Chapter Text

Sunshine and Cynicism

Back to School

The new semester started without much fanfare, which after the events of the previous term, felt both comforting and anti-climactic.

Enid was thankful to be back at school. Though her family’s response to her newfound ability to wolf out was gratifying, somehow her mother still managed to make her feel like a disappointment.

Her brothers had, at least, been suitably impressed that she’d taken on a Hyde and had demanded that she re-tell (and reenact) the tale multiple times.

Beyond that, the one other bright spot was that her roommate and new best friend had gotten a phone and had actually texted her.
Like, had texted her first!

Even when Enid spammed her with an ungodly amount of emojis and way too many memes that she absolutely knew that Wednesday did not understand, the other girl kept texting her back.

That in itself felt like a miracle.
It also felt like a miracle when she got back to school and walked into their shared room, and noticed three things.

The tape line on the floor was gone, the black snood was hanging carefully from black iron hook on the wall near the door, and there was a neatly wrapped package sitting on her bed.

Neither Wednesday nor Thing were anywhere to be seen, but the perfectly sharp edged, matte black wrapped box could only have come from one person. The incongruous deep pink bow on top might have even brought tears to her eyes.

She was still staring at the box when the door opened and the familiar heavy clomp of her roommates' combat boots approached.

When Wednesday walked into the room, Enid couldn’t look anywhere but at her.
Nothing about her appearance had changed over the break, she still looked as delightfully goth and disaffected as ever.

Only now, Enid knew what it felt like to touch her, to be pressed up against her so tightly that she could feel Wednesday’s heartbeat rattling against her own ribs. Even with the blood and grime, even in their battered and wounded state, it had felt better than she could have imagined.

She would have thought that hugging Wednesday would be like embracing an elegant statue, cool and unyielding.
Instead, it was quicksilver ferocity, like the other girl wanted to fuse their very bones together.

But it was just those kinds of thoughts that were going to get Enid in trouble.
If she voiced them, Wednesday might appreciate the imagery, but she certainly would not appreciate the emotion lurking behind them.

So instead, she looked into those dark eyes, smiled, and said, “Howdy roomie.”

She was rewarded with the tiniest quirk of an eyebrow upward and the brief flicker of what could have been a smile.

“Hello Enid.”

For a moment, Wednesday’s eyes flickered over to the unopened box sitting next to Enid on the bed, and then away again.

“I see you found your Christmas present.”

At this, Enid couldn’t hold back her excitement, and she bounced up and down on the mattress a few times.
"I did!"

“Aren’t you going to open it?”

At that, the blonde girl launched herself off the bed and rummaged around in her backpack, coming up with a small wooden box in the shape of a miniature coffin.

She offered it to Wednesday with one outstretched hand.

“Only if you open yours too.”

“Alright.”

Enid retreated back to her bed and picked up the box, then said, excitedly, “Okay, go!”

She tore through the wrapping paper, setting the bow gently aside and revealed a plain white box.
Taking the lid off, she pulled out the item of clothing inside and unfolded it.

It was a light wash denim jacket with shiny pink metal buttons.
Across the front chest pocket was a sewn-on patch of a wolf in blue, pink, and purple.

Flipping it over, she saw that the back had a large fabric panel in the same color scheme with wolves, paw prints, the moon, and other similarly themed symbols.

She squealed with delight and then looked up to find that Wednesday still hadn’t opened her present.
Instead, she was just standing there, watching Enid, a curious expression on her face.

As soon as she was caught looking, her eyes dropped, and she asked, “Do you like it?”

Enid couldn’t help the enthusiasm bubbling out.
“It’s awesome! I’m totally wearing it every day. Well, you know, like whenever I’m allowed to, with our uniforms and everything. Obviously this doesn’t align with the dress code. Did I mention that it’s awesome?”

“Twice now yes,” Wednesday answered, as deadpan as always. But now there was the unmistakable curve of a smile on her face.

Before Enid could let herself get all fluttery about the fact that giving her a gift made Wednesday happy, she said, “Open yours now.”

Obligingly, Wednesday opened the box and peered inside.
In one delicate motion, she pulled out a brooch, resting it on her open palm to examine it carefully. The center was a bird skull, glinting a dull ivory, and the back was highly polished nearly black wood decorated with a few pieces of stiff, intricate black lace and shiny black beads.

“This is extraordinary Enid.”

Wednesday’s voice held a note of awe as she looked up and caught her roommate’s eyes with her own.
Now Enid was the one who had to look down.

“I’m glad you like it. As soon as I saw it I thought of you.”

“Understandable. It is quite macabre.”

Enid ran her hands carefully over the jacket again, she took note of the neat, tiny stitches, all done in dark purple thread.

“Wait, did you sew all this yourself?”

“I did.” Wednesday paused and continued in a flatter tone, “Thing helped.”

“Well,” Enid said, standing up and bouncing on her toes. “I missed Thing. And I missed you.”

Someone who was less familiar with the subtleties of Wednesday facial expressions would have missed the hints of joy that chased their way across her face, before she schooled herself.

“I missed you too.”

At that, Enid couldn’t restrain herself anymore.
She crossed the room in small hurried steps and stopped in front of her roommate.

At Wednesday’s raised eyebrow, she extended her arms slowly, waiting for permission.
The shorter girl responded only by shuffling ever so slightly closer.

She was quickly wrapped up tightly in Enid’s embrace.

After a moment, one of Wednesday’s arms looped around Enid’s waist and she leaned her head against Enid’s shoulder.
It felt like home.

The blonde said, softly, “I’m glad you’re a hugger now.”

“Only with you Enid. Only with you.”

Chapter Text

Sunshine and Cynicism

The Night Sky

The semester was off to a good start.

Since the dramatic events of defeating a reincarnated bigoted pilgrim together, Bianca and Wednesday were now, if not friends, then at least friendly.

With Bianca’s approval came that of the other sirens, and learning that Wednesday and Enid had taken on a Hyde together meant that the other werewolves at school now treated the dark-haired girl with a grudging politeness.

Between all of them, Eugene’s devotedness, and Xavier’s seeming acceptance, Wednesday now had quite a lot of social capital.

Even the vampires now eyed her with respect, mostly led by Yoko who, as Enid’s other closest friend, now treated Wednesday as if she’d been part of the fangs social group from the beginning.

It was honestly pretty funny to see Wednesday attempt to navigate her newfound popularity, especially as her death threats were now more likely to make people smile at her than cower in fear.

She complained bitterly to Enid about this when they were alone in their room.

“Wednesday, I promise that you’re still terrifying. People just respect you now and see how smart and cool you are.”

Wednesday scoffed at that.
“I need their approval like I need a hole in the skull. No, I misspoke. A hole in the skull would be much more entertaining.”
She crossed her arms tightly, and her lips folded into what was almost a pout.

When her roommate got grumpy like this, it was adorable. No, no, not adorable. Nope.
Funny, amusing, not adorable.

Suddenly she realized that Wednesday was staring at her.

“Why are you mumbling to yourself Enid? Is something wrong?”

“I’m good!” she burst out, louder than she’d meant to.

“Hm.”

Those dark eyes were still considering her carefully.
She fidgeted under that look and abruptly changed the subject.
“What do you think of the new principal?”

Thankfully, this got Wednesday’s eyes off her as she considered the question carefully.
As the top troublemaker of the prior year, Wednesday had been called in for a one-on-one meeting with the principal.

“I will be honest. I fully anticipated being forced to sit silently while the new principal read through my profoundly thick file and made horrified sounds at regular intervals. Followed up with a lecture peppered with platitudes about turning over new leaves and so forth.”

Enid bounced down onto her bed, interested to hear this story.
She’d wanted to demand the details as soon as she’d found out that the meeting had happened, but had been distracted by Eugene’s happy chattering about how well the hives were doing and how much he’d missed the bees.

“And? What actually happened? What’s she like?”

All the student body really knew about the new principal was that she was a vampire.
When Yoko had heard her name, she’d raised an eyebrow, intrigued, but hadn’t been willing to share anything with Enid other than, “She’s from a very old and powerful family.”

Vampires just loved cultivating an air of mystery.

“She was surprisingly unaffected by my school record, which was both disappointing and reassuring. She seems less caught up in the rules than Weems was. How she fares as principal remains to be seen.”

As Enid was still dialed into all the school’s gossip, she had her own news to share.
“I heard that her father is a demon, and that she wasn’t born a vampire.”

“Intriguing, but I don’t know if we can trust the murmurings of the student body when it comes to genealogical facts. They were not even aware of the Weems family’s shapeshifting abilities.”

Enid didn’t disagree, but she continued, “I also heard that the new science teacher is her girlfriend.”

Part of her was very curious to see Wednesday's reaction to this.
The dark-haired girl seemed unfazed by this news, merely mildly interested as she replied.

“Ms. Bonnibel? She wears more pink than you. It is almost shocking that she can manage it.”

That last sentence had the slightly teasing note that Enid was getting more used to hearing.

At first, she hadn’t picked up on it, but lately there was a shift in the way that Wednesday talked to her.
She still said things that on the surface were insults or criticism, but her tone was noticeably different than when she insulted or criticized anyone else.

Enid realized that she’d been silent for too long and said, quickly, “Well I welcome some more color around here. Hopefully Ms. Bonnibel won’t turn out to have a secret plan to destroy the school and all of us.”

“I for one would be disappointed if there were no dastardly plots to untangle or mysteries to solve.”

“And I would be thankful for a more quiet semester. Besides, I don’t think Ms. Bonnibel is up to anything. She talks like a scientist, but she smells like candy.”

That pulled Wednesday out of the pleasant thoughts she was having about the chance to solve more murders.

“What do you mean she smells like candy?”

This made the blonde flush slightly.
“Oh just…ever since I transformed, my senses have been heightened. They were better than an average human’s before, but now it’s like a whole new world.”

“Wolves do possess a superior sense of smell,” Wednesday said almost absent-mindedly.
Then she asked, “What do I smell like?”

Enid’s face turned bright red, and her roommate looked almost embarrassed as she added, “I apologize for that question. That might be offensive or overly familiar.”

After clearing her throat to make sure her voice wouldn’t squeak, Enid answered, squeakily, “It’s fine.”

Wednesday turned away stiffly and sat down at her desk, shoulders tight as she absently ran her fingers across a stack of typed pages.

Otherwise, the room was almost free of movement and sound until Enid, surprising both Wednesday and herself, spoke.

“You smell like the soil after it rains. Like a fire after it’s almost burned away. Like the night sky in winter.”

The words came out in a hoarse tone, and Enid was desperately glad that Wednesday was facing away from her.

The only acknowledgement to her words was one tense nod.

Full of a swirl of complicated feelings, Enid rolled over on her bed and put in her headphones, turning on the Red album and cranking up the volume until all background sounds were erased.

If she’d been listening more closely, she would have realized that it was a long, long time before the typewriter keys began to clack.

Chapter Text

Sunshine and Cynicism

You Have Good Taste

For about a week after the whole unfortunate “let me tell you what you smell like” situation, Enid had tried to avoid Wednesday.
Since they were roommates and had several classes together, it wasn’t the easiest thing to do.

But she was hoping that a little space would help calm the tiny tornado of fluttering emotions that had started acting up every time Wednesday held her gaze for more than a fleeting second, or when their arms casually brushed together when they walked down the hallway.

She wasn’t sure if her roommate had even noticed her avoidance attempts, as the dark-haired girl had been a bit quieter than usual.
She’d been spending even more time than usual writing, or playing tempestuous melodies on her cello at night.

At the moment, Wednesday was off somewhere else, and Enid was sitting on the floor next to her bed, carefully painting Thing’s fingernails with sparkly purple nail polish.

“Thing?” she asked, hesitantly.

The disembodied hand waggled one thumb carefully to show that he was listening.

“Do you think…is Wednesday alright? She’s been a little, I don’t know, not moodier, but like…reflective? Not that she isn’t usually a quiet person, if it weren’t for those boots she’d be the sneakiest person ever but…I dunno, is anything wrong?”

At this rambling, Thing didn’t make any further movements, but somehow she got the impression that he was thinking about something.

Then, he did a gentle flutter of his fingers and tapped the two still unpainted fingertips against the floorboards.

“Right, sorry. I’ll finish painting your nails and once they dry we can talk. Or you can talk, sign, you know what I mean. And I can just…stop talking.”

She busied herself with finishing her task and put away the supplies while the polish dried.

Once she’d done that, she sat back down and must have zoned out, because she suddenly realized that Thing was tugging insistently at the sleeve of her sweater.

Enid folded her hands, nervously twisting her fingers together and gave her best listening face.

Thing started in with his unique mix of gestures and sign language that Enid was still learning to follow, though it helped that he went slow for her.

“Ok, so you think I should just ask Wednesday? Ask her what?”

Her brow furrowed and she followed his next set of motions.
“Ask her what’s wrong? Wait, does that mean something is wrong? Why can’t you just tell me what’s wrong?”

Now she was a little panicked, but Thing waved at her impatiently and then made a calming motion.

She bounced her legs a few times and took a deep breath.
“Okay, sorry, go ahead.”

Thing’s gestures seemed a bit more impatient now.

“She’s my best friend? Well, I know she’s my best friend, you don’t have to tell me that.”

Another, faster flurry, ending with Thing extending an open palm in what would have been the finishing motion of a shrug if there had been a full arm attached.

Once Enid had puzzled out what he’d said, she huffed.

“Thing! You know it’s not that easy. It’s Wednesday. She’s the most complicated person like, ever. And I doubt she wants me to acknowledge that she actually has emotions that I pay attention to.”

Thing flicked her in the leg.

“Ow! Hey!”

He flicked her again and she showed him her claws.

She wouldn’t actually slash him, and he knew it, but before he could follow-through with the rude gesture he was no doubt about to make, the door opened and Wednesday appeared in the threshold.

Her eyes flickered over to them and she took in the scene before walking over to stand near her desk, hanging her backpack across the back of the chair.

“What are you two up to?”

Enid quickly sheathed her claws and gave a nervous chuckle, trying to ignore the dark, magnetic eyes that were still looking at her.

“Nothing! Just giving Thing a fresh coat of nail polish.”

For his part, Thing wiggled his fingers so that the light caught the sparkles on his fingernails.

“Lovely.”

She was still standing there, still looking.

“Enid,” she started, then abruptly stopped. There was a long pause.

“Um, yes?”

Now Wednesday looked almost…conflicted. Or at least a tiny crease had formed between her eyebrows.

“Never mind. I was going to do some writing. I hope that will not disturb you.”

“No, no, that’s fine. Totally fine. I’m actually gonna go…say hi to Yoko. See you later roomie!”

Then, cursing her own weakness but unable to handle those intense eyes a moment longer without doing or saying something embarrassing, she nearly ran out of the room.

As she closed the door behind her, her sharp ears caught the sound of Wednesday hissing out,
“I know! There is no need to wave at me like that.”

-------------------------------------------

After speed walking through the corridors for about ten minutes to burn off some of her nervous energy, Enid did end up at the door of her friend’s room.

Yoko gave a flashing white smile and let her into the dimly lit space.

They had a long talk about everything but Wednesday, though the vampire did give her friend a knowing look at the blatant omission.

Once they’d worked their way through the latest school gossip, Enid felt a lot more settled.
She gave Yoko a hug and bid her goodnight, skipping back through the corridors of Ophelia Hall and back to her room just before curfew.

She walked in quietly, expecting that Wednesday would still be at her typewriter and not wanting to disturb her, but the other girl was sitting on her bed, propped up against the headboard and looking through some ancient looking book.

“How is Yoko?”

“Oh, she’s fine. But she still won’t tell me anything else about the new principal even though I know she knows something. I guess my blog readers will just have to wait until I have more time to do some digging to hear about Ms. Abadeer’s mysterious past.”

In the past, when she rambled on about her friends or her blog, Wednesday usually didn’t pay much attention, or her responses were confined to a nod or an occasional “Hm.”

But now, she was looking at Enid from behind the tattered leather cover of her book like she was actually paying attention.

“If you would like any help doing research, I could assist you. Given our last principal’s involvement in covering up various truths, it could be useful to know more about the new person in charge.”

In her excitement that Wednesday was suggesting they spend time together doing something non-violent, Enid forgot her plan to put more distance between herself and her roommate.

“That would be so great! You’re really good at research, and old books. And it would be fun bonding time, like, roommate bonding time. You know, friend time!”

The only way she was able to stop this stream of words was to abruptly spin on her heel and walk away.

When she flopped down on her bed though, something crinkled underneath her.
She dug around in the colorful blankets and pulled out a small bag made of some kind of wax paper.

She sniffed curiously, and her mouth started to water.

Holding up the bag carefully, she rolled over onto her side to look at Wednesday.

“Do you know what this is?”

“That is spicy venison jerky. One of my Uncle Fester’s specialties. He hunts the deer himself, in the old style.”

“Old style? You mean bow hunting?”

“Crossbow actually. The spice blend is a carefully guarded secret, but he swears that it includes the blood of his enemies.”

Enid’s eyebrows raised and she took another careful sniff.
There was no hint of blood, just a variety of spices and the earthy, tempting smell of the meat.

Her examination finished, she looked back at her roommate.
That curious expression was back on Wednesday's face and she said, softly, “I thought you might like it.”

“Only one way to find out!”

Enid popped the first piece of jerky in her mouth and chewed.
It was a delicious explosion of spice and flavor that almost made her drool.

She ate another piece and another, pausing when she realized that she’d devoured half the large bag already.

“It’s delicious Wednesday! Thank you.”

After folding the bag up carefully, she placed it on the nightstand.

From the other side of the room, it was hard to make out the nuances of the expression on Wednesday’s face, but there was definitely, almost a smile there.

“You are quite welcome Enid.”
After a pause, she added, “You have good taste.”

Their eyes met for long enough for that feeling to surge in Enid’s chest again, but this time she didn't look away.

After a moment, Wednesday’s eyes dropped and Enid could breathe again.

