He announces that the would-be assassin has been erased so thoroughly even Mandos likely won't be able to retrieve her, and anyone inclined to try invites the same fate. He hates himself quite a lot but it's not impeding him much.

Impeding him per se isn't the point and wouldn't be the point even if she were hating him on purpose.

They march for Doriath.

Elspeth is sort of wishing she'd moved back to Tumunzahar but she's not sure the fallout things' top speed has been demonstrated and Tumunzahar doesn't have a Silmaril and she's so valuable alive. And she can't blast herself.

Sorry.

Bullshit.

Not really. I do have regrets, I've just gotten very proficient at ignoring them.

Then it doesn't matter very much if he's sorry, does it.

That I'll grant you.

She needs sleep. She sleeps.

It takes two weeks to reach Doriath at a march.

What's the plan?

They will explain at the borders that they need all three Silmarils to construct something that can stop the Enemy, and plead with Doriath for return of the last one, and swear to keep it at the edge of the forest so that part of Doriath can remain shielded. "Do you want to help? Radiate the truth of our situation at people?"

If he thinks adding unfiltered Elspethian truth to this situation can help she'll help.

"Think so. Melian is poorly positioned to have opinions about how I conduct my intimate life and it'd be better to establish trust sooner. And they don't let us in their borders, they might let you in."

Fine.

"I really would like to have a more functional working relationship."

He was doing real great for a while there and then he tortured someone who in all likelihood could literally not have broken thereunder has he considered that he could be less evil.

"I am being less evil, or I'd just deactivate Doriath's Silmaril from here and let the Enemy have them. And there haven't been any more assassination attempts, have there."

Less evil than that.

"If Findekáno's happy trading me sex for power I'm not doing anything wrong by accepting."

And observe how that is not what she is complaining about, has she mentioned she hates it when people don't pay attention to her, where the fuck does he get off whining that she doesn't liiiiiike him?

"I am not going to jump to do what I'm told just because you think I'm a monster. We disagree on the appropriate response to assassins; I can compromise, but I'm not entirely sure I don't preserve more lives this way. You could communicate your intent to mercy-kill my prisoners so we can agree on a solution better than that. That's what a more functional working relationship would look like."

She wasn't planning far in advance to mercy-kill his prisoner. Consider it communicated now.

"Thank you. I could have concealed the whole incident from you pretty trivially; I'm not asking for appreciation, but it'd be lovely if being honest with you didn't invariably make you hate me more than keeping secrets would have."