Following Thor’s abandonment after the last discussion, Lyric finally formulates something Thor can work with.
I believe the “o.o” face is genuine surprise. All he wants is absolute control over Lyric and their undying devotion, but he strictly does not want the label of dating, at least not publicly. How can he pull this off? It seems like an impossible goal, either he can say yes and have a label which he doesn’t want, or say no and he doesn’t get the devotion he does want. Or…
Yes, this is exactly how Thor makes the best of that situation.
Thor frames previous argument as something that I personally put him through by calling them “surprises like this”. Thor makes it Lyric’s burden to prove that they are loyal only to him, even without the label of a relationship.
Note that it is now in Thor’s best interest to then not bring up the topic again. The idea of complete devotion has been instilled in me. Thor has gotten exactly what he wanted, and he never brings up this conversation again so as to not stir the pot.
Recall that Thor refused to accept any answer other than complete and willing devotion, and forced this discussion for several days until he got me to say what he wanted. Thor does not give me any alternative to saying this; by repeatedly initiating this discussion, he makes it so that statement is inevitable.
It’s suggested that this “pending relationship” is deliberately planned by Thor from the start. In the words of another victim:
“He uses not being in a relationship as a reason why he should not allow others to talk about it. Which is controlling. Which is what he says is why he doesn’t want a relationship because he doesn’t want to be controlled.”