Chapter Text

Sunshine and Cynicism

Realizations

Ever since they’d returned to school after break, Wednesday had been paying more attention to Enid.
Some of this was involuntary as she could not seem to help letting her eyes follow the bubbly blonde whenever she was nearby.

Most of this attention was intentional however, ever since she’d opened that magnificent little miniature coffin and found that exquisite brooch. Seeing it set there on a small piece of black velvet had made her heart give a curious stutter.

It reminded her of the moment when she’d been folded in Enid’s arms, being held with almost painful pressure and unexpected strength.
She had drawn back rather abruptly, but only because she wanted to see Enid’s face and make sure she was truly alright.

Satisfied that the blonde was in one piece, she’d pulled her back in, surrounding herself in the smell of blood and dirt and adrenaline and something underneath that was just Enid, something like a forest in sunlight or a cozy room with the windows flung open.

Her heart had stuttered then, pressed into that warmth, and for the first time in her life, she had not wanted to pull away.
She did not want space or distance, she wanted to stay like that forever.

During their time apart over break, Wednesday realized that she missed the other girl, missed her with a longing she’d never felt for anyone.
Was this what it felt like to have a best friend? She had no idea, having never had one before.

Accompanying her brother on a walk through town one day, she had seen a denim jacket hanging in a window display. The pale blue color and shiny pink buttons reminded her of Enid, and before she had time to stop herself or question her sentimentality, she had walked into the store.

Back at home, she questioned herself about this desire to give a gift to someone, especially someone outside the family, and especially a gift that couldn’t potentially cause blood loss.

In the end, she justified it to herself with the reminder that Enid had saved her life in the fight against the Hyde, and that it was likely customary to give a gift to your closest (and only) friend in honor of the holidays.

Pugsley had been intrigued by the purchase as it was clearly not a garment that she meant to wear herself.
He stopped teasing her about it after she threatened to cut out his tongue as she waved a dagger in her face, but did helpfully show her a magazine with pictures of similar jackets that had been dressed up with pins and patches.

This gave her an idea, and with Thing’s help she set to work, turning the jacket into an homage to Enid’s powers and favorite colors.

It was likely the most sentimental thing that she had ever done, but she couldn’t even bring herself to be disgusted at that fact.

Though maybe her body was doing that for her, as she did feel somewhat warm and almost nervous whenever she looked at the jacket.

-------------------------------------------

That warm, nervous feeling now hit her every time she saw Enid wearing the jacket, which was often, as it had become the other girl’s most prized possession.

Multiple people had admired the jacket and asked where she got it, and all Enid would say in response was that it had been a Christmas present.

But then her eyes would slide over to Wednesday, and the merry, confidential sparkle in them threatened to bring a blush to Wednesday’s pale cheeks.

Only years of practice regulating her own blood pressure allowed her to escape that fate.

For her part, Wednesday often wore the brooch that Enid had given to her, and on the days she did not have it pinned onto herself somewhere, she would take out the box just to look at it, or maybe run a careful finger across the skull.

When she saw it resting proudly on the lapel of Wednesday’s blazer, or pinned on a jacket or sweater over her heart, Enid couldn’t help but flash a trembly sort of smile, a smile that Wednesday was starting to associate with Enid looking at her and only her.
She was not quite sure what it meant, but she was starting to have suspicions.

-------------------------------------------

One evening, a few weeks into the semester, Wednesday was alone in the room.
Enid was off participating in one of her many clubs, so she was attempting to work on her writing.

However, tonight she could not seem to focus. She would type, and then pause, and then type again.
But the pauses became longer and longer until finally she gave a growl of frustration and pushed back her chair.

From her bed, Thing thumped the black quilt to get her attention, and rapidly signed something.

“No, nothing is wrong. I am just finding it difficult to concentrate this evening.”

A skeptical wiggle and a few more rapid gestures.

“Miss her? No, I have just become accustomed to her presence.”

At this, Thing dropped from the bed and scrambled over, getting up into the desk and drumming his fingernails on the wooden surface before curling his fingers as if to say, “Go ahead.”

Wednesday folded her hands in her lap angrily.
She took a deep breath.
She glared at the typewriter.

Thing curled his fingers again, more gently.

Her words came out from behind clenched teeth.
“Fine. If you must know, I believe that I have…feelings for Enid. Romantic feelings.”

A flurry of motion from Thing.

“Whether it was obvious to you is irrelevant and unhelpful. You are familiar with the Addams family courting rituals are you not?”

A thumbs up.

“Well then you must be aware that traditionally, the first gift that is presented to an Addams by a potential suitor is a piece of jewelry.”

That sent Thing into a flurry of motion that included pointing to the brooch, which Wednesday had sitting in its box on the desk next to her, another enthusiastic thumbs up, and then a questioning quiver.

“Whether Enid is aware of this is doubtful. However, she did give me this gift, which, like an absolute fool, I want to believe means something beyond friendship.”

She looked over her shoulder at Enid’s colorful side of the room.
It no longer hurt her eyes to see it.

Looking back at Thing she said, thoughtfully, “Considering that Enid is a werewolf, I suppose I should research courtship rituals that she may be more familiar with. I want to make myself understood, and I doubt that Uncle Fester’s advice of offering roadkill or hunting a potential partner for sport will work in this case.”

Then, her eyes sharpened and she lowered her face close to the now excited disembodied hand.

“You will say nothing of this to Enid on pain of dismemberment. I will take your fingers if you betray me. And I will make the process slow.”

Thing flattened himself down on the desk and quickly signaled his acknowledgement.

“Good. Tomorrow, we begin our research.”

-------------------------------------------

The next day found Wednesday in a corner of the otherwise deserted library.
At least now it was deserted.

Upon her arrival, she’d had to chase off Kent, who had been canoodling with a vampire between two of the shelves.

Now she was blissfully alone, except for a large stack of books.
Thing was back in the room with instructions to distract Enid if she showed any signs of wanting to track her roommate down.

She’d worked her way through several general volumes without finding out much useful information, but the current book about werewolf culture promised to be more fruitful.

She had just copied down a few things into her notebook when Bianca came around the corner and walked over to her, hovering at the end of the table and regarding the stack of books.

Wednesday slid a protective arm over her notebook, though as she wrote in a code of her own devising, this was unnecessary.

“Well well, what have we here? A little light reading?”

“Research. Nothing that concerns you.”

Bianca’s luminous eyes ran over the titles printed on the spines of the books.

“These books all seem to be about werewolves. And I know we aren’t covering them in any of our courses this semester.”

Wednesday fixed her with a dour glare.

“Personal research.”

At Bianca’s skeptical eyebrow raise she added, dismissively, “Now that Enid has transformed, I wanted to learn more about werewolves so I can be a supportive friend.”

Instead of this statement ending the conversation as she had hoped it would, this only seemed to encourage the other girl to engage with her.

Bianca sat down in a chair across from Wednesday.

“Supportive friend? Is that what you’re calling it?”

She refused to look up, though the teasing tone made her blood boil.

“What are you implying?”

“Anyone who’s paying attention has noticed the way you look at her. And that jacket? As if Enid is fooling anyone by pretending she got that at her family Christmas. It’s sweet Addams, that’s all.”

Wednesday took a moment to consider this and then flicked her dark eyes up from the book she was staring at without seeing.

“Bianca, the last person who called me sweet, ended up with blunt force trauma.”

A bright, completely unrepentant smile flashed at her.

“I’m not making fun of you. I know we didn’t get off to a great start last term, but I admire you. And I think you’ve been good for Enid.”

“Do you?” Wednesday asked, in a cool tone, though she was genuinely curious. “How so?”

“She’s more confident in her own abilities, she even wolfed out to save you for sea goddess’s sake. And Yoko said that she isn’t taking as much shit from her mother or brothers. All good things in my opinion.”

This mention of Enid’s family added a little fire to Wednesday’s tone.

“Enid is kind, loyal, and brave. During her first transformation she was able to defeat a Hyde. If any members of her family have criticism for her, then they are fools and deserve a slow death.”

This seemed to please Bianca, because her smile widened.

“Like I said, sweet.”

“Not a word people often associate with death threats,” Wednesday commented dryly.

“But you aren’t most people, are you?”

“I believe I continue to make that clear on a daily basis.”

At that, Bianca nodded and stood, resting one hand briefly on the stack of books.
“I’ll leave you to it. Good luck. I’m rooting for you.”

She had made it a few steps away when Wednesday called out after her.

“Bianca. I hope it is well understood that anyone gossiping about my feelings for Enid will end up flayed.”

The siren turned and gave her a small smile.

“Understood Addams.”

Then she walked away, leaving Wednesday alone again.

After staring at Bianca’s retreating back for a long moment, Wednesday returned her attention to the book.

Though she would never have admitted it, the idea of anyone thinking that she was good for Enid brought a smile to her face.

Chapter Text

Sunshine and Cynicism

Gifts

One black painted fingernail tapped against the desktop as she read through her notes again.
The last few days of research had been fruitful, and she had even been able to sneak back into the Nightshade library and find a few more relevant books and journals.

In the end, her list of acceptable methods for courting a werewolf was quite simple.
She had to demonstrate that she was a capable provider, which was traditionally done through gifts of food.
She had to show an appropriate level of possessiveness towards her potential mate and be willing and able to fight off any other suitors.

And there was also a lot in the literature about…biting.
She had found one particularly colorful journal entry from a werewolf who had been a professor at Nevermore once upon a time.
It had not been graphic per se, but it had brought some images to mind that she had to repress vigorously.

Biting was not something that she considered off the table, but it seemed best left for last.
The day after she had read through that journal, she caught herself staring at Enid’s mouth and, deeply embarrassed, had quickly forced her eyes away before her roommate could notice.

Unwilling to reduce Enid to simply a werewolf, Wednesday had also visited the local library in Jericho to read up on traditional dating methods. She assumed the other girl would also appreciate some wooing that didn’t involve fresh meat and growling.

Her current plan was to combine all of these ways of showing romantic interest and see how Enid reacted and whether she reciprocated.

The first step had been to send a carrier pigeon to her Uncle Fester, asking him for some of his famous venison jerky.
It made sense for her first food gift to be meat as the texts all agreed that this was the most traditional.

If she was going to staunchly follow the texts, it would be an entire deer that she had killed herself, but that seemed excessive.

It also seemed like a sure way to get on her new dorm mother’s bad side.
Though, from what she had seen of Ms. Bonnibel’s behavior so far, the teacher might not be that shocked.

-------------------------------------------

While Wednesday waited for a response from her elusive uncle, she tried to act as normal as possible.

Beyond that extra soft smile that Enid sent her way from time to time, she had not seen any obvious signs that the blonde girl had any romantic interest in her.

Maybe the other girl spent more time looking at her from across the room, but that just might mean that the werewolf was less intimidated by her than she had been during the previous term.

But then, Wednesday fumbled into a conversation about smell that nearly sent her reeling.
Hearing Enid talk about how she smelled in that deeper than normal tone of voice had almost made her swoon.

“Like the night sky in winter.”

Those words still echoed in her head from time to time.
Even thinking of them now made her feel a bit faint, which normally she enjoyed, but Thing was out on some errand and therefore unable to fetch the smelling salts, so it was best if she kept her wits about her.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a tapping at the window, and she went over to find Thing waving at her and pointing to a box sitting on the balcony. From the way it was tied up with complicated knots of thick black twine, she knew it was from her Uncle Fester.

She quickly went to retrieve it and stash it out of view on the floor behind her desk. There was a plain black envelope attached, and she opened it to find a short hand-written note.

Wednesday,

I’m so happy that you’ve made friends with a werewolf. Next time I come to visit, I hope to meet her. Give my regards to Thing.

Love and Insanity,
Uncle Fester

A tight, pleased smile crossed her face.
Step one of her courtship plan could now begin.

-------------------------------------------

The jerky had turned out to be a good gift, but it was still unclear whether Enid had understood the symbolism.
So for the next gift, Wednesday decided to do something less werewolf-centric, but also not overtly romantic.

She and Enid were sitting in the library trying to find out more information on Ms. Abadeer.
By now, Wednesday was used to Enid’s perpetual motion and was able to ignore the constant bouncing of her leg under the table, or her hand tapping out rhythms on her knee.

It used to be something she found incredibly annoying, but now it almost served as a reassuring metronome in the background.

Their research had found some information on the Abadeer family, of which Ms. Abadeer’s father Hunson was the current family head.
But beyond the fact that they were Eastern European demons with a variety of powers that manifested differently over the generations, there was nothing much of interest.

Wednesday looked over at her roommate, who was currently engrossed in a book, nose scrunched up as she concentrated.

“Enid?”

“Hm?” came the absent response.

She rummaged around in her backpack and pulled out a small black paper bag.
This was set on the table next to Enid, who looked up at the motion.

Her bright blue eyes darted from the bag to her friend.

“What’s this?”

Though Wednesday had thought that presenting Enid with the gift at a random time in a casual way would help make it feel less personal, she quickly realized that she had miscalculated.

Because right now, no one else was around, Enid was close enough to touch, and there was nothing to shield her from those eyes now locked on her face curiously.

“Just a small gift,” she was finally able to reply.
The cost of being able to keep her voice steady was that she had to drop her gaze from Enid's face.

She saw Enid’s hand reach into the bag and pull out several bottles of nail polish, each one a different brilliant jewel tone.

The blonde girl gave a squeal of delight.
“Thank you! These are great! And I don’t think I have any of these colors.”

Wednesday knew this. At her behest, Thing had taken stock of Enid’s nail polish so she could be sure not to buy anything too similar to what the werewolf already possessed.

Once her happy inspection of each bottle was complete, Enid asked, in a more tentative tone, “What’s the occasion?”

“I merely thought…since you have taken over as Thing’s chief manicurist, that you deserve a reward.”

She returned her eyes to the book she had been reading, and was slightly startled when a warm hand came to rest on top of her own.

“Thank you.”

Wednesday could not look up, because she knew that if she did, she would see that soft look that made her feel fluttery and discomfited.

Then the hand shifted slightly to gently entangle their fingers.

She looked up.

Enid had her head ducked down again, seemingly focused on her own book, but Wednesday could tell that she was not actually reading as her eyes were fixed on the page in front of her, but were not moving.

There might have been a slight flush on her cheeks, but it was hard to tell, because Wednesday realized that she had been staring too long and looked away quickly.

Finally, she said, “You’re welcome Enid.”

The hand stayed resting on top of hers and she did not make even a cursory attempt to pull away.

Chapter Text

Sunshine and Cynicism

Fangs

Enid was trying to play it cool, she really, really was.

But Wednesday was making it extremely hard by being unexpectedly sweet at unpredictable intervals.

Like, her roommate had given her three gifts now. Three!

First, there was the jacket, which was a Christmas present and therefore made sense, plus she’d given Wednesday a gift in exchange.
So that was fine.

But then, completely randomly, she’d been given the venison jerky.
And there was no explanation behind that gift.

Just Wednesday saying, “I thought you might like it,” in a tone that made Enid’s heart thump a quick staccato for nearly 30 seconds.

There was no way that the other girl would have known the significance of giving venison to a werewolf from her clan, but sometimes, when Enid was curled up in bed clutching one of her stuffed animals, she pretended that it meant something.

Then, when they were in the library together as Wednesday helped her with research for her blog, which tbh, was a gift in itself, she’d been unceremoniously handed yet another present.
After carefully examining each bottle of nail polish she’d looked at Wednesday to find the other girl studiously not looking at her.

That was a little weird, as her roommate never seemed to have trouble looking at people.
It was much more common that she stared longer than was really polite, which most people were unable to cope with.

So all of those feelings had bubbled up, and in a moment of bravery, she’d laid her hand on top of Wednesday’s perpetually chilly one, anticipating that the touch would last less than two seconds before the dark-haired girl pulled away.

To her astonished pleasure, the hand underneath hers didn’t budge, not even when she carefully shifted to curl her fingers through Wednesday’s.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the dark-haired girl staring at her for a long moment, but Enid didn’t look up or move or say anything in the hope that she could make the moment last longer.

In the end, their hands stayed joined together until Enid was the one to move.
She’d realized how late it had gotten and started hurriedly packing up her things, not wanting to get caught out after curfew.

They hadn’t found anything interesting about Ms. Abadeer, though that may partly have been that Enid was so distracted by the feel of Wednesday’s hand under hers that all the words she'd tried to read blurred together.

It was totally worth it though.

-------------------------------------------

The next day, they were in their botany class with Ms. Bonnibel, though the course had now expanded to include some chemistry and general biology.

Ms. Bonnibel was nice, but firm, and she took them into deeper scientific subjects than they were used to after Ms. Thornhill’s curriculum.

Wednesday was enjoying this new challenge, and often asked questions that led their teacher into even more detailed explanations.

Some of those went over Enid’s head, but she liked listening to her roommate ask the questions.
Being around Wednesday when she was fully engaged in something was one of her favorite things.

Since she and Yoko sat at a table directly behind Wednesday and Xavier, she was perfectly placed to observe the dark-haired girl without being super obvious.

Unfortunately, it also meant that she had to witness Xavier’s attempts to flirt.

Mostly, it seemed that Wednesday ignored him, or when she did pay attention to him, it was with a detached politeness.
So, it bothered Enid, but usually not enough to elicit more than a small frown before she directed her eyes back to her book or the chalkboard at the front of the room.

Today though, something about Xavier’s behavior was really grating on her.
They were supposed to be reading through a chapter on plant toxins and their uses in arcane rituals, but Xavier was making a small sketch in his notebook.

He tapped the desk with his pencil to get Wednesday's attention, and then made the drawing rise from the page.
It was a tiny version of Wednesday reading her textbook and taking notes.

The detail was impressive, and if it was anyone else who had drawn it, it would have made Enid smile.
But Xavier was looking at Wednesday’s face intently as if trying to memorize it, and before she knew it, her right hand claws were out, scraping a shallow line of gouges into the desktop.

Yoko bumped a leg against hers and whispered, “Down girl.”

She took a deep breath and retracted her claws, whipping her hand off the desk to hide it in her lap.

“Sorry,” she whispered back to her friend.

