nb: posting on bambi bc i can't remember howl's login and i'm probably gonna make a new account for him anyway
Upon being informed by the teacher that they would be allowed to pick their own partners in Chemistry for the rest of the year, Howl immediately began scanning the room for a particular someone. It wasn't that there was any shortage of people who wanted to be his partner, of course. At least a quarter of the school's unofficial "Howl Pendragon Fan Club" were in this class (most of them taking it solely because he was), currently debating between them who would get the first chance to approach him.
Catching sight of a familiar brunette, braid hanging down behind her lab chair, Howl immediately walked over.
Yes, Howl. Pretend you had to think about her name before saying it. Pretend you don't know she alternates between bringing an apple and cheese on crackers for lunch. Pretend you don't know she will without fail sit at the same table next to the window in the library during free periods.
Howl immediately stamped down on the little voice in the back of his mind telling him he was crazy.
The members of his fanclub, upon noticing that he had approached Sophie, immediately started up a furious discussion, albeit in hushed tones. Howl ignored them completely.
Sophie looked up upon being addressed, a surprised expression on her face that only grew more surprised upon realising who he was. "Y... es?" she asked in an uncertain tone.
Howl smiled broadly. "I was hoping I could be your partner! ...That is, unless you were already planning on picking someone else?" The girl looked around the room, seeing that mostly everyone had already partnered up (aside from, possibly, the gaggle of girls whispering suspiciously in the corner and... shooting her glares?), before admitting, "Well... no, but-"
"Great!" Howl immediately slid into the seat next to her, his things suddenly appearing beneath the desk as though by magic. Sophie appeared a little flustered by this new development, and she immediately directed her gaze to the front of the room.
"Alright, guys, let's start by getting all your equipment ready. If you look at the list on the board, you'll see that you need two volumetric flasks, a pipette..."
As they worked, Sophie spoke to him only when it was absolutely necessary - to ask him to hand over the indicator, to remind him not to pour too much acid, to ask him to hurry up with the dilutions. Admittedly, she probably wouldn't even need to say that much if he wasn't so preoccupied with staring at her now that he finally had the chance to do so up close. This wouldn't do, Howl decided. There was no point in becoming partners with her if they weren't going to get to know each other in the process.
"So, Sophie, are you going to Lily Angorian's party on Saturday? You know, I heard that she's even planning on-"
"No," Sophie interrupted him, quietly but firmly. "I work Saturday nights, and besides, we have that big test on Monday. Don't you want to study for it?"
Stymied in the process of asking her to the party, Howl was slow to respond. "...It's not even one of the more important tests though. And I doubt taking a break for a few hours will hurt. If anything, it's a good idea." Sophie simply shrugged, and returned her attention to setting up the bunsen burner.
Howl admired her work ethic, he really did - in fact, it was one of the qualities that caused him to be interested in her in the first place, for nobody else in that class ever did half as much work - but right now, it was really getting in the way of this budding relationship of theirs.
Struck with an idea for a new topic of conversation, Howl whipped around to face Sophie behind him, in the process startling her. "Sophie, do you-" "Howl, LOOK OUT!"
Howl had just enough time to bring up his hands to shield his face before whatever liquid Sophie had been carrying in the beaker splashed onto him.
"Hey, hey, HEY! Pendragon, under the safety shower, now!"
He was still completely in shock as Sophie dragged him by the wrist over to the shower in the corner of the room before pulling the triangular release dangling near the head. The highly-pressurised jet of water that drenched him in the next second brought him to his senses. Gasping and pulling the sopping hair away from his eyes, Howl struggled to process what had just happened.
"I'm so sorry Howl, I didn't expect you to turn around so quickly, it just slipped out of my hands..." Her next words were lost amidst the laughter of the rest of the class, who were entirely in ecstasy at seeing their normally-so-put-together classmate in such a state. Howl simply gave Sophie a grudging nod to show he had heard her, before making his way back to his seat, squeezing the water out of his shirt as he went.
The teacher motioned for everybody to go back to what they were doing. "And someone's going to need to clean all that up. Justin, grab the mop and bucket from the closet..."
Howl had gradually begun to accept the situation for what it was - he had had a part in causing the accident as well (even if it was mostly Sophie's fault), and getting mad at her would certainly harm his chances of her being interested in him. He was calming down... at least, until he began wringing out his hair into the sink and caught sight of it reflected by the stainless steel surface.
It was... pink. Pink. As in, fairy floss pink. As in, I-am-going-to-be-the-laughing-stock-of-the-entire-school pink.
Apparently, whatever had been spilt onto him had taken a certain amount of time to react, and had resulted in this new pigmentation of his hair.
The girl in question looked over in alarm from where she was helping Justin mop up the shower water. She hurried over. "Howl, what is it? You didn't get an acid burn did you?"
"NO. WORSE. WORSE! CAN'T YOU SEE? LOOK. LOOK AT MY HAIR!" Howl dug his fingers into his hair, clenching them into fists. His voice had taken on a hysterical tone, and its pitch rose with every word. He had been perfect and now he was unsightly, and he could not stand it.
Sophie stopped short as she realised what he was screaming about. "Um... it's not... that bad. I'm sure it's not permanent." Howl gave her a look of pure fury. "I look ridiculous! And it's all your fault!"
At this, she puffed up in indignation and responded, "All my fault? It was not my fault you were busy chattering away and not paying attention!" Her tone faltered, before she continued, "Why are you being so dramatic? A little hair dye from the supermarket and you'll have your old hair colour back!"
As Sophie did a heel-turn and walked back over to help Justin again, Howl slumped in his seat, muttering about beauty and lack of sympathy and the sheer indignity of it all. If this was how things would be with Sophie, he really had to consider whether it was worth it.
