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It's a pleasant day in northwest Vermont, overcast but not gloomy. Also, lunch time at Nevermore.
The 'Crackstones', as they had begun to be called, sit at their table. The very table that a certain double braided student had been pinned against months ago, but the groundskeeper had patched it up during the break, not thinking too much about it until the new year, when the group had semi-ritually claimed it. Carved their names in the soft wood and all. They're all there, mismatched as they are... minus the pilgrim killer herself.
After the break following the semester-cut-short, the student body had welcomed them back with something of a celebrity status. Bianca didn't let the pride rise to her head but she definitely rose in the ranks of popularity. Eugene's bee club swelled in numbers, and Xavier would claim his role was circumstantial at most although he had found himself quite the hastiliarius to a small but motivated contubernium. Enid rejoiced in her newfound roles as Vlad's assistant to instruct students in combative parkour as auxiliary to fencing (offering trench knives for those who lacked claws, which classes had a suspiciously consistent attendance of her roommate, for several reasons, Enid surmised) and she would've taken the offer of manicure instructor if she hadn't been so busy with it, were it not that Thing was all too happy to fill in, simultaneously taking on her blog activities... and very much to chagrin of the reluctant heroine herself, who rather wants to return to her days as a wallflower, to which Enid will always say she never was to begin with. Larisa's likeness had posthumously carved itself into the wall opposite their most famous alumnus. No one knew exactly knew who'd done it but no one was asking either, as the late principal seemed to still look out in the quad and the students had started to say their hello's and goodbye's in passing.
They're involved in their usual banter and catching up, cracking jokes and marveling in how different their extended vacations had been. Suddenly, Enid's enhanced hearing picks up something and she follows the sound to see her lady in black emerge from the gloomy halls into the light, glancing at the Weems relief seemingly in a short but silent telekinetic conversation—who knows, she is a psychic after all—before she scans the quad and finds her favorites, although she'd rather be stabbed again than to admit it. Her obsidian eyes home in on two electric arcs and the slightest, tiniest twitch itches the corner of her mouth, mirroring the supernova of a smile her roommate flashes her. She still didn't get how Yoko continues to exist in her vicinity, with that much Sunshine going on with her. Wednesday remains in place as she merely braces for impact as Enid stands up, takes maybe two steps before she pounces to projectile herself across the greater part of the quad wrapping herself around the slightly shorter girl.
"Howdy roomie!" she screeches, jokingly referencing the first thing she had ever said to her. Wednesday's doesn't move but the glitter in her eyes tell Enid she appreciates their little injoke, which she had consciously started after she had forced Wednesday to tell everything about her slaying the zombie, which had included catching his attention with the same greeting.
"Hello clownsblood." she replies and Enid laughs. During their visits to each other, she had half-seriously complained when Wednesday had come home a few times, invariably splattered with blood, and she had stated she'd kill a clown next time to hopefully have one thing less to whine about and despite the very unsettling thought of her friend being covered in life juice (albeit not hers), she found the remark to be hilarious, before she had politely declined on account of the lygophile's allergy.
"I missed you!" Enid cheers, earning an eyeroll from Wednesday, who is in the process of peeling Enid off of her. She had found out that physical contact with Enid didn't affect her as much as with others, to an extent that it didn't affect her at all; to the contrary even... but she wasn't ready to acknowledge that yet.
"Evidentially." she concludes. Straightening her clothes, she lets Enid lead her to their table. Stupid grins all around. Enid sits down keeping a spot on the end of the bench available but Wednesday pauses. She turns back to look at her in question as Wednesday pointedly addresses the table.
"The lot of you have been crying and whining for me to join this silly survivor's club so if there's something funny I'd love to hear it." she says, hands on her hips. Enid turns back to the table, curious about what she missed as well. "If it's about Ajax breaking up with Enid, again, I suggest you all sleep with the lights on tonight. I still got a nail gun at the ready, as soon as I'm no longer contractually forbidden to use it." she adds while sitting down with a side eye to the colorful girl. Enid's cheeks start to imitate a Sunset while whispering, again, that they mutually decided to end things, She had told how he had admitted he 'didn't have the stones' to be her boyfriend after hearing how she nearly tore a hyde in half. He was immensely proud and impressed and amazed, yes, but also intimidated and decided to allow her to be with someone more in tune with her, she remembers. She had agreed she was too much for his laid-back stoner self, although she had completely missed his hint.
"Relax, love birds." Bianca grins. "Picasso over here just commented on how Polar Opposite Sisters you are." Wednesday raises her eyebrow nearly imperceptibly.
"We're not family." she points out. "We don't have the last name." Eugene whispers something that sounds eerily similar to 'not yet' but she decides to let it slide for now. Enid lays her hand on top of hers, easing her.
