"If I intended to kill you now, Bruno, you would not have pulled away from that kiss."

While the other man rakes his hands over his face, Kronid's hands find his necklace again, resuming their fidgets, their jingling beats. More little beats winding like snakes through the air, wrapping around Bruno, hissing with honeyed tongues.

Insurance, mostly.

"You don't have to die. And I can leave the rest of your family alone. I was going to drain you, yes, but - but I got to thinking. And I think you can help me."

His eyes wander briefly down to Bruno's pulse point - he winces, exaggerated, doubling over a little where he sits.

Look pathetic. Look hungry. Look tired and dirty, lonely. Maybe a couple of those even have kernels of truth within.

"Please. Hear me out. That's what I ask first. Just listen to the pleas of a desperate, solitary creature."