Fire, Hearts, and Starlight

Howl's girl

The heart-stealing wizard Howl Jenkins Pendragon would no longer look at another woman, besides his girl Sophie, with her kind eyes and hair made of starlight.

Tags: Domestic fluff, Humor, Found Family

The shop was usually busy in the mornings. Howl and Markl got up before Sophie did and made breakfast, saving some for her before starting their work. Sophie came down later and ate with them, supplying them with the latest gossip from her own shop. It was a calm routine, and a simple one. They liked it.

After breakfast Sophie went back upstairs to dress. It was midmorning, and the shop was about to open. Howl went upstairs to grab something, leaving Markl alone.

The moment the two had gone, the door knocked.

"Porthaven door!" Calcifer said.

Markl waited a moment, hoping Howl would come down to answer, but no such luck. When the second knock sounded, Markl grumbled and got up to answer the door.

A pretty young girl stood there in her summer dress, her hair done up and wearing a frilly hat. She had a basket on her arm and a note in her hand, and she looked equal parts intrigued and troubled.

"Hello, young lady," Markl said. The woman looked surprised to see a child answer the door.

"Hello. Are you... Wizard Jenkins?"

Markl stepped aside to let the woman in. "Jenkins is momentarily held up, but I'm sure he will return soon." The woman nodded and stepped inside, nodding her thanks. "If you wait patiently, he will see to your request."

Markl shouted "Jenkins!" up the stairs, just to nail the point home and get Howl down quick before he sat down again at his little worktable and continued another order. The woman stood politely at the door, wondering what kind of man the Wizard Jenkins is to keep his house so clean and tidy. It certainly wasn't what she expected when she saw the run-down shop outside with flaking paint.

She'd heard other things about the wizard Jenkins, or how most people knew him now as Wizard Howl. She heard he eat the hearts of pretty women, and that he lived in a magical moving castle. Some said he had no heart himself, and that's why he had to eat other hearts, so he could live. He was in the war and helped end it. And she heard he was devilishly handsome. Of course, she wasn't here just to see the legendary handsome man. She really did need help, and she really was referred here because of her problem. But laying eyes to wizard Howl was a welcome bonus.

Howl bounded down the stairs a moment later, Heen at his heels. The woman held her breath as she beheld the man.

He had long, jet black hair and blue eyes that seemed to catch the light. He wore a simple white blouse with the top buttons undone, and black pants and boots, and had glittering jewelry around his neck and ears. He was already different from the rumors, she noted. Last she heard, his hair was blonde, and he was flamboyant and loud and almost otherworldly. That's why people believed him to be heartless, because he was just too beautiful to be fully human. But this man looked quite human to her.

The handsome part, however, was not exaggerated. She practically had to pick her jaw up off the floor.

"What's the ruckus about, Markl?" Howl asked.

"There's a costumer."

Howl turned to the girl in the doorway, and her heart skipped a beat. He flashed her a winning smile and seemed to float over to her.

"My apologies, miss. What is your name?" he asked, bowing slightly.

"Uh- Marie," she said, fumbling for an answer, still stunned by seeing Wizard Howl in the flesh. All the rumors she heard about him were flying about her mind, and she was trying to pick out which ones could be truth and which simple town gossip.