Meanwhile in Howl's kitchen,
Howl trudged into the kitchen from the door. His feet pattered against the wooden floor. Calcifer illuminated the dark room from his fire pit, light flickering slightly. Howl sat on the stool in front of the fire pit. He hunched forward, putting his head into his hands.
Calcifer piped from the fire pit, "Hey, how's it going? You look like a whale sat on you."
Howl brushed a long strand of hair of his face. "Sorry, Calcifer. I've just just been thinking."
Calcifer rolled his eyes and spit some embers. "Oh, here we go. What are you doing this time?"
Howl huffed. "I'm not planning on anything."
"Oh?"
He smirked. "Remember when you fell from the sky and I swallowed you?"
Calcifier waned a bit to wince. "Yeah, I remember. That was…" He sparked a bit as he gulped. "An experience. Why do you even bring that up?"
"I was thinking about how great that felt."
Calcifer gawked at him.
Howl titled his head back at the ceiling. A gleam filled his eye. "I remember feeling you wriggle inside me. I felt so whole."
Calcifer hid behind some rocks and ashes. He whined, "If I wasn't under your contract, I'd leave this castle."
Howl leaned towards Calcifer, gleefully smiling. "But you're under my contract."
Calcifer peeked up from behind a rock. "Howl. What are you suggesting?"
Howl reached over to a plate he left out and grabbed a dirty fork. He kneeled on the fire pit.
Calcifer screamed and hid further.
Howl waved his arm and dropped the fork on the ground. "Relax, Calcifer, I'm only joking."
Calcifer unburied himself. He was unamused. "Yeah, right. Next thing I know, you'll let a wrinkly old witch get her hands on me."
Howl tilted his head back with the same smile. "Calcifer, you know I'd never do that."
Calcifer fumed. "You'd never do a lot of things."
"Yeah, I'm a wizard of my word." Howl threw a log onto Calcifer and walked away.
The next morning, Calcifer made sure to burn Howl's eggs.