Fourth Wall

Eight: Regular Donor

Astarion stood in front of Chloe in the spot of secluded wilderness he'd led her to. She was vaguely aware he could hurt her if he wanted to, while they were out alone together in the middle of the night. She'd agreed to come because he'd said she could help with his quest against his former captor, who he'd yet to name. He mentioned the 'Szarr family,' but not the first name of his tormentor.

Chloe didn't want to push him for information. She hoped he would volunteer it in time.

"What are we doing out here?" Chloe whispered as Astarion bent over a tree stump and lit a lantern he must have carried with him.

"I need you to examine something for me." Astarion said, suddenly all business as he refused to look at her. He was untucking his shirt when Chloe protested.

"Woah, you're not about to whip it out are you? I was not prepared for that—"

"Oh grow up, Chloe!" Astarion snapped half-jokingly, though he didn't slow his movements as he took off his shirt. "There is something on my back. I need you to tell me what you see."  He explained. But he didn't turn around to show her his back yet. Waiting for permission, she supposed.

"Why can't you use a mirror?" She asked, and Astarion laughed.

"Your ignorance is amusing, love. I have no reflection. A side effect of my little...condition."

Chloe frowned.

Astarion took a moment to fold his shirt neatly and place it on the stump, still not facing her. Chloe approached him carefully, her bare feet silent against the grass.

She nodded, lips pursed. He turned.
Chloe didn't know what she'd expected to find - a wound, a strange bite, a bruise maybe - but it certainly wasn't what lay before her.
His otherwise flawless pale skin was marked and dotted with the raised pink flesh of dozens upon dozens of scars. Some language Chloe couldn't decipher, written in a perfect circle punctuated with several slashes and dashes and dots etched into his skin forever.

Chloe held a hand silently to her mouth to keep from gasping at the horror of seeing the evidence of his tragic backstory in front of her. Her eyes began to water, but she blinked away the tears. She didn't think Astarion would take kindly to her display of emotion.

Astarion was stiff and silent. He didn't turn back around.

Chloe moved forward slowly, reaching out to run her finger along the scar tissue.

Astarion flinched, and she withdrew her hand quickly. "Sorry," she murmured. "It's difficult to see in this light. Could you turn a bit?" She directly softly, grasping him gently by the arms to position him in front of the lantern.

His back was beautiful and strong, his muscles lean and well-defined.
Chloe squinted in the darkness. She swallowed thickly, praying her voice didn't crack when she spoke.

"I can't read it. It looks..." Chloe thought back to her knowledge of the universe they were in. "—maybe Infernal in origin?" She guessed.

"Infernal? What in the hells?" Astarion breathed. "He told me it was a poem. What did he do to me?"

Chloe felt her chest constrict at the pain in his voice. She had never felt so useless. She wished she could tell him more, give him the answers he sought. She couldn't begin to understand what he must be going through.

Instead she placed a hand on his arm, and squeezed lightly. "I can recreate it for you. Write it down, we can research it." She offered, wanting to help in some way.

He didn't speak, so she moved away, finding a stick nearby. She began etching the strange symbols into the dirt. Astarion knelt down beside her to watch her work.
Chloe wrote the symbols, then pointed at them and explained them as best she could. She told him she'd write it down with ink and parchment when they got back to camp, and he tugged his shirt back over his head.

"Astarion..." Chloe began uncertainly. "At the risk of asking a question you don't want to answer... Who did this to you?"

Astarion froze for a moment. His eyes grew pained for a split second before his face fell into a careful mask of disinterest.

"Cazador was his name. He turned me into what I am, a vampire spawn. He commands me and my body obeys, I have been a slave to his every whim for the last two centuries." He recounted, voice dripping disdain.

Chloe nodded in understanding, her stomach roiling with nausea at the thought of someone controlling him every day for two hundred years. Astarion took a step closer to her. He tilted her chin up towards him with a single gloved finger.

His eyes were red and hungry.

"It might still be that way. I have always been powerless against him," he whispered, leaning so close his mouth almost brushed against Chloe's.

"But if I'm not forced to return to him, then I'll be damned if I lose my newfound freedom to a parasite in my head." He hissed, and his tone was vicious.

Chloe stared into his eyes, unafraid. In fact, her heart was racing for a completely different reason than fear.

The tension between them was palpable. Chloe was surprised at herself, and how she was able to remain so calm, even with a predator staring her down, a creature that could kill her without a thought. A creature that she already knew had a taste for her blood. But in truth, she was desperate to close the tiny distance between them, danger be damned.

He dropped his hand from her chin, and moved away, his face falling neutral again.

Chloe felt her body cool as she mourned the loss of his proximity.
He picked up his lantern, and nodded toward her, moving toward camp.

"Wait!" She called, suddenly overcome with a desire to keep him there alone with her. He looked back inquisitively.

"Do you...need to..." she gestured at her neck. Astarion's mouth pulled into a Cheshire grin.

"My, aren't you generous?" He teased, stepping closer to her once again. "Or is 'greedy' perhaps a better word?" He winked.

Chloe huffed. "Well maybe I should just take my delicious blood elsewhere tonight—" she began sassily before Astarion's hands grabbed her by the waist and pulled her flush against his front.

"You truly are delicious. Positively divine," he flirted as he pressed a gentle kiss beneath her jaw. "You know, you were my first. Cazador fed me rats and bugs. Once I was on my own, I only fed on animals. Drinking the blood of thinking things is something else entirely."

Chloe blushed at his words, her eyelids fluttering shut as she focused on the feel of his breath on her neck as he spoke. She felt entirely entranced.

Astarion nuzzled the sensitive spot just behind her ear, and she sighed.

"I've never tasted anything as delicious as you." He said lowly and bit down, and Chloe gasped, feeling his tongue dart out to lick the wound he'd created, lapping up the blood as it slid down her tattooed neck.

She didn't mind, however. The sensation of his fangs piercing her flesh was oddly satisfying.
The feeling was intoxicating.
As he drank from her, Chloe was overcome with a sudden urge to moan. She tried to hold it back but the pleasure and pain was too much. She let out a soft moan, and Astarion pulled away.

His pupils were blown wide, his lips stained with her blood. He looked crazed with desire. He roughly captured Chloe's lips with his own in a punishing kiss, his hands fisting painfully in her hair.
She couldn't help but whimper against his mouth at the possessive action as her body responded.

Her hands clutched the collar of Astarion's shirt as his mouth moved against hers, tasting her. He started to pull away, but Chloe immediately grabbed for him, pulling his mouth back to hers. She felt his smile against her lips.

When they pulled apart, Chloe was a bit breathless. Her neck felt sticky with drying blood, and the bite mark on her neck was tingling.
Astarion leaned his forehead against hers, his eyes closed as he breathed deeply, regaining control of himself.

"Thank you, gorgeous." He rasped, leaning down to press another quick kiss to her lips. "For keeping me well-fed," he clarified.

"Of course," Chloe's voice was breathy and shaky when she responded. She nervously tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. He'd kissed her! She was absolutely buzzing.

"We should get back," she said before she could lose herself in the pleasure of his touch and let him drain her of all her blood right then and there.