Hi guys, I'm back! So I decided that this series, even though it's only a look into their daily lives, will actually follow some semblance of a storyline. A realistic one, if you think about it, since real life doesn't have things become apparent right away! Imagine realism in Ingary though, it's positively ridiculous and I love it!

Now, storytime! I don't own anything.

Sophie Hatter loved her life. Every day she woke to the sight of sunshine on the Wastes Gardens, or the gentle pitter-patter of raindrops against the window to that strange place ("Wales," was it?), or the familiar shouts of greeting in Market Chipping, or, more often than not, Calcifer singing that stupid saucepan song, or Calcifer burning the bacon (on purpose, one might add), or Howl making loud and flamboyant entrances in the middle of the night (usually drunk and returning from Wales), or Howl being drunk and returning from Wales to shout the saucepan song at the top of his lungs with Calcifer (because never mind sleep, songs had to be sung loudly, badly, and off-key right that instant!), or-or...

Oh, blast it. Who was she kidding? Everyone in town knew that Wizard Howl wasn't easy to live with, and this fact was even more so now that she'd given him that dratted heart back!

Not that Sophie terribly regretted doing it, of course. Howl was a wonderful man when he wasn't drunk, and even when he was, he was just very loud and obnoxious. She'd heard horror stories about women being beaten when their men were drunk, and Sophie could only shudder to think what those men might do with Howl's amount of magic. She was thankful for the life she had, really, but...

"But you can't get enough sleep?" Lettie gave Sophie an impish grin as Martha stammered something about appropriate topics for brunch with one's sisters.

Sophie turned red and stammered, "T-that's not what I meant at all! Howl and I don't do those kinds of things! We don't even sleep in the same room!" She looked around to see if anyone was listening, but, as usual, the diner section of Cesari's was packed with people absorbed in their own brunches and friends. "He just always comes home from Wales drunker than a sailor on leave, and when he's drunk, he likes to sing some silly song with Calcifer, who is a terror on his own, if you must know."

"Jeez, someone's touchy," remarked Martha. "It would seem to me that the solution to your problem would be to simply go with him to Wales and make sure he doesn't get drunk, then do something really nice for him the next day to enforce the idea that not going three sheets to the wind is good. It's really quite easy."

Sophie thanked her sisters kindly and went directly home, pondering if it was really a good idea to go to Wales. It would probably mean having to see Megan, and, Megan being Megan and Sophie being Sophie, they absolutely hated each other. Perhaps Howl would just avoid drinking?

So the next time Howl flicked the knob to black, Sophie stopped him and requested that he not consume any alcohol when he was out. And of course Howl didn't take well to that. He swore up and down that it would be the last time for a while, and that one does not simply avoid alcohol at the Rugby World Cup, and that he wouldn't miss it unless something incredibly dangerous came up in Ingary. Apparently one of his friends from when he had played rugby himself was playing and it was the last game of the tournament, too.

"Take me too, then," Sophie announced. Perhaps her presence would deter him from excessive alcohol consumption. Howl gave her a long, long look.

"I don't think you'll understand what's happening."

"That's fine."

"I promised some mates I'd meet up with them."

"I don't mind." They stared at each other for a minute, each one too stubborn to look away. And all at once he sighed.

"I suppose you'd find a way to go anyway, Ms. Nose. Get ready then, and stick close to me." Sophie shoved her feet into her shoes and hurried over to the door. Howl opened the door, and together, they crossed into Wales.

Wales was busy once you got into the city. There was a large group of the horseless carriages-Howl said they were "cars"-that made moving their car difficult. Apparently this was called a traffic jam, and, much like a bad storm, one had to just wait for it to end. Luckily, Howl had a lot to tell Sophie, so no time was really wasted. After all, wasting time to Sophie was even more unacceptable now that she was young; she knew what being old felt like and, even if just for a minute, she didn't want to squander her youth.

What was Howl saying, one might ask? Well, he appeared to be cramming as much knowledge of rugby into Sophie's head as possible, and as for Sophie herself, she was nodding and acting like she understood. The wait seemed to take entire seasons, and Howl's prattering on about rugby only made it longer; as such, by the time the car had been parked, Sophie could barely stop herself from dancing about on the hard asphalt of the walkway. In fact, she probably would have, if it weren't for the copious amount of people flooding the ground, chatting in Welsh, waving flags, showing off their face paint to each other, and, of course, drinking.

