The Misadventures of Kade and Celine

“Do you think these drapes are too blue?”

“Celine, the drapes are fine.”

“I thought they’d look a bit darker with the hardwood in here but now I’m thinking they’re too bright. Maybe we should have gotten the-Kade!”

Celine yelped as Kade grabbed her waist and gently poked her sides. He spun her around, so she wasn’t facing the window anymore.

“The drapes are fine,” he assured her. “You spent two hours picking them out.”

“They’re too bright,” she protested.

“What’s the difference, they pale in comparison to your radiance.”

“You're so full of shit,” Celine laughed. “You're just saying that to distract me from the curtains.”

“And because it’s true.” Kade nuzzled her nose before releasing her.

“You're lucky you’re so cute,” Celine said, shaking her head. “Fine, I’ll worry about the drapes later. Maybe they’ll look better once the furniture is moved in.”

Kade chuckled behind her as she zipped out of the house to tell the moving gremlins where to put everything.

“The couch goes against that far wall there, and these boxes go to the kitchen, and the bed goes in the room up the stairs; first door on the right.”

“And please be very careful with it,” Kade added, leaning on the porch rail next to her. “It has a lot of sentimental value.”

Celine elbowed him and he just grinned at her. She tried to give him a stern look but a small smile broke through. It was hard to be annoyed when he gave her that lopsided grin. The fact that they were moving out of her apartment and into the pretty two story house that had made her gasp out loud when she’d first seen it also had her in a good mood. The house reminded her of a smaller version of the house she’d grown up in. She had liked her little apartment, but it was a bit cramped for two people. And Christophe had procured it for her when he hired her at the club, and so it left a slightly bitter taste in her mouth to keep living there. Kade hadn’t protested when she’d suggested looking for a new place. It had taken her a while to find a place she liked; she’d dragged Kade all over town until she’d found this one.

“You're sure you like the house?” she asked, arranging and rearranging the silverware. “It’s supposed to be our house and I want you to like it as much as I do.”

“Celine, the house is great. And we could literally live under a bridge, as long as you liked it I’d be fine.”

“And you really like the drapes?”

Kade let his head thunk on the kitchen table. “Celine.”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. You’re right, they’re fine. Probably fine. I’ll get new ones next week.”

“You are insane,” Kade laughed. “Can we please go to bed now? You’ve reorganized the silverware drawer at least ten times.”

He didn’t actually wait for an answer before scooping her off her feet, carrying her out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

“It already smells like roses in here,” Kade remarked, setting her gently on her feet. He helped her make the bed, then promptly flopped on it, messing up the blankets she’d just draped across it.

“Kade,” she complained. “You're messing up the bed.”

“Like that wasn’t going to happen anyway.”

Celine rolled her eyes, giving up on making the bed and just flopping next to him.

“The fair princess finally has a suitable castle,” Kade said. “Should we put in a mote?”

“You’d forget it was there and fall in.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

Celine spent the next afternoon tidying up the house a bit more before she had to get ready for her performance at the Rose and Raven. She saw Kade getting dressed in the reflection on her vanity mirror as she fixed her hair. She arched an eyebrow.

“You’re wearing a suit?” she asked. “What are you all dolled up for?”

“What, I can’t look nice for my girlfriend’s show?”

“You do clean up pretty nice.”

“Miss Bellerose, are you flirting with me?”

Celine twisted around in her seat, batting her lashes. “If I were, sugar, would it be working?”

Kade laughed. “I have been a terrible influence on you, and I like it.”

When Celine slipped into the club, she went backstage to remove her coat, smoothing the skirt of her dress. She glanced around, noticing that her current pianist was missing.

“Is Lewis late again?” she asked in exasperation.

“Uh, no. Lewis isn’t going to be your pianist anymore.” Kade was standing behind her, sounding suddenly nervous. She turned to him with a small frown.

“What? Did Tillie hire someone else? She didn’t mention it.”

“That’s because it was a surprise.”

“What’s a surprise? Why do you look so jittery?”

“I, um. Well. Since you were able to start singing here again, I’ve been having Gibbet cover more responsibilities at the shop so I could come here every day, and…learn how to play the piano.”

Celine blinked. “You what?”

“I hired someone to teach me and Tillie let me use the piano here. It’s just, I know you worked with Emile forever and you’re not really comfortable performing with strangers, so I thought you’d feel better with someone you trust playing your accompaniment. So I learned, so I could play for you. Tillie and I were keeping it a secret because I wanted to surprise you once I got good enough. Unless you want to hire someone else, because you totally can-oof!”

Celine launched herself at him with such enthusiasm he had to catch her. She planted kisses all over his face before hugging him tightly.

“The cranky satyress that was teaching me would kick me with her hoof when I messed up, but this was totally worth it,” Kade said.