For a whole week thereafter, Howl continued to procure gifts for her and at first she had refused. The first few times that had happened Howl had been livid, which of course meant that Sophie had been equally -magically- livid; there were still burn marks on the shop ceiling. But after one particular occasion where he had decided to buy her a small golden songbird (made of actual gold) that she had blatantly turned down, the honest hurt look on the wizard's face made her feel quite ashamed. So she had reluctantly accepted the gift. Howl had been pleased, not to mention somewhat smug, but strangest of all was that he seemed to be expecting something. Sophie had stared at him, confused.
"I already said thank you," she'd said.
"Ah yes. Yes, so you did," he'd replied. But instead of leaving or making some sort of big spectacle concerning how wonderful and thoughtful he was (which, to be honest, was what Sophie had been waiting for) had cleared his throat again, still waiting. Sophie stared back at him mutely for a minute longer. He stared back at her. The minutes ticked by and eventually the silence became, quite frankly, downright uncomfortable.
"Thank you very much?" she ventured.
He threw up his hands in defeat and let out a funny sort of noise (something between a 'gah' and a 'hmph') and turned on his heel, making his cloak sail behind him in a wide sweeping arc before locking himself in his bedroom. With a Slam.
"What was that all about?" asked Sophie of her two silent spectators.
"Perhaps he was expecting a bigger response," said Michael, putting his spell down. "You know how he likes to be appreciated."
"I don't see why I should praise him anymore than I do when you or Calcifer do something nice for me. And I did say thank you," she protested, stroking the little bird which oddly enough, purred in response. Calcifer snorted.
"What?" she asked.
"Well, it just occurred to me that neither Michael nor I are the ones in you're in love with. And perhaps that is reason enough to warrant a bigger response?" Michael laughed. Sophie glared at the two of them, blushing. "Yes, well- I-" she spluttered quite at a loss as to what to say.
Michael and Calcifer laughed seeing Sophie so flustered and about Howl to boot!
...
Sophie could not figure him out and it wasn't for lack of trying. In all the time she'd known (and put up with) him so far, he had never once acted like he was now. But then predictability was not an outstanding feature with Howl, that much she had learned.
"Well," she said to herself. "If it's something from me he wants he should know better than to try bribe it out of me with gifts."
That was the only plausible reason she could come up with. And yet the wizard was being frustratingly persistent. Calcifer could not puzzle him out either (once Sophie had finally convinced him that if it wasn't love then to consider what it might be). "Can't possibly be your magic," he reasoned. "No offense Sophie, but he probably out-magics you three times over in both strength and experience."
Which was both true and rather annoying to admit. She'd been getting Michael to teach her magic lately, as well as Calcifer. She'd never thought to ask Howl as he was so busy now, being Official Royal Wizard and all. And she had gotten better, surprisingly. She could do simple transportation spells, cleaning spells (which always came in handy) and any other spells she thought looked interesting.
Michael had agreed with her up to a point but after Howl had returned one day with a towering, 4ft monstrosity of a hat that had no other purpose than to sit on Sophie's head, he claimed it was simply love and that Sophie should get used to someone finally showing her affection.
...
Two days later, on the morning of May day, Sophie was busy preparing the bouquets and garlands to sell. The shop was filled with the aromatic scents of a thousand flowers and the door to the flower fields was open, letting cool, dewy breezes ventilate the room. She hadn't woken Michael up yet and didn't plan to for an hour or two yet at least. Even Calcifer was snoozing in the grate, little sparks issuing out his mouth as he snored. The castle was silent, quiet save for the steady rhythm of sleep. Sophie smiled, this was exactly how she liked it. Not that she didn't love her new family, but caring for a household of boys (no matter how old they are, they are what they are) was very tiring work. If they didn't need feeding then it was attention or someone to solve their problems or remind them where they'd put something- as if she could remember all these things! Yes, it was these rare moments of quiet that she cherished.
BANG!
The sound of an upstairs door slamming effectively shattered the silence, waking up Calcifer too. "What on earth is that crazy man doing now?" she asked, setting down her garland. The 'crazy man' in question came flying down the stairs then, taking them two at a time, his hair looking like a haystack, his clothes barely on straight and one boot floating in the air behind him trying desperately to attach itself onto his foot.
"You're not going out looking like that?" asked Sophie incredulously as she watched him wrestling to get his boot on the right foot. He 'mph'ed in reply while he pulled his arm properly through his sleeve. "At least comb your hair!-". Howl stopped at the door then, did a quick about-turn and said, "Willbebacksoon. MustfinishspellforKing." Before dashing out again.
Sophie was still standing in the middle of the room two minutes later, feeling as though a magical hurricane had just hit. Or some butterfly in Burma had just flapped it's wings and that was the reason for all the strangeness going on in her household. Howl never left the castle looking less than perfect. It was like saying a tiger could leave without its head, never mind its stripes. Calcifer stared at her, then to the door now open to Kingsbury and finally back at her with a sleepy speechlessness that said, "Did I just witness what I think I did, or am I still asleep?". "I'm just as confused as you," she clarified. He nodded his head and lay back down among the logs, satisfied.
- A few hours later-
"-and then he ran out mumbling something about the King," said Sophie, weaving tulips into the wreath she was making. "Now you tell me that's not just plain bizarre."
"I must admit it sounds a little far-fetched. Not that I don't believe you of course," added Michael hastily. "It's just, hard to imagine. I mean, this is Howl we're talking about."
Sophie hmphed. "Well I know what I saw. Calcifer saw him too, didn't you Calcifer?"
"Yeah, but I thought it was just a dream," said the fire demon scratching the back of his head. "Maybe you were seeing things; it was pretty early still."
"I was not seeing things," said Sophie defiantly.
"I wonder what Howl will bring today?" mused Michael instead, tapping his chin.
"Probably some sort of exotic lion for Sophie to ride around on in town," cackled Calcifer.
Sophie glared at the two of them. "Haha," she said dryly. "Yes, well perhaps Howl would have finally come to his senses and realised that I'm not interested in gifts." Though this hardly sounded convincing even to her own ears.
"Sophie!" bellowed Howl. "Come here and take a look!"
Sophie had her 'surprised face' on when she turned to Michael. "I could've sworn I just heard Howl outside."
"I don't think anyone else would dare to scream at you like that," he replied already trying to extricate himself from a pile of flowers so that he could get a look for himself. Calcifer shot out of the chimney.
"But he went to Kingsbury this morning and he didn't passed through here!" she said, shocked.
"SOPHIE!" came the bellow again.
She sighed and put down her wreath on the verge of irritation. "If that man has some sort of beastly lion outside, generous or not, I will tell him to take it back," she muttered under her breath.
She opened the door to the shop and gaped. And then screeched; it was worse.
"Howl Jenkins! Have you completely lost your mind?"
A/N: Added a few tidbits that I rather liked from my original draft, and thanks to some very convincing and well-pointed out points from jblockk I have returned this to the HMC vault of . I want to wrap this fic up within the next chapter ergo the extended ending of this one :)