Howl's Moving Castle: Tales Of Love

Sophie's Lie and Howl's Crushed Ego

Sophie zipped up her slightly form fitting dress with little difficulty, and stuffed herself into some flattering flats, and quickly went downstairs. That day, her and Howl were planning to go on a date at some fancy renowned restaurant in Kingsbury, so Sophie figured she should at least dress the part.

Downstairs, Howl was already waiting for her, talking to Markl about some magic trick or whatever it was they were conversing about. She wouldn’t really know, since she really didn’t care to listen. Howl diverted his attention from his apprentice, and asked, “Are you ready?” Sophie nodded, a little exhilarated to go to such a prestigious place when she had grown up with such small and quiet eateries.  

They said a quick goodbye to both Calcifer and Markl, both who merely waved. As soon as they were out of the door, Howl had easily slipped his arm around Sophie’s waist. Her body stiffened for a brief moment, not used to such warmth only located around her waist, but quickly adjusted. She distracted herself, and started thinking what the restaurant would be like and what kind of food they would serve.

Her thoughts of food were sharply interrupted as she felt Howl’s hand go a little too low then change direction and go all the way up to her shoulders, wrapping around them and tugging her in closer to him. She quickly tried to calm down her very rapid heartbeat, mainly hoping that it was just a slip of his hand. Although she knew they had been officially a couple for a couple months, and couples well...did those things, she still couldn’t help but feel embarrassed and slightly apprehensive. But, it was probably just a slip of the hand, so she had nothing to worry about, and she really shouldn’t be fretting over this right now.

When they reached the restaurant, Howl’s arm left her shoulder, and he announced, “We’re here!” She gazed around, taking in the many couples that filled the outside eating area, some with children some without, and also took note of how each of them looked happy. It was rather odd, seeing everyone just so happy at a restaurant. But she supposed that’s why it’s so well known and well loved.

They entered through the front doors, and went up to a young looking waiter, probably not much younger than Sophie, who escorted them to the far east end of the rather large restaurant. She smiled at both Howl and Sophie, her smile a little less sincere to Sophie. Sophie simply disregarded it, and sat down in her chair across from Howl. “Another waiter will be here shortly to take your order,” the waitress said, and quickly strutted off.

A few minutes later, after choosing their orders and their drinks, a heavy set woman with rosy cheeks showed up, and asked for their order. “I’ll have some water and this right here,” Sophie said, pointing to an unpronounceable item that looked to be in French. The waitress nodded, collecting her menu, then asked Howl for his order. “I’ll have some red wine and some Lobster Fettuccini please.” As his menu was collected, Sophie inwardly gagged at what lobster mixed with fettuccini would taste like. She felt fettuccini belonged with meat out of water, nothing below it.

“So Sophie, what do you think of this place?” Howl asked, resting his hand on his chin, his eyes scanning around the area. “I think it’s quite nice. I feel kind of out of place though, having never been to such a fine place like this.” She said, gazing around at all the women in gorgeous dresses that must’ve cost 2x her entire wardrobe.

He placed an arm around her, his flowery cologne reaching her senses, and smiled sweetly at her. “You’re my girl Sophie, which means you’re the finest girl in town.” Her cheeks heated up and muttered, “Well that was terribly cheesy.” She leaned into the hug, appreciating the warmth radiating from him since the restaurant was rather cold, and was almost tempted to fall asleep.

A few minutes later Howl placed his arm back to his side, saving the hug for later when the attractive waitress that seated them showed up with their colorful food and their drinks and set it down on the table. “Hope you enjoy!” She said, flashing a brilliant smile at Howl. Sophie couldn’t help but feel a little inferior under that waitresses flawless looks.

Putting past those thoughts, she took her first bite of her creamy pasta, enjoying the feeling it brought to each of her senses, the cheesy taste, the warmth she felt as it reached her stomach, and the strong aroma it brought. She almost wanted to moan from how good it was. No wonder this place is so loved. “You seem to be enjoying that,” Howl said, with hint of his awful smirk in his voice, which made Sophie realize she probably just moaned out loud.

She glanced around and saw a stout woman not too far away openly staring at her, with a strange expression on her wrinkled face. “You might want to keep it down next time,” Howl muttered, nudging her. “Oh will you shut up! The food is good okay? I can’t help it!” She hissed with tears brimming to her eyes.

“I won’t have any competition will I?” He asked seriously, his eyes wide, “Because if a pasta dish is making you moan more than you can in bed-” At that point she shoved her palm over his mouth, looking aghast and angry, two words that start with ‘A’ that you never want to make Sophie feel. “Will you shut up!?” She shrieked, drawing the attention of several people to her table.

She quickly put her hand back to her side, and felt the first tear spill over. Realizing she was upset, his laughter immediately drained away, and instead he kissed the top of her head, trying be comforting in some way. “I’m sorry Sophie, you know I didn’t mean to put you on the spot right?” She nodded, and quickly wiped the salty tear away, saying, “I know Howl, please don’t worry about it.”

They sat in silence as the people returned to their quiet meals, a few conversations and the clinking of utensils being the only noises to surround them. Soon after they were done, the ‘delightful’ waitress from earlier came back to collect her plates. “So, are you two from around here?” She asked, stacking the forks and knives onto the plates. “Yeah, we only live a couple of streets down.” Sophie muttered, feeling suddenly irritated by the way she was so blatantly staring at Howl.

“Oh, cool! Hey so are you two siblings?” The waitress asked, a hopeful glint in her deep green eyes, that almost seemed hypnotizing if you weren’t fooled by her flirtatious and completely unprofessional attitude. “No. We aren’t. We’re together actually,” she said as politely as possible.

The waitress looked almost looked surprised, and put a hand to her chest and began to apologize. “No, really, it’s fine. But he has dysentery so I think he won’t be of quite your interest,” Sophie said. The waitress stared at Howl, her face contorting into a frown, “I-I’m not interested. And I’m sorry sir, I hope your issue leaves...”

The waitress walked away with a vague hint of disgust and Howl nearly shouted, “Why’d you tell her I have dysentery!? I am 26 years old and very attractive! You can’t just go around telling people like her I have dysentery!”

Sophie shrugged and looked slowly over to him, “Doesn’t matter though does it? It’s not like anything is going to happen between you and her, so it shouldn’t matter if I lie about your personal health or not.”

Howl groaned and huffed, leaning against the wall, “So you’re basically saying you wouldn’t care if I told people you had a big hairy mole on the inside of your-”

Sophie covered his mouth again and said, “Howl that is entirely different! Now please, let’s just keep eating?”

They ate in silence, this lunch turning out much more uneventful than they thought it would be.

A/N

Hello and thank you all so much for the comments/votes, it seriously means a ton :)