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Howl had always wanted Kali to meet Sophie, ever since he had met his friend at his birthday party. Now that he and Sophie were living together, he had a chance. He picked up the phone and dialed Kali's phone number, glancing around the small living room. It was definitely a lot cleaner since Sophie'd moved in. He hoped Kali would feel comfortable coming over.

"Hey, Kali?" he sounded happy. Whole. That was a switch from the last time he'd called his red-headed mage friend. Last time, he had thought Sophie had died, and had asked Kali to come. "Want to come over? I'll make hot chocolate. I've got a surprise for you. And for the baby too." He practically beamed into the phone before hanging up.

"Sophie, Kali's coming over!"

"Yes," Howl said, blinking at his wife. "I have something for the baby, and I thought she might like it." He lifted the carefully wrapped box up to show her. Something inside it was growling and snarling, but he didn't seem to have worried about breathing holes. Perhaps that was whatever Howl had put in the box's problem.

"Sophie dear, are you alright?" Howl was concerned. He set the box down onto the table, and muttered a few words so it fell silent. "She won't be going into the kitchen, you know. Unless Puff decides to dye someone's hair..." He paused before grinning. "She's coming now," he said.

Sure enough, Kali's knock had sounded. Howl opened the door and positively beamed at her. "Kali!" he said delightedly. "There's someone I want you to meet, come on. She's in the kitchen now, cleaning--and your surprise is on the table. It's the big box, by the way. The little one's for Lance. Tell him not to use it too often, or it'll wear out. Otherwise, it should last him a few years."

He took her hand and led her inside. "Come on! She's excited to finally meet you. I've told her all about us. Sophie! Sophie, Kali's here."

Howl didn't know what all the fuss was about. Kali had been in the castle several times, and it had always been a mess. Why would she suddenly start caring now? And why was Sophie so worried about what the castle looked like? Women.

"I didn't forget you!" Howl insisted, pulling a medium sized box out of his jacket pocket. "Here," he said. "It was supposed to be a surprise, but--it's a box of wishes. You know, for you and Lance to make together. It won't work if only one of you makes the wish. And it can't hurt anyone. If you wish that someone'd die or something, it's not going to work." The wizard certainly seemed quick enough to reassure Kali that she was, in fact, loved. Even if he knew she was teasing.

Howl spotted Sophie and seemed to freeze in his tracks. "Let's--go to the living room," he suggested, glancing at Kali. "She's rather frightening when angry. Don't know what the fuss is about, really! You've been here plenty of times, and the mess never bothered you." He frowned at Sophie, and let go of Kali's hand. "She's not upset with you," he explained. "She's mad at me. You're always more than welcome here, Kali. You know that."

Honestly, Sophie wasn't even trying to be friendly! "Anyway. Kali, you've already met Sophie. Sophie, meet Kali. And do try to be nicer, won't you?"

Howl knew his wife well enough to know he would be in trouble the moment Kali left. So he planned to follow Kali home, when she did leave, so Sophie would forget her anger with him. Or maybe he would attempt to have Kali stay the night--maybe Sophie would calm down afterward. "She's always mad at me," he confided in his friend. "She's been pickier than ever about the housekeeping. I do hope she doesn't take it out on you."

"Oh! He's going to love it Kali," the wizard beamed, taking the rather large, brightly colored box from the table. "Here, open it. You'll see." The box had stopped growling, but now a soft snoring sound was coming from within. "It's nothing alive," he added quickly, with a grin. "It's actually... er. A stuffed animal. You'll see! I enchanted it myself. It's the child safe kind, really. It can't breathe fire. Open it!"

What Kali would find, when she opened it, was a rather harmless looking green stuffed dragon. It had velvety purple wings and a yellow stomach. It might have been bought locally. The only thing that really made it different from the ones undoubtedly sitting in the nearest toystore was that it was breathing. Slow, content, breathing. The dragon was asleep, curled up like a small cat.

He briefly wandered into the kitchen to kiss Sophie's cheek. "Love, calm down," he gently instructed. "If the water gets too hot, it'll melt the kettle. You never do anything by halves."

"I'm sorry, Sophie," Howl apologized quickly, in hopes of avoiding his impending doom. "I was simply excited for her to meet you. I've told her all about you, and how much I love you, and what you're like. I forgot." One arm curled around Sophie's waist, and he placed another kiss on her cheek. "I love you," he said. "Now, forgive me?"

He was startled when Kali called his name. He poked his head out of the kitchen. "It's a dragon," he explained. "Child safe version," he added. "Does everything but breathe fire, and only on command. It listens to you and--will listen to James, when he's born and old enough to know how to control it. I thought you'd like it."

He turned and crossed his arms, frowning at Sophie. "I don't terrorize you," he said, rather defensively. For a moment, an expression of genuine hurt crossed his face. He was still recovering from the period of time Sophie'd been gadding off as Tara. "And I don't torment my friends. It's not a gag gift. It's the same thing I gave Morgan on his birthday," he huffed at her. "If you're so unhappy here, you would have stayed as that ugly...pink haired thing!" He left the kitchen to sulk next to Kali.

"So cruel..." he was muttering. "Always so cruel."

Howl ignored Sophie pointedly. He could be that way if he wanted! It was his castle. Why did he even bother? It was clear Sophie was unhappy with him. She was bound to leave. Perhaps she would pretend to die again, and disguise herself as another girl. Those thoughts made it worse.

He'd lost her once. He really wasn't looking forward to losing her again. He didn't know what would happen, if he lost her again. Dark shadows started slowly climbing the walls.

He was distracted from what would have been a tantrum by Kali's voice. Adorable? Kali liked the present? His expression went from tragic to beaming in an instant. "Of course it is," he agreed. "You really like it?" he asked. "I thought the baby would. Lance'll like his present too," he added conversationally. "Inspiration. To help him write. You said he wrote songs, so--" Howl had recently discovered that he quite liked Lance; he felt he owed the older man something.

Howl noticed Sophie's silence and closeness. He put an arm around her waist as she brushed against him. He seemed to have forgiven her for upsetting him. He kissed her cheek. "Be friendly?" he suggested. "She's family."

He looked to Kali and smiled. "Good. I was hoping you would. He's enchanted to listen only to you and the baby. But I can adjust that if you want it to obey Lance. It wouldn't attack him, or anything." He paused and pretended to look thoughtful. "He hasn't told you?" He was genuinely surprised. "He saved my life." He wouldn't go into details. Kali didn't need that stress. Neither did Sophie. "Let's say he prevented me from doing something I would have regretted had I been in my right mind." Oh, he hadn't been suicidal; but what he'd been attempting to do had been close enough to it.