The vampire was just looking at her, head tilted slightly to the side, eyes hidden behind her dark glasses.

But from the small smile on her face and the visible raised eyebrow, Enid could tell that her friend was amused rather than annoyed.

“We are so having a conversation about this later,” Yoko added before turning back to her textbook.

-------------------------------------------

Later that day, most of their new social group was gathered in the commons at a cluster of tables.
Bianca was talking to Kent and Divina about something as Divina rested her head on Yoko’s shoulder.

Enid was sitting next to Yoko and facing Wednesday, who was flanked by Ajax and, unfortunately, Xavier.
Enid’s feelings were still a little close to the surface, so she was trying her best to remain calm.

Ever since her first transformation, she had caught herself getting angry more quickly than usual. And that anger often stemmed from a budding sense of jealousy and possessiveness that she was really, really trying to keep bottled up.

She’d always been the bubbly one, the nice one, the often over-excited one.
Just because she’d transformed, she didn’t want to suddenly have the wolf take over.

So she focused her attention on eating her gigantic roast beef sandwich and listening to the anecdote that Bianca was relating.

Everything was fine, and she was enjoying the company of her friends and the refreshing chill in the air when a motion caught her eye.

Xavier had shifted closer to Wednesday, leaning a bit into her personal space.
In response, the dark-haired girl shuffled ever so slightly away.

And maybe Xavier didn’t notice that, or didn’t pick up on the discomfort, but Enid was attuned to Wednesday’s posture and the minute changes in her facial expressions, so to her, it was clear as day.

Everything would have been fine, but then Xavier lightly rested a hand on the top of Wednesday’s shoulder.
This provoked a small flinch from the dark-haired girl, but before she could say anything, a low warning growl rumbled through Enid’s throat and the claws on both hands popped out.

That made everyone suddenly stop what they were doing and look at her, with expressions of various flavors of surprise or confusion.

Yoko had turned to her head to see what was happening, and after taking in the situation, gave her a smile.

“Hey, fang buddies,” she said.

This comment made Enid realize that yes, her fangs had also come out which was just, pretty mortifying overall.

Bianca was looking at her speculatively, Yoko was patting her arm in an attempt at reassurance, and Ajax asked, with a nervous chuckle, “Everything okay over there?”

She was considering fleeing the scene when Wednesday’s voice pinned her in place, a concerned note rippling underneath her normal cool tone.

“Are you alright Enid?”

“Me? Yeah, fine. Totes fine. All good.”

This response would have been a lot more convincing if she hadn’t accidentally glanced at Xavier again which forced another growl out.

She quickly directed her eyes to the table and started in on a breathing exercise that her dad had taught her over break.

The conversation around her picked up again, as the other students understood that sometimes their powers got the better of them, and didn’t want to embarrass her further.

When a set of cold fingertips landed on the back of her hand, she was so surprised that she nearly squeaked.
But her body must have recognized the touch, because her claws retracted before she even realized it had happened.

Looking up, she was caught in Wednesday’s dark eyes.

Her roommate had a small frown pulling at the corner of her lips, and whatever she saw in Enid’s face made her turn to Xavier and shoot him a withering glare. His eyes widened slightly and he slid away from her, hunching over his notebook and ignoring everyone for the rest of lunch.

This interaction made something in Enid’s chest roar with approval, even as she felt dismayed about having made such a blatantly territorial display.

Seemingly satisfied that Enid was fine, Wednesday leaned back and busied herself with reading a book.

Looking around, Enid noted that Bianca was smirking over at them, while next to her, Yoko was giving her a look that implied that she had some explaining to do.

When lunch was over, she tried to slink away, but Wednesday was already standing and waiting for her like a monochrome sentinel.

As they moved through the hallways to their next classes, Enid thought perhaps they’d make the trip in total silence, but then, Wednesday said, in a somewhat halting tone, as if she was afraid of being offensive, “Your fangs were quite impressive.”

“Um, thanks I guess. It felt a little weird, but I guess I’ll get used to it.”

Wednesday just nodded in return.

When they got to the fork in the corridor where they had to part ways, Enid burst out with, “Okay, well, have a good class and I’ll see you later.”

But before she could follow through with her intent to hurry away, Wednesday said, “If Xavier does something to upset you again, I’ll set his studio on fire.”

Then without waiting for a response, the shorter girl spun on her heel and walked away, dark braids spinning behind her.

Chapter Text

Sunshine and Cynicism

Midnights

Though she’d tried to avoid talking to Yoko for as long as possible, it was inevitable that her friend would eventually demand an explanation for her recent odd behavior.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk about it with the vampire, it was just that she knew as soon as she started talking about Wednesday and her feelings that everything would come tumbling out.

Sure enough, that’s exactly what happened.

She was with her friend in the vampire’s cozy, dimly lit room sitting cross-legged on a thick burgundy rug while Yoko lounged on her bed.

“So,” the vampire asked, laconically, “What was going on with the fang and claw show the other day? And don’t try to blame it on the full moon, because that isn’t for almost two weeks, I checked.”

Enid responded with a high-pitched giggle and a truly weak attempt at deflection.
“Oh, you know us werewolves…just all wild and unruly. And if you have fangs, why not show them off, am I right?”

This did cause Yoko to flash her own impressively white fangs, but did not deter her from saying, rather impatiently, “Enid, you’ve never had a problem controlling your wolfish impulses. But then twice in one day the claws come out? Just tell me the truth.”

The blonde girl stared wildly around the room, down at her hands, at the floor in front of her, and then finally at her friend’s face.

The vampire was looking at her patiently, calm and serious with just a hint of concern.

And then, it all burst out.

“I was jealous, okay? Jealous of Xavier being all broody artist guy near Wednesday and trying to get her attention. And I’m pretty sure he was making her uncomfortable because, you know, she has personal space issues…and that’s fine. I’m okay with that. It’s kind of endearing really, like kind of cute…and oh crap I just have a lot of feelings about her and Idon’tknowwhattodo.”

She finished in a rush because she had to breathe, and stared down at the floor again to try and regain her composure before looking back up at her friend, afraid of the judgemental face she was sure was awaiting her.

But when she got the courage to look, Yoko was smiling.
Enid flapped a hand in the air in her direction.

“What is that? Why are you smiling like that?”

“Enid, sweetie, I know.”

The werewolf looked baffled and nervous.

“You know? You know what?”

“I know that you have feelings for Wednesday. You really were not being subtle. You literally growled at Xavier for touching her shoulder.”

Enid let out a groan and collapsed back onto the rug, flinging her arms out.

“Oh my goddess, does everyone know?”

Then, a second later, she flung herself recklessly back up into a sitting position, eyes wide.
“Oh shit! Does Wednesday know? Crap crap crap.”

Yoko hastened to reassure her.
“I don’t think that Addams has clued into it yet.”

But then Yoko paused for a moment and looked thoughtful and Enid rocked forward, staring at her.

“What?”

“She does treat you differently than everyone else.”

The blonde scoffed at that.
“We’re best friends now. And roommates. She’s just gotten used to being around me, that’s all.”

Yoko gave her a sideways look.
“Right. I’m sure that’s it.”

Now Enid shook out her hands through the air as if trying to cast out her nervous energy.
“Can we please talk about something else? Anything else, I beg you.”

“Of course.”

-------------------------------------------

The next evening, the two roommates were in their room, not speaking as they pursued their different interests.

In this case, it meant that Wednesday was tapping away at her typewriter and Enid was laying on her bed, eyes closed and headphones in.

She hadn’t said anything to Wednesday about her territorial display, and the other girl hadn’t brought it up again, or mentioned anything about Xavier since that day.

Enid was hoping that they could just forget the whole thing ever happened.
She’d even started doing a short, daily meditation in the hopes it would help keep her more centered and prevent any future unexpected outbursts.

The music helped too, and she was zoning out when she felt a light tap at her shoulder.
She opened her eyes and saw Thing perched on her bed next to her.

When she looked at him, he pointed over to the other side of the room and she saw that Wednesday was sitting sideways in her desk chair, looking over at her.

She pulled the headphones out of her ears and sat up against her pillows.

“I apologize for disturbing you,” Wednesday said, formally, once she knew she had her roommate’s attention.

“That’s okay! Did you…was there something you needed?”

There was a moment of hesitation from Wednesday and then she spoke, almost brusquely.
“I was just wondering what music you were listening to.”

Enid fidgeted with her quilt, picking at a thread.
“Oh, um, just an album. Pop music. Have you heard of Taylor Swift? No, probably not, not really your thing.”

To her amazement, Wednesday replied, “I have heard of Taylor Swift. One of the most influential pop stars in the world if I am not mistaken.”

“Wait. What!?” the blonde girl nearly shouted, flabbergasted.

One of Wednesday’s eyebrows twitched upwards.

“Contrary to popular belief, I do not actually live under a rock Enid.”

“Right, yeah, obviously. I mean, you live here which is…you know…demonstrably not under a rock.”

Enid snapped her mouth shut before anything else could pour out.
The shock of Wednesday knowing who Taylor Swift was had definitely caused her to lose her cool.

She did a quick breathing exercise and noticed that her roommate was still looking at her, almost expectantly.

She glanced down at Thing who gave her a tiny thumbs up out of Wednesday’s line of sight.

Taking a deep breath, Enid asked, “Would you like to listen with me?”

She expected to get turned down flat, and probably get a glare thrown in there too.

But then, Wednesday was standing up and slowly walking over to position herself stiffly next to Enid’s bed.

For a long moment, she just stood there, hands folded behind her back as if she wasn’t sure what to do next.

Holding her breath, Enid lightly patted the bed in an invitation for her roommate to sit.

Amazingly, Wednesday actually did, perching on the edge of the bed and taking off her boots before turning to face Enid, pulling her body into a tight cross-legged position as if she was afraid of taking up too much space.

Once the initial shock of Wednesday being on her bed had faded, she fiddled with her headphones and measured the distance between them.

“So, um, if you want to listen together, we could share my headphones? But…you’d have to move closer for that to work.”

That statement seemed to shimmer in the air between them for a moment, and Enid watched as Wednesday carefully took in the size of the bed and then the headphones dangling from her hand, apparently making her own calculation about distance.

Worried that her roommate was uncomfortable about this potential close proximity, she was just opening her mouth to take the idea back when, to her surprise, Wednesday scooted closer.

And then she came closer still, until she was turning, and slowly lowering herself to lie on her back next to where Enid was frozen in a half-sitting position.

Realizing that huddling stiffly over her roommate was kind of awkward, Enid carefully laid down as well.
She stayed there, on her back, her shoulder mere inches from Wednesday’s.

A few long moments passed in silence and then Wednesday prompted, “Music?”.

That snapped Enid out of whatever weird haze she was in, and she handed over one of the headphones.

“I was listening to her newest album, it’s called Midnights.”
She paused, chewed her lip for a moment and added, “The album title might sound dark, but this is definitely pop music, are you sure you want to listen to this?”

“I am.”

That was all the response she got as Wednesday continued to lay next to her, eyes glued to the ceiling and chest rising and falling slightly as she breathed in and out.

Hoping that her roommate would only minimally hate the music, she started the album, closing her eyes and the first notes of Lavender Haze started to play.

To her surprise, Wednesday stayed next to her, listening to the entire album without any commentary, her arm occasionally brushing Enid’s lightly if she happened to slightly shift.

If she had been braver, Enid would have looked over to gauge her roommate’s reactions, especially to certain songs that she thought the dark-haired girl was more likely to enjoy (Vigilante Shit in particular).

But the fact that Wednesday was in her bed actually willing to listen to Taylor Swift with her was overwhelming.
Her brain was swimming with their proximity.

Eventually, the album ended and she had to open her eyes.
When she looked over, Wednesday’s head was tilted slightly towards her and her face looked…thoughtful.

“I did not find that entirely unpleasant,” she eventually said.

This pronouncement made Enid grin widely.

“Coming from you, I consider that a glowing review. Like 4 stars at least, maybe 4.5.”

Wednesday didn’t seem to know how to respond to that, and after a pause she merely said, softly, “Thank you Enid.”

“What for?”

“I appreciate you sharing your music with me. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I should prepare for bed.”

As she slowly sat up, Wednesday’s fingers brushed against Enid’s extremely softly.

That sensation caused the words she was saying to come out in a squeak.
“You’re welcome.”

As she got up and mechanically started getting out her pajamas, Enid felt like her fingers were still tingling from that touch.
Surely it had been accidental, simply due to their hand placement and the mattress bowing slightly as Wednesday pushed herself up.

But the dark haired girl was so deliberate about everything, and always seemed highly aware of exactly how much distance was between her and anyone around her at any given moment.

So…

A small glimmer of hope kindled in her chest.
She let it burn there, holding onto that warmth even as she drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Text

Sunshine and Cynicism

Courtship

Wednesday was quite pleased at how well her wooing methods seemed to be working.
Enid had reacted positively to each of her gifts and even initiated physical contact with her.

The fact that Enid touching her did not make her feel repulsed in the least was another clue to how deep her feelings had become.

In fact, she had now come to look forward to those physical interactions, and though she would not have admitted that fact to anyone else, she did pride herself on avoiding self-delusion.

Then came the day in class when Enid had gotten possessive over her, threatening Xavier with her claws and fangs.

It had truly almost made her swoon when she had realized that Enid’s behavior was the result of Xavier infringing on her personal space.

After she had worked out what had happened, she had wanted to reassure Enid, but was not quite sure exactly what to say.

So she had settled on what she hoped was a compliment about her fangs, and followed that up with her own threat to Xavier, which she hoped would demonstrate her solidarity with Enid’s earlier threat of violence.

Unfortunately, she’d been so overcome by the thought of Enid enacting violence on her behalf that she had to practically run away to avoid being caught blushing.

After that, there had been a couple days with no out of the ordinary behavior from either her or Enid.
Wednesday was planning out her next move, and one evening while Enid was spending time with Yoko, she consulted her secret courtship notes.

One of the suggestions she had gleaned from her reading was to show interest in the other person’s hobbies. Her chance to test this idea out came the next evening when Enid was listening to music.

Wednesday checked to make sure that her roommate was not paying attention and then had a quick conversation with Thing. When she was able to convey her plan to him, he agreed to help with such enthusiastic and flowery language that she almost pushed him off her desk.

Instead, she took a deep breath in an attempt to settle her rising nerves, and watched as he made his way across the room to tap Enid on the shoulder.

The plan ultimately yielded results that had exceeded her expectations.
She had merely been hoping to engage Enid in a conversation about pop music, having researched the subject specifically for that purpose.

But then the blonde girl had invited her to listen together, which involved being in Enid’s space, and, specifically, being in her bed.

Yet again, she thanked her past self for spending so many hours practicing control of her heart rate.
She was sure that otherwise, it would have been beating so hard that Enid’s sharp senses would have no doubt heard it pounding away like an overexcited drum.

They ended up listening to the entire album.
If she had more confidence when it came to emotions, Wednesday would have made a move to snuggle closer, or even try to hold Enid’s hand.

In the end, she was only able to work up the courage to lightly brush her fingers against the other girl's when she was getting up.
That did seem to provoke a reaction, but it was unclear to her if that reaction was startlement that Wednesday had touched her, or something else.

Still, she was quite pleased at how well this latest effort had worked.

Once she was in her bed and the lights were off, she allowed a smile to cross her face.
It was still there when she woke up in the morning.

-------------------------------------------

Since her last gesture had been a human courtship method, for her next attempt, she wanted to do something more werewolf specific, but was not quite sure what.

Thankfully, the opportunity presented itself.

Lunch had become a fairly predictable affair, with the same group of them gathering every day.
Bianca and the siren siblings, Yoko, Ajax, and sometimes even Eugene.

Xavier still usually sat with them as well, but now avoided sitting next to Wednesday.

For her part, Wednesday had started sitting either next to or across from Enid.

On this particular day, Divina, Kent, Yoko, and Enid were all in a lively conversation while Wednesday sat and looked through a book, as was typical for her.

But the normal pattern was disrupted when a werewolf boy walked up to their table, positioning himself near Enid.

Wednesday looked up first, studying him with a frown. He was older than them, and, she could admit, objectively attractive.

It took Enid a few moments, and a poke in the arm from Yoko, to realize that he was standing there.

Once he had her attention, he flashed her a charming smile.

“Hi Enid.”

“Oh, um, hi Roy. What’s up?”

He stood confidently and crossed his arms in a casual way that made Wednesday’s jaw clench.

“I wanted to invite you to sit with us for lunch sometime.”
He gave a smooth tilt of his head in the direction of the table where almost all the other werewolves at the school typically congregated.

Wednesday fumed. As if any of them had been kind or inclusive towards Enid before she’d transformed.

From the way that the blonde was chewing her lip, she seemed to be thinking the same thing.
But she replied politely, “That’s really nice of you, but I like eating here, with my friends.”

There was an emphasis on that last word, but whether Roy picked up on it or not, he moved a step closer and said, in an even more winsome tone, “I wanted to invite you to sit with me, specifically.”

Wednesday had been paying very close attention to Enid’s expressions and body language through this whole exchange, and at this last statement, her eyes widened slightly.
But nothing about her attitude or posture suggested that this was a welcome invitation.

The dark-haired girl could almost see the thoughts rushing through Enid’s head, and saw her look over at the werewolf table with a furrow in her brow. Her brothers were there, watching avidly, and Wednesday knew that her roommate was worried about both her family dynamics and the dynamics of the school pack.

As the blonde continued to hesitate, Wednesday decided to step in.
She abruptly stood and slid a small distance sideways so she was positioned ever so slightly between Enid and the werewolf boy.

“I do not believe that Enid is interested in your offer.”

He blinked at her, puzzled, and then looked back to Enid, who had still not responded.
His posture turned slightly more aggressive.

“I don’t think this is any of your business Addams.”

She took a step forward and said, coldly, “I strongly disagree.”

His feet shifted and his arms dropped down into what she recognized as the prelude to a fighting posture.
And she realized that this was an excellent chance to demonstrate her possessiveness in a way that all the werewolves would take note of.

