And now Esta needs to figure out what to say to Mariona about all this, because she looked a bit surprised by the question, there.

Thankfully, Esta has by now figured out how to bypass dath ilan yelling at him to STOP LYING; you just ask what the person would find maximally plausible if you were constructing an elaborate deception around them for purposes of revealing it to them later, as is apparently right and proper in dath ilan.  Dath ilan's culture is apparently fine with guiding Esta's instincts around that.

"The way we first met is that I hurt you.  Or to be precise, at very first I was instructing you in a classroom among other students.  The hurting happened afterward and was just the two of us.  Which it was my job to do, as designated by our department, for reasons having to do with how we both related to the [divinity] that granted us spells as [clerics]."  He uses the Utopian words in Baseline; it's only a little jarring.  "That was the foundation of the relationship we later formed.  We also had sex, which from my perspective was enjoyable not least because it was hurting you, and from your perspective was a matter of being hurt within your relationship to our [divinity].  I backed your assumption of greater responsibilities in our department, including your current job that led to us encountering the [Outer God].  You had trouble believing you could do that job, and you were in fact very good at it and much better than the person you replaced -- as I'd predicted to both you and our superiors.  All that I have just described was considered normal and standard operating procedure within our department, being surprising neither to us nor to those observing the process."

And now Esta needs to figure out what to say to Mariona about all this, because she looked a bit surprised by the question, there.

Thankfully, Esta has by now figured out how to bypass dath ilan yelling at him to STOP LYING; you just ask what the person would find maximally plausible if you were constructing an elaborate deception around them for purposes of revealing it to them later, as is apparently right and proper in dath ilan.  Dath ilan's culture is apparently fine with guiding Esta's instincts around that.

"The way we first met is that I hurt you.  Or to be precise, at very first I was instructing you in a classroom among other students.  The hurting happened afterward and was just the two of us.  Which it was my job to do, as designated by our department, for reasons having to do with how we both related to the [divinity] that granted us spells as [clerics]."  He uses the Utopian words in Baseline; it's only a little jarring.  "That was the foundation of the relationship we later formed.  We also had sex, which from my perspective was enjoyable not least because it was hurting you, and from your perspective was a matter of being hurt within your relationship to our [divinity].  I backed your assumption of greater responsibilities in our department, including your current job that led to us encountering the [Outer God].  You had trouble believing you could do that job, and you were in fact very good at it and much better than the person you replaced -- as I'd predicted to both you and our managers.  All that I have just described was considered normal and standard operating procedure within our department, being surprising neither to us nor to those observing the process."

And now Esta needs to figure out what to say to Mariona about all this, because she looked a bit surprised by the question, there.

Thankfully, Esta has by now figured out how to bypass dath ilan yelling at him to STOP LYING; you just ask what a dath ilani would find maximally plausible if you were constructing an elaborate deception around them for purposes of revealing it to them later, as is apparently right and proper in dath ilan.  Cultural Adaptation is apparently fine with guiding Esta's instincts around that.

"The way we first met is that I hurt you.  Or to be precise, at very first I was instructing you in a classroom among other students.  The hurting happened afterward and was just the two of us.  Which it was my job to do, as designated by our department, for reasons having to do with how we both related to the [divinity] that granted us spells as [clerics]."  He uses the Utopian words in Baseline; it's only a little jarring.  "That was the foundation of the relationship we later formed.  We also had sex, which from my perspective was enjoyable not least because it was hurting you, and from your perspective was a matter of being hurt within your relationship to our [divinity].  I backed your assumption of greater responsibilities in our department, including your current job that led to us encountering the [Outer God].  You had trouble believing you could do that job, and you were in fact very good at it and much better than the person you replaced -- as I'd predicted to both you and our managers.  All that I have just described was considered normal and standard operating procedure within our department, being surprising neither to us nor to those observing the process."

And now Esta needs to figure out what to say to Mariona about all this, because she looked a bit surprised by the question, there.

Thankfully, Esta has by now figured out how to bypass dath ilan yelling at him to STOP LYING; you just ask what a dath ilani would find plausible if you were constructing an elaborate deception around them for purposes of revealing it to them later, as is apparently right and proper in dath ilan.  Cultural Adaptation is apparently fine with guiding Esta's instincts around that.

"The way we first met is that I hurt you.  Or to be precise, at very first I was instructing you in a classroom among other students.  The hurting happened afterward and was just the two of us.  Which it was my job to do, as designated by our department, for reasons having to do with how we both related to the [divinity] that granted us spells as [clerics]."  He uses the Utopian words in Baseline; it's only a little jarring.  "That was the foundation of the relationship we later formed.  We also had sex, which from my perspective was enjoyable not least because it was hurting you, and from your perspective was a matter of being hurt within your relationship to our [divinity].  I backed your assumption of greater responsibilities in our department, including your current job that led to us encountering the [Outer God].  You had trouble believing you could do that job, and you were in fact very good at it and much better than the person you replaced -- as I'd predicted to both you and our managers.  All that I have just described was considered normal and standard operating procedure within our department, being surprising neither to us nor to those observing the process."