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The room was so empty now that his roommate, Franz, was away for holiday. The room was also quite silent, save for the faint sound of letters being formed. The more effeminate of the pair in Dorm 230 had left the door open as he worked on practicing his calligraphy. He had been hoping that the open door would serve as an invitation for others to stop by, but so far the invitation had not been accepted at all.

As he sat at his desk, his steady and dainty fingers moved skillfully as he formed script upon a piece of parchment. He held a rather elegant plume between his fingers, and as he wrote, it almost looked as if he was trying to tickle his own face. If he was getting tickled by the gentle brushing of the feather against his face, it most certainly didn't show. His expression was quite serious, and did not seem to hold that calmness that frequented his features. Occasionally, Howl would have to pause to re-ink his writing utensil, but even that simple action did not seem to break the flow of his work.

The hallway had been so silent, that the moment footsteps could be heard, the teal-haired beauty paused from his work and turned to face the door. His expression wasn't very welcoming, but he at the same time, the young lad was craving some sort of social interaction.

Despite how surprised Marlo seemed to be acting about Howl's foul mood, Howl had other things on his mind. He saw as the boy seemed to fumble at the door, giving Howl a questioning look, then went to sort out his minor mess at the entrance. The teal haired lad never figured Marlo to be the particularly festive type, but then again, the festivity trait always seemed to pop up in the strangest of people. If you walked in the city, you could tell who was really anxious for the holiday to arrive based on their clothing. The more level-headed people wore normal, everyday clothing, and the eccentrics tended to wear heavily decorated outfits with holiday adornments all over. All he had to see was a red felt cap with white trim to know that someone was an eccentric, and Marlo was now labeled as an eccentric holiday-goer.

Howl's mouth remained as a straight line, expression seeming serious now rather than angry or upset. This was even slightly off for the frequently polite young man, for he usually was the type to smile politely at nearly every unpleasant situation. Though Howl had an image to maintain (as he saw it), he did not feel as driven to keep it up at the moment. In response to the holiday-goer at his door, he stated in a calm, cool (or was that cold), and collected tone "I am allergic to particular animal furs and bee stings." He had no concern as to the reason for the question, but based off the fact there had been gifts in Marlo's hands, he suspected it had to do with the gifts he had obviously been handing out.

It was strange he addressed the question before the greeting, but with his right hand, he signaled that the younger Xanis to enter, should he desire it. "Thank you, Mr. Xanis," he finally responded, tone seeming more professional than welcoming. Continuing in such a strange tone (for a Howl), he returned the holiday wish. "Merry Christmas to you as well." Despite having a rather fluffy looking feather in hand, Howl's fingers did not play with the object. They stiffly held onto the plume, having been trained for many years that fiddling with items in your fingers was beyond rude.

More out of the desire to no longer have something between his fingers than listening to the casual request, he set his plume down next to the face-down picture frame on his desk. It was an odd thing for the frame to be face down, but only if you knew Howl well enough did you realize that it was for the lad's own good.

Now that his hands were devoid of feathery objects, he glanced down, his elegant hands touching the surface of the box. The surface felt rough beneath his soft fingers. His eyes followed his fingers as they traced the surface, not even seeming remotely interested in the contents. When Marlo had finished with his driveling, Howl glanced up at him with a look that almost seemed as cold and sharp as an ice dagger.

"That is not very sympathetic of you, Mr. Xanis," he sharply stated. "I can find no reason to smile." It was an honest confession on his own part, but it could have easily been considered something melodramatic on his part. Apparently when you had looks like Howl's, you were prone to the same mood swings as females.

His cold gaze remained constant, sights steady upon the younger Xanis brother. His tone remained equally as steady, plodding forward with no sense of emotion hanging for the words. "If you knew a thing about me, young sir, you would realize that the ploy you just attempted on me would not work. Christmas has never been about gifts for me. There has always been one thing that makes this season for me, and no amount of presents could ever sway my views."

As if to get his point across, he tucked his hands under the box, lifted it up and set it on the desk next to his writing utensil, as if trying to remove the box from their focus.

His tone was still extremely distanced as he offered "I appreciate your honesty, Mr. Xanis." It did not sound like he appreciated the honesty.

The various accusations as to what Howl was so moody over were all off the mark, save for one. Even though he was feeling absolutely horrible at the moment, the lovely boy cut off all sense of emotion in his voice as he attempted to talk out what was bothering him.

"Where as I am respectful of the 'Christ' in Christmas, I cannot say it is something I toil over day in and day out. However, I am an advocate of family." A pause. "You mentioned how your family was grooming your elder brother to become an important businessman. I would assume that your parents were quite busy on a day to day basis? My mother and father were well off, if it was not evident already. I fit into this Hillworth society like a square peg in a round hole. However, being financially well off has its price. I rarely got to see them on a day to day basis."