In a flash, she moved into her own fighting stance, and as he stared at her, she let out the best snarl that she could.
Which was, in actuality, quite impressive.

This gave him pause, and he looked back to the rest of the school pack who had all stayed at their table, but were watching with great interest.

He raised his hands as if considering whether to strike at her, and she pulled out a small silver dagger and brandished it at him, holding it in an intentionally threatening gesture.

At this, Roy looked to Enid and then at the assembled table of friends.
Seeing that none of them seemed likely to step in, he took a quick step away, raising his hands.

Wednesday lowered the dagger and he gave her a respectful nod before walking away.
As she watched him go, she saw that Enid’s brothers were looking at her. They didn’t seem angry.
In fact, they looked rather impressed, and one of them even gave her a small thumbs up.

Suddenly worried about Enid’s reaction, she quickly tucked the dagger away again and sat back down next to her roommate.
The blonde girl was staring at the ground, hands twisting together.

After a moment, she raised her head, and the look in her eyes was…complicated.
Wednesday couldn’t parse out all the emotions swirling there, but she thought that perhaps she owed Enid an apology.
“If I overstepped, I am sorry.”

That made Enid blink rapidly and now she scrambled to speak.

“No, no you didn’t do anything wrong. I…I’m glad I didn’t have to get into a pack fight.”

From her other side, Yoko said, “You really made a statement there, Addams.”

Wednesday raised an eyebrow at the vampire.
“What statement?”

“Well, I think that now all the werewolves understand that you…”.
The rest of her sentence was cut off as Enid elbowed her in the stomach.

That led to a hasty argument conducted in whispers.
Ignoring them for the moment, Wednesday sat back down.

She was satisfied that she had gotten her point across to the werewolf pack that Enid was not available, and hopefully her possessive display would mean something to the blonde girl as well.

As lunch was nearing its end, she began neatly gathering both her things and Enid’s while paying no attention to the others at the table who were either smirking at her (Bianca), looking uncomfortable (Xavier), or now also engaged in whatever quiet argument Enid and Yoko were still having (Divina and Kent).

The only thing she was really paying attention to was the gentle pressure of Enid’s leg against hers.

Chapter Text

Sunshine and Cynicism

Conversations

Enid found herself sitting in Ms. Bonnibel’s office.
It was a room she’d never been in before, but looking around, she thought that Wednesday would like it, even though it did contain more bright colors than the other girl normally preferred.

There were several antique looking scientific apparatuses as well as a few animal skeletons and various specimens in jars.
Somewhat incongruously, the chairs were all pink, and there were lots of bowls of candy throughout the room.

Once she finished her survey of the room, Enid turned her attention back to her teacher, who was putting the finishing touches on two cups of hot chocolate at a little countertop in the opposite corner.

After another moment, she walked over to where Enid was sitting and placed a large mug on the side table next to her before sitting down in the armchair just opposite.

Ms. Bonnibel gave her a warm smile and asked, “Would you like a peppermint stick?”

“Oh, yes, thank you.”

The teacher held out a jar full of candy and let Enid select one, then took one herself and stuck it into her mug.

“So, Enid. Thank you for coming.”

“Oh, um, you’re welcome. I wasn’t sure it was optional.”

Ms. Bonnibel’s eyes twinkled a bit mischievously at that.

“Maybe not exactly optional, but as your teacher and dorm mom I want you to know that you can talk to me about any problems you might be having, whether school related or interpersonal.”

Enid nodded and took a sip of the hot chocolate, pleased at the rich flavor, but still unsure of whether she was in trouble for something.
She decided to just ask.

“So am I in trouble? Did I do something wrong?”

“No, you’re not in trouble. I did want to talk about what happened in class the other day though, especially after I heard that there was another…incident…at lunch that same day.”

“You mean the claws and fangs, right?”

“Exactly. I don’t want to upset you or make you feel self-conscious, but after those physical manifestations, it seems like you might have some feelings? And I wanted to give you space to talk about those feelings.”

By now, Enid’s foot was tapping nervously. The teacher looked sweet with her big blue eyes and long pink hair, and the room did smell like sugar and spices, with just the hint of something else. She took another careful sniff. Old leather and something like sandalwood.

For some reason, this combination of scents and the steady gaze of the woman in front of her made her feel calmer.

“I really appreciate it Ms. Bonnibel, it’s just that I'm not really that good at talking about my feelings. My family doesn’t really do that, and as a werewolf, I was always taught that it was important to not let my feelings take control.”

Her teacher nodded and gave her drink a little stir with the peppermint stick before replying.

“That makes sense. But something I’ve learned is that when we have feelings that we refuse to express, they tend to come out in other ways. And oftentimes not in the ways that we want.”

Enid tapped her fingers lightly against the arm of the chair, considering how to respond.

Ms. Bonnibel looked at her for a moment and then continued.
“I understand that we don’t know each other very well yet, so why don’t I share something first. Would that be okay?”

The werewolf nodded and sat up a little more eagerly.

Ms. Bonnibel took a sip of her hot chocolate and then set it down next to her, settling herself in her chair before starting to speak.

“I’ve always been very logical. When I was younger, I was interested in science and how the world works, but feelings were never really a part of the equation. If you couldn’t measure it or quantify it, I thought it wasn’t very important. So when I started having feelings, I tried to ignore them, or distract myself from them by throwing myself into my work. But in the end, that just made me unfocused and anxious, and worst of all, I almost lost something…someone…very special.”

Before she could help herself, Enid blurted out, “Do you mean Ms. Abadeer?”

Instead of being offended or surprised, Ms. Bonnibel just smiled again and said, “Yes, exactly. Marceline and I were good friends even though we were very different. It took me a while to realize that she was trying to express her feelings to me, because she did it with words, and more specifically, through music. That's always been how she best communicates how she feels.”

Here, she paused for a moment, gaze going distant as if caught up in the memories.

“What did you do?” Enid asked, very softly.

Ms. Bonnibel laughed lightly.

“Oh, we got into a big fight and stopped speaking to each other for a while. But eventually, she started coming back around, she’s always been more patient than me. And the next time she showed me how she felt, I was ready to listen.”

Here the teacher paused again and refocused her attention on Enid.

“I suppose the main lesson that I want to share with you is that everyone expresses their feelings differently. If you aren’t paying attention, or if, like me, you aren’t willing to step outside your comfort zone, you might not be able to hear what someone is actually trying to tell you. And, vice versa, you need to figure out how to clearly communicate with other people in ways that they are able to understand.”

All of this settled over Enid and she knew that she’d need some time to think about all of the implications, but at the moment, she felt grateful.

“That makes sense. Thanks Ms. Bonnibel, for sharing that story.”

The teacher nodded her head.
“You're welcome. Maybe don’t put all those details on your blog though.”

The last sentence was said lightly and without any underlying anger, but Enid still looked a little sheepish upon hearing them.

“You got it. Of course. Wait, you know about my blog?”

“Marcy likes to read it. She finds it both amusing and informative. Or, in her words, “hilarious and awesome”.”

“Right, okay,” Enid replied, not sure how to respond to the knowledge that the principal read her blog.

“I’m glad we got this chance to talk, Enid. And remember, I’m here if you need me. Anything we talk about will remain as confidential as you wish.”

Enid gave her a slightly nervous but grateful smile before hopping up and leaving the room.
Her thoughts were whirling a bit wildly, so she decided to go for a walk to try and settle herself.

-------------------------------------------

Wednesday sat in stony silence, unblinking, the dim lighting from several ancient looking lamps reflecting in her eyes.

Across the desk from her sat Ms. Abadeer, just as still and silent, her dark brown eyes glinting as they took in the girl before her.

Eventually, the principal was the one to move first, settling back in her chair with an unexpectedly light and delighted laugh.

“Wow, nice. You’ve got the best poker face I’ve ever seen.”

She distractedly flipped a length of her thick black hair over her shoulder and then folded her hands together, leaning forward slightly.

“Do you know why I asked to meet with you?”

Wednesday relaxed almost imperceptibly and finally blinked.

“I’m afraid that you will have to enlighten me.”

“I talked with Ms. Bonnibel and she expressed some concern about some of Enid’s behavior, and then I heard about the incident involving you and a knife at lunch the other day. So Ms. Bonnibel is talking to Enid, and I’m talking to you.”

“I see. And what behavior did you find so concerning?”

At this, Ms. Abadeer’s professional demeanor slipped a bit, and she gave a lopsided smile that showed one fang.

“Concerning might not be the right word, but as principal I have to at least try to keep the violence to a minimum, as boring as that sounds.”

Wednesday relaxed by another slight degree.

“So you have not brought me here to chastise me for my violent display?”

“Naw girl, I love violent displays. But, as principal I have to make sure you understand that Nevermore strongly discourages excessive levels of violence.”

“And what would be considered an appropriate level of violence?”

Now, Ms. Abadeer gave that light chuckle again.

“I like how you think, Addams. What we really need to talk about though is your relationship with Enid.”

At that, Wednesday couldn’t help but clench the arms of the chair a bit, and she couldn’t be certain that her eyes hadn’t widened slightly too.

Due to the shrewd look the principal was now giving her, she assumed that her response had been noted.

“Don’t worry Wednesday, I’m not here to get all up in your business, but I am here to support you. I just need to make sure that any…involvement…that students have with each other doesn’t lead to bloodshed on campus.”

“I understand.”

“Then can you tell me why you flashed a silver knife at Roy?”

Wednesday had very little practice discussing her feelings, and her motivations always made sense to her, though she realized that other people didn’t always understand them. On top of that, the feelings she’d been having about Enid were still so new and tender that talking about them felt rather frightening.

Sensing her hesitation, Ms. Abadeer said, “Take your time. Feelings can be difficult to talk about. I get it.”

“I…the answer to your question is simple, but at the same time…to answer it feels complicated.”

“Feelings aren’t usually easy. I used to never be able to talk about mine, except through music. It took a lot of practice before I could do it with words and actually be honest and direct.”

“Was there something that helped you get to that point and get over the fear of expressing them?”

“In the end, it was the fear of losing someone I cared about. I had to be brave and open myself up or risk losing her.”

“Ms. Bonnibel you mean?”

“You got it. Let me tell you, Bonnie wasn’t great with feelings either, so between the two of us, things were a mess for a while. If I could give you some advice…tell people how you feel sooner than later. You can’t control how people respond, but looking back and regretting not being honest really sucks.”

At this, Wednesday could only nod solemnly.

“Alright,” Ms. Abadeer continued, “while I think it’s badass that you were willing to fight a werewolf, please try not to stab any of the students, and be aware that any disruptions to the school’s pack dynamics could impact Enid as well.”

“Of course,” Wednesday replied, now slightly worried that her display might have had consequences she had not predicted with regards to Enid’s social capital.

Ms. Abadeer stood and offered her hand which Wednesday shook without hesitation.

“If you need anything, anyone to talk to or any advice, remember that I’m available.”

“Thank you Ms. Abadeer. This conversation was…enlightening.”

With that, Wednesday left the office and spent some time wandering the halls, not quite ready to face Enid while her mind was still whirling with thoughts on how she should proceed.

Perhaps what she needed was another perspective.

Chapter Text

Sunshine and Cynicism

Confrontations

As she walked slowly through the school grounds, Enid was still trying to wrap her head around the idea that the new principal thought her blog was “hilarious and awesome”.

Principal Weems had always been supportive of the student body, but she had also liked to stay firmly out of their personal lives as much as possible. So having a principal who seemed, honestly, pretty cool was a bit of a change.

She was also thinking about what Ms. Bonnibel had said about feelings and communication.
She wondered what she would need to do to clearly express her feelings to Wednesday even though the mere thought of doing so made her stomach wriggle anxiously.

And, she recalled what Ms. Bonnibel had said about not being able to hear what someone was trying to tell you.
The teacher had been making meaningful eye contact during that part of the conversation, as if trying to drive the point home.

Enid was trying to figure out if Ms. Bonnibel had been implying that someone was trying to tell her something when a sound from behind her caught her attention.

Turning quickly, she saw three of the other werewolf students approaching. They stopped about twenty feet away and looked at her silently. None of them had friendly expressions on their faces.

Enid didn’t know any of them very well as she had never quite been accepted into the school pack, even when her brothers had tried to convince the others to let her be a part of the group.

She was aware that these three were from some of the more traditional families, none of whom were very accepting of those who took non-werewolf mates. So this was no doubt going to be unpleasant.

Forcing herself to stand up straight, she asked, in a cool tone, “Can I help you?”

The two boys looked at the other girl, Tasha, and she was the one to reply, “We just wanted to catch a glimpse of the lap dog.”

Her voice was mocking enough that Enid’s claws almost came out.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

The three of them stalked closer, the two boys flanking the girl as they stopped just within reach.

“It means,” said one of the boys, “that it’s upsetting to watch a werewolf be defended by a tiny, crazy goth girl.”

“Yeah, where were your claws then Sinclair?” Tasha asked.

Though she was tempted to giggle nervously, her usual response to uncomfortable conversations, instead, Enid clenched her jaw and copied Wednesday’s most detached expression as best she could.

“You wanted me to claw Roy, is that what you’re saying?”

The other boy now spoke.
“It would just be nice to see you show a little backbone. It’s embarrassing to see a fellow wolf acting so…domesticated.”

Now Enid was getting legitimately annoyed, and she fixed all of them with a cold stare.

“What’s embarrassing, Jacob, is that your mother named you after a Twilight character. Especially since you aren’t half as hot as Taylor Lautner.”

Across from her Jacob looked furious, especially after his two friends both started to snicker.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have better things to do with my time.”

At that, Enid spun on her heel and started walking away, but then, Jacob called out to her.

“It’s a shame that Addams seems so ready to settle for the runt of the litter. If we would have known how into werewolves she is, we could have offered her some better options.”

“It’s not too late for that,” Tasha added, in a cold, mocking tone.

Enid stood frozen, trying to stay calm.
She clenched and unclenched her fists, shoulders heaving as she tried to do her breathing exercises, even as the rising tide of anger and adrenaline made her see red.

The three students behind her misinterpreted her posture, and moved a little closer.

“Aw, did we make you cry Sinclair? Because…”.

Whatever Jacob had been about to say trailed off in a near squeak because when Enid turned, her claws and fangs were out, her eyes were flashing with rage, and she somehow seemed to have gotten taller.

When she spoke, her voice was deeper than normal, guttural and growling.

“Stay away from Wednesday.”

The other three werewolves looked at each other nervously, and started to slowly back away.
They were self-aware enough to realize that she was a legitimate threat at the moment, but were not quite ready to fully retreat.

Enid didn’t give them a chance to reconsider their error. She sprung forward, picking up momentum with each step and slamming right into Tasha, sending her tumbling to the ground.

Before the other two could react, Enid was on them, punching Jacob in the side of the face and then shoving him into the other boy.

The two of them ended up in a tangled pile next to Tasha, as Enid lowered herself into a half-crouch, ready to spring into action again at any moment.

Tasha made a motion like she was going to try and rise, but a horrifying snarl came out of Enid’s mouth at that moment, and she froze in response.

“All of you need to walk away. You leave me alone, you leave Wednesday alone, and you leave my friends alone.”

They all looked up at her, silent and fearful, and she made intent eye contact with each of them before adding, “In case you forgot, I fought a Hyde. Compared to that, the three of you are nothing.”

This time, when Enid turned to walk away, only silence followed her.

-------------------------------------------

Bianca was walking through the courtyard when she heard someone say her name, and then a dark shape materialized seemingly out of nowhere.

She turned, startled enough that she raised her hands in an involuntary defensive pose.
When she realized that it was just Wednesday sliding out from behind a column, she relaxed and gave the shorter girl a glare.

“How long were you lurking there, Addams?”

“Six minutes and thirty-two seconds,” was the monotone response.

Ignoring that, Bianca looked at the other girl more closely and noted that, though her posture was as stiff as always, the fingers of one hand were plucking lightly at the side of her blazer.

Was Wednesday…nervous?

Instead of pointing that out, which she knew would only draw denial and ire, she crossed her arms and asked, “Is there something I can do for you, or are you stalking me for fun?”

“Bianca, if I were to stalk you, rest assured that you would ever know I was there.”

“How reassuring.”

As Bianca waited, Wednesday’s eyes darted around the space, as if to make sure no one was close enough to eavesdrop.

“Though it pains me to admit this, I find that I require your advice.”

That was shocking enough that it took the siren a moment to recover.

“My advice? My advice about what?”

Now, Wednesday’s unsettling gaze dropped and her dark lashes flickered.
When she spoke, her tone was more hesitant than Bianca had ever heard from her.

“I would prefer to speak of it in private.”

“Fine. Meet me in the Nightshades library at 8 tonight.”

For a moment, it seemed like Wednesday was going to say something, but in the end, she nodded before spinning on her heel and walking quickly away.

Bianca was left to shake her head and wonder what the dark-haired girl could want to talk to her about specifically. As she made her way back to her dormitory she chuckled to herself.
If this wasn’t somehow about Enid she would be extremely shocked.

When she walked into the Nightshade’s library at 8:02pm, a voice echoed from a shadowed alcove before she’d even gotten to the bottom of the staircase.

“You’re late.”

Bianca rolled her eyes and waited for Wednesday to cross to the center of the room.

“Just tell me what this is all about Addams.”

When the other girl responded, that hesitation was back in her voice.

“I find myself wanting to share my…feelings…in a way that will be understood. But I find myself at a loss on how to properly do so.”

Bianca’s eyebrows shot up.

“And I’m the person you chose to talk to about this?”

Wednesday glared, but the look lacked its usual ice.

“I respect your ability to maintain social relationships and to express your feelings. And I find that I have a distinct lack of experience with either of those things.”

At that, Bianca’s posture softened a bit and she walked over to lean against one of the bookshelves.

“Okay, well, thank you. But that still doesn’t explain what you need my advice about.”

Wednesday’s gaze dropped to the floor.

“I need help with how to…initiate a relationship. So far my attempt at courtship has not yielded the results I’d hoped.”

Bianca sighed and said, “Can I just say something?”

