[Disclaimer: I, sadly, do not own any of the characters of locations. Howl's Moving Castle belongs to Diana Wynne Jones]
Howell Jenkins managed, for the first time in years, to wake up before 10 am. Granted, it was only two minutes before 10, but that was progress, he mused as he stared out of his window. His eyes jerked wide open as he remembered-today was the big day. Not the BIG capital B-I-G big day, but a step in that direction. He was going to propose to Sophie today, a few months after their curses had been broken and his contract had been lifted. He groaned quietly before slowly swinging his legs out of bed, putting his feet on the floor, and getting up, blinking groggily and pushing his fringe out of his eyes He wandered over to the bathroom and walked into the shower after mumbling at Calcifer to put on some hot water. He stood under the spray for a while before he remembered his terrifying plan. He almost didn't get out of the shower, and when he did, it was with a distinctly less-than-confident motion. Sophie could laugh at him, or worse, reject him. He was quite sure that she returned his affections and loved him, as did he her, but one could never quite tell with women, especially those who had once been 90 years old.
Approximately two hours later, Howell emerged from the bathroom, smelling rather strongly of honeysuckle. Michael looked up at Howell in surprise. "Howl, you changed your hair," he said, in a rather accusatory tone.
"Yes, Michael, I did. As you can see," retorted Howell sharply. "Now, would there happen to be any kind of breakfast?"
"Ah, yes, Howl," said Michael as he motioned to the plate on the workbench, still staring at Howell with a confused look. Howell responded with a grunt and plopped down in the chair next to Sophie's, even though hers was considerably more comfortable. After he finished breakfast, he looked around. "Where's Sophie?" he asked of no one in particular.
"Flower garden," said Calcifer, speaking for the first time that morning. "You are going through with your plan, right?" he asked, looking straight at Howell. Howell nodded and set out to the door, where upon reaching it he turned back and sat in the chair again. Howell shook his head. "Nope, can't do it. Not today," he muttered to himself.
"Howl! You have to, otherwise she'll think you won't have her," piped Calcifer. "You must do something today."
Howell sighed, then got up again and walked to the door with the air of a man going to his own execution. He took a deep breath and opened it, stepping gracefully onto the lightly rolling hills. Calcifer had positioned it so there were entire fields of new, beautiful flowers to paint a backdrop for what he had planned to do. He meandered over to the bobbing hat in the middle of it all, taking deep breaths to steady himself. "Good morning, Sophie," he said, flashing one of his brighter smiles.
"Oh, hello, Howl," she said, glancing over at him quickly before she returned to cutting flowers. Howl frowned slightly at this, but continued, his already tattered confidence taking a dive.
"Well, I was thinking," he started. "You have stayed with me for such a long time, and I have always enjoyed your company. You are so beautiful in every way, and I have been graced with the chance to see that each and every day. So, I was thinking of maybe, er, kicking it up a notch. Sophie?" he looked harder at her as he said her name, to which she mumbled a "Yes, Howl, go on."
He blinked, wondering if she was paying him any attention, but continued on. "Sophie, I love you, as you know that. So, I was thinking of…" he trailed off as he realized that he was being paid no attention whatsoever. "Sophie! Look at me! Pay me attention! I'm trying to do a nice, romantic gesture, but noooo! Sophie has to ignore me! She's too good for me! She's soo much better than me! Just pay attention, will you! I'm trying to ask you to marry me-" he stopped as he realized what he had just said, effectively ruining his splendid plans, and put his head in his hands. He heard a gasp from in front of him, then heard a clatter as gardening shears fell to the ground.
"You were going to do what?" asked a timid voice with just a dash of hope. Howell looked up, startled at her voice.
"Umm, something to that effect," he managed to choke out, staring at her as he confronted what his choice of words had just done.
"Howl!" she gasped, then nodded a few times. "Of course I will! That is, if you really want me to," she whispered toward him, looking down from his face.
"Yes, Sophie," he said as he pulled her into him. "Will you marry me?" he asked, stroking her hair. She nodded as he tilted her chin up and kissed her on the lips.