Look at the year he had. He spent so long as a wraith, but then, what was she now but that? She had different needs and different limitations and thus was affected so very differently. He had been starving, a slave to his needs. Now he was sated and much the same. It though? It was entirely different. Before he had been far more dependent on what she could offer. Now though? Things had changed. Still, she seemed to be the only one who enjoyed him for who he was. It was a shame he no longer wished to be that person. It was a shame he no longer had a choice. He had given that up long ago.
"So limiting. Beauty must be this. Art must be this. Think that way and you're as much of a slave as any of them, yes? Just in the other direction," he tsked at her, because he could, because she'd let him, and if she tried to act in response, then that would be easier to deal with than this tension. She tried to drive him to it. He tried to drive her to it. Sensation and more.
A reward, her reward. He'd thought of it, but why be direct when they could continue to be oblique. "A small deed, no blood even. A small reward. Make a request and we'll see how close I am to granting it. I had something in mind but I expected something more visceral."