At that, the other girl looked up, mildly intrigued.
“You feel it necessary to ask for permission?”

“Just promise you won’t murder me?”

Wednesday frowned ever so slightly.
“I don’t think I could ever take murder off the table as an option.”

“Okay, whatever. Fine. Here goes. It’s super obvious that you’re into Enid. I’m pretty sure that everyone at the school gets it now, everyone except for Enid of course.”

Now Wednesday’s frown shifted into a more troubled look, but her response wasn’t what Bianca had expected to hear.

“Why do you think Enid is still so unaware of my affections? If, as you say, I have been making myself so transparent.”

Bianca tilted her head, curious.
“You don’t care that everyone knows you have feelings for Enid?”

The look Wednesday gave her was filled with matter of fact disappointment.

“Bianca, the whole purpose of my courtship attempt is so everyone notices. Unfortunately, it seems that the one person who I really need to have noticed remains oblivious.”

Still taken aback by the fact that Wednesday Addams had seemingly no issue with her romantic feelings being publicly known, Bianca shook her head before replying to the previous question.

“I think that Enid has spent such a long time being told that she wasn’t good enough, particularly by a parent who is meant to love her unconditionally, that she has a hard time believing that someone else would think she’s special. Especially if that person is someone notorious for not having feelings, and who was caught in a love triangle with two boys just a few months ago.”

“I find the phrase “love triangle” to be deeply inaccurate as well as slightly repulsive. However, I do concede your points.”

“Oh, good,” Bianca said with only a hint of sarcasm.

A slight upward twitch of Wednesday’s brow was the only acknowledgement to the siren’s tone.

“That is a very insightful read on Enid’s situation.”

“Well,” Bianca said self-deprecatingly, “she isn’t the only one at this school with mommy issues.”

Though Wednesday looked slightly intrigued by this response, she moved past it and said, briskly, “I believe that I asked you for advice. What would you recommend?”

“Personally, I think you should just tell Enid how you feel. Using easy to understand words so there’s no way she can pretend that you’re just being a good friend.”

“I will take that advice into consideration.”

Bianca made an annoyed scoffing sound.
“So you ask for my advice, but then probably aren’t going to take it? Why bother in that case?”

Wednesday folded her hands in front of her and dropped her eyes to the floor.

“Because, I required the input of someone with a better understanding of feelings than I possess. Enid and I differ in many ways, therefore I unfortunately am often…at a loss to interpret her emotions.”

“Okay, though at this point I’d say you’ve managed to get to know Enid pretty well.”

As Wednesday looked up sharply, Bianca quickly added, “I’m not trying to argue with you. I guess I’m just curious about what you think you should do.”

“I have several more items on my list. If Enid has not understood my intentions once I have completed the list, it might be time for a different tactic.”
She paused, and then looked back at Bianca.
“Thank you for your time and your advice. I am appreciative.”

At that, she turned and stomped up the stairs leaving Bianca to smile and shake her head.
After a moment, she spoke to the empty room.

“Or, you could just kiss the girl.”

Chapter Text

Sunshine and Cynicism

The Aftermath

After her conversation with Bianca, Wednesday was feeling an odd combination of unsettled and hopeful.
She now knew that her public displays had been noted by other students, so clearly she had not been totally off base with her courtship plan.

She considered Bianca’s advice to just tell Enid how she felt, but when she imagined saying the words to Enid, her tongue felt stiff and two sizes too large for her mouth.
The sensation was not as pleasantly unpleasant as she would have anticipated.

Upon arriving back at her room, she noted that Enid was absent, though Thing was sitting on her brightly colored comforter flipping through a magazine. He seemed to understand her unspoken question, and indicated to her that Enid had gone to Yoko’s room.

Wednesday did not feel like she was quite capable of talking to her roommate at the moment, as she needed to settle her thoughts.
So she quickly prepared herself for bed and tucked her body tightly under her black quilt.

Once she was lying there, arms stiff at her sides, she closed her eyes and mentally ran through her list again.
She wanted to stick to the plan she had made, and, after hearing Bianca’s confirmation that Enid still was not aware of Wednesday's romantic intentions, felt that further action would be needed to make the werewolf understand.

Enid deserved to be wooed, and she deserved to know that she was special.
And Wednesday had always valued actions over words, despite her writerly aspirations.

So, wooing it would be.
She would keep going with her plan until there was no doubt in Enid’s mind that Wednesday wanted her.

-------------------------------------------

The day after her fight, Enid was taking advantage of the empty room (Wednesday was off helping Eugene with something bee related) by pacing back and forth rapidly, the wooden floorboards creaking a bit in protest as she went.

Her mother had texted her earlier, merely saying, "We need to talk", which of course had sent her anxiety level through the roof.

She had no idea if her confrontation with the other students had reached her mother’s ears yet, but werewolves were notoriously clannish and had a tendency to gossip, so undoubtedly her mother had heard something about the recent dynamics with the school pack.

Her feet moved a little more quickly as she continued her route, circling the room yet again.
After a few more minutes, her phone started ringing, startling her even though she’d been expecting it.

With a heavy heart, she answered.

“Hello?”

Her mother’s voice came through the phone, somehow already sounded disappointed.

“Hello Enid.”

Enid’s fingers twitched nervously as she tried to ready herself for whatever lecture she was about to receive.

“Hi Mom.”

Then came the intake of breath that she knew was the precursor to her mother winding up for a scolding.
Sure enough, she launched right into it.

“Enid, what’s this I hear about you fighting with other wolves? Jacob’s mother already called me complaining about how you hit him in the face? How are you ever going to be accepted into the school pack if you go around hitting people?”

Try as she might, she couldn’t keep her voice from going higher-pitched even though she tried to respond calmly.

“Well did his mother say what he did before I hit him? Or happen to mention that three of them ganged up against me?”

“Well, no…”.

“It would be nice if you at least asked me what happened before you call to yell at me.”

“Yelling? Who’s yelling?”, her mother said angrily, as her volume continued to rise.
“This is about you and how you aren’t fitting in. Do you want to end up a lone wolf? Our family has always been one of the strongest in our clan. It’s bad enough that you’ve always been set on being so different, but now you seem determined to not even try to be part of your school pack.”

“Mom, they were being rude and gross about me and my friends. Do you want me to fight back like a wolf would, or not? You can’t have it both ways.”

Now her mother’s volume rose even further.
“Your friends? You friends?! You mean your weird roommate and your best friend who’s a vampire? This is high school Enid, and when they aren’t around anymore, you’ll wish you’d tried harder to be part of the pack.”

Enid was breathing hard now, her pacing having stopped as she stood facing the large window.

“My friends actually care about me, and so does Wednesday. They matter to me. The school pack has never accepted me, and I don’t need them.”

In the pause that followed, she could hear her mother growling softly, and she unconsciously matched it, her fangs poking into her lip uncomfortably.

When her mother spoke again, her words were clipped and angry.
“Fine. But when your so-called friends abandon you, just remember, I warned you.”

Then she hung up before Enid could say anything else.

With a snarl, she flung her phone away, and thankfully it landed unharmed on her bed.
After a moment of standing there, fists clenching and unclenching, she turned, and suddenly registered Wednesday’s presence.

The dark-haired girl was standing near the door, which was still slightly open behind her.
She seemed a little unsure, as if she was deciding whether to stay or go.

But then those dark eyes carefully studied Enid’s face, and her brow furrowed.

Before she could say anything, Wednesday approached, slowly, but decisively, and stopped to stand just in front of her.

Enid could feel the tears forming in her eyes, and knew that she was still breathing somewhat raggedly in the aftermath of her fight with her mother.

As if sensing what Enid needed before the werewolf even had a chance to realize it herself, Wednesday’s arms raised in invitation, and she took another small step closer.

Grateful, Enid stumbled forward into that embrace and was instantly wrapped in a tight hug.

She rested her forehead on Wednesday’s shoulder and sniffled, her emotions rising to the surface now that she felt safe.
And she realized that she did feel safe, anchored there by Wednesday’s arms and surrounded by her scent.

Her roommate was rubbing her back lightly with one hand and murmuring something in Spanish.
Enid wasn’t sure what she was saying, but the sound was comforting.

The hug continued, and Wednesday’s arms continued to anchor her.
Eventually, her roommate asked, “Was that your mother?”

Her reply was muffled as her face was still tucked tightly against the other girl’s shoulder.
“Unfortunately.”

“I’m sorry,” Wednesday said, after a moment. “Your mother’s failure to appreciate you and your numerous wonderful qualities continues to disappoint and astonish me.”

There was nothing that she could think of to say in response to those quiet, genuine words.

After a moment though, she managed to mumble, “Thank you.”

“It will be alright.”

In that moment, in Wednesday’s arms, with that surprisingly gentle touch still skating across her back, Enid believed it.

-------------------------------------------

The next day, after classes were finished, Wednesday sat at a table in the library.
An in-progress essay and some research materials were spread out in front of her, but she was really focusing on the notebook that contained her courtship notes.

She wanted to make sure the next step in her plan was as perfect as possible. Something that would continue to signal to the other Nevermore students that Enid was off-limits romantically, and also be a gesture that Enid would hopefully understand as overtly romantic.

Before she could make any firm decisions though, she heard footsteps approaching.
She quickly closed the notebook and tucked it underneath a textbook before settling herself into her chair and focusing on the paper in front of her.

The footsteps stopped nearby, but she ignored whoever was standing there as they were maintaining a respectful distance.
But eventually, the soft sound of a throat clearing made her look up.

Standing there looking a bit nervous was one of Enid’s brothers, his messy blonde hair and bright blue eyes reminiscent enough of his sister that it made a tiny bit of Wednesday’s annoyance at being interrupted evaporate.

She briefly cursed her soft-heartedness and then stuck out a hand, gesturing for him to sit down.

He quickly complied, clattering down in a chair across from her. He didn’t immediately speak though, so Wednesday stared at him and raised an eyebrow.

This seemed to prompt him into speech, because he leaned forward a little, and said, quietly, “Did you hear about the fight that Enid got into the other day?”

This caused Wednesday’s other eyebrow to shoot up and she abruptly leaned in closer to him, pinning him with an intense stare.

“What fight?”

He gulped a little at her acidic tone, but bravely responded, “A few of the other werewolves ambushed her apparently. I don’t know if they were planning on fighting, but whatever they said made her mad enough that she went after them.”

The angry alarm that had begun coursing through Wednesday’s veins at the word “fight” subsided slightly.
She hadn’t seen any marks on Enid’s body, nor had her roommate appeared injured in any way.

“So Enid presumably won this fight?”

Now the boy across from her smiled a little, the expression tinged with visible pride.

“Yeah. Three against one and she took them out.”

Wednesday took a moment to mull this over, wishing that she had been there to see the fight. The thought of Enid taking out three opponents at once was…intriguing.

But then she remembered Ms. Abadeer’s words about her own behavior potentially disrupting the school pack’s dynamics.

“Was Roy one of the three?”

“Oh, no, Roy wasn’t there. It was three other wolves. I don’t like any of them all that much, they’re all pretty stuck up.”

“Do you have any knowledge of why they confronted Enid?”

His eyes dropped to the table and he tapped his fingers nervously.

“Just spit it out.”

Those blue eyes raised again, and he said, with a slight apologetic whine to his tone.
“From what I heard, they were mad about you defending Enid. Or maybe about you and Enid being close.”

Her expression darkened and the next words dropped from her lips like stones.
“I want names.”

After only a moment of hesitation, he complied.

-------------------------------------------

Later that night, an almost imperceptible scrabble of fingernails across old hardwood could be heard in a dark dorm room.

If anyone had been awake, they might have noticed a small shape darting from shadow to shadow, finally disappearing under a bed.

Then, came a short flurry of near-silent scuttling and then the clean snick of scissors.
Only seconds later, the shape was moving across the room to the other bed, the same series of sounds repeating, along with a quick flash of moonlight as it caught something metallic moving at the head of the bed.

Then the shape was retreating, back down to the floor, across the room, and back out the door, only the barest squeak of recently oiled hinges betraying its escape.

About fifteen minutes later, in a different dorm across the quad, the same sequence of events repeated for the sole occupant of another room.

Morning came, and with it, the rising horror of three werewolves as they found neatly severed chunks of their hair littering their pillows.

That afternoon, Wednesday and Enid were walking together on their way to class when Enid suddenly stopped and let out a triumphant giggle.

Curious what had caught the blonde’s attention, Wednesday turned to look.
Three werewolf students were walking together, their posture defensive and their faces marred with scowls.

One of the boys had a beanie on his head, pulled down extremely low, while the other had his hair freshly buzzed.
It was extremely short and left him looking like an unwilling recruit at boot camp.

The girl was wearing a hat that she was trying to pretend was for fashion reasons, but it absolutely wasn’t working.

“They look incredibly foolish,” Wednesday said, her lips pressing together in a tight, wicked smile.

Enid was bouncing on her toes, gleefully watching them walk away.
“Oh, they totally do. And all three of them are usually super vain, so this is perfect.”

“Do you know what happened to them?” the dark-haired girl asked, trying to sound as neutral as possible.

“They claim that someone snuck in at night and cut their hair. But no one is owning up to it, and if it had been another wolf they would have known…wolf pheromones and all that.”

“How intriguing.”

The blonde girl gave her a sideways look as if trying to gauge what her facial expression meant. Then she smiled a little and started walking.

Wednesday followed suit, and they continued for a moment in silence.

Then Enid said, “You know…those are the same three wolves that I got into a fight with a few days ago.”

“Really.”

“Mmhhmmm. It just seems a little, you know, odd. That this would happen to all three of them and no one else.”

Wednesday could feel Enid’s eyes on her, so she kept her own facing studiously forward.

“Perhaps they made other enemies," Enid eventually said.

“Perhaps they did.”

Something in the smug finality of her tone brought a smile to Enid’s face.

Then, catching her off guard, the girl wound her arm through Wednesday’s and rested a hand lightly on her upper arm.

Enid didn’t let go of her arm for the rest of their walk.

Chapter Text

Sunshine and Cynicism

Onward

Ever since the retribution that she had Thing enact on the three werewolf students, no one from the school pack had given Enid any trouble or been anything other than exceptionally polite on any occasion when they did need to interact with her.

Wednesday had been having Thing spend time alternately tailing each of the three wolves he’d given an unfortunate haircut to, just in case they had any ideas about revenge.

But so far, they still had no way of proving she had been behind it, and even if they had drawn the correct conclusion, for the moment they seemed to be unwilling to cross her.
Whether this was out of intelligence or fear, she was uncertain, but either would be gratifying.

Enid had not asked her any more questions about her involvement, but she had been extra affectionate since the incident, and Wednesday had noted that Thing had received a new bottle of the fancy lotion that he favored as a gift from her roommate.

Now that things had settled a bit, it was time to enact the next phase of her plan.
She considered her vengeance by way of Thing’s stealthy intervention to be more of a werewolf wooing technique than a traditional one, though it definitely also fell into the category of what an Addams would do to win over their romantic interest.

That meant that her next objective was to carry out another normal teenage dating move.
As she cast her mind back to what remained on her list, she suddenly felt discomfited.

The Addams family had a long history of macabre yet romantic courtship rituals, and it had always been understood that they occurred with full family support.

This semester, Wednesday had been better about speaking with her parents at regular intervals, but she had not told them anything about her plans to win Enid’s affections, or even anything about her true feelings for the other girl.

At first, this had been to avoid the likely nauseating gushing she would get from both her parents, and to prevent herself from being stuck listening to them wax poetic about their own experiences of being young and in love.

However, she understood that it was traditional to inform her parents that she was courting someone, especially given her status as the eldest child.

As she often did, both literally and metaphorically, Wednesday decided to just rip off the bandaid and tell her parents immediately.

The crystal ball was quickly out of its case and on her desk, and as she connected with her parents, Thing came pattering over to perch near her.

Soon enough, she was gazing into her parent’s smiling faces, sitting somewhat uncomfortably as her father went through his litany of pet names for her, and her mother warmly expressed how much she missed her daughter.

Once that was finished, she sat up straight in her chair and said, “Mother, Father, I have something important to tell you.”

Her tone was firm, but there was some note of hesitancy that she could not quite suppress, and in the sphere of the crystal ball, she saw her parents exchange a quick, concerned glance before they shifted even closer together and focused on her.

“Of course my little scorpion, please, go ahead,” Gomez said reassuringly.

She folded her hands, then unfolded them again and placed them on the tops of her thighs, noting with annoyance that her palms were somewhat damp.

With an exasperated huff, she said, rushing the words out in a manner that was less composed than usual, “Since my return to school I have been attempting to court Enid. I wish for her to become my…romantic partner. I hope that you can support me in this endeavor.”

Morticia smiled warmly and fluttered a hand against her chest, seemingly overcome by this news, while Gomez wiped away a happy tear.

“Oh Tish, our daughter has found love at Nevermore. My wildest dream is coming true!”

In an attempt to restrain him from gushing too much, which she knew would cause their daughter to withdraw, Morticia laid her other hand gently on his shoulder, saying soothingly, “Now darling, let’s give her our attention.”

She focused her deep brown eyes on Wednesday and added, “Oh my little storm cloud, I’m so happy for you. Of course you have our full support. Is there anything you need from us?”

“At the moment, no. But I do appreciate the offer mother.”

Morticia looked pleased at this concession.

Unable to restrain himself any longer, Gomez burst out with, “Truth be told, I was expecting this news ever since Fester told me that you’d asked for some of his jerky for your werewolf “friend”. Giving venison to a werewolf? I knew what it meant immediately!”

At that, Wednesday couldn’t help but grumble a bit.

“I only wish Enid had made the same connection as you, father. Though my attempts to woo her have been noted and understood by other classmates, Enid still remains woefully unaware of the meaning behind my actions.”

Gomez was quick to reassure her.
“Fear not, Wednesday, I have great faith that as an Addams you will prevail when it comes to matters of the heart. Keep demonstrating how you feel, and that sweet girl will eventually understand.”

“There are still several phases of my plan that I have yet to enact, and if I arrive at the end of my list without the desired results, I plan to take a more…direct approach.”

