The cool tiles of the bathroom floor gave Sophie shivers as she lay on the ground, her red-gold hair fanning out in curls and tangles around her head. The reason for this was that she was hit with a sudden queasiness that morning before she had a chance to brush her hair. She only had time for one thought before she found herself praying to the porcelain god, and that was that she really should start getting used to this.
Sophie groaned, sat up, and grabbed a towel from the rack to keep her warm before promptly flopping back down on the floor.
"It's all your fault, you know," Sophie accused her lower abdomen. "If you want to grow at all, or at least give me a better time of it, I suggest letting me actually digest something. Neither you nor I can survive on just water. You're going to have to let me eat something…" she wheedled, letting a little magic creep into her voice.
The towel slipped from her shoulders as Sophie lunged for the toilet again, another round of retching coming on. But this time, she felt someone gathering her hair out of the way and tracing soothing circles on her back. After she finished, one hand let go of her hair and gave her a glass of water, but the other continued to rub her back comfortingly. She glared into the green eyes of the owner of the hands.
"Go away, Howl."
"Why, Cariad? I'm just trying to help you feel better," replied her husband.
"I don't want you to help. I'm in a bit of a state and don't want to be near anyone right now. Besides, don't you have a beauty routine to attend to?"
Howl gave an exasperated sigh, stood up, and waved his hand lazily over his face. He looked like he usually did, as if he had spent all morning preening in front of the mirror. Sophie's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"If you can do all that so quickly, why does it usually take you two hours every morning?"
"Because, Sophie dear, I prefer to do it without the help of magic. All the effort I put into it makes it look so much more natural! If I do it with magic, it makes me look dreadfully unreal. But for you, I will suffer through the artificiality. For the sake of comforting you in your time of need, I will look horribly fake all day!" Howl stood with his hands over his heart, looking terribly tragic and put-upon.
Sophie gave a loud, derisive snort before leaning over the toilet. As he gathered her hair again, Howl tilted his face down to whisper to her, lips barely brushing the shell of her ear, "Besides, Cariad, I can't go about my business when you're taking up the whole bathroom."
