26

'Kuro still isn't back? What does he do on Earth, anyway?' said Grace, leaning in one of the parlour chairs and checking the time on the hourglass.

'Goodness knows!' said Lucien, still reading his book. 'He likes it there. So he hangs around there as long as he can, even when he's not doing anything per se.

'Guess we'll have to wait for him, then...' sighed Grace, and she leaned back with a worried expression on her face.

'Are you all right?' asked Lucien, raising an eyebrow. 'You've been quite restless since you came back! Did you have a bad time?'

'I, erm... yeah, it wasn't that fun, but it's Hell, so...'

'What wasn't fun?'

'Just... things...'

Lucien put the book down. 'You're hiding something from me. I can feel it. What is it?'

'It's nothing!' said Grace dismissively.

'It's something!' Lucien insisted.

'No, it's fine, really!'

'Yeah, real convincing tone!'

'You're imagining it!'

'I'm seeing it!'

'Fine!' relented Grace. 'I met the Assistant again today! I didn't want you to worry, so...'

'What?! At this time?! In broad daylight!?!' exclaimed Lucien. 'Damn, he must be serious about you! Dead serious! I wonder why...'

'Everyone in the market was looking at me strangely too...' mused Grace. 'And, oh! I met this horrid woman and Mrs. Sauer actually saved me from her! And I met Squeaks, too!'

'So much happened and you're just sitting there like a clam!' said Lucien, half-annoyed. 'Really, human, don't do this with me! Out with all the details now!'

'Okay...' Grace began to tell him everything that had happened, and Lucien listened intently.

'Quite odd, all of this,' he said at last. 'I didn't expect you to have such a tough time. Sorry I didn't go with you.'

'It's all right. It's not your fault.'

'Still. Since I summoned you, I've got to make sure none of those freaks get to you like that. And the Assistant... you'll have to beware of him.'

'Yeah...'

'I'm impressed you were able to resist him like that.'

'No, I'm disappointed in myself for believing him even for a while...'

'Maybe that's because somewhere, he managed to touch your heart in some way?'

'No, he's a manipulative liar!' said Grace passionately. 'And evil!'

'Even an evil liar can tell the truth sometimes...' said Lucien gently.

'Whatever.'

'Do you ever really feel...'

'Feel what?'

'Unloved? Or tired of it all? Like he suggested?'

'I don't want to talk about it. I'm happy!'

'Yeah, sure.'

'I said I'm happy, okay?!'

'Okay!'

They sat in silence and watched twilight descend in the sky outside through the window.

'I used to feel that way when my father was around, so I get you,' said Lucien after a while. 'Still do, really. Life gets lonely. Feeling unseen, unheard... it's like a lifestyle now.'

Grace looked at him and nodded. 'It is what it is, I guess,' she said with a sigh.

'It's getting too dark to read...' said Lucien, getting up to light a lamp.

'I wonder where Kuro is...'

A flash of light appeared and the cat appeared in the parlour and curled up by the fire as though turning up this way was the most natural thing in the world.

'Good evening,' said Lucien, barely looking at him.

'Yo!' said Kuro.

'What does "yo" mean?' said the demon, raising his eyebrows.

'It's a way of saying hi – I thought it was cool!

'I thought you didn't do cool?'

'Well, hehe! Sometimes I like it.'

'Are you hungry?' asked Grace.

'No, I ate already,' said Kuro.

'Oh...'

'Let's have bread and cheese today,' said Lucien, looking at Grace. 'With a tomato each!'

'That sounds decent enough!'

'It's on the table,' said the demon with a grin. 'Grab a bite, and then we'll paint that wallpaper like you said. Kuro, you'd better be around when the time comes!'

'Okay, okay,' said Kuro feigning disinterest. 'I'll show up when you call me.'

* * *

'All right, here's the wallpaper roll,' said Lucien, bringing it in and spreading it on the table. 'Gosh, it's big!'

'We'll do it in sections,' said Grace, preparing the paint. But first, Kuro will do his thing!'

'Are you sure it's a good idea to involve him?' said Lucien doubtfully.

