Happy Hour

[wizard_howell]

It's a tired and subdued wizard who straggles into the bar tonight, rests his head on Bar's surface, and is presented with the option to tend. Never one to resist a challenge, regardless of how weary he might be, he nods resolutely. A wave of his hand later, the specials are up on the board.

Baby Aspirin
Morgan's Mountain
Witch's Brew #2 (#1 is busy)

At the very bottom, in tiny golden letters:

Bydd y dyn hwn yn talu am bopeth!*

It's only money, right?




*Drinks are on Howl's tab tonight.


ETA: and we're closed to new threads. Thank you, everyone.



Tag: Alba DeTamble

Comments

[wizard_howell]

Now he raises an eyebrow, impressed.

"And I couldn't say a word about it while the curse was active. Rules." Rolling his eyes now, he shakes his head. "Doomed to grant other people their wishes. Fortunately, nobody said I had to be polite about it."

There are rules and then there are rules. He's always found his own within the greater framework provided, and they're always unquestionable. The letter of the law is just that. No one tells people what voice they need to use to read those letters.

[morethanprops]

"Rules could always do with some bending, the people behind them tend to not have much imagination. It must be a real pleasure to be out."

[wizard_howell]

"Heavens, yes. It's just a figure of speech," he adds hastily, lest there be lightning. "Especially considering that while I was in, my wife gave birth to our son."

There were moments where he thought Sophie -- Midnight -- had figured it out, but he couldn't tell her, and that made him sulky and annoyed, and he's afraid he took it out on Abdullah, who absolutely deserved it. But it all worked its way out at the end. Happily ever after is the rule of the land, is it not?

There's that word again. Rule.

[morethanprops]

"Oh my, was everything okay?"

Moist can't imagine having a wife to worry about it.

[wizard_howell]

The notion of trouble is waved aside as if it's little more than a peksy mosquito. "She was a cat at the time. I suspect it was a great deal simpler for the both of them that way, although we were separated by a vast distance."

That was quite annoying, but at least Sophie had a much better chance of surviving that way, whether she liked it or not. If one of them had to be abducted, bottled, and chucked in a desert watering hole, better that it was him. There simply wouldn't have been enough room in that bottle for both Sophie and Morgan.

[morethanprops]

"Was she expecting to be a cat?"

He's not sure he'd want to deal with a wife who'd gone through a shift like that.

[wizard_howell]

For the briefest of moments he looks vaguely guilty, but it's replaced by an expression of sheer innocence almost immediately. "No, but it was the best way I had to protect her on very short notice. We were set upon by a rather powerful djinn who appeared to be out for blood, and I needed to keep her safe."

The fact of the matter is she hated it; he'd promised never to do it to her again. But as he said, it was short notice and when one is faced with a crisis, he does what he must to keep the ones he loves safe. He'll brook no argument over that decision, and he and Sophie have since made their peace with it.

[morethanprops]

Moist is impressed, that is a good innocent look and a marvelous switch, his smile has a slight edge to it,

"What do you do that's so dangerous?"

[wizard_howell]

Sadly -- and almost convincingly -- Howl lets out a sigh. "Who would have thought that being Royal Wizard to the King of Ingary would be so fraught with peril."

Really, Royal Wizard is nothing more than a title, albeit a title that pays handsomely and keeps him and his family in finery... when all the gold isn't hidden away from him. Really, he rarely spends on a whim. Every single thing he purchases is something needed.

By somebody.

Somewhere.

[morethanprops]

"That's a rather important title,"

And one that probably pays well.

[wizard_howell]

"And yet I'm the same man I was when I was simply Wizard Howl." He's so long-suffering about it that it's hard even for him not to laugh, tired as he is, and nothing could be further from the truth. Just plain Howl had no heart. Just plain Howl had no Sophie.

Just plain Howl had no Morgan.

