Among the languages that grammaticalize the apprehensive domain, some use a subordinator like Eng. lest (‘Don’t run, lest you fall’); others have an apprehensive mood in their verb system (≈ ‘Don’t run, you might fall!’). The Oceanic languages of north Vanuatu, whose apprehensional strategies are quite diverse, feature both strategies. This study will focus on Mwotlap and its apprehensive mood. This modal marker appears to imply a form of interclausal dependency; yet rather than being due to syntactic subordination, this dependency effect is arguably pragmatic in nature. Indeed, by exposing an event as a risk to be avoided (e.g. ‘you might fall’), the apprehensive clause serves to justify a certain request (‘don’t run’). Sometimes, only the apprehension is made explicit (‘You might fall!’), leading the hearer to reconstruct the intended order. The apprehensive mood thus reflects the grammaticalization of an indirect speech act: one where explicit apprehensions can stand for implicit instructions. The pragmatic effect created by this indirect request is sometimes exploited for politeness strategies, or for its humorous potential.