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It was an absolutely lovely day. Perhaps a testament of how beautiful Autumn could truly be. Yet, somehow, Howl was unable to find the time to appreciate the physical appearance of the world.

No, he was walking through the park with a planner at hand that he seemed to be reading quite intently. It was a bit unusual, since it looked like he was studying the planner rather than adding anything to it, which would have been a very accurate assessment. The fact was, he had more or less transferred Franz's daily schedule to his own planner. It was a strange manner of mourning his roommate's slumber in the hospital, but the teal-haired fellow was frequently guilty of thinking too much.

Franz did so much for the school, that Howl would have felt guilty for when his friend woke up. The world inside of Hillworth's gates would have spun into utter chaos, and Franz would be heartbroken. It was Howl's duty to ensure such did not happen. It was Howl's duty to ensure that Hillworth remained as beautiful as Franz had made it be. Howl did not want to abandon his own activities, but with everything considered, he only had a very minimal amount of time for himself, and that was Fencing practice.

For a moment, the lad took a seat upon a bench and set the planner upon his lap. His eyes finally drifted away from pages he had been memorizing and was able to see something that appealed to him.

Honeysuckle?

When was the last time that he had been able to appreciate a plant? The cactus he purchased for Franz's hospital room was nothing the teal-haired lad could appreciate, at least, not until it bloomed eventually. Carefully, he stood himself up again and approached, failing to notice the current occupant. His fingers delicately touched upon a vine so it would curl around the appendage gently.

"Hello, Howl."

Having expected nobody to greet him, nobody to know him by name to say the least, the teal-haired fellow was quite surprised by the sudden greeting. Not letting such surprise touch his features, he cooly turned to face the one who had spoken to him. The girl had short red locks of hair and golden yellow eyes that were actually familiar.

His mind did not drift back to any scenario dealing with dogs or tea. He did not recall the attempted super hero. No, instead his mind managed to find another event where this short-haired girl's face seemed familiar. Instead of a cafe, there was a ballroom. Instead of a dog, there was a man and a woman. The woman specifically his lovely mother. Howl did not have the pleasure of meeting the man, face to face, but he remembered everything he had seen. His eyes had managed to stray every so often as his mother spun about the dance floor, and he had managed to notice a young lady who was watching the pair in a similar fashion to how he had been.

"...I do not believe we were formally introduced at the Debutante Ball, Miss." He did not mention it, but he did muse that it was possible his mother had spoken of him, and the man (obviously this young lady's father) had mentioned it to her in turn.

Though his features still had remnants of sadness lingering, he still had to mind his own manners. His fingers reached out, inviting the girl to place her own within his grasp.

The mention of the day only received a neutral response. "It is a matter of opinion, is it not, Miss?" He did not take up the invitation to take a seat. It would most likely result in grass stains.

Without a last name, Howl was forced to address the redhead by her first name. However, it did not mean he had to be informal about it. "It is a pleasure, Miss Vanessa." Normally his hand would have slid her hand to his lips for a brief and light kiss, but with the manner she had taken his hand, shaken it, and soon enough was done, the opportunity did not present itself.

The girl's prompting seemed to go ignored, but Howl had noticed it. He just chose to avoid the subject. Instead, he noted what the girl had in her possession.

"You know, it is rather rare to see someone with a bouquet these days that do not include roses. It amazes me how some flowers get put onto such a high pedestal, leaving the quaint beauties, such as the delicate daisy, in their shadows." He hadn't meant to, but it almost felt as if what he had just said was a metaphor for himself and his current situation.

In an effort to ignore that realization, he moved forward with a simple prompt. "So, Miss Vanessa, is there a special reason for your flowers?"

A single brow rose a bit in silent question to the girl's response as he caught the flowers against his body as delicately as he could manage. He rather obviously did not seem to believe her statement about the flowers being for him.

"That is quite kind of you, Miss Vanessa, but please forgive me for having suspicions as to the validity of that statement. It does seem a bit strange to have flowers prepared for someone that you only met a few moments ago."

His eyes did sympathetically fall upon the cheery little bouquet. The flowers would inevitably wither without a chance to experience any more life beyond the life in a bouquet. His preference had always fallen with potted flowers, for they the chance to continue life for longer. It would be foolish to think something could live forever.

"However, do not think that the sentiment to share your flowers is unappreciated. As I said before, it really is quite kind of you to offer." Making certain none of the petals had been jostled too much with her tossing of the bouquet, Howl extended the small collection of flowers to the girl once more. "I would feel quite guilty taking flowers from a young lady in such a fashion."

The girl shook her head, and came up with at least 3 different ways to essentially say that she was not taking the flowers back. She definitely seemed to have a rather strong personality. If he was a more stubborn man, he might have thrust the flowers in her arms, but alas, that would ruin the already dying plants. However, he knew such would be too brutish for his own tastes, so he just took the flowers up against his body and cradled them in a caring manner.

He could have mentioned again how much he appreciated her kindness, but he figured that would make the conversation a bit too circular at the moment. He'd mention her kindness, she'd mention to think nothing of it, and they wouldn't get anywhere in the conversation. So instead, he simply nodded to her, then pushed along in the conversation.

"Might I ask, Miss Vanessa, what sorts of activities do you participate in to keep yourself entertained? Do you have any particular hobbies?"

Ah, so she was one of those types. He did not let it show that he wasn't fond of drummers or fond of skateboarders. No, he just looked ever thoughtful, nodding his head with each hobby she listed. Howl was quite certain what he considered to be music and what Miss Vanessa thought to be music would be two completely conflicting notions.

When the conversational ball was bounced back into his side of the conversational tennis court, he was more than willing to share with her what he'd be willing to let her know. "I am rather fond of the written word, so I do enjoy writing. However, it is not in the manner of putting idea to paper as it is forming the letters to look as elegant as possible." Well, that was a fancy way of saying he liked calligraphy.

"I am also quite interested in the sport of fencing. I will assure you, Miss Vanessa, that I know a great deal, but I do not have a natural talent for it." He hoped to god she knew what fencing was. Something about her seemed so unpolished that it seemed possible she wouldn't understand that fencing meant sword play.

"I am not certain if you picked up on this already, but I am quite fond of gardening." With a nod, he returned the conversational ball back to Vanessa. "I think that about covers it."

If he hadn't been the sort to hide his gut reactions simply out of a need to be polite and maintain appearances, he probably would have sighed heavily, shaking his head and putting his hand up to his temple. His assumption about this Vanessa had been quite on the nose.

Calmly, he instead proceeded to explain what the redhead had clearly misunderstood. "I assure you, that fencing has nothing to do with creating walls to enclose animals or property in, Miss Vanessa. It is a French sport that deals with swords play." He paused to think of an example she would probably be familiar with. "Think of it like the Three Musketeers." It was a bit of a basic example, but in all honesty, it seemed simple was the way to go with this girl. She was kind enough, but she definitely wasn't an intellectual equal.