dom who gives their victim small choices they were going to allow anyway. which top to wear. where to sit. what book to read. victim feeling grateful for freedoms they wouldnt have needed permission to have, mistaking control disguised as kindness that they learn to depend on.
captor who treats their victim’s suffering with the same detached pity someone might have for a wounded bird. a gentle voice, a concerned expression, all soft sighs and feigned sympathy. “oh, look at you,” they murmur, tilting the victim’s chin up. “that must’ve hurt.”