Her parents looked intrigued by this, but as this more direct approach involved taking Bianca’s advice and just kissing Enid, she was unwilling to explain it to them.

Instead, before she could get noticeably flustered, she decided it was best to bring the conversation to a close.

“Thank you for your support, but for now, I have to go.”

“Of course darling,” her mother said, understanding that she had reached her capacity for talking about her emotions for the moment.
“Be sure to keep us informed of any happy developments.”

Wednesday nodded.

Gomez added, “We wish you the best of luck.”

Then he blew her some elaborate air kisses which continued until she disconnected.

As she put the crystal ball carefully back into its case, she realized that the conversation had made her feel better, lighter somehow.

If her parents had not approved, it would have had no impact on her plans to court Enid, but knowing that they not only supported her and also believed that she would be successful in securing Enid’s affections was more gratifying than she had anticipated.

On the desk next to her, Thing was signing excitedly.

She looked down to see what he was saying and raised her eyebrows when he’d finished.

“Though that is a crude and reductive way of expressing it, yes, I do intend to “get the girl”.”

He replied with an enthusiastic thumbs up.

-------------------------------------------

The next phase of her plan involved a small amount of trickery to execute, but at this point, she was willing to be a bit deceitful if it would help further her agenda.

At the end of their botany class, while everyone else was gathering their things in preparation to leave, Wednesday quickly stuffed everything into her bag and walked over to Enid’s table and stood in front of her.

“Enid,” she asked, “would you like to walk to lunch with me?”

The blonde girl looked up, a little puzzled.

“But don’t we always walk to lunch together?”

As she held her roommate's attention, she saw Enid’s blazer slowly being pulled off her chair and disappearing under the table behind them.

“Yes, we do, however…,” she started to say, but then as Enid started to turn away, likely to retrieve the now missing jacket, Wednesday hurriedly added, “I was hoping you were ready to walk over now.”

Then she extended a hand.
At the gesture, the werewolf froze, and her eyes darted down to the outstretched hand and then back up to Wednesday's face.

“Uh, yeah,” she stuttered, “yeah, I’m ready to go.”

Forgetting what she had been about to do, she stood, and gingerly took the shorter girl’s hand.
Wednesday laced their fingers together and started to briskly walk away, leaving Enid no choice but to follow along.

As they cleared the door to the classroom, Wednesday looked back over her shoulder just long enough to see Thing waggle his fingers at her from his spot underneath the table. Enid’s blazer sat in a neat pile on the floor next to him.

They made it all the way to the cafeteria with their hands linked together, and Wednesday only let go when they had to use both their hands to procure their trays.

Enid had been unusually silent, seeming a little dazed at the turn of events, but she’d recovered enough by the time they were seated in their usual spot in the courtyard to join in a lively conversation between Ajax and the siren siblings.

As usual, Wednesday sat mostly silent beside her, though she found herself drawn into a conversation about arcane books that Bianca and Yoko were having on her other side.

She had come to appreciate the vampire’s dry wit and knowledge or ancient lore, and while she was not entirely sure that she would call Bianca a “friend” they were on increasingly friendly terms these days.

Her attention was diverted when a chilly breeze kicked up, and beside her, she felt Enid shiver.
The werewolf was the only one at the table not wearing a blazer or jacket. The wind kicked up again, and after another bigger shiver, Wednesday was about to say something when Ajax beat her to it.

“You look cold Enid, do you want my blazer?”

He started to stand up, but abruptly paused when Wednesday said, in a tone much colder than the wind, “She can wear my jacket.”

Before he could say anything, she stood in one smooth motion and unzipped her oversized black hoodie. As she stepped behind Enid to drape it over the blonde girl’s shoulders, she gave Ajax a glare, and his eyes widened. He quickly seated himself, and made a subtle conciliatory gesture with his hands.

Enid was too busy snuggling herself down into the hoodie to catch that interaction.

“Thanks Wednesday. I must have left my blazer in class or something.”

The dark-haired girl briefly rested a hand on Enid’s shoulder, and then sat down again.

“You’re welcome. I am quite happy to help keep you warm.”

Her words were delivered without any innuendo, but hearing them, Enid flushed a little.

“Uh right, thank you.”

The three sirens at the table all smirked, but when they caught Wednesday glowering at them, they quickly started talking again.

Satisfied in the execution of her plan, Wednesday continued eating her lunch, the barest of smiles crossing her lips when she caught Enid surreptitiously burying her face in the hoodie.

Chapter Text

Sunshine and Cynicism

Plans

Yoko was lying on her side at the edge of her bed with Divina sitting on the floor and leaning back against the bed frame, occasionally reaching up to absently stroke Yoko’s hair.

Bianca was cross-legged on the floor nearby, a book and notebook sitting in front of her.
The three of them had just finished a study session for an upcoming test, and now the siren tucked her study materials into an iridescent blue backpack.

“So, what are we going to do about Addams and Enid?”

Her question made both of Yoko’s eyebrows shoot straight up, while Divinia just grinned delightedly .

Yoko’s response was cautious.
“Do we really need to do anything?”

Divina poked her in the forehead.

“Come on,” Yoko protested, “you know I already talked to Enid about this. She likes Wednesday, but since she apparently refuses to do anything about it, I’m staying out of things.”

“But babe” Divina said, “they would be so cute together. And they obviously both like each other, we just have to get one of them to make a move.”

“Are you going to try and convince Wednesday Addams to “make a move”?” Yoko asked teasingly.

Divina frowned at the thought.

“Didn’t think so.”

Bianca just looked at them and said, “Addams has already been making moves. Lots of them in fact, if you’ve been paying attention. Enid is oblivious.”

Yoko jumped in to defend her best friend.
“She just doesn’t think that Wednesday could like her like that.”

“Okay, fine,” Bianca allowed, “I can understand that. I wouldn’t have believed it myself until I talked to Addams, but this whole situation is almost making me feel sorry for her. And that is something I never thought I’d say.”

Yoko’s phone chimed and she took a moment to check it.

“Well, if you want to have an intervention, Enid is heading over here in a few minutes.”

This made Divina sit up a little straighter and she looked over to Bianca questioningly.

The other girl sighed and said, “As much as I wish I could shake some sense into her, it’s not a good idea for two sirens to participate in an intervention.”

“We both want them to get together,” Divina added, looking back at her girlfriend. “So even with our amulets dampening our powers…we could accidentally be a little too convincing.”

“If Enid is going to express her feelings to Wednesday, it has to be on her terms.”
With that final statement, Bianca gathered her things, then looked away politely as Divina gave Yoko a goodbye kiss.

The two sirens then left the room, and a thoughtful vampire, behind.

-------------------------------------------

When Enid showed up about ten minutes later, Yoko was sitting on her bed leaning against the wall.

The blonde greeted her, then sat on the floor, as was her habit.

As was Yoko’s habit, she stayed lounging on her bed, silently watching Enid as she waited for her friend to initiate the conversation.
Which invariably only took a few seconds.

“Okay, so…,” Enid began, starting to rock back and forth on the floor, “you noticed that whole thing with Wednesday when she stopped Ajax from giving me his blazer right? I couldn’t see her face, but I saw his, and he looked totally freaked out. And, I mean, I wouldn’t exactly call him the bravest person, but still.”

“I’m going to assume that question was rhetorical, because you know I was sitting right there. What are you really asking?”

As usual, the blonde girl was unable to hold still, so she tapped the floor with her fingertips, and chewed her lip nervously.

She spoke again, more hesitantly, like she was trying to puzzle something out even as she said the words.

“Wednesday didn’t let Ajax give me his blazer, and she pulled a knife on Roy when it seemed like he was trying to ask me out…so…maybe…she thinks I have terrible taste in men and is trying to be a good friend and protect me.”

Yoko almost did a real life facepalm.
Then she blinked a few times and sighed so violently that the end of the exhalation came out as a hiss.

In a flat, skeptical tone, she asked, “Is that what you really think is going on?”

Now Enid’s hands moved to drum against her knees.

“No?”

“That was utterly convincing.”

As a vampire, Yoko had always been taught not to tell people what to do, partly to avoid accusations of putting people under a “thrall”, which wasn’t actually a thing, but was an idea within vampire lore that refused to die. It turned out that myths were harder to kill than vampires.

In this case though, she was sorely tempted.

“All I can tell you is that from my perspective, Wednesday likes you far better than anyone else. She’s protective of you, she’s nice to you, and she gives you gifts. If you are interested in her, you could just tell her. Or, if that still seems too daunting, you can show her.”

“Show her,” Enid repeated, but it was more of a statement than a question.

Yoko waited silently, hoping that her friend would be able to figure this situation out on her own.

It seemed like maybe her wish was going to come true, because Enid broke out of her contemplative moment and started to bounce a little.

“I might have an idea about how to do that.”

Yoko raised an eyebrow, pleased that Enid wasn’t jumping right back into denial.

“Oh?”

“The full moon is in a couple days. I bet Wednesday would be into seeing me wolf out.”

The vampire pondered that for a moment. Enid had long ago told her friend all about her first transformation and subsequent fight with the Hyde. And though she’d mentioned that her wolf had recognized Wednesday and rushed in to protect her, she’d glossed over the potential meaning of those actions.

Most people wouldn’t be safe around a werewolf, particularly the first time they transformed, with the exceptions being members of their pack and…their mates.

But given all the pressure Enid’s family had put on her regarding her late blooming werewolf, Yoko hadn’t wanted to make things potentially even more heavy or confusing by bringing that up to her.

“That’s an interesting idea,” she finally said, “I’m sure Wednesday would be intrigued.”

At this response, Enid beamed.

Yoko flashed a fanged smile in response and hoped that Enid’s plan would work out the way that she intended.

-------------------------------------------

It took another day for Enid to work up the courage to mention her idea to Wednesday.

They were in the library studying for an upcoming science test.
Her roommate was sitting close enough that their arms brushed together any time Wednesday reached out to turn a page.

It was giving Enid hope, but also massive butterflies.

Eventually, she said, tentatively, “So the full moon is tomorrow…”.

Wednesday greeted this fact with a small listening sound.

“I was thinking that I’d go to the school cages, but it would be my first time and with all the tension between me and the school pack…well, I’m feeling a little nervous.”

That got the other girl’s full attention and she looked up.

“How have your recent transformations gone? You have not spoken of them to me, and I assure you, I am happy to hear about your werewolf experiences.”

That made something in Enid’s chest give a happy little squiggle.
She had wanted to share her fears around her difficulties transforming, but it had always been a hard thing for her to talk about.
Her friends were supportive, but they’d all been lucky enough to have their expected powers manifest correctly and at the normal time.

She gave her roommate a small smile before admitting, “I didn’t actually transform while I was home. My whole family was excited that first full moon when I was back, and then…it just didn’t happen. My dad was chill about it, but my mom started making me drink these gross potions and talking about sending me to a special doctor…anyway, it wasn’t great.”

A scowl appeared on Wednesday’s face at the mention of Enid’s mother, but it smoothed away again as she asked, “Do you suspect that being back in the location where your first transformed will be beneficial?”

Enid thought about her next words more carefully than usual.
“Part of me is worried that it was a fluke and it won’t ever happen again. But yeah, I guess I’m hoping that being here and not having the pressure of my mom and the whole pack back at home staring at me will help.”

Now Wednesday was the one to pause thoughtfully.

Then she said, “Do you require any moral support? I could accompany you to the cages and ensure that the rest of the school pack minds their manners.”

Even though this was exactly what Enid wanted, she hesitated.

“Are you sure you’d be okay with seeing that? If I do transform…well, the whole process isn’t exactly nice to look at.”

Werewolf transformation did look pretty gross from an outside perspective. The whole bones snapping and skin tearing wasn’t something that most people felt compelled to witness. Then again, Wednesday wasn’t most people.

Her dark eyes took in Enid carefully, as if trying to discern her true desires.
In a soft tone, she asked, “Do you wish for me to be there?”

Under that intense regard, Enid suddenly had a hard time speaking, so she nodded.

Something in Wednesday’s gaze softened.
“Very well. I am at your service.”

“Thank you,” was all she could say, and then looked back down at her book before her internal giddiness could show in her face.

She was still nervous about her wolf, but knowing that the other girl would be there with her made her feel more secure than she had in a while.

The nerves came back a minute later though for a completely different reason.

Wednesday turned another page in her book, and when she put her arm back down, it was close enough that her pinky finger came to rest against the side of Enid’s hand.

Which could have been an accident, except for the fact that Wednesday’s finger started to trace a gentle pattern, just barely touching her skin.

Chapter Text

Sunshine and Cynicism

The Full Moon

It was the day of the full moon, and Wednesday was feeling a pleasurable sense of nervous anticipation.
Enid’s vulnerability around her potential transformation had provided Wednesday the perfect opening for one of the last items on her list.

She had been wanting to find a way to show her interest in Enid’s wolf form, but given the other girl’s reticence to talk about it, it had been a challenge to bring the topic up in conversation.

Her research on human/werewolf relationships had revealed that for them to be successful, the wolf form of the werewolf partner needed to bond with the human partner.

There had been numerous cautionary tales of that process going wrong, some of which had contained delightfully graphic illustrations.
But given her prior experience with Enid’s wolf, she felt confident her roommate would not attempt to disembowel her.

And if she did…well that could turn out to be an excellent first date.

Even thinking the word “date” made her pulse flutter, and as she wanted to stay focused for the evening ahead, she quickly distracted herself with preparations for the evening.

Enid was currently out talking to the staff member in charge of the lupin cages, so Wednesday was taking the opportunity to pack a bag with a few surprise items hidden away inside.

By the time her roommate returned, Wednesday’s black duffel was sitting zipped up and ready to go, and she herself was reclining on her bed, looking through a book about werewolves to refresh her memory before their night’s endeavor.

When Enid marched in looking rather jumpy, Wednesday tucked the book aside and sat up to face her.

“Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s good. Um, I got the key and everything else I need…so…yeah…”.

Her nervousness was quite apparent, which made Wednesday frown slightly.
She wanted this experience to be as smooth for the werewolf as possible.

Seeing that Enid had set the key ring and the small bag she’d returned with down on her desk and then had started pacing, Wednesday knew that words would not be adequate at this point.

She stood up and walked over to where Enid was spinning in a small circle and reached out to grab her arm, gently, but decisively.

That stopped the blonde girl’s motion immediately and she stared down at the hand now gripping her bicep.

“Enid,” Wednesday said softly, “everything will be alright. I’ll be there with you the whole night.”

Her words seemed to have the effect she had hoped, because the nervous motion stilled and Enid stared at her with wide eyes.

“You’ll be there the whole night. The whole night.”

“Yes, that is what I promised.”

“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, I mean, surely you have better things to do than babysit me while I'm locked in a cage.”

“While we are locked in a cage you mean.”

For a second, there was no reaction from the other girl, and then her words seemed to register and Enid gaped at her.

“Wait…what? In the cage?”

“Yes Enid,” Wednesday said patiently, “I will be in the cage with you. Do you honestly think I would sit outside and stare at you as if you are a zoo animal?”

The look she was receiving went from astonished confusion to something so soft that she almost had to look away.

“You want to stay with me.”

“Of course.”

“Oh.”

That one syllable was as soft as the look in Enid’s eyes, and Wednesday could feel the heat rise to her face.

But if her roommate noticed her blushing, she gave no indication.
She just kept looking, a crease now furrowing her brow.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t,” Wednesday replied, crisp and decisive.
“You did not attempt to harm me during your first transformation, so I see no reason that you would do so now.”

The concerned look was still on Enid’s face, but there was a clear yearning in her eyes that tugged some string in Wednesday’s chest.

“I know you can take care of yourself, but if it seems like I might be dangerous, you have to promise me that you’ll leave. Okay?”

“I promise.”

“Okay.”

The moment was broken when Enid turned and hurried over to pack a few things into a bright pink backpack. Wednesday watched as she threw in some clothes, a cozy fleece blanket, her water bottle, and a flashlight. The bag she’d brought back to the room and the key chain with one large iron key attached were carefully tucked in as well.

Then she slung the backpack over one shoulder and took a deep breath.

“I’m ready.”

Wednesday went over to where her duffel bag sat on the floor and picked it up, carefully slinging it across her body before walking over to the door.

“I am ready as well.”

Enid crossed the room to stand next to her, looking a little paler than usual. Once they’d both made it out into the hallway, Wednesday reached out and took the werewolf’s hand.

There was the briefest flash of a surprised glance from Enid, but she made no comment, and merely laced her fingers together with Wednesday’s.

The dark-haired girl almost smiled.

-------------------------------------------

Their journey to the lupin cages was uneventful, though once they’d arrived to that area, several other wolves were loitering.

The looks they shot the two girls were certainly not friendly, but everyone wisely kept their comments to themselves.
Wednesday’s hand surreptitiously snuck to her jacket pocket where she had stashed a silver knife.
Reassured that it was easily accessible, she made intentional eye contact with any of the wolves still looking in her direction.

Most of them quickly found elsewhere to be.

A small, satisfied smirk curled against her lip, and a sideways glance showed that Enid’s expression had shifted to something stony, her nervousness seemingly gone now that there was a potential immediate threat.

The blonde girl even seemed to grow taller as they continued down the path and towards the cage that she’d been assigned for the evening.
The sight of a couple of the other students scrambling to get out of their way made Wednesday’s heart give a proud thump.

As much as she appreciated Enid’s softness, she could not help but admit that whenever the other girl gave off an edge of danger, like she was doing now, it made her want to swoon.

Soon enough, they had made it to the final cage on the path, and Wednesday was impressed at the level of privacy the school had managed with the set-up.

The structure looked more like a small shed than a cage, with solid stone walls and a heavy iron door with reinforced hinges.
Most of the door was made of solid metal with a smaller barred window at the top half.

The door was not currently locked, so Enid stepped forward to push it open all the way, grunting at the effort.
Once inside, Wednesday noted that a section of the roof was open and covered with heavy bars, ostensibly to let in both fresh air and moonlight.

