Porcelain Doll (Howl X Reader)

Chapter 6

(Y/N) stood by Calficer tilting the pan ever so slightly so as to not burn anything. She was so focused on the food, the click of the door changing didn't phase her at all.

"My, my" A warm voice coos, next to her ear. His hands placed themselves on her shoulders "How obedient you are being Calficer"

"She offered me food in return, and is way nicer than you" His eyes peep up from under the pan "That's a good deal."

The man chuckles, his hand sliding down her arm to her hand, delicately grabbing the pan out of her grasp, while his other hand reaches for the solid turner in her grasp.

She sucks in a breath feeling his chest against her back as she quickly removes her hands, ducking under his arms, turning to face him.

"You!" She gasps. He chuckles moving the pan away from Calcifer as Markl grabbed the cleanest plates he could find.

"I did say, I hope to see you around" He chuckles, placing the food on the plates and pulling out a chair, motioning for her to sit "But I didn't know you'd take it to my place"

"Well I didn't know this was your place" She replies, taking a seat in the chair he pulled out for her. "I was only trying to find a powerful wizard or witch"

"And why would that be?" He questioned once more, pushing his blonde hair aside for a moment. He picked up the fork Markl gave him and began to eat.

"I need to br-"Her lips shut tight once more. She growls under her breath, slamming her hand against the table, though it didn't do much damage.

"I see" Howl hums in acknowledgement.

"How about instead..." (Y/N) stops, looking around the room "I shall be you cleaning lady, until I get....this" She motions to her lips "sorted out"

Howl stood up, placing his plate on top of the pile of dirty dishes.

"Calcifer, send hot water to my bath"

"Not again" Calcifer whines, yet does as told. "He is always demanding me to do things, either 'Calcifer move the castle' or 'Calcifer, send hot water to the bath' then disappears"

(Y/N) laughs at Calcifer mimicking Howl's voice and he grows a light blue, the face within the flames, making a pouty look as he sulks behind the logs keeping him bright. Her laughter died down, her eyebrows raising as she stared at where Howl had left, her mouth slightly agape.

"Wait" She looks from Markl, to Calcifer, then to the stairs. "He never gave me an answer."

"Don't worry about that," Markl says. He hops off of his chair placing his plate among the pile of dirty dishes in the sink. "It took him months before he realized I was living in the house, he is always out chasing after girls anyway."

"Oh..." Disappointment laces her voice. She picks up a blanket placing it on the floor around Calcifer.

"What are you doing?" Calcifer watches as she picks up a broom from the corner of the room, along with the log tongs.

(Y/N) uses the tongs to pick up the firewood Calcifer was resting on, placing him in a bucket which held fresh new wood for Calcifer to burn on. She picks up the broom standing up and swipes the soot onto the blanket. She answers Calcifer's question while cleaning the fireplace he rests in "I should start with your fireplace first, then finish the rest of this house"

"You really meant it when you said you'd clean?!" Markl gasps in surprise racing towards her, grabbing the end of her dress, looking up at her with a mix of surprise and awe. "Just don't touch Howl's room, no one is allowed in there"

"Might as well if I shall be stuck here" (Y/N) sighs,taking note of the last words Markl said and disgarding her curiousity. She grabs the corner of the blanket and folds it over, keeping the soot from falling onto the floor.

"Technically, you could leave whenever" Calcifer chimes from behind his new log of wood in the bucket.

"Where can I toss this soot out?" She looks to Markl, picking up the now secure soot in the blanket and standing up, completely ignoring Calcifer's remark.

Markl leads her to the door, turning the switch to the green dial. He opens the door for her as she steps outside with the blanket releasing the soot. She lifts her arms up, with a tight grip on the blanket as she lets it fall to clean itself.

After doing it a few times she turns and walks back inside the castle with Markl closing the door behind her. Markl sat in silence as he watched (Y/N) move across the room, cleaning and organizing.

A few hours passed when (Y/N) had finished the downstairs rooms, well room really. The table was cleaned off, the area around Calcifer was dusted and all the tile floors mopped. The kitchen dishes had been cleaned and washed, with the help of Markl. Calcifer was satisfied as (Y/N) had fed him any scraps, rather than let the food go to waste.

Currently (Y/N) sat by Calcifer staring nowhere in particular with Markl rummaging around behind her. He had told her he was preparing an area for her to sleep while she stayed at the castle.

(Y/N) suddenly wrapped her arms around herself, a sudden chill wracking her body. She held her arms tighter, turning her attention to Markl.

"Markl, do you by chance have a blanket I can use?"

"Uh, a blanket?" He was very confused as to why she would need a blanket while sitting so close to Calcifer "Um...I have a spare cloak. Are you sick?"

"Last I checked I was not," She stands up facing Markl with a small smile "Thank you for the concern though"

Markl simply nods his head, turning around and skipping up to his room. A few minutes of hearing someone shuffle around pass while (Y/N) sat warming herself up. Markl appeared before her holding not a blanket, but a cloak.

"Um...this is one of my old cloaks" Markl replies handing it over to (Y/N), "I don't use it anymore and as I couldn't find a spare blanket I hope this will do.."

"Thank you Markl" She smiles at him. She turns her head as she hears Calcifer huff out, his flames a bright red.

"What about me?" He puffs out a cloud of smoke "I keep this place warm so you weren't totally freezing"

"Yes, yes, thank you too Calcifer" She giggles at him, wrapping herself in Markl's cloak.

The cloak wasn't too small as Markl stood and 4''5', or 138.5 centimeters, she herself was quite small, especially standing next to Howl. The cloak provided the warmth she seemed to be lacking as she relaxed back into the chair.

Markl approached her, placing his small hands onto her lap and he leaned forward getting a closer look at her face. His narrowed eyes bore holes into her face, with furrowed brows. (Y/N) tilts away, leaning farther into the chair.

"What's wrong?" She questions, as Markl stands properly once more.

"Just seeing if you were sick or not, especially after being in the cold last night" He shrugs his shoulders "You don't seem to be though"

"Alright...." She glances at Calcifer who gives her a type of shrug, or whatever a fire could do to seem impassive.

A comfortable silence filled the room, as Markl shuffled around, preparing a makeshift bed. The silence was interrupted by the noise Markl was making yet no one said anything, keeping the quiet of speech.

"The bed is ready for you, (Y/N)" Markl says, rubbing his eyes releasing a big yawn "I will go to bed, goodnight!"

"What about me?!" Calficer puffs causing Markl to let out a small laugh.

"Goodnight to you too Calcifer"

(Y/N) sat in silence for a few moments before standing up and placing the chair against the wall so no one would trip.

Holding the cloak close to herself she sits on the makeshift bed Markl put together, lying her head on the pillow. She curls up into a fetal position, pulling the blanket to cover part of her face, staring at the wall with a fond smile.

"Goodnight Calcifer"

Her voice gets lost in the crackling of the fire as her eyes shut and she falls into a peaceful sleep.