"Titles are odd things. I never really sought one. This was supposed to have been temporary. One Royal Wizard per king, that's how it had always been. I suppose I did such a bang-up job that he couldn't bear to replace me once his original wizard had been recovered."

And made whole again. That bit was critical.

[morethanprops]

"Is there a lot of trouble in Ingary that there's a need for two?"

Moist can't imagine any ruler on the Disc wanting wizards around.

[wizard_howell]

"Trouble?"

The slow smile on his face ought to be answer enough. "My dear man, put more than two wizards or witches on any given continent and there's bound to be a surplus of trouble. Ingary's simply teeming with them."

There are three in his household alone. Four if one counts Michael, and five if Calcifer's factored into the equation. And since his fire demon seems to be in absolutely no hurry to go elsewhere, five it is.

[morethanprops]

Moist laughs, "They keep them in universities on my world for everyone's protection."

[wizard_howell]

That's absolutely horrifying, and it shows all over his face.

"Pent up? In... academia?"

Perish the thought! He likes his classrooms free and clear, diolch yn fawr!

"No, no, no, that would never do. We'd turn ourselves into microbes and escape through the water filtration system!"

[morethanprops]

"It seems to satisfy most of the wizards on the Disc. Witches don't stand for universities and no one's been brave enough to talk them into doing anything,"

They just look at you and know things, its wrong.

[wizard_howell]

"One must be very brave around witches indeed."

Truer words were never spoken; he'd drink to that if he had a drink handy.

"You'll have to meet my wife one of these days. I do believe she's the textbook definition of formidable."

Of course, he loves her dearly for it.

[morethanprops]

"I'm sure she must be to be your partner,"

A witch who's married to a royal wizard would have to be strong.

[wizard_howell]

"She's lovely." Really, she's his perfect foil: headstrong, brilliant, powerful, and cranky. She fills the spaces where he leaves blanks; he softens her edges in ways others might not. He teaches, she surpasses his teachings. "A lovely and beautiful wisp of a thing. She not only puts up with me, but she gave me back my heart when it had gone missing."

That's not even remotely metaphorical, but it can certainly be taken as such. "I'll try to talk her into joining me here. We'll bring our son. He's got to meet the place sooner or later."

[morethanprops]

"How did you meet?"

It must have been quite a start if this is their normal life.

[wizard_howell]

"It's quite the story, actually." Since he knows he'll be up half the night on Morgan duty, he pours himself a nice strong cup of coffee. "She invited herself into my castle as it was roaming the moors, and strong-armed my fire demon and my apprentice into letting her stay. I was away at the time" -- that seems to be something of a pattern, now that he thinks about it -- "or it might not have happened. She was an old, old woman at the time. I suppose Calcifer felt sorry for her and let her sit and rest by the fire."

Pointing his finger to the cup, the coffee stirs itself, lightening with cream. "Calcifer's my fire demon. Sophie's the only other person who's ever been able to get him to agree to anything."

And they weren't really even under contract to one another.

[morethanprops]

Moist watches the coffee cup and then Howl with a thoughtful expression,

"I see what you mean about formidable."

[wizard_howell]

"You don't know the half of it. She was close to ninety years old at the time."

If he's matter-of-fact about it, that's because it's all simply part of the story.

[morethanprops]

"What attracted you to her?"

[wizard_howell]

"Nothing. Not at first. I'm not in the habit of romancing grandmothers. But here's the thing: I don't know what it's like in your world, but in mine, if one's under a curse, he or she is forbidden to talk about it. Not in so many words. One can try, but the words simply won't come. It was precisely because she didn't say anything about her age that I knew she was under the weight of a masterful piece of sorcery."

Now he blows across his coffee, then takes a sip. It's quite good and he'll need to stay awake far into the night. His days of two-hour baths are in the past and he knows it, but he wouldn't trade what he has now for anything.

"Once the curse ended, she regained her youth. I'd met her once, and part of me wondered if she wasn't that same girl in disguise. I'm happy to say she was."