Anticipation

ANTICIPATION
A Howl\'s Moving Castle fanfic
by Savivi

* * * * *

Note: Howl\'s Moving Castle is owned by Dianna Wynn Jones, Hayao Miyazaki and anybody else who has the rights to it. I do not. I just wanted to write a short lemon that had no point to it.

I\'m really hoping that I\'ve kept them in character while still making things steamy. This fic, obviously, takes place soon after the book ends -- and I\'ve always kind of wondered how things worked out -- I never imagined anything mushy or extremely romantic, more of a game of cat and mouse between Sophie and Howl, very playful, and this is what came out of it.

Oh, and the story really isn\'t based off the movie at all -- I haven\'t seen it, isn\'t that awful? I did try, though! But I love the book so much, and this is based specifically off of that.

So enjoy! Comments are always welcome!

* * * * *

How strange time was. The days had passed like a blur, and yet the seconds and minutes seemed to creep on forever, and then utterly vanish when one wasn\'t looking.

Sophie supposed, looking down at the dishwater, that time was like soap bubbles. Moving, and swirling at their own paces, and then -- pop -- gone.

For good measure, she swirled the dishrag around and watched her little universe spin into chaos, and then slowly move back into some form of stillness.

A slight bump made the entire castle grown and clatter, and Sophie looked out the window, only to cry out at the change of scenery. Had they traveled such a large distance already?

//You\'re getting married in two days, and all you can do is stare out into space. Get yourself together, Sophie Hatter!//

In a flurry, she washed a few plates and teacups, trying to make up for lost time, but slowed down when her hands found one teacup, a little worn and chipped, well used. Howl\'s favorite.

Howl. Who should be home by now. Where was that wizard, anyway?

//Why are you worrying now? He\'s always late.//

Which was true, but it still always made her a little nervous when he didn\'t come home on time. At least the guitar was still in the house. Locked up in the closet. She had made sure of that.

She heard the door to the castle open slowly, squeaking a bit painfully. Smiling, she began to hum, and didn\'t look from the sink as quiet footsteps came closer and closer to her.

A large bouquet of flowers filled her vision. She sneezed from a small amount of pollen going up her nose.

\"Good afternoon, dear heart!\" Howl said gleefully, and pressed his cheek against hers, swaying her with an arm wrapped around her waist. The dishwater slopped dangerously above the lip of the sink.

She looked over her shoulder at the wizard, and tried to keep a stern face. Why did he have to be so handsome at every angle?

\"Where have you been?\" she asked.

\"Picking you flowers. I thought it was obvious.\"

She hummed a little in suspicion.

\"Honest,\" he said.

\"I believe you picked me flowers,\" she said. \"I just don\'t think you did that all morning.\"

\"Believe me, lovely,\" Howl said. \"Everything I did today was for you.\" She hated it when he got that purrish sound to his voice.

\"Is that why you\'ve been shirking your other responsibilities and made Michael run all the errands?\"

\"Bah, it\'s about time he had more things to do. Where is he now?\"

\"Taking a nap. He wore himself out today. Even my stepmother made him go out and get something for her with the seven league boots.\"

\"Well, at least he\'s down and out.\"

He set the flowers down on the counter and brushed a hand over the braid across her shoulder, moving it to rest along her back. Her breath caught slightly as his fingers brushed against the collar of her shirt and rested on her arm. She could almost feel that grin growing.

\"It won\'t work,\" she said, her voice wavering a little.

\"What won\'t?\"

\"Seducing me.\"

\"But trying is so fun.\"

He wrapped a loose strand of hair around his finger, tugging on it gently. The deep huskiness of his voice hummed through her entire body, and suddenly feeling compliant, Sophie tipped her head to the side, and shuddered when Howl\'s breath whispered across her bare neck. The heat of his hand on her arm, the mesmerizing designs he was tracing on her sleeve, the knowledge that his lips were millimeters from her skin, made her completely forget about the dishes. She stood still, looking out the window blankly, her hands deep in soapy water, clutching to a teacup and the dishrag for dear life. She didn\'t know what would happen if she let go.

A strange sound escaped Sophie when Howl\'s lips touched her, right at the place where her neck and shoulders met. He didn\'t kiss her, but followed the line of her neck to right behind her ear, the warmth of his soft lips leaving their traces behind. Once he reached her ear, he stopped, and waited.

She could only hear their breath mix together, heavy and loud and uneven, and he was so close that she could feel his chest brush against her back every time he inhaled.

Why did he have to smell so good?

His hand was moving deliciously down her arm, to her elbow, across to her stomach, almost lazy as he memorized the weave of her apron.

\"Howl,\" she said, completely out of breath.

\"Yes, mon ami?\" His voice sounded completely calm, almost amused. She turned around and looked up at him, at that smug and adorable expression on his face. Sophie raised her hand and Howl watched blankly as she poured a teacup-sized amount of soapy water over his head.

\"I think you need to cool off a little,\" she said, and ducked beneath his grasp, heading for the door as she dried her hands on her apron. \"I\'m going to pick some wild snap peas for dinner tonight. I remember there being some in this area.\"

A few seconds after she closed the door behind her, picking basket hooked over her arm, Howl shouted out the window, \"You cheeky mouse!\"

\"Well, what did you expect?\" asked Calcifer as he rose a little out of the embers. He couldn\'t have been burning a deeper red.

