She'd always tell him her dreams, because he asked her to. Even if it wasn't what he wanted to hear.
He kept hoping that one day, perhaps, the dreams would change.

implied (canon) dubious consent, dubious morality, villain, and I'm a terrible person while we're at it ( not because I like Kilgrave as a villain, just because... well. Read it, and tell me if you get why )

I am extremely pleased with Tennant's Kilgrave, to say the truth. Obviously he's a villain, and possibly one of the worst out there, but I like him ( as a villain, and not as a misunderstood poor cupcake as some people tend to delude themselves ) because as a villain, I feel like he actually makes sense.

Let me explain ( quickly ):
1_ He's not delusional ( except about Jessica, and even there he's kind of aware of it )
2_ He doesn't pretend he's a victim ( except when he's trying to manipulate someone, but, you know, he doesn't really think it ) unless it's about his childhood, and I'm sorry, but he's right about that ( not that there was an easy way out, or that you can entirely blame his parents, but still... )
3_ He's not trying to take over the world for some reason
4_ He's horrible to absolutely everyone ( he does embody sexism with his actions towards Jessica and other women, but you know what? He acts exactly the same towards men )
5_ He's selfish, yes, but it's not like he could be anything else considering his power, and the age he got it

Basically, Kilgrave just makes sense, even if he's a monster.
Simply because with his story, he couldn't be anything else than a monster, and the only choice he really made about that was to protect himself.
It doesn't excuse anything.
But it makes sense, logically and emotionally.

Sweet dreams of liberty

Jessica had a smile on her face as she spoke, and he couldn't help but to smile back, despite what she was telling him – what she told him everyday, each time he asked her about it. It wasn't ever the same exact story, but the end remained the same, more or less, and the message was clear.

Always free of him, sometimes with him dead.

It chafed, of course. It wasn't exactly pleasant. It wasn't something anyone wanted to hear.

But she was his obsession. She was the only one who was even slightly interesting, slightly like him, in a way. The only weakness he allowed himself to have.

It wasn't pleasant, but he could be patient. One day, perhaps, she'd tell him a story that ended well for both of them. One day, maybe, they'd move past all this.

He could be patient.

If only because he needed one person, just one, who wouldn't do things because he told them to.

If they found the right dream, then he'd be able to make it into a reality. That was what he was waiting for: the one dream that would change everything. The one that'd tell him she was changing her mind. That, yes, he could have a future with her.

He just had to be patient.

Jessica put down her glass of red wine, a small smile on her lips, and looked him in the eyes. He wasn't totally sure how much of that smile was genuine, how much came from his words, and how much came from her fear of him, but he hoped that, somehow, it would become less of the two former reasons over time.

"...and I broke your neck."

He wasn't going get angry with her, not for what she dreamt about. He had decided to have her tell him her dreams, every day, without exception. What her deepest hopes were made of.

He had asked for it, knowing fully that it wouldn't be pleasant – with his power, with who he was, there wasn't a version of the story in which he could start a true, normal relationship with anyone. Even if he did his best never to order someone, there would always be something that'd slip out. Even if just "get me a glass of water, would you". If he tried to be honest from the very beginning, to tell them about his power, they'd immediately bolt out. If he waited for some trust to settle between them, before telling the truth, no matter how much trust, they would never trust him not to have manipulated them. They would always question weither or not he had made them do what they had done, feel what they had felt. It didn't matter that his power didn't work past twelve hours on someone, it didn't matter that maybe he hadn't done anything.

Why would anyone trust him, when they knew he could make them think he was worthy of their trust if he wanted?

There wasn't the slighest chance that he could have a normal relationship with anyone.

He wasn't going to delude himself into thinking it could happen.

So all that was left for him was to try to work with what he had. To ease Jessica into a state of mind where she'd be happy with him, even if for that he had to start by being the worst, before slowly getting better with her. A state of mind where he wouldn't have to tell her to do anything, because she'd want to anyway. Without him even telling her to.

He wasn't asking for much, really. Just one person, one. Wasn't he even allowed to have one real relationship, in his whole life? Didn't he have a right to simply want to live?

No one can live entirely alone – because let's be real, even if he ordered someone around to be his friend, he'd still be alone. Having someone he wouldn't need to control was the best he could hope for, as it was. Even if for that he had to twist them into someone they weren't really.

For now, Jessica smiled because he told her to.

Him, he was looking for the dream that would change everything. That would tell him what to do.

And, possibly, that one dream would never come. Possibly she'd always, always hate him. Possibly he would never be allowed anything in his life, even if people always did exactly what he wanted. Possibly he would always be the child who could have anything he wanted, except real affection.

But he had to try.

Who could blame him for trying to live?

A lot of people, surely. He wasn't delusional, far from it. He knew that anyone who wasn't in his position – everyone else would just call him a monster. Worse, they'd say he still had a choice, even in his situation. That because he had this power, it didn't mean he could be excused of everything.

Well. Maybe they weren't completely wrong. He had a choice.

And he had chosen to protect himself, because no one would ever do it for him.

Later this evening, he would kiss her on the foreheaded, and whisper "Sweet dreams, Jessica."

And she would dream of a beautiful story, in which she'd eventually get free of him, by her own power. A story in which everything ended well for her.

And perhaps, one day, this dream wouldn't be about her freeing herself, but about him not needing to keep her chained with his words for the two of them to work together. Maybe one day Jessica'd dream that they were simply happy together. As if they were both normal people.

This night, as every preceding night, Jessica would dream sweetly.

Because Kilgrave had told her to.