Work Text:
All in all, Wednesday was usually satisfied with her own hair. The braids put just the right amount of pressure on her scalp, pulling gently but never actually hurting her, and kept her hair manageable and safe from getting snagged on things when she investigated somewhere. Even her fringe had its use since it let her hide her eyes from the world and could even filter out some of the bright fluorescent lights too many places still used when she tilted her head right.
There was, however, one hair-related problem that reared its head more often than Wednesday would have liked, and that was simply the speed at which her hair grew. Sometimes, she felt like no matter how many times she trimmed it back to her preferred length, it refused to stay there for more than a moment, like that made it grow even faster out of pure spite.
It didn’t really matter with the braids, the only issue with those growing so rapidly being that Wednesday sometimes forgot and used too little shampoo when washing her hair, but her fringe was truly its own special brand of torture. There was simply nothing worse than being in the middle of her writing time, so focussed on the story that she forgot about the rest of the world, and being interrupted by the deeply uncomfortable sensation of hair falling quite literally into her eyes.
So when it happened again, she huffed and pushed the unruly hair back, already annoyed by this small interruption but willing to look past it so she could go back to writing. It worked, but only for a few minutes. Less than half a page later, the hair was back, and just as annoying as it had always been. When she tried to push it back again, it refused to stay in place, and tumbled directly into her open eyes again, clinging to the damp surface.
Wednesday’s frustration grew with every passing moment until she was just about ready to take a pair of scissors – or maybe even just a knife – and chop all of her hair off just so she could have a few minutes of uninterrupted concentration. But she knew that that would have been too drastic for something so small, so she decided to simply trim her fringe back to the length it was supposed to be, and to leave the rest of her hair alone, at least for now.
Her chair scraped loudly across the hardwood floor, echoing through their mostly quiet room – Enid had started wearing headphones while Wednesday wrote after that fight on their first day living together, but she still hummed along to her music sometimes.
When Wednesday glanced her way now, expecting her to be fully absorbed in her phone like she usually was, Enid was already looking at her, eyes full of curiosity just like they always were. She had even taken her headphones off, which made Wednesday hesitate long enough that Enid managed to get her question out before she could leave the room.
“Where are you going? It’s still the middle of your writing time!”
Enid sounded almost offended at the interruption of Wednesday’s routine, which didn’t make sense. Mostly, though, she just seemed curious, which was far more understandable. After all, Wednesday usually refused to leave her desk for anything while she was working. This time, of course, that was exactly the problem, so that was what Wednesday told her.
“I can’t work like this.”
To Wednesday, that was all that needed to be said, especially because she even glanced up at her own hair, just in case Enid needed some help figuring out what she was talking about. Once that was done, she turned back to the door and kept walking, determined to get this over with as quickly as possible so she could get back to writing before her time was up.
She made it all the way to the door, her hand already twisting the handle, when movement behind her made her stop once more. This time, she didn’t turn around, but she also didn’t just leave, even if every passing second of hair in her face brought her closer to finally snapping completely. For now, she just breathed past it and forced her mind to ignore the discomfort so she could listen to whatever it was that Enid wanted from her now.
“Why not? Was I too loud again? Because I’m sorry if I was, and I promise I’ll try harder! I can even leave if you want, so you really don’t have to go.”
Before Enid started talking, Wednesday had been bracing herself for some sort of fight, but that worry quickly left her mind, replaced first by confusion and then, when she identified the desperation in Enid’s voice, another strange emotion she couldn’t fully identify. She decided to ignore it, at least for the moment, and just gave a clear and factual answer, instead.
“Don’t be ridiculous, it has nothing to do with you. I merely need to do something about my hair so it will stay out of my eyes. I can’t write when I can’t see.”
Wednesday finally turned around again while she was talking, mostly just because it was apparently rude to talk to people without at least pretending to look at them, but also just because she liked looking at Enid – not that she would ever admit that even in her own mind. She was still going to leave as soon as this probably short conversation was over, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t show Enid that she cared while she was still in the room with her.
So Wednesday stood there, looking at Enid and waiting for some sort of sign that she could finally leave and take care of her hair so she could get back to her life already. Enid watched her right back, tracing her face with her eyes and seemingly looking for something, though Wednesday had no idea what that might be. She was, once again, caught completely off-guard when Enid asked her yet another question.
“Do you want my help?”
“What?”
It slipped out before Wednesday could even so much as think about it. She hadn’t meant to say it, but since it might actually get her an explanation, she didn’t particularly mind, either. Without any response, all Wednesday could tell from Enid’s expression and body language was that she was genuine about her offer, whatever that was supposed to mean.
