"I'll make do with soap lather," he said with a shrug, then caught her arm as she moved to leave the bathroom again. "You were going to dry your hair, weren't you?" He gestured to the hair dryer lying on the bathroom counter to explain how he knew.
"Oh, yes." She'd just gotten it out when she'd realized that Greg was still tied up.
"Well I'm just shaving and stuff right now. You can share the mirror, if you like. The vanity space is large enough for both of us."
Lissianna hesitated, shy at the idea of sharing bathroom space with him, then realized she was being silly and nodded.
"Good." Greg turned to the counter and staked out the sink on the right.
Not half an hour ago the bathroom had seemed a large and spacious room. There was plenty of floor space, a huge tub, a toilet, clothes hamper, and a counter that ran the length of one entire wall with two sinks in it and a mirror overhead. But once Lissianna was in there with Greg it seemed incredibly small, and at first she was clumsy and uncomfortable as she found her hairbrush, took the hair dryer, unraveled the cord and plugged it in, all while being extra careful not to bump Greg or get too close.
For his part, Greg didn't seem to notice the shrinking size of the room. As far as she could tell, he hardly seemed aware of her presence as he concentrated on making lather from the bar of soap. Giving herself a mental shake for acting so juvenile, Lissianna turned on the dryer and went to work on her hair, doing her best not to stare at his chest in the mirror as she did.
Lissianna didn't do much styling with her hair. It was naturally wavy and looked fine as it was. She only bothered to dry it when she was going out into the cold as she planned to do today, so it didn't take her long to blow the worst of the dampness out of it. Once it was mostly dry, she turned off the dryer and began to rewind the cord.
"You have a reflection."
Lissianna paused and met his gaze in the mirror. "Yes."
"According to all the stories, vampires don't have reflections," he pointed out. "I guess that's something else they got wrong."
"Oh, yes." She nodded and went back to winding the cord.
"I was going to ask you." Greg glanced at her. "Thomas said your father had a problem with alcohol. So, I guess you guys can drink liquids other than blood?"
"Yes we can, but he didn't drink that way."
"Really?" His eyes were curious as they met hers in the mirror, "Then how did your father--"
"Blood," she answered before he could finish the question. "Blood donated by alcoholics on a binge."
Greg frowned with disbelief. "Most blood banks don't take donations from people on substances... I don't think."
"No, but we have our own blood banks," Lissianna informed him. "It's a legitimate blood bank, servicing hospitals and clinics as well as our people."
"And they accept blood from drunks?"
She shrugged. "Yes, it's called Wino Reds, but it never goes to the hospitals or mortal organizations. It's strictly for consumption by our kind."
Greg considered that, then asked, "What about people on substances? Do they take their blood, too?"
Lissianna nodded. "We have a whole range of varieties; High Times, Sweet Ecstasy, Sweet Tooth."
"High Times? That has to be people with high levels of THC in their system. Sweet Ecstasy would be blood from people on ecstasy. What is--?"
"Enough questions, it's my turn," Lissianna interrupted. She had some questions of her own, and said so. "I answered a ton of questions for you earlier. It's your turn."
"Okay. That's fair. What do you want to know?" Greg said easily, and drew the razor down his cheek.
Everything, Lissianna thought, but said, "Well, I'm guessing you aren't married or it would have been more of a problem for Mother to hijack your vacation--I'm sorry about that by the way."
Before she could become too troubled that he wasn't on his way to Cancun, Greg said, "Don't be, she saved me a long wait at the airport for nothing. The flight was canceled, but I gather not until after keeping the passengers all standing around in the airport for three hours."
"Really?" she asked with surprise.
"Yeah." He nodded. "Ironic, isn't it?"
She smiled faintly at his good humor. "Why aren't you angry? Doesn't it freak you out at all?"