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 Posted: Mon May 02, 2011 9:45 pm
Howl was sick. Howl was outside. Howl felt like he was about to die.
So why was he outside? In the cold air that was Gaia's Spring when it hadn't yet realized that it was no longer winter? He was working on his castle. His father had all but kicked him out of the house, calling him a troublemaker and a burden. And though Calcifer had tried convincing the wizard that his father was ill, and did not mean what he had said--and surely if the elf knew how sick Howl was, he'd allow him back inside.
But the wizard refused. He instead called his best friend. His sister, the mother of his future godchild--Kali. "Kali," he whined into the phone. "Come see me. Don't bother knocking, just come to the backyard." He sneezed. "Bring some hot chocolate or something. I'm freezing, and it's not done..." he trailed off before hanging up.
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Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 10:21 pm
Kali didn't generally like being whined at for no reason, nor did she like being hung up on. However, Howl was a special case. Howl always whined, and she supposed that was good enough to count as a 'reason'.
Plus, he sounded genuinely sick. Which, if she remembered, wasn't a good thing.
She still didn't like being hung up on, but she supposed she could make a one time exception for a sick Howl.
She waited long enough to make some hot chocolate, then put it into a thermos and began the walk to Howl's house. She had also packed a large sweater and a scarf for Howl, assuming he had probablynot worn any.
A slight bump was hidden beneath her sweater, the only evidence so far of her pregnancy. She held her hands over it, despite it being barely visible, hyper aware of it's existance.
She made it to Howl's fairly quickly, however not with his magically enhanced speed, and went straight to the back yard as instructed. She figured she could ask what was up when she saw him.
"Look what I have." She dangled the thermos at him, cocking her head to the side. "What's wrong with you? Are you okay?"
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Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 10:47 pm
"Hot chocolate!" Howl reached for the thermos, before blinking at the older teenager's question. "Okay? Course I'm not okay! I'm wasting away. I'm going to freeze to death. I'll be surprised if I'm not dead within the week..." The blond teenager attached himself to Kali without much hesitation. "I wanted to show you what I've been doing," he coughed into his hand, "before I die." He had missed being able to propose to Sophie on May Day, something that'd been a long term goal of his. His father had thrown him out a week before, tossing most of his things into the yard.
He was quite possibly having one of the worst two weeks of his life. "I couldn't find a place to stay," he started unhappily. "So I made one? Well, started making one. It's not done, so I can't go inside."
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Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 11:24 pm
"You can't waste away, Howl." She laughed quietly and hugged him back, reaching up to pet his head. It was times like this that she missed when he used to be smaller than her. Mostly because she could hardly pull him into her lap and snuggle him. Not properly, anyways.
"You started making...oh! Another castle?" She could only assume so. What else would Howl build? "I'd love to see it. Then, I think, we should go somewhere warm and have that hot chocolate. Okay?"
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Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 11:50 pm
"Course. Sophie and I need somewhere to stay when we get married, don't we? I thought another castle'd be like being in Ingary again..." He took the spell of invisibility off the half finished castle. The floating castle--if one could call it that, was barely three inches off the ground. Its towers were made of something that resembled shiny black coal; perhaps to feed the firedemon that undoubtedly powered it all. "Calcifer's still working on the inside," Howl explained. "I designed the outside, do you think it's imtimidating enough? I don't know if it is... My reputation's not as bad here as it was in Ingary."
The sick teenager paused, and looked at Kali. His eyes were wet from his cold, and his nose wasn't doing much better. "Somewhere warm..." he mused. "Where? Let's go."
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Posted: Sun May 15, 2011 6:48 pm
"Mm. I think it's as intimidating as you are." Not that Kali thought Howl was intimidating - she just thought that was something he would like to hear. "All black like that and all. Plus, it floats. Will it ever go higher?" She wondered out loud.
"Would Sophie like an intimidating castle?" She also wondered, before answering herself. "Well, I suppose she would, if the inside was nice. And clean." She shot a pointed look at Howl, who...probably wouldn't notice or listen.
"As for where, I was thinking maybe my house? Or, somewhere closer...I don't know anywhere around here, though. I don't come here often."
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Posted: Sun May 15, 2011 8:07 pm
"I'm not intimidating," Howl corrected Kali at once, crossing his arms. "Maybe frightening, wicked, heartless, horrible--but certainly not intimidating. I'd never be able to catch girls if I was, you see." He paused, and seemed to consider it. "Why would it need to go higher?" he asked. "I hate heights, you know that. I suppose it could, to get over things...But I won't be watching when it does."
He frowned. Was Kali suggesting that Sophie wouldn't like the castle? What if she didn't like it? ...No, she would. She had the last time, at least, she had liked it enough to enter without being invited. "Of course she would! Why wouldn't she? With all the women on Gaia, we've got to have some way to frighten them away. Besides, I imagine this place needs a good witch and wizard more than even Ingary does." He sneezed into his elbow, reaching for Kali's hand.
"Your place sounds nice," he said at last. "I'll get us there quickly."
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Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 11:12 pm
"You don't like heights? I didn't know that about you, Howl." She mused out loud, watching the castle hover. "Well, if you're afraid, no need to make it higher. Maybe a spire or two would be interesting. Ooh. And a flag. You should totally have your own flag." She grinned at him, then looked over at him.
"I suppose we're due for a witch and a wizard, but I think I've got 'best mage' cornered." She boasted with a small laugh, taking his hand when he offered it. She didn't bother thinking of how she had been kicked out of her apprenticeship rather rudely, and nodded at his offer.
"Well then, we should have plenty of time for hot chocolate, then." She added in, smiling once more. "You like cocoa, right?"
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Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 11:38 pm
"Really? Could have sworn you'd read the books. Heights scare me silly. Spires... Maybe. A flag? I don't know. Sounds a bit cliche. Don't you think the smoke and towers are enough?" He paused and grinned. "I think Sophie would say I was being vain if I did get a flag, you know. I don't need my name up in lights." He wasn't Melicot, afterall, who had specialized in making things appear to be gold. (There was no fun in doing something that had already been done).
"Course you're the best mage," the wizard said, beaming. "You're my apprentice. I wouldn't settle for anything less, you see." He didn't say anything else for a moment, for in a poof of smoke, they were at their destination. "Told you I'd get us here quickly," he said. "Can we go in? I'm freezing."
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