Dearth
by baru-chan
Disclaimer: Howl's Moving Castle is created and owned by Diana Wynne Jones. No profit was made from writing this piece of fanfiction and no copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: Michael wonders about the affection between Howl and Sophie - or rather, the seeming lack of it.
Walking down the streets of Market Chipping, heading towards the bake shop to see Martha, I could not help but think about the events of the morning and the previous mornings for the past weeks.
Sophie went down early as usual, preparing breakfast for all of us per usual routine. I followed her next, going out through the door with the purple glob down to gather some flowers before helping myself to her cooking.
Howl, of course, was the last person who went down the stairs, hair touseled and clothing wrinkled. Despite his unusual state of disarray, he plonked himself on the table and ate his breakfast with gusto. Sophie sighed at him exasperatedly then returned to her food. I watch this exchange, wondering, for probably the thousandth time, why those two don't greet each other with a "good morning" every once in a while.
Howl and Sophie have been married for four months, now. And yet, in that span of time, rarely did I see those two kiss, hug or give each other signs of affection.
I have heard that newly-wedded couples, during the first months of their marriage, either enthusiastically seize the chance of being allowed to act a tad bit scandalous or act stiffly around each other for the first week or so and then relax.
But those two did neither.
After the wedding feast, Howl and Sophie went back to normal again, bickering and sniping at each other, day in and day out, as if the magistrar declared them the most bitter enemies alive instead of being husband and wife.
It drives a certain wizard apprentice into frustration sometimes.
Yet...why does Howl, who rarely listens to anyone when he is concentrating on his work, seem to perk up whenever Sophie opens her mouth? And Sophie - one of the most stubborn women alive - always listens to what Howl has to say, though she usually contradicts him and they would have another bout of quarreling.
Maybe...maybe since they already know how they feel about each other, they don't need to be reassured anymore.
Or perhaps they feel that showing it all for the world to see would just break it all apart. FIN