Enid probably didn’t intend to shave Wednesday’s head – like her first instinct had been when this issue first came up – or anything like that, but Wednesday could tell that she was planning something, and that was enough for her to hear her out, to at the very least see what she was going to offer. So she just stood there and waited the fraction of a second it took for Enid to start talking again.
“I can pin it back for you for while you write – I’m pretty sure I have some black hair clips somewhere that you could borrow – and then we can cut it later, once you’re done…”
Wednesday considered that offer for exactly two seconds – not nearly long enough to properly think about anything, but Enid was looking at her expectantly – before signalling her agreement by nodding once. Mostly, she just wanted to finally go back to writing as quickly as possible, but she also didn’t mind the idea of Enid cutting her hair for her nearly as much as she should have. It might have even made her blush if she didn’t have as much control over her own body as she did.
It took Enid less than a minute to pull out the plastic bin she apparently kept her – much too large – collection of hair accessories in and got several different black pins by simply reaching in. She didn’t even have to look around, she found them on the first try, and then immediately presented them to Wednesday with a proud smile.
None of the hair clips now splayed out across Enid’s palms matched each other, but they were all entirely black, so Wednesday just shrugged and took the two biggest ones, pinning her hair back to both sides without another word. She probably looked ridiculous like this, but at least she could see properly again, and that was what really mattered, so she accepted it without comment or complaint.
She thanked Enid quietly and returned to her desk, settling down on her chair and finally writing again. The only problem was that, even with the hair problem solved, Wednesday still struggled to get lost in her story like she usually did. Now that her focus had been broken, she couldn’t quite regain it.
Usually, something like this – just a simple interruption – wouldn’t have bothered her for longer than it took to take care of whatever was bothering her, but this time, her mind refused to cooperate even when everything should have gone back to normal. Her most recent chapter was right at the description of a particularly gruesome murder scene, but all Wednesday could think about was what it was going to be like when Enid cut her hair.
Was she going to be quick and efficient, or would she take her time cutting each strand of hair individually? And how close was she going to get to Wednesday while she did it?
Those were only some of the questions tumbling through Wednesday’s mind while she tried to work. She still managed to stumble her way through a few more paragraphs – she wasn’t an amateur, after all – but it wasn’t nearly as much as she would normally write in the same amount of time. By the time her writing hour was over, she had less than a page in total, and was pretty sure that she would scrap everything she had just written.
It was all incredibly annoying, but Wednesday decided that she could look past it just this once. After all, she didn’t actually mind thinking about Enid. Besides, her originally intended writing time was over at this point anyway, and Wednesday saw no use in dwelling on the past. Instead, she turned around in her chair to address Enid, who was already watching her intently.
“You may start now, I’m done writing for the day.”
There was the slightest tremor in Wednesday’s usually emotionless voice that she couldn’t fully keep out, but she was fairly certain that it was subtle enough that Enid didn’t notice. Luckily, she wasn’t all that perceptive, especially not when she got as excited as she clearly was now. She was already talking by the time she got up from her bed, rushing over to her desk and rooting through drawers in search for some scissors.
While she searched – far more noisily that would have been necessary, but that was normal for her – Wednesday just sat in her desk chair, waiting, and tried to get her heart to slow down again. She wasn’t even sure why it was racing, there was just this underlying sense that something important was about to happen. Then Enid smiled at her, and Wednesday stopped thinking just long enough to actually hear what she said next.
“Okay, let’s do this. I think you can actually just stay right there, unless you want to do this in the bathroom, or somewhere else, I guess.”
While that came as a bit of a surprise – Wednesday had expected more preparation somehow – it wasn’t an unwelcome one, so she just nodded and once again waited for Enid to make the next move. When nothing happened, Wednesday figured out that Enid must not have seen her, so she decided to put her agreement into words, as well.
“That’s fine. You may begin.”
For the first time all day, Enid hesitated, but only for a moment. Then, she walked over to the other side of their shared room, stopping directly in front of Wednesday, close enough that most of her field of vision was filled with the most garish of colours. It should have been nauseating, but at this point, Wednesday had almost grown used to Enid’s brightness. She was halfway convinced that her dizziness had a different origin this time.
Enid readjusted Wednesday gently, barely touching her to let her know how to move, and then she did something that nearly made Wednesday black out. Right there, in front of Wednesday, practically between her legs, Enid went down on her knees. She even looked up at Wednesday, her eyes wide and an impish smile playing across her features.
It was all purely for practical reasons, of course, but that didn’t stop Wednesday’s mind from running wild. She couldn’t help it, she had always been the creative type after all, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t also be professional. So she pushed away every thought that could be even remotely inappropriate and instead focussed entirely on the practical physicality of what was going on right then, clearing her mind of everything else.
