12

It took Grace a few minutes to figure out how to light the flame, but she managed it eventually. The flame was a little too large and unruly for her liking, but that was the lowest setting, so it couldn't be helped. She filled the pot with some water, and then, as she waited for it to boil, she hunted around for some ingredients, but she couldn't find any. Just as she was beginning to wonder if there really wasn't a single thing left to eat in the house, she spotted a cabinet that she hadn't checked yet. She opened it, and found a messy array of vegetables heaped inside.

'Who keeps vegetables in a cabinet?' she wondered aloud, and she inspected them to ensure they were not spoilt, but they were quite all right.

She took them out, and then looked in a lower cabinet where she found a collection of messy spice jars that had probably never been washed since they had been put into use. In a drawer, with the cutlery and a couple plates was a single egg, and Grace found two more – along with a slab of meat – in another. She got to work fast enough, considering it took her half an hour to find everything she needed in the first place. By the time she had gathered all the ingredients she wanted at last, she had had to replace the water and fill the pot again, as most of it had evaporated.

Soon, she was chopping vegetables fast and rhythmically with a knife that was rather uncomfortably large, but as it did what she wanted it to, she hadn't looked for another – if there even was one, that is. She stirred them in, then took the pot off, and placed a frying pan on the fire and turned up the heat. It was hotter than she had expected, but she soon got used to it and began to stir-fry strips of meat she had cut from the rough slab she had found. A maddening aroma filled the kitchen and wafted outside.

'Now, just a minute more,' said Grace to herself, adding strips of cabbage and mashed garlic to the fried meat.

'What are you doing, human?' said a soft purr from the doorway. It was Kuro, peeping curiously inside. 'I haven't smelt something this... impressive in quite a while now.'

'You are, after all, a cat,' grinned Grace. 'But no peeking, shoo!'

'Hey!' said Kuro indignantly, trying to push himself inside and have a look – or even a taste, maybe – of whatever was being cooked in there.

'You'll find out soon enough, but not now,' said Grace firmly. 'You'll have to leave, Kuro.'

'MEOWW,' said Kuro sulkily, but Grace could see a flash of something else in his eyes as they darted here and there in curiosity and even – excitedly?

'Kuro, I'm going to pick you and put you outside if you don't go away yourself,' said Grace, placing the pot back on the stove.

'I'd like to see you try!' said Kuro haughtily, walking out. 'I'm not that interested, anyway!'

As he left, he reappeared suddenly and looked steadily inside; but Grace was busy in a cloud of steam and smoke and he couldn't make out anything, so he left for real, feeling hungrier than he had thought he was.

Twenty minutes later, Grace quietly walked up the stairs and listened carefully. The demon had grown silent now, so she approached the door and knocked at it gently.

'Go away!' said Lucien from inside. 'I'm not in the mood of your I-told-you-sos, Kuro!'

'It's me, Grace,' said Grace.

'Go away, human,' said Lucien sulkily. 'I can't comfort you right now. I'm sorry I brought you here, okay? Now just deal with it!'

'I don't want you to comfort me or apologise – you already did that,' said Grace gently. 'I want to thank you for helping me back then, in the Mainland. And for taking a stand for me in front of Azel.'

'Fat lot of good, he didn't listen,' said Lucien with a sigh. 'But you're welcome, anyway. Listen, I'm not in the mood for talking right now, so just go away. We'll talk in the morning.'

'Won't you come down for dinner?'

'Dinner? I'm not hungry. But there might be some leftovers from the morning – you can eat that, and give Kuro, too.'

'You must eat, too. Starving yourself won't do you any good.'

'I said I'm not hungry!'

'And I said come down for dinner!'

Lucien paused. 'Look, I don't want to see anyone when I'm sulky like this.'

'That's what friends are for,' said Grace kindly. 'To help each other out in difficult times – or at least be there for them.'

'Friends?' said Lucien, his tone softening slightly. 'How can you call me your friend when I did this to you?'

'Because it was an accident,' said Grace earnestly. 'Because you've looked out for me since then. Because you're a chaotic, eccentric demon but I can't hate you. And maybe because you read Charles Dickens.'

Lucien broke into a small laugh. 'Are you for real?'

'I am,' smiled Grace. 'And so is the soup I made for you – it's waiting for you in the parlour.'

'Soup?' said Lucien, puzzled, and he opened the door, but Grace had already left. He sniffed the air and forgot that he wasn't interested in dinner as he raced down the stairs.

His eyes widened as he entered the parlour and saw Grace and Kuro seated already, each with a steaming bowl of the most delicious-looking soup he had ever seen. Its aroma propelled him forward to his own chair as he eyed his bowl with surprise and delight.

'You–you made this?' he said, looking at her.

'No, it arrived from the heavens,' said Kuro, rolling his eyes. 'Now start already, for I can't resist anymore.'

'Oh, go ahead,' said Lucien, and he took his first spoonful. His expression changed and he quickly took another – and then another. 'Oh my God!' he exclaimed at last.

'I thought you'd lost hope in Him by now,' remarked Kuro, as he lapped up his soup and closed his eyes in pleasure, then took a nibble from the fried meat Grace had set aside for him.

'Oh, don't be silly, Kuro,' said Lucien. 'It's just an expression, okay! Grace, you've really made something absolutely amazing!'

'Thanks,' smiled Grace.

'Heavenly!' said Lucien, taking another spoonful.

'Thank you!' said Grace, blushing slightly.

'The true taste of Earth!' exclaimed Lucien excitedly, whose mood had completely changed back by now.

'I thought Heavenly was as high as you could get,' laughed Grace.

'Well, you know my views on that sort of thing,' grinned Lucien, finishing his bowl and looking at it dreamily for a few seconds before turning towards her again. 'Grace, thank you, really. This meal, and the way you brought it... it felt like a big, comforting hug.'

Grace smiled more warmly than ever, and for a moment, she felt as content as she could ever be – until she noticed both Lucien and Kuro staring at her with sudden surprise.

'What's wrong?' she said.

'Your cross...' said Kuro, looking at her in astonishment.

Lucien nodded, still looking at her. 'It just glowed!'