A relationship grows easier when requests can be made without building a case against each other.

Asking for something plainly starts to feel unsafe once requests have to be justified. Then people arrive with evidence, a history of who did what, and the other person hears an accusation and defends rather than answers. The original request gets lost underneath the argument about whether it was fair to make it.

Try making the next request without a preamble: name the thing, say when, and stop. Leave out the record of previous failures. If you are on the receiving end, answer the request itself and let the rest wait.