#howzer fluff

"Okay, you take the apple, and then you just put it on the stick," you explain while doing as you say.

Howzer furrows his eyebrows in concentration, also spearing an apple on the stick.

"Nice! And now you just hold it over the fire!" Again, you do as you say, and he follows.

It was a nice winter evening. You were sitting next to each other on a bonfire, enjoying the heat. Due to the small tree trunk you were sitting on, your legs and shoulders were touching. Although - even if there wasn't that small trunk, you would still be glued to each other's sides.

A blanket was draped over your bodies, providing additional heat.

"Hm... I don't know about that. I still think marshmallows would have been the better choice," he says quietly, looking at the apple a little bit unsurely.

"Wait until you taste it. You'll never want to eat marshmallows ever again," you assure him, but he doesn't look convinced.

"But I like marshmallows. They're perfectly sweet, sticky and unhealthy. And they don't have worms," he instead tries to convince you.

"Worms?" you ask and look at him from the side, a little bit confused at first.

"Yes. Because they're apples from your neighbors' tree. All natural. I bet there are worms in it," Howzer nods with a small smile on his face, not really believing himself.

"Pshh, don't say that too loud! They can't hear that we stole their apples!" you laugh quietly, nudging him a little bit, making him laugh, too.

"When I was younger, my dad always told me that the worms would jump out of the apple because the fire is too hot. We spent hours making baked apples because I always missed the worms," you chuckle, leaning more into him.

Howzer giggles a little bit more, putting his free arm around your shoulder and pulling you into his side.

"I think your dad lied so you would eat his worm apples," he grins, kissing the top of your head.

"How dare you accusing him of lying?" you chuckle, looking at his face again.

"Well, have you ever seen a worm jumping out of an apple?" he asks with raised eyebrows.

"... No," you say, shaking your head a little. Howzer exhales through his nose with a quiet laugh.

"Hush. Just enjoy your baked apple. They look finished," you say, pulling the food out of the flames.

Carefully, you and Howzer blow on your apples, trying to cool them down a bit. After some time, you decide to take your first bite, savoring the sweet and smokey taste of the warm apple on your tongue.

Excited, you watch Howzer take a bite too, looking carefully at the apple.

He chews for a while, many different emotions cross his face before he swallows and looks back at you.

"Tastes like worm."

"What?" you chuckle, looking at him questioningly, "You haven't eaten a worm in your whole life, Howzer. You don't even know how they taste!"

"Well, now I know," he chuckles, too, taking another small bite.

"It tastes okay. I think it would be much better with marshmallows," he says, already reaching for the bag with the white and pink sweets, putting one on top of the baked apple.

TAGLIST:

he both avoids you like the plague but is constantly around you, by now he could list off all the things he likes about you as well as your favorite things. he believes he’s being discreet but all the sins have noticed his little crush by now.

“so you and howzer huh!” the “giant” girl teased as she playfully bumped your shoulder thanks to the pills merlin gave her. “what about howzer?” she giggled at your ignorance “oh come on it’s all over his face how much he’s into you!” “oh so like you and king huh.” you teased with a smirk on your face as she blushed bright red “it’s not like that i swear!!” you held your index finger up to your lips and smiled at her “don’t worry i won’t tell.”

there was no denying how you felt about howzer, you liked him too you just didn’t think about pursuing anything at the moment. maybe for once you’ll go against your better judgment and go for what you want.

ultimately he asked you on a date first, he asked if you wanted to see the fireworks with him. he was stumbling over his words a bit it was kinda cute. gilthunder and griamore gave him advice the day before and he used the advice when he could.

during the fireworks show that’s when he decided to ask you out, he was looking at you for most of the show calling the “fireworks” beautiful and amazing when in reality he meant you.

"So I've got refresher duty, and I'm in there mopping... and she's in the stall, I guess. All of a sudden she calls my name. From the stall. Okay... so I answer, and she asks me if I can give her a big wad of wet paper towels as well as some dry ones," you say, reveling in the adorable wrinkle of his nose as he listened with delight.

"Who asks that?!" he laughed, and you sat up straighter, crossing your legs so you could face him more fully to finish your story with increasingly theatrical arm motions.

"I have no idea... But I have to admit... my response wasn't the nicest. I was kind of an idiot as a kid," you confessed, the glimmer in his eyes hinting that he probably wasn't the most innocent angel either.

"Uh oh."

"Yeah... So I got this HUGE wad of paper towels, like... I'm holding it with two hands, and absolutely SOAKED it under the sink. Then I rushed over to the bathroom... and..." you were dissolving into guilty giggles, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. But you were too far to stop now. "I threw the entire sopping thing over the top of the stall door... and it landed on something with a massive SPLAT... and then I ran away."

"Oh my gosh," Howzer laughed, palming his face. "Was she screaming at you?"

"No!" you said between chortles, "That was the weirdest part -- she was totally silent!"

"Probably rethinking every choice she made in her life that got her to that point," he observed, and you laughed, relaxing into the couch next to him. The recline of his seat tilted the cushions toward him, and you found yourself leaning on him slightly more than before. It gave you tingles, and he didn't seem to mind. Grateful that he wasn't abhorred by your childhood weaselry, you continued with other, more flattering stories in between the ones he was sharing about his own shenanigans as a cadet.

Hours passed in the blink of an eye. You were absolutely in awe of his simultaneous sweetness and mischievousness, his cleverness and integrity. The room was so warm and cozy, with a fire flickering in the hearth and the steady sound of rain tapping against the roof and windows. The rumbling sound his smooth voice made in his chest was lulling you to sleep, and as he talked about the regimented training schedule of his adolescence, your eyelids slowly fluttered closed.

Howzer noticed when your head slowly tilted to the side, the weight of him beside you pulling you toward him, and he carefully pulled his arm out from beneath you, allowing you to slump into his side, face resting on his perfectly broad chest. His own heart was thumping in his chest as he tentatively stretched his arm around you, tucking it snugly along your back as he relaxed his own head back onto the cushion. With a deep, contented sigh, he gazed at the ceiling for a while, lost in thought as he watched the shadows dance gracefully.

You woke a few hours later, coming to with a blissful awareness of being insanely warm and comfortable. As you took in your surroundings, you felt fireworks in your chest at the sight and feeling of Howzer peacefully sleeping next to you, one strong arm holding you gently against him. You didn't know how you'd gotten there, but you weren't about to start asking.