"It's a meme." she explains, not even bothering to explain it before she pulls her phone out to just show it to her instead. After a few taps, she shows the rounded rectangular portal to the soul-sucking vacuum, displaying two girls. One has her hair in a color palette that would be perfect camo for Enid's side of the room, the other as pale as the moon with her hair and attire in her favorite hue. She pouts in thought.
"Enid's cuter than that." she decides, looking up again. Enid nearly drops her phone while her extremities probably display cyanosis with how much blood was currently in her cheeks.
Wednesday notices something. The table next to them was currently home to a bunch of new furs, and one in particular paid way too much attention to her girlfriend for her liking.
"Excuse me for a moment." she announces. The uncharacteristically polite wording leaves the table suddenly very scared as they watch her go over to the offender. She puts on a smile that is skinwalker-level uncanny and off, like someone tried to draw a smiling face without ever having seen a smile, and promising imminent doom to those who were attuned sufficiently; the mutt clearly wasn't one of them. New and fresh, innocence about to be crushed.
"Hey!" she says loud in a happy tone, but a manic edge to it; someone holding up a façade before committing a horrible, atrocious crime. He doesn't seem to notice, though.
"Hey there!" he replies, naïvely thinking himself safe from harm, while the table next to them gasps in terror at such a bold insult on the advent of pretty much the end of their life, as they know it at least. A life of eating with their mouth instead through a tube, and bipedal locomotion, for example.
"Saw you eying my girlfriend, I did." she half-yells in a voice entirely not her own. The quad collectively seems to quiet in anticipation but either he's still oblivious or very bold.
"Yea she's quite a stun-" is all he manages to utter before she jumps over the table that seems impossible for even a person of her size while her cold hand grabs his collar and pulls him clean of his seat. Dragging him along with her before grabbing him with her other hand as well, he tries to scream but he chokes on the air leaving his throat when she pivots on the spot, slamming him into the wall. Before he has a chance to fall down, she pulls out a pneumatic nail gun seemingly out of thin air quicker than lightning, loose-hanging strip of nails trailing behind, and under a choir of screams joining his', affixes the poor soul firmly to the wall in short order with surprising marksman accuracy. Just for good measure, she adds another few, looking like a cat playing with its prey throughout the whole ordeal. Satisfied with her far better wall art than Xavier could ever muster up, she twirls around, gas from the cartridge slowly drifting from the tool mouth.
The quad falls into dreadful silence immediately as if someone unplugged a speaker, save for the whimpering behind her. She makes sure everyone feels the scrutiny of her scowl, focusing on a few faces that she remembers too well for it to be mere coincidence; their recoil almost amuses her. She clears her throat for dramatic effect before speaking.
"Next time they're silver, allicin-infused, polished chrome or iron, or whatever you hate." she states firmly. "My girlfriend is mine." she concludes, before walking over to their table whose faces host no less shock than elsewhere in the quad. She sits down, having put the tool wherever inexplicable hammerspace it came from. Appearing to be surprised by the silence, she scowls. "What? She said I wasn't allowed to use it on you lot. Besides, I avoided vital parts. This wouldn't even expire a human; he'll live." she defends herself. Unbelieving faces switch between her and him, roughly crucified to the wall. Enid just stares, the conflict evident between disgust and horror, and admiration, pride to be hers and all-encompassing love. Wednesday stares back, not getting the big deal and she instinctively snaps forward to peck her love on her cheek to seal the deal. "Love you, babe." she says quickly and Enid's mouth grows wider than hers just a few moments ago at the other table, wider even than Ajax's painted one during the Poe Cup. "Forgot my lunch, mind if I do?" she asks her while she reaches for Enid's sandwich, perfectly emulating Enid's puppy eyes whenever she wants cuddles. Enid doesn't even have it in her to deny her.
"...you know I can fend myself if I need to, right?" she asks instead, seemingly having shaken off the shock but deliberately avoiding to look at the fur on the wall. Wednesday takes a big bite.
"Mmmmh I know," she says between two chews. "and I wish I could've stayed" another chew "but I had a pilgrim to re-unalive." she mutters in complaint. She moans. "This is good stuff, Sinclair." she compliments, handing the half-eaten sandwich back to its owner before wiping crumbs from her mouth. She grunts. "We're late for class." she says while standing up. "Arts and crafts is my favorite, especially woodworking. Are you coming?" she inquires, looking expectantly at her roommategirlfriend. Enid stands up, stumbly, a little uneasy. Wednesday takes her hand to stabilize her and walks away as nonchalantly as ever with Enid following closely behind, leaving a completely stunned quad silent.
It took hours to get him down.