Enid’s hands were gentle but not hesitant when they freed Wednesday’s fringe from the clips holding it aside, letting the hair fall across Wednesday’s forehead and into her eyes once more. Wednesday let herself blink, twice – she wouldn’t usually make herself vulnerable in this way, but since only Enid was around and Wednesday trusted her enough to sleep around her every night, so closing her eyes for just a fraction of a second was no issue whatsoever – and Enid immediately took the hint and brushed her hair aside.
Her fingers barely touched Wednesday’s face, but they still left the ghost of a sensation in their wake and set her skin ablaze. Colourful nails combed through her hair, spreading it out and making sure every strand settled in the right place. It was mildly uncomfortable to have hair tickling the top half of her face – all the way down to the tip of her nose, but not much further than that – again, but that was a small price to pay so Wednesday bore the discomfort silently.
Enid talked while she worked, but she kept her voice relatively low, probably to avoid startling Wednesday or making her even more uncomfortable than she already was. Luckily, she didn’t have to suffer for too long. Enid worked quickly and confidently, measuring the hair with her fingers and then cutting through it like she had done this countless times before.
She even caught the cut strands as they fell, and piled them up on Wednesday’s desk before they could fall to the floor, or worse, into Wednesday’s collar, where they would have continued to bother her for the rest of the day. Enid, of course, had understood that something like that could cause issues without even having to ask, so she made sure that not a single hair escaped her hands.
After only a few minutes, Wednesday’s face felt the way it should again, and Enid’s was wearing a satisfied smile at a job well done. Wednesday could take it in in exquisite detail because, even though she was done now, Enid was still incredibly close, her face just inches from Wednesday’s. Her teeth, even while not extended to their full werewolf length, were truly a sight to behold, and her eyes were maybe the most colourful thing Wednesday had ever seen. It should have been disturbing, maybe even disgusting. It wasn’t.
Enid stayed between Wednesday’s knees for another moment, clearly just as hesitant to regain any distance between them as Wednesday was, before slowly getting up and walking back to her side of the room to take a small hand-held mirror from her desk. With it, she returned to Wednesday’s side, holding it out so she could take a look at her new – and familiar – appearance. Just like always, Enid talked while she moved.
“All done, what do you think?”
The part of her mind that was still thinking rationally – a much smaller part than she would have liked – fully intended to just answer the question, tell Enid that she liked the hair, that it was exactly how it was supposed to be, and then move on from the moment. That was what she would have normally done, and what she should have done.
But, just this once, Wednesday’s emotions won out over her usually rational mind. When she got up from her chair, it wasn’t to move away from Enid, or to clean up the freshly cut ends of her hair, or to do any of the countless other things she might reasonably do in this sort of situation. Instead, she just stood as close to Enid as she could without literally stepping on her toes, and let herself bask in the sight of her face again.
She started just like she always did, with the eyes. They seemed to have gotten even bluer than they usually were, and Wednesday got lost in them for a while. But after a moment, her eyes started to wander across the rest of Enid’s just as breathtaking face. It didn’t take long for them to fall onto the most – and only – inviting mouth she had ever seen. Her own lips moved without her permission, voicing a question that had been on her mind for a long time.
“I would like to kiss you now. Would that be acceptable?”
Even to her own ears, Wednesday’s voice sounded a bit strained. It was also much quieter than normal, nearly a whisper. She could barely hear it over her now-racing heart. She was almost tempted to let it convince her that she hadn’t said anything. It was the first time in her life that she experienced this specific kind of nervousness and she found that she wasn’t even remotely equipped to handle it like she would other unwanted emotions.
She was about to let it overpower her and dismiss the entire situation when Enid freed her from that terrible fear-filled anticipation. First, there was a warm hand on her upper arm, then it’s twin came up to hold the side of her face, and by the time Enid’s voice joined the mix, her words spoken almost directly against Wednesday’s mouth, her mind was finally silent.
“Yes, please!”
After that, neither of them hesitated any longer. They both surged forward and met in the middle, their lips meeting in a thrilling dance that Wednesday knew she would never get enough of. By then, she was a creature of pure instinct, all higher thoughts forgotten in the face of Enid and her perfect mouth.
She didn’t really know what she was doing, but that clearly didn’t matter because Enid was clinging to Wednesday just as much as Wednesday was to her, and they both kept going, kept deepening the kiss, even when they started to run out of air. Wednesday didn’t stop until she felt the first signs of oxygen depravation, and even then she could only bring herself to move away because she knew that they would resume their kiss as soon as they both caught their breath.