Then yes, he did. Although if you think there's more to explain...

...he has strongly received the impression from his alt that everything he ever learns about Maitimo is going to make him fall a little more in love with him.

I - I want people to be better off for knowing me, all of them, always, what hurt so much about the peal was that just by existing I made all their lives so much worse - I told myself I'd never crossed that line, I don't know if that was true, but now that the war's over I know I'll never have to again -

...yep. Look at Taliar, falling a little more in love.

I love you, he says, snuggling him. So much. I want - I don't know - I want to find a way to do something so magnificently good for them that it wipes out all the trouble they've ever had over you - my alt's probably going to be on standby to kill new Melkors for the forseeable future but that seems at too far a remove -

The trouble between the peal and Maitimo is exactly the kind of thing Taliar is built to solve, when he puts it that way. Here are some people whose interests are in conflict, now find a way to bring them into a position of mutual benefit so that everyone is better off than they would have been.

By all means be my guest.

Before your alt found me I'd sworn to - deeply and searingly regret everything I'd done to Findekáno and hate myself as much as they all hated me -

...that sounds like it would've been awful and he's glad his alt got Maitimo out of it. Cling.

It was very very unpleasant but I had reasons for doing it, it - helped for a little while -

Cling. Snuggle. Helped - with what -

Elspeth made it a condition of helping win the war that I let Findekáno go and I - couldn't - so I asked myself under what conditions he might stay and - I knew he'd stay if I regretted it and wouldn't ever do it again and wanted his help making the country a good place - so I swore that and let him go and - when he could trust I'd never hurt him again - he came back and we were working things out. And then the peal showed up.

...if it helped then I'm glad you could do it but - I wish you'd had better options - and I'm glad you don't have to hurt like that anymore.

His alt literally couldn't win the war with Findekáno still a prisoner. Somehow he doesn't think Elspeth had that problem. And no, in whatever great cosmic accounting one might imagine keeps track of these things, Findekáno being a prisoner wasn't good, but... Taliar is Taliar and he does his best to always look for the solution that helps everyone. Coercing Maitimo into hurting himself terribly is not a solution that helps everyone.

Next time the peal finds one of you I hope they just tell Dawn-shining immediately.

I hope so.

Snuggle. Extremely snuggle.

And - Taliar being Taliar - he is of course determined to make it true that he's better off for knowing Maitimo, no matter what happens. It's not even that hard, really. He exists because of Maitimo. All he has to do is live a life that is on balance preferable to never having existed. And of course he is going to wildly surpass that bare minimum, because Maitimo is wonderful and Taliar is his and they are going to be so lovely together.

I still sort of hope he'll come back someday.

I hope so too.

If he comes back of his own accord and is okay about it and he and Maitimo can be happy together, that is exactly the sort of solution that Taliar likes to see. Although he's not sure how this Findekáno will feel about him. He's heard very little about Tivarante's Findekáno, which in retrospect suggests that he and Dawn-shining got along really really badly. Well. If and when it comes up, they will figure something out.

I - would expect you two to get along? Tentatively. But he might leave if he felt like I was adequately supervised.

I was in love with him - for all of five seconds before I was distracted by my soul imploding, and it turned out he'd been mind-controlled the whole time I'd known him anyway, but. I don't know what happened between him and Dawn-shining after my point of departure but the lack of any information whatsoever tells me that it was pretty bad. I'm - not sure I follow the part about adequate supervision...

Part of why he'd come back was to make sure I wasn't hurting anyone, and then he'd stay for that reason, because he knows I wouldn't if I had him. If he's sure enough I wouldn't regardless he might leave, not sure.

Oh.

Snuggle.

That seems - not to bode well for Findekáno coming back, if he'd only do it to prevent Maitimo from hurting people. Also seems to create impressively terrible incentives. Somehow Taliar doubts that the sort of thing his alt has with Tivarante qualifies as 'hurting anyone' in the relevant way, despite the copious torture.

Yeah, that wouldn't bother him. 

So he'll only come back if coming back is necessary to stop Maitimo from really harming someone. What an awful incentive structure.

...he can't fully endorse this suggestion because it would be unfairly manipulative of Findekáno, but he wonders if it would count if Maitimo was torturing him in unsustainably awful ways - no, it's just a bad idea to engage with this whole setup, if Taliar ever sets out to solve this one he will find a different and less terrible angle where no one is incentivized to hurt people or to be likely to hurt people if not kept in check.

I would like him to come back and be so glad he can trust me not to hurt people that he wants to stay.

Yes. That would be nice.

And I don't really want to hurt you badly enough you'd actually need rescuing for the next ninety years -

Suit yourself, he says cheerfully.

Oh, I will.

...well that's delightfully terrifying, in a way that actually cuts through the background horror for a moment and leaves Taliar afraid of Maitimo and nothing else.

I love you so much, he says, releasing a trapped breath and looking up at him with an adoring smile. The weight of memory settles down on him again, but for a moment it was gone and he cherishes that.