from your hands to the heavens

[Imzhora Moonsong]

He sends a shiver down your spine, but you are not going to let it show. When he leans closer, almost only a whisper at your ear, being this close to someone as you haven't been in ages. He is toying with you, possibly thinking that he is still capable of luring people - people like you.
You have let him drink blood from you once. Thought about it again a few days later. You have let him come close, are letting him come closer in this very moment. And you should push him away, make your point, tell him that -

Imza

There won't be any begging.

Is the least you can do with your voice almost cracking midway through; not because you are afraid but because something inside of your head stirs. It isn't the tadpole - it is quiet right now, thank the gods, but it is something entirely else. Something you aren't too fond of.
You pull back your a bit, just enough to look at him - your faces so close to each other some might get the wrong idea. (There are, on most occasions, only wrong ideas with these people.)
There is a smile playing on your lips, almost making it seem genuine.

Imza

At least not from me.

[Astarion Ancunín]

Amusement's dancing on the corners of your mouth. You hold back the slightest noise of laughter and you're only doing so because you've got just the right amount of respect you should have for someone you share a campfire with. If she'd be a stranger on the street or some sad soul to lure back to Cazador you'd laugh in her face and feel no regret. (Teaching yourself not to regret was the hardest lesson.)

Astarion

Promising.

You say then after she's moved. Put enough space between you. And the smile you offer her it's a different kind of smile. Ultimately it's all made up, though. It's all a ploy to keep her distracted while you undo the necklace around her neck. Swiftly removing it from her collarbone when you lean forward again. Mouth at her ear yet again. Only to keep her focus on your voice. Not the fingers thieving away.

Astarion

Here's to hoping you're as good as your word.

And then you slip the necklace away. Halting for just a moment longer so she won't notice. Even brushing your lips against her ear. Just the faintest bit of touch. But you've cornered enough lost sheep to know which buttons to press to get your way.

[Imzhora Moonsong]

There is a breeze on your neck, on your collarbone - it is not his mouth, which is next to your ear. It is something entirely different. Something else - not the wind, though, because there is none to being with. The cold that suddenly is left behind from missing something, something that has had a place on your neck for years and years to come, never taking it off.
He has distracted you long and well enough to take it from you. Not realizing that he has opened it, but realizing now that it is gone, and it wasn't a moment ago. It was there. Because he was pointing at it, asking for it.
Stealing it.

The shiver running down your spine is a treacherous one, with his lips brushing over the skin on your ear. The physical contact, the touch, the faintest whisper of it - the question that is lingering why he is doing this to you. (And what exactly is he doing?) Questioning not only him but yourself as well, the reaction your body has, the pause before you take a step backwards.
Looking at him.
Holding out your hand, slowly. Paralyzed.

Imza

My necklace, please.

[Astarion Ancunín]

You lean back. Necklace resting on the tip of your finger while you take her in. Trying to read her face. It's in the details. Not obvious to everyone. But you think yourself someone who's capable of reading her. An open book if you will. And according to that you've hit a nerve.

Astarion

There, there.

You laugh. Necklace still hanging from your finger. Slowly swinging because you've started moving your hand back and forth. Playing with your food. As a cat a vampire does.

Astarion

Already resorting to begging, are we?

Eyes meet her hands for a split second. You don't even pretend to consider it. You're keeping the necklace solely because you've got her all flustered although she's one to rarely lose her cool.
You don't know why but you find joy in that. To tickle something out of her others can't. Especially if it's got that look on her skin. Quite the addicting taste you're accomplishing there.

[Imzhora Moonsong]

Imza

I said 'please', which usually means a common sense of courtesy. Not quite certain you have ever heard of it.

Because right now, in this moment, there is nothing that indicated 'courtesy' while stealing other people's possessions. You have your fair share of stealing yourself - had to get by somehow, had to sell things for coin that never belonged to you in the first place. Yet you talk about courtesy as if you have been brought up in a noble house.
You haven't.
You have barely ever touched anything noble.

You want your necklace back, but he doesn't seem like he is going to hand it over anytime soon. Which only leads you to one thing: you will have to steal it back, right along with that dagger that he claimed for himself.

Imza

It isn't yours to take.

[Astarion Ancunín]

Astarion

Courtesy. (brief pause) Charming.

You say it with a sigh. Like you're thinking back to fond memories. A life lived full of courtesies. Of course that's two centuries ago and you barely remember anything. Not even your own face. It's there. Still. But it's out of reach. Always. The shapes don't seem right. Something's sitting too high. Something else too low. It's hard to remember yourself after centuries of never getting a glimpse at your own reflection.

Astarion

What's the price you're willing to pay?

You say instead. Fully aware that this is her belonging and your fingers have no right to be where they are. Yet the necklace rests just atop of it. Still. You're wondering why she isn't fighting back more. You know that she can.

Astarion

Perhaps we can reach a mutual understanding.

You don't intend to hand over the necklace.

[Imzhora Moonsong]

Imza

I am not paying.

He stole it. It is yours. There is no price to pay for this - even more because it is not of much value anyway. It is a necklace, nothing more; no stone engraved that is expensive, nothing to be sold to the highest bidder.
He only does it because he has the upper hand. He does it because he can. He does it because - what more reasons do there need to be? He is doing it, period. There don't need to be any excuses, no more explanations.

You still have your hand out, extended, waiting for him to give that necklace back. Patiently so - you have had years to train your patience in various circumstances, most of them involving you having to meditate in silence. (It has been a struggle at first, as a child, but now you appreciate it more than anything else, especially given your situation. (And your companions.)))

Imza

There is not going to be a 'mutual understanding'.

[Astarion Ancunín]

You know better than to bite the hand that quite literally feed you. (Although, technically, you do bite. You do a lot of biting, actually.) And you surely don't want to be the reason there might be a falling out at the Camp. You need these lunatics people to secure your own survival. She more than the others. Given that she's the reason you aren't slowly starving to your death - or feeding off of feral animals that always leave a stingy feeling at the back of your mouth.

Astarion

Fortunately, I'm in a rather charitable mood this day.

Making sure to highlight that this is your decision. A generous decision made out of the good will of your heart. Not her extended hand or the way she says it. So stern. So confident. Like she knows she'll get it back. One way or another. That's something you can't handle quite well. Always one to make yourself bigger than you are. No matter the company.
So you lift your hand and slowly place the necklace in her palm.

Astarion

Nevertheless, the debt you owe me for that coin still stands.

Accompanied by a wink only you would manage in a moment like this.

[Imzhora Moonsong]

He does give back the necklace, and you hold back a smug smile on your face, keeping it stern and neutral instead. You cannot look behind his mask, or into his head, to see what he is thinking and why is he making this decision, but you aren't one to question it right now.
You take the necklace, fingers around it as soon as his hand retreats and lets go of the metal. It is yours, and you would have taken it back one way or another, no matter what.

Imza

What coin are you talking about?

And you didn't forget about that dagger either, the one he has reached for and grabbed and stored it away for himself. The one that you would like to have, too, more now than ever since he doesn't seem to want to share - or give it to you freely. (He doesn't seem to give anything to you freely, or to anyone, for that matter, and you wonder why; wonder if it is because of his past, or if it is him and him alone.)

Imza

There is nothing I owe you.