for what she did after etcetera.

 It was nice when Choryon was pursuing her, even though she wasn't making any particular effort to present her best face; it seemed Choryon liked Ileosa plenty just for being who it came naturally to her to be. It felt like they were both here because they both wanted to be, even though Choryon was under Ileosa's mental control she always spoke and acted like she could walk away at any time and didn't need to manage Ileosa's emotions. Ileosa never realized how important that was to their dynamic until she broke it.

Ileosa is a method actor and while her conscious mind is locked up her subconscious can easily generate some grandiose gesture for her body to execute. Ileosa raises her hands, minutely, despairingly, to signal that she is open to an embrace but imply that she doesn't expect to get one, and she says, "I understand if I'm too loathsome to you, now, for you to want to hold me."