"Howell!" Sophie's gaze was yanked from the fans milling about to a group of men, around Howl's age, perhaps even older, running towards them. Howl also jerked his head towards them and started shouting, presumably, the men's names. He sank fluidly into the mass of men and, after about fifteen minutes of slapping people on the back and punching each other on the arm, the other men noticed Sophie standing awkwardly by the car and being totally uncertain of where she was supposed to look in this place stuffed to the brim with smelly, unwashed bodies and sound and excitement and booze and color.

"Hey Howell, this one with you?" asked a lanky ginger. His face was half covered by a beard and the rest, by black, white, and red. He stank of liquor and swayed a tad when he walked; his voice seemed a little too loud, grating, flat. "See," he added, "if she's not, you know, then I'd like to take 'er ta my 'ouse affer the game..." He waggled his eyebrows and it took all of Sophie's willpower to turn salmon instead of scarlet.

"Oh, dos i chwarea efo dy nain, Bryn. You have other things for that, dontcha? Anyway, she's with me. Gentlemen, I present to you Sophie Hatter." He guided Sophie over and she dropped a curtsy. Immediately she felt all their eyes upon her and she knew a curtsy had been the wrong choice.

An unpainted bear of a man glared down at her and asked Howl, "She ain't YOURS, is she? Ain't she a bit... Er, different than what you always go for?"

"What we mean," added a black haired giant, "is that she's formal and not your usual type." Nods from around the circle; clearly these men couldn't have put it better themselves.

"No, uh, we're, uh, dating. Besides, I've changed. If I hadn't, I wouldn't even hang about you lot. Now let's go, they'll be starting soon."

Sophie found herself swept along in a tide of men. "HOWL!" she hissed. "What exactly is dating? Did you just pass me off as another of your flings?"

"No! I just said I'd changed! Didn't you hear? It means we're lovers." He shot her a glare. "And here it's Howell, not Howl."

"Fine then!" Sophie glared back and stuck her tongue out at him as he turned his back to pull them into their seats.

The game came and went in a flurry of foul tasting alcohol, disgusting odors from practically everyone in Wales piled up around them in the stands, and a ball being tossed around, accompanied by shouts and jeers that Sophie could only pretend to understand. She managed to knock over, steal, or kick away most of Howl's "beer." The stuff was like the illegitimate lovechild of cat piss and cheap ale and she gagged with every swallow. As a result, she was intensely inebriated, and he was nearly totally sober. He bundled her up and, ignoring the teases of his friends, carried her off into the car. The combination of the smooth, gentle movement of the car, the alcohol in her system, and a murmuring noise coming from Howl-what'd the man want now, of all times?-lulled Sophie into sleep, and within minutes she was snoring in the special way only a completely drunk person can.

Some time later, she was pulled halfway out of her slumber by a swaying sensation (was she being carried?), heat, the familar smell of the kitchen, the feeling of her bed beneath her, blankets above her, a splash, a clatter, gentle swearing, someone stroking her hair, that stupid saucepan song (a curious, slow kind of it), blackness, warmth, comfort...

"Urghhhh." The room was bright, much too bright. She could hardly see. She could hardly think, for that matter. Her head was pounding. She tried to stand, grasping for the nightstand, and found a glass of water. In a second it was empty and the pills that had sat beside it were gone too. Sophie did feel a tad better then. She staggered to the kitchen and collapsed into a chair.

"Good morning." Howl was smirking. "I'm thinking I should always take you to rugby games. I've never felt better the day after, you know."

Sophie snarled at him. "I've never felt worse. I daresay it's nowhere near worth it for a night of sleep."

"Oh no, you're coming with me. After all," Howl grinned roguishly, "it's not everyday Sophie, bane of spiders, is docile enough for me to stroke her hair as she falls asleep."

Sophie turned away so neither Calcifer nor Howl could notice her blush. After a brief pause, she whispered something. One word, though it made both happier than they'd like to admit.

"Fine."

Well, that's it for this chapter! I'm sorry; I feel I skipped a lot about the rugby because I didn't really know anything about it even after researching, and it kinda turned away from the comedy factor, and a lot of it was much more rushed than it should have been. But it's the best I can do for now, so please bear with me!

HUUUUUUUUGE SHOUTOUT TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED! You amazing, lovely people are a major part of my motivation and I can't begin to tell you how much it means to see you all commenting. Especially big shoutout to AJ Maxima for leaving so many helpful tips and pointers for me! You're awesome!

Next chapter will hopefully be soon! Ja ne!

-Sekky