Fire, Hearts, and Starlight

sleeping arrangements

Sophie missed Howl when he was away. Surely he won't notice if she goes to his room for a while?

Tags: Howl/Sophie, Found Family, Domestic Fluff, Humor

Howl went away on summons more often than Sophie would like. Although she should've expected nothing less from such a powerful wizard. And it's not like she didn't have any company in the castle while he was away. Calcifer decided to stay most of the time, when Howl needed the castle moved (although Sophie was sure he just liked being there). And there was Markl, of course and Heen. But Sophie missed Howl while he was away.

One particular time, he was away for two weeks with minimal correspondence. It was unusual, but when he did send a message, he assured them all he was alright. Sophie tried not to worry by keeping the castle running for him.

She walked into the castle from her pocket dimension Howl gave her, full of flowers and mountains. She loved it there.

"Sophie!" Markl exclaimed, jumping from his spot at the messy table. Sophie had gotten used to the clutter, although she still kept the spiders at bay.

"Hello, Markl," she said, smiling. She handed him a fresh batch of flowers and walked to the table. "Can you get some water for these?"

Markl nodded and marched off to fulfill his duty.

Calcifer sparked in the furnace. "Hello, Sophie."

"Hello, Calcifer. Anything from Howl?"

Calcifer sighed. "I haven't gotten anything."

"Nothing from Howl," Markl confirmed when they both turned to him.

Sophie swallowed, disappointed. "Well, I suppose he'd be pretty upset if I let you two starve," she said jokingly.

Markl helped Sophie make dinner. Calcifer helped by eating the disposables. Then Sophie and Markle sat at the table, and she listened to him talk about what he'd learned that day.

"Are you finished, Markl?" Sophie asked, cleaning up after the meal.

"Yes. Thank you, Sophie," Markl said, smiling.

"Open up, Calcifer." Sophie scraped the leftovers into Calcifer's waiting mouth.

"Thanks." Calcifer waited for the food to burn before speaking again. "Gald Howl fell in love with you. He never fed me leftovers."

Sophie laughed. Markl blushed, although this had nothing to do with him.

"Well, I think I'll retire for the night. Markl?"

"Yes?"

"Don't stay up too late."

Markl pouted but nodded. "Alright, Sophie. Goodnight!"

"Good night," she said sweetly, planting a kiss on the top of his head. She fed Calcifer another log before walking upstairs.

Usually, she would sleep in the room Howl built for her. Well, he didn't really build it. More like he magicked it into existence. It resembled her old room from the hat shop, except now it was decorated with various baubles and trinkets from their adventures. Since the castle never really stayed in the same place for more than a week, Sophie started gathering souvenirs from all the places she'd seen. While working at the hat shop, she never imagined she'd go so many places.

Only sometimes did she actually sleep with Howl. She felt more comfortable in her own room most of the time. They never really questioned the arrangement. Both beds were too small for the both of them to sleep comfortably, and the few times they had slept in the same bed were entirely accidents.