However, I don't know that he's purely "rational" either; he could have gotten approximately the same amount of use from Esth by killing her like he'd said he would after playing nice for long enough to get her on his side.
I disagree. He gets a lifetime nearby a scryer this way, rather than some short amount of time with a scryer.
*Buckles seatbelt for really crazy thought experiment*
Yeah, but is this whole lifelong process of cultivating an authenticly loving human relationship really paying off that well as an investment, and if so, why is he loyal to Esth alone? I mean, if Dae's really that good at the sexytimes, and he's willing to deploy said sexytimes as his Ultimate Weapon Of Manipulation, why isn't he using this to secure, well, everyone's loyalties? Esth isn't the only scryer, and scrying has its limitations anyway, and I bet there are all kinds of lonely hearts with mad skillz in need of a little Dae in their lives. Generals! Scientists! Hairdressers! Stockbrokers! That dancer in this week's EP episode! All his for the wooing, all putty in his impossibly limber hands! Granted, I hear he's only up to 5 orgasms at one go for men as opposed to 10 for women, but cut him a little slack and let him into your hearts, y'all!
Yeah, but is this whole lifelong process of cultivating an authenticly loving human relationship really paying off that well as an investment,
Yes. He has a scryer for decades. What about that isn't paying off? Also keep in mind that "lifelong" refers to HER lifespan, not his. I don't remember if it actually said specifically, but I got the impression he didn't have a finite lifespan unless he unmade himself by lying.
I mean, if Dae's really that good at the sexytimes, and he's willing to deploy said sexytimes as his Ultimate Weapon Of Manipulation, why isn't he using this to secure, well, everyone's loyalties? Esth isn't the only scryer, and scrying has its limitations anyway, and I bet there are all kinds of lonely hearts with mad skillz in need of a little Dae in their lives.
Who says he isn't having sexytimes with other people for their mad skillz? She's seen her death, but she doesn't know what he's done for all the span between now and that time.
And what's the benefit of having multiple scryers rather than one? Scrying has its limitations, but adding another scryer doesn't make those limitations go away. And having just one scryer combined with the lifelong loyalty thing, on the other hand, could make some of the limitations go away because she'll be more likely to lift her own self imposed limitations like scrying family members and etc.
and that anyway I'm not really capable of human love because I come from a separate evolutionary line.
There, there, Dae. You're not incapable of love because you're from a separate evolutionary line. You're incapable of love because you lack the biology that supports emotion.
The real question is, after seducing the whole world, will Dae ever be able to win Unblinking's heart?
I acknowledge that he would be an excellent lover (or rather, sexytimer, to differentiate from the emotion). And, hey, I'm a product of biology like all the rest of humanity--I'm not made of stone. Probably he'd be able to overcome the will of anyone who is not neutered.
The question is: if he has the undying loyalty of everyone else on the planet, what's the benefit of bringing me into the fold? Although I am of course a unique and unequalled flower amongst the botanical garden of humanity from my own POV, that may not be true from other people's perspective.
Or will he slink back to his spaceship, lock the door, and cry into his pillow over it?
Nah. See: lacking biology for emotion. He'll probably just go and play Pong. Because I hear that aliens consider that to be the pinnacle of recreational gaming. He'll make his eyes puffy and red by force of his will before he comes back out again, though, so that people will gossip about whether or not he was crying. He can't tell them he can feel emotions, because that would be a lie, but he can make them suspect it.