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Howl loved libraries. He loved everything about them; the people, the books, the pictures. He loved the quiet in which he could watch girls. Today however, he wasn't giving the girls as much attention as he normally would. He was unusually focused while looking at the young adult's fiction section. "Where is it?" he muttered. He didn't want help finding the series he was looking for--it would be too embarrassing to ask.

He spotted a group of people around his age from the corner of his eye. Hm. They had a girl with them. A rather interesting looking girl, at that. She had wings like his cousin Vincent. Maybe they were related some how. Howl ended his search; the books he was looking for just weren't there. They had probably been checked out by some pretty girl. He decided he would have to introduce himself. After all, the girl with them was quite pretty, even if she was different.

"Hi, I'm Howl," he said, giving each a smile. "What are your names?"

"Hi Julie," Howl said, giving the girl a sunny smile. "It's nice to meet you." He nodded at Phineas, and gave the boy an equally bright smile. "You as well, Phineas." It was nice to meet friendly people in the library; usually people would tell him to 'Shhh!' "I was actually looking for a series of books by Diane Wynne Jones--but it's not here. I think they've already been checked out." That was good, he didn't want to mention the name of the series. "Mostly Castle in the Air and stuff--I wanted to read about the genie."

He paused, and looked to Julie. "I like your wings," he complimented. They were a nice color. Her hair was nice, too. In fact, everything about her was nice. "Are you looking for a certain book, Phineas? Do you have a nickname?" If they were friends, it was only proper to call someone by their nickname, right? "I could help you find a book, if you like."

"Oh, thank you," Howl said, smiling at Phineas gratefully. After all, why not? He was too proud to request the assistance from the librarians there; why not let a friend help him? He smiled down at Julie. The more he looked at her, the prettier she seemed to become. "Phin's not a very good nickname," Howl decided. "I shall have to find him a better one."

Julie really was a fitting name for her. She was as beautiful as any jewel Howl had ever seen, or so he told himself. "Want to help your brother look for books? Or do you want to do something else?" Maybe when Phineas was finished, they could go look at the children's section. Howl wasn't so mature as to not appreciate the brightly colored pictures and short stories. "Do you like reading?" he asked.

Howl was silently impressed with Phineas' antics. He watched his new friend for a moment, before looking back to Julie. "I couldn't read very well at your age either," he confided. "I made up my own stories based on the pictures, and told them to myself. Maybe you could do that too. I bet you have great stories to tell. Maybe you'll tell me some?" He said this in such a hopeful tone that one might have believed he meant it. Of course--he might have been acting for the girl's benefit.

"I'm sure you'll be a great reader, too," he told her with a smile. He looked back to Phineas. "Do you think we should help him? I'm fairly sure the books aren't here. I'll put them on hold and the next time they're in, they'll send them to me."

"Oh, so you're an artist," Howl said with a smile. "Unfortunately, I can't draw. Well--I can draw stick figures." It was one of the effects of being a wizard, he thought silently. Both his handwriting and artistic skills were lackluster. Well; no one could read his handwriting, except himself--and even he had trouble at times.

Howl was impressed with Phineas' skill. He took the books silently, looking at the cover of each one. "Thank you," he said, flashing him a genuine smile. It might have bothered him that someone was better at something than he was, had he been thinking about it. "You're really good at this kind of thing; do you have a book you're looking for?" he asked. Of course, Phineas probably could have found it himself. "I mean--you don't seem to need help finding anything, but would you like company?"

Howl frowned slightly, did Julie have to refuse every compliment he shot towards her? He wasn't used to this. "I'm sure you'll be an artist when you're older though," he amended. "It usually runs in families like that." He wondered silently if wizardry ran in his family.

"Oh, children's books. Maybe I'll get some for my younger brother," Howl said with a smile. Surely Devin would learn to love books if Howl read to him? He hoped so. "My brother's not much older than Julie," he told Phineas. "Maybe they can play together sometime."

Howl was slightly surprised. Had this girl come from another world like he had? "My dad got me from a cave, too," he said. It was almost embarrassing to admit that; a cave had to be the worst possible place to be born in--or in Howl's case, summoned in. "My younger brother Devin, he came from a cabbage," he added quickly. "I don't know where the rest of my siblings came from--they're all older than I am." Well, technically, anyway.

He paused and looked to Phineas. "My younger brother's an elf--he's not really that much younger than me," he said. "He's smaller, though--" he put his hand to his waist to demonstrate. At the boy's suggestion, he nodded. "Sure. You seem to know your way around," he said. That and Howl had no idea where the picture books were located. How unfortunate.