Once more he paused, as he felt a momentary pang of sadness. It took a moment or two for him to regain that composure over his emotions before he once more spoke. "Christmas day was one of the few days I could ensure some time with my parents. For most children, the presents were the best part of the holiday. I learned early on that being with Mother and Father was my own personal reason for the season. The presents never really meant as much to me."

It was about this time that Howl stood himself up and went to shut the door. He had a feeling this conversation would unfortunately delve into some deeper subjects, which he did not exactly want to be common knowledge in such a place. In an effort to at least sound civil, he mentioned while sitting back down "I do appreciate the gift. Do not get me wrong, the sentiment is not lost on me." For a moment, some hint of emotion was voiced in a rather lonely sigh. It was cut short though as he once more sat up with perfect posture in his own chair, looking at Marlo as if waiting for him to ask the question.

"As you described it, you were born to a family of cutthroats." The observation was made with little sympathy. His family prided itself on not stooping to such levels at any point to benefit themselves. Good hard work, detailed planning, and beautiful relationships were the correct way to make it in the financial world. Any other means usually resulted in guilt and regret.

Alas, as Marlo poured his heart into attempting to lift Howl's spirits, all the resident of Dorm 230 could do was wallow in his own misery. It was a problem he had. It was the problem that led to him being in Hillworth. He was fixated on something, and in his mind, nothing else mattered. All of Marlo's attempts at sympathy seemed to go unnoticed.

In fact, the first thing he said after all the heartfelt words was "You make it sound as if I was an overwhelmingly entertaining fellow to begin with." It wasn't even said in jest, it was 100% serious. He watched the boy consume two cookies before he offered to speak again, answering Marlo's demands perhaps a bit too honestly.

"Get my restraining order lifted so that I can return home." Howl knew this would not happen. It was already a fight to get any sort of visitation rights, so getting his restraining order completely lifted would be nothing short of a miracle.

Being more caught in the moment than he had anticipated, Howl continued on with the honest responses. Oh, if only he was not so consumed with emotion, he could have carefully withheld information he normally did not share.

"I cannot be in the same city as her. Meaning I am unable to legally go home."

The timing might have seen awkward or off, but for a moment, Howl smiled, despite how low he felt at the moment. It was one of those weak smiles that looked as if it was trying to fight off his real emotions, on the verge of breaking at any second. "Mother and Father's schedules would not allow for travel, so them coming to Destiny City for the day would be outright impossible."

His eyes seemed to soften slightly, fixating themselves on Marlo's eyes. "I doubt that there is anything one can do." At least he still had some sense to him over the whole situation. Despite how hard the reality of this whole situation was hitting him, he still managed to maintain that small smile.

"However, I thank you, Marlo, for the sentiment." Emotion was starting to bleed back into his words. The first hint of gratitude finally found in this one statement. That temptation to give into his emotions was overwhelming him, but in the back of his mind, he continued to remind himself that he was a Wickham, and that Wickhams did not cry. Howl was a man, no matter how feminine he looked and occasionally acted.

Howl was extremely quiet as he listened to Marlo's mind work aloud. He made no cues saying that his companion was correct or incorrect. It was almost as if the younger Xanis brother was speaking to a statue with relatively little emotion to it. It was when Marlo suggested making the visit himself, Howl's lips quivered into a slightly smile.

"You are correct in your assumptions. However, her family is very stubborn and affluent. She also has no reason to leave the city, as I recall. No family outside of the city. There is all this, and one more fact."

He sighed in a fashion which almost seemed to debate whether or not to share the specific last reason. If anything, Marlo's words had completely distracted him from his fowl mood for now, bringing back the polite young man that Marlo was more accustomed to. The resident of Dorm 230 shook his head gently, and told the other boy in a firm tone "Even in the hypothetical scenario, I would still prefer you did not visit her personally."

There was no hint of surprise in the boy's confession. In fact, this had been one of the many assumptions in his mind. Yet, Howl took this surprisingly calm. Especially considering the next set of words to come out of his mouth.

"I suggest if you value our friendship, you completely forget any of those plans. I will not sit by idly as plans of harassment are made at her expense."

A pause.

"My family is already trying the legal route. We have a hearing shortly in regards to visitation rights. However, it will not be soon enough to make my holiday season a pleasant one."

The statement might have been vaguely depressing, but it did not spiral the teal-haired boy into another bout of negative emotions. Instead, he sighed out again. Howl had never really been the type to sigh so much, usually holding in even the vaguest sense of disappointment or relief so he could seem more proper.

After such a conversation, there needed to be a break in the mood. Fortunately, Howl seemed to suggest it with his actions as he finally turned back to his desk and scooped up Marlo's gift to him with his fingers. With a gentle smile, he mentioned "I suppose you will now insist that I open your gift. Would I be correct in predicting this?"