"You see, I can be useful," he kidded her. "Here, you're off-center. This mirror needs a polish, I'll put that on my to-do list."She glanced up and back over her shoulder, smiling, as he stood behind her and adjusted her neckcloth. "You're very useful. More useful than you need to be, really." Affecting aristocratic languor, she went on, "I shall find it ever so tiresome doing everything myself again when you go back to your life."
She said it lightly, as a joke, but Gryphon knew her well enough by now to recognize that his departure—no longer imminent, as he had no intention of decamping on this particular full moon like they'd both originally planned, but inevitable sooner or later—was weighing on her mind a bit.
"In what way," he inquired, pausing to kiss her on the cheek, "is what I'm doing right now not my life?"
Her face colored with a mix of pleasure and embarrassment. "You know what I mean."
"I'm sure I'm getting along just fine without me," Gryphon assured her, making her giggle. Then he leaned a little farther down and kissed the side of her neck, which made her jump.
"Ah! Not there, you beast," she said, her blush flaming.
Gryphon chuckled. "A vampire who's weak to having her neck kissed? There's a joke in there somewhere."
"Yes, yes, very funny," said Remilia with a roll of her eyes.