Curious [Howl x Reader]

Chapter Four: There's Something About Howl

You held your breath for a few moments, willing it all away. Deep breaths, (Y/N). Stay calm. Don't panic. It'll go away sooner or later—hopefully.

When you cracked an eye open, though, the eyes were still in the fireplace. "Hey, uh, you know you're getting blood all over the floor, right?" the owner of the eyes asked. "Do you know what a pain it is getting that out of wood?"

"Um, yeah," was all you could think to say. You smacked yourself mentally. Don't engage with it, (Y/N)! It's not real!

As if reading your thoughts, the thing in the fireplace sighed. "Unfortunately for both of us, we both know that's not true. Name's Calcifer, by the way. Fire demon extraordinaire. I take it you have business with Master Howl?" He made a sort of gesture with one of the flames at your hand.

You looked back down at the wallet. "Oh, right, that," you muttered. "I'm sorry, I swear that I wasn't—It's not what it looks like."

"It's fine, it's fine. It's not like you're the first person to try to pickpocket Master Howl. Not that he cares." Calcifer sighed. "I swear, I've never worked with anyone so terrible with money." He gave a little groan. "He could at least make half of an effort to keep his wallet safe... "

He gestured at you. "C'mere. Let's get this over with."

You raised an eyebrow but obeyed, getting close enough to the fire to let the heat wash over your skin. Calcifer slowly raised a little tendril of fire.

"Okay, now, don't freak out, but I miiight have to touch you real quick."

You jerked your hand away. "Are you crazy?"

"Bored, maybe, but no, not crazy. C'mon, I promise it won't hurt! I'll just heal up your hand real quick. Now, lemme touch your hand so that I have less to deal with later."

You tensed. And then, very slowly, you offered him your hand.

With great care, he brushed a wisp of flame against your skin. You gasped. Your skin tingled as if you'd just dipped it into a cold lake, pulses of coldness moving over you. The wallet, which had clung to you like a curse, dropped onto the floor and lay still.

Right before your eyes, your torn flesh crawled and writhed and stitched itself together until there wasn't even a trace of the wound beneath the thin layer of blood that remained on your hand. Sensation rushed back into your head, as if the blood had somehow re-entered your veins.

"How did you do that?" you whispered almost to yourself.

Calcifer made a motion with the flames that might've been a shrug. "Magic," he said.

"But magic isn't real," you blurted out before you could stop yourself. "That's—that's what science says."

Again, Calcifer shrugged. "Hey, maybe science doesn't believe in me, but I believe in myself! That's all that matters," he announced. "I mean, how else would you be talking to a fire demon? Physics?"

Your cheeks heated up. "Okay, that's fair," you replied. "But how does it work?"

Calcifer scoffed. "You think I care to spend my well-earned time telling you all about magical theory? Nah, ask Howl. He'd love to tell you all about it."

"Howl does magic?" you said, like you were having an epiphany. Of course he did. "Then... does he curse objects?"

Calcifer shook his head. "Nah, that's not really his thing. Why?" He eyed you. "Howl curse something of yours?"

"No. I mean, maybe?" you said. "He sold me a couple of wine glasses that attacked us when my aunt tried to serve lemonade in them."

Calcifer hummed thoughtfully and nodded. "Oooh, those. Nah, that's not Howl's work. We got them off of some poor widow a couple towns over who begged him to take it off of her hands. So, of course, being the lady-killer he is, he absolutely had to take them." He huffed. "If I had to guess, maybe the Witch of the Waste's work. Sure smelled like it."

"Well, if they're cursed, then why didn't Howl just remove the curse?"

Calcifer shrugged. "Oh, he was going to. But he forgot."

You choked. "He just straight up forgot to deal with a deadly curse?"

"He's like that." Calcifer sighed. "I mean, have you seen the state of this shop?"

"Well, okay, if he doesn't curse people with his magic, then what does he do with it?" you demanded. Your heart skipped a beat. "Take people's hearts?"

"Heart eating—? Oh, you're talking about that. Well, no. He just likes to use magic to make himself pretty and fly and dodge the draft," Calcifer scoffed. "You'd think that for the price he got it, he'd use it for something better... " he muttered under his breath.

"Well, then, where did the whole heart eating thing come from, then?" you asked.

"From him being an absolute flirt." Calcifer grumbled. "Let me tell you, the number of angry aunts he's had to fend off... But I digress. Yeah, jilted girls are the second most melodramatic thing in the world, next to a jilted Howl. Let's just say... some of them got taken a shade too seriously?" He shrugged.

"So... I've been scared of him for no reason?" you asked.

"Oh, absolutely," Calcifer said. "He could hurt you no more than he could kick a puppy. Sure, you might have to put up with more than your fair share of theatrics, but other than that.. You're pretty safe with him."

"Oh my God, I have to go apologize to him right now," you whispered to yourself. You turned to Calcifer. "Do you know where I could find him?"

"Well, when in doubt, look for a beautiful place. Those always make him feel better when he's sulky. You know any places with great views?"

It clicked in your mind. "The hill," you whispered.

And then, with a shout of "Thanks for everything, Calcifer!", you ran out into the street.