ImmediatelyWriting's One Shots

#15. Howl's Moving Castle - Sophie/Howl) Get Salty, It'll Ease The Pain

Summary: Everyone gets the Common Cold some time a year, the same goes for wizards. When Howl gets infected with one of the many Cold virusses and has to suffer so grandly. Sophie follows all the tips and tricks she knows to ease his pain.

Fandom: Howl's Moving Castle
Ship: Howl/Sophie
Genre: Sick-Fic, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort

part of Shipbruary 2021!

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It started with a stomach-ache, nothing other than the usual Howl wake-up-routine. He'd whine to Sophie about his morning cramps almost every morning.

But today's stings seemed to start even earlier than usual; Howl has been stuck near the toilet for the entire morning, because he's afraid something bad will happen if he doesn't stay inside near.

"Sophie!" he wails from the bathroom, just as Sophie thought she'd have some time to eat her breakfast in between whine sessions. "It really hurts!"

She puts down her plate and walks over to the bathroom down the hall. "It's just your normal bellyaches," she tells him, slowly getting annoyed by his childish wailing. "It'll stop hurting in sec."

Howl glares up at her, he's pale as a ghost and there are dark circles under his eyes. He looks miserable, so Sophie has to agree with him when he states that today is worse than usual.

"Can't you make it stop?" he practically begs her.

Sophie crouches down beside him and shakes her head "You're the wizard here," she mumbles, looking into Howl's eyes with pity. "Don't you know a spell with magic to stop this?"

Everything Sophie knows, they've tried; every mundane trick to treat Howl's stomach aches, but no painkillers, ginger, peppermint or heating pats could go up against Howl's magically-painful cramps.

Howl shakes his head, unfortunately his magic is too weak right now; he can't do anything as long as he's feeling this miserable. "And even if there were potions, I don't know how to make them since I never got sick before." He scoffs before getting even paler than he already was. He clenches his stomach until Sophie tells him to stop squeezing his intestines.

"Why?" Howl asks in between pants.

"Because-" She forces his arms away from his stomach. "- it'll only get worse if you put so much strain on your bowels." She lets him lean against the wall in a more comfortable position.

He groans when Sophie does this, probably because his stomach is being turned in a different angle.

His hair is soaking wet from sweating so much and when Sophie carefully places her head against his she noticed how much hotter his is comparing to hers. "You have a fever," she mumbles, slowly but surely starting to get more worried about Howl's health; what if he starts to turn into slime again.

"A fever? Nonsense." Howl waves with his hand as if trying to blow away the thought. "I'm a wizard, no chance I, Howl Jenkins Pendragon, can get a fever."

Sophie shakes her head, sighing at Howl's unbelievable childish behavior. "You sure can." She gets on her feet and looks down at Howl with her hands on her hips. "You, Howl Jenkins Pendragon, seem to have caught a bad case of the Common Cold."

Howl gapes at her, his blue eyes big and confused. "Which means?"

"You're going to have to stay in bed," she explains. "Try to sleep as much as you can, to sweat it out."

That's exactly what happens after; Sophie helps Howl to him back into his bed and gathers everything needed for a good day of being stuck in bed sick.

"Tissues, painkillers, tea with honey, check." She walks around his bed, wondering if there's anything else Howl may need to be able to survive his Cold. "Oh! An extra blanket for when you get colder."