\"W-what are you doing here?\" Howl cried.

\"Who do you think heated the dishwater?\"

\"What\'s going on?\" asked Michael, rubbing his eyes as he shuffled into the room.

\"Howl was just trying to get to second league with Sophie.\"

\"What\'s that?\"

\"Oh, bah!\" cried Howl. \"I\'ll be up in my room until dinner, so don\'t try to disturb me.\"

\"Sure, sure.\"

From the top of the stairs: \"And it\'s second _base_!\"


* *


Calcifer\'s snoring always sounded like creaking logs, and Sophie took comfort in the continuous sound, the dim, warm form of her friend in front of her flickering quietly with every quiet snort. Alcohol always made him a noisy sleeper, and they had dribbled a little too much wine for him that night.

There was just enough light to read from, and she was trying her best to fall asleep, and had hoped that \"Potion Powder Sifting And You\" would prove to be a help. Alas, nothing seemed to keep her from restlessness.

The wedding festivities would begin tomorrow, and the wedding itself would take place the next day. Sophie truly appreciated her stepmother\'s enthusiasm over the wedding preparations, but with the way things were progressing with Howl, she wasn\'t so sure putting the ceremony off another day was such a good idea.

\"Coming to bed?\" Howl asked, leaning suggestively against the doorframe leading to the stairs.

Sophie smiled and returned to her book. \"Goodnight.\"

\"I need you to check for monsters under the bed.\"

\"I\'m sure they\'re very large.\"

\"With fangs.\"

\"Goodnight, Howl.\"

\"At least a goodnight kiss.\"

He was doing that puppy dog look. She hated that.

Sighing, she got up from the chair and walked to the stairs where he enfolded her in his arms, coaxing her chin up so he could kiss her eyelids, her nose, and then finally her lips. She melted against him, her hands flat against his back, and rested her head against his chest.

\"Are you sure you won\'t come up? I\'ll even let you get rid of the cobwebs.\"

Now that was tempting.

\"I\'ll be doing that, anyway.\"

\"Bah, you\'re a woman with a heart of stone.\"

\"And you\'re a man with a heart of coal.\"

\"Touché. That deserves a prize.\" He kissed her again, nibbling on her lower lip. She rather enjoyed that. \"You know, everyone thinks you\'ve been sleeping in my bed for quite a while already.\"

\"No they don\'t,\" she said. \"They know me too well.\"

\"Well, no one would care if you did,\" he said.

\"It\'s not about them,\" she said. \"It\'s about us. It would have been different if we had been... together...\" His eyes rose suggestively at those words, and she flushed, focusing on the bit of embroidery on his shirt, tracing the gold thread to keep her mind clear. Sophie could have sworn he started to purr. \"If we had been together before. But it\'s only a matter of hours, really. Don\'t you think it would be a waste? To have all that anticipation go through the window because we couldn\'t hold the tension?\"

\"No,\" he said, and she smiled a little.

Both of them knew it was all games, there was no real harm or intent behind it, but Sophie recognized that glint in Howl\'s eye, and realized that things were getting to be a little too much for him. She knew he would never harm her, but it would be agony for him, and that was the last thing she wanted.

\"Maybe it would be better if I went to stay with my stepmother until the wedding.\"

\"Bollocks,\" he said. \"We\'ll be there tomorrow. You\'re perfectly safe here.\"

\"Bollocks,\" she said, and he laughed, and then sighed, pressing his face against her neck. She sifted her hands into his hair, leaning her cheek against the soft strands, and reveled in his weight.

Moving away from her, he took her hand and said, \"Come on, I\'ll take you over.\"

\"That\'s very gentlemanly of you,\" she said, genuinely surprised.

\"Yes, I\'m actually quite proud of myself right now.\"

She kissed him on the lips, and liking the sweet smile on his face, she kissed him again, their mouths slightly open. She could taste the wine they drank at dinner. She licked her lips a little, trying to get the taste again. Calcifer was right. There was a definite taste of currents.

An odd gurgling sound preceded Howl pressing her desperately against the wall, his arms locked around her, kissing her more times than she could count. Her hands clutched the cloth about his shoulders, and she was suddenly feeling very dizzy, her legs felt like all her muscles had decided to fall asleep.

Before she lost all her breath, Howl leaped away from her.

\"All right,\" he said cooling his forehead with the stone wall, trying to get his breath back. \"All right.\"

Sophie simply nodded her head, and fanned herself with her hand.

Later that night, enfolded in her stepmother\'s white linen, the enormous windows of the mansion\'s best guestroom letting in the beautiful white moonlight, Sophie stared at the ceiling, restless, aching, slightly wishing she had gone up those stairs to check for bed monsters.

* * * * *

Edit: I\'ve decided to consider this one finished, and if I have time later on, I will continue it -- there\'s only two more chapters to it anyway... but I\'m already doing a couple other original romance stories, so they\'re taking up my time right now.

If you\'d like more, though -- please let me know! I\'m really just doing this for my own enjoyment, but if there\'s enough incentive, I might actually have the drive to finish it.
* * * * *