Contrary to some of the outdated lore, werewolves did not need to be physically out in the moonlight in order to shift, though she supposed that being able to see the sky might make them feel less trapped.

There was a corner section with a short wall that puzzled her for a moment until she realized that it was likely a changing area.
On the other side was a stack of large cushions.

Enid set her backpack down and extracted the key ring and the smaller bag whose contents turned out to be a set of flimsy pajamas.
She tucked them under one arm and stood up again, walking over to where Wednesday was prowling the perimeter of the enclosure.

“Here,” the werewolf said, “you hold onto the key. That way you can get out if you need to.”

Wednesday raised an eyebrow, but accepted the key.

“Shall I lock us in?”

Now, Enid was back to looking nervous.

“If you’re absolutely sure, I mean, really Wednesday.”

“I’m sure.”

To emphasize her point, she walked over to the door and pushed it closed, sliding the heavy bolt across the door and closing the hefty iron padlock with a loud clunk. The key then went into her pocket before she turned back to Enid.

Her roommate was looking at her with that soft expression again, and it seemed like she was about to say something, but then she shook her head slightly.

After another moment, she held up the bundle of pajamas and without another word, walked to the partitioned corner and disappeared behind the wall.

The lack of words did not bother Wednesday in the slightest.
She had come to learn that when Enid was feeling something deeply, it tended to switch off her inclination to babble.

While the werewolf changed, she busied herself with setting up a few of the cushions in one corner, and then pulled a neatly folded black quilt from her duffel bag and arranged it along one end of the pile.

Then, she set the bag down next to the wall and folded her hands as she waited for Enid to emerge.

It didn’t take long before she re-appeared from behind the partition, the thin fabric of the school issued pajamas hanging slightly from her thin frame.

Enid held out one arm, where the overly long sleeve hung awkwardly over most of her hand.

“It’s not a great fashion statement, but at least I won’t shred my own clothes as I transform.”

It took her a moment to notice the carefully arranged pile of cushions.
She blinked at them and then over at Wednesday.

“Did you…make me a nest?”

“I would not characterize it as a nest exactly, but yes, I did attempt to create a comfortable spot for you to lie down once you’ve transformed.”

The werewolf slowly crossed over to examine it more closely. A tremulous smile crossed her face.
“Is that the quilt from your bed?”

The look on Enid’s face combined with the tone of her voice, sent a wave of butterflies through Wednesday’s stomach, and it took her longer than usual to compose herself so she could answer.

Even with that hesitation, her voice came out more hoarse than usual.
“It is.”

The werewolf’s blue eyes flicked between the quilt and Wednesday’s face, and the dark-haired girl could see a question there.

It had been an intentional choice for her to bring that particular quilt, the one that usually resided on her bed.
Werewolves were comforted by their mate’s scent, and often chose to curl up with something that they’d worn or rest somewhere that they’d slept.

It was extremely likely that this was a fact that Enid knew.

Perhaps she was about to question Wednesday’s motivations, but before she had the chance, her body shivered.
Her eyes widened and she clenched her fists.

Another stronger tremor ran through her.

“I think it’s happening,” Enid sounded surprised, fearful, and excited all at the same time.

Another shudder brought her to her knees, and she stared up at Wednesday, her fangs beginning to protrude and eyes lit with a bright blue glow.

“You should get back!”

Her voice was deeper, more guttural now.

More out of respect for the werewolf’s personal space than fear, Wednesday took several steps away until she was standing next to her bag, her shoulders barely brushing against the wall behind her.

The transformation was as gruesome as she imagined, punctuated by cracks and tears signifying the rearrangement of Enid’s bones and skin. While she was by no means squeamish, some part of her almost wanted to turn away. She hoped that this violent seeming process was not hurting the werewolf too badly.

It was hard to tell whether the noises that the werewolf was making were out of pain or triumph, but as her transformation finished, she tipped her head back and let out a long howl. It was answered by several other howls from nearby.

Enid’s wolf form was large, and as Wednesday ran her eyes carefully over the creature in front of her, she noted with amusement that some of Enid’s fur was pink and blue, mimicking her dyed hair.

“That figures,” she muttered.

The sound of her voice instantly drew the wolf’s attention, and the size of the razor sharp fangs did cause Wednesday some trepidation.
But it quickly vanished when the wolf’s mouth dropped open into what looked like a goofy, toothy smile.

Then a big wet nose pressed forward into her space and she was thoroughly sniffed.
Under this examination, she stayed very still, even holding her breath.

The air whooshed out of her lungs a moment later as she was startled by a very odd and somewhat unpleasant sensation.
It took her a moment to register what had just happened, and as the wolf withdrew a bit to sit back on its haunches, she rubbed her cheek in disgust.

“Did you just lick me?” she asked accusingly.

The wolf just stared at her and its tail gave a few thumps against the ground.

“Well, I suppose that can be considered a good sign.”

It was odd to be in Enid’s presence and be the only one talking.
As she thought back to her research to figure out what to do next, that nose started wiggling again.

In one bound, the wolf jumped past her and landed on the nest of cushions, investigating them carefully.
When she got to the quilt, the wolf gave a pleased whine and then flopped over, rubbing her head against it aggressively and generally turning the carefully constructed pile into a rumpled mess.

“Enid,” Wednesday said, exasperated but with affection, “of course you would be just as messy as a wolf as you are as a human.”

The wolf’s eyes blinked up at her, and then she rolled around some more, her legs waving comically in the air.

The dark-haired girl shook her head fondly and crossed over to her bag. She dug around for a moment before pulling out a bundle of venison jerky, part of a new batch that she had received from her Uncle Fester.

The wolf abruptly rolled over and stared at her with rapt attention, nose twitching and tongue poking out slightly.

“Would you like some?”

Thump thump went the wolf’s tail.

Wednesday placed a large piece of jerky on her palm and held it out. Enid stretched out and took it from her hand with extreme delicacy, immediately gobbling it down. The wolf then looked back up at her, and whined just a little.

She was rewarded with another piece of jerky. As she finished swallowing that piece, footsteps approached and the wolf’s ears swiveled towards the door.

A man’s voice called out, “Ms. Addams, are you both well?”

It was the teacher in charge of the lupin cages for the evening.

At his voice, the wolf leapt up and placed herself between Wednesday and the door, a warning growl rumbling in her throat as she stared out at the teacher who was now peering in through the bars.

She crossed over to the door and placed a hand gently on Enid’s flank.

“Yes, we are both quite well. As you can see, Enid transformed without any issue, and she does not appear to be showing any aggression towards me.”

As if to emphasize that point, the wolf rubbed her head against Wednesday’s cheek, nearly knocking the girl over.

“I can see that,” the teacher said in a dry tone.

He made a few notes on the clipboard he was carrying and then looked back up, his eyes moving between Wednesday and the wolf with a small smile.

“Based on her behavior, I don’t anticipate that you’ll have any problems, but call out if you need anything.”

“Of course. Thank you.”

With a nod, he walked away to continue his rounds.

After his departure, Wednesday walked back across the cage to fix the cushions and quilt.
Once they'd been properly rearranged, she sat down and patted the space next to her.

Enid stepped into the spot she’d indicated and turned in a few small circles before settling in, curling her body partially around her roommate.
Moving cautiously, Wednesday settled herself back against the wolf, gently petting the fur on her shoulder and side.
With a pleased rumble, the wolf shifted closer and then poked her nose against the bundle still in the other girl’s hand.

With a tiny smile, Wednesday acquiesced, and doled out the remaining jerky, interspersed with pats to Enid’s head.

Resting against the warm, solid bulk of the wolf’s body was more relaxing than Wednesday would have anticipated, and she found herself growing sleepy. When she yawned, it was mirrored by a yawn from Enid on a much larger scale.

Wednesday pivoted her body so she could look at the wolf more directly, and then ran a hand gently down the length of its snout. Large blue eyes blinked at her, and the tip of a long pink tongue gave her hand a soft lick.

“Well Enid. I suppose this experiment was a success. I can only hope that once you are back to your human form, that you will think of this as a good thing.”

There was no response from the wolf beyond the slight cocking of her head as she regarded the human beside her.

“I do hope that you will think of this as a good thing,” Wednesday added, more softly.

Then she stood, intending to unpack a few other things from her bag, but as she tried to step away, she found that her arm was caught in Enid’s mouth, being held carefully enough that those sharp teeth weren’t piercing through the fabric of her clothes.

She looked back and saw that those blue eyes seemed sad. As if to punctuate that, the wolf gave a tiny whimper.

With her unrestrained hand, she gently stroked the space between the wolf’s large ears.

“Enid, you can release me. I will return momentarily.”

The wolf complied and settled back down, watching as Wednesday pulled out several bottles of water and set them next to the bag before unpacking her oversized black hoodie.

That task complete, she came back over and settled herself by Enid, pulling the quilt up to loosely cover the wolf’s body.

Once Enid shifted back, she would no doubt prefer not to be lounging around completely unclothed.
Though she tried to avoid thinking about that particular scenario, the idea did bring a flush of heat racing up Wednesday’s neck and across her face.

She ignored this reaction and leaned back against the wolf’s midsection, the quilt now separating their bodies.
The hoodie was draped over her like a blanket, but with the heat generated from the creature behind her, she wasn’t sure that she actually needed it.

The wolf curled around her and the large shaggy head came to rest against the side of her leg.

Together, they fell into a deep and dreamless slumber.

Chapter Text

Sunshine and Cynicism

Wake Up

Perhaps it was the sunlight beginning to filter down from the barred skylight above, or the sound of birds in morning song, but something awakened Wednesday earlier than usual.

Her body first registered a languid warmth, then a moment later as her brain started to come fully online, she felt the arm curled possessively around her waist. A glance down verified that it was Enid’s, the colorful nail polish immediately giving her away.

The other girl was pressed up against her back, so close that Wednesday could feel the rise and fall of Enid's chest as she slowly breathed in and out.

It felt so good that she never wanted to move. She had never woken up with someone, and therefore had no frame of reference for the experience of being the little spoon.
But some part of her brain was slowly melting from the pleasure of being held this way by Enid.

After another moment, she registered that the arm wrapped around her was totally bare, and she remembered that underneath the quilt that was separating them, her roommate was completely unclothed.

When that thought sent a nearly uncomfortable flush of warmth through her body, she quickly closed her eyes.
Maybe if she went back to sleep, things would feel a bit more manageable once she woke up again.

She would have assumed that falling back asleep when she was feeling so flustered might have been a challenge, but the protective embrace she was cradled in and the feeling of Enid’s breath softly puffing against the back of her neck was oddly comforting. Before she knew it, she was drifting back to sleep.

-------------------------------------------

Waking up the second time was a little more jarring.

She could hear movement nearby, and when she rolled over to investigate, she saw Enid walking out from the partitioned corner, dressed in her clothes from the night before.

When she saw that Wednesday was awake, she said, “Good morning.”

The greeting was a little high pitched, and as Wednesday sat up and looked more closely, she noticed a pink flush on the other girl’s cheeks.

“Good morning Enid.”

She stood and started to fold up the quilt before asking, “How are you feeling after your transformation?”

“Good, good,” Enid replied, from where she was packing up her belongings.

Wednesday took her distraction as an opportunity to look her over more carefully.
She didn’t look injured in any way, which was a relief.

“If you require more water, I brought several extra bottles.”

“Oh, thank you. I’m actually so thirsty.”

Enid walked over to the water, and without ceremony, opened the first bottle and chugged it down.

As she started to open a second bottle, Wednesday said, “I read that after a transformation werewolves are at risk of becoming dehydrated, so I wanted to be prepared.”

Enid froze and turned, her eyes going wide and soft as they met Wednesday’s.

“You brought all this for me?”

Her eyes went from the water to the neatly folded quilt, and back to her roommate.

Wednesday’s mouth curved into a puzzled frown.

“Of course Enid. I wish to support you however I can. This was no doubt a challenging situation and I desired to make it as painless for you as possible.”

There was a long beat as the werewolf just stared at her, big blue eyes glistening with unshed tears.
Then, she launched herself at the other girl, grabbing her up into a tight hug.

After the initial moment of shock, Wednesday wrapped her arms around Enid’s waist, pressing tightly against her.

The werewolf mumbled, nearly too quiet to hear, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Wednesday whispered back, her voice muffled in Enid’s shoulder.

They stood there like that for a long time.

-------------------------------------------

By that afternoon, Enid had nearly worked herself into a tizzy.

The part of her mind that was already generally attuned to Wednesday seemed to have broken open even wider, making it hard for her to ignore anything the other girl was doing.

Miraculously, she had managed to make it through breakfast without being that much more awkward than usual around her roommate, but couldn’t quite face the thought of being alone in their room together.

So she’d told Wednesday that she needed a little time alone, somehow managing not to ramble on for too long.

The dark-haired girl nodded understandingly, and with a final reminder about remaining hydrated, left Enid standing in front of Ophelia Hall.

The werewolf watched the heavy entrance door swing closed before turning on her heel and marching off towards the lake.

For a while, she just paced along the water, trying to calm the anxious feeling in her chest that was telling her that she needed to go back to their room and make sure that Wednesday was safe. Which was ridiculous, because no doubt her roommate was sitting at her typewriter working on her latest chapter.

But the feeling in her chest that she was starting to identify as her wolf wasn’t fully satisfied with her reassurances.
Not for the first time, she wished that she had been more accepted by the school pack, because at least then she would have someone her own age to talk to about what was happening.

Her mother was totally not an option, even though she would likely have some strong opinions about Enid successfully transforming again.

However…maybe there was a person she could talk to.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone, opening her recent call list and then hesitating.

After a moment, she tapped the screen to make the call.
Two rings later, her dad answered.

“Hey sweetie.”

“Hi dad. Do you have a minute to talk? Like, privately? Is mom around?”

Her dad’s voice was quiet and reassuring. He was well aware of the friction between his wife and daughter, though he generally wasn’t able to do much about it.

“I’m out running some errands by myself. And of course I have time for you. Is everything alright?”

Enid sighed, wanting to share her fears, but unsure of how they would be received.
She decided to start with the easier news first.

“I transformed again last night.”

Her dad’s response was positive, but he kept his tone light, not wanting to make too much of a fuss.

“That’s great sweetheart. Are you feeling okay today?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”
She hesitated for a moment and then added, “My roommate actually brought along some extra water so I wouldn’t get dehydrated.”

Her dad sounded a little surprised as he asked, “Oh? Did she come check on you?”

“No…she was…she was there with me. I went to the school’s lupin cages last night and she stayed with me to make sure I was okay.”

If she had been having this conversation with her mother, Enid knew that her mom would be freaking out by this point, ranting about the irresponsibility of having a human with her, and probably also throwing in a snide comment about Wednesday.

Thankfully, her dad merely made a small sound to indicate that he was listening.

She forged ahead with what she wanted to tell him.

“The first time I transformed, maybe it was just finally the right time with the blood moon and everything, but I’m starting to think that it was actually because Wednesday was in danger. If I hadn’t shifted and fought off the Hyde, she could have died.”

Now her dad asked, hesitantly, “What are you saying?”

“I haven’t been able to transform since then, but last night, Wednesday was with me. Like, she stayed with me inside the cage the entire time. And I can’t remember everything, just some impressions from my wolf, but I know I felt protective of her, and I wanted to be close to her, and…”.

She trailed off and swallowed hard, partly because talking about it was making her remember those feelings from the night before, filtered through her wolf’s sharp senses, and partly because she was remembering how it had felt to wake up that morning with the other girl in her arms.

A small, involuntary whimper came out of her throat, and she could hear her dad sigh, sounding almost wistful.

“Enid, if you’re trying to tell me that Wednesday Addams is your mate…”.

That word sent a pleasant shock through her body, and a satisfied growl came from deep in her chest.

Her response was both fearful and defiant.

“That is what I’m trying to tell you. And I know mom is going to freak out and just totally lose her shit probably, but it’s not like this was a choice. I’m still kind of amazed that Wednesday and I ever became friends, but we are…and this is…it’s real. Whatever it is, it’s real.”

There was a long pause, and then her dad said, “I believe you sweetie. No werewolf gets to pick their mate, as much as we sometimes wish we could.”

That statement held an undertone that Enid couldn’t fully decipher, though she understood the implication. She stayed silent and waited for him to continue.
“You know as well as I do that your mom isn’t going to be happy about this, but she’s never been on board with human/werewolf pairings.”

“I know,” Enid grumbled. “What do you think I should do?”

“Well, that depends. If you want to drop the bomb and get it over with, you can tell her everything. But my advice would be to let things settle a little bit. Talk things through with Wednesday and make sure she understands what this all means, and maybe take some time to be with her.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Enid replied, suddenly feeling nervous about the impending talk she knew she needed to have with Wednesday.

“I’ll keep this conversation between us kiddo, and you can tell you mom whenever you’re ready. But it might be a good idea to at least let her know you were able to transform again.”

“Okay, I can do that. Thanks dad, really.”

“You’re welcome sweetie. I love you. Good luck.”

“Love you too.”

Enid hung up and sat down on the ground, staring out at the lake pensively.
Whatever conversation she was going to have with her roommate needed to happen soon.

-------------------------------------------

While Enid was out by the lake, Wednesday was talking with her parents.

As soon as they appeared in the crystal ball, she said, “Mother. Father. I must insist that we skip all of the normal tedious formalities. I am unsure of how long Enid will be gone, and this is a conversation that she cannot be allowed to overhear.”

Gomez nodded and made a motion to indicate that he was zipping his lips, and Morticia gave an encouraging smile then said, “Go ahead darling.”

“As you already know, I have been attempting to court Enid. I am happy to report that last night I stayed with her during her transformation, and her wolf appeared to be quite fond of me, even attempting to protect me from a teacher who came to check on us.”

Both of her parents visibly reacted to this news, but they both managed to remain silent.

She continued, “Now that I have successfully bonded with her wolf form, my courtship plan is almost at its completion.”

By this point, Gomez was beaming and Morticia was smiling and nodding.

Wednesday allowed another moment of silence and then stated, “You make speak now, but I implore you to keep the flowery language to a minimum.”