'Dead sure!' said Grace with a smile.

'Don't say that,' said Lucien.

'Why?'

'I guess I kinda like you now...'

'So, what do you want me to do?' said Kuro with a reluctant sigh, looking nonetheless at the paint with a curious side-eye.

'Okay, see this brown and black paint?' said Grace. 'I want you to dip your front paws in it and walk across the paper.'

'Really?' said Kuro with a grin. 'That sounds fun.'

'Don't mess it up!' said Lucien.

'As if!' said the cat, rolling his eyes and walking across the paper gracefully, leaving his paw prints behind.

'Woah, you're doing this as if it's a regular thing for you!' said Lucien, laughing.

'Confidence happens to be my middle name,' grinned Kuro.

'We can see that! Wow, you're doing well!'

'Walk here too,' said Grace with a grin. 'It's coming out perfectly!'

'All right, done!' said Kuro, springing down with a sudden movement and landing on the floor.

'Kuro! You idiot! We were supposed to clean the paint off your paws first!' exclaimed Lucien.

'Oops!' said Kuro, and he walked away nonchalantly towards the fire, leaving a trail of fading paint behind him.

'Ugh, you careless cat!' said Lucien in frustration.

'It's all right, he didn't make too much of a mess,' laughed Grace. 'Paint is always a little messy, but it's fun that way!'

'Like life?' grinned Lucien.

Grace smiled. 'Like life. Here, can you paint the leaves, like this?'

'What about the flowers?'

'I'll make them.'

'Which colours should I use?'

'Erm, green?'

'Leaves can be orange sometimes too, you know!'

'Okay, go ahead and use that too, then!

'Ooh, nice flower! That light shade of blue... I like it!'

'It's my favourite colour. I'll be doing red and yellow ones too, though.'

'What's your favourite blue thing?'

'Hmm... blue sky? And blue flowers? And blue dresses...'

'Okay, everything blue, I get it – oops! I spilt the paint here!'

'Lucien, you're just as bad as Kuro! No worries, we'll turn this into a flower, like... this.'

'Oh, cool!'

'You missed the leaf here, paint it please...'

'I like how this is turning out,' said Lucien after a while, standing back and surveying their work so far.

The wallpaper was covered with lovely little drawings of small flowers, leaves, and Kuro's paw prints. It looked just the right combination of homely, messy, and beautiful.

'This is art, indeed,' nodded Kuro, creeping up and focusing on his prints with an awed expression.

Lucien and Grace looked at each other and grinned.

'How long till it's complete?' asked Kuro.

'Just this strip here and then we're done,' said Grace. 'Back to work!'

'Should we put a bird and a blue sky at the top?' said Lucien. 'It would look nice!'

Kuro shook his head immediately. 'The last time you drew a bird, Lucien, I had nightmares from the weird creature you drew instead!'

'Hey! It wasn't that bad!!'

'It was!'

'Wasn't!'

'Was too!'

'Like you're some big art critic here!'

'I'm a connoisseur!'

'I dare you to spell that!'

'Done!' said Grace. 'Stop bickering, you two, and let's paste this!'

'Wowww!!' said Lucien and Kuro together.

Grace had painted a strip of blue sky with two doves flying in it at the top, and a thick strip of green at the bottom that looked like long blades of grass with hints of yellow flowers here and there.

'It's so beautiful!' said Lucien, staring at it.

'Well, it was your idea,' smiled Grace.

'Are we going to paste this or what?!' said Kuro impatiently. 'I want to see it on the wall NOW!'

'Shouldn't we wait for it to dry?'

'It's dry already... strange! But good for us! Let's go!'

Soon, the wallpaper had been pasted on the kitchen wall, and the three of them looked approvingly at it.

'Now, the kitchen looks like a place to be,' said Kuro dreamily.

'It's got an Earthly charm to it, hasn't it?' said Lucien, lost in the painting and beyond it.

'I'm happy,' smiled Grace, and she meant it.

Then, two things happened at once.

First, a loud series of knocks on the door.

And then, a burst of bright light from her cross.