Both her parents started talking at once, letting her know how pleased they were for her, calling her multiple terms of endearment, and generally acting nauseatingly pleased for her.

She let them go on like this for a while, and then Gomez asked, “When are you going to complete your plan? Is there anything we can do to support you?”

“Within the next few days I will make sure that Enid knows, without a doubt, what my feelings are. And perhaps…if all goes well, I could invite her to visit the manor during our next break?”

Her parents agreed quite enthusiastically, and after a few final comments and goodbyes, Wednesday disconnected the call and quickly packed up the crystal ball.

By the time Enid returned to their room, she was ensconced at her typewriter making solid progress on the next chapter of her novel.

Chapter Text

Sunshine and Cynicism

The Final Step

Wednesday was nervous. More nervous than she could remember being in her life. Her stomach was roiling with butterflies, or possibly bats.

After her conversation with her parents, she had decided that there would be no more delays. She had executed her courtship plan as perfectly as she could, and now it was time for it to all come to fruition.

The nervousness was puzzling to her, as it was not something she was used to experiencing, but as she had pondered the source of this anxiety, she had quickly realized that it stemmed from her uncertainty about the outcome.

If Enid rejected her…well, that would be something she had to deal with. As her mind drifted briefly to that scenario, one where Enid was staring at her with wide, uncomprehending eyes, and a frown on her face, Wednesday realized that her hand had started to tremble.

With a quick, fierce motion, she reached up to smooth down her braid and then marched out of the room, intent on finalizing her plan.
It would happen tonight, and she would find a way to make Enid understand that her feelings were deep and true. It was the only option.

-------------------------------------------

While Wednesday was marching across campus, Enid was pacing back and forth in Yoko’s room.

The vampire was lounging in an ancient looking red velvet armchair, staring at her friend with raised eyebrows.
The werewolf was mumbling to herself, and as best as the vampire could make out, it was some kind of mostly incomprehensible pep talk.

Eventually, the pacing started to make her dizzy so she said sharply, “Enid. Tell me what’s going on.”

Her friend spun on her heel, graceful even in her overwrought state, and faced Yoko with wide blue eyes.

“I’m going to tell her!”

She might still be graceful, but her volume modulation was apparently not working properly. Yoko winced as Enid’s shout hit her ears.

“Okay, that’s great, and I’m glad everyone in the building knows too, but tell who what?”

Enid replied quickly, and extremely energetically, with only a slight decrease in volume.

“I’m going to tell Wednesday how I feel about her!”

That made Yoko suddenly sit up, a grin forming on her face as she grabbed her phone and hit a few buttons.

As Enid stood there rocking back and forth on her toes, Yoko spoke into her phone.

“Hey babe. Is Bianca with you? Okay, I’m putting you on speaker phone because you’re going to want to hear this.”

Then the vampire's dark eyes flicked over to her friend.

“Say that again Enid, because I need witnesses.”

One deep breath in, and then Enid stated, thankfully at a normal speaking volume, “I’m going to tell Wednesday how I feel.”

From the phone, she could hear the sound of mostly incoherent cheering, followed by Bianca’s voice clearly saying, “It’s about goddamn time.”

There was a slight rustling sound and then Divina said, “Okay, did we miss anything else? What’s the plan?”

Yoko watched proudly as Enid squared her shoulders and said, quite decisively, “I’ve been totally overthinking everything this whole time. So I’m just going to tell her tonight, and like, wing it I guess.”

“I think that’s great Enid,” Divina said, and then Bianca added, “If you’re honest with Addams, I think it will all work out.”

Yoko was nodding and smiling, and once the other two girls had finished speaking, she asked, “What made you decide that now is the time?”

Her friend flushed a little as she answered, a bit haltingly.
“Well, Wednesday came with me to the lupin cages, and stayed with me when I transformed, and…um, my wolf really liked her.”

The sound of snickering came through the phone, but Enid ignored it and continued, her blush deepening as she did so.
“Then when we woke up the next morning, I was spooning her, and…”.

Here, she trailed off, and the silence was quickly filled by an excited squeal from Divina, and a deep chuckle from Bianca.

Yoko flashed her fangs in a smile and just said, “Nice.”

As Enid tried to contain her own completely dopey grin, Bianca added, “I should have known Addams was the little spoon.”

Divina’s quick response of, “So do you think that means she’s also a…”, was cut off by a sharp exhale followed by a yelp and the sound of the phone being fumbled for a moment.

Eventually, Bianca’s voice came through the phone again, cool and unruffled.
“Apologies, Divina dropped the phone.”

“Dude, your elbows are sharp,” Divina whined from a little farther away.

“Best of luck Enid,” Bianca then said, and after a few seconds of the other siren girl whooping in the background, the call disconnected.

Yoko set down her phone and regarded her friend carefully.

“Let’s go get you some lunch. You’re going to need your strength for tonight.”

Enid, feeling exhilarated and exhausted at the same time, merely nodded.

-------------------------------------------

Wednesday arrived at her intended location and paused a moment before walking through the impressive doors.

As she crossed through the room towards the large desk at the other side, the principal’s head raised, and she flashed a quick smile.

“Addams. What can I do for you?”

Seating herself carefully in one of the plush chairs, she replied, “I wish to ask permission to go into town for an important errand.”

Ms. Abadeer sat up a little, resting her elbows haphazardly on her desk as her dark eyes studied Wednesday for a moment.

“A student as bright as you obviously knows that today isn’t one of the authorized days to leave campus.”

The statement was made with just the hint of a teasing smile.

“I am aware.”

“So is this an emergency then? I don’t see any blood.”

Wednesday took a breath and paused before answering.
After their previous conversation, she hoped that Ms. Abadeer would be on her side if she told her the truth.

“It is an emergency in the sense that I have decided to make a declaration of love, and for visual effect, this declaration needs to be accompanied by flowers.”

The vampire leaned back in her chair and regarded the student in front of her carefully.

“Let me see if I understand correctly. You’re asking for permission to go to town so you can buy flowers for someone.”

Wednesday held the principal’s gaze as she replied, “That is an accurate summation.”

After a beat of silence, Ms. Abadeer’s face broke into a wide grin.

“Hell yeah.”

“Does this mean that I have permission to go to the florist in town?”

“No way! We’re going to go somewhere way better.”

She stood quickly, the legs of her chair rattling against the floor.

“Come on, Addams. Let’s go see a lady about some flowers.”

A bit puzzled, but also relieved at this apparent offer of help, Wednesday stood and followed after her.

-------------------------------------------

Wednesday hurried after Ms. Abadeer, understanding washing over her as they neared the school greenhouse.

She had noticed the principal texting someone as they’d left her office, so she wasn’t surprised to see Ms. Bonnibel standing just outside the glass doors when they arrived.

The tall teacher greeted both of them with a smile, but Wednesday noted that the smile turned slightly more impish as it focused on Ms. Abadeer.

“Hello Wednesday. I was told that you need help picking some flowers for a special someone?”

“Any assistance you can provide me would be most appreciated. I must admit, I have never selected flowers for someone before, and I doubt that my normal aesthetic of black roses would be appropriate in this case.”

“No, that doesn’t really seem like Enid’s vibe,” Ms. Abadeer teased.

A slight blush creeped across Wednesday’s cheeks, but she refrained from answering.
Ms. Bonnibel flashed a slightly admonishing look at the other woman before turning a bright smile on the girl in front of her.

“I can definitely help you. There are plenty of options here, so we can go colorful and add in some flowers that have deeper meanings.”

They walked into the greenhouse and were immediately assaulted by the rich, humid air.
Ms. Bonnibel led the way with Wednesday just a half-step behind, while Ms. Abadeer trailed after them, looking around curiously, and occasionally stopping to smell a flower.

As they passed various flowers, Ms. Bonnibel told her of their symbolism, and occasionally, they would stop so Wednesday could carefully cut a few.

Red camellias, pink daisies, a few sections of ivy vine, several sprigs of deep purple heliotrope, and finally, at Ms. Bonnibel’s suggestion, a cluster of violets.

In the end, Wednesday was left holding a riot of color that made her eyes ache, but still brought a small smile to her face as she thought of presenting them to Enid.

“Those look lovely,” Ms. Bonnibel told her softly, then pointed to a small desk near the greenhouse entrance. “There should be some ribbon in one of the drawers if you want to arrange that into a proper bouquet.”

With a nod and a soft, “Thank you,” Wednesday made her way over.

As she carefully arranged the flowers and cut lengths of ribbon, she noticed Ms. Abadeer approaching Ms. Bonnibel.
Wednesday continued her work, but kept an unobtrusive eye on them, curious about how they would interact.

When the principal got to the teacher, she pulled a solitary red rose from behind her back, and presented it with a flourish.
Ms. Bonnibel gave the vampire a very soft smile, and took the proffered rose, her other hand lifting to gently trace a line down the principal’s pale cheek.

Wednesday looked away then, wanting to give them privacy, but something about the exchange and the affection she could see in Ms. Abadeer’s eyes made her feel flustered and happy in a way that was hard to explain.

With a final, delicate twist, her bouquet was complete, and she lifted it up to give it a thorough look with a critical eye.

“Oh, that’s beautiful,” came Ms. Bonnibel’s voice as she approached. “I’m sure Enid will love them.”

Thinking about that made Wednesday’s mouth suddenly feel dry, but she cleared her throat and was able to say, in an even tone, “I appreciate your help with this…delicate matter.”

Ms. Abadeer gave her a knowing smirk but merely said, “You’re welcome. And good luck.”

The girl gave them both a nod, and then strode away quickly. She needed to finish her preparations and make sure Enid did not find her until she was ready.

-------------------------------------------

After lunch with Yoko, Divina, and Bianca, who thankfully hadn’t teased her that much, Enid went looking for her roommate.

Her efforts were futile though as Wednesday wasn’t in their room, the library, the courtyard, or any of her other usual haunts.
Discouraged, she returned to her room to yet again find it empty.

She flopped down on her bed with a gusty sigh and idly kicked her feet for a moment, wondering what she should do next.

Her plan of just winging it wasn’t going to work very well if she couldn’t even find her hopefully future girlfriend.

As she lay there, she suddenly became aware of a very slight rustling sound coming from the other side of the room.
Her ear twitched as she focused on the sound and she was able to pinpoint it as coming from Wednesday’s bed.

She quickly stood up, and gathering herself into a half-crouch, she carefully stalked across the room.
The rustling sound happened again, and a second later, she was snatching up Wednesday’s pillow, ready to fight whatever creature was hiding there.

But when the pillow was removed, it revealed only Thing, who wiggled a finger at her and then immediately started to skitter away.

“Hey!”
Almost without thinking, she reached out to snatch him up.

“What are you lurking under there for?”

Thing made a few movements, and Enid realized that she was gripping him too tightly for actual communication, so she set him down on the bed.

Thus freed, he signed her hello and then, “How are you?”

She stomped her foot.
“Thing! Answer my question. Why were you hiding under there? I thought you were a rat or something.”

He made a few tapping motions on the bed, and she could tell that he was attempting to be nonchalant. She decided to try a different question.

“Do you know where Wednesday is?”

That at least got a semi-normal response, though Thing did appear to be quivering with some unknown emotion as he pointed towards Enid’s desk.

She hurried across the room and found an envelope sitting neatly at the center of her desk. Her name was written carefully across the front in black ink that she knew came from Wednesday’s prized antique fountain pen.

A glance over her shoulder showed that Thing had disappeared, so she returned her attention to the mysterious envelope.
It was made of rich, ivory colored paper, and when she carefully slit it open with one claw, a folded sheet of matching stationary was revealed.

Dearest Enid,

Please meet me at five o’clock this evening in the clearing where you heroically saved me from the Hyde.

I look forward to your company.

Yours,
Wednesday

The letter made her heart thud wildly for a moment, especially as her eyes retraced the word “Yours”.
She knew that Wednesday was always very deliberate with her words, so it seemed like this had to mean something.

She checked the time on her phone and saw that there were still over two hours before she needed to start making her way to the meeting spot.

Plenty of time to completely obsess about why her roommate wanted to randomly meet in the woods.

With a groan, she walked over to collapse onto her bed, her body already filling with fizzing, nervous anticipation.

-------------------------------------------

Wednesday paced back and forth around the clearing wondering why her normally obedient and focused brain seemed to be full of fuzz.

She had been trying to rehearse what to say to Enid, but each of her intended speeches trailed off into incoherence as soon as she got to the part where she confessed her feelings.

After briefly consulting her pocket watch, she realized that there were only a few more minutes before Enid’s scheduled arrival.

It simply would not do for the werewolf to discover her marching in a nervous circle and muttering to herself, so she positioned herself near the tree where she’d almost met her demise and waited, folding her hands to disguise the slight nervous trembling of her fingers.

Right at the scheduled time, Wednesday heard the tell-tale sound of someone making their way through the trees, their position given away by the occasional crackle of leaves and twigs underfoot.

When Enid ultimately appeared, it was apparent from her demeanor that she was nervous, and Wednesday hoped that her cryptic letter had not caused undue anxiety.

“Hello Enid,” she said, somehow managing to sound quite calm.

The werewolf took a look around the area before focusing on her roommate.

“This place looks different in the daylight.”
Then she frowned a little and continued, “Are you alright? You look pale. I mean, not that you don’t usually look pretty pale, but like paler than usual…okay, I’m going to stop talking now.”

She closed her mouth abruptly, and Wednesday took a moment to attempt to compose herself.
It did not completely work, because when she spoke, she could hear a slight breathlessness in her own voice.

Clenching her hands together even more tightly because her traitorous fingers would not cease their trembling, she said, “I am quite alright Enid, but I appreciate your concern. I imagine that you would like an explanation as to why I asked you to come here.”

The werewolf nodded at that but remained silent, though perhaps she had picked up on Wednesday’s anxiety because she was noticeably fidgeting.

This did not help the dark-haired girl’s nerves, but she proceeded with her speech as valiantly as she could.

“When you saved me that night, it made me think about what it meant to be able to trust someone, and to rely on them. It was quite surprising to me that you would become a person that I could trust, especially given our rocky beginning.”

As Wednesday spoke, the pace of words continued to increase, and Enid’s eyebrow was arching upwards at this extremely uncharacteristic nervous rambling.

Ignoring the look, Wednesday forged ahead.

“I admit that I have not had many friends in the past, and upon reflection, I would say that truthfully, you are my first and only best friend. And when I contemplated the idea of how I truly felt about you, perhaps my prior solitary nature clouded the issue and prevented me from realizing….”.

She was cut off by Enid abruptly interrupting her by bursting out with, “Wednesday, I have to tell you something!”

Caught off guard, Wednesday’s eyes widened and she was rendered speechless for long enough for Enid to keep talking, her words tumbling out in a high-pitched tone as her face got red.

“I have feelings for you. Like, romantic feelings, not just bestie feelings. And if you don’t feel the same way, that’s going to really suck, especially if you brought me out here for some sort of best friend appreciation thing, but I really needed to tell you because I’ve been thinking about it for a while now…and yeah, I needed you to know.”

Enid finished her declaration in a rush and gulped, her wide blue eyes focusing on the other girl as she tried to gauge her reaction.

For a long moment, Wednesday just stood there, as if she’d been stunned. But then she abruptly spun on her heel and started marching away.

Watching this apparent retreat, Enid started internally freaking out, her mind starting to spin in circles as she tried to figure out how to salvage this friendship. But then she realized that Wednesday had stopped walking and was reaching for something at the base of the tree.

Before her mind could really comprehend what was happening, she saw her roommate stand up, a bouquet of flowers clutched in one hand.

And maybe Enid blacked out for a second, because the next thing she knew, Wednesday was standing in front of her, the flowers held out in front of her like an offering.

“You know Enid,” she said in a conversational tone, “it is rather amusing that your loquaciousness, which I have admittedly come to find endearing, would ruin one of the longest speeches I have made in quite some time.”

“Huh,” Enid said, still staring uncomprehendingly.

A small smile curved across Wednesday’s lips.

“I had a carefully constructed courtship plan that you seemed to be completely oblivious to, and now that I have reached the final stage, you managed to interrupt it with an unexpected declaration of your own feelings, thus stealing my thunder.”

“Wait…what?”

“These are for you,” Wednesday said, handing over the bouquet, which Enid accepted almost automatically.

Once the flowers were in her hands, she seemed to mostly recover from whatever trance she'd been in, and she looked them over appreciatively.

“They’re beautiful. Thank you.”

The smile on Wednesday’s face shifted into an almost reverent look.

“There is one final step in my plan.”

Thrown off balance by the soft look in those dark eyes, Enid barely managed to reply, in a whisper, “What’s that?”

Without any further preamble, Wednesday leaned in and kissed her.

It was a delicate, tentative kiss, but even that gentle pressure was almost overwhelming.
After a long moment, Wednesday leaned back slightly, just far enough that she could focus on Enid’s face.

Before she could say anything, Enid reached out and grabbed her collar, pulling her back in to crash their lips together for a second time.
The hand that was curled into the fabric of her shirt slowly loosened, and as their kiss deepened, Enid’s hand came to rest on her shoulder, though one finger raised to trace a line down the side of her neck.

That simple motion sent a wave of goosebumps skittering down the whole right side of her body and she gasped lightly at the sensation.

Eventually, this series of kisses also ended, and when Wednesday stepped back, she found that she was breathing hard, while Enid’s pupils had expanded into seductive dark pools.

The werewolf looked at her, a drunken smile blooming on her face.

“I really liked that.”

“So did I,” Wednesday replied, her voice rasping slightly.

Always irrepressible, Enid giggled at her and said, “I think your plan worked out pretty well.”

“If I am being perfectly honest, this ended up better than I had imagined.”

Whatever look she had on her face made Enid blush, and with a smile that for her, could be considered a giddy grin, Wednesday extended a hand.

“May I escort you to dinner?”

The werewolf reached out and carefully laced their fingers together.

“Absolutely. I’m starving.”

With one amused quirk of her eyebrow, Wednesday pulled her gently in the direction of the main campus.

Hand in hand, they went together.